iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Post a picture that should be an album cover

David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Why just pick five words when I can build a five-word phrase? "Always-on, smart-mouthed, idiotproof, narratology pooper-scooper."

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains

The cover of Come On Feel The Lemonheadds, by The Lemonheads (1993).

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I know it’s a climate disaster and everything, but it still amuses me that Chicago Fire had to cancel a match due to smoke. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Quote from article: “On Thursday, the Major League Soccer match between Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps was postponed because of poor air quality conditions in the Chicago area.”

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I am still astonished that this name ever saw the light of day. It's like they gave up halfway through.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

There's also a very fine statue of her outside St Thomas' Hospital, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Vicariously living out my footballing dreams via my namesake(s) at the World Cup. Two Varelas on the pitch at the same time! For opposite teams! And then this!

Headline from The Guardian: “Cape Verde produce another World Cup shock as Varela strike seals Uruguay draw.”

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

My boy, blissfully enjoying a combo of hot air from my laptop and cold air from a fan.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

From the Leake Street tunnels today.

Monochrome portrait of a woman with blue and red highlights.

Red rose drawn with thick black outlines.

Black & white portrait of an old man in a flat cap and glasses, smoking.

Image of a single rose and a quote from Anne Brontë:
“But he that dares not grasp the thorn
Should never crave the rose”

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Sometimes Friday really tells you to Friday.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Hats off to the organisers of last night’s River Bus Comedy. What a line-up! @rachelparris.bsky.social! Dylan Moran! Rory Bremner! Tower Bridge!

Rory Bremner performing standup onboard a Thames clipper.

Dylan Moran performing standup onboard a Thames clipper without spilling a drop.

Rachel Parris overcoming piano pedal problems while cruising down the Thames.

Tower Bridge, as seen from the front of a boat at night.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Me (aged 49): VAR is ruining the game! How are kids in the playground supposed to apply all this nonsense when they’re having a kick about? Also me (aged 9):

A booklet of ‘Subbuteo Rules and Regulations’.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Oh dear… I opened a box and now I’m in nostalgia free-fall.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Nostalgic for the days of physical media (and the days when there were only three Alien films). Note the 2-for-1 privilege card for Alien War at the Trocadero, expiring 1995.

Plastic case for the Alien Trilogy, featuring the outline of a face hugger.

Printed promotional stills from the Alien Trilogy.

Privilege card for the Alien War experience, alongside a VHS ‘making of’ from Alien 3.

Three VHS tapes of Alien, Aliens and Alien 3.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

I showed Spela this stat for today and she just looked at me and couldn’t stop laughing.

My ‘Daily readiness’ score for today is allegedly 100. As a percentage. Out of 100.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Today marks 20 years since I first worked in the games industry. I count the starting date as the evening I met Adrian & Naomi at Waterstone’s Piccadilly to become a freelancer for Mind Candy on Perplex City. I’m still writing nonsense and getting paid for it. That’s reason enough to celebrate.🎉

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

So it seems like forty different people from forty different countries each suddenly clicked on a different page of my website. The bots are swarming. Is this AI trawling, or some kind of search engine spider?

A list of countries that have visited one page on my website this morning. Hello, Honduras!

A list of a dozen pages on my website that have been visited once this morning. There are more.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Actually, it’s pronounced ‘Moonk’.

Photo of a bag of M&S Food’s ‘Halloween Hallow Scream Munch’

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Today’s mood, courtesy of Leake Street Arches:

A hybrid of Judge Death and the xenomorph from Alien.

Graffiti that says ‘Drinking like Hemingway’.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Yami says it's fine to share her work, so here are a few choice layouts from this never-before-published 48-page opus.

"There once was a boy who lived in a tower. It wasn't a fairytale tower, like the kind you read about in books. There was no princess in this tower and no dragons surrounding it. This was a great concrete tower, tall and square, in the middle of the city. To be honest, it was pretty ugly and boring. There were mice, but that was about as exciting as it got."

"The boy lived with his mum in their little flat, high in the sky. Their flat was so high, it took the boy an hour to climb the stairs after school. Their flat was so high, even the pigeons got out of breath. Their flat was so high, he never went anywhere."

"So Wesley bounced the unicycle down, down, down all the stairs until he was outside on the grass."

