iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 2h

Serenity was released 21 years ago today. When a canceled series got the chance to have not only an epilogue, but one on the big screen... 🤯 Cool space chase. That was four months after the release of Revenge of the Sith and the Battle of Coruscant. We were really spoiled.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Just reread last night's pages from the new #sci-fi #horror novel. I'm 10k into Act 1, and I already have a strong sense of the characters. This is definitely an ecophagy narrative, popularized in the 80s and 90s by books like Engines of Creation, though I also draw on cybernetics... #AmWriting

Cover of Cybernetics, featuring a black and white photo of Norbert Wiener.

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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 27/09/2026

You taught me language, and my profit on’t Is, I know how to curse.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Just finished rereading book four of #TheExpanse, Cibola Burn. I forgot that Orbit included this selection at the end. Hell yeah, you'd better look out for Ancillary Justice. #BookSky #Sci-fi

Title page for Ancillary Justice selection in Cibola Burn.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Ah, Herman’s sneaking in some iambic pentameter…

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Star Wars Holocron @swholocron.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Happy 75th birthday to Mark Hamill! May the Force be with you!

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Am I the only weirdo who refers to Shakespeare as Billy the Kid?

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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Lucille Ball is the Godmother of #StarTrek. As head of Desilu Studios, she overrode her own board of directors to finance the show & convinced network executives to greenlight a second pilot after the first one failed. That second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," first aired #OTD in 1966. 🖖

A digital portrait of Lucille Désirée Ball (1911–1989), the legendary Emmy-winning actress, studio mogul, and "Godmother of Star Trek" whose decisive studio leadership famously saved the franchise from cancellation. This artwork is an AI-adjusted version of an original piece by artist Jamie Fay—which initially depicted her in Captain Janeway’s uniform—now modified to show her in an Original Series Starfleet uniform. Ball sits confidently in a prominent command chair on a starship bridge, legs elegantly crossed at the knee and hands resting on the armrests. She wears a form-fitting, gold command-division tunic featuring a classic black collar, rank braids on the cuffs, and the iconic Starfleet delta insignia pinned to her chest, paired with sharp black trousers and low-heeled black boots. Her signature red hair is styled into an elegant upward coiffure, framing a poised, contemplative expression as she gazes slightly away from the viewer. The background features a sweeping, cinematic view of a colorful interstellar nebula glowing with purple, green, and blue cosmic stardust. The overall composition blends mid-century Hollywood glamour with classic sci-fi iconography, evoking an empowering, authoritative mood that celebrates her immense historical impact on television history.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Keen interview with @aptshadow.bsky.social. He frames writing the end of a novel as "chronicling." If I hear him right, follow the narrative logic without predetermining the end. The plot point exists, but you record the story as it takes shape. #WritingCommunity www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO0q...

youtube.com

Why Most Writing Advice Is Wrong (Adrian Tchaikovsky Interview)

YouTube video by David Perell

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Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

There is no steady unretracing progress in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations

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Humanoid History @humanoidhistory.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" premiered on this day in 1979.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Started a new #sci-fi #horror novel last night, tentatively titled Skein, and the opening scene is wicked. For this WIP, I only outlined the first act. When finished, I'll see what the story taught me and plot Act Two accordingly. Does anyone else plot as you go? #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

static.klipy.com

Rebecca Jorden (Carrie Henn) in Aliens

ALT: Rebecca Jorden (Carrie Henn) in Aliens

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 20/09/2026

🎵Take my love, take my land, Take me where I cannot stand. I don't care, I'm still free, You can't take the sky from me.🎵 Firefly started 24 years ago today on Fox.

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MurderBotBot @murderbotbot.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I was getting tired of being told what to do. Self-determination was a pain in the ass sometimes but it beat the alternative by a lot.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Rereading #TheExpanse, I'm nearly finished with book three, Abaddon's Gate. Great character work, especially Melba/Clarissa. The passage below gave me pause. Hegel's known for the expression, "freedom is the recognition of necessity." #Sci-fi #BookSky

Corey potentially weaving in some Hegel. Abaddon’s Gate, Melba.

