iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 22/09/2026

Top row: Best games from my teens Second row: Best games from my twenties Third row: Best games from my thirties

Top: Okami, Bully, The Last of Us
Middle: Dishonored 2, The Witcher 3, Uncharted 4
Bottom: Disco Elysium, Alan Wake II, Outer Wilds

Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 07/09/2026

I refuse to believe that five years have passed between those two photos. I brought my daughter home from the hospital yesterday; how the hell is she going to school already?!

Picture of a bearded man holding a newborn baby.

Picture of the same man holding the same child, this time on her first day of school.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 02/09/2026

"Without saying your age, what is your favourite movie that came out when you were 20 years old?"

A picture of Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer, looking like "Margaret Thatcher fucked Gollum." (You can thank Scott Weinberg for that gem).

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/09/2026

I'm sure this is fine... but still, good luck!

From Fesshole: "Whenever an egg is heavier than I expect, I'm scared a dead chick is going to fall out when I crack it."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 10/08/2026

Look at this shit. He's basically saying that everybody will have access to a virtual fairy godmother to make all their wishes come true. If you promise this to someone else, you're a liar. If you believe someone who promises this to you, you're an idiot.

Everyone will have an exceptionally capable personal agent that understands you, your goals, and everything you care about. Your agent will work 24/7 on your behalf to improve your relationships, health, career, finances, home management, hobbies, and more. It will free up time for the things you enjoy, and help you accomplish more than you could otherwise. It will have strong privacy and security options so you can trust it to handle all of your personal content knowing that no one else can access your information, similar to how encryption works on WhatsApp. You’ll be able to interact with your agent through any device, including your glasses to keep you present in the moment with the people you care about.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 08/08/2026

This was fun! As someone who often spends time imagining what their Desert Island Discs would be, it's nice to have a poke in the #CriterionCloset, even just virtually!

My picks from the Criterion Closet — The Long Good Friday, La Haine,
WALL-E and Dr. Strangelove

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 08/08/2026

Not sure if this was a bit or not, but if it was deliberate then well played sir.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 24/07/2026

I'm *obsessed* with the animation style they're using in #CoyoteVsACME. As far as I can tell, the toons are all 3D models, but with outlines laid on top to give the illusion of a 2D character — a bit like the wonderful Disney short Paperman — and it looks brilliant.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 14/07/2026

We're at the stage where people are using AI-generated slop to post about how they don't want AI-generated slop. I am going to become the Joker.

Picture of Snoopy saying: "I don't want a city on Mars. I don't want AI in every app. I don't want data centres in space. I want clean water. I want affordable healthcare and I want bees to survive."

The image is clearly AI generated. The data centres in the background look completely out of scale, the rocket is nonsensical and somehow Snoopy's fishing rod is at a right angle like an MC Escher nightmare.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/07/2026

QTP with your top 4 games you've played in 2026 so far! Cairn 007: First Light Mixtape Resident Evil 2 Remake

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 28/06/2026

Finally, an answer to the age-old question... What if Olaf from Frozen were made entirely out of cocaine?

A cursed statue of Olaf with a massive grin and dilated pupils

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 13/06/2026

Managed to sneak away to the café this afternoon and write a 2,000-word short story in two hours!

A photo of a writing device on a café table

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 07/06/2026

This was the moment @drbayles.bsky.social and I realised that we had bought each other the same book for our birthday. Who says twin-telepathy isn't real?!

Two brothers at a table holding matching copies of Dungeon Crawler Carl.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 04/06/2026

Horrible news that Marjane Satrapi has died at the age of 56. What a waste. Somehow I've never read the original graphic novel of Persepolis despite adoring the film. Need to change that soon. Also, everyone needs to watch The Voices, because it's seriously underrated.

Still from "The Voices", in which Ryan Reynolds feeds cereal to Gemma Arterton's decapitated head. It's a great movie.

Shot from "Persepolis", in which two older Iranian women accost a young girl wearing a jacket that says PUNK IS NOT DED.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/06/2026

If it makes you feel better, I was once told my writing had the vibe of "the cool substitute teacher who lets the kids watch movies in class."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 11/05/2026

Played through #Mixtape in one sitting last night and it just about blew my socks off. Can't believe how much nostalgia I felt for a time and place I never knew, or that the game's final button prompt moved me to actual tears. Do NOT skip this one.

Screenshot of Mixtape showing a young woman skateboarding.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 28/04/2026

@johnfinnemore.bsky.social I know that rides like this aren't his usual medium, but I think this might be a Stanley Meadows original!

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 13/04/2026

Been playing the Resident Evil remakes recently and have been surprised by just how much I've enjoyed them. The RE2make is spooky as hell and the RE3make is full of big, dumb actions that made for a nice palate cleanser. Now for the really big one...

