Michael Hancock
@personofcon.bsky.social
Phd haver and UWaterloo English instructor. Interested in games, digital media, comic books, and gamebooks. He/him
September 16, 2026 at 3:38 AM
I don't want to alarm anyone about the passage of time, but the Battle of Philiphaugh is now closer to Louis IX's Mise of Amiens than it is to today.
September 14, 2026 at 9:11 PM
I don't want to alarm anyone about the passage of time, but the Battle of Philiphaugh is now closer to Louis IX's Mise of Amiens than it is to today.
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, my academic reading starts (as usual) with another chapter from the edited collection Historiographies of Game Studies. Specifically, I read victoria l. braegger's interview with Kishonna L. Gray. Gray is, as always, amazingly good.
September 13, 2026 at 7:30 PM
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, my academic reading starts (as usual) with another chapter from the edited collection Historiographies of Game Studies. Specifically, I read victoria l. braegger's interview with Kishonna L. Gray. Gray is, as always, amazingly good.
#BookSky #SundayReading This week in academic writing, I read more of Histographies of Game Studies; I'm just through a very interesting interview of Henry Jenkins by my former colleague, betsy brey. It's very interesting, and adds some context to some early 2010 game studies issues.
September 7, 2026 at 1:08 AM
#BookSky #SundayReading This week in academic writing, I read more of Histographies of Game Studies; I'm just through a very interesting interview of Henry Jenkins by my former colleague, betsy brey. It's very interesting, and adds some context to some early 2010 game studies issues.
One of the lasting memories of my 19th c Ecocriticism class was having to read the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth (William's sister), who, on at least three different occasions, records going at least half an hour out of her way to avoid passing cows.
my sister and I walking through a field of cows as we nervously discuss the article we both read about how many people get trampled to death by cows for no reason
September 5, 2026 at 5:01 PM
One of the lasting memories of my 19th c Ecocriticism class was having to read the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth (William's sister), who, on at least three different occasions, records going at least half an hour out of her way to avoid passing cows.
Reposted by Michael Hancock
DeConnick & De Landro’s “Bitch Planet” is overtly inspired by the form & content of exploitation films. Some folks might wonder: why would a self-consciously feminist comic want to engage with an historically problematic form of representation? Lots of reasons! Let’s talk thru some of them. 1/12
September 2, 2026 at 10:20 PM
DeConnick & De Landro’s “Bitch Planet” is overtly inspired by the form & content of exploitation films. Some folks might wonder: why would a self-consciously feminist comic want to engage with an historically problematic form of representation? Lots of reasons! Let’s talk thru some of them. 1/12
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, once again, I continued my reading of Historiographies of Game Studies; most recently, I've read Lee W. Hibbard's essay on game archives, looking at the Strong Museum, the LGBTQ Archive, and the Learning Games Intiative.
August 30, 2026 at 11:19 PM
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, once again, I continued my reading of Historiographies of Game Studies; most recently, I've read Lee W. Hibbard's essay on game archives, looking at the Strong Museum, the LGBTQ Archive, and the Learning Games Intiative.
I just opened up a file on my computer titled "the script of austin powers but every reference to Dr Evil's cat Bigglesworth is replaced by Big the Cat from Sonic" and, well...
I Don'T Know What I Expected
Alt: I Don'T Know What I Expected
static.klipy.com
August 24, 2026 at 11:19 PM
I just opened up a file on my computer titled "the script of austin powers but every reference to Dr Evil's cat Bigglesworth is replaced by Big the Cat from Sonic" and, well...
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, in academic reading, I finished Gaston Bachelard's The Psychoanalysis of Fire. It's an interesting book--it's keenly insightful in its observation that we are historically all over the place in our use of fire as metaphor.
August 23, 2026 at 6:38 PM
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, in academic reading, I finished Gaston Bachelard's The Psychoanalysis of Fire. It's an interesting book--it's keenly insightful in its observation that we are historically all over the place in our use of fire as metaphor.
#BookSky #SundayReading This week, in academic reading, I finished Sebastián Moreno Barreneche's The Social Semiotics of Populism. It's an impressive book that makes a very convincing case for the value of semiotics in the political sciences. In fact, I would say it's a book of three parts.
August 16, 2026 at 10:25 PM
#BookSky #SundayReading This week, in academic reading, I finished Sebastián Moreno Barreneche's The Social Semiotics of Populism. It's an impressive book that makes a very convincing case for the value of semiotics in the political sciences. In fact, I would say it's a book of three parts.
What a great cat. Absolute top tier void weirdo.
August 14, 2026 at 8:08 PM
What a great cat. Absolute top tier void weirdo.
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, I finished a book about a dungeon and I finished a long running water-based series, and advanced my other readings as well.
August 9, 2026 at 8:07 PM
#SundayReading #BookSky This week, I finished a book about a dungeon and I finished a long running water-based series, and advanced my other readings as well.
Peter David Era Multiple Man story idea: madrox runs for mayor, with a different dupe running under every political party. Slogan: "vote for the true everyman "
August 8, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Peter David Era Multiple Man story idea: madrox runs for mayor, with a different dupe running under every political party. Slogan: "vote for the true everyman "
Reposted by Michael Hancock
Did you know we (@brock-ddh.bsky.social at Brock University in Ontario 🇨🇦) offer a 2-year MA in Game Studies? I teach one of our grad seminars, Methodological Paradigms in Game Studies! Feel free to DM me anytime if you have Q's about applying for Fall 2027/28! #gamestudies
brocku.ca/humanities/d...
brocku.ca/humanities/d...
