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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 · 6h

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 · 7h

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 · 7h

Okay fine you’ve convinced me

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 7h

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 · 11h

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 · 13h

Absolutely not

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 13h

Get a historian on your team, we’re great

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Samantha Mackenzie Greer @sammgreer.bsky.social · 16h

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 · 17h

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 · 1d

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 · 20h

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 · 1d

Yessss

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

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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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

sweetie π @sixfeetofcandy.bsky.social · 4d

could a depressed person do this? *posts again*

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

God bless the directors who bring me on to their games and let me be a huge nerd.

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

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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

If your dad wore it in the ‘80s or ‘90s I’ve probably paid a fiver to wear it now.

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

I love old shirts

Selfie in a mirror, I’m wearing dark jeans and a second hand men’s shirt from the ‘90s with a blue and terracotta abstract pattern on a cream background

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Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Laura Michet @lmichet.bsky.social · 2d

Learned that I am being laid off from Heart Machine, and will be leaving the studio later this month.

Do you need a contractor? I've got a track record of leading scope-friendly script revisions late in dev. I have also done a lot of consulting on new IPs and pitches/demos. Feel free to DM me!

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 3d

It’s why all the cool kids end up in human geography

Reposted by Dr Holly Nielsen

Oxford Centre for the History of Childhood @histchildoxford.bsky.social · 3d

We're so excited to hear about Holly Nielsen's research in our 1st seminar of term on 'play' in a couple of weeks! 20 October 11-12:15 in Oxford & online - more info on how to join us here: talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/series...

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 3d

It’s very annoying

Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 3d

I love how academia is like:

“Yeah be interdisciplinary! We want to support innovative research that breaks boundaries!”

But then makes you pick one discipline from a limited drop down menu to define yourself as.

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 3d

Only going to be about on that day I think- but would love to meet for a coffee if you have a moment spare!

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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 3d

I joke about it (because that’s what I do) but ngl it’s legitimately scary to have to mentally place yourself somewhere when you have *zero* memory of being somewhere or doing something. It makes you doubt everything

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