A TV showing the start screen for the remake of Resident Evil 4

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 20/03/2026

What the hell is this shit.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 17/03/2026

I caved and got myself one of those nifty little e-readers that I've been seeing all over the internet. It was so easy to set up (including a custom sleep screen!) and holding it in my hand just makes me very happy. Plus there's a robust and extremely friendly of Redditors who I can troubleshoot!

Picture of a hand holding a small e-reader (the Xteink X4), which has a protective cover and the words "DON'T PANIC" printed in large friendly letters on the screen.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 17/03/2026

Et les jeux non-réalistes vieillissent beaucoup mieux aussi! Okami, par exemple — c'est un de mes jeux préférés, et il reste incroyablement beau 20 années plus tard!

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 17/03/2026

QTS* with a game that has a 10/10 soundtrack Couldn't pick just one...

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 17/03/2026

UPDATE: The people from #Claysplained sent me a DM on Instagram to have a little whine about me being mean to them. Frankly I'm not sure the message itself wasn't generated by AI. The response proves my original thesis: these people have zero understanding of the medium they're trying to emulate.

But in truth; materials we have made during our careers on real productions have probably been scraped in these models. We are the people this has pulled from. But it’s here. The technology is allowing us to exercise and idea that would otherwise be impossible.

Creating current affairs satire in this style at this speed using AI visuals. We cannot convince you to feel the same, but we can respond. We aren’t happy with where we are in the food chain (the bottom) but we are fighting to create and exist. But being one of the first to that table
we know we are also going to be targets.

It doesn’t feel nice to be attacked by people we look up to Phil. And as fellow creatives, it’s sad to see you putting us down as people. Hope this has shed some light. And please, if you don’t like our work; don’t watch it and don’t follow us. We’re an easy target for creative frustration, but as human beings, we don’t deserve this.

Thanks for your time Phil. Wishing you all the best in your endeavors.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 14/03/2026

This has broken my brain. #Claysplained says they "refuse to let AI replace us". But they seem to have no qualms about using it to replace the work of real stop-motion animators (not to mention all of the other artists whose work has been fed into whatever slop machine shat this out).

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 12/03/2026

As part of my ongoing attempt to take my life out of my pocket (that is, stop using my phone for everything), I got myself a dedicated audio player. It's called a #SnowskyEcho and it's ADORABLE. Look at this little thing! Now I just need to find ways of getting all my music on it...

Photo of a hand holding the Snowsky Echo, a digital audio player designed to look like a cassette player. It's made of black metal with a bunch of plastic buttons on the top, and it the menu screen makes it look like there's even a tape in there!

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 15/02/2026

The life of a #WriterDad is a very glamorous one indeed... At least the soft play has decent coffee.

A table in a soft play area, with a portable word processor and a mug visible in the foreground.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 14/02/2026

Had the loveliest time with the girls today at Hardwick Hall, looking for snowdrops and making origami hearts!

An origami heart with the quote "Love sought is good, but given unsought is better" (Twelfth Night, Act 3 Scene 1)

A mother and daughter sharing a kiss on a wooden chair

A father and daughter sharing a hug on a wooden chair

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 08/02/2026

I recently got through with #Cairn, which might be one of the most stressful games I've played in a long time, so there's something oddly satisfying about revisiting Uncharted 4 for the millionth time and watching Nathan Drake dangle from his fingertips for minutes at a time with no problems.

Screenshot of Cairn, a very stressful climbing game where the player can easily fall to their death if they aren't careful.

A screenshot of Uncharted 4, whose protagonist Nathan Drake is basically Spider-Man.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 06/02/2026

Thought I'd lost my first (and favourite) fountain pen six months ago. Turns out it was hidden down the back of the sofa at my parents' house!

Close-up of a hand holding a brown fountain pen with gold trim.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 30/01/2026

This arrived in the post today: a #PomeraDM250 I picked up on eBay because I decided that I needed a dedicated, distractionf-free writing device. (And yes, I'm aware of the irony of going onto Bluesky to post about my distraction-free writing device.)

A device called a Pomera DM250 sits on a desk. It's like a little mini laptop, but all it can do is word processing. They're apparently very popular with Japanese salarymen. The text on the screen reads:

"Here I am typing away on my Pomera DM250. Some initial thoughts:

- The keyboard is definitely going to take some getting used to. I'm making a lot of errors. But maybe I should just try to embrace them and power through.

- I've had to put stickers on a lot of keys to remove the Kanji and fit the US layout, and I've ended up with three space bars and two enter keys. Bit weird, but oh well.

- This thing is FAST. Just open the lid and you're away.

- Opening files on the PC is an absolute piece of cake. Just plug in and go.

- Whenever I start typing, I start smiling.

I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 27/01/2026

Decided to start playing #Pathologic3 and this is a pretty good summary of my feelings so far...

