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Evan Torner

@guyintheblackhat.bsky.social

3.8K followers 3K following 3.3K posts

Associate Professor of German, Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at U of Cincinnati; Scholar of East German cinema, science fiction, and role-playing games. He/Him. Bi. Wears a hat.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · Jan 5

I'd like to think of "dark academia" as "I, a brooding professor who wears all black, have [these clothes] on while I send many emails and update Canvas assignment due dates"

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 55m

RoleMaster was trending this way for its whole lifespan too

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Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 19h

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!

The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/

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Andrea Kaston Tange @aktange.bsky.social · 1d

My latest: "Numerous studies show that majors in the humanities—typically, in departments of English, history, philosophy, religious studies, classics and languages—lead students to employment and life satisfaction outcomes as positive as those for majors traditionally championed as 'practical.'”

Counterpoint | Minnesota humanities graduates thrive in meaningful careers

"The stereotype of the underemployed history major is simply not true," professor Andrea Kaston Tange writes.

www.startribune.com

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Natalie Spitzel | Looking for work!! @nat-the-dev.bsky.social · 11h

Believe old game devs when we tell you: burnout is real, it's painful. Be honest with yourself, take the breaks when you need them.
I've been burnt out for so long, I only just realized how long. I went from crunch at Iridium into crunch at Giant Squid with no break. About 3 years. It was too long.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 12h

Agreed on all fronts! Kink and sex education are super-important to our shared history.

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 12h

Greg Costikyan had us covered 31 years ago on that front:

costik.com/brecht.html

Bestial Acts

costik.com

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 12h

One of my favorite things about larping and the experimental side of role-play in general is that suddenly, and paradoxically, it's my GERMAN LIT, THEATRE, & FILM pedigree that's in demand among these folks. Like larpers follow up with me about Rilke and Günderrode and Brecht and that blows my mind.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 14h

I wouldn't mind traveling back in time and witnessing Alfred Döblin's extremely awkward moment in the 1940s when he declares his conversion to Catholicism in front of Thomas Mann, Lion Feuchtwanger, and the like.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 23h

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 15h

I know one could swoop in and say "Don't worry -- it's OK" but I'm in the same boat with a recorded panel talk from 2 years ago coming out in publication form and so many *claims* I might've made in front of an audience of over 100 Germans.... It keeps eatin at ya

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Amos Posner @amosposner.bsky.social · 19h

Chef Boyardee was a real Italian immigrant who produced huge volumes of rations for Allied troops during World War II.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_...

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s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 20h

This special education news is really devastating and we're going to learn more in the coming days as we get more info and people figure out exactly what it means, but a reminder that disabled people are entitled to a free appropriate public education.

Amid shutdown, Trump administration guts department overseeing special education

Multiple sources tell NPR that, as part of the Trump administration's latest reduction-in-force, the U.S. Department of Education has gutted the office that handles special education.

www.npr.org

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Ms. Otoo @sharondoduaotoo.bsky.social · 1d

»Eine kritische Aufarbeitung des #Kolonialismus ist ... Voraussetzung für eine gerechte & diskriminierungssensible Gegenwart«
Dr. Ibou Diop

#Berlin übernimmt endlich Verantwortung für seine koloniale Vergangenheit & das Erinnerungskonzept "Kolonialismus erinnern" ist online🧵

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Werbung für eine Publikation.
Schwarzer Text auf gelbem Hintergrund:

Veröffentlichung

Kolonialismus Erinnern
Ein geamtstädtisches Erinnerungskonzept des Landes Berlin

"Berlin übernimmt Verantwortung für seine koloniale Vergangenheit"

Mehr auf:
konzept.kolonialismus-erinnern.de

Kolonialismus Erinnern.

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Jaakko Stenros @jaakkostenros.bsky.social · 1d

I have checked all the links and they work again!

Jaakko Stenros @jaakkostenros.bsky.social · Feb 4

I have 11 books about games out as author or editor. Ten of them are available as free pdfs. Check out the full list here: jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/books/

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

The Franchise version? Yes, but only like 3 sessions. It is NOT a game that prioritizes careful character development lol

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

OMG Lacuna mentioned. YES

And InSpectres, Sorensen's prior TTRPG about a Ghostbusters reality TV show, does a similar trick: hyper-specific genre situation to cover up the fact that players determine *most of the plotline* by way of their partial successes.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

Apocalypse World is equal parts HBO drama from the late 2000s and Meg & Vincent's home game style, mixed together in a delightfully intimate, brutal package. In the past 15 years, there's still very few games like it. I'm glad you've been able to have that experience!!

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

Dungeon World was very much a Google+ creation that reacted to the fact that those first-gen PbtA games (Monsterhearts, Sagas of the Icelanders, MotW) *were not dungeon-crawl fantasy*. Sage & Adam deliberately crossed the streams without understanding the fundamental logic of AW.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

This also reflects my view of "the industry" as an ever-renewing indie creation that, OK, has provided a *handful* of FT jobs and a boatload of freelance work to those who Have No Mouth and Must Game Design (Costikyan). Our professionalism may be suspect, but our vagrant hobbyism is absolute.

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

No idea at the time (when I was like 13) that I was hanging out with well-connected Iowan hobbyist geeks, some of whom *also* had considerable TTRPG credits: Steve Crow, Chris Mortika, Gary Lange, Chris Clark (who worked with Gygax), and James Ernest. I got to play Everway the week it came out lol.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

a man wearing glasses says i was young then in yellow letters

Alt: a man wearing glasses says i was young then in yellow letters

media.tenor.com

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

My very first "indie" TTRPG was Pandemonium (1993), but the one that "blew my mind" was Puppetland (1995), which *also* had a John Tynes author credit. I guess I should also mention It Came From the Late, Late, Late Show (1989) somewhere in there....

www.atlas-games.com/pandemonium/

Pandemonium

www.atlas-games.com

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John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 1d

Always a great guy in my interactions with him, tireless advocate for the gaming community. It's a heartbreak.

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

Rob Wieland was the tabletop community's Man At Forbes who did a lot to promote us all in the public eye. His last post was on the Last Caravan Kickstarter, which he probably did not anticipate would be his last.

May we all attain the level of kindness and geekery that Rob did.

Banana Chan @bananachangames.bsky.social · 1d

Extremely sad to hear the passing of Rob Wieland. He was a beloved figure in tabletop and a friend.

Will miss our post-con chats, Rob.

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R. Talsorian Games @rtalsoriangames.bsky.social · 1d

If you’ve read an article about RTG or our games in the past few years, chances are it was written by Rob Wieland, one of the power houses of TTRPG journalism.

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Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

Faulkner understood American trashiness and nobility in ways that few others ever have. I walk away from his books with equal parts fascination and shame.

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 1d

He was a "con friend," someone with whom I had maybe a handful of interactions, and I think we played in a horror TTRPG one shot together back in 2008.

But I *did* read his Forbes work religiously, esp. because he had the pulse on the community as a hard-working game creator.

And so so young.