Heello, everyone, and happy Pride!

This is always such a bittersweet time of the year for me. When I sat down to write this devlog, I wanted to offer you something warm, hopeful, and cheerful, but let me tell you—once again, it is hard to be cheerful in June.

I know I mention this everywhere, every year, but I’m pan and demi, and for many years I was a closeted queer. I came out to my friends almost a decade ago, but I was only brave enough to do the same to my family around a year ago. And now that I’m not closeted anymore, it’s just gotten even CLEARER to me that we don’t live in a very welcoming society. There is still so much to be improved in terms of equal rights, acceptance, proper medical care, and safety for all of us. The years go by, and things seem to be getting worse for our community; they *are* getting worse for a lot of us across the globe, and I often don’t really know what to do. 

I can’t help but wonder if I’m doing enough for my community, if my efforts will actually result in something, if I will ever become something with my queer stories, if I’ll be able to continue doing what I’m doing in the long run, if my support is actually making a difference…. It’s just hard to be hopeful sometimes.

When that happens, I look to other queer creators. They remind me, and I’d like to remind you that we can’t let despair or apathy take over. We’ve never been this organized and vocal before. Our community is now global, and as difficult as things are, this just means that there are more of us fighting for our collective rights. 

We are not alone. You are not alone. And you do make a difference; we do need you.

We will not be silenced. We will not be erased. We’re together, and that’s how we’ll change this world for the better—together.

So if you have the means, please support the causes you believe in and the indie creators you admire. If money’s short, share their works, leave comments, and please leave good ratings on their work. I promise you, every queer creator out there will deeply appreciate it—cause that’s what gives us visibility and allows us to continue creating. ♥

And we have to continue creating… for the people we lost, for the people who remain at our side, and mainly for the people who will continue our legacy once we’re gone. ♥ We’re together. You’re not alone.

And now for the devlog itself, hehe. This devlog will be all about my plans for the next weeks, plus all the cool stuff I’ve been working on over the past month:

• June 1st: I released a new supporters’ build! If you haven't already, make sure to update your supporters' build, cause the new chapter is ready! Yay!! This one includes most of Mandra's battle route (around ~85%? A bit less?), plus some typo corrections, bug-smashing, and new sprites for some NPCs, starting with Knight Henrique, light of my heart (and hopefully, in the future, yours too).
• June 4th: I released Rise of the Bloodchemist on ko-fi!!! The FIRST part will be available for free on itch.io on June 23rd, but if you'd like to play it right now, you can unlock it no matter what Tier you join. ♥♥♥ I'm already working on the second part (it's already planned and programmed, so I just need to actually write it XD), but my main focus this month is to finish LtGBtK. I'll do my best to finish it in June, but I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to. The sheer amount of flags and variables I'll have to take into consideration is... something.
• June 9th: Starting today and until the end of June, all of my stuff will be 50% off! If you'd like to grab a copy of my books or art books, this is a great time! You can check all of my works on my Itch.io page. ♥♥♥ https://ligianunes.itch.io/
• June 20th: Release of a free sample of “Bear in Sheep’s Clothing,” my queer Supervillain x Superhero novel on itch.io and ko-fi.
• June 23rd: Public release of Rise of the Bloodchemist (part one) on itch.io
• June 30th: A new Public Update of LtGBtK to celebrate Pride Month! AND a new Supporter’s build, with the ending of Mandra’s battle route and the first part of the ENDING of the game. ♥♥♥

In case you're wondering, Rise of the Bloodchemist is an AU, interactive fiction game inspired by the world of LtGBtK and one of my favorite AU short stories, "The Bloodchemist" (included in my short story anthology). The short story will also be available in the game, so you don't need to get the book to enjoy it. ;)) Here are a couple of screenshots:

I hope you all stay safe and healthy wherever you are. Please wish me luck! 
Big hugs, 

Ligia