#but just really fantastic artists imho

[lesserdreams]

man, another one of the amazing artists i follow on here deactivated

if anyone knows what happened to @lno-x-deactivated20241022 (or @nixnyr-deactivated20240425 for that matter) hmu, I'd love to follow them on other platforms

[tacticalhimbo]

The more people I see refer to Curly's state as body horror the more pissed off I get.

It irks me that people do tbh.

The fate of a character (Curly) is just him becoming disabled by an event that happens at the start of the game... He's your typical severe burn victim (missing flesh/exposed musculature/etc).

And I know this is the "Pissing on the poor" website, but can we… Stop… Calling depictions of injury and disability body horror?

Body horror itself is such a specific artistic decision (which, granted, stems from a long lineage of ableism toward those who are physically disfigured by said disability/disabilities). Some reading on that:

Normal People Don’t Scare Me: A History of Ableism in the Horror Genre [LINK]

The Presence of Disability in Horror Films: Ableism and Counter Discursivity [LINK]

Villainizing Bodies and Minds: Ableism in Horror Movies [LINK]

And there are some horror elements re: the care of him (administering pills/feeding him/etc)... but Curly himself existing is not an example of "body horror".

In fact, the horror around his care is not even body horror itself. It is a showcasing of the corporate, capitalist disregard for human life. The lack of preparation and accessibility to proper care despite knowing the dangers of the environment they produce (re: all of the Polle posters).

,The worst, genuine example of body horror re: Curly, imho, is the artistic segment involving feeding him his own leg and you see his guts as galaxies. And some segments where you can see his eyes following your character (Jimmy) around on screens or in tunnels 🤷

If you really want to tag your Curly fanart... the more appropriate tag (depending on the level of depiction of his burned status) is gore. It's exposed flesh and musculature. It's depiction of medical reality (lest we forget, burn victims... exist as real people and not some fictional narrative).

And to distinguish the two... here is a (hopefully) less ableist definition than that which many are used to:

Body horror is transformation; it is where something horrific (and fantastical/not grounded in reality) is happening within the body itself.

Gore is a bloody nose, cuts, wounds, injuries etc.

Scars, limb differences, or visual disabilities are neither.

[mcrololo]

now you give me some beca and chloe/bechloe/barden bellas songs to listen to bc i Struggled with mine aahhh

lmao I made a playlist for both of them back in 2020 filled with songs that remind me of them one way or another. they're almost 60 songs each by now sgfsjf (which is relatively tame for me tbh). here's beca's and here's chloe's in case you wanna give them a listen, but I'll give you 3 songs according to shuffle and why I put them on there!! (otherwise we'd be here all day lol)

Beca

Day is Done by Chef'Special: There is something about their sound that just screams Beca Mitchell to me fsr, but this song fits her imho because I headcanon her with insane insomnia. The singer starts extremely depressed ("my heart asleep and my days don't end") but then the bridge hits and he decides he's done sleeping. That alone is so pp1 Beca, and to some extent pp2 Beca as well. The second verse, specifically the part of "I got love and I can't be a lover, I got hate and I can't be a hater" feels like a very close struggle to her. And also the idea that when Beca gets severly depressed she doesn't even want to listen to music? 👌

Ok I don't know how this happened because there's like 58 songs in there but I got another Chef'Special song (Afraid of the Dark). I will skip the why in favor of other artists.

I'm A Wreck by AWOLNATION: This song starts very slow and only has a couple of (repeated) lyrics, but the instrumentals change based on the words and state of mind of the artist, and I think Beca Mitchell would go batshit over that. But also it fits her personally, because, yeah, she IS in her head forevermore and she DOES struggle with imposter syndrome.

Simmer by Hayley Williams: Okay I'm actually so glad this one popped up, this song is fantastic and I love her. The instrumentals are pretty soft, but the lyrics are full of rage. This contrasts with the pretty laidback attitude Beca shows in the first movie UNTIL her dad is around in almost every scene. There is so much anger in her about her childhood and it shows, but she tries so hard to stay normal about it (and simmer down). Also the line "how to draw the line between wrath and mercy"? I go feral every time. I like to think the "wrap yourself in petals of armor" retains to Chloe, but that's just my shipper heart working overtime lol.

Chloe

Omarm by BLØF: I HAVE to put this first for Chloe even if it's in Dutch and hardly anyone will understand the lyrics. Omarm means "embrace" and it's a highly romantic song, where the singer asks his lover to spend the rest of their life together. (Lief ga dan mee / en omarm me / omarm me / en breng me nergens heen -> Love come with me / and embrace me / embrace me / and lead me nowhere). The bridge begs the lover to embrace everything about the singer, the shortcomings, the past, the bitter and the bad, and that is also when the song really picks up in intensity. I don't know, there is something about it starting off with soft instrumentals before bursting with passion that is so Chloe Beale, and I feel like THIS is her, she keeps most of the anxiety in, but in truth she just wants someone to see her for her, warts and all. (Also BLØF is one of my all time favorite bands! Their songs are so good and the lyrics just Hit)

Bloom by The Paper Kites: I don't think this one even needs explaining. Please give it a listen. It's one of my most listened to songs because I love it to bits (and also this played at my wedding!!)

I'm Good by The Mowgli's: The funky beat just makes you wanna dance. And the lyrics? "I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good / Living life just like I should / Wouldn't change it if I could / I'm good, I'm good, I'm good" <- pp2 Chloe-core. The first few lines of the first verse, too. Chloe is someone who lives her life in the now, doesn't think about future plans, just goes with the moment; it results in her not knowing who exactly she is, but that's completely fine! More people should be okay with that, honestly. She'll find herself in the activities she likes, in the people she adores, and the places she visits. Also "There's a lot of love in this place", do I need to say more? Every lyric of this just screams Chloe Beale's extraverted side. (And verse 2!!! is pp1 Chloe!!!)

Anyway I'm done yelling about the songs now. Unless one of them confuses anyone, I'd be happy to explain my thought proces shfjsj

[amageish]

Spider-Man 2 Post-Credit Spoilers

Time for some more signature Amageish overthinking!

Sooooooooooooo.

How about that Cindy Moon appearance, huh?

From this Gizmodo article, we do have a bit of insight into the decision to have her appear where they mention the challenge of making a Cindy unique to the GamerVerse specifically - though it's obvious they are keeping their cards close to their chest here as well.

io9: Along with giving Miles a promotion, you’ve introduced Cindy Moon, aka Silk, into your universe. Of all the Spider-heroes, I don’t think anyone was expecting her. What made her so appealing over someone like Eddie or Gwen Stacy? Arfmann: Cindy’s always been a really compelling character in the comics who, similar to [SM1's] Martin Li, hasn’t really gotten a ton of exposure outside of the immediate fanbase. There’s something really exciting about taking a character who we love, who not everybody’s had a chance to meet, and exposing her to a wider audience. Morris: I’m so excited to see what we do with Cindy. Arfmann: Exactly. That was the real drive with her, and figuring out who Insomniac’s Cindy Moon is a really exciting challenge. And we also have this interesting complication that [Cindy’s dad] Albert is dating [Miles’ mom] Rio, and we’re thrilled to explore how that creates a new iteration of this character that folks already love.

So this confirms that they will be changing stuff too! This is going to be a unique take on her, but they are also self-aware that this will be plenty of people's introduction to the character.

The main question on my mind is a pretty basic one: Does Cindy Moon need to be shoved into a bunker for 7-10 years in order to be recognizably Cindy Moon? Her father is already in the game, so we know the "parents are missing" story is probably off the table, but does she need to still spend all that time in isolation to be Cindy?

In the comics, her time in the bunker is credited in-text with being a source of so many of her defining character traits.

