#queer disasters

[hecticelectron]

Hi, this is a big post about my new TTRPG, Defy the Gods, which I’m Kickstarting soon. It’s a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. I was inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans (1981!) and Princess Mononoke. (I've also got a BlueSky megathread going about it.)

The Kickstarter is live until May 29. Back it now!

Art by Thalie Shelen! @thalieshelen

(Btw hi I'm Chrys, a queer, trans game designer in Columbus, Ohio. This will be my second published game. The first was a furry pack of nonsense called Raccoon Sky Pirates.)

Defy the Gods is sword & sorcery as a story game. My favorite PbtA games emulate specific stories and lead you to resonant emotional moments like you find in those stories. Here, I used PbtA to emulate sword & sorcery, with an emphasis on the romantic moments—but also plenty of metal 🤘. You use the flirtation mechanics (taken from Thirsty Sword Lesbians) to tempt, support, or thwart others. But then, you can roll too high (taken from Apocalypse Keys), where you get more than you bargained for. Like Conan running out of the Tower of the Elephant while it crumbles around him.

Also like Conan, you have a glorious destiny, but in this case it ain’t good. Rising to your most powerful self makes you monstrous, heralding your character’s end as a hero and their beginning as an NPC antagonist.

It’s a queer game. You can fall in love with anyone, or make them fall in love with you. But because the game is also about power, the gods and tyrants wait to stomp on you if your enticement falls flat. Like if you flirt with someone in the wrong neighborhood. Every character has their own arc, and one of the things I had the most fun with was making those feel like queer problems as well as ancient-world sword & sorcery problems.

Play a fierce Sword, chaos-loving Sorcerer, fugitive Revenant, mischievous Sailor, immortal-sworn Vessel, or wild-raised Wolfling. (All character portraits by Thalie Shelen @thalieshelen)

The Sword is big-hearted and violent. You have a move that lets you kill any human-sized mortal NPC within arm’s reach, without rolling, if you’re not already in combat. This always causes more problems than it solves.

While most players roll just 2d6 & add their stat, the Sorcerer casts spells by rolling a lot of dice & looking for patterns in them. If you can’t find any patterns, your sorcery runs amok. This chaos is kind of lovely. For instance, you're always changing your body—sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. But always gorgeous.

The Revenant is like Inanna, or if Eurydice made it out. They escaped the land of the dead. They aren’t who they were in their past life, nor who they were as a shade. They're still figuring out who they are now. Demons pursue them to claw them back to the Underworld.

The Sailor can call on a cast of past friends and lovers for help. They always have a plan, and an eye for the exit. One of their moves lets you fill in the map of the otherwise unknown world.

The Vessel is in love with a minor god. They channel their patron’s power by wounding themself, but their patron can also soothe their pain.

The Wolfling was raised by animals in the Wilds and is curious about the humans, but they belong in neither world. They're definitely the part most directly inspired by Princess Mononoke.

The World Forces are the antagonist. You build them at the table, in quick rounds of pick lists. They are:

The Pantheon: gods, goddesses, and demons. They make the rules, but maybe you can break them.

The City: tyrants, the wealthy, and others with the gods' blessing. They push you to the margins, but you can fight to be seen.

The Wilds: gigantic creatures and their trackless wilderness home. It's place of danger and new rules, but you'll probably break them.

The Shadow of Atlantis: long-gone elders. They dared to scorn the gods, and the Pantheon destroyed them for it, but through you they may live again.

Death: a hungry, totalitarian force. Its underground domain is the end for all mortals and the mockery of hope. But maybe you can return.

Art by Shan Bennion! @anonbeadraws

This was an intensely personal project, but it was too big for me to do by myself. Here are all the people who helped make it a reality:

Avery Alder: Design advisor

Basheer Ghouse: @basheerghouse Cultural consultant

Cat Tobin: Horizons Mentor https://www.pelgranepress.com

Cris Viana: Graphic designer & layout artist

Ezra Rose: Interior art

Kanesha Bryant: Interior art

Katrin Dirim: Interior art

Jaqueline Florencio: Cover art

Lyla Fujiwara: Developmental editor https://www.jarofeyes.com

Mary Verhoeven: Interior art

Omar Ramadan-Santiago: Cultural consultant

Rae Nedjadi: Developmental editor https://temporalhiccup.itch.io

Rue Dickey: @ilananight Copy editor

Sean D’souza: World-builder & writer https://linktr.ee/seandsouzax

Shan Bennion: Interior art

Thalie Shelen: Interior art

(art by Shan again! @anonbeadraws)

Thanks for reading! The Kickstarter is live through May 29th. Back it now!

