iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Noah Wizard @noah-wizard.itch.io · 02/10/2026

I'm a big fan of the premise of this TTRPG: Hyperspace travel gave access to countless worlds. One day, the stellar beacon that illuminated hyperspace went silent, galactic travel impossible. After a century, a long-range exploration craft has been built to reconnect lost civilizations of humanity.

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Looking for a vibrant, ready-to-run optimistic space campaign? The Return to the Stars Complete Expedition Bundle includes our Indie Groundbreaker-nominated core rules + 7 zines at 65% off. "The future of Tabletop RPGs is Hope." — Polygon itch.io/s/201493/ret...

itch.io

Return to the Stars: Complete Expedition Bundle (65% off) by Festive Ninja

A bundle by Festive Ninja, $14.99 for 8 games

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

In 1958, an evangelical film outfit in Pennsylvania needed money to make religious movies. Their solution wasn't passing the collection plate—it was cooking up a flesh-eating monster out of red dye and industrial silicone. Let's talk about The Blob. youtu.be/Db4k3ebYtHE?...

youtu.be

The 1958 B-Movie That Made Steve McQueen a Star | The Blob

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Robert Turk @robertturk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

10 years ago, we published our first game, an abstract, storytelling card game, Hogswallow. Today, we are funding a new and improved 10th Anniversary Edition! Please, check it out! Www.kickstarter.com/projects/wicked-clever/hogswallow-10th-anniversary-edition

kickstarter.com

Hogswallow - 10th Anniversary Edition

Our original abstract storytelling deck, now updated and improved!

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"To get fluid tracking shots at cat's eye level—without forcing camera operators to crouch in agony for hours on end—the crew engineered a custom rig" lttr.ai/AuBFk

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Alissa Wilkinson @alissawilkinson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Fully packed house for a 6 hr doc on a Sunday. I love NYFF

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Craig Campbell (and NerdBurger Games) 🤓🍔 @nerdburgercraig.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

My friend James Kerr and I put together a two-part retrospective of NBG by talking to a bunch of regular freelancers and discussing the company's ten year history and their involvement in it. Here's part one of two. youtu.be/FUG5Mk_HNrY

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

You can draw a straight line from Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls (1962) to the bleak dread of George Romero and the surrealism of David Lynch. Breaking down how an overlooked regional indie quietly shaped modern horror: youtu.be/UjnYcr9GTyY

youtu.be

The $35K Film That Influenced David Lynch & George Romero

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Aaron Marks @levelonewonk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I project (or just hope?) that the cultural distaste for minimalist games with maximalist art is going to help bring back maximalist games that look like phone books. GURPS is back baby! All aboard THE CRUNCH TRAIN

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It isn't just that Honda favors an ensemble cast; it’s that he resists the “hero's journey saving a cat” schtick. Read the full article: Atragon and the Ghost of Empire ▸ festive.ninja/2026/04/29/atragon-an…

festive.ninja

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Spielberg and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond fill the frame with head-on flares, hard silhouettes, backlit windows, and curtains of dust, smoke, and fog — all of it hinting at something vast just past the edge of what we can make out Read more 👉 festive.ninja/2026/06/20/how-close-…

festive.ninja

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Evil Hat @evilhat.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If you've enjoyed the extensive D&D product histories we published with Designers and Dragons Origins, you might also like this history of Traveller that @shannonappelcline.bsky.social wrote. Deal of the Day today. 👇 🔥

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Great art is often born from an artist’s pure hostility toward their own era.Case in point: Alex Cox’s 1984 debut, Repo Man. Read the full article: Repo Man (1984): The Anatomy of a Cult Classic ▸ festive.ninja/2026/07/01/repo-man-1…

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"While it tells a brilliant story about trauma and survivor’s guilt, it also quietly sweeps the brutal reality of Japan’s own wartime atrocities under the rug." festive.ninja/2026/07/15/the-godzil…

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"The battered warship Odysseus and his crew use to weather the churning Aegean is a sea-faring vessel crashing through actual waves" festive.ninja/2026/08/12/practical-…

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Joyce (Wolf) Chng/Ch'ng 🐺 Wolf's Path is a finalist! @jolantru.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My heart sinks when people use dementia as a device to make fun of someone. Stop. For many of us, we are watching similar things happen in our own lives and it's not pleasant. Our hearts break everyday.

