Sign in

Mark Hines

@markshines.bsky.social
641 followers 1.7K following 115 posts

PhD student at the University of Kentucky Fulbright Taiwan Race and representation in fantasy games, toxic fan studies, popular culture markhines.me

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Mark Hines
Anne Helen Petersen @annehelen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is *the* piece. Kate Manne, professor of philosophy at Cornell, speaks truth to the totality of failures at the university — and why students protesting the war in Gaza have faced far harsher consequences than any of the Cornell 7: www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
4830241059
Reposted by Mark Hines
Press Start Journal @psjournal.bsky.social · 19h
The Unplayable and Undertale books have been taken! We are still looking for reviewers for other books📚
021
Reposted by Mark Hines
Future Dr. V @vgtxresearch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
398 down. 1,256 to go. I'm V, a grad student at Bradley University, and I'm running the biggest video game psychology study of my life. 10-15 minutes on your phone. 18+. That's it. Playingwithemotion.com Let's keep it rolling. #research #psychology #videogames #gradschoollife #thesis
042
Reposted by Mark Hines
Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
COMING SOON: In prelaunch w/ Violent Delights, another game inspired by Shakespeare: Mousetrap is a cursed game-within-a-game that won’t go back into its box. It’s game night. You and your friends have gathered to play a Hamlet-inspired game manuscript from 1983. But there’s a catch…
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: Mousetrap & Violent Delights
A cursed game-within-a-game that won't go back into its box, and a chess-based RPG about Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
610657
Reposted by Mark Hines
Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 28/09/2026
If a prospective PhD was looking for a program that would welcome close reading of video games (like, full-on narratology), where would you point them?
12255
Reposted by Mark Hines
cmrn knzlmn @ckunzelman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you are a graduate student in the humanities (construed as broadly as possible), what is the MOST EXCITING book published in the last five years to you? Please repost if you’re not a graduate student!
29485479
Reposted by Mark Hines
cmrn knzlmn @ckunzelman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thread really resonates with me because I, like many, have dealt with deeply frustrating people in institutional settings that have made my life really hard. I will never forget them. And every single one has been a white man older than me.
11298
Reposted by Mark Hines
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Very important that we protect everyone's space and right to be anywhere from bad to "mid" at stuff, so they feel more reason to grow and less reason to use computers to fake ability and expertise.
14310
Reposted by Mark Hines
Aaron Trammell @aarontram.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Happy Monday!! Amazing little piece by @edmondchang.bsky.social about what he calls ludofatigue…or the kind of play that happens when games are no longer fun. www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/the...
gamerswithglasses.com
The Summer without Games, or, Living with Ludofatigue — Gamers with Glasses
Don’t you sometimes just feel…tired? Edmond Y. Chang discusses “ludofatigue,” how it feels to live with the persistent sense that play just isn’t fun anymore, and the perennial relevance of Candleman ...
2174
Reposted by Mark Hines
Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
When you spend enough time in academia you will notice class based distinctions on career outcomes that have more to do with culture than with talent or work. You’ll also notice the improbably high share of faculty members who had at least one parent who is/was a faculty member. 
1247273
Reposted by Mark Hines
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 18/09/2026
it's funny but also a reminder that the fundamental premise here is that a Black man can't be objective when talking about race while a white man can because Black people do identity politics and white people do facts and this my friends is what I have named "white empiricism"
193198737
Reposted by Mark Hines
Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 19/09/2026
YOU should submit your work to CritRoleBib — which despite the name is trying to bring together scholarship in ALL Actual Play: Aub.ie/submitcritrolebib The early submissions to CRB revealed the energy of otherwise-invisible undergrad & early grad work — which is why my book is dedicated to them.
aub.ie
Critical Role Bib(liography) -- And BEYOND!
Hi, and welcome to CritRoleBib! This is a resource dedicated to collecting all sources #CriticalRole, as well as scholarship in the larger world of Actual Play performance. You name it, we'd love to ...
0168
Reposted by Mark Hines
Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Dave Barry: still goated 🐐
Michelle has been a sportswriter for four decades. For most of her career, she has written more than 400 stories a year. So we’re talking thousands of stories, containing tens of thousands of names and statistics, and I’m guessing that in all that time she got maybe a dozen facts wrong. She had to be accurate, because she was — in fact still is — a woman, which means that every time she writes a story, she has to prove that she knows what she’s talking about. Men do not have to prove this, because men have penises, which give men a natural ability, from birth, to speak authoritatively about all sports, all the time. This is why a casual male sports fan can watch three minutes of a football game between two teams he has never seen before and declare, with complete confidence, that the coaches — who have been coaching for years, and whose jobs depend on their teams’ performance, and who have been up late night after night preparing for this game — have NO IDEA what they’re doing. The casual male sports fan can tell this at a glance, thanks to his penis.
414330
Mark Hines @markshines.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
At the end of a guest lecture today, a student came up to me and said, "You made me think about games in a way I never have!" The work has not been easy this year, but it was a good reminder of how big a difference a small effort can make.
020
Reposted by Mark Hines
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Anyway, to my colleagues in politically maligned but in-demand disciplines, I know it is hard to be this hot. All the weird dudes hate us and the other girlies want to be us. Stay hot, anyway. Stay hot, my friends.
146337
Reposted by Mark Hines
Press Start Journal @psjournal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
📢Press Start is delighted to welcome our newest board members! We'll be introducing two members every day in this thread, so please give them all a warm welcome📷
173
Reposted by Mark Hines
Press Start Journal @psjournal.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Call for Book Reviewers 2026📚📢 Press Start is looking for review submissions of recently published game studies books. The deadline for expressing interest is December 13, 2026. Selected manuscripts will be published in our 2027 issue. More details below in this thread👇
143
Reposted by Mark Hines
Aaron Trammell @aarontram.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
♥️🔥♥️🔥♥️🔥♥️🔥♥️🔥♥️🔥♥️ ITS HERE!!!!! This book is about how game design on a whole, counterintuitively, became less imaginative because of Dungeons & Dragons. We often talk about Dungeons & Dragons as the ultimate fantasy. A pure domain of imagination where absolutely anything is possible.
718231
Mark Hines @markshines.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Coming from Louisville football, many folks reveled in the lack of parity. They saw the lack of fairness as a broader validation of their moral goodness when compared to their rural counterparts.
010
Reposted by Mark Hines
InfoWars @realinfowars.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Don’t worry. Abigail wants you. She’s always wanted you.
The image features neon pink text on a textured background with the heading "Warrior Affirmations." The text includes statements about masculinity and virility, and references the game "Stardew Valley."
252365479
Reposted by Mark Hines
alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
sorry, but torturing the omelas kid is just a smart move, polling-wise. i personally wish there wasn't a kid in the omelas hole--of course i do!--but let's not get distracted by purity tests, here.
5949491461
Reposted by Mark Hines
Aftermath @aftermath.site · 09/09/2026
After years of company stalling, Blizzard workers win mega-contract that applies to all unionized teams aftermath.site/blizzard-union...
the famous orc statue outside blizzard's HQ in irvine, california
213257875
Reposted by Mark Hines
Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 07/09/2026
Associated reading: lareviewofbooks.org/article/who-... And @aarontram.bsky.social HOW DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CHANGED THE WAY WE PLAY from @dukepress.bsky.social dukeupress.edu/how-dungeons...
lareviewofbooks.org
Who Owns Dungeons & Dragons? | Los Angeles Review of Books
Emily Friedman writes about intellectual property and Dungeons and Dragons.
04611
Reposted by Mark Hines
Possum Acquainter @possumacquainter.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
new male overconfidence test: I truly believe, in my heart of hearts, that I could bust right through Montresor's wall with my fists and feet. and that the Amontillado would actually help me in this, like Popeye's spinach
619724
Reposted by Mark Hines
Sam Bodrojan @helmetgirl.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
61457285
Reposted by Mark Hines
Press Start Journal @psjournal.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Open Call for Papers 2026🥰📢 Press Start is currently seeking full-length game studies papers from current grad students/recent grads. Submit by Dec 4, 2026, for a potential spot in our 2027 issue! More details below in this thread👇 #CallForPapers #GameStudies
279
Reposted by Mark Hines
Kinodämmerung: Noel @ Final Fantasy VI @venomnoel1.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
2450231804
Reposted by Mark Hines
austin_walker @austinwalker.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Impossible to add up all Avery's done for the medium. But easy to say how much her work helped me come to understand how to play, facilitate, and design games. Also, they're fun as hell, you should buy them!
219794
Reposted by Mark Hines
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Counter-opinion: Unionize literally every profession connected with higher education. Grad students. Adjuncts. Staff. Custodians. Undergrad student workers. Employers exploit any "wiggle room" in the system, so now we give them absolutely none.
