iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Who did the gotcha? You? Or Emmett?

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Kate @zen.r0b0.ca · 29/09/2026

Do you like TTRPGs? How about cute drawings? What if you could have a dose of both daily? Follow @loslair.bsky.social !

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JuniperTheory @bimbo.city · 01/09/2026

Hey! If you're going to pax west tihs weekend (or just in seattle) i'm gonna be there for most/all days teaching netrunner at the Null Signal Games booth! come learn how to play, get some cool alt arts, or just dm me and we'll grab lunch or watch a movie or something when i got time! :D :D :D

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

bellroy.com/products/car... This is the one I've been eyeing as a replacement when mine goes (though it's holding on strong). I love that there are two exterior card slots (one for transit, one for a credit card) and room inside for six more cards with a pull tab.

bellroy.com

Card Sleeve | Slim Leather Card Holder, Wallet | Bellroy

This ultra-slim sleeve makes a great ‘essentials only’ wallet for minimalists, or secondary card holder for the rest of us.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Graffiti, sunset between tall buildings, with a wrinkled old man sitting on a park bench, and a paper bag dancing in the wind. Oh! And it should be shot in black and white.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I admit that I'm a slim wallet convert—I only ever leave the house with driver's license, Medicare card, transit pass, credit, debit. Everything else lives on my phone. I assume you're looking for something like this? www.nordstrom.com/s/leather-tr... (Maybe more local and not as expensive?)

nordstrom.com

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Netrunner World Championships (where I’m volunteering) are at the start of October in MTL, the week after my wedding…

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1997: I was gobsmacked. Gran Turismo looked incredible. Played incredible. I wanted to wash my car, like, a lot. For no reason! I know I could pick FFVII, or AOE, but it was this driving game that kept me coming back again and again. I haven’t really played it since GT3, though.

Screenshot of Gran Turismo, a racing game for the PlayStation.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1996: Mario 64? Quake? Tomb Raider? Actually, it comes down to another sequel: Civilization II. FMV advisors, because why not? Finally being able to play Civ on a computer that could actually somewhat handle was such a joy. One more turn. Again.

Screenshot of Civilization II for Windows.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1995: I actually played a lot of PC games, but the classics keep coming back to haunt me in these earlier years. Chrono Trigger has that joy in it that the best JRPGs seem to have, along with just amazing damn music. Marle, Frog, Robo. Accept no substitutes.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1994: The first really hard year. Where Final Fantasy VI, Sim City 2000, Donkey Kong Country, and Doom II all found releases, I have to give it to Sakamoto-san, who I later had the honour of working with. Super Metroid locked in my favourite genre. Exploration and movement, alive.

Screenshot of Super Metroid for the SNES. Samus is preparing to fire upon Kraid.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1993: BOOMSHAKALAKA! Playing the arcade game NBA Jam at the local video rental joint (Zazou Super Video!) was sheer fun. Games sometimes forget to have fun among their systems and narratives and graphics. Not NBA Jam. One of the first games where voice acting put it over the top.

Screenshot of NBA Jam, the arcade version from 1993. Scottie Pippen goes for a monster dunk.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1992: Top lists are always supposed to include some controversial entries, right? Ultima Underworld: The Sygian Abyss blew my little mind. So many things could happen to you! The magic system I knew from Ultima V in a 3D world? Yikes! (Should I have picked Super Mario Kart?)

A screenshot of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss for DOS.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1991: I wanted this to be Link to the Past, but I gotta give this year to one. more. turn. Civilization took our old Atari ST an entire Simpsons episode between turns in the lategame, but I didn’t care. I had to get to Alpha Centauri. As the Zulus! Civilopedia remains the best.

Screenshot of the first Civilization game along with a title and tagline: “Build An Empire To Stand The Test Of Time”

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1990: I promise there will be more variety soon. I first played Super Mario World while visiting my mother at work at a daycare. I got parked in the owner's kid's bedroom. I deleted his save file (was told to) and fell in love with bongos while sitting on a dinosaur. Peak moment.

Screenshot of the title screen from the SNES title Super Mario World. Mario, riding Yoshi, encounters a Pokey.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1989: At the point where I was old enough that I could have been playing games at release; I didn't, really. For a long time, I was behind the curve. Including this year's, Sim City. Only played it much later. One of the first idle games for me: come back to tons of cash!

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

The weird thing is that they also have different authors. So it's either an editor who's demanding the same articles over and over, or it's AI slop. I can't even blame the staff, as I imagine they don't have a choice. It's a real shame.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

You know, @polygon.com, I think I'm going to have to stop following you. There's only so many formulaic titles that I can take: [Celebrity]'s [runtime] [genre] [optional synonym of "masterpiece"] is finally back on streaming Or: [X] Years Later, [Show or Character]'s Quote [Is Great]

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1988: There was only ever going to be one choice for this year, as this is one of my top games of all time. Super Mario Bros. 3 wouldn't see North America until later, but I'll count it here. Along with Super Mario World, platforming really solidified itself for me with this one.

A screenshot of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES. World 1-2. Raccoon Mario is jumping up the initial hill at the start of the level.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Long ago, @felicia.day helped me out by giving a platform to a webseries I wrote and performed in called LARPs. Thankfully, she's the real deal: she wants to create stuff on her terms. I'm thrilled that she gets to bring The Guild back. Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the next chapter.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1987: I've completed a solo Black Belt run of Final Fantasy, and honestly, I'm kinda hankering to do another solo run soon. Maybe I should! One of those games where my sister, cousin, and I were really into it. Fighter, Black Belt, White and Black Mage is still my favourite party.

