Zara 🏳️🌈
@zaravarin.bsky.social
Queer non-binary geek of all trades💗💛💙she/they. Marine. Neurodivergent.♾️
President & Creative Director of Dual Wield Studio ✨⚔️✨
Previously: 343 Industries | Halo | Xbox.
Unions are awesome.
🚫❌NO AI, NO NFTs❌🚫
zaravarin.com
President & Creative Director of Dual Wield Studio ✨⚔️✨
Previously: 343 Industries | Halo | Xbox.
Unions are awesome.
🚫❌NO AI, NO NFTs❌🚫
zaravarin.com
Pinned
Zara 🏳️🌈
@zaravarin.bsky.social
· Dec 12
2025 Year in Review
Hello and happy December to you; I’m Zara Varin, President and Creative Director of Dual Wield Studio. As 2025 winds down and our team prepares to enjoy our winter holiday break, we’ve taken some time...
qindwa98adztz7vi-23981491.shopifypreview.com
It's been a hell of a year; today is the last work day for Dual Wield Studio before our winter holiday break, and looking back on everything we've tackled with our small team this year alone has been intense. I wrote a short retrospective summary about it here: dualwieldstudio.com/blogs/news/2...
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
Basically how I've been internalizing it lol
September 30, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Basically how I've been internalizing it lol
An utterly ghoulish approach to spam & phishing over the past year has been people using my dead friend's name -- both as if from a personal account or work account -- in clumsy imitations as if it was coming from them.
I wish the people responsible lived kinder lives to not need to do that shit.
I wish the people responsible lived kinder lives to not need to do that shit.
February 13, 2026 at 6:22 PM
An utterly ghoulish approach to spam & phishing over the past year has been people using my dead friend's name -- both as if from a personal account or work account -- in clumsy imitations as if it was coming from them.
I wish the people responsible lived kinder lives to not need to do that shit.
I wish the people responsible lived kinder lives to not need to do that shit.
One of the most insidious things about ICE recruiting is that the government is complicit in manufacturing dire circumstances culturally & w/job market, making the most vulnerable folks feel pressured into taking a reprehensible job just to protect themselves & pay the bills.
Just like the military!
Just like the military!
February 12, 2026 at 7:15 PM
One of the most insidious things about ICE recruiting is that the government is complicit in manufacturing dire circumstances culturally & w/job market, making the most vulnerable folks feel pressured into taking a reprehensible job just to protect themselves & pay the bills.
Just like the military!
Just like the military!
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
Come work with us! I'll regale you with stories of Ye Olde Dayes on the studio's hangout chat while you work. 😎
Hey gang! Are there any Melbourne/Victoria-based 3D modellers looking for short contract work right now? Summerfall is currently on the lookout for contractors to do hard-surface environment work for a new prototype, like furniture and all that. 🔨🪑
Send through portfolios! 🙂 Cheers!
Send through portfolios! 🙂 Cheers!
February 12, 2026 at 6:05 AM
Come work with us! I'll regale you with stories of Ye Olde Dayes on the studio's hangout chat while you work. 😎
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
From now until the 17th, every penny I get from Speed Dating for Ghosts on Steam goes directly to the dang @americanheart.bsky.social as part of their rad @wholesomegames.com collab. Lots of great games here. <33333 Give that punk who ghosted you some ghosts! store.steampowered.com/curator/4590...
Games With Heart
Share the love this Valentine's Day, and help raise money for the American Heart Association!
store.steampowered.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:20 PM
From now until the 17th, every penny I get from Speed Dating for Ghosts on Steam goes directly to the dang @americanheart.bsky.social as part of their rad @wholesomegames.com collab. Lots of great games here. <33333 Give that punk who ghosted you some ghosts! store.steampowered.com/curator/4590...
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
If you are geekily inclined, ReedPOP (whose parent company is named as having connections to ICE) is also the event organizer behind all the PAX shows, Star Wars Celebration, NYCC, Chicago Comicon, and Emerald City Comicon; read this thread to see what action you can take to voice your opposition.
Kinda feels important to know that ReedPOP's parent company has ties to ICE. There's some things we can do in the comics community to make our voices heard. 1/3
Open letter from BookCon authors: reactormag.com/authors-open...
Check the RELX, LexisNexis, and ReedPOP ties yourself: www.relx.com
Open letter from BookCon authors: reactormag.com/authors-open...
Check the RELX, LexisNexis, and ReedPOP ties yourself: www.relx.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:02 PM
If you are geekily inclined, ReedPOP (whose parent company is named as having connections to ICE) is also the event organizer behind all the PAX shows, Star Wars Celebration, NYCC, Chicago Comicon, and Emerald City Comicon; read this thread to see what action you can take to voice your opposition.
