iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Really enjoyed talking to @blkpolymer.blacksky.app about Northway Games’ “I Was A Teenage Exocolonist” on @imaginationasu.bsky.social ’s Skill Tree. Want to hear us get into card games, memory, science fiction, and heartbreak on a strange planet? Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX67...

youtube.com

CSI Skill Tree: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, with CY Ballard and Troy L. Wiggins

YouTube video by Center for Science and the Imagination

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Listen to me and many others talk about their Readercon experience!

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Digital chapbooks of the work produced by the Reimagining Public Goods workshop are now up on the ASU CSI website: csi.asu.edu/public-goods... (Including my vignette on food) (Lovely illustrations by Donovan Beeson)

Three small chapbooks displayed on a wooden surface. The collection is titled, Reimagining Public Goods, with three volumes, Housing, Food, and Material Goods. Sketch illustrations in red, green, and blue

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Jess @jessicaesquire.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I rewatched (almost) all of True Detective so I could write this article for you about Horror/Mystery mashups on @darkertimes.bsky.social. Many more examples inside, complete with dorky categorization. www.darkertimes.com/spooky-proce...

darkertimes.com

Spooky Procedurals: A Taxonomy

The horror-mystery mashup will never be defeated.

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

And at home at the Cosmic Mystery Club, a little about Star Trek, curiosity, and cosmic horror: www.cosmicmystery.club/p/death-and-...

cosmicmystery.club

Death and Curiosity Aboard the USS Enterprise

"...our existence is part of a reality beyond what we understand now as reality."

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Aura @aurahack.ca · 31/03/2026

trans day of i just want to exist bro leave me alone

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Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Swim, sea pig, swim! @echinoblog.bsky.social says this smooth swimmer, fr #ArgentinianDeepSeeps (2864m) belongs to family Elpidiidae, genus Peniagone. The urchin is an Echinothurioid, aka pancake urchin, w/cute "booties" on their spines around the bottom fringe for "walking" on soft sediments.

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

I wrote a little about my mysterious faves from Steam Next Fest: Burden Street Station, HYPNOS, Nocturne for Cyl-Hestia, and Woodrot (plus Titanium Court)

cosmicmystery.club

Oops! All Minute Mysteries (Steam Next Fest Edition)

Memories and dreams in Burden Street Station, HYPNOS, Nocturne for Cyl-Hestia, and Woodrot

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse screencaps that resonate with me, pt 1 / ?

A stylized graphic close up of a young man, Yuza Minakuchi, in a stoic pondering pose with his hand on his chin. He is thinking, 'I'm going to be super embarrassed.'

A stylized graphic close up of a man standing outside during the day, Avi Barnum, looking frustrated with his hand in his hair. He is saying, 'I assumed everyone would be jumping at the chance to discuss cryptids...'

A close up of a man, Avi Barnum, standing in a rural Japanese road in summer. He is melodramatically posing with his hands pressed to his ears, exclaiming, 'Now wait just a minute! I won't stand here and let my dumb joke actually become a salient point of discussion!'

Two characters are standing on a path beside the ocean. In the foreground is Sodo Kiryu, dressed in a mix of traditional Japanese spiritual clothing and a Western overcoat. Slightly behind him is Yumeko Shiki, dressed in a kimono and coverall apron. Sodo is thoughtful, repositioning glasses. Yumeko looks piqued with her hand raised, saying 'That couldn't be more suspicious, could it...'

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🏳️‍⚧️Jet Set Willært (Critical Kate) @katewillaert.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

This is somehow the most haunting bit of in-game lore I have ever read.

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Mythic 🦊 @mythicalredfox.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.

Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads:

The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you.

And our governments are very much the same...

- Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

This month I wrote a little about cult fave tv show Lodge 49 and how it resonated with my own search for weird mysteries: www.cosmicmystery.club/p/a-cosmic-m...

cosmicmystery.club

A Cosmic Mystery About Seeking Cosmic Mysteries

How to find a cosmic mystery, Lodge 49, and what to do with unresolved endings

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björk 182 @readsettle.rs · 28/02/2026

which way western man

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I’m sorry but that dog is a Cassette Beast, it should be at the train station fighting cosmic horrors with the power of friendship and impeccable jams

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JP @jpbrammer.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

writing an intro is a duel between two urges. one tells me I have a very narrow window of opportunity to hook a reader and so I should be compact, punchy, and informative. the other urge I lovingly call "my bullshit"

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

In anticipation of part 2 I went back and checked out some of the paths untaken and I’m good actually thanks

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

It’s so hard for me to think about anything besides @blacktabbygames.com's Scarlet Hollow right now. I've been playing a benign haunted weirdo from the start and thank you Chapter 5 part 1 for rewarding my terrible decisions. Pretty sure it's going to end so badly for me I'm so ready

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

“Sorry, I don’t actually work here.”

