Ian McMahon

I spent years working prep and line in professional kitchens, so I know which gear actually holds up and what's just marketing. These are the knives, cast iron and tools I trust in my own kitchen — practical workhorses, no gimmicks.

Everything in my actual streaming setup — the mic, audio interface, boom arm, lights and camera I use for Twitch and YouTube. I stream Monsters & Memories plus more, so this gear gets real hours every week.

I'm 6'3" and around 128 lbs, working my way up to 4,000 calories a day across 8 small meals plus high-calorie shakes. This is my full weight-gain stack: the protein and mass gainers I use, the creatine and daily supplements I take (Bloom raspberry-lemon creatine is my everyday one), and the shake and kitchen gear that keeps it all running.

My wife and I share our home with 7 cats and 2 dogs, so I know what actually holds up in a real multi-pet household. This is everything we buy and use on repeat: cat and dog essentials, the food and treats that disappear fastest, and the litter and cleanup gear that keeps the house livable.

I make candles as a hobby — soy and paraffin wax, custom fragrance blends, and wood wicks are my thing. This is everything I actually reach for at my candle station: the wax and wicks I trust, fragrance oils and color that throw well, plus the molds, jars, and tools I use on every pour.

Ohio winters don't mess around, and neither do I. These are the heavy parkas, insulated work jackets, and winter boots that actually keep me warm through 10-hour shifts and sub-zero wind chills.

Ohio winters don't mess around, and neither do I. These are the beanies, gloves, gaiters, and socks that actually keep me warm through 10-hour shifts and sub-zero wind chills.

I basically live in matching sweatsuits from the time I clock out until I clock back in. These are the hoodie and sweatpants sets, hoodies, and joggers I've worn to death and keep coming back to — built for comfort, warmth, and surviving physical shifts.

The games that ate thousands of my hours — the MMO that started it all, Blizzard's untouchable golden age, open worlds I got lost in, and the competitive and survival games I keep coming back to.

These are my all-time favorites — the sci-fi classics that still hold up decades later, the Broken Lizard movies I can quote end to end, and absurdist satires that get more accurate every year. This is the stuff I actually rewatch, and I've seen every one of them way too many times.

These are the 15 books that shaped me — the horror that raised me, epic sci-fi, and the writing-craft books I've studied as an aspiring writer. I'm a lifelong reader writing Lovecraftian and King-style horror, and these are the books that made me.