The Dunk & Egg show continues to be so damn good!!
It’s nice to see an adaptation of GRRM’s work done well again, especially when the core story is about a guy with a good heart trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is (often against odds that would reward him for doing the opposite).
It’s nice to see an adaptation of GRRM’s work done well again, especially when the core story is about a guy with a good heart trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is (often against odds that would reward him for doing the opposite).
February 7, 2026 at 5:36 AM
The Dunk & Egg show continues to be so damn good!!
It’s nice to see an adaptation of GRRM’s work done well again, especially when the core story is about a guy with a good heart trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is (often against odds that would reward him for doing the opposite).
It’s nice to see an adaptation of GRRM’s work done well again, especially when the core story is about a guy with a good heart trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is (often against odds that would reward him for doing the opposite).
Streaming Expedition 33 & Taki - who, as a cat, recognizes all little red dots as her nemesis - very helpfully sat down in front of my monitor, blocking my view, & started batting at things during a fight 😂
She helped very much & it’s okay that I whiffed some parries; Taki took the Nevrons out!!
She helped very much & it’s okay that I whiffed some parries; Taki took the Nevrons out!!
February 6, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Streaming Expedition 33 & Taki - who, as a cat, recognizes all little red dots as her nemesis - very helpfully sat down in front of my monitor, blocking my view, & started batting at things during a fight 😂
She helped very much & it’s okay that I whiffed some parries; Taki took the Nevrons out!!
She helped very much & it’s okay that I whiffed some parries; Taki took the Nevrons out!!
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
Same. See also: midjourney, grok, craiyon, firefly, & any other GenAI garbage fountain I didn’t name here.
i hate you if you use ChatGPT or AI. incase you needed that cleared up.
February 6, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Same. See also: midjourney, grok, craiyon, firefly, & any other GenAI garbage fountain I didn’t name here.
Mentorship has historically been a challenging thing for me to find, especially when I'm looking for the intersection of folks whose lived experience, identity, and ideals are aligned with my own. There just aren't many non-binary folks in positions of leadership, much less in games or licensing!
February 4, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Mentorship has historically been a challenging thing for me to find, especially when I'm looking for the intersection of folks whose lived experience, identity, and ideals are aligned with my own. There just aren't many non-binary folks in positions of leadership, much less in games or licensing!
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
Meet the unconventional publishers trying to unfuck the games industry: aftermath.site/indie-game-pub...
February 4, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Meet the unconventional publishers trying to unfuck the games industry: aftermath.site/indie-game-pub...
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
Here's the full noisy cricket video:
The Noisy Cricket - Replica Prop Build
YouTube video by Punished Props Academy
youtu.be
February 3, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Here's the full noisy cricket video:
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
The Men in Black noisy cricket's grips looks like they're supposed to be a shiny black, so Bill cast them in a back resin and there's no need for paint!
February 3, 2026 at 10:28 PM
The Men in Black noisy cricket's grips looks like they're supposed to be a shiny black, so Bill cast them in a back resin and there's no need for paint!
Product development meeting today at work included discussion of omegaverse & a/b/o tropes😊 all in a day's work!!
February 4, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Product development meeting today at work included discussion of omegaverse & a/b/o tropes😊 all in a day's work!!
FORBIDDEN BALL PIT
Sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must take highly squishable measures. Our Solas Keychain Plush from our Dragon Age: The Veilguard Collection is in stock and available now: https://bit.ly/3V8fmoK
February 4, 2026 at 12:15 AM
FORBIDDEN BALL PIT
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
Sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must take highly squishable measures. Our Solas Keychain Plush from our Dragon Age: The Veilguard Collection is in stock and available now: https://bit.ly/3V8fmoK
February 4, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must take highly squishable measures. Our Solas Keychain Plush from our Dragon Age: The Veilguard Collection is in stock and available now: https://bit.ly/3V8fmoK
The only thing better than getting to hire great artists to do work is getting to hire them again for MORE 😊
February 3, 2026 at 4:19 AM
The only thing better than getting to hire great artists to do work is getting to hire them again for MORE 😊
not using generative AI is easy in moral fortitude while continuing to be the worst game of whack-a-mole to opt out, disable, avoid, etc etc
I don't want your shitty slapdash word association regurgitator, corpos; I hope the burst of the AI bubble takes your damn shareholder vaule with it
