theriverinthewood
@theriverinthewood.bsky.social
I write music for games and podcasts. and I read a lot. they/them.
publication
what is the biggest writerly goal you are willing to cop to publicly? I would like to be nominated for a Lammy
January 17, 2026 at 1:25 AM
publication
i like to call what we're in the middle of the Weird Renascence. it's a return of "new weird"-type stuff, but with much more interest in queerness and colonialism. and "renascence" is a fun and (hehe) weird way to spell "renaissance"
maybe the New Weird is dead in the same sense of the father in Rakesfall that keeps coming back to have tea in the kitchen
January 9, 2026 at 7:44 PM
i like to call what we're in the middle of the Weird Renascence. it's a return of "new weird"-type stuff, but with much more interest in queerness and colonialism. and "renascence" is a fun and (hehe) weird way to spell "renaissance"
things enjoyed in 2025:
- hollow knight
- silksong
- sinners
- the company of my friends
- crochet
- calligraphy
- reading some really great books, fiction and non
- to my surprise, writing!
- hollow knight
- silksong
- sinners
- the company of my friends
- crochet
- calligraphy
- reading some really great books, fiction and non
- to my surprise, writing!
Some things I enjoyed this year:
Gideon the Ninth, Just Another Dead Boy, Mario Kart World, Bugonia, 28 Years Later, Mickey 17, The Phoenician Scheme, Better Call Saul, The Walsh Sisters, Doctor Who S15, We Are Lady Parts, Austin Wintory, Louie Zong, Sentimental Garbage, Dimension 20, Button Boys
Gideon the Ninth, Just Another Dead Boy, Mario Kart World, Bugonia, 28 Years Later, Mickey 17, The Phoenician Scheme, Better Call Saul, The Walsh Sisters, Doctor Who S15, We Are Lady Parts, Austin Wintory, Louie Zong, Sentimental Garbage, Dimension 20, Button Boys
Here are some things I enjoyed this year, not all necessarily made this year:
My Bloody Valentine, The Studio, The Rehearsal, Marty Supreme, From A Low And Quiet Sea, Oasis, We Have Always Lived In A Castle, Neva, Back to the Future in IMAX, It Was Just An Accident, Water From Your Eyes, Andor
My Bloody Valentine, The Studio, The Rehearsal, Marty Supreme, From A Low And Quiet Sea, Oasis, We Have Always Lived In A Castle, Neva, Back to the Future in IMAX, It Was Just An Accident, Water From Your Eyes, Andor
December 31, 2025 at 5:10 PM
things enjoyed in 2025:
- hollow knight
- silksong
- sinners
- the company of my friends
- crochet
- calligraphy
- reading some really great books, fiction and non
- to my surprise, writing!
- hollow knight
- silksong
- sinners
- the company of my friends
- crochet
- calligraphy
- reading some really great books, fiction and non
- to my surprise, writing!
just one? impossible. here's lots.
The Names / Florence Knapp
You Weren't Meant to Be Human / Andrew Joseph White
Black Flame / Gretchen Felker-Martin
The Saint of Bright Doors / Vajra Chandrasekera
Growing Up Weightless / John M. Ford
The Names / Florence Knapp
You Weren't Meant to Be Human / Andrew Joseph White
Black Flame / Gretchen Felker-Martin
The Saint of Bright Doors / Vajra Chandrasekera
Growing Up Weightless / John M. Ford
Hey smart people QT this with the best book you read this year
December 25, 2025 at 12:32 AM
just one? impossible. here's lots.
The Names / Florence Knapp
You Weren't Meant to Be Human / Andrew Joseph White
Black Flame / Gretchen Felker-Martin
The Saint of Bright Doors / Vajra Chandrasekera
Growing Up Weightless / John M. Ford
The Names / Florence Knapp
You Weren't Meant to Be Human / Andrew Joseph White
Black Flame / Gretchen Felker-Martin
The Saint of Bright Doors / Vajra Chandrasekera
Growing Up Weightless / John M. Ford
one does worry that crochet is trying to take me down this path
You start to knit. You get weirdly interested in the properties of different fibres. You learn to spin. And then, then God help you, then you start looking at looms
December 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
one does worry that crochet is trying to take me down this path
yeah i know that's why i go to the gym and inject estrogen
Male buttocks feature less fat pads than female ones, making the base forms more angular. When simplified, they can be blocked out using two short cylinders angled outward – use this approach whether you're #3dmodeling, sculpting, or studying #anatomy for art. #characterdesign
December 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
yeah i know that's why i go to the gym and inject estrogen
my younger brother is reading The Saint of Bright Doors and loving it and the live reactions are phenomenal
November 21, 2025 at 1:28 AM
my younger brother is reading The Saint of Bright Doors and loving it and the live reactions are phenomenal
eternal and undying life to Jensen, Garamond, Baskerville, Electra; retirement to Times New Roman, Caslon, Didot; death to Arial, Calibri.