Screenshot of Final Fantasy for the NES. The party approaches Garland, with Princess Sara behind him, in the Temple of Fiends.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1986: I’m a huge Metroidlike fan (get outta here, Metroidvania), but this year’s winner is a game I’ve gone back to regularly over the years. (The OG Metroid is a rare revisit.) The Legend of Zelda was exploration unbound. Perfect for tiny me, and the gold cartridge… classic.

Screenshot from The Legend of Zelda for the NES. Link is holding up a Triforce piece in a dungeon end sequence.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1985: Agonized over this one. Super Mario Bros. is right there! But in the end, I had to go with this one. Because... well, it's Tetris. Need I say more? Tetris has been one of my most-played games across its various versions. Who knows? It may show up elsewhere on the list...

A screenshot of the original Tetris, green ASCII characters on a black background.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

This wasn't my experience. Dance and Theatre shared a building while I was going to university, and the dance students always seemed pretty similar ideologically to us? Then again, different country, etc. etc.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

#GamesOfTheYears 1984: For me, it’s Hack. (The screenshot is from Rogue, sadly.) I didn’t really know too much of what I was doing, but I spent a long time exploring. Delving. Having a dog—sorry, a d.

Screenshot of the game Rogue, which is similar to Hack.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

For 1983, the year I was born, it’s Mario Bros. It’s likely not the last time Mario will hit this list, and this is a little bit of a cheat: I was first introduced to this game as the minigame in Super Mario Bros. 3. But, hey! First Luigi sighting! (Never played Dragon’s Lair…) #GamesOfTheYears

A screenshot of Mario Bros., a game from 1983. Mario is about to kick a turtle on its back.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Okay! Time for #GamesOfTheYears, where I choose one video game released each year of my life. Games have to be released in North America that year to qualify. (This is a personal list. Love to hear your own GsOTYs! But obviously I haven’t played every game out there.) Thread starts here:

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Considering doing my personal, subjective Game of the Year for every year I've been alive. Criteria for what year a game is eligible: - Ports do not count unless significant content was added/fixed/remastered - Where possible, I'll be using NA release dates (since that's where I am)

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Daniel A. Horwitz @danielahorwitz.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Legend substack.com/@slamshopp/n...

Social media post by Sam Shopp captioned about their “most prized possession” — a used copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë defaced so that every mention of “Jane” is crossed out and replaced with “Spiderman” or “Spidey.” The left image shows the book’s cover, a Barnes & Noble Classics edition, with the title altered to read “SPIDER-MAN” and a Spider-Man sticker placed over the original cover artwork. The right image shows an interior page (the deathbed scene with Helen) where “Jane” has been handwritten over with “Spidey” throughout

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Crystalis is worth all the care in the world.

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

"Look, don't bring ME into this."

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karanormal activity 💜 @deadontheoutside.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

me: should i chronicle history or document current events? funk soul brother: write about now

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I'm glad that it does. I'd love to have the Cup back up north, of course, but I'd rather ice hockey reach new places and new people. (And, for what it's worth, the Stanley Cup only visits other places. Its permanent home is in Toronto, where you can play hockey outdoors on naturally-occurring ice.)

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

It's distressing when one of my friends' accounts is hacked to spam advertisements; it's another level when that friend has been dead for a while. Resurrecting someone against their will and using their voice to try and sell me something is just awful.

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Kate @zen.r0b0.ca · 30/05/2026

We need exclusive passenger rail in our busiest corridor, and high-speed makes the most sense by far. Don't let NIMBYs leave half our population in traffic on the 401 or stuck on VIA lines waiting for cargo trains to pass. go-alto.ca

go-alto.ca

GO ALTO | Build ALTO High-Speed Rail in Canada

GO ALTO is an independent public campaign supporting ALTO, Canada’s proposed high-speed rail network for the Québec–Toronto corridor. Build faster, more reliable, electric connections between major ci...

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PWHL @thepwhl.com · 21/05/2026

POUR LA VICTOIRE ‼️ THE MONTRÉAL VICTOIRE ARE THE 2026 PWHL WALTER CUP CHAMPIONS! LA VICTOIRE DE MONTRÉAL SONT LES CHAMPIONNES DE LA COUPE WALTER 2026 DE LA LPHF!

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Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie @gavinetc.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

“What’s the biggest trap in game writing-“ (Grabbing the mic) “Specificity.” “But the forbidden cave IS 5 miles north of here.” (gripping the mic with both hands, kicking my attackers away) “We write in kilometers, the cave was moved last week, and it’s not forbidden anymore, let GO of me.”

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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

La République, Honoré Daumier, 1848

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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 13/04/2026

This is Sadie. She was finally reunited with her human, astronaut Christina Koch, after her mom’s voyage around the moon took her the furthest any human has ever been from their dog. She can't wait to hear all about the universe. 14/10 (IG: astro_christina)

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Jon Verrall @jonverrall.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

TTRPG about me First game: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2e Last game: Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5E Longest game: Changeling: The Dreaming Second Edition Favourite game: CtD5, plz? Favourite mechanics: Alice Is Missing Favourite art: @diterlizzi.bsky.social

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Ginny Di @ginnydi.com · 12/03/2026

In fact, every NPC can be hot. Try and stop me. I'll see you in court.

Ginny Di is dressed as a redheaded warlock. Small horns sprout from her forehead and there are arcane markings on her cheeks. With blackened fingertips, she holds a burned white cloak over her head. Text on the image reads "Reminder that you can simply decide that the mysterious cloaked stranger is hot. No one can stop you. This is your table."

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