Nicholas Orvis
@nsorvis.bsky.social
Dramaturg, director, critic, and scholar working at the intersection of theater and games.
Co-creator @dndramanerds.bsky.social. Opinions my own.
Co-creator @dndramanerds.bsky.social. Opinions my own.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Good thread altogether but the end is the most important part imo - a boycott needs an *end point*. If you are not gettable, if nothing they do will ever get you to shop there, then they have no reason to change practices in response to the boycott!
and after the union wins? you go back and you tip hard and you show the company it was the workers who made them their money, and that they're nothing without the workers! super simple equation! Solidarity with Starbucks Workers United, 12,000 strong and growing!
September 13, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Good thread altogether but the end is the most important part imo - a boycott needs an *end point*. If you are not gettable, if nothing they do will ever get you to shop there, then they have no reason to change practices in response to the boycott!
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
it's called "dukkhamaxxing". kids are cultivating attachment at unheard of levels on the streets to experience whole new levels of suffering
September 6, 2026 at 9:03 PM
it's called "dukkhamaxxing". kids are cultivating attachment at unheard of levels on the streets to experience whole new levels of suffering
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
"fairness in women's sports" is literally just "ethics in games journalism" like this is the same thing this is part of the same playbook dawg
September 11, 2026 at 3:16 AM
"fairness in women's sports" is literally just "ethics in games journalism" like this is the same thing this is part of the same playbook dawg
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
“I got your ‘eat shit’ loud and clear” is, unfortunately, an objectively very funny statement. Point: AI
September 7, 2026 at 6:52 PM
“I got your ‘eat shit’ loud and clear” is, unfortunately, an objectively very funny statement. Point: AI
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
when conservatives say “facts don’t care about your feelings” you need to understand that it is not meant to say they are committed to facts but that they are committed to creating a form of epistemological dictatorship where no one is able to disagree with their obvious lies.
The U.S. described updating world maps to show the *correct* size of Africa (and everything else) as a “radical ideological project”
You'd almost think they have a problem with Black people. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
September 5, 2026 at 3:50 PM
when conservatives say “facts don’t care about your feelings” you need to understand that it is not meant to say they are committed to facts but that they are committed to creating a form of epistemological dictatorship where no one is able to disagree with their obvious lies.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
News: I'm very excited to support the new critical journal of TTRPGs, Playtest Material, as guest editor of Issue 2: Histories
playtestmaterial.org/issue-two-hi...
@playtestmaterial.bsky.social @laurieoc.bsky.social
playtestmaterial.org/issue-two-hi...
@playtestmaterial.bsky.social @laurieoc.bsky.social
Issue Two: Histories
It’s my great honour as guest editor to introduce the second issue of Playtest Material, “Histories.” The call for submissions for this issue will open to the public September 15 and close October 15....
playtestmaterial.org
September 4, 2026 at 6:30 PM
News: I'm very excited to support the new critical journal of TTRPGs, Playtest Material, as guest editor of Issue 2: Histories
playtestmaterial.org/issue-two-hi...
@playtestmaterial.bsky.social @laurieoc.bsky.social
playtestmaterial.org/issue-two-hi...
@playtestmaterial.bsky.social @laurieoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Pop Syllabus.
September 3, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Pop Syllabus.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
"Tiny Tim, who DESERVED to die,"
August 31, 2026 at 10:41 PM
"Tiny Tim, who DESERVED to die,"
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
“Why didn’t scientists warn us?”
August 30, 2026 at 9:34 PM
“Why didn’t scientists warn us?”
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Impossible to add up all Avery's done for the medium. But easy to say how much her work helped me come to understand how to play, facilitate, and design games.
Also, they're fun as hell, you should buy them!
Also, they're fun as hell, you should buy them!
Do you love any of the games that I have created?
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Buried Without Ceremony
My name is Avery Alder, and for the past eighteen years I’ve been designing tabletop roleplaying games. These are games about community, relationships, doubt, queerness, and the collapse of civilizati...
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
August 29, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Impossible to add up all Avery's done for the medium. But easy to say how much her work helped me come to understand how to play, facilitate, and design games.
Also, they're fun as hell, you should buy them!
Also, they're fun as hell, you should buy them!
Recent TTRPG mini-discourse lodged in my head has me thinking about the value of Thomas and Sharp's "Fun, Taste, and Games," which IIRC has an entire chapter patiently explaining that, yes, many people do enjoy Monopoly.
Because most people don't play games like game designers and scholars do.
Because most people don't play games like game designers and scholars do.
August 30, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Recent TTRPG mini-discourse lodged in my head has me thinking about the value of Thomas and Sharp's "Fun, Taste, and Games," which IIRC has an entire chapter patiently explaining that, yes, many people do enjoy Monopoly.
Because most people don't play games like game designers and scholars do.
Because most people don't play games like game designers and scholars do.
As someone who took his student newspaper editors to task over email because they changed "zany" in my lede to "ribald," yeah, you really should not let an LLM just tweak your language either.
I think what I find really depressing about AI in higher education is how so many people didn't even wait for the evidence/research before we decided on telling students "how to use AI responsibly" which often includes things like checking grammar, and obviously, we shouldn't have been
August 30, 2026 at 12:37 PM
As someone who took his student newspaper editors to task over email because they changed "zany" in my lede to "ribald," yeah, you really should not let an LLM just tweak your language either.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
I feel like I’m living In a dystopian novel written in 1993 that was rejected by dozens of publishers because it was incredibly stupid.