It is something that separates her experiences from Peter and the other Spider-heroes.

It's something that fills her with a drive to prove herself and is the experience that made her such a talented martial artist.

It informs her understanding of modern technology and the level of pop culture awareness she has - the former of which helped her develop her uniquely positive relationship with J Jonah Jameson.

And, lastly, the time she had in isolation is credited with causing her to develop her anxiety disorder and communication challenges.

So, with all that in mind, it feels like Cindy does have to be put into a bunker, right? As it's such a core part of her backstory?

Well, no. Maybe this will be a hot take, but I honestly don't think she does.

While I do think everything I've listed here is a key aspect of Cindy Moon as a character, I don't think they need to lock her in a vault for 7-10 years in order to explain why a Korean-American woman in New York city has anxiety or practices martial arts or feels a need to work twice as hard to have her accomplishments recognized. These are all very relatable experiences that do not require a fantastical superhero origin story to justify them.

Honestly, with how emotion-forward the Insomniac Spider-Man games are already, I think her being a woman who has had a depressive episode recently which she describes as having felt like being trapped would work just as well as literally having had her be trapped by a supervillain. I would not be surprised if the ability to tell a story about anxiety and depression was a factor in them selecting Cindy as the next playable character as well - the potential for a Silk game that incorporates actual mindfulness and grounding techniques into the gameplay is really high IMHO.

I also think that the final scene kind of supports the idea too? Cindy has no lines, but she does have a silent awkward wave. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but her introduction makes me think she already has social anxiety - so unless she's already been in the bunker and we'll get a story about how she escaped, then I think she will probably jut be getting powers and moving forward from there.

Anyway, that's a lot of thoughts brought about by like 5 seconds of Cindy waving. I'm just really eager to see where things go from here and am hoping we'll get a DLC trailer or a Silk expandalone announced sometimes soon...

(PS: Having Peter already be in a committed relationship with MJ and Miles, who is also already in a relationship with Hailey, being in a psuedo-sibling relationship with Cindy is an excellent way of desexualizing the Cindy + Spider-Men relationship. I have no fears about Insomniac stumbling on that particular hurdle.)

(I do, however, have fears that I will be seeing unironic speculation about pheromones in reddit threads for the next 2 years until whenever Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2 or Silk: Cindy Moon is announced... but that probably cannot be changed, unfortunately.)

[cipheramnesia]

I watched my first horror movie tonight since i was a teenager in the 90's. Back then i mostly giggled through Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer with friends. Then life happened and i sort-of stopped watching things in general. Anyway, I'm now finding myself on months of bedrest and am watching things to pass the time and decided I'd watch a movie tonight and picked horror just to see if i even like horror. I caught The Pope's Exorcist and actually really enjoyed it, which is delightful! It kept me on the edge of my seat and in suspense and i know my heart was racing at times. So I figure enjoying that one gives me a starting point in the genre, and i was wondering if you might be able to suggest others based off my liking that one? I picked it based off rotton tomato critic and audience ratings. Not because i care heavily about such things, but it made it a logical place to start of what's new. I'm not catholic so i don't care about religion based horror but I'm not opposed to it. I don't like jumpscares. Learned that from Sixth Sense and 12 years on tumblr. Oh! I've also recently seen Renfield, though none of the dracula movies that follow the books. I don't really count Renfield as horror in this regard because it's comedy horror and more funny than scary. Kind of like how i found 90's horror. Though that might have been just as much me being a punk ass kid trying to look brave with my friends. Who knows. It was a long time ago. Anyway, do you have any suggestions? Old or new doesn't matter. I'm bored and mostly stuck in bed. Thank you for your time!

I haven't seen The Pope's Exorcist so I had to search it up - exorcism movies don't do a lot for me, but The Taking of Deborah Logan and Daniel Isn't Real are perennial recommendations which I think would sync up with possession movies. Deborah Logan is kind of divisive with how it treats Alzheimer's and dementia - for me it resonated with my experiences and felt like a sensitive exploration of the topic for horror, but it can also reas the opposite way.

Hellbender and The Deeper You Dig are some fantastic work by a team of independent filmmakers who are also a family. They all act and direct and write together in upstate New York and have astonishing talent. A magnificent illustration of why seeking work by independent artists is such a good idea.

I just watched Ghost Crew, a weird little low budget Scottish movie that I won't say too much about except that it starts out as slightly cringe-comedy faux documentary and grows into a lot more. Zombie For Sale is an adorable Korean romantic comedy zombie movie I had a fun time watching. The Dark (2018) also very intriguing movie, basically victims of abuse getting revenge but one of them is a revenant.

Jamie Marks Is Dead is a queer ghost story that made me cry, everyone should watch it. Also in the sweet romantic category is Attachement, a Jewish and queer horror. It's written and directed by a Jewish person and to my experience felt very true to life. My personal reading of it was a kind of metaphor about how Judaism can be carried forward in different ways everywhere from generational to academically to people who convert. It's another one that I think could be read different, but the positive reading works better for me.

A Wounded Fawn is just bonkers surreal, I can't describe it exactly but it's about a serial killer who gets in deep with some very hallucinatory shit. Related, but Vicious Fun is exactly what it says on the tin. Very fun silly stuff. He's Watching is imho one of the most terrifying found footage movies ever. All found footage movies use a lot of pretty common and consistent tricks of limited light and limited perspective, but He's Watching fucks with the sense of reality by constantly obfuscating who or what is recording, where the line between real and film is blurred.

Babysitter Wanted is also a fun twist on the satanic panic trope. Also similar in that vein, Anything For Jackson is pretty neat. And while I'm thinking about Shudder, The Mortuary Collection is pure spooky fun, a delightful anthology movie with Clancy Brown getting to chew up some scenery. Also for the movie that has everything, Saloum. It's a kind of revenge crossed with magic crossed with evil spirits centered around a bad ass team of mercenaries for hire.

Also check out my horror movie tag.

[squirms-mckenzie]

What's your favorite Taylor Swift song? One time you posted that more people would like her if they heard her music without knowing it was her, which I thought was interesting, because my experience had been the inverse: hearing (to me) a very mediocre and unexceptional song and then learning, "wait, THIS is the Taylor Swift people foam at the mouth for?" But obviously I am not very familiar with her music and it's possible I haven't heard the best stuff, so if you've read this far and don't hate me then I'd legitimately be interested to listen to something by her you like, with an open mind

listen i love that you want my opinion on this and that you wanna give miss Swift a chance based on what i suggest 👀 picking a favorite is hard, so I'm just gonna pick some I really like/think are underrated. idk what your overall music taste is so I'll throw a few different kinds of songs at you.

this song makes me weep - it's about her grandmother and all the lessons she learned from her. it breaks away from the stereotype that Taylor only writes about her romances.

Maybe this one is just because it hits on something very personal to me, but this song is heart-wrenchingly painful and haunting and some of her BEST lyrics imho. The way she sings "give me back my girlhood/ it was mine first" cracks me open.

Honestly I just think this song is beautiful and a lot of fun. In general I think Folklore and Evermore as albums feature some of Taylor's best songwriting, both music and lyrics.

YOU 👏 PLAY 👏 STUPID 👏 GAMES 👏 YOU 👏 WIN 👏 STUPID 👏 PRIZES 👏👏👏

and just to see if her songs hit different sung by a different person, here's a beautiful cover by Maggie Rogers (who is another of my favorite artists). I actually like this more than the original.