Master of Arts in Game Studies
The MA in Game Studies is an interdisciplinary and interfaculty program designed to provide students with a well-rounded, high-quality venue for studying and designing games in all their forms. Throug...
brocku.ca
August 7, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Did you know we (@brock-ddh.bsky.social at Brock University in Ontario 🇨🇦) offer a 2-year MA in Game Studies? I teach one of our grad seminars, Methodological Paradigms in Game Studies! Feel free to DM me anytime if you have Q's about applying for Fall 2027/28! #gamestudies
brocku.ca/humanities/d...
brocku.ca/humanities/d...
No one:
Me: What if there was Boston Brand parody character named Den Mark?
Me: What if there was Boston Brand parody character named Den Mark?
August 6, 2026 at 8:25 PM
No one:
Me: What if there was Boston Brand parody character named Den Mark?
Me: What if there was Boston Brand parody character named Den Mark?
Reposted by Michael Hancock
It's my birthday! As such, I humbly request people send me their recommendations, for any piece of media or anything else they're enjoying recently.
August 4, 2026 at 3:16 PM
It's my birthday! As such, I humbly request people send me their recommendations, for any piece of media or anything else they're enjoying recently.
It's my birthday! As such, I humbly request people send me their recommendations, for any piece of media or anything else they're enjoying recently.
August 4, 2026 at 3:16 PM
It's my birthday! As such, I humbly request people send me their recommendations, for any piece of media or anything else they're enjoying recently.
#SundayReading This week, I finished reading David Farrier's Anthropocene Poetics: Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinctions. I went into it a little worried on whether I'd get anything out of it, as poetry isn't really my forte, and I wasn't very familiar with many of the featured works.
August 3, 2026 at 3:34 AM
#SundayReading This week, I finished reading David Farrier's Anthropocene Poetics: Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinctions. I went into it a little worried on whether I'd get anything out of it, as poetry isn't really my forte, and I wasn't very familiar with many of the featured works.
I don't know if this is my favorite Disco Elysium quotation, but it's definitely the one I think of the most when I see the news. (In the context of the game, "Moralist" is basically "centrist.")
Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded.
July 28, 2026 at 11:52 PM
I don't know if this is my favorite Disco Elysium quotation, but it's definitely the one I think of the most when I see the news. (In the context of the game, "Moralist" is basically "centrist.")
#SundayReading #BookSky In academic reading, I've currently got five on the go. First up is Historiographies of Game Studies, the collection edited by Karabinus, Kocurek, Mejeur, & Vossen.
July 26, 2026 at 6:02 PM
#SundayReading #BookSky In academic reading, I've currently got five on the go. First up is Historiographies of Game Studies, the collection edited by Karabinus, Kocurek, Mejeur, & Vossen.
Reposted by Michael Hancock
Reposted by Michael Hancock
I'm watching Once Upon a Time w/my partner--a rewatch for her, first time for me. We're starting season 3. Thought I just had, thinking back on the series thus far: are there bodies in the Storybrooke cemetery?
July 22, 2026 at 11:53 PM
I'm watching Once Upon a Time w/my partner--a rewatch for her, first time for me. We're starting season 3. Thought I just had, thinking back on the series thus far: are there bodies in the Storybrooke cemetery?
I'm watching Once Upon a Time w/my partner--a rewatch for her, first time for me. We're starting season 3. Thought I just had, thinking back on the series thus far: are there bodies in the Storybrooke cemetery?
July 22, 2026 at 11:53 PM
I'm watching Once Upon a Time w/my partner--a rewatch for her, first time for me. We're starting season 3. Thought I just had, thinking back on the series thus far: are there bodies in the Storybrooke cemetery?
#BookSky #SundayReading This week, I finished one of my academic books: the 2004 Being Made Strange by Bradford Vivian. Vivian's argument is that the history of rhetoric presents it as the means for getting at and conveying fundamental truths. A frequent alternative is viewing it as a static system.
July 19, 2026 at 7:36 PM
#BookSky #SundayReading This week, I finished one of my academic books: the 2004 Being Made Strange by Bradford Vivian. Vivian's argument is that the history of rhetoric presents it as the means for getting at and conveying fundamental truths. A frequent alternative is viewing it as a static system.
Reposted by Michael Hancock
It’s entirely possible the sand people were sea people many years ago
![Tatooine was the homeworld of the Jawa and Tusken
Raider species. It once had vast oceans of surface water, lush rainforest 6] and flowered fields. 48]
According to the Legend of Lehon, Tatooine had also been inhabited by a group called the Kumumgah during this time, but there was little evidence to support the story. 36] Sometime in Tatooine's history, the whole planet became a desert by unknown means 8] when the oceans dried away. 49] Much later, it would be colonized
by early settlers and explorers, who mistook the planet for a third sun owing to its highly reflective silicate surface. 81](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7dhvwymseacfn5tgi3whmpxe/bafkreihosyj3krmseej26hosl7pah7o2yzcmr5bkt7lr5fskxzxzjlqpt4)
July 19, 2026 at 12:50 PM
It’s entirely possible the sand people were sea people many years ago