The Bright Sword - Lev Grossman An Arthurian reimagining that predictably made me think of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, which is of course a more important and inventive work but Bright Sword holds its own in thrills and heart and some inventiveness of its own. Loved it.

You ever just finish a beautiful, gorgeous transcendent book with a perfect bittersweet sendoff Then log onto social media right after and want to kys again Cuz yea

This may be surprising but the phrase I least like to hear in literature discussion is “likable characters”. That’s pop media tourist shit. Nobody should be reading books so they can like the fuck out of the main character. Are they interesting? Do their actions reveal something about life?

That’s crazy that we unironically call somebody in government the “border czar”. It’s so humiliating being american, somebody please conquer us.

Chris Buehlman has a great line from his last novel for the moment, “the mask one’s face becomes after too many outrages”. It’s endless the humiliations these bloodthirsty pigs put us through. Too weary to even mount the rage necessary.

Dusting off the substack. Best 10 things I read last year. Bangers only. bretttharp.substack.com/p/best-stuff...

Dusting off the substack. Best 10 things I read last year. Bangers only. bretttharp.substack.com/p/best-stuff...

I hadn’t even gotten to backwards baseball cap Hilary Swank and Joel McHale as a grizzled survivalist yet, actually shoot me.

Yellowjackets is such a disaster of a show lol. First season was pretty good, not sure how it went so terribly wrong.

Hated this, surprisingly. Thought this was supposed to be the really good adaptation of Red Dragon.

Finished Outer Wilds. What a transcendent experience.

ICE is a pack of mongrel troglodytes armed as a military. There is no reforming that.

Perdido Street Station - China Mieville God I love when you pick up a book that’s so propulsive you find yourself reading another 50-100 pages into the night trying to finish. What a staggering work. Steampunk fantasy, dystopian science fiction, weird cosmic horror. Brilliant.

Severance has me like the Knives Out meme “Ive got no clue what it means . . . compels me though” like I didn’t learn one thing all season 2 but I did watch the last six episodes in a row.

Please I really really need to get this covered before midnight when it goes up to $200

Listen to @sleepingvillage.bsky.social and go check out Dark Watcher! New album, The Law of Bone and Sinew, released September 12, 2025 Available digital, with a T-shirt, and on CD! darkwatcher.ampwall.com

Was in the mood to revisit this one, and so here we are. Revisiting.

This year sucked royally to the point that it hadn’t really struck me that Ive hit these two milestones of releasing my first full length record and also my first book in print, stuff Ive been working towards for a decade. We’re winning harder in 2026 and the vibes come with it this time.

Working on a theory that trans people are behind the disproportionate and unfair amount of brutal death metal/slam on the RYM top death metal list. Do trans people love slam, yes or no?

Have now played 45 hours of Clair Obscur over the christmas break. Somehow still not my game of the year . . . but wow yeah good game.

Watching that Witcher prequel Blood Origins show and . . . it’s so bad but if they just stripped out all the nonsensical Witcher connections and doubled the episodes this would be a totally fine and fun B fantasy romp. Rogue’s gallery action adventure. Franchise hell strikes again.

Im ready to say Sciel is actually Expedition 33’s best girl.

Stack acquired.

It was honestly a complete joke that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was even nominated for an indie game award, before getting into the disqualification for some AI placeholder usage. There are levels between indie and AAA! Anyway, just started it. Very cool so far. Snappiest turn based Ive seen.

Have we considered that Greek black metal has been owning our asses for 35 years uninterrupted and we should just give up.

Serpent Column going out of their way to pick a niche racist poster to do vocals is so corny, there were so many better and more normal guys.

I think Knives Out was probably really good but maybe there was an egregious plot hole in one of the times where Cailee Spaeny was on screen bewitching me, idk.

New book haul from VanderMeer, Mieville, and Pynchon. We keep it weird in this bitch.

I don’t want more brightly colored “fantastical” fantasy actually, the best thing Game of Thrones did was make that shit muddy and filthy and human.

Stars Wept to the Sea is now available for preorder Releasing January 26, 2026 This standalone single is dedicated in the memory of Grace Liang, with all proceeds donated to the American Cancer Society Links ⬇️ ashenheart.ampwall.com/album/stars-... ashenheart.bandcamp.com/album/stars-... (1/2)

Today is a Dark Watcher day Thanks for the rad album and rad shirt @bretttharp.bsky.social darkwatcher.ampwall.com/album/the-la...

It’s crazy that people willingly listen to Pissgrave.

Anotha Bandcamp Friday has come. I notched the new Dark Watcher LP down to $5 for digital + lotsa merch still in stock. You may also check out my other projects, Acrid Tomb and Cynocephalus.

Turns out there wasn't a full 100 albums I was really passionate about this year so here's just my favorite 10!

Tragically you have to be mean as shit to the poor indian call center people if you have a problem with your internet provider or cell service or they absolutely will not route you to anyone that can actually help you. Blame AT&T for my cruelty, it is their sin.

Got my author portrait lmao

Finished the original Stalker game recently. Can definitely see what’s special about it, very eerie and atmospheric shooter with aspects very ahead of its time and in touch with that esoteric post nuclear vibe. However, Metro still clears.

Much to be said about the state of epic fantasy television but I think the relentless chase to be the Game of Thrones Killer is what aggravates me. You can’t do that in Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings! It’s stupid! You look stupid!

Early 2000s historical epics used to smack so hard even when they were “bad”. There’s such a fundamental level to movies like Troy and The Patriot due to the casting and sets and costuming that would be absolute donkey turds now.

lmao

Little Black Friday Deal! Dancers Beneath Shores of Fire is now pay what you want on Bandcamp! Enjoy! demonsluice.bandcamp.com/album/dancer...

Hey were you guys measuring from the top or bottom of the balls?

Found out this weekend that my dad needs open heart surgery for a life-threatening condition and insurance is only paying for 50%. I'm trying to raise what I can to help him afford it. If you want to help donations are appreciated. Venmo: @Amanda-Kauffman-6647 Paypal: [email protected]

They should make the instrument of drums be easier to learn for me specifically.

😭 😭😭😭😭😭🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ How do I not end my shit after that

No likey Del Toro’s Frankenstein. Gorgeous set design and stuff but the script is garbage.

They should remix/remaster Cattle Decapitation’s Monolith of Inhumanity. One of the best albums ever but Im afraid the production makes it so hard to come back to.

Just thinking about Teutonic black metal brazenhorde.bandcamp.com/album/behold...

Don’t ever get caught watching a movie with me unless you want to hear me callout who and where every actor is from.

Just thinking about Teutonic black metal brazenhorde.bandcamp.com/album/behold...