TTUPhoenix
@ttuphoenix.bsky.social
Amateur RPG writer. Lover of Art Deco and old Pulps.
My goal for reading in 2025 was to be more intentional about my reading and make more conscious choices about what I read and when, and I think it paid off. I was able to read more RPGs than I have in a while while also getting through a good amount of novels, short stories, and nonfiction.#booksky
January 3, 2026 at 3:47 AM
My goal for reading in 2025 was to be more intentional about my reading and make more conscious choices about what I read and when, and I think it paid off. I was able to read more RPGs than I have in a while while also getting through a good amount of novels, short stories, and nonfiction.#booksky
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Finished up this delightful book nook build that spouse got me for Xmas. It was soothing blend of Lego building and puzzle making that I found extremely satisfying, promoting extreme focus and deep work that magically settled anxiety. Now I understand the "old people working on puzzles" stereotype.
January 1, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Finished up this delightful book nook build that spouse got me for Xmas. It was soothing blend of Lego building and puzzle making that I found extremely satisfying, promoting extreme focus and deep work that magically settled anxiety. Now I understand the "old people working on puzzles" stereotype.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
2/2 "fame" is not evenly temporally distributed; some people are hot out of the gate, some build over time, some get hot years or even decades after their debut. Every writer you meet, "famous" or not, will remember how you treated them, their friends, and why. Treat everyone as having value.
December 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
2/2 "fame" is not evenly temporally distributed; some people are hot out of the gate, some build over time, some get hot years or even decades after their debut. Every writer you meet, "famous" or not, will remember how you treated them, their friends, and why. Treat everyone as having value.
Really enjoyed this blog, which I think also serves as a bit of an antidote to anti-5e sentiment. It’s reflexive or even fashionable in some spaces to talk about all the things DnD “can’t do” or “doesn’t support”, but which clearly happen at tables everywhere.
I've been thinking a lot about Batfam headcanons, cozy roleplay in D&D, and what it means to assert whether or not a game supports a certain kind of play. So I wrote down my thoughts and turned them into an inaugural post on my new itch blog! seraphim-seraphina.itch.io/my-blog/devl...
What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play?
What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play? This is the first in a series whose placeholder title is “Lunch Break Lectures”. I’m trying to create an avenue for putting my thoughts ou...
seraphim-seraphina.itch.io
December 26, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Really enjoyed this blog, which I think also serves as a bit of an antidote to anti-5e sentiment. It’s reflexive or even fashionable in some spaces to talk about all the things DnD “can’t do” or “doesn’t support”, but which clearly happen at tables everywhere.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
I love reading. in fact I love reading so much, that I will re-read the same paragraph 10 times over, in an attempt to pay enough attention to register it properly
December 23, 2025 at 4:07 AM
I love reading. in fact I love reading so much, that I will re-read the same paragraph 10 times over, in an attempt to pay enough attention to register it properly
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
I would be doing what I do even without itch.io, without software, without an audience. Without pens and paper, I would still think it to myself. It's an essential part of being alive for me.
Most of us did not choose to write or draw or design so that we could put products on the shelf. We chose to do it because it’s a set of skills we enjoy exercising, that give us fulfillment.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
December 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I would be doing what I do even without itch.io, without software, without an audience. Without pens and paper, I would still think it to myself. It's an essential part of being alive for me.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Most of us did not choose to write or draw or design so that we could put products on the shelf. We chose to do it because it’s a set of skills we enjoy exercising, that give us fulfillment.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
December 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Most of us did not choose to write or draw or design so that we could put products on the shelf. We chose to do it because it’s a set of skills we enjoy exercising, that give us fulfillment.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
You do not become a world builder by reading everything everyone else has to say about world building. You do it by the actual act of creating, the continuous and dedicated practice of the skill. You fail, you learn, you create again. This is what makes you a world builder.
December 18, 2025 at 10:48 AM
You do not become a world builder by reading everything everyone else has to say about world building. You do it by the actual act of creating, the continuous and dedicated practice of the skill. You fail, you learn, you create again. This is what makes you a world builder.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Well put by @drrachelbarr.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Well put by @drrachelbarr.bsky.social
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
When people hear that I'm returning to part time work they often ask "are things not going well with your art?"
The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
November 1, 2025 at 4:17 PM
When people hear that I'm returning to part time work they often ask "are things not going well with your art?"
The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Many full time creatives have “invisible safety nets” like bread-winning partners, trust funds, external support, etc. No shame on anyone, but it creates a false vision of success. The cost of going to cons alone on top of hoping to eat as a freelancer are untenable, IMO.
When people hear that I'm returning to part time work they often ask "are things not going well with your art?"
The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
November 1, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Many full time creatives have “invisible safety nets” like bread-winning partners, trust funds, external support, etc. No shame on anyone, but it creates a false vision of success. The cost of going to cons alone on top of hoping to eat as a freelancer are untenable, IMO.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
The accepted wisdom is that Hugo Gernsback invented sf fandom in the Science Fiction League & in the pages of AMAZING STORIES, and that (per Wikipedia) “a wide variety of Western modern organized fannish subcultures originated with science fiction fandom.”
