Christian Hendriks

Back on Twitter, after watching THE SHIPPING NEWS, I mused that CanLit has enough overlap with folk horror that you could do a hybrid very easily, in something that resembles an Alistair MacLeod short story but horror. Well, I'm watching BELOW, and they've finally done it.

(It's at least as much creature feature as folk horror, in fact, but that's also something that lends itself to hybridization with CanLit.)

In THE GOD DELUSION (2006), Dawkins likened Muslim children to "deluded parrots," called Christian feminists "hysterical," and said the problem with Muslim women wearing the veil is that they deprive British men on the street of their beauty. His bigotry has been evident for 20 years.

(You know, maybe I'm misremembering: did he actually call Christian feminists "histrionic"? Either way, I think you see the problem.)

In THE GOD DELUSION (2006), Dawkins likened Muslim children to "deluded parrots," called Christian feminists "hysterical," and said the problem with Muslim women wearing the veil is that they deprive British men on the street of their beauty. His bigotry has been evident for 20 years.

Vigilantism is, in fact, a threat to the kind of public order promised by the state.

To be clear, this is neither a pro-public-order-by-state post nor an anti-public-order-by-state post. Purely descriptively, vigilantism is a threat to the kind of public order that can be promised by a state. A state that endorses vigilantism is not creating public order.

Vigilantism is, in fact, a threat to the kind of public order promised by the state.

OK, I think if I ever make my own class-based system, a core design choice will be that your class gives you things you can do consistently and your subclass gives you cool moves you can do situationally. Every subclass would be like that, so it wouldn't be a problem for any one subclass to do it.

I was talking to my brother about MtG yesterday and one of the disconnects between different sorts of players; specifically, how you might find some exciting mechanic and tell the Internet about it, only for people to tell you it isn't very good because the chances you'll pull it off are quite slim.

Your class should give you something unique in every combat encounter. That's what your class is for! Your subclass, meanwhile, is where things can get a bit weird ... right? Well, maybe not if you want many people to play it?

I was talking to my brother about MtG yesterday and one of the disconnects between different sorts of players; specifically, how you might find some exciting mechanic and tell the Internet about it, only for people to tell you it isn't very good because the chances you'll pull it off are quite slim.

My response is always, "But when you *do* get to pull it off, it will be so cool!" This is not a novel insight. What is new is that I think this is why I often struggle when making subclasses for D&D.

I do like it when there's some kind of implied story in these little bots that you can't quite get the edges of. If so many of the residents are clowned, why is vaudeville banned? Is it because they're soldiers now? There's something there, but I don't know what.

I do like it when there's some kind of implied story in these little bots that you can't quite get the edges of. If so many of the residents are clowned, why is vaudeville banned? Is it because they're soldiers now? There's something there, but I don't know what.

The random creation of intelligible relationships appeals to me, of course, but I think the random creation of *almost* intelligible relationships appeals to me more. I want to have to put some work into it.

I do like it when there's some kind of implied story in these little bots that you can't quite get the edges of. If so many of the residents are clowned, why is vaudeville banned? Is it because they're soldiers now? There's something there, but I don't know what.

I remember @smrvl.bsky.social kicking around ideas in this neighbourhood (not on here). I do really like the idea of plot armour with a specifically-shaped hole in it; a lot of people seem to think that diminishes the tension but, if you build that hole right, it can ratchet it up!