[drusylla]

She-Devil's Minion

[sparklemaia]

yes I'm now on the other side of top surgery and I'm allowed to lift things again 💪 You might have already seen this one on my substack -- did u know you can subscribe to my substack for early access to comics like this?! Sent directly to your email inbox??? FOR FREE????? (there is also an optional paid tier for exclusive bonus content for five bucks a month but like 80% of my posts will be free and publicly available) ty ily♥

[steviewashere]

Do you guys think Robin dragged Steve to see Pretty in Pink when it came out? And then Steve had to sit there and watch Robin gay it up in the theater over Molly Ringwald?

Or do you think Steve dragged Robin to see it, only for the both of them to freak the fuck out about Molly Ringwald? Or, even funnier, Robin was talking about Molly, meanwhile Steve was talking about Jon Cryer as Duckie (because, listen, Blane looks too much like Steve)—but Robin was under the assumption that they were both talking about Molly Ringwald.

And then after the movie, they go to the bathroom and Steve just goes, "Dude, I think I'm gay. Like, not full blown. But. I think I'd fuck Duckie."

Robin's like, "You were focused on Duckie? Molly Ringwald was right there!"

Steve would just shrug his shoulders and nonchalantly dry his hands off. "Yeah, well. I guess I like the freaks."

And yes, they're in the men's bathroom. And yes, absolutely, Eddie is in one of the stalls (also there to see Pretty in Pink, believe it or not). And he's just thinking, No way Steve's into guys...but also...he could be into me...I have a chance!

Cut to months later when Eddie's part of the group. He's just being himself at a hangout. Zany. Obnoxious. Weird. All the good shit.

Steve pulls Robin to the side and before he can even open his mouth, Robin places her hand on his lips and goes, "I know...I know, Steve. You wanna fuck Eddie. But I don't need to know that, you keep that to yourself."

[luckyshinyhunter]

🦔🌭Here's a Sonic screenshots out of context as we wait for Sonic 4!🌭🦔

[steddieas-shegoes]

When Eddie comes out to him, Steve makes a big mistake. His first reaction was to thank him for trusting him, which is what Robin told him to do in this situation.

But his second reaction was to say “I also like guys.”

Eddie blinked at him, clearly confused and defensive, like maybe Steve was making fun or not taking him seriously.

“Uh. You do?”

“Yeah man! I mean, no one else knows, but yeah.”

Eddie smiled and thanked him for trusting him with it, said they should hang out more, and recommended a queer bar in Indy if he needed a safe place to explore.

And Steve smiled and nodded like he couldn’t agree more.

As soon as Eddie was gone, he rushed to the phone in his kitchen and called Robin.

She called him an idiot, a dingus, a bisexual disaster —whatever that was—, and told him he absolutely wasn’t allowed to go to a queer bar without her.

She did at least agree to keep up the lie until he could find a way out of it without Eddie thinking he lied to hurt him or something.

But he started hanging out a lot more with Eddie and finding that they had more in common than he originally thought.

Eddie took Robin and Steve to the queer club and Steve…felt at home, felt welcomed, felt like he belonged. Robin kept giving him these looks all night, and Eddie kept dragging him to meet people who he cared about, and one of the guys on the dance floor kept pulling him out there to dance with him.

He felt free and alive and-

Queer.

It hit him as the guy, Paul maybe, was pulling him closer by his waist as his hips rocked to the beat of a song he didn’t recognize but felt like something he wanted on a mixtape. It hit him that he liked this because he liked dancing with Paul like this. He liked this because he saw himself visiting more, even without Eddie and Robin. He liked this because he could picture making out with Eddie in the bathroom.

He froze.

“You okay, sweet thing?” Paul asked him.

“I think I’m in love with my friend.”

Paul’s eyes widened momentarily before patting Steve’s hip. “Is he gay, honey?”

“Huh?” Steve was already trying to find Eddie in the crowd. “Oh, yeah. He’s here tonight.”

“Shouldn’t you be dancin’ with him then?”

Steve finally looked back at Paul, who had his hands on his own hips now, teasing smile on his face.

“Yeah. I should,” Steve thanked him, apologized for any misleading, which was immediately brushed off. Paul was here to dance, he didn’t much care for who he was dancing with.

“Send that beauty over here. She looks like she needs some lessons,” Paul pointed to Robin, who was still looking a little nervous despite the friendly bartender handing her sodas every time he passed by her.

“She’s gay, man.”

“So am I! Doesn’t mean we can’t dance!”

Steve laughed. “You’re right.”

He walked over to Robin quickly, avoided getting pulled back into the crowd.

