iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

People think of the SNES as the superior machine for RPGs, but that wasn't always the case. People forget this period of time when Sega had Phantasy Star and Shining Force, and Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger and Earthbound hadn't come out yet. There was real competition between them for a bit.

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Of the crop of great RPGs that released around 1991, my favorite is Phantasy Star IV. Crazy ahead of its time in terms of gameplay, graphics, sound, story, everything. Phantasy Star has been out of things so long, it's easy to forget they were once up there with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

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"I am a fist amidst the hands," is such a perfect encapsulation of teenage Elli. Very relatable to who I used to be. music.youtube.com/watch?v=JjR6...

Wrecking Ball

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I've never been convinced entirely of the idea of a "B Side" as a concept. A lot of my favorite albums actually get better toward their back half. A lot of concept albums put their climax two or three tracks from the end, for one thing.

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Making dinner, grooving to music, dancing with my kids, completely in my element. Feeling very grateful right now.

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I think every single dinner I know how to make starts with dicing an onion. I probably have more practice dicing onions than I do at any other cooking task.

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WarioWare Characters on a Twister Board

My son is watching WarioWare videos, and personally I think it's inspiring that Wario has managed to make such an eclectic bunch of cool, attractive friends despite being a nasty troglodyte of questionable moral character. If he found his people despite all that, maybe we all can.

static.klipy.com

ALT: WarioWare Characters on a Twister Board

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"I wanna fight, I wanna bite, I wanna swallow all the light..." music.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqy8...

Until It Doesn’t Hurt

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Don't remember when I started using panko breadcrumbs in meatloaf, but it's a great hack. The texture is so much nicer than standard breadcrumbs.

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I dunno why, but I like my showers scalding hot and my drinks freezing cold. Like, to the point that they hurt. I've mastered putting drinks in the freezer until they're just about to turn into slush. Anybody else?

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I started showering in the dark by candle light and it's been a complete game changer. I no longer find shower time so dysphoric, and it's less of a sense of complete sensory overload.

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I'm not great at it, either, but the point isn't to be great. The point is, no matter how stressed or tired you are, it feels good. It's comforting. Keeps my emotions regulated. For that brief moment all I care about is hitting the next note on time, and not everything going wrong.

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Also relevant to a lot of list entries I'm seeing: someone once asked me if I'm a "Fallout Queer or a Metal Gear Solid Queer" and I think about that often.

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I'm all over the place in time and genre, here. This spans a lot of stuff I played from childhood through college. It's amazing to me how much video games evolved in that time. Also shout out to Klonoa, which makes a huge impression despite being two hours long and very easy. Just a joy of a game.

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Hyperfixating on the part of this song where he just lists names rapid-fire. Listening to it over and over, singing along, pacing around my kitchen. Just magical. music.youtube.com/watch?v=JeKA...

YouTube video by Logan Whitehurst & the Junior Science Club - Topic

Me and the Snowman

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YouTube video by BaltimoraVEVO

Love the verses on this song. I find the chorus supremely irritating, but I do have to admit it's very catchy. I'm surprised this didn't catch on. youtu.be/4Ch9AsQ88Rw?...

youtu.be

Baltimora - Woody Boogie

This initially unreleased song is probably best known for being reworked into the Ice Cap Zone theme in Sonic 3, but the original song is a complete bop, too! Check it out! music.youtube.com/watch?v=q9sd...

YouTube video by The Jetzons - Topic

Hard Times

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Based on streaming numbers, I'm willing to call this the most underrated Mother Mother track ever. It's one of the standout tracks on "Inside", but it barely has half a million views. Won't you jam out to it with me? music.youtube.com/watch?v=57-J...

Like a Child

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It's a fantastic movie. It's visually stunning, the music is phenomenal, and De La Cruz is a great villain.

Now that school is back in session it feels weird taking walks by myself. I got so used to having my little buddies tagging along with me all summer. I have to get used to solitude again.

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And nothing is tenser than an 8 bit dungeon crawl. I find Dragon Quest II more terrifying than any Resident Evil game. It's a game about dying underground. The tension is through the roof and you're managing scarce resources under enormous pressure. Remakes rarely make me feel that way.

What's interesting about these games is how they use primitive, blunt game design instruments to create engagement because nothing better was possible at the time. The grinding is a pain, but spending all that time with your little blobs of pixels helps you grow attached.

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I don't see the point of rereleasing an 8 bit RPG but sanding off all the jank and difficulty. Like, congratulations, you've managed to make a version of the original Final Fantasy that's eight hours long and completely unengaging, where you hold down the auto-attack button and win every fight.

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WhimsyFox @ellicharger.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

People will tell you to quit smoking, but there isn't a commercially available drug that helps babbling, panicky PTSD symptoms quite like nicotine or THC. All those soldiers in the World War trenches knew it, and now a whole generation of traumatized kids with abusive parents knows it, too.

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Vacation is crazy because I'll do a five mile nature hike followed by four and a half hours of swimming, taking care of small children the entire time, and I still won't be tired. Meanwhile at home just getting through a load of dishes and a walk to the corner store feels insurmountable.

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WhimsyFox @ellicharger.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Right-wing religious extremists are always like, "that temptress overwhelmed me with her sexy feminine wiles!" but they're talking about their secretary who isn't allowed to wear jeweley or makeup and wears a floor-length, long-sleeved turtleneck dress to work every day...

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WhimsyFox @ellicharger.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Seriously underrated Lemon Demon deep cut, right here. It's just a random B side off View-Monster, but it's packed to the brim with hooks and it just makes you want to bounce. music.youtube.com/watch?v=qbxJ...

YouTube video by Lemon Demon again. - Topic

The Afternoon

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In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Making a great big pot of spaghetti sauce tonight. It's my oldest son's favorite meal. And the leftovers will last all week!

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Reposted by WhimsyFox

Important otter tummy content:

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Spent a lovely afternoon by the pond with my kids. The ducks were holding court, flying around and quacking up a storm. We just sat by the water and played with fallen leaves and passing dogs for over an hour, then walked to the playground so my youngest could play on the slides. Feeling very happy.

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Cooking dinner and swaying to this masterpiece. It's nice to just let go of my troubles for a minute and get lost in some music. music.youtube.com/watch?v=e6w5...

Burning Pile

I might like or dislike a song on first listen, but a lot of them have to have some time to grow on you. To become familiar. Especially if you're listening to anything with any depth to it. There's things you won't hear the first time, no matter how observant and musically inclined you are.

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WhimsyFox @ellicharger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Love some music reaction videos, but I feel like the inherent flaw with them is that you can't really evaluate an album or a song after one listen. I have to play an album front to back at least five times before I even know if I like it.

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The violence and death are so omnipresent they're basically characters in the book. You can't go three pages without an absolute slaughter, or an execution, or even just someone dying of illness. Death is everywhere.

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WhimsyFox @ellicharger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I semi-cringed my way through a passage about Comanches being extremely violent, thinking this was a racist portrayal of natives as exceptionally cruel and barbarous. But nope! The white Americans and Mexican army are doing it too. Everybody's mutilating everybody!

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WhimsyFox @ellicharger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Okay, so as I've kept reading Blood Meridian it's finally started to click. I'm following the plot, and while the characters' motivations are still pretty alien to me, they're very compelling nonetheless. It's definitely the most violent and sphincter-clenching book I've ever read.

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Genuinely doesn't help that most of the characters don't have names, and he doesn't use quotation marks to make it clear when people are talking.

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"Oh, some guy just asked the main character to move out of the way, so he kicked him in the jaw and now they're fighting to the death for no reason. Oh, they're immediately friends afterward for reasons I don't get. Oh, now they're burning down a hotel with Some Guy in it." I am so lost.

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Reading "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, and I do not understand why anybody is doing anything in this book. It's action packed and compelling, but multiple times per chapter I'm staring, rereading, and wondering what I missed. Is it me, or is it the book?

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