iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Thank you Gareth - I've been reading HoL recently! I'll look into Howling Dogs especially. Hope all's well with you.

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I'm trying to make a text adventure that is also a mind palace and resting place for carefully salvaged, mostly cringey, possibly undead writing from 20 years ago. I'm keen to hear about text games that do a really good job of instilling a navigable and memorable 3D landscape or structure.

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Soraya Chemaly @sorayachemaly.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Cornell, LSU, the Burnerverse, Clavicular…just one week. Men are putting their impunity and cruelty on display so brazenly. Humiliating/punishing women has always gone on, but now rape is networked, scalable, monetized. Our systems aren’t failing, tho, they’re doing what they are designed to do.

sorayachemaly.substack.com

33. A Long Read About Living in a World Where Men Publicly Bond over Women’s Humiliation and Pain

From the Burnerverse to Cornell to Clavicular, our society is all too happy to shift the cost and burden of sexual violence and male onto victims to protect men

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Emily Zhu Bo Ging @dragonfucker69.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A realis mood is the grammatical form indicating truth: The fire is dying. An irrealis mood would instead indicate any other possibility. The fire might not die. The fire must not die. Let not the fire die. Pyrrealis, then, is what flint speaks to tinder. emilyzhu.itch.io/pyrrealis

emilyzhu.itch.io

Pyrrealis: Upon the 107th Convocation Regarding the Semiotics of Flame by Emily Zhu 朱保敬

Knowledge is fire. Truth burns.

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ashley bardhan @ashleybardhan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

is there a better word than devastated? (shattered? fly-swatted?) anyway i've been laid off. i joined gamesradar+ as a freelancer in 2023, and the site had my lifelong admiration by the time i became a senior writer in 2024. i'll miss it lmk if u need a creepy🧟‍♀️ gurl: ashleybardhan(at)gmail(dot)com

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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates how Kotick used the threat of defamation to reshape his legacy in the games business, one article at a time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

youtube.com

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

YouTube video by People Make Games

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Great piece of reporting, though we should be wary of relying on blackbox AI detectors (the article employs a good mixture of investigative methods, besides Pangram).

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jessica harvey @jessiscah23.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Roman Sands RE:Build is out. After so many years, you can finally play our labour of love. It's deranged, it goes SO MANY PLACES, it probably shouldn't exist, and I've no idea if you're going to like it or not but that ain't the point. Roman Sands RE:Build. store.steampowered.com/app/2231460/...

store.steampowered.com

Save 10% on Roman Sands RE:Build on Steam

A service industry adventure with an apocalyptic flavor. A manic genre mashup told across two broken realities. Step through the cracks: find your Exit.

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Ａ．Ｄｅｇｅｎ　Ａｒｔ @adegenart.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

More specifically I made the character portraits And dioramas you may find about the psycho-sexual terror in a museum of the fascist heart Jump into the future NOW

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

What are the hallmarks of 'stolen' time & effort, versus 'genuine' intent, collaboration, failure? Can you read a level for signs of crunch? What forms of management culture appear in ideas about flow? Given enough mindfulness of our probable ignorance, it should be fun to discuss these things.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Risk of witchhunts aside, anxiety about genAI makes rhetorical space to argue that thinking about labour and production context is a natural element of appreciating art in the moment, in the face of efforts to wall these considerations out and portray such analysis as killjoy politics homework.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Continue to think that one upside of the attempted normalisation of AI-generated art is the opportunity for a countervailing push to understand and appreciate the artworks and aesthetics that are being co-opted, including their conditions of labour. www.rockpapershotgun.com/hopefully-a-...

rockpapershotgun.com

"Hopefully a meteor will strike the earth soon": Game devs talk genAI witchhunts and the importance of honing your visual literacy

Failbetter, New Blood and other game developers on the importance of honing your visual (and technical) literacy if you want to effectively fight against genAI.

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Dr. Emily Price @emilyprice.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

My planned columns about women and the games industry return; this time I’d like to talk to women who review video games about their experiences landing and writing reviews, especially recently. If this is you, reach out via DM or eaprice.work@gmail.com

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spooky scary renegade cut @renegadecut.com · 30/08/2026

found something great on reddit, which is such a rare happenstance that i felt i should post it

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This is the engineer Jones, the blueprint man, / loving the place he designed, visiting it alone. from The Book of the Dead, Muriel Rukeyser (1938) wvupressonline.com/node/717

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gita “the formalist” jackson @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

if you are a person of color and want to pitch to aftermath, i encourage you to do so. if you haven't pitched before or want to talk through an idea before you send it to the pitch email, give me a shout via email gita @ aftermath.site

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Jank @jank.cool · 20/08/2026

Here are Jank's subscriber goals. It's simple - the more people join, the more writers we let out of their cages. www.jank.cool/behold-our-f...

jank.cool

Behold, our first subscriber goals

Here’s what we will do if more of you all support us

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Cheers, I saw that - been in touch with them!

