Vinicius Marino Carvalho
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vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Vinicius Marino Carvalho
@vinicius-marino.bsky.social
1.1K followers 720 following 410 posts
Writer | Historian | Post-doc, UNICAMP | ARISE, Middle Ages in Modern Games 🎮 Stair na hÉireann 🍀 Environmental History 🐈‍⬛ Cat dad | Gaeilge

Meu romance: http://bit.ly/4kioHUZ

Blog: https://finisgeekis.com.br/

Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3F9RVGD
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vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Just finished @blakemanorgame.bsky.social & don't know what to do with my life.

I was prepared for the history & mythology. I wasn't prepared for the feels.

This game hits right in the guts (in the best possible way!)

Also: apologies for the cryptic image; I'm doing my best to not give spoilers!
Screenshot from the videogame The Séance of Blake Manor. It shows a white-haired man grooming a horse. He has a white beard and wears a vest. The color palette emulates the sepia tones of an old-time photograph.
November 17, 2025 at 3:19 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
There's even a Brazilian character, demonstrating I'm not the only one crazy enough to have an interest in Ireland.
A screenshot from The Séance of Black Manor. It shows a woman, Inês Barbosa, wearing a mixture of Brazilian and Irish clothing.
November 3, 2025 at 12:07 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Months ago I gave a paper on Irish mythology in games, which was almost entirely a list of what games do wrong with the theme. Then comes @blakemanorgame.bsky.social, which does almost everything right.

What a joy of a historical game! Comhghairdeas leis an foireann ar fad ag Spooky Doorway!
A screenshot of the video game The Séance of Black Manor. It shows a modern druid, with beard, staff and a horned circlet, answering questions from the main character. Mr Ward, the protagonist, asks 'That's an unusual crown you wear'. The druid replies: "Crown? That's the Pale speaking in you, lad. It's a circlet. It's a sign of my station as a druid, a protector of this land and its inhabitants. *tsk* Crown..."
November 3, 2025 at 12:07 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Nesse sábado, tive um super dia na Livraria da Vila de Campinas, onde organizei uma sessão de autógrafos do meu romance, 'A Trama do Mundo' - e pude fazer cosplay de Fionn Mac Cumhaill!

Meu livro (que também é sobre cosplay!) está disponível aqui: caravanagrupoeditorial.com.br/produto/a-tr...
Vinicius ao lado do pôster do lançamento do livro A Trama do Mundo. Vinicius veste o cosplay do personagem Fionn Mac Cumhaill, tal qual retratado no jogo Shin Megami Tensei V: uma coroa com chifres de cervo, peruca loira longa, capa vermelha com bordas decoradas em dourado, sobre uma brigantina e túnica. O cartaz mostra cinco personagens em uma taverna, trocando histórias. Vinicius no lançamento do livro A Trama do Mundo, autografando um exemplar. Vinicius veste o cosplay do personagem Fionn Mac Cumhaill, tal qual retratado no jogo Shin Megami Tensei V: uma coroa com chifres de cervo, peruca loira longa, capa vermelha com bordas decoradas em dourado, sobre uma brigantina e túnica. O cartaz mostra cinco personagens em uma taverna, trocando histórias. A leitora é uma mulher de cabelos escuros, segurando uma bebê. Vinicius segurando um exemplar de seu romance A Trama do Mundo, durante evento de lançamento. Vinicius veste o cosplay do personagem Fionn Mac Cumhaill, tal qual retratado no jogo Shin Megami Tensei V: uma coroa com chifres de cervo, peruca loira longa, capa vermelha com bordas decoradas em dourado, sobre uma brigantina e túnica. O cartaz mostra cinco personagens em uma taverna, trocando histórias. Atrás dele, há um buffet com comidas e bebidas e prateleiras da seção Ficção Científica, Fantasia e Terror.
October 27, 2025 at 4:34 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
I can assure you that your idea has merit
Screenshot from the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Actor Jim Carrey plays a kid, wearing kid pajamas, hiding under the kitchen table. He looks at a mother figure with her back to the camera.
October 16, 2025 at 11:52 AM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Just started Fire Emblem: Thracia 776. Doing justice to the series' infatuation with Irish mythology, we've got an Aoibheall right from the start.

Aoibheall famously appears in Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre's Cúirt an Mhéan Oíche ("The Midnight Court"), a great 18thc poem, also available in translation
Screenshot from the Super Famicon game Fire Emblem: Thracia 776. It shows a cutscene, in which a blonde female warrior called "Eyvel" is superimposed on a sepia map. The subtitle reads: "with its own militia, the Fiana Freeblades, let by the swordswoman Eyvel"
October 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Timely words of wisdom from the epilogue of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.