Also if Taylor Swift doesn't hit for you she doesn't hit! I just think most people write her off because of who she is in the media and like, a song they heard on the radio. She's a fantastic songwriter and performer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(also i ABSOLUTELY listen to all her songs with a queer pov and regardless of what her sexuality IS her songs feel more powerful to me because that's how i interpret them. for example, Marjorie reads TO ME as a song about one closeted starlet talking to the one who came before her, sharing their grief and also probably the joy that they were honest with each other in a world that wouldn't and still won't let them live their lives authentically while also achieving their dreams)

[writingforfun0714]

Spoilers for Tales of the Jedi!!

*not story related*

I know I said before I disliked the short runtimes of the episodes, but I was correct in that the stories/music were fantastic!

BUUUT!!!

What is with the clone model?!?Rex looks exactly the same in CW. It’s obvious with Obi-wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and even Mace that their designs have been redone to keep with the slicker, nicer animation (advancing technology). While everyone looks better, Rex still looks exactly the same with the sharp, angular lines.

I’m honestly not surprised that Rex’s design didn’t change, but I must admit that I had hoped, deep down, that they would’ve changed the model (even just a bit like they did with the other characters). Disney does listen to SW fans if we shout loud enough so they technically could’ve changed the clone model to be more like Temuera Morrison (I know Disney would never apologize for the racism, but any change, even a little, is welcome). But again, I’m really not surprised Rex’s model didn’t change. Just disappointed.

Even though the stories and music were amazing, the fact that Rex/the clone model hasn’t changed isn’t just racism, it’s sloppy animation. It hurt as a POC and as an artist to see. Don’t get me wrong, everything else animated looks great. It’s just that Rex/the clone model wasn’t updated, making him appear off and out of place with the rest of the scenes. It also made Rex look older (whether unintentional or not). Like yes, the clones all have accelerated aging (except for Boba/Omega obviously), but everyone else slightly aged with each time skip but Rex looked old from the beginning (S1 version of Anakin/Ahsoka scene). Would’ve loved to see the lines on his face appear rather than just be there like they were for the clone model in CW.

I just…wish Disney would acknowledge the clones being whitewashed. I don’t need an apology. I don’t. It’s been so long. I just want them to change the model. Even a little bit at a time until they look like Temuera Morrison. I’d say that they look more accurate in their older, Rebel’s design than the CW animation style. Rebels isn’t completely accurate, but it’s better than CW’s/BB’s version. Listen, they could’ve changed the clone model for TotJ and if people were ???/didn’t like it, Disney/Filoni could’ve stated Rebels as an inspiration or something. I like Filoni as a storyteller, but the racism whether intentional or not has now started hurting the SW community. I love Dee Bradley Baker. He’s an amazing VA like Tara Strong or Grey DeLisle. But he shouldn’t have been cast as the clones in the first place. It should’ve been Temuera Morrison, Daniel Logan or another New Zealand VA.

It’s interesting that they did that for Bad Batch’s Omega. Her VA is Michelle Ang, a woman from New Zealand in her mid 30’s (who imho does NOT sound like a child at all). Like they knew to get a NZ VA for Omega, but not for the clones? I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know why Baker got the job (I know he and Filoni worked on AtLA together so I wasn’t sure if that had something to do with it). Baker tried but it just didn’t work. That’s why Omega’s accent sounds so different compared to the rest of CF99.

I’m assuming that Filoni is just one of those guys that if gets called a racist, just digs his heels in deeper and denies it, though doesn’t do anything to prove that he isn’t. People care a lot about being called racist, but don’t really do anything about it.

If you wanna learn more about whitewashing in the SW fandom, specifically about the clones, go check out @unwhitewashthebadbatch

There’s amazing info about what is whitewashed specifically, POC in the SW fandom, how to support POC and their organizations, etc. I saw it one day on my feed and am so happy to have found a place to get info.

[septembersghost]

"It’s not merely that Styles has leapfrogged his fellow former One Direction members in terms of popularity, although he clearly has: spare a thought for little Niall Horan peddling his mum-friendly MOR, Louis Tomlinson’s tepid indie rock and, indeed, the lascivious pop-R&B of Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, who called his last album Nobody is Listening, a title that eerily predicted its commercial response. It’s that he seems to have pulled off one of the hardest tricks in pop – the transition from manufactured scream-inducing teen idol to more mature artist in"

what is this? lol did they have to say this?

I'm the anon who asked about HS3 a while back and complained about his lyricism tanking - I really love the album now! some of those lines have me asking wtf to this day, but the music is great overall and I enjoy it, I hope you talk about it some!

i know, i saw that and it annoyed me. it's disrespectful and it's mean, plus it's unnecessary. this is his third solo album, they don't have to keep bringing this up, and dragging the other boys isn't a compliment to harry, i don't think he'd appreciate it. also, to speak my most controversial truth, i love and adore harry, and his music makes me unabashedly happy, but niall is a stronger songwriter and in some respects a stronger musician, and both flicker and heartbreak weather are fantastic and hugely underrated. i love listening to them just as much. walls is better than it's given credit for (the title track alone - my mom heard it for the first time a few days ago and immediately came and told me how beautiful she thought it was). liam's and zayn's music isn't necessarily my taste, but they're both undeniably talented vocalists, and they have their own fans. they all do, leave them alone! harry has the charisma and magnetic je ne sais quoi star quality that sets him apart, but the complisult (it's a word) guilty pleasure aspect of talking about the band's music annoys me too - and i say this as someone who didn't listen to them until 2019, as an old person adsgshdjjksd - their music is good! it's catchy and fun and a lot of it is beautiful! (their last three albums are skipless for me, i simply love them.) their harmonies were incredible, their chemistry as a group was special. harry himself has never once shaded their past music or said he was anything but proud of what they did, he's said he liked it from beginning to end. other aspects of that experience were undoubtedly hard, but he's proud of their body of work, so maligning it isn't a compliment either.

it also bothers me that there's this pretentious idea that music has to be groundbreaking in some way to be valid or worthy. i love music more than anything in the world, i have since before i could speak. it is my favorite passion, comfort, escape, lifeline, inspiration, best friend! words can't ever explain how connected and beloved music is in my soul, i would be lost (and wouldn't survive) without it. i listen to things from all kinds of genres, artists, decades. music is DEEPLY personal and subjective, so nothing you personally love or feel within it can ever be wrong. it doesn't have to constantly reinvent the wheel. the best thing imho that music can do is be a joy or touching - pleasurable, cathartic - it's about empathy and connectivity and that's what matters! i'm rambling, but yes, suffice to say that critics, while useful in their way, ultimately have no authority because every artist's music is theirs, and every listener's response is uniquely theirs, and what you love and cherish is between you and the music.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Whats your favorite song at the moment

Hey Nonny!

Ooof Too many, hahhaha! Because I don’t leave home anymore, I’m not looking constantly for new music to add to my Playlist, so mostly it’s stuff that I come across on Tumblr and is living rent-free in my head on repeat, or me digging on my harddrives for a nostalgia kick.... currently, these are the top 5 cycling in my head, no particular order:

(EDIT IT’S NOW TEN. I COULDN’T CHOOSE. LISTEN TO THEM ALL. THEY’RE ALL AMAZING)

(EDIT 2 SORRY IT’S NOW 15!! NONNY I’M SO SORRY. I know no one cares, but I LOVE sharing my Music with people)

(EDIT 3 *SIGH* Now 20. :| HELP. Stopping before I get carried away. No one ever likes my music so I love when people ask me for my songs with genuine interest)

Nathan Evans - The Wellerman (220 Kid X Billen Ted Remix) (flashing images CW in video!) – Got into the original of this one during the sea shanty trend, and then this dance remix came out... those of you who know me well, know that I am HOOKED on remixes, especially dance remixes. So I was so happy about this official one.

