iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 5h

Day 3. The thing you lock up in a dollhouse until shit gets bad. bsky.app/profile/nota...

Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 5h

Good responses here that might help folks navigate the language and actual terms. Everyone handles this a bit differently, and it generally shakes out about the same, but a bad deal and a great one can be an adjective and not a number.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Day 2. The Queen of Horror meets an alligator witch.

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Vince Dorse @vincedorse.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Snoopy and the Peanuts walking beneath the full moon on Halloween.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

First up. A documentary about England's last ritual sacrifice … maybe.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Haunt-Along 2026 An annual tradition collecting a thread about a horror movie each day through the month of October. Find 'em all here. 🐈‍⬛

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

How much The Last Sacrifice clicks for you may depend on how much you want that nail defined. (It doesn't seem interested in striking that on the head.) But if you’re at all a folk-horror weirdo, it’s absolutely worth tethering yourself into. It’s currently on Shudder / AMC+.

The Last Sacrifice title over a red and black photo of an English hillside

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Maybe the best way to grasp the The Last Sacrifice’s spiraling structure is through The Wicker Man’s tethered beetle. “The little old beetle goes round and round … til it ends up right up tight to the nail.”

youtube.com

The Wicker Man (1973) - the Beetle Scene

YouTube video by in_boil

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Are we talking about witchcraft causing a murder? A murder causing witchcraft? Witchcraft inspiring folk? Fiction inspiring murder? The Last Sacrifice says yes to it all.

Shot of hooded figures holding candles from a sensationalized documentary about witches

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Intensifying the kaleidoscopic spin is how Russell constructs the visual story from a constant rapid collage of horror films and archival footage … all woven like wicker. Actor Edward Woodward and investigator Robert Fabian represent themselves and each other, fact and fiction interlaced infinitely.

Edward Woodward peering at a cross from The Wicker Man

Robert Fabian with pipe and hat at Scotland Yard

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The Last Sacrifice takes us around a cycle of "truth inspires fiction inspires truth inspires fiction" several times, layering in new conspiracy-like connections at each spin … and then ponders if the Walton murder was part of a bigger, older thread wound about the British countryside.

Vintage illustration of the Rollright Stones, a witch points at a king while soldiers turn to stones in the background

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We start with the gruesome murder of Charles Walton. But simply solved at first stab, a conviction eludes investigators. Facts foment the folk horror genre in films like Wicker Man, which fuels real-world fascination with the occult, which stirs up further theories around the unsolved mystery.

Tabloid depiction of the "Witchcraft murder mystery" of Charles Walton

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Rupert Russell (yes, Ken’s son) takes an unusual approach in structuring the doc to achieve both ends of this. Rather than a linear true-crime mystery arc, Russell has built the documentary as a spiral, circling repeatedly and each time tightening toward its thesis.

A six-pointed star formed by swords in a ritual, as depicted in The Wicker Man

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

(You already know if this is for you.)

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It’s more complicated than that, sure. The myth needs to feel possible to trigger our God Gene and wind up the psychology to unground us. That’s the conundrum The Last Sacrifice tangles with: To be both a documentary ABOUT folk horror and a documentary that IS folk horror.

"One of the best horror documentaries in years". Pull quote from Horror Losers' review of The Last Sacrifice, as captured in the movie's trailer.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Hill I wish to die on: The definition of folk horror. It is *the folk* that create the horror. Not the folklore. The horror should not be dependent on the folk being correct in their belief. The belief is enough. (Hot take: Paradise Lost is the most folk-horror documentary because of this.)