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I notice you have given three variations here. Are you secretly a Vampire Survivor, Brendan

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I'm working on a feature about videogame art that has been falsely accused of using genAI. If it's happened to you and you'd like to share thoughts about why your work attracted suspicion, feel free to give me a bell: edwin.evansthirlwell@rockpapershotgun.com

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

So much concentrated great criticism - hats off to all of you!

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Bullet Points @bpmonthly.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Bullet Points Monthly started 10 years ago. To mark a decade of the site, our editors--Yussef Cole, Reid McCarter, Astrid Anne Rose, and Ed Smith--looked at the state of the shooter. We also got nine contributors to do the same. bulletpointsmonthly.com/2026/08/19/s...

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Avery Edison @averyedison.com · 27/04/2026

Something to bear in mind as things get harder, from a 2009 Metafilter post from someone who lives through Sarajevo.

Metafilter post from Dee Extrovert part 1: Well, unlike the majority of you (l assume), 1 actually lived several years in a period of savagery and killing, during which nothing - food, water, electricity, phone, clothing, sense of safety, school, the ability to go out in public, etc - was available, except during totally unpredictable, brief and sporadic occasions.
Of those who couldn't leave my city, Sarajevo:
Some people (very few) were prepared for what they thought would be the "long haul" - this tended to be a couple of months. These people were widely seen as lunatics and dangerously pessimistic ones at that.
Most people were not at all prepared. This included my family. Many of those - like my family - considered the idea of "preparation" to be an affront to the decency we felt most people possessed. Were we wrong? Well, I don't know. We suffered greatly; my parents were killed. But speaking only for myself, I never felt I cheapened my soul by betting on calamity.
Today, that still feels like it's worth something.

Metafilter post from Dee Extrovert part 2: But here's the main point: "Preparing" for the disaster really didn't do anyone much good. Those who
"prepared" ate a little better for a while. They stayed warmer for a few extra days. They enjoyed the radio for a while longer (via batteries.) But in the end, they ended up hungry, cold and bored too, just like the rest of us. Guns and weapons helped no one directly and were even of little to no use in the defense of Sarajevo, since they were toys compared to the shells, bombs and high-powered armaments of the attacking forces.
The worst parts of war were psychological - the fear, anxiety, boredom, loneliness, paranoia, bad dreams.
Respite from those things came with sharing food with a neighbor, finding a piece of clothing that would fit someone you knew, commiserating with others in your position, figuring out how to make make-up from brick or french fries from wheat paste and spreading this newly-acquired war knowledge around the mahala.
We knew who had extra food and supplies. For the most part, they weren't attacked or hassled or bothered. Contrary to what these survivalists say, those in dire times generally hold on to their personal sense of pride even more than they do in normal times. I'd take a bite of a friend's salad without bothering to ask in normal times. I'd never have done that in wartime, no matter how hungry I was.

Metafilter post from Dee Xtrovert: Well, unlike the majority of you (l assume), 1 actually lived several years in a period of savagery and killing, during which nothing - food, water, electricity, phone, clothing, sense of safety, school, the ability to go out in public, etc - was available, except during totally unpredictable, brief and sporadic occasions.
Of those who couldn't leave my city, Sarajevo:
Some people (very few) were prepared for what they thought would be the "long haul" - this tended to be a couple of months. These people were widely seen as lunatics and dangerously pessimistic ones at that.
Most people were not at all prepared. This included my family. Many of those - like my family - considered the idea of "preparation" to be an affront to the decency we felt most people possessed. Were we wrong? Well, I don't know. We suffered greatly; my parents were killed. But speaking only for myself, I never felt I cheapened my soul by betting on calamity.
Today, that still feels like it's worth something.

Posted on Jan. 28th 2009. 1696 favorites

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 11/08/2026

I've talked about the Sameer Project before—an excellent life-saving on-the-ground initiative in Gaza. Since April 2024, they've distributed nearly a quarter of a million meals alone (plus water, medical care, and shelter). But funding has dropped so much that they'll have to shut down without help.

chuffed.org

Food & Water x The Sameer Project

Translating Falasteen (Palestine), in collaboration with The Sameer Project, launched a fundraising campaign to support families in Gaza facing severe hardships. Our mission is to provide food & water...

