iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The prequel stories for Blackstar Squad should now be live on my website. Anyone curious about what the tone or style of the story will be should go take a look! (These stories will also be included in the full book, probably at the end as an appendix.)

jackkeldragon.github.io

Blackstar Squad Prequel Stories

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Nearly finished preparing the Blackstar Squad prequel stories to be posted on my website. I've got some offline stuff I might be busy with this week, but I'll try to get the post up soon so people can get a preview of the tone of the book while I do the revision pass.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I feel compelled to point out that I started writing Blackstar Squad before the US decided to emulate the dystopian state that is the focus of the story, meaning: - I wasn't planning to make a "ripped from the headlines" type novel - I apologize if I pulled an Alan Wake and somehow made this happen

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The crazy prices of old games in modern currency values just reminds me of the Rooster Teeth podcast episode where Gus gets mad at Burnie for buying a hat pack for The Last of Us multiplayer. "I wouldn't pay seven dollars for a hat in REAL LIFE!"

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I was reading up on some Elder Scrolls history and discovered that Arena (1994) was originally priced at 48USD for preorders. Based on the inflation calculator I used, that's almost 110USD in today's money. Game prices today are gnarly, especially in AAA/live service spaces, but it could be worse.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I had scrapped this post earlier, but I really feel like we need more (non-live service) ES spinoff games again, like the Travels and Adventures series were. We had Blades to replicate EST, but that got killed this year and is no longer playable. And ESO is the closest we have to ESA these days.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It's so crazy to finally play Morrowind: Tribunal (2002) for the first time and see how many references to Daggerfall (1996) there are and how much foreshadowing for Oblivion (2006) there is. The Elder Scrolls can feel really connected when it doesn't take fifteen years for a new game.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My standalone military thriller novel, Blackstar Squad, is nearing a potential release. As I prepare for a final revision pass, here's the announcement and some info about the story.

jackkeldragon.github.io

Blackstar Squad Reveal

Introducing a new dystopian military thriller taking place in a standalone setting: Blackstar Squad The Argent Republic is a militaristic society,...

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Make the Switch version's menu art just a silhouette and see if it gets rejected on the same logic as Mormon bubble porn.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Camilla has more cleavage, though.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I've noticed that even with my own purchases lately. "Oh, the 20% sale went away, I'll take the 3 USD game out of my cart." It should be about whether I'm ready to play a game, not "is it a deal?", but US deal culture has seeped into Steam like... uh, steam, I guess.

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Reposted by Jackkel Dragon

Studio Élan @vnstudioelan.com · 08/09/2026

It's the final day of our Fall in Love Visual Novel Steam festival! There's plenty of games still on sale as well as demos to try and free games to download~ Fall in love with your next favorite romance visual novel: store.steampowered.com/curator/4624... #FallinLoveFestival

Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival
Sep 1-9

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Managed to get an early look at Sentinel. Looking good so far.

View of Samuruik in Sentinel, from Daggerfall Unity.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Drafted the last scene. I'm absolutely certain there are fixes that need to be made in a revision pass, but the story is finally at the end of its first draft.

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Reposted by Jackkel Dragon

Studio Élan @vnstudioelan.com · 01/09/2026

Fall in love with visual novels! Our romance-themed visual novel Steam festival is now live until September 9th 💖 Enjoy a wide variety of VNs on sale and new demos to try with categories ranging from yuri, BL, otome, nonbinary, horror, comfy, and more~ store.steampowered.com/curator/4624...

Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival
presented by studio élan
SEP 1-9

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Finally just one scene away from finishing the first draft of the other Flowering Nightshade story that was meant to release in v8. It will absolutely not be worth the wait for most people at ~7k words, but I'm glad it's finally so close to being finished. (It was started in 2021 or 2022).

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Not long after taking this screenshot, Scrivener decided that formatting is for losers and destroyed the clean table copied over from the spreadsheet. Only lists now.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I forgot that I actually have a spreadsheet of notes about locations for Nightshade universe stories, to the point where I can sort of explain where specific stories take place.

Nishioka - 西岡 - Chubu, Japan
Akiramine - 晄峰市 - Chubu, Japan
Kokumugawa - 黒霧川町 - Hokkaido, Japan
Heisui Junior High - 平水中学校 - Nishioka
Hikarimirai Academy - 光未来学園 - Nishioka
Solana Academy - ソラナ学園 - Shikoku, Japan - A 30-90 minute trip from the nearest towns

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Eldritch Academy and Eldritch University will also be on sale during the festival, for anyone who hasn't picked them up yet. These games are a blend of supernatural thriller, mystery, horror, and yuri romance focused on a sinister secret. store.steampowered.com/bundle/15309...

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Life as Designed is once again part of the Fall in Love festival on Steam this year! Each story in the game focuses on how Cho's girlfriend shapes the direction of her life, with a unique story for each potential relationship. store.steampowered.com/app/1602570/ #FallinLoveFestival

Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival
Life as Designed Promo Image
September 1 - 9, 2026

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I was not aware that my house apparently sits on Cauldron Lake, so if the current state of the world is somehow my fault... sorry. I'd write it back to normal if I knew how.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I'm still considering one more revision pass before I release my (not fully announced) dystopia novel, but after reading some news articles today I feel compelled to point out that I wrote the story BEFORE the insane real-world versions of its events started taking place.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This reminds me of seeing reviews that say my game with 10+ stories is "too short" after playing only one story and uninstalling. The other scenes/routes/endings were written to be read, guys!