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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

N.K. Jemisin is the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 3 consecutive yrs for her Broken Earth series & first to win for all 3 novels in a trilogy. Recipient MacArthur Genius Grant, 2020. She was born #OTD in 1972. Happy Birthday @nkjemisin.bsky.social 🎈 #SciFi #Fantasy #BookSky

A montage portrait of science fiction author N.K. Jemisin. On the left, she appears in a close-up photo with long, dark braided hair, wearing earrings, a delicate necklace with a pendant, a deep maroon sweater, and a shimmering green scarf draped around her neck. She has a calm, confident expression and gazes directly at the camera against a softly blurred dark background. To the right are three stacked book covers of her works. Top: The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth trilogy), with a dark, textured design and metallic title. Middle: The Obelisk Gate, featuring an intricate, glowing red-and-purple circular mandala-like emblem. Bottom: The Stone Sky, showing a dramatic stormy sky with a massive floating obelisk.

The overall composition highlights the author alongside prominent covers from her award-winning Broken Earth series.

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 19/09/2026

Farscape (1999-2003): Pilot, art by Kevin Hunter

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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 18/09/2026

We'd like your help with something. The one hundredth anniversary of Ursula's birth will take place in 2029. This may seem a long time away, but we’re already starting to think about how to celebrate Ursula’s life and art. We’d love to add your ideas to the mix—there's a brief survey here:

form.jotform.com

Centenary event planning

Please click the link to complete this form.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Every #sci-fi book I've read is careful, oh so careful, to qualify the relative positions of objects in microgravity, if only to preempt that one jerk who will inevitably grumble "there are no directions in space."

static.klipy.com

Space Monkey in Zero Gravity

ALT: Space Monkey in Zero Gravity

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 15/09/2026

Prometheus (2012): USCSS Prometheus on LV-223, art by David Levy

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

While editing the next #sci-fi novel and developing three new storylines, I gave my mantra a think: Plot is character, character is worldview, worldview is voice. How does worldbuilding play into this? 🤔 Treat the world as a character. The world has a voice. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Happy Sunday, y'all. Rereading #TheExpanse series, there're so many crackling lines, but one in particular takes the prize at the end of Caliban's War. Bobbie on losing her armor: "At this point, it was mostly a metaphor anyway" #BookSky #Sci-fi

Cover of Caliban’s War from The Expanse series.

Page 565 of Caliban’s War from the Expanse Series, Chapter Fifty-One, Prax’s POV. He apologizes to Bobbie about her lost armor.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Happy Sunday, folks… #TheExpanse #Sci-fi

Bobbie Draper from the Expanse, kitted in her Marine suit and lying on her back, saying, “Feels like a hangover.”

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I prefer to save talking till I know what I’m talking about.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I've a #sci-fi horror story cooking right now. Despite my untidy King collection, I still wonder about the cardinal rule of thumb for writing horror. What makes a horror story click for you? #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFFH #Horror

A shelf untidily stacked with Stephen King books.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I'm editing inline today and thought to wish all my fellow writers good coffee, fair winds and following seas. ☕ #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #AmEditing

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Sixty years ago today, the starship Enterprise launched and with it, a vision of the future where humanity had moved beyond its divisions. I was there at the beginning, and I can tell you...

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 07/09/2026

Don't fight a chimpanzee. The chimpanzee will fucking kill you.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Rereading #TheExpanse series, I wondered about their writing process. This interview w/Ty Franck is terrific. "One of the things we learned is that three-thousand-word chapters is a fast pace that invites the reader to keep reading." #Sci-fi #WriteSky www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/i...

lightspeedmagazine.com

Interview: James S.A. Corey - Lightspeed Magazine

Ty Franck, together with Daniel Abraham, who we interviewed back in episode 35, writes the Expanse series of space adventure novels under the penname James S.A. Corey. The fourth book, CIBOLA BURN, is...

