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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · 26d

Saving this for next time I see gammon whinging about casting choices in early medieval film & TV.

Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
theconversation.com/two-seventh-...

Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society

We should not be surprised that there are west Africans in early medieval Britain, the clues were there.

theconversation.com

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 2

Woooooooo, landslide victory for Zack in the Green Party leadership elections!

That's a huge blow for the boring centrists who don't believe that radical policies can get support.

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 2

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 1

Precisely this!

Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 1

(And obviously Jayanth is cleverer still but, ya know, research is all about standing on the shoulders of giants!)

Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 1

2/2 ...“for identity, community, self-esteem, challenge, love, joy” are fulfilled through the game, rather than deferred (2021). Citizen Sleeper is, perhaps, at last, one such game.'

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 1

1/2 'Jayanth points out the “gun is still the fundamental tool we give players to interact with the world”, advocating instead for games in which our fundamental human needs...

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Sep 1

I am proofing an upcoming chapter I wrote, sitting here thinking, I am so clever, which is a pretty nice feeling; way better than thinking I am useless or broken, which, you know, are also options. Here is a relevant passage that I love, but OMG ALL this stuff is so damn good, I am very clever:

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 30

How you sound when you say "there's no point in my caring about my personal CO2 emissions because Jeff Bezos is worse"--

"look we already know there's microplastics in the swimming pool so it won't make any real difference if I take a dump in it"

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 19

Oh. There's a lot of bad art out there in every medium. But look at Citizen Sleeper, Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, Six Ages: Ride Like The Wind, Gris, even God of War: Ragnarok, and tell me videogames don't have multiple ways of telling amazing, subtle stories.

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 19

Videogames are capable of telling just as complex and emotionally engaging stories as any other medium -- more so, in some ways -- but not if studios think that consumers only want slop.

www.pcgamer.com/games/we-can...

We can't keep making videogame stories for players who aren't paying attention to them

Let me get lost, I promise it's okay.

www.pcgamer.com

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 13

tldr: do continue to keep your climate apocalypse cupboard topped up with canned beans and such
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

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iopscience.iop.org

Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock

Phil @ Mace Games @mace-games.bsky.social · Aug 13

Thanks to a bit of advice from @sturrock.bsky.social , I've been able to strip the fantasy world map back to the basics and repopulate it digitally. Photoshop isn't particularly intuitive to use, but once I got the original scan cleaned up, Paint does the job nicely.
#booksky #book #fantasy #sf&f

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 11

profserious.substack.com/p/understand...

Understanding University Finances

... a very short guide

profserious.substack.com

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

Easily the best Star Wars, probably the best SF TV show ever too (I still have a huge soft spot for Strange New Worlds obviously).

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

5) Seeing a key Imperial institution fragment & self-destruct with paranoia felt very like watching the Tory Party's implosion over the past 10y; what do you do when your most competent fascists are disgraced & disempowered? Now we know why the Empire of 1-3 is so ineffective in so many ways.

Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

4) The conscious low-tech touches -- radios, flight paths, air traffic control, etc. -- are so much fun thematically, harkening back to the mid-20th century wars and media that influenced Lucas so much.

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

3) The insight into rebellion is also just astonishing -- we joke about an Andor game being a leftist infighting simulator but it does show how tough it is to get a bunch of traumatised, angry people to work together.

Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

2b) The makeup, esp. S2 E.10-12, shows not so much the aging of a couple of the key characters, as what they have endured. Again subtle and mostly about the contrast with how they looked for the rest of the series. A good indication of how well every single detail is considered in this show though.

Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

2a) The music has been subtly powerful all through and in particular brings a sadness to the final scene that, in the hands of a more schmaltzy director, would have been seen as hopeful rather than adding to the tragedy.

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

2) Obviously the last three episodes are exceptional pieces of television and the acting, direction, and writing have been heavily praised, quite rightly! I am just gonna single out the music and makeup too though.

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Aug 4

Finally finished watching Andor!
No big spoilers below I think.
1) Rogue One is now MUCH better. It was always pretty decent but also always flawed, and Andor S1-2 fixes most of the flaws. (a Jyn prequel exploring her connection with Saw could fix the rest -- I believe there's a novel out already)

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Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock

Toby Venables @tobyvenables.bsky.social · Jul 11

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Dr Ian Sturrock @sturrock.bsky.social · Jul 11

Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero

Games allow us to play with imaginary futures and situations. For example, humanity's own future, as the Anthropocene era comes to a dangerous close and we begin to consider the post-Anthropocene.

CFP and more at:

www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...

Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero

We're seeking submissions for proposals for 20-minute conference presentations from across the fields of animation, VFX and games.

www.tees.ac.uk

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Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock

Dixie ☕︎ @dixie13.bsky.social · Jul 5

#booksky

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