she/her/🏳️‍🌈

Hey, pals. I’m Fiona Hopkins!

I’m a software engineer, forever GM, apprentice squirrel girl, podcast host, and burgeoning herbo. Previous / future hobbies include crochet/knitting, board games, laser cutting, and microprocessors.

Out and About

I’m mostly on Twitter as @fionawhim.
I sometimes post selfies on Instagram as @yourpalfiona.
There’s some stuff on GitHub.
And a LinkedIn that I don’t take very seriously.
I’m poking around as @fionawhim@tech.lgbt and @fionawhim@dice.camp on Mastodon.

TTRPGs!

This is my current big hobby. I’m keeping a list of RPGs I’ve played.
I’m co-host and producer of Team-Up Moves, a podcast where we play superhero RPGs and then talk about how they work to tell different types of superhero stories. I have a page of audio production resources I’ve been compiling.
I’m hanging out as @fionawhim@dice.camp on the dice.camp Mastodon instance, which is run by Sage LaTorra and is attracting many cool pals from the indie RPG world.
GMing techniques are really interesting to me, so I’m starting a literature review of making NPCs. I’m also trying to collect some useful GM resources because people are starting to ask me for advice.
I started playing Root: the Roleplaying Game and excitedly wrote about its map-making process.
I’m regularly iterating on keeping campaign bullet journals to keep track of GM things.
My collection of character portrait sites, with some examples.
Check out my favorite superhero, Squirrel Girl, in the Sentinel Comics RPG. Be impressed by my character creation choices backed up by panels from the comic. I really went all-out.
I also wrote a favorable review of Amazing Tales after playing it with my kids.

Pens and Journals

I like pens and journaling. I especially like trying out new pens. My recommendations: favorite gel pens and accessories.
I’m going down the road of fountain pens and ink, not surprising anyone who knows I like sharp pointy metal things.
I’ve gotten a bit into Bullet Journaling as an ADHD coping strategy. I’m trying not to be too precious or elaborate with it. I have some bullet journaling resources pulled together.

Crochet

I make things with crochet!
In 2019 I posted about a market bag and hand warmers.
I’m on Ravelry as fionawhim if you want to see any other projects.

Laser Cutting

I designed life trackers for Magic the Gathering with freely available SVGs if you want to cut them yourself.
I made this cool-ass tide/weather clock. It even got written up in The MagPi magazine.

KeyForge

I’ve designed laser cut tokens and 3D printed deck boxes that you can get the free designs for.
I also made some very cool gear-locking KeyForge deck and token boxes that Cait and I took to the Albany Vault Tour in 2020.
While there I had an intense game of blind reversal that I wrote about.

Other Board Games

I was taken with Fantasy Flight’s Marvel Champions for a while and wrote a review and posted about my She Hulk Solo deck at the time, Amicus Beasts.
I wrote a review of Bargain Quest, one of the funniest games I’ve ever played.

Software Engineering

I do mostly frontend work, and I’ve done so professionally since the days of chasing margin bugs on floated elements in IE6. (hasLayout all the things plz)
I love it, but it’s not a hobby so I don’t have a lot of writing about it here.
I’ve made a detailed guide to the common TypeScript type errors you get with React.
I’m the reluctant maintainer of velocity-react.
Just after learning React and moving from Backbone I wrote a blog post about how React saves us from worrying about state transitions in UI Happily, the Wayback Machine still has it. (cw: deadname)

Best of Pals, Best of People

Caitlin DeAngelis does historian things at caitlindeangelis.com and used to write at Vast Public Indifference.
Dave Hopkins writes political science at Honest Graft.
Stephanie Burt is a poet and comics critic, and my co-host on Team-Up Moves.