iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by S. John Ross

Michael Ruocco @michaeljruocco.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Sometimes I browse through heritage auctions and I find the occasional odd gem, but today I stumbled upon the mother-load: these ridiculous grocery store ads promoting the release of The Jungle Book, and each one has me absolutely reeling. Sharing them here so you too can share in my bewildered joy

982736985

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Hey they said my word again. 😲 Uhura said it twice! 🥰 #StarTrek #StrangeNewWorlds

030

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

How am I just now learning that there's a Kung-Fu Panda knockoff starring Rob Schneider. #Culture #Cinema #Kunst

A YouTube promo image for "Panda Warrior," an animated film. The image has faux-Chinese styling.

031

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I never stop finding wonder in how certain creative works (songs, films, poems, favorite RPG books) have a kind of healing / re-energizing effect. Renewal of purpose, renewal of enthusiasm, renewal of hope, all just bound up in a good work.

060

Reposted by S. John Ross

Music Box Theatre @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Heading into a week of film noir screenings like

319920

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

From ~4 of the #HTTRPG workshops: GM: [idea!] Me: Love the vibe, but you've embodied the problem in the villain. It's optimal to just stab him in the face. Solved. GM: I thought this is for those who don't play that way? Me: It's for those who trust their GM to not put them in that situation. 🙃

030

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

My tuna salad is full of stuff. Onions, apples, pickles, cherry-pepper relish, et multiple cetera, to the point that three little cans of yellowfin result in nearly a half-gallon of fresh tuna salad. Easy on the mayo, though. It's chonky. It's a biblical miracle. Loaves and fishes. Ish.

030

Reposted by S. John Ross

Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Two of Miss Piggy's most iconic co-stars gone, this world is trash.

Dolly Parton in a great jean jacket and Miss Piggy in a purple satin top and white boa and cowboy hat. What more do you need?

Miss Piggy as Benjamina Gunn and Tim Curry as Long John Silver in _Muppet Treasure Island_

2455791500

Reposted by S. John Ross

Toss @stevenspoints.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I really cannot think of a greater honor than to have the Muppets say this about you upon your passing

Instagram post from the official Muppets account: Few humans have earned the title of honorary Muppet more than the legendary Tim Curry. As a performer he was unparalleled - witty, charming, unnerving, and deeply funny. We will always consider it one of our greatest treasures to have been part of Long John Silver’s crew. Thank you for everything, Tim.

2295269112870

Reposted by S. John Ross

Grandiloquent Word of the Day @grandiloquentwords.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Beneficent [ben-IF-iss-ent] (adj.) - Doing or producing good; performing acts of kindness and charity; characterized by beneficence. Used in a sentence: “Few stars have been so beneficent as Dolly, transforming a lifetime of legendary success into a legacy of gentle munificence.”

A "Grandiloquent Word of the Day" meme for “Beneficent,” defined as “Doing or producing good; performing acts of kindness and charity; characterized by beneficence.” At right is a black-and-white portrait of Dolly Parton. Beneath the definition, the example reads: “Few stars have been so beneficent as Dolly, transforming a lifetime of legendary success into a legacy of gentle munificence.”

7340137

Reposted by S. John Ross

Joel @itsjoels.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.

7243894511287

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Some GMs, if you tell them you like lots of action but aren't partial to games that rely on violence ... Smoke and sparks flow from their ears, like a computer that's just been Captain Kirked. BUT ... HIT IS ... only VERB, only VERB also SHOOT is HIT is ONLY ... VERRrrrrrB. >click< #TTRPG #GMing

030

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

When my endless delving of #TTRPG adventure libraries turns up a good one, I get such a sense of relief and excitement that I immediately go look up the designer and see what else they've done. A good ~half the time, that one adventure was all. Well, if you only do one thing, and it's good? 🫡🫡🫡

050

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Of the 109 FRP city guides I've studied, ~40 of them give you a good sense of what it'll be like (a) being a mercenary adventurer (b) visiting that city. Not in a failure way. Just in an ambition way. A scope way. An intended-use way. Alas. The others do more, fortunately. 😊 #TTRPG

020

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

My hope is that this article will serve as a single landing-point for folks curious about what I mean by "High-Trust Trad" roleplaying, or HTT. rolltop-indigo.blogspot.com/2026/08/what... But, I know about hope, and the Internet. 😁 #HTTRPG #TTRPG #GMing #AdventureDesign

071

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

When I say someone is an excellent RPG designer, there's maybe an 80% chance I'm thinking about their _scenario_ designs, specifically. Because I know what that requires vs. what it frequently gets. With the remainder I'm referring to either setting or resource design. #TTRPG #TTRPGDesign

050

Reposted by S. John Ross

Dan Sheehan @dansheehan.memyon.org · 23/07/2026

Farewell to saxophonist Plas Johnson, who played the iconic tenor sax solo for the "Pink Panther" title theme. He said: "We only did two takes, I think... When we finished, everyone applauded, even the string players. And that's saying something. They never applaud for anything." #filmsky #musicsky

934720927

Reposted by S. John Ross

Eclectic Collector @eclecticcollector.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Comics, lore and collectible cards. Great book for Bazooka fans.