August 29, 2026 at 7:36 PM
I feel like I’m living In a dystopian novel written in 1993 that was rejected by dozens of publishers because it was incredibly stupid.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
They have whiplash. Is A.I. the future or is it the end of jobs? It can't be both (they took 1900 hours of AP classes so they know they can figure that out for themselves). Where are all the professors and why are they all in a seminar about A.I. instead of inspiring them or telling them what to do?
August 27, 2026 at 10:59 PM
They have whiplash. Is A.I. the future or is it the end of jobs? It can't be both (they took 1900 hours of AP classes so they know they can figure that out for themselves). Where are all the professors and why are they all in a seminar about A.I. instead of inspiring them or telling them what to do?
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
My son starts college in two weeks, and his decision really boiled down to finding a place where he thought faculty and students did learning old-school: small seminar discussions, field work, etc. He wants a tech-proof degree. Many of the colleges made no attempt to sell this to him!
From their perspective, if A.I. isn't going to get them a good job (and the A.I. narrative is boasting about eliminating good jobs) then college should at least match their idea of what it used to be -- personal, inspiring, chats on the quad, experiences. Then their class is all about tech.
August 27, 2026 at 11:04 PM
My son starts college in two weeks, and his decision really boiled down to finding a place where he thought faculty and students did learning old-school: small seminar discussions, field work, etc. He wants a tech-proof degree. Many of the colleges made no attempt to sell this to him!
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
You already had several good reasons to boycott Starbucks, but here's another one
In a first, Starbucks Workers United and its 12,000 members are calling for a boycott of the coffee chain, after spending nearly 5 years pressuring the company to negotiate a first contract since the first location unionized in 2021.
In First, Starbucks Workers United and Its 12,000 Members Call for Boycott
“[I]t is no longer possible to be both a Starbucks customer and in support of workers,” the union said.
truthout.org
August 26, 2026 at 7:50 PM
You already had several good reasons to boycott Starbucks, but here's another one
Monsterhearts and Dream Askew are both delightful games! Great for an evening with friends. The Quiet Year is fascinating. But Brave Sparrow, anthologized in "Variations on Your Body," changed my brain chemistry. And the essay "We've Been Stranger Things" in the same collection is stellar!
Do you love any of the games that I have created?
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Buried Without Ceremony
My name is Avery Alder, and for the past eighteen years I’ve been designing tabletop roleplaying games. These are games about community, relationships, doubt, queerness, and the collapse of civilizati...
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
August 26, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Monsterhearts and Dream Askew are both delightful games! Great for an evening with friends. The Quiet Year is fascinating. But Brave Sparrow, anthologized in "Variations on Your Body," changed my brain chemistry. And the essay "We've Been Stranger Things" in the same collection is stellar!
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Do you love any of the games that I have created?
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Buried Without Ceremony
My name is Avery Alder, and for the past eighteen years I’ve been designing tabletop roleplaying games. These are games about community, relationships, doubt, queerness, and the collapse of civilizati...
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
August 26, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Do you love any of the games that I have created?
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨
store.buriedwithoutceremony.com
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris performing “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow” on The Dolly Parton Show (1976)
August 25, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris performing “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow” on The Dolly Parton Show (1976)
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Let me get this straight. Sometimes a famous person dies and everyone is nice about it? Merely because of their deeds during life?
August 25, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Let me get this straight. Sometimes a famous person dies and everyone is nice about it? Merely because of their deeds during life?
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
“This isn’t a problem that started with the storm. We are a predominately Black city that tends to get ignored,” says Grammy award-winning rapper Freddie Gibbs as his hometown of Gary, Indiana remains without power after two weeks.
‘IGNORED’: Rapper Freddie Gibbs SPEAKS OUT on Gary, Indiana’s power crisis
YouTube video by MS NOW
www.youtube.com
August 25, 2026 at 1:52 AM
“This isn’t a problem that started with the storm. We are a predominately Black city that tends to get ignored,” says Grammy award-winning rapper Freddie Gibbs as his hometown of Gary, Indiana remains without power after two weeks.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
I will add, long before this became federal, red state legislatures have been working hard to destroy academic freedoms about what faculty can even say. In Oklahoma, we were told that we could be fined and/or jailed if we provided "material support that led to a student getting an abortion."...
I guess it's kind of hard to view the dismissal of one grublike phrenologist as a major hit to free speech after major American universities have in the past year banned the use of words and eliminated entire departments in the hopes of pleasing the senile president
August 23, 2026 at 8:37 PM
I will add, long before this became federal, red state legislatures have been working hard to destroy academic freedoms about what faculty can even say. In Oklahoma, we were told that we could be fined and/or jailed if we provided "material support that led to a student getting an abortion."...
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
This isn't a "surprising message of support for trans adults". This is a bigot whose arm is being twisted into doing public relations damage control by the media network that invested billions into a franchise she's been poisoning with hate for the last decade.
JK Rowling issues surprising message of support for trans adults
www.lgbtqnation.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
www.lgbtqnation.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
JK Rowling issues surprising message of support for trans adults
Her message doesn't make up for her continued financial support of the anti-trans movement.
www.lgbtqnation.com
August 22, 2026 at 10:56 AM
This isn't a "surprising message of support for trans adults". This is a bigot whose arm is being twisted into doing public relations damage control by the media network that invested billions into a franchise she's been poisoning with hate for the last decade.
Reposted by Nicholas Orvis
WSJ giving Cofnas a platform to insist that he's just a brave truth teller but also a small bean birthday boy. People should lose their jobs over this.
August 21, 2026 at 1:23 PM
WSJ giving Cofnas a platform to insist that he's just a brave truth teller but also a small bean birthday boy. People should lose their jobs over this.