"In his defence, none of the grown-up clowns were very funny either. They just threw custard pies at each other and sat in a car that fell apart. Wesley didn't find rust an inspiring subject for comedy."

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

This morning I rediscovered a children's story I wrote nearly 20 years ago. Totally forgot it existed. Designer Yami Prajapati made an illustrated version. I'll nudge her and see if I can share some of it.

Back-of-book blurb for 'The Boy with Half a Bike' written by David Varela, illustrated by Yami Prajapati.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

My mate Adrian returned from Germany with this glorious, pristine stash, found in the back of a comic shop in Nuremberg. Nostalgia has never been so shiny.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Apparently, it is International Tiger Day on the same day as my stripy floof’s birthday. Ten years old and still a kitten! ❤️🐈

A stripy cat sits in a pile of shredded wrapping paper.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Caught these two gossiping outside just now. “You’ll never guess who’s burying their nuts in Deirdre’s garden…”

A squirrel appears to be whispering to an attentive sunflower.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Had a lovely murdery morning today at a preview of Mark Gatiss’ new TV show, Bookish. I even managed to grab Mark after the (excellent) Q&A for a chat about ‘Sherlock: The Network’ and in-game deduction systems.

Connor Finch, Mark Gatiss & Polly Walker pose for the press.

Bookish panel Q&A featuring the key cast.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

That feeling when work follows you home.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Got up early and went to Richmond Park. Stumbled into a David Attenborough clip.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Went out for a coffee and a walk this morning only to find that someone had set the city to MAXIMUM LONDON.

Horse Guards parading at Hose Guards’ Parade. 💂

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Our cat has a neck injury so we got him a black turtle-neck sweater to stop him scratching at it. Now he looks like a Special Forces operative who will knife me the moment my back is turned.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Sixty years ago today, my dad arrived in the UK from Spain (via France). It was supposed to be one stop on a working tour of Europe before going home and settling down with a nice Spanish girl. Instead, he met a flame-haired hotel receptionist from Oldham, settled here and had two kids. Ta, dad. ♥️

My dad, twinkling at my brother’s wedding

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

A new addition to the career mug collection, from a very old project. I did a tiny bit of work on Zombies, Run! back when it started. Very pleased with this official merch, which arrived in some impressive blast-proof polystyrene packaging. Straight onto the shelf. May never use.

A black mug with the message I AM RUNNER FIVE.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Excellent day on Leake Street today, especially for portraits. Too much good stuff to post.

Sweet black and white portrait of an older couple.

Stylised graffiti of a tiger, including drop shadow.

Silhouette graffiti of a female samurai(?) dropping her mask.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Strong work on Leake Street this morning.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

I've also been informed that inXile have this very slick matt black model in the studio. (Picture stolen from X. Ignore Timothee Chalomet.)

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

I have since discovered this one-off Clockwork Revolution mug! Here's a screenshot so you don't need to visit the Hellsite.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

When I joined Firesprite in 2021, I was sent a welcome pack in the post which included a lanyard, badge, and this mug smashed to pieces. An omen? Anyway, I grabbed an intact one when I visited the studio. Basic white ceramic, colour logo on one side. A solid cuppa.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

I actually bought this Wallace & Gromit mug from the online store because this game was mostly made during lockdown with very little coffee-drinking time in the studio. It’s no longer available, so maybe that makes it a collectors’ item? Basic white ceramic with colourful printed design. Cracking.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Back to Criterion, where I did a bit of work on Star Wars: Battlefront II, 18 months on the never-released Project Sputnik, and another year on NFS Unbound. Meanwhile, the other half of the studio worked on Battlefield V and got these very macho mugs so I nicked one. Dark blue ceramic. Stolen.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Into the AAA era, and my work on Need for Speed: Heat, for Ghost Games. A sadly appropriate company name as they have now ceased to be. Black ceramic with understated white logo. Lovely tapered shape. 9/10 ergonomic design.

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David Varela @writingstudio.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

After Perplex City, I joined nDreams (employee number 6!) and made Xi, an ARG centred around PlayStation Home. The team and budget were so small that I actually got these mugs made for everyone myself. Plain white with colour Xi graffiti and the message “WE MADE IT” - in both senses.

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