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

Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse screencaps that resonate, pt 2

A young blonde woman, Circe, is standing outside on a Japanese street. Grimacing slightly, she says, "The whole area is literally oozing cursed energy..."

A Japanese detective in a suit, Ide, is speaking on an old corded phone. Pouting, he says into the receiver, "This wouldn't be the work of some supernatural phenomenon again, would it?"

A young Japanese woman, Sato, is hiding in the bushes at night with her eyes closed. She thinks to herself, "Hmm, there are just as many people around here."

Two young Japanese woman are standing and talking inside wartime ruins. One, Tsukasa, is listening, hands on hips. Sato, pondering with her hand on her chin, says, "Either way, if we could somehow stop this Curse of the Raging Waves or whatever, it'd probably solve all my problems."

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

I've flown United for the past year and a half to use up travel credits for a cancelled international trip and it's been dreadful every time.

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

Hmm don’t like boiled peanuts guy and Sybil sharing notes

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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 · 20/02/2026

This was in my real life morning shower thought list last week

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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 · 19/02/2026

Matcha tastes like dirt and that’s why I like it but also matcha tastes like dirt when it’s dirt matcha

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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 · 01/02/2026

Nocturne! Everyone’s nonwoke fave. Starts with a tech bro destroying the world bc he thinks he can do it better and spends the next thirty hours dissecting how power structures gatekeep in order to promote bigotry, isolation, and suffering. These losers side with the angels then get played in Hell

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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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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

I listened to the soundtrack first somehow and that’s what led me to play the game! Still one of my favorites

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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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Words-ish Katamari @cyballard.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

My experience with learning photobashing was that it was already a makeshift tool used to accommodate the extremely unimaginative stakeholders in a project who refused to engage with sketches (in my very specific design field.) So framing AI as an improvement on that is

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