iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

8. "Plastic Hearts" (2020, Miley Cyrus) I quite liked it. I already knew I liked "WTF Do I Know", but decided to give the whole thing a listen. I don't know much about music to give detailed opinions, but I just find it catchy, engaging, and I like Miley's voice a lot. I think it shines here.

The cover for "Plastic Hearts", from Miley Cyrus. It's a photo of her with multiple necklaces and gloves, looking at the camera. It's completely tinted pink. To the side, the title "PLASTIC HEARTS" is written sideways. It has a parental advisory sticker too.

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7. "An Undesirable Relationship" (2021, tmfly) a re-read of an old favorite. that's the stuff. the moment I found out, "Oh. I kinda like toxic relationship stories... maybe too much" Just incredible work in very few pages.

A manga panel from the pov a girl looking at her phone. It's showing a social media post from a girl meeting a famous model at a party organized by her dad. There's dialogue around the phone:

"So, while I've been suffering at work all day, looks like you've been having the time of your life."

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6. "I Made A Self-Aware Robot" Web Series (2025, LIGHTS ARE OFF) Recommendation from a good friend. It's alright. I quite like the beginning, even if the design is a bit much for my liking. The conclusion is a bit cliché, though. There was something there. Still solid.

A YouTube thumbnail. A robot exoskeleton with wired and tennis balls for hands and feet is sitting down against a wall filled with Post-it notes. On the left, there is a close-up of the robot's face, looking menancinly.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 02/03/2026

5. Sweet Heat! Chapters 1 and 2 (2026, Kosame Hiyori) YES AHAHAHAHAHHA YES. i needed something like this. I like it so much. It really fills the Teppu-sized hole in my heart.

The cover for "Sweet Heat!" Two female wrestlers struggling against the ropes, a short blonde girl and a taller, dark-haired opponent. They both seem to be enjoying it maybe a bit too much.

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4. Mirai (2025, Akira Kosemura) Hard to put into words. I got transported for a while. Really got me into flow. Another recommendation I really apprciated.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 02/03/2026

3. Mint Jams (1982, Casiopea) Recommended by a friend. Really catchy and engaging. Did a bunch of work while having fun. Very enjoyable!

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 02/03/2026

2. Into the Breach OST (2018, Ben Prunty) A fantastic soundtrack from one of my favorite games. God I suck at this game, God I love just doing my little stupid strat and not bothering to try higher rank teams.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 26/02/2026

allow me to introduce you to a classic argentine reactionary loser blaming a previous populist president for not living in a Disney sitcom (translation in alt text, cw for racist language)

An X/Twitter repost of an image of an american football player greeting a girl, presumably his girlfriend, in a football field.

The quote post says, in spanish, "This is the life I always wanted in high school, but this peronist congolese reality took it from me. the argentine monkeys must pay, every single one"

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 23/02/2026

1. Scarlet Hollow Episode 5 (2026, Black Tabby Games) Wonderful, macabre, exhilarating. I can't put into words just how much Scarlet Hollow means to me by this point.

A veiled man towering over you in a dilapidated mansion. His hand is reaching towards you, but for what purpose...?

Claribel @claribel.ink · 18/02/2026

i need jerrification urgently

An image capture of my likes proving I've been liked by famous Bsky microcelebrity Jerry Chen

#ClarAwards2025 | qualia by @allsees.online I still can't get over this game not qualifying for a spooky game sale. It's incredibly unnerving and disturbing, a great jolt of existential dread for anyone too sure of their own reality. It's free, too. Loved every second of it.

An image from the game qualia. It depicts a computer screen showing text. It reads:

"intellica — think happy

Welcome to the A.M.T. (Applied Manipulation Turing) Study.

We greatly appreciate your participation in our research. Our team is dedicated to developing and deploying the most intelligent artificial algorithms in the machine learning field, but we like to call them our friends."

#ClarAwards2025 | Psychopomp GOLD by @karbonicc.bsky.social Weird. Surreal. Geometric. Human. Earthly. Deep beneath the earth. It's calling, it's been hidden from me. I need to find it. It captures the aesthetics of something like Petscop like no other thing. Fascinating and enthralling.

A weirdly surreal city with growths and organic stuff everywhere. You seem to be walking around it, with a mechanical user interface that lets you see around, talk, touch things, and hit them with a hammer.

#ClarAwards2025 | It gets so lonely here by @ebihimes.bsky.social There's evidently something primal about running through a forest. A sense of loneliness pushing you forward towards finding something... someone. Is the cure for loneliness here...? Or just a recipe for a broken heart?

Screenshot from a visual novel. It has a very ornate menu with wonderful depictions of flowers. You can see a forest full of fog. The text reads: "You are running through a forest."

#ClarAwards2025 | Truss by @ompu.co I can't really put Truss into words. It's very human, it showed me something I was hiding from myself, and it's exceptionally evocative during each microsecond of gameplay. Play it. You owe it to yourself.

A low-poly depiction of a cabin with a bed by the side, and a fireplace in front of you. The fire is burning, the place is seemingly warm. For how long?