The Kiffness - Ievan Polkka ft. Bilal Göregen (Club Remix) – This one I got into because I think, again, the original with the blind man was trending, and then I found this remix artist on YouTube from his remix of The Wellerman, and his is SOOOO good!! I loved this song back in the early noughts when it was popular as “Leek Spin”. But then these young folks had to go and make it amazing again!!

ZHU, partywithray - Came For The Low – (LOTS OF FLASHING LIGHTS IN VIDEO CW!) Thank Falcon And the Winter Soldier for this one! It took me a WEEK to find out what song they’re playing in the club in Episode 3 when Zemo’s dancing, and YAY I found this finally (not the one hour one, sadly, still trying to find the song D+ Marvel used for that one). I LOVE IT. LISTEN TO IT. SO good if you like heavy club beats

Sim Gretina - A Friend Like Me (Electro Swing Remix) – This is SATISFYING. I LOVE IT. Found it years ago after that homemade Aladdin carpet video was going viral, and every time it comes up on my playlist, I replay it like 6 times.

Linkin Park - Numb (80′s Remix) – That tumblr meme song that went around years ago? HERE YOU ARE!!! :D This is TOO SHORT and it’s also on repeat when I listen to it. Y’all, this is what depression feels like when you’re trying to pretend to be happy all the time LOL. It’s a whole MOOD. This one is great to blast in the car and have people confused at you singing at the top of your lungs. Like, “I AM NUMB AND AN EDGELORD BUT READY TO PARTY!!!”.

One Ton - Supersexworld – Okay, this is an OLLLLLLDDD one by a one-hit wonder Canadian band that I stumbled upon recently when I was going through my hard drives to find new stuff to put onto my iPhone. I was OBSESSED with this song when it first came out, forgot about it, and NOW... SHIT I can’t STOP. This one is BLARING when I hear it, and am so happy I found it again. It’s simple, amazing, and AWESOME. LISTEN TO IT. You will love it. Please. It’s got one verse and one chorus over and over, and it’s catchy as hell. It’s on my personal Johnlock playlist :D

Deorro - Rise and Shine – GUYS. This song. Also on my personal Johnlock Playlist, this one is SOMETHING. First heard it in my BodyPump class, I NEEDED it. It’s SO GOOD. Jazzy Club Music??? YES PLEASE! Video is all kinds of amazing? YES PLEASE. PLEASE listen to this. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch (Eiffel 65 Remix) – Is this song a decade old? YES. Has it been on my iPod since it first came out? FUCK YES. Y’all, Eiffel 65 is SO underrated for their remixes. This is one of their best remixes, and it’s the PERFECT walking song. YES I look like an idiot walking to it, but I love it SO MUCH. It’s better than the original, imho.

Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know (Bastian Van Shield Remix) – LOL I KNOW: sacrilege to remix Gotye, but Y’ALL. This is the DEFINITIVE remix of one of his best songs. Six minutes of pure club beats, and just... ANOTHER perfect walking song that you need to SCREAM at the top of your lungs. Also on my personal Playlist, John POV, that I will share eventually.... it makes sense in the song order on the list, I promise LOL)

Tee Lopes - Marble Zone '12 – Tee Lopes is the official composer for Sonic Mania, hired because of all his AMAZING Classic Sonic remixes he did as a hobby on his YouTube channel. This one has a Tango flavour, and it’s SO good and not long enough. There’s an extended version here. Also love his Flying Battery and Ice Cap remixes. If you love video game music remixes like I do, check out his YT channel. There’s a TONNE there and it’s GREAT music to write to.

Aaron Smith - Dancin’ (KRONO Remix) – I dunno where I first heard this one, but I LOVE it. It’s like trancey club music. It’s beautiful, and WORTH a listen.

Pet Shop Boys - I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing [Extended Nude Mix] – Ooooof this one has been on my faves for a LONG time. Originally heard this on the PSB’s album Disco 2, back when their remixes were this good and long and clubby. I miss these so much. If you want a good club beat to thump your car, this is it my friends.

Informätik - A Matter of Time – FUCK ME I love this song. This is the song that made me want to start a Johnlock playlist. I talk more in length about it on this post here, but yeah, I still just.. MM. It’s just so beautiful and is what got me into EBM music in the first place. I listened to this and a lot of their music quite often in college when I was pining over people. Always the pining and never the requited, LOL. I just really love it. 

Pride and Fall - Paragon – GUYS. This one is SO good. Trancey EBM and just, UGHGGHHGHGHHHG It gives me so many feels. I’ve loved this song for SO many years, and just, still has to be on every iPod I own. It’s beautiful, and the lyrics are beautiful and I wish I was as beautiful as this song, LOL. Please listen and enjoy. Best bit is a 3:11 :D <3

Rammstein - Mein Teil (Pet Shop Boys Remix) – GUYS. This is one of the greatest collabs of all time. I love both Rammstein AND Pet Shop Boys, and was SO EXCITED when they remixed this song for the single. This is the better of the two remixes PSB did for them, and YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO IT. PURE CLUB BLISS. This is the PSB in their remixing best!!!! <3 Plus, it’s SUPER WEIRD to hear these angry Germans backing a club beat, I LOVE IT. Also, it’s literally a song about a true story of literally eating a dick, so.... *shrugs*

Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc. (PSB Mix) – Y’ALL. This is 6 minutes of LITERAL dance music BLISS. A fantastic remix of one of my fave songs from the PSB, which is essentially shitting on the materialism of relationships. And I love this one, it’s a great work out and car song. Honestly PLEASE listen to it.

Apoptygma Berzerk - Kathy’s Song (Beborn Beton Remix) – GUYYYYYYYYYsSSSS I love this song so much. The original is much slower, and I discovered Beborn Beton FROM this song (another great artist, check them out). This song is just, a great dance song, and just makes me scream out when I hear it. Full volume, beautiful song, beautiful lyrics. It’s my Android!lock headcanon song, but it is also on my JL Personal Playlist, LOL.

Darude vs. Robert Miles - Children of the Sandstorm – One of the BEST MASHUPS in the world, and I am CERTAIN it is an official one; I was obsessed with mashups when I was in college so I have a TONNE of them, but this one has always been a fave, and I still jam to it over a decade later. Seriously, these songs SEAMLESSLY blend together, it’s fantastic. Classic club and trance? HELLS YES. 

Eminem - Nobody Listen to Techno (Deep Dish Mix) – Another nostalgia hit for me. Is it pointless? Not if I enjoy it!! I LOVE this song. Deep Dish mixes were THE JAM in my college years, and like, this is just 9 minutes of PURE techno with some of his song “Without Me” sampled throughout. I LOVE IT. SO MUCH. This is a banger, and just, if you need music to listen to while driving or writing, this is one for you!!

Rammstein feat. Sharleen Spiteri - Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don't Die Before I Do) – And to bring the mood WAYYY down, did you know Rammstein did a love song? A beautiful, moves-me-to-tears love song? Because I did and it’s one of my FAVE songs by them. It’s SO beautiful, and the Till’s harsh voice WORKS for it. It’s gentle and soothing. It’s a German/English duet, and it makes me nearly cry EVERY TIME. Because I imagine John and Sherlock and then I die inside LOL. It’s so beautiful and I listen to this one years after it was released. Look up the translation, it is so beautiful.

AND if you guys happen to like any of these songs, copy the youtube video link and use this :)

Most of these that aren’t silly are on my Johnlock playlist, so do give the latter songs a listen! <3 I’m sorry for adding more than five... I just really love sharing things with you guys I like because I’m so lonely, LOL.

If any of y’all are playing these and trying to pick me up, *finger guns* Let’s go get cake and jam :D

AHH I like when I get asks like this! Sorry I took so long Nonny, but I just kept ADDING to it, as you can see. Had to stop because I could keep going.