This could be a hot take, but I think as a society we committed too hard on the sans-serif fonts. Every time I see a serif it feels like a little treat.
August 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
eternal and undying life to Jensen, Garamond, Baskerville, Electra; retirement to Times New Roman, Caslon, Didot; death to Arial, Calibri.
I have long had a scene in mind, I hope I can use it one day, of a trail of pigeons moving in absolute and fearless synchronicity.
41. Birds are scary. Alfred Hitchcock doesn't own the idea of birds. Use some birds.
July 30, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I have long had a scene in mind, I hope I can use it one day, of a trail of pigeons moving in absolute and fearless synchronicity.
I RECOGNIZE THAT NAME you're on No Gods No Mayors!
my new book is out today. it's about separatism and utopia and bodily autonomy and cults and capital and love and revolution and nature and sex and all the things we owe to each other. I'm so proud and excited and nervous for you to read it. i hope you do. simplicitybook.xyz
July 29, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I RECOGNIZE THAT NAME you're on No Gods No Mayors!
content strives to be nothing more than an occupier of time. it is impossible to imagine something that can only be referred to as "content" being a work of art, bc movies, music, tv, books, paintings, etc, of necessity aspires to be MORE than just a time-occupant!
Please stop calling movies, music and shows "content." The conflation is why we're in the state we're in with the arts. We're not making content!
July 11, 2025 at 5:49 PM
content strives to be nothing more than an occupier of time. it is impossible to imagine something that can only be referred to as "content" being a work of art, bc movies, music, tv, books, paintings, etc, of necessity aspires to be MORE than just a time-occupant!
fucking clowns think anyone to the left of Attila the Hun is a communist. jesus crickets.
June 19, 2025 at 12:59 PM
fucking clowns think anyone to the left of Attila the Hun is a communist. jesus crickets.
feeling very pleased that I marched however unknowingly with @philipchristman.bsky.social who is one of my favorite essayists yesterday
June 15, 2025 at 5:44 PM
feeling very pleased that I marched however unknowingly with @philipchristman.bsky.social who is one of my favorite essayists yesterday
City of Last Chances flips the usual m.o. of many Tchaikovsky books: usually, you get a really complex set-up told in an easily readable style. w/ City you get a relatively simple set-up told in such a complex way you have no idea what's going on for half the book. it's brilliant!
I’ve loved so much of @aptshadow.bsky.social’s sci-fi that the different style of City of Last Chances has been a delicious surprise. Notes of Mervyn Peake with sprinklings of the less goofy parts of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, but a distinct voice and style and compelling world building.
May 29, 2025 at 1:11 AM
City of Last Chances flips the usual m.o. of many Tchaikovsky books: usually, you get a really complex set-up told in an easily readable style. w/ City you get a relatively simple set-up told in such a complex way you have no idea what's going on for half the book. it's brilliant!
Pleased to see my book "It's All Made of Shit: The Repulse Life of Glup Shitto" made the Chicago Sun-Times's summer reading list!
Pleased to see my book “How To Date Barack Obama And Feed Him Spiced Olives To The Theme From Jurassic Park” made the Chicago Sun-Times’s summer reading list!
May 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Pleased to see my book "It's All Made of Shit: The Repulse Life of Glup Shitto" made the Chicago Sun-Times's summer reading list!
nope. I cobbled it together from years of oblique references in books, fanfiction, and random internet stuff talking about it.
did anyones parents *actually* talk to them about sex?
its been a plot point in like every TV show and movie about raising kids for like centuries at this point but does it actually happen?
i think "the birds and the bees" speech is entirely a ficticious construct
its been a plot point in like every TV show and movie about raising kids for like centuries at this point but does it actually happen?
i think "the birds and the bees" speech is entirely a ficticious construct
May 17, 2025 at 2:02 AM
nope. I cobbled it together from years of oblique references in books, fanfiction, and random internet stuff talking about it.
can't say enough good things about Sakimoto's score. some of the densest, darkest chords ever in game music. no other game composer does it like Sakimoto does it.
I want a remake of this badly, the art style feels like a sketchbook with watercolour pencils, imagine that fully realised with today's technology.
Plus the soundtrack is amazing, Hitoshi Sakimoto's work was incredible in range. The whimsy of a forest, a haunted abandoned city, an epic fight.
Plus the soundtrack is amazing, Hitoshi Sakimoto's work was incredible in range. The whimsy of a forest, a haunted abandoned city, an epic fight.
📺 Vagrant Story // PlayStation // PVM-1354Q via component
May 13, 2025 at 3:27 AM
can't say enough good things about Sakimoto's score. some of the densest, darkest chords ever in game music. no other game composer does it like Sakimoto does it.
Reposted by theriverinthewood
listening mainly to Mendelssohn while reading Alex Ross’s “Wagnerism” to make sure Wagner’s ghost knows that for all his choral and melodic facility he can still kiss the first, second, third and fourth movements of my ass
April 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
listening mainly to Mendelssohn while reading Alex Ross’s “Wagnerism” to make sure Wagner’s ghost knows that for all his choral and melodic facility he can still kiss the first, second, third and fourth movements of my ass
one should never forget that Arizona was the home state of Evan Meacham
Andy Biggs, the Republican congressman running for Arizona governor next year, just accepted the endorsement of state Sen. Mark Finchem, who shared a video a few months ago on X claiming the Star of David is a Satanic symbol and that "the people whom [Hitler] fought against rule the world today."
March 21, 2025 at 11:06 PM
one should never forget that Arizona was the home state of Evan Meacham
opening paragraph of a short fiction that I have not yet figured out a good title for
March 16, 2025 at 6:20 PM
opening paragraph of a short fiction that I have not yet figured out a good title for
sharing this again bc a lot of people really enjoyed it. I'd love to write music for a project in this sort of faux-SNES style one day.
new music! perfect for if you've got nostalgia for the Ye Olden Dayes of SNES. massive thanks for the art to @derriart.bsky.social, whose art directly inspired this piece.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL2A...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL2A...
"Flirting Duel!" — SNES-Inspired JRPG Battle Theme
YouTube video by T. Fairchild
www.youtube.com
March 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
sharing this again bc a lot of people really enjoyed it. I'd love to write music for a project in this sort of faux-SNES style one day.
overview of Gaiman's career which uses his biography and art as a lens to assess the other, explaining the appeal of his work (something I'd never understood till now) and without ever making excuses for the horrific ways in which he behaved.
Today on Eruditorum Press, Last War in Albion returns with a chapter on Sandman and Neil Gaiman. Strap in. This goes hard. www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-cud...
The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)
Previously in The Last War in Albion: Alan Moore wrote Watchmen, which, for complicated reasons involving William S. Burroughs and the weak nuclear force, ended the Cold War and replaced it with a mag...
www.eruditorumpress.com
February 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
overview of Gaiman's career which uses his biography and art as a lens to assess the other, explaining the appeal of his work (something I'd never understood till now) and without ever making excuses for the horrific ways in which he behaved.
I'm not even a Christian (the Tao Te Ching is where it's at for me) but I'll still be reading this and badgering my local library to purchase a copy
my next book, Why Christians Should be Leftists, is available for preorder. as you'll figure from the title, it spits on the idea of complying with any vibe shift. it comes out September 16. www.eerdmans.com/978080288405... www.barnesandnoble.com/w/why-christ... you can also purchase it at amazon
Why Christians Should Be Leftists|Hardcover
The Sermon on the Mount offers a rousing call to political solidarity—if only we have ears to hear it.    Being a Christian and being a socialist go together for Phil Christman. He exp...
www.barnesandnoble.com
February 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I'm not even a Christian (the Tao Te Ching is where it's at for me) but I'll still be reading this and badgering my local library to purchase a copy
Reposted by theriverinthewood
My relationship with Big wasn’t the only thing I blew up that day. At the Trinity test site I detonated the first plutonium bomb, unleashing a 22 kiloton blast. Had I become Death, destroyer of worlds? Meanwhile uptown, Samantha had her hands full with her own “Manhattan project”
January 10, 2025 at 11:49 PM
My relationship with Big wasn’t the only thing I blew up that day. At the Trinity test site I detonated the first plutonium bomb, unleashing a 22 kiloton blast. Had I become Death, destroyer of worlds? Meanwhile uptown, Samantha had her hands full with her own “Manhattan project”
speaking as both library user and library employee, many folks will buy a book after reading a library copy
Library purchases are purchases. They pay the press. The press counts them towards advances and royalties. And (gasp) the book is in a library!! It’s wonderful and no one should ever feel bad about getting a book through a library instead of buying it.
I got it from my local library system, which has 28 physical copies (more than half are checked out) and 4 audiobooks. The branch library is two blocks from my house so I get most of my books from there. Hope this helps because I loved the book - I'm not a historian and knew nothing of that period.
December 28, 2024 at 2:19 AM
speaking as both library user and library employee, many folks will buy a book after reading a library copy