“I’m in love with Eddie.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “I know, dingus. You literally risked your entire reputation to come to a queer bar to try to impress him.”

Steve balked. “That’s not what this was!”

“Uh huh. Well he’s sulking in the bathroom if you wanna go tell him.”

“Sulking? Why?”

“He saw you dancing with that guy. Think he assumed you were interested in him.”

“Not a chance. I prefer long hair and ripped jeans,” Steve winked. He turned to walk towards the hall with the bathrooms when Robin stopped him.

“Don’t do this if you’re not 100% sure,” she said seriously. “Eddie really likes you and it would destroy him if you were lying to make him feel better.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Steve started, but stopped when Robin gave him a look.

“You’ve literally been pretending to be queer for the last two months because he came out to you and you accidentally came out to him. You’re lucky it wasn’t a complete lie.”

“Yeah but I wouldn’t fuck with his feelings like that.” Steve knew what it was like to be led on. He wouldn’t do that to Eddie. “I’ll be careful with him.”

“And be careful with you.”

He saluted her as he walked away.

When he found Eddie sitting on the counter at the sink in the bathroom, he was swinging his legs back and forth and humming something distinctly less pop than what was playing on the dance floor. No one else was in here, but that didn’t mean no one would walk in.

He walked over to Eddie and placed a hand on his knee.

Eddie immediately stopped kicking his feet and looked up.

“What’s with the face?” Steve asked, reaching up to touch the line between his brows that always appeared when he was pouting.

Eddie shrugged. “Just not feeling it tonight I guess.”

“The music isn’t really your thing. Kinda surprised you like this place,” Steve said as his hand drifted down to his wrist. “Seems closer to a small club than a bar.”

“You seemed to be enjoying yourself.”

Eddie’s tone was sharp, laced with jealousy. Even if Steve hadn’t had his realization five minutes earlier, he would’ve seen what that was from a mile away.

“I was until I realized I’d rather be out there with you.”

Eddie snorted. “I don’t really dance.”

“But you’d dance with me if I asked, right?” Steve’s fingers circled his wrist and he tugged Eddie off the counter. “Even if I asked you to do it right here with no music?”

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“Dancing. Or trying to.” Steve rested his hands on Eddie’s hips and started swaying them in sync with his. “It is hard without music.”

“Why don’t you go back out there?” Eddie’s hands went around Steve’s neck.

“Because you’re not out there. I don’t wanna be where you aren’t.”

“Steve-“

“You know I didn’t actually know I liked guys until tonight?” Steve huffed out a laugh. “Well, I really like this one guy. Not sure about others yet.”

Eddie was silent, but didn’t push Steve away.

“He was hiding in this bathroom though. I didn’t really think he’d join me out there, so I brought the dancing to him,” Steve winked.

“You like me? You? Like me?”

Steve nodded.

“And you just realized this?”

“Kinda.”

“In a queer bar?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s pretty gay, dude.”

Steve snorted and smacked Eddie’s chest. “That’s the point.”

Eddie moved in impossibly closer, no room for Jesus between their chests anymore. “So you lied when you came out to me?”

“I panicked! But it doesn’t actually count as a lie if I’ve seen the light.”

“Was it a rainbow light? Or the reflection of the disco ball in the glitter shorts Perry was wearing?” Eddie joked.

“Perry!” Steve smacked his own forehead. “He’s nice. Made me come tell you how I feel.”

“Oh. He did?” Eddie seemed shy for maybe the first time ever.

“Yeah. Said I should come dance with you if I’m in love with you.”

Steve hadn’t felt like this in a while, and hadn’t left his heart on his sleeve like this in even longer. As Eddie’s face went from shy to shocked to flustered, Steve thought about how long he’d been dancing around these feelings.

But no more dancing around them. Now it was time to dance with them.

“Can’t believe you just said you’re in love with me in the bathroom of a queer bar. Don’t even think they clean this place,” Eddie laughed, letting his forehead fall against Steve’s.

“I’ll tell you again outside.” Steve kissed his cheek. “And in the van.” His nose. “Your house, my house.” The corner of his mouth. “Everywhere.”

Eddie licked his lip, skipping over a soft kiss for a hungry one. It was hot, desperate, impatient. Everything Steve hadn’t known he needed.

Then again, he hadn’t even actually known he liked guys until tonight. Maybe he was just late to learn things about himself.

[thatdisasterauthor]

New Book Launching on Kickstarter on January 29th!

New launch date for the project! Thank you to everyone for understanding the delay. 🥰

Sign up to be notified on launch.

It is time! If you have enjoyed my disaster content over the years, this one is for you.

