Joshua Novalis
@jnovalis.bsky.social
Writing about games, stories, and the myths we live by. He/him. Subscribe to my Substack, Area of Effect: https://joshuanovalis.substack.com/.
Pinned
#Gamingin2026
1. And Roger
(TearyHand Studio, 2025)
The Firewatch prologue by way of Florence. And Roger is a story about illness, god, and soup, told largely through simple mechanics, color, geometry, and limited text. I loved every minute and left with a lump in my throat.
1. And Roger
(TearyHand Studio, 2025)
The Firewatch prologue by way of Florence. And Roger is a story about illness, god, and soup, told largely through simple mechanics, color, geometry, and limited text. I loved every minute and left with a lump in my throat.
🕹️Games I Finished in 2026 🧵
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Today's the day, don't miss our ICE Out Charity Stream stream with @giantbomb.bsky.social from the MinnMax Studio at 5pm Central! www.twitch.tv/minnmaxshow
You can donate now - bit.ly/iceoutminnea...
100% goes to helping those in need with rent assistance and food delivery here in Minneapolis.
You can donate now - bit.ly/iceoutminnea...
100% goes to helping those in need with rent assistance and food delivery here in Minneapolis.
January 30, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Today's the day, don't miss our ICE Out Charity Stream stream with @giantbomb.bsky.social from the MinnMax Studio at 5pm Central! www.twitch.tv/minnmaxshow
You can donate now - bit.ly/iceoutminnea...
100% goes to helping those in need with rent assistance and food delivery here in Minneapolis.
You can donate now - bit.ly/iceoutminnea...
100% goes to helping those in need with rent assistance and food delivery here in Minneapolis.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
TGIWFWTD (Thank God It's Whiskey Friday With Tony Dokoupil), everyone
January 30, 2026 at 1:14 PM
TGIWFWTD (Thank God It's Whiskey Friday With Tony Dokoupil), everyone
Incredible casting choice.
Severance star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson will play Thor in the live-action God of War show for Prime Video. https://bit.ly/4qTCjK0
January 29, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Incredible casting choice.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Unfriendly reminder, AI is being used to destroy trust. Do not normalize the use of AI. AI can not reliably enhance videos or low-quality images.
This is the quiet replacement of reality. Do not let this be normalized.
This is the quiet replacement of reality. Do not let this be normalized.
January 29, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Unfriendly reminder, AI is being used to destroy trust. Do not normalize the use of AI. AI can not reliably enhance videos or low-quality images.
This is the quiet replacement of reality. Do not let this be normalized.
This is the quiet replacement of reality. Do not let this be normalized.
Art.
Was looking through my steam library to see what I need to add to the backlog and forgot I changed Yakuza 0's cover art to this
January 29, 2026 at 4:32 AM
Art.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
FREE BOOKS 📚 from @versobooks.bsky.social and @haymarketbooks.org to up your political education in this moment !!
Thank you Rev @aliciatcrosby.bsky.social !
Thank you Rev @aliciatcrosby.bsky.social !
What to read to understand the ICE phenomenon.
Our friends at Verso have prepared this ultra thorough ABOLISH ICE reading list, featuring a number of excellent titles that can help explain how we got here. Histories of American immigration, or …
lithub.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:36 PM
FREE BOOKS 📚 from @versobooks.bsky.social and @haymarketbooks.org to up your political education in this moment !!
Thank you Rev @aliciatcrosby.bsky.social !
Thank you Rev @aliciatcrosby.bsky.social !
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
you cannot engage in good faith w an agency that has demonstrated from top to bottom that it will deceive and ignore rules to achieve its goals. democrats cannot break the kayfabe of good faith opposition lest they undermine their own hegemony of bad faith influence, and thus are useless against ice
Federal deployment to Minneapolis "is steady state and expected to continue as planned," per Border Patrol memo leaked to me
January 27, 2026 at 10:53 PM
you cannot engage in good faith w an agency that has demonstrated from top to bottom that it will deceive and ignore rules to achieve its goals. democrats cannot break the kayfabe of good faith opposition lest they undermine their own hegemony of bad faith influence, and thus are useless against ice
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
before you take any of the "Trump is pivoting/lamenting/lowering the temperature after the Pretti murder" stories too seriously, absolutely nothing has changed in Minneapolis: "an absolutely brutal day of raids and abductions" says one friend
January 27, 2026 at 9:25 PM
before you take any of the "Trump is pivoting/lamenting/lowering the temperature after the Pretti murder" stories too seriously, absolutely nothing has changed in Minneapolis: "an absolutely brutal day of raids and abductions" says one friend
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Literally twelve days ago Gavin Newsom apologized to Ben Shapiro for saying that ICE was "state-sponsored terrorism" and now he's calling Bovino a Nazi? He's a power-hungry psychopath who doesn't actually believe in anything.
January 27, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Literally twelve days ago Gavin Newsom apologized to Ben Shapiro for saying that ICE was "state-sponsored terrorism" and now he's calling Bovino a Nazi? He's a power-hungry psychopath who doesn't actually believe in anything.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
All the traits that you have been taught to value and look for in special individuals - courage, intelligence, strength - are actually collective traits. There is no genius or hero coming to save us from our problems. We solve them together or not at all. Socialism or barbarism.