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

The overwhelming urge to set aside my Story About The Fascism to rewrite ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ and set it in the snowed-in Bass Pro Shop Pyramid

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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 15/01/2026

Nature valentines. This comic is now available as a set of 6 Valentines cards: topatoco.com/collections/...

A group of six nature valentines. A picture of a bog with pitcher plants, with text saying "Our love is like a bog. Built up over time, resistant to decay, deeply interesting to just a small number of people." A yellow slime mold stretching out and exploring. "Our love is like a slime mold. Collaborative, complex, at times unnerving to behold." A piece of limestone with a small trilobite in the corner. "Our love is like limestone. Layered, useful for many purposes, shaped by the friends we met along the way." A ring-billed gull with a french fry on a beach. "Our love is like a ring-billed gull. Abundant, found in North America, sometimes sustained by french fries." An Atlantic horseshoe crab walking on the sand. "Our love is like a horseshoe crab. Tough, timeless, unrelated to true crabs." A drawing of the phosphorus cycle, with arrows connecting various parts of a scene, including algae and fish and a farm and a river and a forest. "Our love is like the phosphorus cycle. Important, really hard to draw."

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HTTP 1.1/418 Eldritch Teapot of R'lyeh @rmd1023.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Reminder for everyone operating at situationally-diminished capacity.

Screencap of post from tumblr user nitewrighter
Me: I don't get it. I thought I was doing a lot better than I was a few years ago. I'm like 10 times more on top of things than I used to be. How does everything feel terrible now?
The Tiny Me in OSHA-approved Hi-Vis Gear Who lives in my brain and pulls all the levers: Boss, it's the fascism. You're completely gunked up with cortisol due to the fact that your entire daily life is now underscored with a haunting awareness of the rapid erosion of your rights, dignity, and any and all social safety nets, and you're also bearing witness to the most vulnerable people immediately being persecuted. This creates a natural stress response that basically means you're going to continue having memory and organizational problems, as well as emotional imbalances.
Me: BUT I HAVE A BULLET JOURNAL AND I MEDITATE NOW.
Tiny OSHA Me: BOSS, THE FASCISM.

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Jörg Hillebrand @gaghyogi49.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

This green flower dress (the most often re-used dress in #StarTrek history) was originally created for Alsia, played by K Callan in #StarTrekDS9's "Rivals". Look how much fun she has wearing it! 😊 I'm going to list all the re-uses of this dress here, including weird appearances and bloopers.🧵 1/11

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 23/12/2025

The survey is open to non-members (I am not one) and to readers (who here is not &c.) so I encourage you to share your feelings on the matter. Don't assume that everyone already understands that AI is bad or why! I mean, people *should*, but you could say that about a lot of things.

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Would love to try this out here in the Sonoran

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

This week I wrote a little about how Paradise Killer’s art direction puts players in the mind of the sleuth in Kaizen Game Works’ 2020 murder mystery game. Featuring hard questions from fish ghosts, getting lost in paradise, and various Knives: www.cosmicmystery.club/p/love-dies-...

cosmicmystery.club

Love Dies in Empty Paradise

"The day starts with a warm sun enveloping our lives in hope before bleaching the world clean under its scorching gaze."

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

FATHER JUD will return in CONCLAVE: THE NEXT GENERATION

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 20/12/2025

I've seen some people saying that the new SFWA rule on "AI" in the Nebulas will prevent people from being transparent about their LLM use. Newsflash: They wouldn't have been anyway. It would cost them readers. It would cost them votes. It would potentially cost them opportunities with publishers.

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Alexa Ray Corriea @alexaray.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

this is so incredibly 10000/10 niche I am howling

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John Moffitt 🌊🌊🧢 @johnmoffitt.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Stupid trilobite jokes. #TrilobiteTuesday

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

“Do not open before December 25th” ??? ?????????

