Bill Wandless (October Mode)
@billwandless.bsky.social
English professor, writer, game maker, hypnotist, supersized Sunbro, three smallish goblins in an overcoat. HWA. NGH. WrackwellAbbey.com (he/him)
Pinned
Chancers - The Odds Just Got Odder
From Bill Wandless - Chancers - The Odds Just Got Odder
www.backerkit.com
It's my birthday today, so I thought I'd refresh my pinned post largely to show off the swank cover image by André Simões. This hopepunk #TTRPGis going to be as woke as can be, and I'd love to see the pre-launch campaign shared around to reach gamers far and wide.
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
I am pleased to report that the supermassive winter coat I bought for a job interview in Nebraska back in 2005, before I joined the faculty here at CMU, still fits.
January 22, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I am pleased to report that the supermassive winter coat I bought for a job interview in Nebraska back in 2005, before I joined the faculty here at CMU, still fits.
Some days you write three paragraphs to cover road races in your #Ttrpg, and some days you commit three pages to rules for bondage.
a man in a purple shirt and hat is holding a lasso in a rodeo arena
Alt: A cowboy is doing tricks with a lasso in an arena for a rodeo.
media.tenor.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Some days you write three paragraphs to cover road races in your #Ttrpg, and some days you commit three pages to rules for bondage.
I thought the Discord LLM boards were all but depleted of their value--but then some guy broached the subject of sharing his "art" with the woman who served as the model for his prompt-vomited dreck.
January 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
I thought the Discord LLM boards were all but depleted of their value--but then some guy broached the subject of sharing his "art" with the woman who served as the model for his prompt-vomited dreck.
While the use and abuse of LLMs come with a host of red flags, there are few things more tragicomic than watching a gaggle of AI-addicted perverts trying to trick programs into generating personalized smut with reasoning and language skills too underdeveloped to deceive a toddler.
January 5, 2026 at 11:54 AM
While the use and abuse of LLMs come with a host of red flags, there are few things more tragicomic than watching a gaggle of AI-addicted perverts trying to trick programs into generating personalized smut with reasoning and language skills too underdeveloped to deceive a toddler.
Spent twelve hours out of doors at a Floridian theme park and managed to avoid getting a sunburn. Still deliciously pasty after 20,000 steps.
December 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Spent twelve hours out of doors at a Floridian theme park and managed to avoid getting a sunburn. Still deliciously pasty after 20,000 steps.
I am already in peak holiday form, by which I mean I found three gift cards gifted to me on past holidays and birthdays while looking for a gift card I'd stashed for the missus.
December 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I am already in peak holiday form, by which I mean I found three gift cards gifted to me on past holidays and birthdays while looking for a gift card I'd stashed for the missus.
I formerly attended to an AI-focused Discord channel to pick up tips and tricks for identifying academic dishonesty. These days I still skim it to watch image-generator addicts lose their ever-loving minds because permissions on their preferred engine of thievery have changed.
December 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I formerly attended to an AI-focused Discord channel to pick up tips and tricks for identifying academic dishonesty. These days I still skim it to watch image-generator addicts lose their ever-loving minds because permissions on their preferred engine of thievery have changed.
I am pleased to report that “The Rocky Road to Dublin” can be easily adapted into a Midwestern snow shovelin’ work song. The companion river dance, however, is not recommended.
a close up of a man 's face with red eyes and sweat coming out of his nose .
Alt: An image of the handsome vampire Remmick smiling in the movie Sinners.
media.tenor.com
December 13, 2025 at 2:46 PM
I am pleased to report that “The Rocky Road to Dublin” can be easily adapted into a Midwestern snow shovelin’ work song. The companion river dance, however, is not recommended.
Won't need a wrapped at year's end to know this was my most listened-to song by a longshot:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq6A...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq6A...
Sleep Token - Caramel (Lyrics)
YouTube video by 7clouds Rock
www.youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Won't need a wrapped at year's end to know this was my most listened-to song by a longshot:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq6A...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq6A...
Sometimes in the run-up to exam week I get to assign an A+ to a deserving student paper as a treat.
December 3, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Sometimes in the run-up to exam week I get to assign an A+ to a deserving student paper as a treat.
Tomorrow or Thursday I'll have everything graded but final exams, so my brain is currently 50% devoted to devising the sweetest possible origin for a sword in Chancers and the other half is refining the establishing and midpoint murders in that other thing I'm writing.
two cartoon characters are standing next to each other with the words made with reface app on the bottom
Alt: Twin characters, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, stand next to one another and punch each other offhandedly.
media.tenor.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Tomorrow or Thursday I'll have everything graded but final exams, so my brain is currently 50% devoted to devising the sweetest possible origin for a sword in Chancers and the other half is refining the establishing and midpoint murders in that other thing I'm writing.
The peril of being a wizened academic in a neighborhood composed of many retirees is the guilt I feel for not offering shoveling assistance after a goodly snowfall.
November 30, 2025 at 2:35 PM
The peril of being a wizened academic in a neighborhood composed of many retirees is the guilt I feel for not offering shoveling assistance after a goodly snowfall.
Grateful today that I woke up at the same weight I weighed on Wednesday, and that I won’t have to cross the We Ain’t Buying It boycott lines to pick up two or three needful things.
