Christian Hendriks
@cerhendriks.bsky.social
Work & volunteering: arts admin, grant writing, museum collections.
Education: MLIS, English lit MA.
General: Ontarian, Anglican, autistic, leftist, TTRPG hobbyist, he/him/his.
Opinions are never wholly one's own, but I'm responsible for mine.
Education: MLIS, English lit MA.
General: Ontarian, Anglican, autistic, leftist, TTRPG hobbyist, he/him/his.
Opinions are never wholly one's own, but I'm responsible for mine.
Pinned
I have not often been asked what I meant by the things I've written, but you can quote me if you like: I meant all the metaphors I intended and several of the ones I didn't.
Unrelated to museums or Unsplash, @perplexingruins.bsky.social allows use (incl. commercial use) of a number of art assets here at the $2.50 tier on Patreon. That might be something to look at.
bsky.app/profile/perp...
bsky.app/profile/perp...
The growing image library available to patrons. Available to use in commercial publications...to make money with...And if you're not a maker, but a lover of art and are able to show $ appreciation, you can do that to. At $1/mo just to say, "keep it up PR, I dig it!"
www.patreon.com/perplexingru...
www.patreon.com/perplexingru...
February 3, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Unrelated to museums or Unsplash, @perplexingruins.bsky.social allows use (incl. commercial use) of a number of art assets here at the $2.50 tier on Patreon. That might be something to look at.
bsky.app/profile/perp...
bsky.app/profile/perp...
Honestly, why not? You might as well.
February 3, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Honestly, why not? You might as well.
Another post about my ttrpg setting, detailing the different traditions that player characters (or their enemies) might follow in the Lakelands: advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev/esoteric-and...
Esoteric and Exoteric Traditions in the Lakelands
In the broadest strokes, there are four approaches to understanding, avoiding, confronting, and harnessing the Weird: scientific experiment, exoteric tradition, esoteric tradition, and invented
advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev
February 2, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Another post about my ttrpg setting, detailing the different traditions that player characters (or their enemies) might follow in the Lakelands: advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev/esoteric-and...
Reposted by Christian Hendriks
Take me down to the Parallax city where the far moves slow and the near moves quickly
February 1, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Take me down to the Parallax city where the far moves slow and the near moves quickly
Oh, I had almost forgotten about that. The month-long sermon series was common enough in the church of my undergraduate.
February 1, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Oh, I had almost forgotten about that. The month-long sermon series was common enough in the church of my undergraduate.
Reposted by Christian Hendriks
friends if you are into comics, Stephen is very cool and chill
Less than a week in my first YouTube video hit 150 views. I honestly can't believe it. Thank you to everyone who watched it, and I promise there is more to come soon.
How Good Are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles Comics?
Week 1 of the Comics Challenge 2026: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Black and White Classics vol. 1
Next week's video: MONSTRESS vol. 1
Full list of Categories: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R8r6CzsoprKOSZi7Bj1GEfYtmZjR-XkE/view?usp=drivesdk
@mattwith4ts video on TMNT: https://m.youtube.com/watc
youtu.be
January 13, 2026 at 3:11 AM
friends if you are into comics, Stephen is very cool and chill
Actually, poking around, many art museums have work on Unsplash. That is very much combining my two main approaches to finding art for my game blog: classical art and work on platforms like Unsplash.
January 30, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Actually, poking around, many art museums have work on Unsplash. That is very much combining my two main approaches to finding art for my game blog: classical art and work on platforms like Unsplash.
As a TTRPG-relevant example, the Walters Art Museum has posted Capri Albert Bierstadt's *The Blue Grotto*: unsplash.com/photos/GqIVW...
January 30, 2026 at 4:58 AM
As a TTRPG-relevant example, the Walters Art Museum has posted Capri Albert Bierstadt's *The Blue Grotto*: unsplash.com/photos/GqIVW...
Find it here: unsplash.com/@thewalters
unsplash.com
January 30, 2026 at 4:58 AM
Find it here: unsplash.com/@thewalters
Re: this post, I just learned that the Walters Art Museum has ~100 pictures from their collection up on Unsplash.
Over the holidays @nickdrawthing.bsky.social and I were talking about finding public domain or Creative Commons-licensed images for #ttrpg blog posts, so I wrote about it: advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev/how-i-find-p...
How I Find Pictures For My Posts
When it comes to pictures for my blog posts, I'm committed to only using images in the public domain or ones with Creative Commons or similar licenses, such as Unsplash's license. How I find these...
advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev
January 30, 2026 at 4:58 AM
Re: this post, I just learned that the Walters Art Museum has ~100 pictures from their collection up on Unsplash.
Nah, can't be. I have never once set up a board, only for a rook to slide directly upward into the sky.
January 29, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Nah, can't be. I have never once set up a board, only for a rook to slide directly upward into the sky.
Reposted by Christian Hendriks
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
January 22, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
TTRPG fantasy setting idea: when paladins break their oaths, they don't lose their powers but instead accrue afflictions (banes, mutations, misfortune).
January 28, 2026 at 10:56 PM
TTRPG fantasy setting idea: when paladins break their oaths, they don't lose their powers but instead accrue afflictions (banes, mutations, misfortune).
Reposted by Christian Hendriks
I love doing an autism podcast and having an against malaria foundation fundraiser and some spends $2348 over 24 days in order to send you a cryptic set of messages
January 27, 2026 at 12:56 AM
I love doing an autism podcast and having an against malaria foundation fundraiser and some spends $2348 over 24 days in order to send you a cryptic set of messages
That's not to say that I especially think any of these brutes are well-explained by a theory of mimetic desires. I have no opinion on that. I am strictly thinking about Girard's belief that hierarchy is a defence against mimetic rivalry overwhelming society.
January 27, 2026 at 2:34 PM
That's not to say that I especially think any of these brutes are well-explained by a theory of mimetic desires. I have no opinion on that. I am strictly thinking about Girard's belief that hierarchy is a defence against mimetic rivalry overwhelming society.
When I initially posted this, in response to the theories of Rene Girard, I somehow was not thinking of current affairs. But I think it should be obvious to anyone today that a person at the top of a hierarchy can drag the whole society below them into their conflicts.
So what about rivals at the top of an hierarchy? What's to stop them from dragging their subordinates into their conflicts? It seems to me that hierarchy makes it inevitable that specific rivalries will involve whole societies.
January 27, 2026 at 2:34 PM
When I initially posted this, in response to the theories of Rene Girard, I somehow was not thinking of current affairs. But I think it should be obvious to anyone today that a person at the top of a hierarchy can drag the whole society below them into their conflicts.
Pallas's cats are lovely, yes. They are also not big cats, which is what I was talking about.
(Though I can understand an objection to the word "nightmare." I meant it more in a sense of dreamlike-but-scary, though I suppose that is not how everyone would take it.)
(Though I can understand an objection to the word "nightmare." I meant it more in a sense of dreamlike-but-scary, though I suppose that is not how everyone would take it.)
January 26, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Pallas's cats are lovely, yes. They are also not big cats, which is what I was talking about.
(Though I can understand an objection to the word "nightmare." I meant it more in a sense of dreamlike-but-scary, though I suppose that is not how everyone would take it.)
(Though I can understand an objection to the word "nightmare." I meant it more in a sense of dreamlike-but-scary, though I suppose that is not how everyone would take it.)
I like animals immensely and often want to spend time with animals. But big cats are terrifying. They are not friend-shaped; they are nightmare-shaped. Beautiful nightmares, to be clear. Awful and beautiful like wild gods. But not friend-shaped.
January 26, 2026 at 7:44 AM
I like animals immensely and often want to spend time with animals. But big cats are terrifying. They are not friend-shaped; they are nightmare-shaped. Beautiful nightmares, to be clear. Awful and beautiful like wild gods. But not friend-shaped.
It's late, but I've got a contribution to this month's RPG Blog Carnival, on the topic of Fantasy Locations: advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev/my-plan-for-...
I'm resolving to improve my ttrpg locations. Feedback (appropriate to what've written) is welcome.
I'm resolving to improve my ttrpg locations. Feedback (appropriate to what've written) is welcome.
My Plan For Better TTRPG Settings
I've decided that in 2026, as something of a new year's resolution, I will work to have better locations in my tabletop games. For the month of January 2026, Duncan S. Rhodes at Hipsters & Dragons is
advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev
January 26, 2026 at 6:14 AM
It's late, but I've got a contribution to this month's RPG Blog Carnival, on the topic of Fantasy Locations: advantageonarcana.bearblog.dev/my-plan-for-...
I'm resolving to improve my ttrpg locations. Feedback (appropriate to what've written) is welcome.
I'm resolving to improve my ttrpg locations. Feedback (appropriate to what've written) is welcome.
With the caveat that I haven't looked at the classes closely enough yet to be sure, I think I might be happy if the tactician rules clearly stated that you can take your 2 in Agility rather than Might. That would go a long way, at any rate.
January 23, 2026 at 7:44 PM
With the caveat that I haven't looked at the classes closely enough yet to be sure, I think I might be happy if the tactician rules clearly stated that you can take your 2 in Agility rather than Might. That would go a long way, at any rate.
Also, of course, MCDM will put out more DRAW STEEL materials, so maybe in a future book we'll get a jack-of-all-trades type hero.
January 23, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Also, of course, MCDM will put out more DRAW STEEL materials, so maybe in a future book we'll get a jack-of-all-trades type hero.
All that said, I haven't looked closely at the shadow or null yet, so maybe there's a way to build a non-magical scoundrel/field researcher in DRAW STEEL and I just don't see it yet.
Again, this isn't a complaint anyone should take seriously. I'm just thinking out loud over lunch here.
Again, this isn't a complaint anyone should take seriously. I'm just thinking out loud over lunch here.
January 23, 2026 at 7:13 PM
All that said, I haven't looked closely at the shadow or null yet, so maybe there's a way to build a non-magical scoundrel/field researcher in DRAW STEEL and I just don't see it yet.
Again, this isn't a complaint anyone should take seriously. I'm just thinking out loud over lunch here.
Again, this isn't a complaint anyone should take seriously. I'm just thinking out loud over lunch here.
(I don't think you should *have* to take that meta-fictional route to make a pretty common adventure hero trope, though!)
January 23, 2026 at 7:13 PM
(I don't think you should *have* to take that meta-fictional route to make a pretty common adventure hero trope, though!)
(Also, I'm really not sold that you could reflavour even the duelist as a non-magical troubadour -- at least, not without heavily relying on the admittedly-cool idea where the game represents the story being told after the fact, and not the events the story is based on.)
January 23, 2026 at 7:13 PM
(Also, I'm really not sold that you could reflavour even the duelist as a non-magical troubadour -- at least, not without heavily relying on the admittedly-cool idea where the game represents the story being told after the fact, and not the events the story is based on.)