I can no longer say "Three Houses" is the only entry in the franchise I've played.

Onward to Thracia 776!
A screenshot from the Super Famicon game Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. Two characters, blue-haired protagonist Seliph and green-haired bard/advisor Lewyn are talking. A palace, modeled on a Medieval European cathedral, serves as a background. Seliph says: "Thank you, Lewyn, but our victory means precious little while our world still lies in ruins. Where do we begin from here?". Lewyn answers: "share the work among you"
October 7, 2025 at 5:24 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Yesterday, disease took my best friend Puisín Glas away.

To those who work with me, I apologize if I'm a bit slow to respond. There was scarcely a moment in my routine which I didn't share with him. I feel like I don't even know how to work anymore.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh d'anam, a chara.
A one-eared grey cat resting on my lap, on top of a green blanket decorated with shamrocks. Close-up of a grey, one-eared cat looking at the camera. His eyes are blue. A grey, one-eared cat sleeping next to my arm. A grey, one-eared cat on a leash, resting by the shade during a walk on the beach.
October 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Cansado demais para postar semana passada, mas é oficial:

Meu romance, "A Trama do Mundo", teve enfim seu evento de lançamento!

Muito obrigado a todos que comparecerem e à Alessandra Effori, pela excelente rodada de Q&A!
Vinicius falando no microfone durante um bate-papo na livraria Bibla ao lado de Alessandra Effori. Vinicius na livraria Bibla, autografando um exemplar do romance A Trama do Mundo em uma escrivaninha. Uma taça de vinho branco está ao lado do livro. Vinicius sorrindo, segurando um exemplar do romance A Trama do Mundo Vitrine da livraria Bibla no dia do lançamento. Todos os espaços da vitrine estão ocupados por exemplares do romance A Trama do Mundo
September 29, 2025 at 8:21 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
FE: Genealogy of the Holy War also features the worst fantasy map of Ireland in the history of cartography.

I don't know what cracks me up the most: the way the fan translation mangled the katakana for the Irish provinces or the fact that Meath isn't remotely in the middle.
A screenshot from the videogame Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. It shows a map of the region known as "Manster District", with names inspired by actual Irish provinces: Alster (Ulster), Leonster (Leinster), Connaught, and Meath.
September 21, 2025 at 6:18 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Now playing: "Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War"

I've seen my share of Cú Chulainns & Morrígans, but this is the first Díthorba I've come across in a game!

@alexvandewalle.bsky.social and @maciejpaprocki.bsky.social: please, do a 2nd MythGames conference so I have an excuse to write abt it!
Screenshot of the video game Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. It shows a dialogue between antagonists Daccar and Díthorba. Daccar says "Dithorba! Is the army ready to deploy yet?" To which she answers "Yes, sir. Bishop Cuvuli's wind mage unit has infiltrated the forests near Sailane. They await your command, sir".
September 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Now playing 'Hellclock' from @hellclockgame.bsky.social , a fantasy take on the Canudos War.

Flavor texts taken from primary/secondary sources, inc. Euclides da Cunha's "Rebellion in the Backlands"

Props to Col. Moreira César, who is positively terrifying as the Beheader.

#historygames
Screenshot from the videogame Hellclock. It features a monstrous version of Col. Moreira César (aka "The Beheader"), a Brazilian officer who fought and died in the Canudos War. He says "It is hard to believe a traitor like you once served our glorious army" Screenshot from the videogame Hellclock. Protagonist Pajeú is talking to the ghost of Col. Moreira César, "The Beheader". The colonel says "There wasn't a single brave Canudense (i.e. a person from Canudos) when my saber tore through their carcass." Screenshot from the videogame Hellclock, showing the inventory. An excerpt from Euclides da Cunha's "The Backlands" is featured as flavor text
August 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Just finished this beautiful game.

As the dad of an elderly cat, my heart wasn't prepared for the ending.

Good thing weekend starts tomorrow. I'll need at least a day under my blanket to recover.
Cover image of the digital game Cats and the Other Lives. It features a pudgy orange cat looking out of a window, next to a statue of the Egyptian god Osiris and a notebook with a strange cover
August 15, 2025 at 10:08 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
I've recently been featured in NHK's Anime Manga Explosion, talking about Saint Seiya in Latin America.

Only a tiny bit of interview made it into the cut, but it was a joy to talk to the team. I also helped a bit with the visual footage - pointing them to BR sources.
www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/...
A screenshot of myself being interviewed via Zoom. I'm smiling and wearing a blazer and turtleneck . Thumbnail from NHK World's mini-documentary called Classic Tales Reborn: Saint Seiya / Tougen Anki. If features characters from 1980s anime series Saint Seiya
July 28, 2025 at 5:29 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
I grew up on these streets
Screenshot of the Ancient Egyptian city builder Pharaoh. It features a temple complex surrounded by some buildings like storage yards, residences, farms and a military fort. The Nile can be seen on the top left corner. Some boats navigate the river.
July 28, 2025 at 11:50 AM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
A bilingual, Latin/Irish edition of Catullus' poems?