A colossal man made of wicker with a staircase leading into its belly, standing on top of a hill. Production still from The Wicker Man.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The other approach to a horror doc is to expressly reject magical thinking. “The real horror is the appetite for horror.” The Cursed Films or Paradise Lost approach. Paradise Lost is one of the most unsettling, world-shaking things I’ve ever watched … but not because of Satanists.

youtube.com

Paradise Lost: Official Trailer (1996)

YouTube video by WarpFilmsUK

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Horror documentaries are … conundrums. The old-school made-for-TV approach treats supernatural rumor and folklore as real … or at least that kind of maybe potentially “we just don’t know” real. Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown vibes.

youtube.com

Time Life Books "Read the Book" Mysteries of the Unknown Commercial from 1989

YouTube video by Edwin Yuen

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#hauntalong October 1 The Last Sacrifice Directed by Rupert Russell A vividly collaged documentary that spirals around Britain’s folk horror zeitgeist, examining the murder of Charles Walton, its connection to The Wicker Man, and the Droste-effect influence of folk horror.

youtube.com

‘THE LAST SACRIFICE’ Official Trailer 2025 – The Truth Behind 1970s Folk Horror

YouTube video by Indie Film Worldwide | BritFlicks

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Love the spores on the type. Brilliant little detail.

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Brandon Sheffield @brandon.insertcredit.com · 01/10/2026

Several weeks ago, Phil Tippett's legendary animation studio in Berkeley, CA closed. An anonymous hero noticed a folder of CDs. This turned out to be hundreds of unseen hi-res images and videos from Star Wars, Robocop, Jurassic Park, etc. ~90 isos for you to browse: archive.org/details/tipp...

A casual Star Wars alien fella at the cantina, in a sun faded, reddish photo. Someone will be mad at me for not knowing who this is.

Phil, a balding Caucasian man, poses a model of the garthok, an antagonist from the Coneheads movie.

Phil, a balding caucasian man, points at some CG on a CRT computer monitor, as a younger man looks on. The screen shows a model of a dinosaur attacking a jeep, while there's an actual physical model of that event in the foreground for reference.

an isolated shot of a star wars vehicle. Sorry, I don't know star wars lol

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I've worked on 20% of the 15 greatest RPGS ever. So if you want to fight me next time you see me on the street, know that I am prepared.

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SoulMuppet Publishing @soulmuppet.co.uk · 30/09/2026

Atrapos' cover design is based on an actual, handmade mosaic by Catherine Parkinson. It's so heavy and delicate that Zach drove across country to the artist's house to pick it up (and have tea... Brits🤣). Support us in making ever wilder #TTRPG cover designs: www.kickstarter.com/projects/sou...

Photograph of the mosaic showing a godly figure with a heavy build, a bushy beard and a bare chest. He holds a ship like a toy in his hands, the ocean flowing out between his fingers.

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lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

15 years ago when Apocalypse World was new and people were beginning to understand and work with it, it was seductive to look at "acting under fire" and see, not one basic move of several, but the template underlying all the game's moves. Like @kierongillen.bsky.social 's classic gag:

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yeah, it seems like a desire for control, regardless. I'm thinking through being on both sides, and whenever we're taking risks with the budget, I've found a lot more stakeholders wanting to get their takes in place.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Is the cheapness maybe an indicator of perceived risk? The closer the client is to pushing past their budget/resources, the more they "need" the bet to pay off? Starts feeling like a game-theory thing.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Lemme float this. The skill in narrativist ttrpgs (like PbtA) is: - How I narrate my character moving through adversity Not: - How I watch dice show a big number The dice develop the next prompt for me to navigate, not how well I navigated the previous one.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My only note: Equity/royalty is def not a thing to offer up to a client who isn't equipped for it, buuuuuuuut if one offers it and has a history of doing it … I'd recommend exploring it. (Especially when you're getting a fair guarantee before that share kicks in.)

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Your record collection should be a trophy room of weird finds from flipping through bins and of personal white whales you had shipped from a shop in the Japanese countryside. This is the whole point of the thing: It’s the nostalgic, emergent, and tactile *experience* of discovery.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Why are list-numbering options in the same menu section as GenAI text? InDesign is drunk.

An Adobe InDesign menu with "Continue Numbering" sitting in the same set of options as Generate Text / Shorten / Lengthen and other GenAI features.

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Johan Nohr @nohr.se · 29/09/2026

If you can say yearly, weekly, daily, hourly, etc you should be able to say roundly and turnly.

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Lone Archivist @lonearchivist.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Bookings now open for logo / brand design, editorial layout, crowdfunding graphics, and more! Hit the CONTACT button on lonearchivist.com.

