Jennifer Adcock
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jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Jennifer Adcock
@jenkatwrites.bsky.social
780 followers 220 following 5.6K posts
TTRPG designer, cat servant, regency romance enjoyer, talks about movies and pro wrestling too much

my games are here https://jen-adcock15.itch.io/
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jenkatwrites.bsky.social
lovingly and patiently explaining to my cat that she is a carnivore and should not be begging for the banana I am eating (she is unmoved)
My cat, sitting between my feet, looking up at me from the kitchen floor.
November 15, 2025 at 3:50 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
#NowReading The Pendragon Legend by Antal Szerb
The Pendragon Legend in paperback.
November 14, 2025 at 11:25 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
If you’re wondering what the hell I’m talking about, it’s called “Sky Sports Halo” and it says that posting things like this is “championing female sports fans”, which like, I don’t think so actually
Still from a soccer match captioned in pink, “how the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits”.
November 14, 2025 at 1:07 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
#NowReading Fog at Noon by Tomas Gonzalez
Fog at Noon in paperback.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
...And maybe in quantity alone, that's true! But these are what the cards are like (example cards grabbed from The Isabel set). Look at the vocabulary choices, the specific language of fishing ships in the 1800s in the Pacific, even the general shape and structure of the sentences.
Six cards, each with about a paragraph of text on them.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
I was going to write some more, but she keeps swatting at my hands if I reach over her to pick up the notebook again, so I guess it’s cat-mandated break time
My cat, looking wary, placed between me and a notebook.
November 11, 2025 at 9:08 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Went out looking for a birthday present for my friends’ 5 yr old who loved Shakespeare in the Park this summer and just went to some kind of kids theatre workshop recently; this seems promising 🤞
Two packs of illustrated “create a story” cards.
November 11, 2025 at 7:26 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
I may have forgotten that I ordered some books last week in a stress-driven online shopping moment, but I’m not mad about it
The Last Libertines and The Age of Conversation, both by Benedetta Craveri, and Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
November 10, 2025 at 11:36 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Sappy! At the Notes App
I like to return to the same books and movies over and over again at various points when I'm in need of comfort or soothing. Kiki's Delivery Service when I'm unsure of my art, Pride and Prejudice when I need a little romance, you know the deal. And before any kind of big undertaking - some kind of momentous event for which I am both anxious and excited - I come back to Squire. Specifically a passage where our main character, full of trepidation for what's ahead, realizes that due to the combination of good company, helpful and understanding mentors, and genuinely engaging work, she might actually *have fun* in a way she wasn't expecting to. "I'm going to learn, and enjoy myself while I do!" she observes gleefully at the end of the chapter. “I'm going to learn, and enjoy myself while I do" has kind of become my little mantra when l'm heading into Metatopia. Because that's really what it's all about, isn't it? Not only in my own playtests, which are typically extremely instructive, but I learn something from every test of someone else's that I participate in, too. Not only the obviously informative panels, but just from casual conversations in the lobby or at dinner. It hits that magic combination of good company, good instruction, and a good environment where everyone takes this weird game design thing we do seriously. It would be very easy to think "it's just a game, it's not that deep" - I'm sure we've all heard or felt similar sentiments before - but this is where everyone is willing to help you dig a little deeper - or figure out why you're digging in the first place. Every year I feel a little different when I leave Metatopia - some combination of inspiration, validation, hope, relief, satisfaction, excitement, all in different amounts. This year I feel like the predominant *thing* I'm feeling the day after is actually determination. I was reminded why I keep doing this even when "the industry" kind of sucks, and I was moved by people's confidence in me to do things that I'm not at all sure l'm capable of. I have often joked in the past few years that Metatopia fills up my tank with whatever fuel I need to keep making games for the next year - ideas, encouragement, recognition - but it's not that much of a joke, really. More concrete updates like "what I'm actually doing with my games" will come in newsletters later, but for now I'm all feelings! Good ones! Even if I already miss everyone terribly!
November 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Do you think she’s happy to see me? Did she miss me?
My cat, curled up on the chair and very soundly asleep.
November 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Anyway especially tickled to be stopping in Vestal, NY this year, with my Vestal Virgin game prototype in my bag
Weather app location widget showing Vestal, NY.
November 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Coffee obtained, time to hit the road!
A selfie from the front seat of my car.
November 6, 2025 at 1:05 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
The real must-have for conventions: apple sauce pouches to keep in my game bag in case of a sudden crash lmao I am no better than a toddler
Box of apple sauce pouches.
November 5, 2025 at 6:31 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
local office supplies freak channels passion into “game design”
Table of components for playtesting Champions of the Crystal Crown. Components for playtesting Pax Deorum. All of it together, with fresh packages of pens, pencils, and index cards.
November 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
tfw cesar catilina defeats frank cicero
Frame from Megalopolis.
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
What I assume NYC is like right now
Frame from Megalopolis of the New Rome skyline.
November 5, 2025 at 5:29 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
the vibe
"Maybe everything isn't hopeless bullshit" illustration from Hyperbole and a Half.
November 5, 2025 at 4:25 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
my jaeger will be named Flashbang Fortissimo, it has laser cannons and some kind of sonic blast maybe
Two entries from the previous list: 16) Flashbang, and 17) Fortissimo.
November 5, 2025 at 12:11 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
I also found this one full of.... words? names? I guess? June of 2017, I HAVE to assume this is an initial go at a random table of words to combine for jaeger names, from a Pacific Rim thing I made around then, but it doesn't quite line up with what's in the actual finished version
Absurd list of proper nouns, for some reason in spreadsheet format.
November 5, 2025 at 12:11 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
looked at my untitled spreadsheets, this is from February 2018 and I haven't the faintest idea what it possibly could have been
A spreadsheet listing, in a single column, a seemingly random array of numbers between 395 and 50000, in random order.
November 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Naomi’s vacation home theme was “the art cafe” and Agnes’ was “the artsiest museum” so I moved them in together as roommates and gave them a fancy lesbian apartment upstairs, obviously
Animal Crossing vacation home.
November 4, 2025 at 10:40 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
It’s actually in my profile technically, it’s my header picture, because that’s the room Mr Knightley had his extremely relatable breakdown in in Emma
Mr Knightley lying on the floor of the cube room, having dramatically flung off his coat and cravat.
November 4, 2025 at 4:53 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Also seen here in Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Bridgerton, and Sense and Sensibility. A bunch of others too but I don’t have their screencaps saved lmao
Same room in P&P, where it’s the music room at Pemberley. Same room in Emma, where it’s the gallery at Donwell Abbey. Same room in Bridgerton where it’s Queen Charlotte’s reception hall. Same room in S&S, where it’s a London ballroom.
November 4, 2025 at 4:50 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
Excerpt from my latest newsletter where I was talking about how much I hate writing the introductions to my games 🫠
"This particular go-round was also rough because it coincided with a period of bummer reflections about how hard it is to get eyes on your work at this moment in the RPG scene and how the numbers are bad and it’s all very bad (discussed aplenty in previous newsletters, I won’t rehash it here). It’s one thing to go through all the ugly unpleasant work of the introduction if you think that at least there’ll be people picking up what you’re putting down on the other side. It’s quite different to feel like you’re bleeding onto the page for no one besides yourself."
November 4, 2025 at 1:52 PM
jenkatwrites.bsky.social
What logging in felt like this morning
Screenshot from the Muppet Christmas Carol of Scrooge leaning out the window asking “you there, boy! What day is it?”
November 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM