Evan Torner
@guyintheblackhat.bsky.social
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.
Just checkin to see what NEH appears to be funding these d-..... oh
November 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Just checkin to see what NEH appears to be funding these d-..... oh
Doing a gig, slightly different hat
November 9, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Doing a gig, slightly different hat
Such communication is the "leadership" most large organizations are now experiencing in 2025.
October 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Such communication is the "leadership" most large organizations are now experiencing in 2025.
@chirographum.bsky.social -- And here is my copy, LIVE IN THE FLESH
October 11, 2025 at 12:21 PM
@chirographum.bsky.social -- And here is my copy, LIVE IN THE FLESH
Glad to see the Tabletop Games series at @uofmpress.bsky.social take off with @jreylee.bsky.social's book on Catan.
Clear, unambiguous writing on abstraction and gaming with regard to colonial themes.
Clear, unambiguous writing on abstraction and gaming with regard to colonial themes.
October 11, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Glad to see the Tabletop Games series at @uofmpress.bsky.social take off with @jreylee.bsky.social's book on Catan.
Clear, unambiguous writing on abstraction and gaming with regard to colonial themes.
Clear, unambiguous writing on abstraction and gaming with regard to colonial themes.
If video games frequently disavow their TTRPG heritage, we can at least proudly own the fact that TTRPG work is deeply inspired by video games. Most of us have an origin story or two.
SLAYER CAKE is inspired by Brütal Legend.
"Something to Drink With That, Sir?" inspired by dys4ia.
What's yours?
SLAYER CAKE is inspired by Brütal Legend.
"Something to Drink With That, Sir?" inspired by dys4ia.
What's yours?
October 11, 2025 at 10:57 AM
If video games frequently disavow their TTRPG heritage, we can at least proudly own the fact that TTRPG work is deeply inspired by video games. Most of us have an origin story or two.
SLAYER CAKE is inspired by Brütal Legend.
"Something to Drink With That, Sir?" inspired by dys4ia.
What's yours?
SLAYER CAKE is inspired by Brütal Legend.
"Something to Drink With That, Sir?" inspired by dys4ia.
What's yours?
I never got the special green-cover edition of the book (although I *did* get the German hardcover), but nevertheless this showed up on my birthday and I am grateful to finally read @jpolizei.bsky.social's translation.
October 4, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I never got the special green-cover edition of the book (although I *did* get the German hardcover), but nevertheless this showed up on my birthday and I am grateful to finally read @jpolizei.bsky.social's translation.
Have your adventurers slain any sea monks lately?
October 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Have your adventurers slain any sea monks lately?
Scholars of modernism: Critique of society can be nestled within parallel structures of competing meanings, in which the subtle frictions and necessary gaps create audience estrangement and an intellectual, non-visceral response to a series of exploitative, unjust structures
xkcd, today:
xkcd, today:
September 30, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Scholars of modernism: Critique of society can be nestled within parallel structures of competing meanings, in which the subtle frictions and necessary gaps create audience estrangement and an intellectual, non-visceral response to a series of exploitative, unjust structures
xkcd, today:
xkcd, today:
If you see this, quote with an image from a game that released the year you were born.
September 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM
If you see this, quote with an image from a game that released the year you were born.
Distracting myself momentarily with one of the OG ARGs, Kit Williams' Masquerade (1979)
September 16, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Distracting myself momentarily with one of the OG ARGs, Kit Williams' Masquerade (1979)
If you're at the German Studies Association next week in DC, come to Arts Night and experience the first-ever GSA Games Night featuring a cash bar and Kathryn Hymes of Thorny Games!
September 16, 2025 at 7:08 PM
If you're at the German Studies Association next week in DC, come to Arts Night and experience the first-ever GSA Games Night featuring a cash bar and Kathryn Hymes of Thorny Games!
In May, former DEFA director Jörg Foth showed me the overgrown former gravesite for Wessel's remains, which were transferred out of Berlin after the site had become a pilgrimage site for the far right. Such neglect couldn't be more deliberate, and for good reason!
September 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM
In May, former DEFA director Jörg Foth showed me the overgrown former gravesite for Wessel's remains, which were transferred out of Berlin after the site had become a pilgrimage site for the far right. Such neglect couldn't be more deliberate, and for good reason!
Post a meme you made:
August 30, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Post a meme you made:
3/4 of this season's SoR NKY bands are organized around video-game playlist memes.
The "gaming as culture" people were right. Video games are SO much more than mere games, but are now meta-level organizers of all human cultural production.
The "gaming as culture" people were right. Video games are SO much more than mere games, but are now meta-level organizers of all human cultural production.
August 30, 2025 at 5:57 PM
3/4 of this season's SoR NKY bands are organized around video-game playlist memes.
The "gaming as culture" people were right. Video games are SO much more than mere games, but are now meta-level organizers of all human cultural production.
The "gaming as culture" people were right. Video games are SO much more than mere games, but are now meta-level organizers of all human cultural production.
without downloading any new images, where are you mentally?
August 26, 2025 at 1:44 AM
without downloading any new images, where are you mentally?
My work "Dude The Head Shop Is Closed" debuted last year at the Make-A-Scene festival and I miss all these folks!!
August 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM
My work "Dude The Head Shop Is Closed" debuted last year at the Make-A-Scene festival and I miss all these folks!!
"I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE that movie."
August 25, 2025 at 4:54 AM
"I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE that movie."
Post a non-religious photo you think of as Holy
August 21, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Post a non-religious photo you think of as Holy
The film ends with key characters being executed by firing squad, and then a shot of Czechs putting wreaths on mass graves. This film wrestles between the murderous calculus that its creators had witnessed (and deemed necessary to win against the Nazis) and unchecked grief for the fallen.
August 18, 2025 at 3:39 AM
The film ends with key characters being executed by firing squad, and then a shot of Czechs putting wreaths on mass graves. This film wrestles between the murderous calculus that its creators had witnessed (and deemed necessary to win against the Nazis) and unchecked grief for the fallen.
I, too, can zero in on side details that miss the whole-ass point
August 17, 2025 at 3:52 AM
I, too, can zero in on side details that miss the whole-ass point