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Which film actually captures the energy of a music scene without turning into a formulaic rise-and-fall biopic? For me, it's 24 Hour Party People. Vlog here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Yh...

youtube.com

How 24 Hour Party People Captured The Geniuses, Hustlers, and Fools of Factory Records

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Jennifer Yu is excellent as Daisy, providing a pragmatic, clear-headed foil to the Kao family’s dysfunction. Read the full article: Farce Meets Trauma: A Review of Double Happiness (2026) ▸ festive.ninja/2026/03/13/farce-meet…

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"It demands a specific cultural literacy; to truly “get” many of the jokes, one must recognize the classical references being mocked and the particular, rhythmic cadence of the Hong Kong vernacular." lttr.ai/AsZ2C

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Released months before Ronald Reagan’s landslide re-election, this sci-fi slice of low-life is a punk rock howl against the hollow consumerism and nuclear paranoia of the 1980s. Read more 👉 festive.ninja/2026/07/01/repo-man-1…

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

No villain. No epic battle of the bands. No epiphanies. Linda Linda Linda refuses every trope of the high school music film—and that’s exactly why it works. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP8Q...

youtube.com

Ozu Meets Linklater: The Observational Hangout Realism of 'Linda Linda Linda'

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Evil Hat @evilhat.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

...it's always spooky season if you're twisted enough. discover the things that lurk in the shadows: evilhat.com/product-cate...

A copy of Monster of the Week surrounded by a drape of vibrant red velvet. Caption: spooky season beckons.

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

"Unlike typical kaiju protagonists who passively stumble into the plot, work for a faceless government agency, or rely on magical psychic abilities, Yuri actively and dangerously forces herself into the narrative." festive.ninja/2026/07/15/the-godzil…

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

"Traditional IMAX film cameras are immensely heavy, and roar like chainsaws, making them completely impractical for quiet interiors." festive.ninja/2026/08/12/practical-…

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

ATTENTION CITIZENS: The Corp has deemed this message mandatory viewing. 🤖 Thrilled to announce that my short film, An Honest Message From Your Favorite Dystopian Corporation, is an Official Selection at the 2026 Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival! More details on screening times soon. End transmission. 📼

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Rachel Lapidow @editrix-rachel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I'll be hosting this in less than two hours!

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Hollywood forgot how to make movies like The Mummy or The Rocketeer. Amazon’s Masters of the Universe isn't perfect, but it revives that Saturday-matinee escapism. My full review: www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Qm...

youtube.com

Masters of the Universe Review: The Return of the Saturday Matinee

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 26/08/2026

I'm excited to share that The Best Science Fiction of the Year: 2025 anthology will be published by Wyrm Publishing in November. Full details on my blog: neil-clarke.com/next-install...

neil-clarke.com

Next installment in the Best Science Fiction of the Year series – Neil Clarke

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Reposted by Mark Sabalauskas

Arula Ratnakar @arula-ratnakar.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

My short scifi story “Coda” from last year that was solicited by Future Tense Fiction Magazine has been selected for The Best Science Fiction of the Year 2025. Super honored it was picked, I’m unsure of my ability to write super short and tend to write novellas so this was a really great surprise.

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Preston Sturges created the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? for a fictional, self-important drama. 60 years later, the Coen Brothers stole it and proved great filmmaking doesn't need to take itself so seriously. youtu.be/y7JWn6BByUw

youtu.be

O Brother, Where Art Thou?: A Screwball Odyssey with Real Bite

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Reposted by Mark Sabalauskas

Aaron Marks @levelonewonk.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

In response to some conversations about high-volume crowdfundings, I spent some time pulling data from Kickstarter and Backerkit. If you set aside new editions, derivatives, and licensed games, the most successful original RPG crowdfunder by dollars is...Pumpkin Spice - A Magical Cozy RPG.