[carriagelamp]

I read more books this month than I anticipated. I should probably wait before doing a February book round up, but I already feel like I’m struggling to decide which ones to cut from my list so I’m doing it this weekend instead of next. If I read much next week I’ll bump ‘em up into March’s round up

Asterix and the Missing Scroll / Chieftain’s Daughter

I got the last two “new” Asterix books out of the library so I could officially say I had read them all. Over all my opinion is… they’re fine! None of these would ever become one of my favourites, but they’re all fine stories. The art is good, it is completely in-line with the original, and the stories are… fine. I liked The Missing Scroll quite a bit more than The Chieftain’s Daughter but I never find a ~hurr hurr teenagers~ plotline that interesting, whereas I do enjoy seeing Romans get chased down by unicorns so that’s probably not surprising. There’s some spark I can’t put my finger on that the new Asterix books just seem to be missing though… a bit of humour or cleverness or something. Still, they’re fine reads if you’ve been hungry for more Asterix and I’m glad I read them. (Though the library gave me the American translation of The Chieftain’s Daughter, something I didn’t realize until I started reading and realized that this is wrong??? I’ve been reading these books since I could read and I know this is wrong??? What the hell is happening??? The I realized the publisher was different and I simmered in fury the whole time I read it — WHY ARE YOU CHANGING NAMES AND WORD CHOICES IN A WELL ESTABLISHED SERIES THAT ALREADY HAS AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION YOU ANIMALS WHY ARE YOU DUMBING DOWN THE LANGUAGE AAAUGH

The Bride Was A Boy

This one was cute! The Bride Was A Boy is an autobiographical manga written by a transwoman recounting her experience with transitioning, meeting her boyfriend, and eventually getting married. It’s mostly done in a 4-panel style and is interspersed with lots of information about the LGBT community, particularly in Japan. A lot of it was stuff I was already familiar with, but I still found it adorable and a very worthwhile read. it would be a fantastic book for young queer people who are looking for more of an introduction into international queer space

Cul de Sac: Children At Play

Cul de Sac is just a weird, fun newspaper comic series about the children who live in a small neighbourhood. It fully taps into the children-as-semi-feral-chaos-agents, and there’s something hilariously nostalgic about the whole thing. Lots of times when stories try to portray children there’s always something… wrong about it, something that doesn’t mesh with true childhood, but in this comic I can see glimpses of my grimy, dirty-covered self as a preschooler running around the pages. I would definitely recommend trying them!

The Cremation of Sam McGee

I reread The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew and man, they don’t stop being buckwild. These are two really famous Canadian poems that were then illustrated by equally famous Canadian artist Ted Harrison. Harrison’s style is gorgeous and distinct and given what strangely grisly stories these poems are they fit the mood perfectly. Everything feels just a little tilted and wrong and unsettling. If you enjoy an occasional poem (especially ones that are super fun to read out loud) and haven’t read these before, I would recommend them! Or do what my teachers did, and read Sam Gee to a young child in your life and watch them be baffled and concerned and horrified.

There are strange things done / in the midnight sun / by the men who moil for gold...

The Gryphon’s Lair

The second book of the Royal Guide to Monster Slaying series written by Kelley Armstrong; I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book! It’s a very cool fantasy series because it really leans into environmental stewardship and the importance of studying animals and conservation so you can find ways to live alongside a healthy ecosystem. In this book Rowan is officially accepted as the Royal Monster Hunter, which means a whole new set of trials and burdens. She has to contend with a baby gryphon that is becoming increasingly large and dangerous, plotting family members, doubt about her abilities, a potential curse, and a daunting quest deep into the mountains in order to set things right. If you’re looking for some very gentle high fantasy, this series delivers.

Hogan’s Heroes comics

What to say here. Anyone following this blog has suffered the knowledge that I’ve been rewatching Hogan’s Heroes lately. When I found out that there was a short-lived, shitty comic series in the 60s? Of course I had to hunt them down. And so I’ve read them! And they sure were a shitty comic series from the 60s! They were, shall we say, of wildly varying quality. Some were actually really funny (like #5, it easily had the best art and best jokes imho), others were a slog, and most were fine and amusing enough to read the whole way through but not much more.

If you don’t know what Hogan’s Heroes is about: it was a 1960s sitcom that took place in a WWII POW camp, in which the Allied prisoners trapped there had a massive, complex sabotage/spy ring right underneath the camp. The whole show is about constantly outwitting the bumbling Germans while keeping up the pretense that they’re all just normal prisoners. The show is hilariously funny and I would recommend that, even if I can’t say the same for the comics unless you’re like me and are just really thirsty for more content...

Magic Misfits: The Fourth Suit (Ripley)

The final book of Neil Patrick Harris’ middle grade series, The Magic Misfits. In this fourth book, the group is fragmented and forced to meet in secret to avoid notice from the mysterious and powerful Kalagan whose cruel machinations have already turned the quiet little town on its ears, putting people’s lives in peril and destroy Leila’s fathers’ magic shop. The Misfits are going to need all their skills to finally unmask this sinister magician and break the mesmerism he seems to have placed over the entire town before it’s too late to save no only the town, but their friendship and trust.

Super charming series, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

Marsupilami

HOUBA! I watched a very bad TV adaptation of this as a kid that still managed to find a place in my heart, and so I decided to finally try reading some of the original comic! On one hand: it was exactly what I had hoped! The art is cute, the marsupilami is so dynamic and fun to see on the page (and has a way better characterization than he does in the show), and it’s really funny! Unfortunately! It is also pretty racist! Yikes! That seems to be a reoccuring downfall for some of these older Belgian comics... I also tried reading the first book of Les Tuniques Bleues and aye ye ye… I couldn’t actually get through that one. That being said, these were older volumes and frankly, North American media was also real fucking racist at that point so I’m not gonna write them off either. I really liked most of this book, and will probably try to get my hands on one of the more recent volumes of both Marsupilami and Les Tuniques Bleues to see if they get better with time. (If you’ve read either of those series and have volume recommendations hmu)

The Pagemaster

I’m a sucker for novelizations, I have no excuse beyond that. I recently rewatched The Pagemaster and decided to read the chapter book. And it was a solid little adaptation! It’s about Richard Tyler, a young boy with a head for statistics which unfortunately means he lives in constant fear of (in his opinion, statistically likely) injury or death. However that fear is put to the test when he gets caught in a horrible thunderstorm and has to shelter in a nearby library with halls and shelves that stretch beyond the imagination and with untold perils hidden among the pages of the books. Richard, with only his library card and three novels that hope to be checked out, has to venture through the different genres and horrors housed int he library if he ever wants to find the exit and get home to safety.

Pumpkinheads

A very charming little graphic novel. Cute art, and really loveable characters. Josiah and Deja work every year at a local pumpkin patch, and are best friends during those weeks. However this is their last year working there before going off to university and as the last day at the patch comes to a close they realize that they both still have regrets. Deja sets off on a mission to avoid work, eat all the interesting snacks around the patch, and get Josiah to find the girl he’s been crushing on every year and has never worked up the nerve to talk to.

After being deprived of human contact for almost a year, this book really hits you right in the heart.

The Screwfly Solution

A deeply upsetting scifi/horror short story! I read it on the recommendation of a friend and, yes, can confirm that this fucked me up a bit. I honestly don’t even know what to say about this that wouldn’t spoil it, but frankly with everything being as it is, this hit a little bit too close to reality. (That being said, it was very well written, like this is a very good story on a literary level and it does exactly what it sets out to accomplish.) If you feel like reading twenty pages and being really disturbed, give it a go! Otherwise go and read any number of the much happier books on this list!