Lie Down in the Ashes is a Young Adult novel that will also appeal to adult readers. It is a standalone short novel (bit more than a novella, bit less than a standard novel) and the first in the Little Disaster Books collection. It is also an epistolary story, told partially through radio calls, 911 calls, and social media posts in addition to regular prose.

This campaign will fund a special edition of the book that will have lots of great features including a dust jacket with foiling to make the flames shimmer, a printed case with spot gloss, printed endpapers, a double-sided ribbon bookmark that is red on one side and yellow on the other, and printed edges.

You can check out the first two chapters of Lie Down in the Ashes for free on my website!

Lie Down in the Ashes is the first book in my new Little Disaster Books collection. Little Disaster Books are short, standalone novels each featuring a different disaster, lots of queer characters, a focus on hope, and endings that don’t stop with the rescue, because sometimes the hardest part to survive is the after.

I am an author and illustrator who lives in Colorado who works as a wildland fire dispatcher, and I am in the process of applying to do a PhD in emergency management, so I have worked very hard to make this an accurate look at what it’s like to go through a disaster like this.

Sign up to be notified on launch.

[urghblergh]

Let.them.grow.old.together. 👏

Ref

Headcanon that Cardassian skin wrinkles differently/later in life than Human skin, 'cause it's tougher/thicker. Cue: Garak being super captivated by Julian's face and how it changes. So cute. 🤲🥲

[bookmothic-dyke]

Homosexually round up. Let’s seeeee I have two girlfriends, one spooned me in her sleep and the other makes me melt daily. A crush who I’ve made out with. And a crush who has threatened to fuck me violently. Honestly, I think I’m doing pretty well for myself as a disaster lesbian.

[deadeyedfae]

Today, a comic about how i realised i was not actually Aromantic but also a comic about how I'm really dense sometimes and need things spelt out to me, even when they are obvious to everyone else and its my own feelings i should be noticing 😆

[anim-ttrpgs]

Starting adventures off with a BANG in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!

Starting Adventures with Disaster

Sometimes, you may want to start off a Eureka adventure with a bang! The plane crashes, leaving the investigators stranded on a mysterious island; a massive explosion in the building, leaving the investigators reeling in the burning wreckage, etc.. In cases like this, we don’t recommend leaving investigators without a scratch, especially when they’re so close to the epicenter of a mass death, however since it is the inciting incident of the adventure, there would be no way for the investigators to use their brains to avoid being there in the first place - plus, unavoidable death in the very first scene would be a bummer. To resolve this, investigators will each take 1D12-3 Superficial damage.[1] While they won’t die, this means that they have about a 25% chance of taking no damage at all, but also about a 59% chance of taking enough damage to leave them Injured, hugely raising the stakes and the effect this event has on them.[2][3]

[1 off to the side in the final formatting] To a minimum of 0, obviously.

[2 off to the side in the final formatting] For a character with the “Wizened” Trait, still just leave them with at least 1 Penetrative HP.  

[3 off to the side in the final formatting] If it isn’t an unavoidable disaster, such as the investigators know - or had ample opportunity to learn - that there is a bomb in the building or that the plane will crash, and they go in anyway, then either have them take explosion damage as normal, or simply 1D12 Superficial Damage without the life-saving -3. If they die, they die. 

[sparklemaia]

Another couple of pages from my Top Surgery Recovery Sketchbook!

There is more on my substack (free!) right here !

[canisalbus]

hi sorry in advance if this is weird but i couldn't for the life of me figure out who machete was reminding me of and just now i figured it out - surku the dog from the moomins. can't remember enough to tell how accurate that is personality wise but something about the image of a distressed pointy-nosed dog shivering in a coat... plus ne on molemmat ahdistuneita queer ikoneita

I love Surku! Surku must be protected at all costs.

If you ask me, he's even more distressed in the comics.

I keep him on my fridge door as well.

But now that we're on the topic of Moomin characters, I must add that I see Machete in various Fillyjonks a lot. The short story Fillyjonk who believed in disasters is one of my favorite pieces of literature ever, when I first read it it shook me to my core, I still revisit it on yearly basis. For someone who seemed so wild and free spirited by nature, Tove Jansson did remarkable job at catching and depicting the essence of anxiety, uncertainty, vague sadness and irrational fears. At least in my opinion.

[luguangs]

We are alive. And we will continue living. So long as you remain by my side.

[moka-pot-official]

It still drives me insane how people assuming Crowley and Aziraphale are dating is a running joke all throughout the entire series but the moment Nina asks genuinely about their relationship Crowley needs to sit down and have a drink after realising his crush

[pop-idle-ultimate]

i need to see them kiss and hug and hug and make out and hug and cuddle and hug and hug and hug and-