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#ClarAwards2025 | of the Devil by @nthcircle.bsky.social I've already gushed about nth circle's work a lot. Needless to say, it's some of the best work of the detective genre, with superb writing and a striking artstyle. To me, it's a new standard for writing dystopia in the 21st century.

A neo-noir cyberpunk city corner, with a bunch of neon lights and wires. A woman is smoking against the wall, a redhead with weirdly ornate hair, a corset, and a jacket. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em," she says.

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#ClarAwards2025 | soundless by @milkplus.moe I've said before that this game helped me to get out of a very toxic relationship. In that regard, it may have saved my life. It's a cruel, intense story about faith. Faith in people, faith in systems, faith in oneself. I can't recommend it enough.

A visual novel screenshot. It depicts a woman with religious clothes, dark skin and white hair. There's narration on top, it says:

"Yiea poured water on my hair and began to work the shampoo into a lather on my scalp.

She started to hum a familiar tune, and I closed my eyes and listened.

<< Doon po-sa amin, bayan ng San Roque >>"

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 19/12/2025

The #ClarAwards2025 nominations for best game I played this year are: - soundless final verse - of the Devil: Episode 1 - truss - It gets so lonely here - Pyschopomp GOLD - qualia

A plaque for the fake ClarAwards2025. The nominations for best videogame I played this year are:

- soundless
- of the Devil: Episode 1
- truss
- it gets so lonely here
- Psychopomp GOLD
- qualia

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Favorite woman desings: - (spoiler) (Claymore) - Natsuo Ishido (Teppu) - Yoru (Chainsaw Man) - Miyamoto Musashi (Fate/Grand Order)

A monstrous woman with one horn and wings.

A girl black hair, a defiant stare, and a sports attire.

A girl with a school uniform and scars on her face, along with red eyes.

A woman wearing japanese clothes, using an eyepatch, and fighting with two swords.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 19/12/2025

Playing as Morgan in the of the Devil FPS

A hero shooter seen in first-person, the character is jumping towards an enemy and looking down, aiming their gun in such a way that you can see their massive tits.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 17/12/2025

XCOM style Märchen Line spin-off would be killer

My Steam Replay 2025. I've played 52 games, collected 207 achievements, had 263 play-sessions, and played 35 new games.

My most played games were:
- XCOM 2 (42% of my playtime)
- of the Devil (7% of my playtime)
- Silent Hill f (6% of my playtime)
- Asylum (4% of my playtime)
- Zortch (4% of my playtime)

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 14/10/2025

Compartí dos personajes que te gusten. Etiquetá cinco personas. (Share two characters you like. Tag five people.) @salvorindies.bsky.social @killyourradio.bsky.social @axcelon.bsky.social @hedronfairy.vvixens.com @perroconanteojos.bsky.social

The cover for issue 7 of Teppu by Moare Ohta, showing Yuzuko Mawatari. She's a brown-haired girl with short hair wearing MMA gear.

An image of Mordred Pendragon from Fate/Apocrypha and Fate/Grand Order. She's a blonde girl with a sardonic smile, clad on silver and red armor.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 30/09/2025

very late to the party, but I finally managed to do one of those character bingo things I actually wanted to make it a bit more fun and semi-periodically publish a brief write-up about each char on my blog. Who would you want to see written about first? (name list on alt text)

A bingo grid of my favorite characters. From left to right, top to bottom:

- Evangeline Morgan (of the Devil)
- Rider (Fate/Stay Night)
- Natsuo Ishidō (Teppu)
- Android 18 (Dragon Ball Z)
- Cucub (La Saga de los Confines)
- Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night)
- Celty Sturluson (Durarara!!)
- June (9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors)
- Beatrice (Umineko no naku koro ni)
- Yuzuko Mawatari (Teppu)
- Mordred Pendragon (Fate/Apocrypha)
- Rukia Kuchiki (BLEACH)
- FREE SPACE
- Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)
- Penny (Model Employee)
- The Gravedigger (It gets so lonely here)
- Bernkastel (Umineko no naku koro ni)
- Artoria Pendragon (Fate/Stay Night)
- Auma (soundless)
- Tier Harribel (BLEACH)
- Ringi Cordeiro (Teppu)
- Sophie Walten (The Walten Files)
- Stella (Scarlet Hollow)
- Girl (Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk)
- Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney)

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 25/09/2025

I'm playing peak. you wouldn't understand

The title screen for a retro FPS with old-school graphics. The game is called: "Zortch Maxinum Against The Alien Brainsuckers".

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 14/09/2025

fun! picrew.me/share?cd=Lmi...

A pale girl with blue eyes and messy hair, wearing a school uniform. It's raising an eyebrow and looking at you with a mischievous face

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 06/09/2025

me when another tech person that does something I enjoy turns out to be really bigoted:

Mr. Incredible, a superhero from the Pixar movie "The Incredibles", looking really defeated: "Shut the fuck up. Please shut the fuck up."

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 04/09/2025

My interview with @makevisualnovels.itch.io and @vimividivici.bsky.social is out! Thanks to both of you for taking the time. It was wonderful. thegeekiary.com/the-biggest-...