A small ceramic mailbox for Letters to Santa on a table in a hotel lobby beside a Christmas tree. It reads “NORTH POLE express mail LETTERS for SANTA Do not open before December 25th”

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

All the good jokes about the US have already been made so. Gray-white in 2026? The bane of minimum viable apt remodels for the past decade?

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

I went to see Wake Up Dead Man the one day this extended holiday weekend I don’t have to be at a movie theater and yeah worth it

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Jacob Geller @jacobgeller.com · 26/11/2025

This is why Kentucky Route Zero and 1000xResist are the goats

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

People doing acoustic Letterboxd in my neighborhood

Train tracks and a wall on a sunny day. On top of painted-over graffiti, in black spray paint, ‘Donnie Darko Makes No Sense’

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

First cozy-cold Saturday of the year and that means Ball x Pit in bed before work

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Last week I wrote a little about Algernon Blackwood's The Willows, T. Kingfisher's The Hollow Places, Ocarina of Time randomizers, tamarisks, and writing character interiority at the intersection of mystery and cosmic horror: www.cosmicmystery.club/p/willows-re...

cosmicmystery.club

Willows + Revisitations

“...a host of beings from another plane of life, another evolution altogether, perhaps, all discussing a mystery known only to themselves.”

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

I first played FFIX when I was fifteen. Different characters and parts of the story have reflected my own life back to me as I’ve aged, and I still play it every few years to see what I see differently, what stays the same. (Also, some seriously cool fantasy library/archive designs.)

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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

"I long to read more in the book of you." Beloved Moomins creator Tove Jansson's almost unbearably beautiful love letters to the love of her life (who inspired her wisest Moomin character) www.themarginalian.org/2020/06/12/t...

themarginalian.org

“I’m so unused to being happy that I haven’t really come to terms with what it involves… I feel like a garden that’s finally been watered, so my flowers can bloom.”

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

New sights on South Mountain last night. Chatted with another hiker about identifying this pink-stemmed plant that's covering so much of the ground right now.

Sunset on South Mountain in Phoenix. Close-up of a to be identified purslane-like plant with deep pink stems and silver-green leaves, amaranth and creosote bush in background

Sunset on South Mountain in Phoenix. Vertical landscape showing an unidentified silver-green plant covering much of the ground, occasional rock outcropping, creosote bush, barrel cactus.

Sunset on South Mountain in Phoenix. A trail at near-dark, cirrus clouds overhead in bars of bright orange, pink, and blue-gray

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

This is extremely hard. I feel like #kyanite represents all the minerals I previously disregarded and came to appreciate over #MinCup25 but #tugtupite represents all the new minerals I learned so much about this month

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J. Raasch @jraasch.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

#MinCup25 Yay … someone shared explanation the greenish blue. What causes the other colors observed in #kyanite? What about the very green samples? I need to know … but not enough to try hard to bypass paywalls. 🫠

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Philippe Smet @pfsmet.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Colours are super important in #MinCup25, no? Here is the bracket, with the colors superposed (of course, some minerals have multiple, so I took the snippets from the images on the voting posts or the website). Don't forget to vote (once)! It's super close now. www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r5...

Bracket of Mineral Cup 25, with for each mineral, a small image, showing the dominant color.

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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Went to the library since I finished my draft and I’m allowed to read books again. (Don’t ask me how many holds I placed.) Probably shouldn’t have gone alone?

A stack on books in a living room on a coffee table. Library copies of Shutter by Ramona Emerson, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand, Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen MacDonald, Amrikan by Khushbu Shah, The Korean Vegan Cookbook by Joanne Lee Molinaro, and Nordic Light by Simon Bajada. Used books from the library store are The Toynbee Convector by Ray Bradbury, The Nitpicker’s Guide for X-Philes by Phil Farrano, and Shibori by Karren K. Brito

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Martin Hajovsky @martinhajovsky.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

I mean, look at these choices: #Hematite: Turns Mars red, key in telling early Earth story #Kyanite Anisotropic & BLUE!!! Blueblueblue! #Tugtupite Piezoelectric reindeer blood! #Dioptase Birefringent GREEN!! Greengreengreen! In the end, there can only be one #MinCup25 champion.

Kyanite. The only thing bluer was Robert Redford’s eyes.

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