Jaakko Stenros
@jaakkostenros.bsky.social
Scholar of games and play, author or editor of eleven books, into comic books, role-playing games, queer stuff, literature, and art.
Website: https://jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/
Email: jaakko.stenros (at) tuni.fi
Website: https://jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/
Email: jaakko.stenros (at) tuni.fi
Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaali on parhaillaan käynnissä. Olen ehdolla Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistalla, numerolla 35.
November 19, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaali on parhaillaan käynnissä. Olen ehdolla Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistalla, numerolla 35.
Ludwig is kinda awesome. It takes some stamina, because it is maximalist. But making a small film about Ludwig II would lose his essence.
November 17, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Ludwig is kinda awesome. It takes some stamina, because it is maximalist. But making a small film about Ludwig II would lose his essence.
Only one film in the Queer Film Club yesterday: the original four hour version of Ludwig (1973) by Luchino Visconti. It tells the story of the Bavarian "Mad King" Ludwig II (1845-1886), who was more interested in supporting the arts, building castles, and chasing men, than in wars or ruling.
November 17, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Only one film in the Queer Film Club yesterday: the original four hour version of Ludwig (1973) by Luchino Visconti. It tells the story of the Bavarian "Mad King" Ludwig II (1845-1886), who was more interested in supporting the arts, building castles, and chasing men, than in wars or ruling.
Larpocracy, the EU project I'm involved with, is throwing a larp festival in Krakow next year. Here is the first flyer. (Also, it will be bilingual, Polish and English.) The tagline translates to: play someone - be yourself!
November 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Larpocracy, the EU project I'm involved with, is throwing a larp festival in Krakow next year. Here is the first flyer. (Also, it will be bilingual, Polish and English.) The tagline translates to: play someone - be yourself!
Finally, we concluded by watching Tokyo Godfathers (2003, dir. Satoshi Kon). This is an anime film where three homeless people (an alcoholic man, a trans woman, and a runaway girl) find a child in the trash during Christmas in Tokyo.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Finally, we concluded by watching Tokyo Godfathers (2003, dir. Satoshi Kon). This is an anime film where three homeless people (an alcoholic man, a trans woman, and a runaway girl) find a child in the trash during Christmas in Tokyo.
Our second feature was Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985, dir. Héctor Babenco). I remember as a young comic book fan being disappointed that this was not about Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman. Possibly the reason I never watched it until now.
November 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Our second feature was Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985, dir. Héctor Babenco). I remember as a young comic book fan being disappointed that this was not about Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman. Possibly the reason I never watched it until now.
We started with Queen Christina (1933, dir. Rouben Mamoulian), with Greta Garbo starring as the 17th century queen of Sweden who built peace after the Thirty Years’ War, didn’t marry, wore pants, had a long-term female “friend”, converted to Catholicism, and abdicated her throne.
November 6, 2025 at 3:23 PM
We started with Queen Christina (1933, dir. Rouben Mamoulian), with Greta Garbo starring as the 17th century queen of Sweden who built peace after the Thirty Years’ War, didn’t marry, wore pants, had a long-term female “friend”, converted to Catholicism, and abdicated her throne.
We ended the night by watching the first episode of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners from Netflix. It is based on the digital game Cyberpunk 2077 – which is based on Mike Pondsmith’s classic tabletop role-playing games Cyberpunk 2020.
November 3, 2025 at 11:13 AM
We ended the night by watching the first episode of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners from Netflix. It is based on the digital game Cyberpunk 2077 – which is based on Mike Pondsmith’s classic tabletop role-playing games Cyberpunk 2020.
The second feature of the evening was the Polish film Monument (2018, dir. Jagoda Szelc). In this film a group of students begin their internship at a hotel. This is an atmospheric thriller that feels like the weird scenes of Lars von Trier’s Riget stretched to film length.
November 3, 2025 at 11:11 AM
The second feature of the evening was the Polish film Monument (2018, dir. Jagoda Szelc). In this film a group of students begin their internship at a hotel. This is an atmospheric thriller that feels like the weird scenes of Lars von Trier’s Riget stretched to film length.
The first feature of the evening was the French film La Belle Époque (2019, dir. Nicolas Bedos). Now, usually we don’t watch films that are actually good at this club. It is even rarer to watch films that are great. Le Belle Époque is genuinely awesome.
November 3, 2025 at 11:08 AM
The first feature of the evening was the French film La Belle Époque (2019, dir. Nicolas Bedos). Now, usually we don’t watch films that are actually good at this club. It is even rarer to watch films that are great. Le Belle Époque is genuinely awesome.
We started again, as per custom, with an animated series. We are half way through the first season of Nyarko-san Another Crawling Chaos (2012), a harem anime based on Call of Cthulhu RPG. On the platter we had s01e07 Blue Coral Reef.
November 3, 2025 at 11:05 AM
We started again, as per custom, with an animated series. We are half way through the first season of Nyarko-san Another Crawling Chaos (2012), a harem anime based on Call of Cthulhu RPG. On the platter we had s01e07 Blue Coral Reef.
Finally, we closed with two episodes of American “reality tv-show” Jury Duty. The conceit here is that this is a behind-the-scenes documentary about a trial – except that everyone except one person in the film is an actor.
October 25, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Finally, we closed with two episodes of American “reality tv-show” Jury Duty. The conceit here is that this is a behind-the-scenes documentary about a trial – except that everyone except one person in the film is an actor.
The second feature was Mimesis (dir. Douglas Schulze, 2011), which is a horror film where some people are forced to live through Night of the Living Dead (the film) “for real”.
October 25, 2025 at 10:59 AM
The second feature was Mimesis (dir. Douglas Schulze, 2011), which is a horror film where some people are forced to live through Night of the Living Dead (the film) “for real”.
Our first feature of the evening was the new The Grim & The Dark (dir. Daniel Lowman, 2025), which is a documentary about the grimdark aesthetic – as it is understood as originating in Warhammer 40.000 fantasy miniature wargame.
October 25, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Our first feature of the evening was the new The Grim & The Dark (dir. Daniel Lowman, 2025), which is a documentary about the grimdark aesthetic – as it is understood as originating in Warhammer 40.000 fantasy miniature wargame.
As is customary, we started with an episode of a cartoon. Currently we are working our way through Nyaruko: Crawling with Love, which is a harem anime based on the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I always forget that this series exists, it is such a drain on one’s sanity.
October 25, 2025 at 10:52 AM
As is customary, we started with an episode of a cartoon. Currently we are working our way through Nyaruko: Crawling with Love, which is a harem anime based on the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I always forget that this series exists, it is such a drain on one’s sanity.
Kirjamessusaalis 2025. Vahva klassikkolinja tänä vuonna.
October 25, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Kirjamessusaalis 2025. Vahva klassikkolinja tänä vuonna.
The show features larps, digital games, videos, sculpture, and other such things. The space is not too big, but it is used in a fun way.
October 17, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The show features larps, digital games, videos, sculpture, and other such things. The space is not too big, but it is used in a fun way.
Depends on what you mean by "symbol", of course. If used in mathematical sense then at least Danzig (1930) claims that early ancient Greek algebra was rhetorical, later reaching syncopated levels, but never getting to symbolic.
October 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Depends on what you mean by "symbol", of course. If used in mathematical sense then at least Danzig (1930) claims that early ancient Greek algebra was rhetorical, later reaching syncopated levels, but never getting to symbolic.
Maria Petterssonin elämäkerta Anna Kontulasta on vetävä ja monipuolinen, hauska ja älykäs, koskettava ja raivostuttava. Paljon voi yksi ihminen ehtiä. "Shokeeraavan" kirjan luettuaan on kyllä lopulta shokeeraantunut vain maailman tilasta. Vahva suositus!
September 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Maria Petterssonin elämäkerta Anna Kontulasta on vetävä ja monipuolinen, hauska ja älykäs, koskettava ja raivostuttava. Paljon voi yksi ihminen ehtiä. "Shokeeraavan" kirjan luettuaan on kyllä lopulta shokeeraantunut vain maailman tilasta. Vahva suositus!
Mulle tulee Myrttisen kurkut mieleen noista tyypeistä. Ja sehän on ihan positiivista. Selkeästi ne ei ole ne, mutta joku mielessä vie sinne.
September 9, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Mulle tulee Myrttisen kurkut mieleen noista tyypeistä. Ja sehän on ihan positiivista. Selkeästi ne ei ole ne, mutta joku mielessä vie sinne.
Practical convention design tip! Ropecon door are about to open in an hour, and there will be a long queue in the scorching heat. To help the people in the queue, there are four containers of ice water. Well done, Ropecon!
July 25, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Practical convention design tip! Ropecon door are about to open in an hour, and there will be a long queue in the scorching heat. To help the people in the queue, there are four containers of ice water. Well done, Ropecon!
I spent this week in Valletta, Malta, at Digra 2025 conference. Digra is an annual game studies conference, that I have managed to attend approximately every other year since 2007. I’ll list some of my highlights from this year. (Looong thread.)
July 6, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I spent this week in Valletta, Malta, at Digra 2025 conference. Digra is an annual game studies conference, that I have managed to attend approximately every other year since 2007. I’ll list some of my highlights from this year. (Looong thread.)
Pic from yesterday's "Role-Playing and Queer" panel at Helsinki Pride. I (the dude on the right) have rarely looked this pleased with myself. Pic by Sirian Holappa.
June 25, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Pic from yesterday's "Role-Playing and Queer" panel at Helsinki Pride. I (the dude on the right) have rarely looked this pleased with myself. Pic by Sirian Holappa.
Whoops. Forgot that I wrote a popular article on gays in role-playing games already in 2006 for Roolipelaaja magazine.
June 24, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Whoops. Forgot that I wrote a popular article on gays in role-playing games already in 2006 for Roolipelaaja magazine.