iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 8h

Thinking about some of my unfinished stories over the years. Here are bits from a ghost story, a different ghost story, a classical fairytale, and a Pokemon parody. Hoping the new therapist can get me well enough to write again 🤞

“Well at least I’m not a grumpy old—!”

“Girls, please!” said Henry from the front seat. “Abby, honey, get your things. Becka — come help your mother.”

With a half-hearted huff, Becka opened the door and stepped out of the car.

To say the farmhouse was old was only partially true. The roof shingles were new. The glass in every undersized window was new. The paint applied in countless layers over the years was new. Everywhere on the facade were signs of constant, reflexive upkeep. But as a patch doesn’t make a shirt whole again, so too did these repairs fail to hide the house’s true age.

Even standing in the driveway, Becka could feel the ancient building creak under her feet. It sagged around its bones, seemingly held together by habit as much as mortar and nails. It grew out of the ground in a way no man-made structure could. The house simply was; it had always been.

In between shaking off the long journey and lamenting the slim chance of decent WiFi, a different feeling tugged at Becka’s mind. She felt watched. There was no sense of by whom — or by what — but the feeling was there all the same.

Becka shook her head and pulled open the passenger door.

“We’re here, Mom. How’re you doing?”

Becka’s mother opened her eyes, blinking like an owl at midday. She glanced about as if trying to remember something important….

Katie Batt hovered over the mantel, sighing with boredom. Being a ghost was nothing like she expected.

Granted she’d never given it much serious thought before she… well, before. All she had to go on were horror films, which always seemed so exciting. After the fact, though, she reflected that movies were super exciting — for the living protagonists. Humans got chased by monsters, or tormented by evil spirits, or trapped in deadly houses they had to escape before time ran out.

And once the humans were killed or expelled or whatever, what was left for the horrors themselves? Nothing but a.long, lonely wait until the next scrap of entertainment pops along.

So it was for Katie. She hadn’t been a ghost for very long — maybe a year, she thought? However much time had passed, it passed at the speed of a snail with a limp. The house she haunted was old and abandoned. There was no TV, no WiFi — anyway she didn’t have her phone — and she had long ago exhausted the meager selection of books left behind. In her previous life she would have scoffed at the idea of having to read for fun, let alone settling for a ratty old copy of The History of American Dollar Coins (1800-1899).

Katie floated upside down and twisted her hands together. The moonlight cast her tenuous shadow against the mantelpiece, revealing the ghostly figure of a rabbit. It was quite a good rabbit, she thought. If nothing else, her skill with shadow puppets was dam near perfect.

“Marthaaaa!” she whined. “I’m bored! Come talk to me.”

The figure that had been trying to sneak past the doorway froze, slumped in defeat, and shuffled into the room.

“Fine,” grumbled the pale specter of Martha Red. “But I do not want to hear one single squeak about the Coinage Act of 1873.”

“Hey, if you’re not interested in the end of the bimetallism standard, then it’s your loss.”

“Right, I’m leaving.”

“My father did pass away,” said Josie calmly. “Almost a year ago, from apoplexy.”

LeJour’s visage showed neither endorsement nor critique.

“And your shop? I assume your mother has assumed management.”

“No. No, she died when I was very young. It’s just me and my sisters now, and they all have families of their own.”

“So the shop…?”

“Sold. Last month. We couldn’t afford to keep it.”

“Ah, I see,” said Monsieur LeJour, grinning toothily. “Now I understand. You are young and have no means to live on your own. You are proud, and will not deign to leech off what relatives you have left. And so, when a suggestion of work comes along — work to which you may well be ill-prepared and ill-suited — you leap at the chance. But I have not the time nor the ambition to coddle a wayward child with such naive whimsies.”

Josie crossed her arms defiantly. “Monsieur, I am not a child. I’m nearly sixteen—“

“Which is fifteen,” corrected LeJour.

“—and I have no fear of toil. My father had no sons. My sisters are very dear, but they were always inclined to flutter and giggle like flirty courtiers, and thus much of the work fell to me. More so when my father’s health began to fail. I grant that I may not know what you require from me. Nevertheless, I assure you that I am quite capable. Give me a chance and I’ll prove it.”

Josie was surprised. She couldn’t say from where this sudden resolve had sprung, and she didn’t know what to do next. The only thing of which she was certain was that it was vitally important to maintain eye contact.

Taye poked at the device for a minute. She had to admit it was an attractive little thing. Most of the surface was a deep matte purple, and a strip of polished chrome ran around its outer circumference. A thin band of black glass embedded near on edge displayed the date, time, and a few other icons of unknown function. In the center of the face was a seam; when Taye gripped the device just right the seam split open and the two halves slid away from each other, revealing a clear glass window.

On a hunch, Taye aimed the MaruMac at the projection that still played across the wall. When one of the purple squirrels was centered in the frame, the device chimed and spoke with the same robotic voice as before:

“Scourel. Scurry Class. Low-grade Neutral-type, Lightning-subtype. Can generate electric charges as a defense mechanism. Have been known to attract lightning during stormy weather.”