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I just realized the name of the bogus account is fucking "storebreaker". That's so on-the-nose that it's beyond insult added to injury. I have to wonder if this is someone actively trying to test or harm itch as a storefront, and your game is just the tool they picked.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The more I read about these people, the less sense they make. I'm not really sure what the endgame is for them.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

They wanted to say "I just want to use a machine translation tool and get credit for something" without saying those words.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

That's a nasty nightmare. It reminds me of when one of my games had a progress-blocking bug that I had to fix within the first 24 hours, but some people had already reviewed the game as "not a game" and never came back...

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I was scrolling through YouTube clips when I saw a very familiar-looking shirt that I don't think I've seen anywhere else. Apparently Metropolis and Akiramine both have stores selling the same clothing brand.

Right: Himeka Uchida's casual outfit from Flowering Nightshade, including a white t-shirt with light magenta sleeves and blue collar/sleeve cuffs. (Design by Jeroz)

Left: A scene from My Adventures with Superman season 3 showing Kara Zor-El wearing the same kind of t-shirt in the same colors.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Now is a great time to jump into some of my VNs about girls who like girls, with the Steam Summer Sale currently on. Eldritch Nightmare Duology: Supernatural Thriller, Romance, Horror Life as Designed: Romance, Coming-of-age #steamsale #visualnovel #yuri store.steampowered.com/developer/ni...

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

"Girls are inherently weaker fighters in the wuxia world, so it wouldn't make sense to play as one." Okay, then why are all the companion characters female? (Based on a true experience that made me decide to not buy a game.)

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

I think players being toxic about the concept of women in their game has actually turned me away from a number of games that I had been considering. I know I've deleted several entries from my Steam wishlist based on how fans explain why there's no female character in "self-insert" games.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

"Huh, this game looks like it could be interesting. There's no mention of who the PC is... can I play as a woman?" (from discussion forum about character customization) "Only thing that wouldn't make sense is playing as a girl." "Okay, nevermind. Goodbye."

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Reposted by Jackkel Dragon

toki @ online store open! @tokimekiwaku.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

i was inspired by that agegap article wikipe-tan/commons-tan art

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

I'm not convinced such people have a good baseline for novel prose, considering how often I see people complaining that novels are poorly written these days. It feels like a more aggressive "grass is greener" kind of comment.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I already knew that the Anglosphere has no idea what a dating sim actually is, but seeing Dynasty Warriors listed under dating sims on the Steam sale is just insulting.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

For context, my eject button this time was a Cyberpunk 2077 thread saying it's bad writing for a side quest to depict a cyberware doctor behaving like a scavenger to an actual scav's brother. Apparently, showing bad people loving their families and "good" people doing bad things is now bad writing.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Sometimes, I forget why I stopped participating in fan communities and peek at what people are talking about when it comes to the things I like. Then I'll find a thread like "it's bad writing for this game to ever give you a choice to side with subhumans like [groupname]" and I step away again.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

I may need to attempt to read The Lord of the Rings again, now that I'm better suited to notice and understand how the setting works. I recall falling off somewhere in Book V when I tried reading the series in high school.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

As I get older, I find the way magic works in Arda to be more and more fascinating. It's not as overt as the "magic systems" of some modern fantasy stories, but it's surprisingly consistent if you know what to look for. It feels almost like foreshadowing: the magic system.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Fun fact: if you go and buy my games on Steam right now, you don't have to give me as much money as usual. #steamsale #visualnovel #yuri store.steampowered.com/developer/ni...

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Whether or not it's truly ready, my new project website is here! Everything should be ported over, content-wise, from the old site. There's also some new stuff, from new-new to "this wasn't public before"-new. For details, check the site's own announcement: jackkeldragon.github.io/posts/welcom...

jackkeldragon.github.io

Welcome to the (New) Workshop

I'm migrating! For a while now I've felt like I've not been updating my website enough, but some of the limitations imposed on WordPress.com's...

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

"Why do so many indie games have more dialogue and choices than modern AAA games?" Well, maybe it's because an indie game (usually) doesn't need to re-book a celebrity voice actor whenever the dialogue is changed. That saves a few pennies, I'd think.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

I really, really cannot handle reading the thoughts of armchair game developers who refuse to consider what they're talking about. Just came off reading some people claiming there is no excuse for modern AAA games to not imitate Dragon Age Origins and its alternate prologues.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Aside from fixing the tags on blog posts, I believe everything on my current site has been migrated to the new site candidate. Hopefully I'll be ready to make the switch soon, once I've had some time to double-check everything.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

I think I've nearly finished migrating most of the stuff from my current website to the new website project. Being able to use Pelican to work on the site locally instead of needing to do everything in a browser has been really helpful, and makes it easier to add or change things.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

While I was converting information from my old website to the potential new site, I realized it's someone's birthday today. So, happy birthday, Director Kouki. Maybe try not to cover up any government conspiracies today.

A screenshot of Miyuki Kouki's art reference page, showing her birthday is March 14th, the day this is being posted.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Finally got the site to upload properly again. While it's taking a lot of effort to start from scratch, I think it'll be easier to add information to this site than with the old one. (Especially since I can make content for a Pelican deployment offline, then just push it online in one go.)

An early draft of a potential replacement for the website "Jackkel Dragon's Workshop", made using Pelican.

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Jackkel Dragon @jackkel-dragon.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

I thought I was making progress on a possible replacement for my project website/blog, but now the stuff that was working before isn't loading. It's hard to make progress if I can't even test the existing pages!

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