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Jade King ✍️ OPEN FOR WORK @konayma6.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

No time like the present - if you're PR, editors, or even just a little curious go ahead and add jadekingfreelance@gmail.com to your lists ❤️ getting chinese later it feels justified.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Thanks to yourself and teakagee for replying!

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Your drive-by belittling teaches me nothing about Ögedei Khan, Jonty, shouldn't you be off writing Important Business News

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

A more specific call for article input: I'm very keen to talk to a Mongolian historian who can talk about the cultural significance of the Yam networks - what it means to portray and celebrate those institutions today.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Be interested to read your thoughts on it!

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Unwinnable @unwinnable.com · 23/07/2026

ICYMI: "Assassin’s Creed was unusual: a game produced in the West in which we inhabit an (albeit Occidentalized) West Asian freedom fighter resisting a European invasion." @mlupetti.upandpunch.red on playing Assassin's Creed during the Gaza genocide and 25 years after 9/11:

buff.ly

Replaying the first Assassin's Creed Videogame During the Gaza Genocide - Unwinnable

Few Western games would have allowed us to play “the terrorist.”

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Emanuel Maiberg @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

companies are sourcing millions of printed books for AI labs that scan them for training data, then destroy them. printed books are more valuable because they're free of AI slop, and AI labs know destroying them is an "optics problem." www.404media.co/ai-companies...

404media.co

AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop

ISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.”

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Caelyn @caelyn.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I'm sad to say that I'm no longer working with the team at Rascal. It's been a great couple of years, but circumstances have dictated that it's time for me to move on. That does mean that I'm now (quite desperately) looking for freelance work, so if you need words for/about games, my DMs are open.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

crazy cars, game over screen, macintosh (1988) www.mobygames.com/game/781/cra...

monochrome chunky pixelated graphics with four cars, standing hoods first in the dirt (boots in the air). a forest surrounds them. big text up top: game over

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Managed to catch Covid again during a press trip, despite masking up for travel - I may be hard to reach for the next week or so.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

"Decay can extract softness from despotism, political persistence from the abolition of utilizable power... Decay mars power on virtual surfaces of zero, there to be rotten and reeked up; but above all, decay leeches death from the living without falling into the black transparency of death."

icamiami-org.storage.googleapis.com

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Unwinnable @unwinnable.com · 11/07/2026

"The frog in the boiling pot of water looks around and finds all that’s left is hot metal." @jaymcastello.bsky.social reflects on 10 years of writing in the games space:

unwinnable.com

10 Years in the Game Space - Unwinnable

2016 games media was clumsy. 2026 games media is a fucking disaster.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I do! They ain't talking so far, despite much wheedling

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Journalism isn't dead, we have just pivoted to Magpies. Thanks for talking!

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

This certainly looks like my goblet of parsnips - cheers!

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Roger Hare @hareontherun.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Nine Pens Poetry Press currently open for pamphlet submissions 😊 Pamphlets | Nine Pens share.google/xj0WxWOqOp2v...

share.google

Pamphlets | Nine Pens

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Brendy_C @brendyc.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Valnet is a journalist's idea of hell. Support indie games media where you can and help to kill this bullshit. pressgazette.co.uk/news/confusi...

pressgazette.co.uk

Confusion and anger as publisher moves journalists to pay-per-click contracts

Journalists on The Gamer paid $8 per thousand clicks.

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Edwin Evans-Thirlwell @edwinet.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

If you have ever had to belatedly turn an online-required game into an offline-capable game, and would like to come sob bitterly into my shoulder while I transform your anguish into an article of some kind, please, hit me up: www.rockpapershotgun.com/authors/edwi...

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autumn wright 🍂 @autumn-wright.com · 30/06/2026

just sent the email ending the lease at my apartment of 4 years to move next month AND got word I'm losing my part-time editing job that's covered my cost of living for 3 years so uh hey who needs a copy editor?

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Chancellor! @cdsart.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Counting Petals

A room decorated in various flower themed decorations of every kind and colorm. including a wall paper, various abstract paintings of flowers on the wall, a side table painted with flowers. On top of the side table is a flower vase, a flower lamp, a rabbit holding a flower ceramic statue, a bird sitting on a flower ceramic statue, a tulip ceramic statue and then another painting of flowers. There is a single window in the room and outside looms a group of barely visible police officers in swat gear staring inside. There is a door to the right almost out of frame. A single dandelion taped across it like a lock.

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Jank @jank.cool · 24/06/2026

Unreal killed Blueprints last week and also all my cats. www.jank.cool/blueprints-i...

jank.cool

Blueprints is dead, and so is my unfinished game about cats

Goodbye to the only way I know to code

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