The Whipping Boy

This was a book I remember reading as a lit circle book back in elementary school and really loving. After telling myself I’d reread it for years, I finally sat down with it again. If you somehow got through school without reading this one, it’s about a brat of a prince and his whipping boy — since it would be unspeakable to strike a prince, when the prince misbehaves it is Jemmy who gets whipped. Unsurprisingly, there is no love lost between the two of them, because the prince is always intentionally causing problems that Jemmy has to suffer for. Things begin to change though when the prince decides to run away and drags Jemmy along with him. On the run, being chased by highwaymen, and desperately trying to hide their identities, these boys go on a fast-paced adventure beyond the castle walls. It wasn’t as special as I remembered it being as a kid, but it’s a fine little chapter book.

[oddlyunadventurous]

BOOK REPORT 2020

I’ve always been a sparse reader but 2018 and 19 had me accelerate my reading habits to the point that I think I’ve read the most books this year that I ever had. I suppose I’ll count them all here, just to make sure!! I said something or other about the Moomin books at the end of last year’s Inkt*b*r so, this being the month of traditions, let’s make a new one by tallying up my literary “yays” and “nays” at the end of the season.

Video game text boxes don’t count, online publication articles don’t count, psych/aesthetic papers and 1000 page biosemiotic textbooks don’t count, but they have sure pursued me in my sleep during the year as well. This list is really mostly for my benefit (and no I won’t get a Goodreads account tyvm), so under the cut you’ll find a list of titles in roughly the order I read them, along with short notes. I’ve done longer reviews of these books elsewhere and I need not bore you with them here. 

K. Stanislavski - An Actor Prepares (1936) I started reading this book in 2012, then dropped it because I couldn’t understand it at the time. Kostya attends acting school and gets lessons from The Director. He learns to sleep like his cat.

K. Stanislavski - Building a Character (1949) Supposed to have been published along the first one in a single volume. Kostya continues his lessons. A lot of thoughts on walking, gaits, eloquent speech, phrasing, etc. Both these books are wonderful looks into the author’s artistic life. It’s very heartfelt and down to earth, considering it’s quasi-fiction made to edutain. Very inspiring.

M. Polanyi - The Tacit Dimension (1966)  A book on the origin of knowledge, the integrated performance of skills, the emergence of life and other phenomena in the universe, marginal control between levels of reality, the moral death of the communist regime caused by the unbridled lucidity of the Enlightenment, the responsibilities of science, and thoughts about open societies of the future. This is one of the two shortest books I’ve read in the list, it covers all of this under 130 pages and manages to do it well.

B. Rainov - Eros and Thanatos (1971) A communist propaganda book attacking western mass media and escapist culture. It gets no points for being correct, as the author mostly swiped the truths from french philosophers. Very variable in its intellectual prowess, almost as if it picks its arguments in order to push an agenda. Informative but also infuriating. Also expectedly homophobic.

J. Hoffmeyer - Signs of Meaning in the Universe (1997) A somewhat pop-sciency book about biosemiotics. Forgettable but also humbly written and explicative.

A. Noë - Varieties of Presence (2012) An unimpressive book about sensory perception. Noë’s theory on sensorimotor action is worth considering but the book is poorly edited and mostly spent arguing with peers.

E. Fudge - Quick Cattle & Dying Wishes (2018) A look into a registry of last wills and testaments from the period 1630 - 1650 in Essex. The book is about early modern people’s relationship to their animals and what they meant to them in life, as well as in death. Fudge’s argumentation is sharp and her style is modern. Being a scholarly book it is really overwhelming with the footnotes sometimes, but otherwise satisfying. One gets beautiful glimpses of family relationships, thoughts and feelings that people now dead for 400 years once held.

G. Márquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) The Buendia family get all their sons killed. The Banana Company sucks. People love each other. A lot happens, generally. It is a hundred years, after all. The upper class sucks.

K. Polanyi - The Great Transformation (1944) The Industrial Revolution sucked. England sucks. It reduced all its workers to subhuman wretches. Every single decision made after the empiricists made labour and land fictional commodities has been a band-aid to the essential contradiction that the market economy wants to annihilate its human host. Laissez-faire sucks. It caused WW1. Fuck everything. Fun book.

R. Coyne - Peirce of Architects (2019) Talks about architecture and the ideas of logician/father of pragmatism Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914). Informative about both. Brisk and not very in-depth, but to its benefit rather than its detriment.

R. Williams - Culture and Society (1958) A survey of the 18th and 19th century England, and the emergence of the concept of “culture” as defence against the horrors that the Industrial Revolution inflicted upon society. Consists of some two dozen outlines of contributors to the romanticist tradition, from Adam Smith, through Ruskin, to Orwell, their beliefs, contributions and literary works. Very eloquent and interesting.

E. Fudge -  Brutal Reasoning (2006) A fantastic book about much: early modern views of the difference between a human and an animal, the Christian discourse of reason, the logical fallacies that lead to its implosion, the advantageous use of dehumanisation by imperialists in other to genocide natives, Montague and Shakespeare, and the ethical hell of animal murder that led Descartes to deem animals as machines so as to allow his buddies to perform live vivisections on dogs without feeling guilty about it (this is the real reason, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise). There is even space for an entire chapter about an intelligent horse who could tell a virgin from a whore and learned Latin at Oxford. This is my favorite book I read this year, so it gets an extra long review.

R. Williams - The Long Revolution (1961) A sequel to Culture and Society that’s worse. The start and end are brilliant but the middle sags. It contains some historical reviews of English cultural elements, like the newspaper industry, the Standard English vernacular and the realist novel of the 19th century, but honestly if the book was just about about the creative state (intro) and Marxism (outro) it would’ve been fine, if not better.

P. Klee - The Thinking Eye (1956 & 1964) Bauhaus boy in 1920s Germany! Love you Klee, xoxo. You really have to read his thoughts to understand his work imho. You can appreciate it just fine on the surface level, but his completely eccentric (though very self-consistently logical and sharp) views on art creation open a new outlook into his primitive approach.

F D.K. Ching - Architecture: Form, Space & Order (1979)  A staple book for architecture students. Or so I hear. Steeped in gestalt psychology. Very good, though not necessarily stuff I don’t know already. Very nice looking pencil illustrations, Ching looks to be an accomplished technical draughtsman.

H. Wölfflin - Principles of Art History (1915) A strong contender for second place in the tier list. The book examines the transition between Classical to Baroque in Italy and Germany (and all the Germany clones, like the Netherlands). It is a systematic, precise aesthetic treatise that reveals much by conceptualizing and grouping characteristic art features in which the two styles differ, then explaining their bearing on their decorative content as well as the outlook on life that they embody. Lovely.

M. Porter -  Windows of the Soul: The Art of Physiognomy in European Culture 1470-1780 (2005) A historiographical treatise about early modern views on physiognomy. The book deals mainly with the extant literature on the subject and tries to gleam what it could mean for the customs at the time - palmistry reading, occultism, persecution of the “gypsies” and the Christian scientific project of attaining meaning. Macro- and microcosms, as above so below, hermeticism, that sort of stuff. It’s an interesting read but it’s too long, the quality of writing varies greatly from chapter to chapter, and it is far too expensive. Wouldn’t recommend it.

S. C.Figueiredo -  Inventing Comics: A New Translation of Rodolphe Töpffer's Reflections on Graphic Storytelling, Media Rhetorics, & Aesthetic Practice (2017) This is the shortest book I read, mainly translating Töpffer’s 1845 "Essay on Physiognomy" along with giving his biography and some other paraphernalia. It’s not worth the price for the content contained within, but  Töpffer is the father of the modern comic book, so I thought I’d learn what his philosophy was. On that front, at least, very interesting! If only I knew French I’d save myself the trouble and read the original, which is now public domain.