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Tanya Floaker @floaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I keep saying this, but we have been in a long golden age of game creation, and it isn't done yet. I can't think of a better time to be into ttRPGs across my lifetime than now.

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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This game was tickling my brain all last winter. It's pure Mike Martens goodness and will tickle your brain also.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Tourist Hole has been doing really well in retail shops and conventions … First run is sold out! So we're doing a second printing. It's a stark, whimsical exploration and escape of the stories we tell when we're in spaces between. If you'd like it on your shelf, contact @plusoneexp.bsky.social.

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Plus One Exp @ 🔜 Metatopia @plusoneexp.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I can't wait any longer! Time to reveal the covers for the Kingdoms Carved Combo! @robbiaburns.bsky.social manifesting a malicious modern Renaissance vibe for The 7th Order! @andrewbeauman.com & @thepressbetwixt.itch.io giving us a Y2K Illuminated manuscript for Ritual Deck! ttrpg.link/KCC 9/x

Two covers side by side. The 1st is "The 7th order" dripping in red in front of a leaning cathedral with harsh read light casting long shadows over a neighborhood. Three unaware security guards sit on a beat up patrol card taking a break in the foreground.

The second is "Ritual Deck: King of Games to the top right infront of light blues and whites clashing against the yellow aura of a dark shadow. The shadow stands behind a a smaller yellow and black figure holding a dueling sword with cards coming off of it and a crown motif behind them. In the foreground a purple haired student holds a green dueling staff of their own with a purple hair and masked shadow behind it. It's Time To DUEL!!!

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Michael Van Vleet (he/him) @signalstation.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Did you know... there's a new issue of Sprigs & Kindling out? The free fanzine for Carved from Brindlewood games? You get free Silt Verses content! Weird gods & weird followers! Plus: entire games! Amazing layout variety! There's a reason these folks were Ennie-nominated. sprigsandkindling.com

sprigsandkindling.com

Sprigs and Kindling

An ongoing digital zine of community collected creative works for Carved from Brindlewood TTRPG games

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Told this guy to come back in a couple weeks. No time for this shit right now.

Photo of a garbage can where the bag’s shadows have made a photo-realistic face. I mean, garbage ghost. it’s a garbage ghost.

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Lea Verou, PhD @lea.verou.me · 06/08/2026

🔥 New blog post: Dark mode toggles that expose three states (system, light, dark) seem like the best option. Until you think about user goals, that is. Before rushing to disagree, hear me out. lea.verou.me/blog/2026/da... PS: As a data point, @jakearchibald.com was converted after reading this 😅

lea.verou.me

Dark mode toggles: two states are enough • Lea Verou

Yes, the underlying model must have three states, but one is always irrelevant to the actual user goal. Users do not seek out solutions to problems they don’t currently have. A lot of the hate towards...

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Are they only “boogers” if they come out your nostrils? What if they slip out the back?

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I dropped the Public Access version of the elevator game into this one. And also you can play blackjack against Death in the form of an irradiated singing cowboy.

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Dinoberry Press @dinoberrypress.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Lair of The Reclaimed is a SUPER COOL dungeon! Jam made the map entirely from recycled materials like cardboard boxes and old papers. AND it features a ticking clock makes the party ask if it's worth it to face every monster they come across as the pressure builds.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

No, Warren Zevon did not write Werewolves of London about this. Please please stop. We have been over this so many times.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

There are two wolves inside me … - The ttrpg writer who sees the character-creation pick list as a chance to show the world my genius. - The ttrpg layout artist who needs all this irregular shit to fit onto a standard sheet of paper.

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Mike Martens | Clear Keep @clearkeep.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Apparently, some people think this is a satire of some contemporary discourse they "care more about," rather than being about Warren Zevon writing a song that is SOLELY, LITERALLY AND UNDENIABLY about werewolves in London. That thinking is exactly the cancer the werewolf-deniers want to spread.

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Richard @ R. Rook 🔜 Sleep @rrookstudio.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I just turned on "Sync with Mike Martens' Blocks and Mutes" and already life is easier.

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