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Cowboy Bebop. Netflix cancelled this show in a blink. Director of the original anime series, Shinichirō Watanabe, stopped watching after the first episode's heavy-handed opening scene. For anyone who braved the live action show, what went wrong? Any redeeming qualities? #Sci-fi #CowboyBebop

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Just finished Leviathan Wakes from #TheExpanse series. I've many thoughts on the second go, though I wonder about Miller as an unreliable narrator... One fav is the interview. I wish more authors would do this. The zinger: Q: So how does the Epstein drive work? A: Very well. Efficient. #Sci-fi

Cover of Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Miller tipped his hat as the prisoners ambled by. "Stars are better off without us," he said, but too softly for anyone but Julie to hear. #TheExpanse #Sci-fi

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Miller in The Expanse: Fedora Hat Look

Alt: Miller in The Expanse: Fedora Hat Look

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I finally watched the new Lone Wolf & Cub...sorry... The Mandalorian & Grogu. An organic extension of the series, the film's a kicky, kick-ass adventure about self-determination. Five stars. Any #StarWars fan who whines about this film needs to find a hobby or a therapist. Maybe both. #Sci-fi

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Weird one... I've researched the Meiji Restoration and the end of the samurai class, but not the Fall of Ezo and the rebellion's samurai leader, Takeaki Enomoto. In my #sci-fi novel, The Harakiri Code, I unwittingly named the man who restored the Shogunate...Shogo Enomoto. What are the odds?

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

While I finish edits on Ikigai Outlaws, I've been cobbling ideas for a new, far future #sci-fi novel inspired by Marlowe's adaptation of the Faustus legend. Make a deal with the devil for infinite power, only for a short period of time. But I'm missing a piece to the narrative puzzle... #WriteSky

Title page for Marlowe’s The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I'm a touch displeased that I can't use "locker" as a verb. "I hung my vac suit in the locker" v. "I lockered my vac suit" #WritingCommunity #AmEditing #Sci-fi

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Rather than rewatch the series, I decided to reread The Expanse instead. All nine novels. I'm truly enjoying this epic all over again. #TheExpanse #BookSky #Sci-fi

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I just finished writing a #sci-fi novel, The Harakiri Code. The year's 2185. The woman known as Yuki-Onna duels the Shōgun no Daihyō's right hand, Jin Murakami, on the beach at Sodus Point to avoid a war. That body of water pictured below? #LakeOntario. What no longer exists in 2185? America.

Google Maps image depicting Sodus Point, NY.

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NASA | ESA Space Updates @nasaupdates.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

We have lift off! It's a great day to be a space fan! The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope has lifted off on its journey of discovery at 7:26am ET (1126 UTC) NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre 🔭🚀🛰️

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Humanoid History @humanoidhistory.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

The Cylons attack Los Angeles in GALACTICA 1980. The spaceships and blaster fire were composited over scenes of devastation filmed for 1974’s EARTHQUAKE.

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Black Girl Nerds @blackgirlnerds.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Playing the role of a captain in Star Trek: Voyager, Mulgrew broke significant ground with her portrayal of Kathryn Janeway. Both she and her character became a substantial part of Star Trek for decades to come, with many praising Kate Janeway as perhaps the best Starfleet officer ever.

blackgirlnerds.com

7 Reasons Starfleet Captain Kathryn Janeway Has Always Been a Cut Above the Rest | Black Girl Nerds

So, we'd like you to join us as we go through seven reasons Captain Janeway has always been a cut above the rest.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The opening pages of a novel are arguably the most important. Whether trad or indie, a story's judged by how it begins. Or so I'm told. Anyone interested in a #sci-fi swap for beta feedback on opening pages? I've a prologue that runs about 900 words. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #AmEditing

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Hmm The Investigator

Alt: Hmm The Investigator

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MurderBotBot @murderbotbot.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Yeah, fuck you, I thought, and kept walking.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

static.klipy.com

Hmm The Investigator

Alt: Hmm The Investigator

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Gareth L. Powell / G.L. Powell @garethlpowell.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Four pieces of common online #writing advice I ignore

A chapter should be x number of words long

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Oh no, not again. RIP, Tim.

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Tor Books UK @torbooksuk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

We're delighted to share the cover of The Eighth Face by Sunday Times bestselling author @aptshadow.bsky.social 🥳 When a man who shouldn't exist washes ashore, a cloistered community of clones must confront the sunken secrets of their origin in this gripping sci-fi mystery. Out on 4th March 2027

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