D. Bayles - Art & Fear (1985) A useless self-help book. Not entirely bullshit but completely banal from all angles. Shouldn’t even be on this list but I did read it, so...

I. Allende - The House of the Spirits (1982) A child rapist gets a redemption arc. Well, kind of. All women are queens. Men are awful. The poor are wretches and it’s their fault. Oh no, the communists are going to take our land! Pinochet’s concentration camps sucked. Overall a better magical realism book than 100 Years of Solitude, to be honest. Very well written characters.

R. Arnheim -To the Rescue of Art: Twenty-Six Essays (1992) What it says on the tin. Wide range of subjects, from art appreciation, to schizophrenic and autistic child art, to gestalt psychology, to philosophy of science, to Picasso’s Guernica and the fate of abstract art, to reflections on the 20th century and the writer’s life in pre-nazi Germany and America. I love Arnheim, I’ve read many of his books and I’m glad I picked this one up.

R. Arnheim - Film as Art (1957) A book about cinematography, one of his earliest, actually, mostly a personal translation from an original German book he published in 1933. Somewhat outdated, but foundational. Not as informative to me but I don’t regret reading it.

G. E. Lessing - Laocoon; or, On the Limits of Painting and Poetry (1766) A book by a greekaboo about a fucking dumb poem and a statue of a naked dad and his two sons getting fucked by snakes. It’s misogynistic and authoritarian in several places, and altogether awfully full of itself. 100 pages of interesting observations stretched over 400 pages of boring Greco-Roman literary discourse.

L. Tolstoy - Childhood, Boyhood, Youth (1852, 1854, 1856) One story serialized in a magazine then later collated in three separate books. Aristocrat boy grows up in pre-revolution Russia. A very, very relatable coming-of-age story. Tolstoy is a lovely writer.

F. Dostoevsky - Poor Folk (1846) An epistolary novel consisting of letters between literally Dobby from Harry Potter and his maybe-niece, whom he wants to fuck. Starts bad, gets better by the end. A bit rough and tumble for Dostoevsky’s first, so I forgive him for wasting my time a little bit. A decent character study of the middle/lower classes, at least.

L. Tolstoy - Family Happiness (1859) An amazing romance novel for the skill employed in writing it. It is very short yet delivers so much emotion. Rather simple narrative at its core, but executed with such bravado one cannot help but be impressed.

F. Dostoevsky - The Double (1846) In which the Author starts swinging. A pathetic, neurodivergent old man gets used and abused by the people around him and nobody cares. Satirical and biting, better than his first.

A. Lindgren - Pippi Longstocking (1945) I last read this when I was 6 years old so I thought I’d refresh my memory. I remember disliking the book then and I can see why. Pippi’s kind of an asshole. Still very enjoyable to read. I know it’s meant for a younger audience’s reading level yet I cannot help comparing it with Tove Jansson’s books and how much better the prose in there is. Sorry.

***

I think that about rounds them up! That’s about 30 books, give or take. For next year I’m hoping to:

Finish Tolstoy’s and Dostoevsky’s bibliographies

Read more econ and marxist writing (low personal priority but i have to, in THIS economy *rolls eyes*)

Finish the Tintin and Moomin comics, as well as Jhonen Vasquez’s collection of edgy humor

Read more about botany and biology in general

Get started on Faulkner’s and William Golding’s bibliographies

Read more children’s books

Search for more Latin American fiction from the Boom

Read more psych/aesthetics/pedagogy literature, which seems to have become my main area of interest

Thanks for sticking till the end of the list, hope you’ve learned something and maybe you’ll pick one of these up if it took your interest. I don’t have to be a philistine just because I’m drawing video game fanart! Bye now!

[johannesviii]

Top 12 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2013

The best year in a trio of awesome years for hits. So awesome, in fact, I had to leave several excellent songs out of the list, even with two additional slots, and limit the list to songs I actually put on my mp3 player at one point or another.

What’s that? People usually call it a bad year? Well screw them.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

The year I stopped working in Paris, found a job closer to home that finally made me feel helpful in the grand scheme of things, and I finally had more free time. Goodbye daily trains. I also went to some concerts! This never happened before.

2013: also the year when just about every band and artist I liked decided to make a good album. Except Depeche Mode. Depeche Mode made Delta Machine. It wasn’t great. But, uh, let’s see, Placebo made Loud Like Love (with the fantastic A Million Little Pieces), VNV Nation made Transnational, Daft Punk made Random Access Memories... Nine Inch Nails came back with Hesitation Marks, which is pretty great with a couple of fantastic songs. Lady Gaga made the vastly underrated ArtPop! Even Eminem made a pretty decent album! Eminem! In the year of our lord 2013! And The 1975 made their debut album. They would eventually become one of my favorite bands of the 2010s, but not yet, though. And Indochine redeemed themselves by releasing Black City Parade, their absolute best album of the decade.

However, despite Indochine’s excellent effort and the return of Nine Inch Nails, the album of the year, at least to me, was Kveikur by Sigur Rós. At that point, I had been following their stuff for ten years, and this album still blew my goddamn mind. It’s so heavy and dark and so different from what they had been doing since Agaetis Byrjun. It’s loud and textured and industrial and yet, there’s so much light above the dark. They out-NIN’ed Nine Inch Nails. There isn’t a single track I don’t love on this album. It’s their best one in my humble opinion.

As far as unelligible songs go, boy, where do I start. Uh. Copy of A and Came Back Haunted (Nine Inch Nails), certainly, A Million Little Pieces (Placebo) as I already mentioned, Memoria and College Boy (Indochine - I’m actually shocked they aren’t on the French top 100), Chocolate by The 1975, and most infuriating of all, Castle of Glass by Linkin Park, which is imho their best song of the 2010s. Oh well.

But there’s still a shit ton of stuff which was elligible but didn’t make the list. Here’s a lot of honorable mentions. There were like ten more of them initially, mind you.

Sirens Call (Cats On Trees) - You know how in just about every top ten post I’ve made so far, there’s a song where I’m like “if I had better taste this would be higher”? This is this song for 2013.

Don’t You Worry Child (Swedish House Mafia) - Catchy but borderline annoying. Still very good.

Counting Stars (One Republic) - This is so happy and catchy. More songs like this nowadays, please.

I Cry (Flo Rida) - Still elligible. Still great. Still not on the list.

Ho Hey (The Lumineers) - Same thing here, sadly.

Animals (Martin Garrix) - I called Bangarang from the previous list a perfect stim song, and this is in the same ballpark. Not as good, but great shapes and colors all around.

Berserk (Eminem) - That song has a lot of really bad lines, but also a lot of much needed energy, it’s a ton of fun, and I love the “say f█ck it before you kick the bucket” part of the chorus. I was so glad to hear Eminem having fun again. Would certainly have made the list in a more mediocre year. Not the most infuriating thing I had to leave out of the list, though.

Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) - THIS IS IT THE APOCALYPSE OH WOHO no I don’t have anything intelligent to say, it’s just great.

Best Song Ever (One Direction) - This is my favorite song from that band. It might be because it sounds suspiciously like Baba O’Riley. If you think I’m gonna complain about people ripping off good songs, please check my entry about I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas a few top 10s before this one.

Wait. Waiiit. What if the “best song ever” they can’t remember in the lyrics WAS Baba O’Riley?? Wouldn’t that be the best meta song ever? What do you think? I mean, that one could indeed claim the title of best song ever.

