iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

For new followers, I’m creating a Taino-inspired oracle deck and in each of my seasonal mail drops, borikenmailclub.com members are getting one of the cards as well as following the making of it in newsletters. Join BMC if that’s something you’re interested in! 🖤

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This month's newsletter is out! If you'd like to read my piece about Project Hail Mary and how it's a movie about disabled relationships, you can sign up and access it in my archive 🖤 buttondown.com/TORO/archive...

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This month's Borikén Mail Club oracle card mini print is out! If you aren't a member and would like to receive this and future mail drops in your mailbox, you can join at borikenmailclub.com 🖤

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Ah gracias!!! I will no doubt make more coquí pieces in the future, so keep an eye out 🖤

I wrote more about this & showed more examples in the Borikén Mail Club members only section of my April newsletter, join if you'd like access to the archives! This print is available in the Fauna BMC Mini Prints pack here: www.destinytoro.com/...

A photo of an illustrated mini print, of a coquí frog sitting on a leaf

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"In the coquí, I see several motifs that are used throughout Taino art and design. Some of these motifs may not have originated with observing specifically the coquí and could be just reflections of the motifs' existence throughout nature, which itself is a theme found within the Taino worldview."

An illustration of a coquí frog with the angles of its legs highlighted in red, on the left. On the top right are two photos (taken by me at Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Cagüana) of a ceramic stylized frog made by our Taino ancestors, one highlighting the leg angles in red. Below that are various hand drawn designs using those same angles.

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If you’re not on my email list and want to read it tomorrow, you can sign up at destinytoro.com

TORO @destinytoro.com · 31/08/2026

Newsletter subs 📣 I normally send my newsletter out on the 1st & this one is a long one, I’m talking about Project Hail Mary from a disability lens. I’ve REALLY enjoyed writing it!! It’s a piece I’ve wanted to write for years, long before PHM. But I’m still editing it, so it’ll go out tomorrow 🖤

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3/ I have a whole newsletter piece about this from April, you can sign up to read it here: buttondown.com/TORO/...

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TORO @destinytoro.com · 31/08/2026

2/ I like to think that van Gogh would have been even more prolific and even greater if he wasn’t so restricted by the things tormenting him. I don’t think it was pain that made him so great—I think his painting brought him whatever happiness he had."

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TORO @destinytoro.com · 31/08/2026

1/ I asked myself, Did I need to experience all that suffering to finally get to visual art as a path? And David Lynch answered my question. "..people might bring up Vincent van Gogh as an example of a painter who did great work in spite of—or because of—his suffering...

An abstract waterfall landscape in blues with red and orange accents

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TORO @destinytoro.com · 29/08/2026

Yes! I really love that set of stories in which it sits and all of the context. Our stories are so rich 🖤

Destiny Toro is an artist and animator in Puerto Rico creating portals through vibrant depictions of local nature and geometric indigenous Taino designs.

2/ ...Of being reconnected to an essential part of myself that had been there for me as long as I could remember." - excerpt from my July newsletter I write about things that influence my art- esp nature, disability, and indigeneity- in my free newsletter. You can sign up at destinytoro.com 🖤

destinytoro.com

TORO

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1/ "One day, the sun finally breached, illuminating everything. I could finally see a vast landscape with so many creative destinations and paths. It was this moment that suddenly I realized that whole time- for 4 whole years- I hadn't had a horizon. And now I had one. The relief of seeing it...

Photo of a gold and purple sunrise over a Puerto Rican mountain landscape

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Checked Deflock for the first time in about 6 weeks and was STUNNED at how many new cameras have gone up in PR in that amount of time. Not surprised, but definitely stunned.

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Last few days to join borikenmailclub.com in time to receive this mini print in next month's Mail Drop! If you know one person who might be interested in joining, can you send them my website? Having this stable monthly income is essential & word of mouth is the best free way for you to support me🖤

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This is my last Avian August bird for this round, thank you for following along!

TORO @destinytoro.com · 26/08/2026

Our endemic & critically endangered Puerto Rican Amazon/Cotorra Puertorriqueña for #AvianAugust 🖤 Our surviving Taino word for them is iwaca. paralanaturaleza.org/conserva/historias-conservacion/cotorra-puertorriquena destinytoro.com #ArtSky #BirdArt #NatureArt #NoAI #IndigenousArt

Illustration of a green Puerto Rican parrot with a red forehead turned to look at the viewer surrounded by various blue silhouetted plants and a dark blue background. Border is red with olive green and light turquoise Taino style designs.

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3/ And as I explain in the newsletter, I think conflating tension and suffering is the wrong approach. You can read the full piece at buttondown.com/TORO/... 🖤

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TORO @destinytoro.com · 26/08/2026

2/ ...bumping-up-against-your-limits wrestle with yourself that is necessary to get to the next step or to the end. If you are in love with the process, you come to expect- even welcome- this tension; if you are not someone who loves the process, you *might* mistake this as suffering."

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TORO @destinytoro.com · 26/08/2026

1/ "...I describe the ugly phase in a piece of artwork or the hard phase of learning a new skill or the jumbly, unsure period of a project as 'painful but exquisite.' We find this same natural tension in all growth and learning and creative processes. It's an exciting, frustrating...

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Reposted by TORO

Colectivo Recuperando El Aire @recuperandoelaire.boriken.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

A veces fallan las palabras para tratar de explicar que estamos volando un avión sin sensores adecuados en cuanto al COVID. Pero sigue siendo la verdad. #puertorico

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I'm the opposite. I love writing essays but cannot fucking write titles. It's why all my newsletter titles are "[Month] Newsletter" lmaooo

I'm currently writing all about this for my free September newsletter! If you'd like to read it, it'll be out on the 1st. You can sign up for it at destinytoro.com 🖤

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Yes! And what is common to find in a lot of ppl is that w lack of diaphragm breathing, the ASMs then take on the burden of trying to lift more than the first 2 ribs, which then takes them out of balance w mms around them/creates trigger points/creates massive pain flares/etc.

I knew you were going to say *exactly* these muscles!! I’ve been suspecting this myself, due to my own sx. I’ve been having to do A LOT of work on those muscles- and sometimes on my anterior spine- this year. My almost 400hrs of orthopedic & myofascial massage training has been coming in handy.

2/... through many different kinds of people, all tied to our ancestors who manifest themselves in our current world in various beautiful, creative ways." Sign up & read the full newsletter at buttondown.com/TORO/... 🖤

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