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Dr Holly Nielsen

@hollynielsen.bsky.social

15K followers 510 following 4.7K posts

Historian of play | AHRC funded PhD on board games & play c.1860-1939 | Game developer | Writer & narrative designer Repped by Will Francis at Janklow & Nesbit she/her

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · Jun 10

Thought I’d do a little reminder on here-

If you’re curious, these are academic pieces based on my research that I have published so far. (Humanities academic publishing is glacially slow)

Chapter: “‘the British Empire would gain new strength from Nursery Floors’, Depictions of Travel and Place in Nineteenth-Century British board games”, in “Historia Ludens: The Playing Historian”, Routledge, edited by Alexander con Lünen, Katherine J. Lewis, Benjamin Litherland and Pat Cullum

Chapter: “‘Men should try playing the woman’s part to see what it feels like. Remember~ it’s only a game…’ The representation of gendered experience in chance-based board games”, in “Material Game Studies, A Philosophy of Analogue Play”, Bloomsbury, edited by Chloé Germaine and Paul Wake

Chapter: “Empire Preference: Interwar British Empire Trade Games” in, “playing place: board games, popular culture, space”, MIT Press, edited by Chad Randl and D. Medina Lasansky

Paper: “Multipurpose Domesticity: Labour, Leisure and Kitchen Tables” November 2023, 93(6), Architectural Design

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 16h

Mine arrived today and I am thrilled at how big it is

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 16h

🐐

Picture of my hand holding a large mug with a goat on it that says “wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Tamoor Hussain @tamoorh.com · 18h

Live now raising money for @medicalaidpal.bsky.social

Tamoor Hussain @tamoorh.com · 3d

This week I’m going to raise money for @medicalaidpal.bsky.social to help Palestinians in need.

On Fri I'll start & finish Metal Gear Solid, MGS2 on Sat, Delta on Sun. It'll be 9 AM PT each day on www.twitch.tv/tamoorh.

Fundraiser is live on my Twitch. Please share if you can!

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 18h

I don’t believe it is.

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 19h

It’s truly a look I’ve honed over 31 years of being regrettably English and frazzled.

Selfie in a mirror. I’m holding a cup of tea. I’m wearing a bit cream knotted jumper, wearing glasses, navy blue trousers with burgundy stripe down the side, my hair is flicking all over the place

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 19h

Idk I’ve been a British citizen for a long time and I’ve never once understood cricket

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 20h

Reminder for Bluesky that I am based in the UK and if I’m talking about stuff I generally default to UK because that’s my current experience unless stated otherwise. I am not always talking about the US 🥲

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 20h

Talk about money!!

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 20h

Remember that “oh it’s a bit rude to talk about pay” benefits no one but employers and it is something we should be talking about (particularly minorities)

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 20h

Wastes so much time for a lot of people and also just signals that you’re potentially hoping to low ball the pay

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 20h

I really think it should be illegal to put up job postings and not give a general figure or range of what the pay would be.

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

'Universities have collectively announced more than 12,000 job cuts in the last year, new analysis from the University and College Union (UCU) suggests.'

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Simon Parkin @simonparkin.bsky.social · 1d

In 2014 I wrote for @newyorker.com about @kurtjmac.bsky.social, a YouTuber who began walking in Minecraft and never stopped. His quest was to reach the Far Lands, a place at the limits of the algorithmic world, where the landscape breaks apart. On Saturday, after fourteen years, he arrived:

A Journey to the End of the World (of Minecraft)

www.newyorker.com

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Going to ignore the world and instead focus on the coziest corner of my flat

Picture of a corner of a room with a window, plants, red tulips in a vase, a lamp, bookshelf with books and a record player

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Want to dress like the feminine fashion equivalent of a quickly purchased Boots meal deal where you had to settle for your second choice of sandwich that you then eat in a grey park while being watched by threatening squirrels?

I’m your gal

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Okay fine you’ve convinced me

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Got a video suggested to me with a fashion influencer woman showing people how to dress like “a frazzled English woman”

If that look is becoming fashionable, then it is truly my time to shine.

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Turning leaves and jacket season 🍂

Picture of a park in late afternoon sun. The leaves are starting to turn

Chalk drawings on the ground- Buses, a star, house, a heart

Selfie in a mirror. I’m wearing a pale denim jacket and red scarf

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Absolutely not

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Get a historian on your team, we’re great

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Samantha Mackenzie Greer @sammgreer.bsky.social · 1d

Look. I totally get the despair and frustration. But every couple of weeks someone else is asking "where's press coverage for indie games?" and like, have you been under a rock? It's been torn to pieces my dudes! The devastation of games media has been widely talked about!

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 1d

Reminder that if you’d like to work with a writer and narrative person who puts in fun things like this even in a game with a non-historical setting- then I’m available for work at the beginning of the new year

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 2d

I love writing for games and getting to slip in little bits of historiography. In one storylet I’ve covered ambiguity in material culture, “truth” and “emotional truth”, and the need to research the everyday alongside the exceptional 🫡

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Samantha Mackenzie Greer @sammgreer.bsky.social · 1d

New Page day!

A full pager that's red as hell, showing the world outside the prison of Quod-Quell.

What viewers don't see is the many pieces of paper where I've tried to sketch out a rough map of the planet's orbit so these kinda views are (hopefully!) consistent.

🔴 iteatsplanets.com/page/55 🔴

Two prisoners stand at the edge of a metal walkway of a large industrial structure, one over the railing upon the precipice. Beyond them the ocean meets the horizon, stained by a blood red horizon. Behind the clouds, a dark sky is host to the red tinged silhouettes of a nearby gas giant, its rings and a moon with artificial lights upon its surface.

The prisoner on the precipice says "Nobody gets out."

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 2d

Yessss

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 2d

How do people go through life not being silly or having whimsy. At any moment I have probably just done a minimum of 3 silly things.

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