Thoughts on how technology has failed to live up to its promise for reducing workloads and improving lives for the average worker, particularly in the field of education. #education #highered #academicsky #substack #edusky

The new expansion for Diablo 2: Resurrected (insane to have new content for such an old favorite childhood game!) as well as Mewgenics are occupying all of my free time lately! Both SO addictive. #games #gaming #videogamesky #mewgenics #diablo2

2025 is the Year of the Ninja in video games! Loved playing Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden, etc. (Close second: Year of the Superhero thanks to MARVEL Cosmic Invasion and Dispatch). #videogames #videogamesky #gaming

My favorite gameplay element with the best implementation in 2025 was level select screens. Several newer games like Shinobi or Cosmic Invasion let you pick your own path which gives a greater sense of adventure. Happy to see these come back in a few games! #gaming #videogames #videogamesky

My pick for the best free content update in 2025 is Crime Scene Cleaner! This is a game where I always look forward to new maps, perhaps more than any other game out there, so 2 new maps (with the promise of more to come) is great! #games #videogames #gaming #horror #goty #crimescenecleaner

Write-up about a few potential readings of the "blue magic" mechanic in many JRPGs and other video game genres (Mega Man and Kirby, too, can be seen as a sort of blue mage). #games #videogames #writing #gaming #jrpg #academia

CULTIC: Chapter 2 wins my personal award for “spookiest scares,” even in a year with some other horror bangers. Despite being a fast-paced “boomer shooter,” CULTIC often slows down the pace for a straight-up horror segment. ctrlaltdecay.substack.com #horror #games #videogames #gaming #goty #cultic

NPR always puts out the best end-year games list that I can rely on for interesting write-ups of games that are both households names as well as unknowns.

On behalf of my Substack ctrlaltdecay.substack.com, my “Endless Content” award for the game with the most bang for your buck, or the most content, goes to Monster Train 2! #gaming #videogames #goty

My second-ever print book chapter, out now! Great work by the other authors and the editor, @librarianchef.bsky.social #academia #edusky #academicsky #writing #conspiracy

Excited to be presenting tonight at @popcrn.bsky.social's conference on food in pop culture, "Delicious, Nutritious and Fictitious!" #academia #highered #academicsky #research #popculture #dnd #dungeonsanddragons

Yet again, couldn't help but write about some of @duskdev.bsky.social's work in the form of 2025's Butcher's Creek. ctrlaltdecay.substack.com/p/the-voyeur... #horror #gaming #videogames #horrorgaming

Took a closer look at the flora and fauna of one dungeon in @just2d.bsky.social's incredible Drova: Forsaken Kin! #gaming #rpg #crpg #videogames ctrlaltdecay.substack.com/p/dungeon-ec...

As it turns out, it is possible in the Lovecraftian universe of @duskdev.bsky.social's Iron Lung for life to exist and indeed thrive in an ocean of blood on an alien moon. #gaming #horror #horrorgames

This week I wrote about how @chrislamartina.bsky.social's wonderful WNUF Halloween Special showcases the dangers of commodifying joy. #horror

The Flying Waters dungeon warns us of the real-world consequences of failing to take seriously the stewardship of Earth. #gaming #videogames #videogamesky #expedition33 #nature

Some random, well-loved fantasy paperbacks with great cover art. -On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers -Saga of Old City by Gary Gygax #fantasy #coverart #bookart #booksky

Here are my picks for the best, most satisfying and rewarding loot in video games. What would you pick? 1. Baldur's Gate (1 or 2) 2. Wizardry 7 3. Diablo 2 4. Legend of Grimrock (1 or 2) 5. Resident Evil 4 #games #videogames #gaming

Casting "Heroes' Feast" once, due to its material requirements, is equivalent to purchasing 50,000 loaves of bread or 1,000 goats. What does this say about food magic and the people who cast it in the world of Dungeons & Dragons? #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #dnd5e #gaming #academicsky

I'm writing a recurring series on the roles of animals in games. Moths represent darkness, the moon, and transformation. How do the real-world scientific characteristics and behaviors of moths translate to video game mechanics? #videogames #games #academia #ecocriticism #nature #substack

Gotham is the greatest comic book city. It's a character in its own right, and always dripping with atmosphere --if it's not raining in Gotham, it better be snowing--otherwise I feel the creative team has made a misstep.