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Memento, Inception, Oppenheimer, and now... The Odyssey? Nolan's career-long anxiety about the inadequacy of human memory bleeds into his newest film in some incredibly strange ways. Here is why his adaptation feels so uniquely "Nolan": youtu.be/vkHCpxtInHo

youtu.be

Practical Spectacle, Modern Morals: Reviewing Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Clarissa C. S. Ryan @wintersweet.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

interesting article about the struggle for recognition, I guess both internal and external, of the Siraya indigenous group in Taiwan (also a bit surprising to encounter a reference to a book that I'm in the acknowledgments of)

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Reposted by Mark Sabalauskas

Rachel Lapidow @editrix-rachel.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

A7: A lot of game creators, especially if they are using bespoke rules systems, capitalize a lot of nouns. Like So Many Nouns! It’s hard to read text that has been overly styled. I urge them to avoid this, by picking and choosing which nouns to capitalize, put in italics, underline, etc. #StetChat

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Music documentaries often suffer a fatal flaw: they preach to the converted. Making a film that that interests non-fans is a notoriously difficult. This vlog is about how Blackpink: Light Up the Sky manages to pull it off. youtu.be/RWNkbV-fvBo

youtu.be

Why the Blackpink Documentary Actually Works (Even for Non-Fans)

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Kedi is a Turkish documentary that traces the inner life of a sprawling metropolis entirely through the daily wanderings of seven street cats. Read the full article: Filming Istanbul Through the Eyes of a Street Cat ▸ lttr.ai/Atpt0

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Shot on 16mm for just $23,000, Richard Linklater's SLACKER helped launch the modern independent film movement. The film passes the narrative baton from one Austin eccentric to the next, and it works perfectly. New review is up: youtu.be/M96uQfoiems

youtu.be

Why Slacker is the Ultimate Generation X Movie

YouTube video by Mark Loves Films

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Reposted by Mark Sabalauskas

Lisa @ Narrated Podcast @lisajune.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Great talking with you at @readercon.org, Casella! This is a fun episode, and I especially enjoyed the coverage of @portersqbooks.bsky.social. I was working in Porter Square 20 years ago when they opened, and they’ll always have a special place in my heart!

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Reposted by Mark Sabalauskas

Taiwan Maps and Dataviz @alexkunztaipei.com · 27/07/2026

35°C+, blazing sunshine, and a brutal UV index. That’s summer in Taiwan. Thankfully, convenience stores are everywhere. Need a break from the heat? Step inside, enjoy the AC, then continue your day. How do you survive a Taiwanese summer? #Taiwan #Summer #LifeInTaiwan

Funny map showing how summer feels in Taiwan.

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

It wasn't just a good year for cinema; it was a seismic shift that broke the mold and recast everything in ways we are still living with today. Read more 👉 lttr.ai/AtePQ

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

"He bets everything on the idea that the elements he finds interesting—the meticulous, tactile miniature work; ritualistic dancing; shimmering fish-scale diving suits; dryly witty secret agents—will be just as interesting to his audience." lttr.ai/AtcKK

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

"We jump into the past to observe the mother enduring the punishing physical and emotional toll of fertility treatments, culminating in a heavy, isolating decision regarding artificial insemination." lttr.ai/AsZ1y

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

"The film's climax — humanity and the visitors finally speaking to each other through a computer synthesizer playing music — looks a great deal like a son reconciling his two parents on screen, almost certainly without meaning to." lttr.ai/AtZ4M

lttr.ai

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

And the protagonist's decision to reclaim her brother anyway is a stubborn act of love that reads as resistance because the system has priced grief out of reach Read more 👉 lttr.ai/AsZ1u

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Contrast this with the monk, a man who cloaks himself in the rigid robes of intellectual Buddhism, yet is willfully blind to the desires that simmer beneath his surface. Read more 👉 lttr.ai/AqWL0

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

"To counter the cold, frictionless reality of a digital story, the filmmakers utilized stop-motion animation and tactile storytelling." lttr.ai/AtVQQ

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Mark Sabalauskas @marksab.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

While it fails as entertainment, Sanshiro Sugata offers something invaluable: a window into the nascent stages of a legendary career. Read more 👉 lttr.ai/AqWF2

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Rachel Lapidow @editrix-rachel.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

A2b: When working on a TTRPG, I sometimes see myself as “the keeper of lore.” I’m responsible for keeping the game’s world catalogued and organized. Game creators often forget that they named a spell one thing but then created a similarly named spell, which can cause confusion. #StetChat 2/2

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