612525
Reposted by Mark Hines
Mr. Joshua @pantspants.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
143256363
Reposted by Mark Hines
Jordan S. Carroll 🌹 @jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The study of the humanities depends on the radical idea that anything that humans think, feel, or create has value independent of any immediate utility or appeal to the people who study it.
19627
Reposted by Mark Hines
Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
So, one of the many things that sucks about academic job applications back when there were jobs to apply for was that to write a good letter you needed to let yourself fall just a little bit in love with the dream of the job and the place... and then you don't get it and the ideas are abandoned.
41337
Reposted by Mark Hines
Avery Alder, Buried Without Ceremony @lackingceremony.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Do you love any of the games that I have created? Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨ store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Buried Without Ceremony
My name is Avery Alder, and for the past eighteen years I’ve been designing tabletop roleplaying games. These are games about community, relationships, doubt, queerness, and the collapse of civilizati...
12593364
Mark Hines @markshines.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I'll say that The Quiet Year and The Deep Forest changed my academic trajectory. Playing those games re-taught me what was possible in the medium. Dare I say, they taught me what was different and possible about BEING a human.
020
Reposted by Mark Hines
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I'm dedicating this month and next to the Greatness of Canadian TTRPGs and Their Creators, for literally No Geopolitical Reason Whatsoever. Avery's games, from Perfect onward, always stood on their own two legs, unique statements on both the TTRPG medium and what it's like to be alive.
1233
Reposted by Mark Hines
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Part of treating children as human beings means simply reminding yourself that the younger version of you would have hated to have been surveilled 24/7, and that your sense of self is formed in part through privacy from others. We parent well when we let our children find themselves.
7280110
Reposted by Mark Hines
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
There is considerable shared ground between, say, our online gambling landscape and the roguelite deckbuilder as a genre. And I'd also remind us all of our games history: *most* analog gaming until the development of mass commercial family board games was, well, gambling.
5465
Mark Hines @markshines.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It's been a tremendous honor to serve on the Editorial Board for this issue. Please see inside for some wonderful, timely scholarship on games from current/recent students!
061
Reposted by Mark Hines
Press Start Journal @psjournal.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
🤩New Issue Published!🤩 We are thrilled to announce the publication of the latest issue of Press Start! Huge thanks to all our authors and reviewers for their hard work and dedication. Please check it out and share widely: press-start.gla.ac.uk/press-start/...
1117
Reposted by Mark Hines
Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
New: 3 yrs ago I published exposé revealing Richard Hanania used pseudonym to write for Nazi sites Ever since I've watched centrist media rehabilitate him, accepting his ludicrous claim to have left white nationalism behind. My look at what it means, for @marisakabas.bsky.social' The Handbasket
thehandbasket.co
You don’t have to hand it to Richard Hanania
The so-called "former" white supremacist's work doesn't show accountability—or that he's actually moved on from his earlier views, Christopher Mathias writes.
3836701080
Reposted by Mark Hines
dave @gloomfather.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
yeah man "woke 1" sucked ass. I "woke 1" morning from uneasy dreams to find myself transformed into a giant insect
89160223697
Reposted by Mark Hines
Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
162921708
Reposted by Mark Hines
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I cannot overstate how influential this group of scholars has been on my own work this past decade, and now you can read a complete rundown of their intellectual contributions in open-access format. Go ahead and read all of it!
1246
Reposted by Mark Hines
𝒰𝓁𝓉𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝐻𝓊𝓈𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓇 @latenightnelly.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
This is what every one of these conversations sounds like
52474349
Reposted by Mark Hines
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I sincerely believe that men cannot handle this. women may be falling in love with their chat bots, too. But I don't think they are categorically attached to its flattery to the same degree.
282113266
Reposted by Mark Hines
Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
this issue was just in front of the Supreme Court, and the case was the state of West Virginia against a middle school girl. which side sounds braver to you?
51407130
Reposted by Mark Hines
EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...
theonion.com
Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation
PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...
258239444578
Reposted by Mark Hines
Andrew Borman @borman.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Save the Games. July 29 and 30. Rochester, NY. Worried about our all-digital future? Want to know how researchers interact with game history? What the challenges that game studios are facing? All that and more, just weeks away. www.museumofplay.org/save-the-gam...
museumofplay.org
Save the Games: A Digital Preservation Symposium - The Strong National Museum of Play
49634
Reposted by Mark Hines
John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
On the one hand, give us this movie already you cowards. On the other hand, there's nothing more faithful to D&D than everyone taking forever to get the second campaign started.
642579
Mark Hines @markshines.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
I think this trend is a psy op to get you engaged with the online strategy/theorycraft community
000