LIES! ALL LIES!
1/
LIES! ALL LIES!
1/
December 21, 2023 at 4:46 PM
The accepted wisdom is that Hugo Gernsback invented sf fandom in the Science Fiction League & in the pages of AMAZING STORIES, and that (per Wikipedia) “a wide variety of Western modern organized fannish subcultures originated with science fiction fandom.”
LIES! ALL LIES!
1/
LIES! ALL LIES!
1/
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
“oh so you think the east wing being demolished is worse than-“ it’s a synecdoche, man. a visual metaphor. there’s a reason the aliens in Independence Day don’t aim a huge laser at SNAP benefits
October 23, 2025 at 6:04 PM
“oh so you think the east wing being demolished is worse than-“ it’s a synecdoche, man. a visual metaphor. there’s a reason the aliens in Independence Day don’t aim a huge laser at SNAP benefits
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Everyone remembers learning about the First Martian War in history class, right. everyone had a map in their text book that looked something like this right
(something a lil different from my usual artistic fare... never done any sorta map before so it was an interesting change of pace)
(something a lil different from my usual artistic fare... never done any sorta map before so it was an interesting change of pace)
October 11, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Everyone remembers learning about the First Martian War in history class, right. everyone had a map in their text book that looked something like this right
(something a lil different from my usual artistic fare... never done any sorta map before so it was an interesting change of pace)
(something a lil different from my usual artistic fare... never done any sorta map before so it was an interesting change of pace)
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
There's a video on Instagram called "You guys say that you want to date a nerd, but are you prepared for a history lesson every day. (he's so cute)" by annakatealexis that my wife insisted I watch and now I'm dead. Obliterated. Only random atoms left. Hit so hard, my ancestors felt it.
October 4, 2025 at 12:10 AM
There's a video on Instagram called "You guys say that you want to date a nerd, but are you prepared for a history lesson every day. (he's so cute)" by annakatealexis that my wife insisted I watch and now I'm dead. Obliterated. Only random atoms left. Hit so hard, my ancestors felt it.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
one of my favourite quotes stopped me dead in my tracks when i first heard it. Kazuo Ishiguro said in his Nobel acceptance speech:
"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another:
This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?”
"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another:
This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?”
September 30, 2025 at 7:47 AM
one of my favourite quotes stopped me dead in my tracks when i first heard it. Kazuo Ishiguro said in his Nobel acceptance speech:
"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another:
This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?”
"But in the end, stories are about one person saying to another:
This is the way it feels to me. Can you understand what I’m saying? Does it feel this way to you?”
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Applying this logic to RPG books and zines
September 5, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Applying this logic to RPG books and zines
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
If you’re someone who still reads for pleasure, you are a marvel. If you’re able to unplug from all the chaos of our entertainment culture and disappear into the warmth and solace of a book, that is a rare gift and I’m very glad to know you.
August 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM
If you’re someone who still reads for pleasure, you are a marvel. If you’re able to unplug from all the chaos of our entertainment culture and disappear into the warmth and solace of a book, that is a rare gift and I’m very glad to know you.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
My favourite thing about finally properly looking at Conan reading the map and it having Bronze Age Assyria just down the coast from Renaissance Venice and imagining Howard daring you to make something of it.
Writers in 2025: gotta make sure my world building is consistent or they'll tear me to shreds online
Robert E Howard, 1935: Conan's a pirate in this one! Now he's a frontiersman! Now he's leading a charge of knights!
Robert E Howard, 1935: Conan's a pirate in this one! Now he's a frontiersman! Now he's leading a charge of knights!
August 8, 2025 at 6:50 AM
My favourite thing about finally properly looking at Conan reading the map and it having Bronze Age Assyria just down the coast from Renaissance Venice and imagining Howard daring you to make something of it.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
The most classic story structure in TTRPGs is "There is an arch-villain, and while you are not now strong enough to defeat them, you will become so by doing mighty deeds, and then you will."
And then "Let's play to find out how."
That's it; that's all it takes.
And then "Let's play to find out how."
That's it; that's all it takes.
July 20, 2025 at 6:51 AM
The most classic story structure in TTRPGs is "There is an arch-villain, and while you are not now strong enough to defeat them, you will become so by doing mighty deeds, and then you will."
And then "Let's play to find out how."
That's it; that's all it takes.
And then "Let's play to find out how."
That's it; that's all it takes.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
A glorious cutaway of a Boeing 314 Clipper from August 23rd 1937’s Life magazine.
July 10, 2025 at 9:27 AM
A glorious cutaway of a Boeing 314 Clipper from August 23rd 1937’s Life magazine.
Reposted by TTUPhoenix
The idea of “real” game designers is both stupid and cyclical, and the only useful thing about it is that it provides an opportunity for game designers with generous hearts - y’know, the good ones - to loudly re-assert “fuck that noise”, and invite the rest of us to join in.
June 17, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The idea of “real” game designers is both stupid and cyclical, and the only useful thing about it is that it provides an opportunity for game designers with generous hearts - y’know, the good ones - to loudly re-assert “fuck that noise”, and invite the rest of us to join in.