All right, I know what I'll be reading for my mid-year break.
A cover of the book Catullus Gaelach, edited by Pádraig Breandán Ó Laighin.
July 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
They said the first hags had been molded from the peat. A capricious goddess had given them shape, and the needs of greedy men had fished them out of the bog. It was a lie, the bog knew. For the peat itself, laboriously accumulated since the days when giant elk roamed the land, before people understood that soil, stripped of it tree cover, would rather escape with the rain than stay put and hold their grain, giving up a piece of itself to something as fleeting as a person was at once an incomparable sacrifice and a pathetically modest one.
June 16, 2025 at 5:28 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Really important insights in #MAMG25 's Sponsored Session. In particular, it's good to see serious discussion on how to translate immaterial attributes (like piety) into quantifiable variables. #gamingthepast
Cover art of the videogame Fields of Glory: Kingdoms. It features an image inspired by medieval artworks depicting two knights, and a conversation between a crown-wearing ruler and a diplomat or officer.
June 4, 2025 at 3:56 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Há muito a se apreciar em "Solaria", RPG da @luluzinha.bsky.social. Mas algo que me chamou a atenção é como o sistema *realmente* entende o que significa ser pesquisador.

Não somos gênios. Toda nossa força vem das nossas redes de contato. Como dizem os irlandeses: "ni neart go cur le chéile". 1/2
Página do livro de regras do RPG Solaria, detalhando as vantgens (habilidades) do perfil pesquisador. Uma delas, "Contato", traz o seguinte texto: "Ter uma rede de pessoas disposta a te ajudar é importante, certo? Ao escolher esta Vantagem, crie uma Personagem da Narradora que esteja ligada a você e dê a ela uma Área do Conhecimento. Caso seja preciso, essa PdN poderá te ajudara encontrar informações sobre a Área do Conhecimento selecionada, mas, as capacidades dela são limitadas pelas definições colocadas pela Narradora."
June 2, 2025 at 3:37 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
New additions to the collection!
A large figurine of Joker, from the game Persona 5, next to a small figurine of Panther from the same game. Joker wears a vest, cape, red gloves and a white mask. Panther wears a red catsuit with a tail and a cat-shaped mask.
June 1, 2025 at 6:34 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Screenshot from the movie Leon: the Professional. Matilda, played by Natalie Portman, asks: "Is life always this hard or is it just when you're a kid?". Leon, played by Jean Reno, answers: "Always like this".
May 10, 2025 at 10:53 AM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
The game has very basic material requirements (thus, is perfect for class). I tweaked the rules to use the beautiful custom dice set from Brazilian TTRPG "As Chaves da Torre" (The Tower Keys). They also doubled as a "memory core" - which, in the original game, required LEGO pieces. 2/
Materials used in the LARP. From the top left, clockwise: a booklet with some instructions to guide players, a black cardboard box with a hole in it, custom yellow, black, and red six-sided dice, three piles of Magic the Gathering cards (plains, mountains, and swamps), and four four-sided dice inside a Kiki's Delivery Service tin box.
May 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Had a lot of fun in my Games & History class today, replicating @florencesn.bsky.social's LARP "Funeral for an AI God". #gtp #gamestudies

This was no AI course (and I'm no AI expert), so most of the debrief was on potential/challenges of LARP as research (ephemerality, speculation, etc). 1/
A group of people playing a LARP. Vinicius is in the center, in front of a table with a black box on top of it, wearing a dark hoodie. He is surrounded by four people, sitting in chairs. A group of people playing a LARP. One character, playing a mourner, recites a speech in front of a black box (representing the coffin of a dead AI). Vinicius, playing the master of ceremonies, stands by his side, wearing a hoodie.
May 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
Me reading the hot takes in your draft:
English writer Samuel Johnson reading a book with a puzzled and outraged look on his face
May 4, 2025 at 1:19 PM
vinicius-marino.bsky.social
E se quiserem saber mais sobre o que mitologia tem a ver com games, eu e um monte de gente sabida falaremos a respeito mês que vem, nesse evento grátis online:
mythgamescon.wordpress.com

#gamestudies #videogames #gamingtheepast #mythology #MythGames
Letreiro do evento Mythological Gem Studies Conference 2025. Um arco-e-flecha, raio e um controle de videogame acompanham o título
April 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM