Hello. So, as you’re probably very aware if you follow this project – I seldom update my progress. This is mostly due to my ADHDtism, and it making me unable to focus on more than one topic at a time for the most part. I am hard at work currently on part 4, and that’s why I feel the need to make this update.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, you’re probably fully aware of the whole Collective Shout censorship bullshit that has been going on. I will not detail that here, but know that I am against the censorship of art, despite there being art that I personally do not want to see.

Now, the reason I am talking about this, is because: Refulgent itself, despite not containing any explicitly NSFW material, does deal with some of the themes that are currently under fire from itch.io’s new guidelines. I try my best to deal with every theme as respectfully as I can, whilst also allowing for my own creative freedom around such topics. I believe content warnings are incredibly important, even if they are non-specific in nature. Choosing not to warn is as much of a warning as explicitly stating what content people might encounter.

Despite the earlier parts showcasing dark themes, part 4 itself will be getting a whole lot darker. I believe that as of writing this, that it will be probably one of the darkest parts of the entire thing. As a result of this, given how things are going, I do not know if I will be able to post it on itch once I am finished with it.

Hell, I feel like the obscure nature of this project is the only reason it is still on the site.

Going forward, it pains me to do this… but I will be removing any content warnings on the game’s page. This includes the 18+ checkbox, as I do want my project to actually… show up in the listings.

I will obviously be keeping the content warnings that are present in the game itself, but I will be looking into setting up my own website properly and hosting Refulgent on there with the appropriate warnings applied.

It is a shame, because I truly do believe in protecting people from content that they wish to either be warned about, or not see in general. However, when warnings are being used as a way to target games, comics, and other pieces of art/media – I have to do what feel is necessary to avoid my work being taken down.

I will also be removing any way to donate here, just to be on the safe side. This project will remain free anyway, so it is thankfully not a massive deal to me like it is for so many other creators.

Thank you so much to everyone who follows this project, and I wish you all well – and I hope that nothing that you like or care about gets caught up in this flubbed mess of a guideline update.

Alio XvX