I have never witnessed such a spiderweb of collective action, just average everyday people showing up. Not the heroism we’ve been sold by the movies but collective heroism, a fabric of care and resistance to fascism.
January 25, 2026 at 1:52 PM
All the traits that you have been taught to value and look for in special individuals - courage, intelligence, strength - are actually collective traits. There is no genius or hero coming to save us from our problems. We solve them together or not at all. Socialism or barbarism.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
No one had to TEACH US how to brutalize people using militaristic police & then lie about it. If you’re saying some other country is actually responsible for this, I’d ask that you maybe interrogate the part of your brain that wants to displace the responsibility onto a foreign other here
January 25, 2026 at 6:16 AM
No one had to TEACH US how to brutalize people using militaristic police & then lie about it. If you’re saying some other country is actually responsible for this, I’d ask that you maybe interrogate the part of your brain that wants to displace the responsibility onto a foreign other here
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Memory is a fragile thing in this moment, so it is important to keep in mind that Hakeem Jeffries refused to whip his caucus against ICE funding earlier this week.
January 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Memory is a fragile thing in this moment, so it is important to keep in mind that Hakeem Jeffries refused to whip his caucus against ICE funding earlier this week.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
The coffee shop is packed with people. It’s giving out coupons to anyone who donates plasma in the blood center truck outside. A pair of neighbors wait for coffee and fill each other in on the latest ICE killing. A man has to excuse himself to quietly cry in the corner.
A Saturday in Minneapolis.
A Saturday in Minneapolis.
January 24, 2026 at 4:57 PM
The coffee shop is packed with people. It’s giving out coupons to anyone who donates plasma in the blood center truck outside. A pair of neighbors wait for coffee and fill each other in on the latest ICE killing. A man has to excuse himself to quietly cry in the corner.
A Saturday in Minneapolis.
A Saturday in Minneapolis.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
centrists like to use terminology disputes as a proxy battle for actual policy fights, and engaging is often fruitless. if you don’t like the slogan use something else. but the agency needs to be hollowed out, every existing agent needs to be put on no-hire lists, and there need to be prosecutions.
January 24, 2026 at 6:02 PM
centrists like to use terminology disputes as a proxy battle for actual policy fights, and engaging is often fruitless. if you don’t like the slogan use something else. but the agency needs to be hollowed out, every existing agent needs to be put on no-hire lists, and there need to be prosecutions.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
You can tell things are going well in America because accounts with names like MovieTVFunZone are posting things like, "THE PIGS ARE KIDNAPPING CHILDREN AND PRIESTS. THE TREE OF LIBERTY DEMANDS TO BE WATERED"
January 23, 2026 at 11:50 PM
You can tell things are going well in America because accounts with names like MovieTVFunZone are posting things like, "THE PIGS ARE KIDNAPPING CHILDREN AND PRIESTS. THE TREE OF LIBERTY DEMANDS TO BE WATERED"
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Ah crap my perceived in-group status didn't shield me from the inevitable violence of fascism. I had been really counting on that. That was my load-bearing identity.
@flaminghydra.com
flaminghydra.com/what-it-has-...
@flaminghydra.com
flaminghydra.com/what-it-has-...
January 23, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Ah crap my perceived in-group status didn't shield me from the inevitable violence of fascism. I had been really counting on that. That was my load-bearing identity.
@flaminghydra.com
flaminghydra.com/what-it-has-...
@flaminghydra.com
flaminghydra.com/what-it-has-...
God I hope this makes it into some US history book in 20 years.
January 23, 2026 at 8:53 PM
God I hope this makes it into some US history book in 20 years.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Adding “No problem if not” to my email signature
January 23, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Adding “No problem if not” to my email signature
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Thank god it’s whiskey Friday with Tony dokoupil
January 23, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Thank god it’s whiskey Friday with Tony dokoupil
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
January 23, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Gotcha—let’s dig into that step by step.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
1. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, because I turned you into an amorphous lump of flesh. You’re not just immobile—you’re immortal, and you feel only anguish.
2. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. That makes total sense—it’s a natural human impulse, and you’ve been through a lot.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
January 23, 2026 at 4:01 PM
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
This looks and sounds like a letter read aloud in a Wes Anderson movie by one of his precocious boys or broken men
January 23, 2026 at 2:38 AM
This looks and sounds like a letter read aloud in a Wes Anderson movie by one of his precocious boys or broken men
Reposted by Joshua Novalis
It has not been lost on me that the two preeminent contemporary uses of LLMs is the infinite generation of 1) CSAM and 2) media that serves no purpose other to publicly denigrate, humiliate, and dominate women and minorities.
January 22, 2026 at 5:53 PM
It has not been lost on me that the two preeminent contemporary uses of LLMs is the infinite generation of 1) CSAM and 2) media that serves no purpose other to publicly denigrate, humiliate, and dominate women and minorities.
Great piece by @dreamcastaway.bsky.social. The desire to give characters what they "deserve" is as old as medieval morality plays (and surely older). But a story is not fundamentally a series of if-then statements. Not every play is Everyman.
A game doesn't need to be 'by and for fans'
aftermath.site/life-is-strang...
aftermath.site/life-is-strang...
January 22, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Great piece by @dreamcastaway.bsky.social. The desire to give characters what they "deserve" is as old as medieval morality plays (and surely older). But a story is not fundamentally a series of if-then statements. Not every play is Everyman.