November 28, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Grateful today that I woke up at the same weight I weighed on Wednesday, and that I won’t have to cross the We Ain’t Buying It boycott lines to pick up two or three needful things.
I am pleased to report I stayed in my empty classroom just long enough today to redistribute the murders in Project W.
November 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I am pleased to report I stayed in my empty classroom just long enough today to redistribute the murders in Project W.
Playing mind tricks to convince myself to trudge to campus for the class no students will attend. Get to read Blades in the Dark Deep Cuts, which has me half persuaded.
November 26, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Playing mind tricks to convince myself to trudge to campus for the class no students will attend. Get to read Blades in the Dark Deep Cuts, which has me half persuaded.
I would be a subpar huckster if I did not avail myself of mine birthday to spread the gospel of Chancers:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
I'm rereading A Psalm for the Wild-Built and doing my best to cook in those vibes. I'd love to get more subscribers on the ol' mailing list this weekend!
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
I'm rereading A Psalm for the Wild-Built and doing my best to cook in those vibes. I'd love to get more subscribers on the ol' mailing list this weekend!
Chancers - The Odds Just Got Odder
From Jaunty Goblin Games - Chancers - The Odds Just Got Odder
www.backerkit.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I would be a subpar huckster if I did not avail myself of mine birthday to spread the gospel of Chancers:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
I'm rereading A Psalm for the Wild-Built and doing my best to cook in those vibes. I'd love to get more subscribers on the ol' mailing list this weekend!
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
I'm rereading A Psalm for the Wild-Built and doing my best to cook in those vibes. I'd love to get more subscribers on the ol' mailing list this weekend!
Took my cordyceps supplement a little closer to bedtime than usual last night and was visited by scandalous dreams. Many thanks, fungal friends!
November 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Took my cordyceps supplement a little closer to bedtime than usual last night and was visited by scandalous dreams. Many thanks, fungal friends!
If you're a citizen of The Big Pleezy, the Missus is vending her delightful holiday wares at Morey Courts today. Or if you are a far flung creature of taste and good breeding, you can find her wares over at www.etsy.com/shop/luxdesi...
November 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
If you're a citizen of The Big Pleezy, the Missus is vending her delightful holiday wares at Morey Courts today. Or if you are a far flung creature of taste and good breeding, you can find her wares over at www.etsy.com/shop/luxdesi...
I am very sad to report that the Missus insists that I retire my go-to gaming shirt, a graphic tee that is no longer recognizable as such.
November 5, 2025 at 9:57 PM
I am very sad to report that the Missus insists that I retire my go-to gaming shirt, a graphic tee that is no longer recognizable as such.
I have virtually no artistic training or experience, but when I need art, I never turn to the LLM grinders. I make art the way Them What Lives Beneath the River intended.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPX...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPX...
MIGHTY MEN AND MONSTER MAKER KIT by TOMY
YouTube video by Tommy Retro's Blast From The Past!
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:08 PM
I have virtually no artistic training or experience, but when I need art, I never turn to the LLM grinders. I make art the way Them What Lives Beneath the River intended.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPX...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPX...
Going to a Samhain soiree with a connoisseur who can spot real leather or latex fashion in a sea of pleather and PVC is a seriously underrated rite of pervy passage.
Ah Halloween
Or
Dress Up As Your Secret Fetish Day
Or
Dress Up As Your Secret Fetish Day
October 31, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Going to a Samhain soiree with a connoisseur who can spot real leather or latex fashion in a sea of pleather and PVC is a seriously underrated rite of pervy passage.
Getting ready to teach The Ballad of Black Tom to my fantasy and science fiction class, with "The Horror at Red Hook" already in the rear-view mirror. A helluva book for the hinge into November.
a man is standing in front of a giant octopus with red eyes
Alt: An image of a small figure holding a torch and standing before the colossal figure of Cthulhu, a tentacled Great Old one from the mythos of cosmic horrors devised by H.P. Lovecraft.
media.tenor.com
October 27, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Getting ready to teach The Ballad of Black Tom to my fantasy and science fiction class, with "The Horror at Red Hook" already in the rear-view mirror. A helluva book for the hinge into November.
The Shawty is looking for our skeleton platter for a weekend Halloween party, which is a Whole Thing, for we dwell in a Halloween-rich environment.
October 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The Shawty is looking for our skeleton platter for a weekend Halloween party, which is a Whole Thing, for we dwell in a Halloween-rich environment.
The ingenuity with which my noggin devises things for me to be worried about is pretty impressive.
October 23, 2025 at 11:25 AM
The ingenuity with which my noggin devises things for me to be worried about is pretty impressive.
In our small town they drew about 2,000, or about 10% of the local population. The aerial photos and street-level photos look to my bleary eyes like tens of thousands at the very least.
An observation:
Those No Kings protests looked like more than “thousands”, yet all legacy media is reporting “thousands”.
Those No Kings protests looked like more than “thousands”, yet all legacy media is reporting “thousands”.
October 19, 2025 at 3:15 PM
In our small town they drew about 2,000, or about 10% of the local population. The aerial photos and street-level photos look to my bleary eyes like tens of thousands at the very least.