My name is Laura Kate Dale, and I am an author, accessibility and queer representation critic and consultant, video game critic, streamer, and all around content creator.
Below is a thread of my various projects, and how you can support my ongoing work.
My main piece of regular work is a series called Access-Ability.
The series, which is made up of 100+articles, releases weekly, and discusses how the video game industry can be more accessible to disabled players.
Text: https://access-ability.uk
Video: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0NeEbRY7VSi-Sc-eR2LBttNaVSt7h4k
The best way to support Access-Ability, as well as the other work I do, is with a regular monthly donation of as little as $1 on Patreon.
Patreon support is what allows me to do the work that I do.
Patreon.com/LauraKBuzz
In terms of accessibility content, I also work directly with game developers as a consultant, as well as consulting on topics such as queer representation.
While most of the projects I have worked on are yet to release, I have a couple of examples I can share publicly.
During Global Accessibility Awareness Week this year, I was invited to give a talk for Eidos Montreal / Square Enix West, all about how disabilities often intersect, and needs can overlap in unexpected ways Devs need to consider.
https://twitter.com/EidosMontreal/status/1526992184943206401
Around a year ago, I managed to dig up some information on why a song in Life is Strange: True Colours wasn't subtitled, resulting in an accessibility issue for deaf players.
I've given talks at accessibility conferences, such as this talk about gaming with aphantasia
https://twitter.com/GA_Conf/status/1363827131789238272?s=20&t=-vHNl94g_NkVf6qfw-E8tg
While not formally an accessibility consultant, I was recently responsible for the renaming of an accessibility setting in the game Wayward Strand.
https://access-ability.uk/2022/09/16/how-wayward-strand-v1-0-1-became-the-laura-update/
If you are working on a project which I might be a good fit for, feel free to reach out to me at LauraKBuzzOfficial@Gmail.com
I am happy to discuss consultancy projects, and see if I am a good fit for your project.
So, from there, let's move onto my published books, in chronological order.
Uncomfortable Labels is a memoir about living at the intersection of being both trans and autistic, an overlap that is fairly common, but under discussed.
Next, a much less serious affair, Things I Learned From Mario's Butt is a silly and serious illustrated coffee table book of video game character butt reviews.
The book features guest contributions from a bunch of awesome video game industry figures.
Gender Euphoria is an anthology of real life stories of trans joy, told by a variety of trans / non-binary / intersex / non cisgender authors.
The book focuses on all the different forms trans joy can take, and attempts to offer a variety of perspectives.
![A trans flag colour background, and an image of the cover of the book Gender Euphoria, accompany quotes from reviews of the book.
"Earlier in my life and transition, Gender Euphoria would be the book that I needed. It's a diverse collection of trans and non-binary perspectives that managed to be more positive than many "Trans Tauma Porn" collections out there, in that it shows the sunnier side of transition" - Chelsea Manning.
"Every page is a little present! A timely reminder of the value of trans lives, and the urgent need to improve the conditions in which we are made to live them" - Abigail Thorne.
"Gender Euphoria really up-ends the baked-in narrative about pain and unhappiness, Instead, these young writers look at life through the other end of the telescope and [...] find the things to rejoice about being set free from the shackles of gender conformity... This book will inspire you" - Christine Burns.](https://media.tech.lgbt/media_attachments/files/109/304/427/825/830/689/original/a96c0a4c8ce1db7e.jpg "A trans flag colour background, and an image of the cover of the book Gender Euphoria, accompany quotes from reviews of the book.
\"Earlier in my life and transition, Gender Euphoria would be the book that I needed. It's a diverse collection of trans and non-binary perspectives that managed to be more positive than many \"Trans Tauma Porn\" collections out there, in that it shows the sunnier side of transition\" - Chelsea Manning.
\"Every page is a little present! A timely reminder of the value of trans lives, and the urgent need to improve the conditions in which we are made to live them\" - Abigail Thorne.
\"Gender Euphoria really up-ends the baked-in narrative about pain and unhappiness, Instead, these young writers look at life through the other end of the telescope and [...] find the things to rejoice about being set free from the shackles of gender conformity... This book will inspire you\" - Christine Burns.")
Me and My Dysphoria Monster is a children's book, illustrated by Ang Hui Qing, which aims to discuss gender dysphoria in child approachable language.
The book focuses on a hopeful and optimistic future, and contains an adults reference guide at the back.
My next upcoming book is Who Hunts the Whale, a satirical novel set in a AAA video game development studio.
The book, which I co-authored with my wife @janeiac , aims to be funny, sweet, and unflinching in its critique of exploitative game development practices.
Now, with those books out of the way, I wanted to highlight a couple of specific examples of accessibility / queer critique content I am particularly proud of.
In this video, I demonstrated how shiny hunting in Pokémon Legends: Arceus is less accessible for deaf players, and created a visual mock up of how that could be fixed.
I'm incredibly proud of this video about aging, its role in gaming accessibility, and explaining some of the support needs most gamers will eventually need if they want to game decades into the future.
I've done a LOT of writing and videos about trans representation in video games over the years, but perhaps my most in depth video on the topic in recent years was this video about Deadly Premonition 2.
But, on a more positive note, here's my video about the trans representation in yhe video game Tell Me Why.
Outside of the above, I am probably best known for being one of the hosts of a weekly video game podcast called Podquisition, which has run for the past 8 years.
I have guested on numerous big name video series and podcasts, including IGN's Podcast Beyond, Kinda Funny Games Daily, and The Jimquisition.
Kinda Funny: https://youtube.com/watch?v=RUqV1-N9kJk&feature=youtu.be
Podcast Beyond: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1vLGnUA-oyw
The Jimquisition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNoMAjaEUK4
I have also hosted episodes of gaming TV shows, including Ginx TV's Stream Shuffle.
https://www.ginx.tv/en/stream-shuffle/stream-shuffle-with-laurakbuzz
Many years ago, but not so much anymore, I used to be known for leaking video game announcements ahead of their official reveals.
Perhaps the best known of which was my early review of the PS4 Slim.
https://www.polygon.com/2016/8/30/12709420/playstation-4-slim-unboxing-sony-yes-its-real
Over the years, I've written about video games for most outlets that will pay me to write about them.
Below, a couple of examples.
Cooking Mama: Cookstar review: undercooked, not worth the controversy - Polygon
Peter Molyneux interview: 'It's over, I will not speak to the press again' - The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/peter-molyneux-game-designer-interview-godus
Oh, let's not forget, I Stream over on Twitch every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10pm UK, 5pm Eastern, 2pm Pacific.
I am a variety streamer with a love of train sims, silly speedrun categories, and Shiny Hunting in Pokémon.
There is probably other stuff I could include in this thread, and I may add more to it in the future, but I think this is for now a pretty good summary.
I hope you enjoy my work, and consider supporting what I do over on Patreon.
Twitch.TV/LauraKBuzz
@puzzler995@LauraKBuzz @janeiac Can't wait to get my copy :blobhearttranscat:
@david@LauraKBuzz Oh heck I know this book, welcome to the instance!
@david Ahhh, small world haha. Thank you for having me here in the instance.
Quick query, am I right that the Verified tick in your name is literally a thing anyone can add rather than a verification tested thing? haha
@david@LauraKBuzz yep, anyone can add any of the emoji that we have to their names.
Use the emoji picker and see the code that comes up. For instance
: verified : and : verify : (no spaces between colons)
@david Still getting to know the ropes here.
@LauraKBuzz definitely a book I need to get into my hands!