2232

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Dipping a toe into that new RPG store, and naturally I begin with the most important thing I've ever created, or ever will: rpg-trader.com/products/690... #TTRPG #Fantasy

rpg-trader.com

100 Names for an Albino Owl Familiar Formerly Named Oscar on RPG Trader

A carefully-designed solution-set for the classic RPG dilemma.

151

Reposted by S. John Ross

The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 05/07/2026

On Ron Glass (1945-2016), aka Shepherd Book in Firefly (2002). "I sat across from Ron. (...) I’d been a big fan of his going all the way back to Barney Miller. He just sat there, looking very Zen, observing the energy of the place. He was very present but not saying much. I asked him what..."

Ron Glass, aka Shepherd Book in Firefly (2002) and Serenity (2005).

4995

Reposted by S. John Ross

Retroist @retroist.com · 04/07/2026

Great moments in U.S. History.

Comic panel showing the Kool Aid Man walking past children with Benjamin Franklin. A child asks, “Excuse me sir, aren’t you Benjamin Franklin?” Franklin answers, “Yes I am. I’m also hot and thirsty.”

10073811830

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Another way of summarizing that niche style of RPG I'm often on about. 😊 I always say it's "mostly about adventure design." Maybe this clarifies why that's so. I never can tell. 😅 #HTTRPG #TTRPG

- The primary mode of play is roleplay: playing an imaginary character "from the inside."
- The primary shape of the playground is the _problem_ or _problem cluster,_ diegetic facts designed for PC interest, with such complexity and nuance that there can be no optimal approach(es).
- There are, within the scope of these problems, potential states and outcomes the PCs deem desireable and/or undesirable, by degrees, and as individuals.
- The PCs have fair contextual agency to determine states and outcomes.
- The players have little or none.

271

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Walked in the local #Pride parade, handing out flower seeds and just generally vibing. Weather: too hot. Me: same. 🏳️‍🌈 Had some very nerdy mead at the little festival market after.

Random snapshot from the festival grounds. Folks being all pridey and having a time.

070

Reposted by S. John Ross

Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

The great Groucho Marx — Hollywood (1935)

1074121422

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Honestly, these days one of my favorite things about detailing this fantasy city is the escapist side of the work. That's not my usual, but I'm getting used to it. 😆 #TTRPG #FantasyMaps #Hammondal

A crop from a larger map, a plan of a medieval-oid fantasy city.

040

Reposted by S. John Ross

Wrighty @wrightsnake.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Nice thing to see on my way home.

76165675327

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

There's a big difference, in #TTRPGDesign, between forcing a thing, making room for a thing, and supporting a thing. Those are three contrary design goals so, even if three different designers agree that they "like the thing," their designs can be utterly at odds - about the thing. #TTRPG

330

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

It's been 8 years or so since someone else has published an RPG thing I'd describe as "for gamers like me." I do not give up hope, because I think there's always a chance of new designers falling in love with the same stuff, or similar stuff, and I just haven't met their work yet. #TTRPG

120

Reposted by S. John Ross

Liz Danforth @lizdanforth-artist.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I spent many years working in libraries. I can completely relate.

1113

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

I think ~half of the mediocre RPG setting guides could take a stride toward the awesome if their writers took this one bit of advice to heart: If you have nothing gameable or evocative to say about X, you're allowed to say nothing about X. #TTRPG #TTRPGDesign #WorldBuilding #TTRPGWriting

060

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

#Hammondal has two significant theaters, the Zorya and the Nightingale. This is the latter; outside the city walls, built in an orchard. It's the life's work of an elderly mage who depends on the company of the players, craftspeople, writers and musicians she's patron to. #TTRPG #FantasyMaps

A fragment of the Hammondal city map, focusing on a theater outside the walls.

070

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

An extreme view of the #Hammondal map when it was around 80% completed, contrasting "paths/roads/water" in blinding white vs. "everything else" in solid K. #FantasyMaps #TTRPG

An unlovely view of a fantasy town map, just harsh extremes of path or not-path.

080

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Whenever I compare my work to others' ... I feel AMAZING. I've been told this is the incorrect response and, at the very least, I should keep it to myself. [checks follower count] Close enough. 😀

070

S. John Ross @sjohnross.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Pondering Rotta and Grogu ... their friendship can be revisted over _centuries_ of in-univese time, which could be cool. I wonder how clearly older Grogu will remember Din. But I'm pretty sure Rotta will be able to tell older Grogu stories about him. #StarWars #RottaTheHutt #TheMandalorianAndGrogu