Aw man, I can't remember which one but there was one of these games I loved! #games #videogames #gaming

Mega Man X2 has always been my favorite—I think in part because I find the bosses neat! 5 of the 8 mavericks you fight are based on invertebrates: -Morph Moth -Magna Centipede -Wire Sponge -Bubble Crab -Crystal Snail How cool is that!? #megaman #games #videogames #videogamesky

This week I posted a closer look at the I Spy books from the 90s and what makes their pictures so surreal, liminal, and nostalgic. #90s #nostalgia #popculture #substack #academicsky

After all the time I’ve spent playing games where you have to play inventory Tetris to get everything to fit, you’d think I’d be better at packing IRL. #games #gaming #diablo

Been binging 80s movies I either missed out on, or saw once as a kid but have mostly forgotten. Recently watched Karate Kid I-III (I know, I know—how could I have missed them?!), Robocop 1 + 2, and The Wraith. Watching Cobra Kai now which is amazing in its cheesiness :) #movies #80s #80smovies

Best games I've played so far in 2025 (not necessarily games that came out in 2025--Skald and Drova were last year). Look Outside, Drova, Rematch, Monster Train 2, Skald: Against the Black Priory, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. No particular order. #videogames #games #gaming

I hope this piece serves as a solid intro to hauntology, a concept that gives me a framework for much of my thinking and writing. Would love to connect with others who find this an interesting or promising line of thinking! #hauntology #literarycriticism #popculture #mediastudies #edusky #academia

Question for anyone in academia, particularly humanities, lit criticism, philosophy, etc.: Do you ever write and argue points that you don't necessarily believe yourself? Do you have to believe your own thesis? #edusky #academia #academicsky #philosophy #literarycriticism #research #composition

"I'm Really Crossed Up": Tim Robinson's I Think You Should Leave and VR-Induced Dissociation A silly blog post about a great sketch comedy show, showing that you can delight in overanalyzing just about anything :). #itysl #popculture #academicsky #substack #comedy #vr

Having a great time so far with Look Outside! The Lovecraftian cosmic horror reminds me a lot of Skald: Against the Black Priory--though both games are quite different, the atmosphere is tremendous! #games #gaming #horror #videogames

And here is my first full-length essay on my Substack, Ctrl+Alt+Decay! I’m diving into everybody’s favorite video (and tabletop) game monster—the humble slime. In this piece, I explore slime consciousness and what it means to think without a brain. #gaming #academia #edusky #popculture #dnd #jrpg

Trying out Substack for blogging my less-rigorous quasi-academic thoughts on a variety of topics related to pop culture. If anyone else uses Substack I'd love to connect! Post coming next week on the consciousness of slime-type enemies in games. #academicsky #substack #popculture #gaming #dnd

Excited to be presenting this Friday at Leveling up the Classroom with a few of my colleagues! #academicsky #gamification #games #gaming #pedagogy

BTW, please check out Board Game Academics & consider submitting for their most recent call for papers: boardgameacademics.com This is how academic journals should be, IMO. Free & open-access online, rather than locking scholarship behind the usual paywall of an academic journal. #academicsky

Excited to have contributed to this! #academicsky #edusky #boardgames #boardgamesky

Exciting news! We’re thrilled to announce that tapir Yuna gave birth to a rare and endangered Malayan tapir calf Sunday night. The newborn, covered in distinctive white spots and stripes resembling a fuzzy walking watermelon, is only the second tapir born in our 120-year history.

What exactly in the fuck is wrong with him? #politicssky #politics #news #us

There's a lot of (justified) concern over AI, but have you had a chance to check out Google's Notebook LM? Try it--in particular its ability to generate an AI podcast based on an uploaded document. It is CRAZY! Could have benefits for accessibility or as a legit study tool. #edusky #academicsky

I teach a small transfer success class. Today, one of them needed help finding out where to pick up their books, and before I could even answer two of the other students volunteered to go with them to show them after class. I love the sense of community they've built! #edusky #academicsky

Welll that's concerning as all hell, though sadly not surprising. #edusky #academicsky #politics #politicssky

What do your papers look like during the writing process? My paper-in-progress docs contain (below the essay itself) a mishmash of dozens of bullet points of things to remember to include, comments to myself, paragraphs written out of order to splice in later, etc. Just chaos! You? #academicsky

#academicsky professors: heads up

This is so far-reaching, even beyond how cruel it is to trans kids. According to this, I can’t teach my education students about equity or risk my university’s federal funding. #AcademicSky

Here it is. This is abominable.

Does anyone else have instances where you suffer from imposter syndrome, and how do you cope with it? #academicsky #edusky

Trump's antics are affecting so many lives. #MedSky #PharmSky #AcademicSky #ChronicIllness

Pretty new here, would love to connect with fellow academics, particularly in #English / #litstudies / #disabilitystudies but would appreciate connections in any field! Also, any Academic Advisors out there? #academicsky #academia #highered #higheredsky #academicadvising

If you’re on a hiring committee, push to include the expected salary in the ad. Shocking, I know, that already-overworked #contingentfaculty would love to know what a non TT lecturer will be paid to run an online graduate program. #AcademicSky #edusky #highered #higheredjobs #transparencymatters