Benoit Blanc saying "It makes no damn sense... Compels me, though."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 27/01/2026

I've been doing #morningpages for nearly a year now, and I'm always amazed at the insights they pull out of me.

"BOLLOCKS. Just remembered I forgot to defrost the spag bol last night."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 16/01/2026

It's always nice when you find a book that feels like it was written for you, and #ThereIsNoAntimemeticsDivision is so far up my street that @qntm.org and I are basically neighbours. I started reading it on the train to work this morning and I'm already halfway through.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 26/12/2025

I recently posted in a fountain pen subreddit, because that's the kind of cool guy I am, and a commenter told me that my handwriting has strong "cool substitute teacher that lets kids watch movies" vibes, which might be my new favourite compliment.

A black fountain pen on a page of handwritten text. The text reads:

26th December 2025.
Lamy Safari - Blue ink, fine nib.
The quick, brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

I don't know if the handwriting really does ooze "cool substitute teacher" vibes, but I'm proud of it nonetheless.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 26/12/2025

Luxo Jr. was looking a bit lonely on my desk, but fortunately Santa brought him some new friends. Merry Christmas, everybody.

LEGO figures of WALL-E, EVE and MO sit on a desk, while the Pixar lamp lurks in the background.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 05/12/2025

If you see this, repost with your model of positive masculinity. I am only slightly exaggerating when I say that Bandit Heeler is the best role model for modern fatherhood that one could ask for.

A picture of Bandit Heeler, an anthropomorphic cartoon dog from the TV show "Bluey."

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 01/12/2025

My wife got me the best advent calendar this year. Yippee ki-yay, melon farmers!

A wooden advent calendar showing Hans Gruber falling off the side of Nakatomi Plaza. Every day he drops down another floor, and on Christmas Eve he hits the ground.

(Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen the original Die Hard, I guess.)

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 16/11/2025

"Totoro" by Phil W. Bayles (aged 32 ½).

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 04/11/2025

Coca-Cola has shat out another slop commercial for Christmas this year and this quote from one of the soulless corporate husks involved is driving me insane. There is no craftsmanship in creating anything with generative AI. So ten times the craftsmanship is still zero craftsmanship.

Coca-Cola Is Trying Another AI Holiday Ad. Executives Say This Time Is Different.

After a major backlash in 2024, Coke and the L.A. studio it hired have produced a new synthetic spot they believe viewers will like a lot more; "The craftsmanship is ten times better." Will they?

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 31/10/2025

This year for Halloween we went as a childless couple! Had a fabulous evening watching @daraobriain.bsky.social at Sheffield City Hall; they even let us feed him! #YouHadToBeThere

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 27/10/2025

As a wise man once said, "the years start comin' and they don't stop comin'." Somehow in the blink of an eye, the tiny little potato we brought home from the hospital is now four years old. Love you, Mara. You're the best kid in the world.

A bearded man sat on a sofa holding a tiny potato in a onesie.

A four-year-old girl in a flower crown sitting in front of a cupcake with a candle in it.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 25/10/2025

I don't normally bother to get every single trophy in a video game, but #GhostOfYotei is special. The story was gripping from start to finish, but even more than that I just loved existing in its world; riding through the vistas of Ezo and letting my curiosity guide where I pointed my horse.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 21/10/2025

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.

Jackson Healy (Russel Crowe) and Holland March (Ryan Gosling) from The Nice Guys

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 19/10/2025

"I've sold copper to Ur, Babylon and Constantinople, and by gum it put them on the map!"

Lyle Langley from The Simpsons, extolling the virtues of monorails.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 05/10/2025

Round 2 of @nycmidnight.bsky.social's #500WordFictionChallenge is officially done! I had a blast writing this one, and had the pleasure of reading the work of some other hugely talented writers too! Now I'm off to play video games as a little treat.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 05/10/2025

The opening hour of #GhostOfYōtei might be the biggest flex I've ever seen from a video game. It kicks SO MUCH ASS. Narratively, mechanically, artistically; every single part of it is firing on all cylinders. I cannot wait to get properly lost in this one.

The main character of Ghost of Yōtei riding through a field of wildflowers while Mount Yōtei looms in the background.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 04/10/2025

Having immense fun with Round 2 of the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #500WordFictionChallenge. As a fun exercise I tried writing my first draft longhand and it went surprisingly well. Now to finish typing it up and hopefully find some beta readers!

Photo of a laptop with an open word document and a leather notebook balanced on the keyboard.

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Phil W. Bayles @philwbayles.com · 27/09/2025

I've been editing my manuscript, and seeing my words (in typewriter font) surrounded by crossings out and annotations is giving me some strong #AlanWakeII flashbacks.

A typed manuscript covered in corrections and annotations.

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