I don't want your shitty slapdash word association regurgitator, corpos; I hope the burst of the AI bubble takes your damn shareholder vaule with it
February 2, 2026 at 5:21 AM
not using generative AI is easy in moral fortitude while continuing to be the worst game of whack-a-mole to opt out, disable, avoid, etc etc
I don't want your shitty slapdash word association regurgitator, corpos; I hope the burst of the AI bubble takes your damn shareholder vaule with it
I don't want your shitty slapdash word association regurgitator, corpos; I hope the burst of the AI bubble takes your damn shareholder vaule with it
So something Dual Wield Studio has been doing for the past few years in a gradual aim toward maybe someday having 4-day work weeks is taking one Friday off each month
so we have tomorrow off work
and it just so happens to coincide with the planned General Strike
this feels Correct
😌
so we have tomorrow off work
and it just so happens to coincide with the planned General Strike
this feels Correct
😌
January 29, 2026 at 10:54 PM
So something Dual Wield Studio has been doing for the past few years in a gradual aim toward maybe someday having 4-day work weeks is taking one Friday off each month
so we have tomorrow off work
and it just so happens to coincide with the planned General Strike
this feels Correct
😌
so we have tomorrow off work
and it just so happens to coincide with the planned General Strike
this feels Correct
😌
I love it when the lighthearted shopping / leveling up game session results in a party member getting bound to a cursed evil weapon corrupting her!!! YAYYYYYYYY
January 29, 2026 at 6:06 AM
I love it when the lighthearted shopping / leveling up game session results in a party member getting bound to a cursed evil weapon corrupting her!!! YAYYYYYYYY
On an upswell of the immense creative satisfaction of having fought a design through multiple iterations because it just wasn't working and finally FINALLY it's making sense and WORKING and I LIKE IT 😭
(I hope other folks will like it too when I can share more about it!!)
(I hope other folks will like it too when I can share more about it!!)
January 28, 2026 at 10:17 PM
On an upswell of the immense creative satisfaction of having fought a design through multiple iterations because it just wasn't working and finally FINALLY it's making sense and WORKING and I LIKE IT 😭
(I hope other folks will like it too when I can share more about it!!)
(I hope other folks will like it too when I can share more about it!!)
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
"The choices that matter the most, says Dragon Age, are the ones about who you love and how you do it."
Love this quote from this piece by @susanapolo.bsky.social 💙
this hits so many aspects of resonance I feel with the Dragon Age series, too, while also sharing some deeply personal perspective.
Love this quote from this piece by @susanapolo.bsky.social 💙
this hits so many aspects of resonance I feel with the Dragon Age series, too, while also sharing some deeply personal perspective.
My first piece for @mothership.blog! www.mothership.blog/dragon-age-g...
I pitched this back when Veilguard was coming out but we ran out of time and Maddy's been hounding me for it ever since. I'm very excited to have it up and on MADDY's NEW SITE
which you should sub to
I pitched this back when Veilguard was coming out but we ran out of time and Maddy's been hounding me for it ever since. I'm very excited to have it up and on MADDY's NEW SITE
which you should sub to
Dragon Age games lack agency, and that's the whole point
All that matters is who you love, and how you do it
www.mothership.blog
January 28, 2026 at 5:53 PM
"The choices that matter the most, says Dragon Age, are the ones about who you love and how you do it."
Love this quote from this piece by @susanapolo.bsky.social 💙
this hits so many aspects of resonance I feel with the Dragon Age series, too, while also sharing some deeply personal perspective.
Love this quote from this piece by @susanapolo.bsky.social 💙
this hits so many aspects of resonance I feel with the Dragon Age series, too, while also sharing some deeply personal perspective.
Reposted by Zara 🏳️🌈
My first piece for @mothership.blog! www.mothership.blog/dragon-age-g...
I pitched this back when Veilguard was coming out but we ran out of time and Maddy's been hounding me for it ever since. I'm very excited to have it up and on MADDY's NEW SITE
which you should sub to
I pitched this back when Veilguard was coming out but we ran out of time and Maddy's been hounding me for it ever since. I'm very excited to have it up and on MADDY's NEW SITE
which you should sub to
Dragon Age games lack agency, and that's the whole point
All that matters is who you love, and how you do it
www.mothership.blog
January 28, 2026 at 4:47 PM
My first piece for @mothership.blog! www.mothership.blog/dragon-age-g...
I pitched this back when Veilguard was coming out but we ran out of time and Maddy's been hounding me for it ever since. I'm very excited to have it up and on MADDY's NEW SITE
which you should sub to
I pitched this back when Veilguard was coming out but we ran out of time and Maddy's been hounding me for it ever since. I'm very excited to have it up and on MADDY's NEW SITE
which you should sub to
LOVE TO SEE IT
please do not let him get up to anything unsupervised
please do not let him get up to anything unsupervised
Hey @zaravarin.bsky.social look who showed up 🥰
January 27, 2026 at 5:15 AM
LOVE TO SEE IT
please do not let him get up to anything unsupervised
please do not let him get up to anything unsupervised