The banner for Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2025, taken from its itch page. It depicts a witch using an orb to see the future, she's dressed in purple attire and has a big hat. By her side there's candles, a black cat and a skull.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 25/08/2025

8. "It's Such a Beautiful Day" (2012, Don Hertzfeldt) So deeply human, so tragic and yet so hopeful. It's a masterpiece, and it's engraved in my soul. Perfect movie.

A drawing of a man with a top hat seeming distressed on a street corner. Text reads: "ITS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY — A FILM BY DON HERTZFELDT"

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 24/08/2025

7. "HROT" (2023, Spytihněv) The best revival boomer shooter. Nothing ever comes close. I hope you like the color brown. It's incredible, it's memorable, it's fun, it's HROT, you need to play it.

The cover for HROT. It's a completely brown image of a pipe and some lights.

Claribel @claribel.ink · 21/08/2025

6. "Art of Doubt" (2018, Metric) My favorite Metric album and one that never gets old. I just go back to hearing it over and over again. Black Saturday and Dressed to Supressed are some of my favorite songs.

Claribel @claribel.ink · 05/08/2025

doing a vn for a jam. I tried to make a list of references, and it seems totally normal

A list of games that inspired me for the thing I'm doing for the jam:
- "It gets so lonely here" (visual novel)
- "No-one has to die" (browser game)
- "¡Socorro!", by Elsa Borneman (a book)
- "World of Tomorrow" (an animated short)

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 30/07/2025

Well! Now the argentine features are getting started! Happy to publish an interview with a previous classmate and argentinian developer, part of Bohemian Productions thegeekiary.com/putting-the-...

A PSX rendering of a person looking a bus pass them by, in a city street.

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 29/07/2025

Kinda proud of getting a bit sillier with the prose.

A screenshot of an article:

"Turns out maintaining a livelihood can be quite costly. Food, shelter, fulfillment… It seems like our mortal carcasses and restless souls both need a ton of maintenance.

Far too many years ago, it was decided that the solution to this was working a job to keep being able to live. Far too many centuries or millennia later, we’re still debating if that’s even a good idea.

Of course it’s a good idea!, the big businesses say. Isn’t working all day in order to get a paycheck that you use to buy stuff such a fulfilling experience?

Verdict’s still out about it. I haven’t decided yet.

Tangentially, I recently played Model Employee, a visual novel made for the Spooktober VN Jam 2023 by Nth Circle, a group of developers I’m quite fond of and whose main work, of the Devil, I’ve reviewed for this website. They got first place!

It takes place in a dystopian future where an accident can leave you owing thousands in medical repairs and leave you consigned to working a menial job to repay it all."

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Claribel @claribel.ink · 25/07/2025

how do I end up with these things. Am I destined to recreating a Lain-type room? I need to cover all my windows, apparently. This is a Toshiba Satellite 2540CDS, the sticker says it comes with Windows 98 / NT.

The image of a Toshiba Satellite 2540CDS. It comes with a sticker that says it runs Windows 98 or Windows NT. It's a very old computer. kinda pretty, too.

5. "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors" (2009, Chunsoft) This game opened my mind to so much. To the potential of games for meta-narratives, for example. Or the wonderfully bizarre way of making so many seemingly unrelated things connect. A masterpiece, no doubt about it.

The cover for "9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors", showing all the main cast looking distressed.

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4. "Teppu" (2008 - 2015, Moare Ohta) A deeply engaging work about talent, effort, kindness, and lack thereof. It also made me realize that I needed to connect with my body and feel comfortable in my skin. Truly something special to me.

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3. "Los Días del Fuego" (2004, Liliana Bodoc) Liliana Bodoc is my favorite fantasy writer. It's a crime that her books aren't more readily available and if one day I have the means I'll make sure they are. The most beautiful and humanist prose that I've ever read. I adore it. Rest in peace.

The cover for "Los Días del Fuego", by argentine writer Liliana Bodoc. It shows an axe stuck in a stone, with a striking orange background behind both.

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2. "Hotline Miami 2" (2015, Dennaton Games) I think this is one of the best games ever made, and I find it an achievement on storytelling, gameplay and pure raw gamefeel. The fact that the devs didn't even have the whole picture because they were playing it at 0.5x speed is just the cherry on top.

The poster for Hotline Miami 2. It depicts a bearded guy with a hoodie and broken glasses looking at the viewer. Around there there's flames raging, and the silhouetthes of many people can be seen inside the flames.

1. "We're All Going to the World's Fair" (2021, Jane Schoenbrun) I had broken up with someone that meant a lot to me, and shortly after, I saw this movie. Then I understand the kind of game we were actually playing. Deeply transformative for me. Cathartic and wonderful.

A cover image for "We're All Going to the World's Fair", by Jane Schoenbrun. It depicts a girl in a distorted screen with a hand reaching towards her.

well! A bit late to the party, but I still wanted to give it a shot. For each like this post gets, I'll mention a game/film/series/song/album/book/whatever that means a lot to me. I'll try to keep it interesting!

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