“So it’s like an ‘index’ for ‘pocket monsters’,” said Taye, closing the MaruMac’s window. “I assume you have good lawyers? You’re just a few inches short of total copyright infringement.”

“Here, take these!”

Before she could react, several more objects were shoved into Taye’s hands. She held one up and examined it incredulously. It was a little smaller than a coffee cup lid and shaped like an Olympic discus — circular, squat, and thicker in the middle than the outside. It was decorated with the same purple-and-chrome motif as the MaruMac.

“These are MaruDiscs,” explained the professor. “We use them to capture and contain wild Marumon. Just don’t use them on another handler’s Marumon — it’s highly frowned upon!”

Taye dumped her armful of new paraphernalia into her backpack.

“Forget the lawyers — you guys are so screwed.”

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Ran across this handsome fella at work. He kept punching my stick and flashing his wings when I scooted him off a staircase so he wouldn’t get stepped on. Sometimes my hypervigilance is rewarded with neat things 👀

a wild praying mantis on a concrete step

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Acknowledging the good: Went to buy a physical book for the first time in many years. (I’m usually an e-reader reader.) Not only did the first place I tried have the exact book I wanted, it was the last copy AND it was a staff pick for 50% off. Noice!

static.klipy.com

Gromit Reading 'A Room of One's Own' in Bed

ALT: Gromit Reading 'A Room of One's Own' in Bed

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Reposted by Barghest236

Rupie @rupie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I'm short on rent and need some help

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If you see this, post a vampire that isn't Dracula

Vampire OC Mari Strigine and an unnamed dinner guest

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Reposted by Barghest236

Introvert Problems @introvertproblems.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

8 Things Introverts Hate 1. Loud, crowded places 2. Random calls or surprise visits 3. People invading their space 4. Forced small talk 5. Drama and unnecessary conflict 6. Being asked, “Why are you so quiet?” 7. Too much noise and overstimulation 8. Fake or insincere people

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Not generally, but on the night I finished my first vore fiction, much was accomplished 😅

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Well shoot. Looks like I'll be parting ways with my new therapist. No one's at fault here, it's pretty much technical limitations. Still a bummer. I feel so mentally fragile right now, and it doesn't help that I can't seem to find any solid ground 😞

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I may be no closer to solving my deteriorating mental health, but I did have a new friend arrive today

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Well damn My initial feeling about this first psych appt is that it was a waste of time. We only upped a med I'm already on. Didn't talk about adhd/autism at all until the last 5 minutes. Will try assessment in one month but even if I test positive, their practice can't legally prescribe for it.

static.klipy.com

Sloth's Disappointed Reaction

ALT: Sloth's Disappointed Reaction

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I have trouble when therapists ask if there's anything else I want to talk about. There definitely is, but where to start? Like, ask me more specific questions. Otherwise I fall back to the habit of withholding feelings.

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My tiktok feed is showing me that I have strong preferences when it comes to spoons Wonder if I should bring this up to the psychiatrist tomorrow 😶

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

If you see this, post a green art 💚

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Having a mental health thing today. Not much of a newsflash I spose 😑

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Mine own appellation by misfortune hath become Fuckhest most ungracefully

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

At a therapist’s suggestion, I have a psychiatric assessment tentatively scheduled for next week. Trying not to get my hopes up because nothing else has worked yet either 🤷

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Is it because it's sitting outdoors in the sun all day? Surely that heats it up a bit

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Without downloading any new pics, describe your gender

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The world is not built for single introverts with unresolved depression and a sleep disorder 😑

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I recognize and appreciate that today's peak temperature was only about 70° 🍂

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

If it wants to get traded in, it can keep it right up 😒

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

If you figure it out, let me know 🫂

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The thinnest edge of the tablet landing right on my big toe cuticle. Not broken, but nastily bruised 😬

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Just dropped my ipad on my toe. Good thing I don't have one of the big pro models but still owwww 😖

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Mentally preparing a breakup message to my therapist in case tomorrow's appointment falls through like they often seem to

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

On second thought I will pick up some sushi from the market and *then* I will do all the nothing🤷

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Today feels like one of those days where I will go nowhere, see no one, and do nothing 🥱

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Reposted by Barghest236

Introvert Problems @introvertproblems.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Any other introverts not get enough sleep because nighttime is the only time you finally get uninterrupted alone time, so you end up staying awake way later than you should trying to make up for it?

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Woot to feeling ready, and hopefully y'all get to be really good friends 😊

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

"Um, hello Animal Control? Could you send someone over? An anaconda is eating my friend." An short story of a prank gone wrong. Dialogue only. #vore #snakevore #B236art aryion.com/g4/view/517850

aryion.com

g4 :: A Little Out Of Hand by Barghest236

A Little Out Of Hand by Barghest236 on Eka's Portal.

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Barghest236 @barghest236.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I never have weekend days off so I had a whole list of things I could do today that just aren't available on other days of the week. I woke up feeling like crap and almost did none of them. But somehow I made it out the door anyway to visit a street craft fair and then a cool Egyptian museum.

static.klipy.com

Grant Beldon: 'I Went Outside Today!'

ALT: Grant Beldon: 'I Went Outside Today!'

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