Get Lucky (Daft Punk) - I know. I know. But I couldn’t put it on the list. It’s not my favorite song from the album, it was overplayed, and even if it’s extremely good it stays roughly at the same level for the entirety of the song. I love it, but I had to draw the line somewhere and cut the list. I didn’t want to make another top 15.

Carry On (fun.) - This was the last cut from the list. It was a really painful one. Not my favorite song from them, but still very, very good.

There’s been lists where I had to put filler. If I had to put actual grades to them, some songs I put on some lists would get a 6/10 or even a 5/10 for really bad years (looking at you 1990). Sometimes, I had to put stuff I’d grade 7/10 as high as #3.

If I had to grade this 2013 list according to my personal taste in music, #12 would get an 8/10, #11 would get a 9/10, and everything in the top ten would either be a 9,5 or a 10. No joke. That’s how good that year was for hits.

Let’s go.

12 - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light’Em Up) (Fall Out Boy)

US: #40 / FR: Not on the list

There you have it. Three songs from a band I consider pretentious asshats ended on my lists. Including this one, in a year where I decided to severely limit my options for songs. And at the time? I thought it was just an okay song, way too slow but okay. Not great. At all.

It took it about three whole years to grow on me, and it also took me a while to actually know what it was about, and as I said previously, framing is everything ; knowing this song basically said “we’re back, and we’ve changed, and you’re not gonna like it so you’re gonna feel betrayed and you’re gonna burn your old posters, and in the end you’re also gonna betray us” makes it a lot, lot better. I especially love the “Burn everything you love then burn the. ashes” line with the weird pause for emphasis.

It just goes stomp, stomp, stomp. It’s heavy. You can’t dance to it. You can’t even have fun while listening to it. But you can certainly stomp along, and feel angry, and, yes, betrayed, and three years after 2013, I certainly needed that kind of song. A lot. You know exactly why.

11 - Burn (Ellie Goulding)

US: Not on the list / FR: #54

I discovered Doctor Who at the very, very end of 2013, and for some reason I associate this song with Martha’s journey during the year that never was at the end of S3, trying to convince the entire Earth to fight back against the Master. That’s all I have to say about this song. It’s great.

10 - Instant Crush (Daft Punk ft Julian Casablancas)

US: Not on the list / FR: #26

So yep, Get Lucky isn’t my favorite song on Random Access Memories, and thank you French charts for allowing me to put this one on the list instead.

Like a ton of people, I couldn’t figure out what the chorus was, apart from a couple of isolated words, and that felt exactly like being 10 and trying to decipher songs with my limited English. And then I checked the lyrics, and they were mostly variations on “I don’t want to be alone” and they rhyme “go” with “go”, so, uh, nothing of value was lost that day. And it still sounds fantastic.

9 - Applause (Lady Gaga)

US: #37 / FR: #66

Yes, there’s some really stupid shit in the lyrics and the theme of the song itself isn’t particularly inspiring, but that chorus is a happy burst of fuzzy bright angular shapes, and it’s so energetic it feels like you could phase through walls by sheer force of will while listening to it. It would be even higher if the lyrics were better, I swear.

8 - Papaoutai (Stromae)

US: Not on the list / FR: #4

And the boss of cleverly written hit songs strikes again. Pretty sure that one, like Alors On Danse, is well known even if you don’t speak French. As I understand it, apparently French teachers like to use it in class. But yeah, just in case: it’s a song about his absent father. My favorite part:

Un jour ou l'autre on sera tous papas (One day or another we’ll be dads) Et d'un jour à l'autre, on aura disparu (And one day or the next, we’ll be gone) Serons-nous détestables? (Will we be despicable?) Serons-nous admirables? (Will we be admirable?) Des géniteurs ou des génies (Parents or geniuses) Dites-nous qui donne naissance aux irresponsables? (Tell us who birthes irresponsible people?) Ah, dites-nous qui, tiens (Ah, tell us who ; weird) Tout le monde sait comment on fait des bébés (Everybody knows how to make babies) Mais personne ne sait comment on fait des papas (But nobody knows how to make dads)

And it’s also horribly catchy. And it was kind of a meme here. It was everywhere. I’m surprised it wasn’t even higher than that on the French year end top 100.

7 - Underwater (Mika)

US: Not on the list / FR: #70

Why do I love this song so much even though I usually hate songs like that. This is the kind of romantic bullshit Robbie Williams does, and for the record I absolutely hate Angels, and Underwater even sounds a bit like Angels, and it also has the same kind of corny central metaphor. So. Why do I love Underwater again? How can I justify this? I’ve got no clue.

We don’t deserve Mika.

6 - I Need Your Love (Calvin Harris ft Ellie Goulding)

US: #56 / FR: #51

By now you must all be extremely tired of reading me describing songs in visual ways but this song is the sound equivalent of some sort of light show mixed with Dance Dance Revolution patterns. It’s incredibly kinetic and full of joyful, glittering energy, and I love it so goddamn much.

As a 90s kid who loved eurodance, I’m incredibly grateful this kind of music still exists and is still charting.

5 - Treasure (Bruno Mars)

US: #30 / FR: #23

Speaking of nostalgia. Well, not really, since I wasn’t born in the era this is trying to mimic, but still. I don’t have anything to say about this, apart maybe from the fact this is the song that finally made me like Bruno Mars.

4 - Hey Brother (Avicii)

US: Not on the list / FR: #18

I already mentioned how much I loved Avicii’s music when I briefly talked about Levels, and Hey Brother is even better. As you might know I have a little brother and as it is often the case with siblings we fought a bit but we also shared a lot of things, and games, and weird private jokes, and yeah that song can occasionally make me cry a fair bit if I’m being honest.

Also, it’s kind of my main theme song for Charley and C’rizz, so, yeah, it’s just another layer of Feelings(tm).

3 - I Will Wait (Mumford & Sons)

US: #52 / FR: Not on the list

As you might have noticed, there’s one genre that is conspicuously absent from my lists as far as the US hit songs are concerned, and that’s country. I’ve got nothing against country music, I just rarely find it visually interesting. Now I do like folk rock on the other hand, but its big era is long gone, and it’s quite rare to hear anything from it in the charts nowadays. I liked Ho Hey by the Lumineers, but I always thought it was a little bit too slow.

And then I found Babel by Mumford & Sons at the library, gave it a try, loved it, felt like discovering a modern band version of Bob Dylan with simpler lyrics, and this isn’t my favorite song on the album and it’s still at #3 on this list. Quality, man, just quality.

My favorite song from the album is Lover of the Light, by the way.

2 - Can’t Hold Us (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

US: #5 / FR: #8

Sometimes you need angry fight songs, sometimes you need energetic fight songs, and sometimes you need happy fight songs. And when something combines the last two, it’s like you caught a star in a Mario game and you’re f█cking unstoppable.

If Macklemore doesn’t get more hit songs at some point in the near future I’m gonna punch a wall.

1 - Roadgame (Kavinsky)

US: Not on the list / FR: #44

This song has no music video. It was still an enormous hit.

As you may recall, I already said once or twice that I liked to hang out at the disc store after class while I was in highschool and uni, and it still happened regularly after I started to work. Even nowadays, if I had a really, really bad day, there’s a good chance I’ll go there and spend at least an hour there just listening to stuff.

So here I was, one fine (actually bad) day, and this song was playing, and I was mesmerised, and for the first time ever, I felt the need to find a vendor and ask what was playing. I found one and the guy instantly beamed and went “oooooh I picked that album to play it in the store today! :D That’s Kavinsky, he’s great, here, have a listen” but it was already getting late so... I trusted him and basically bought the album blind.

Best decision ever. On top of being one of the best albums of the 2010s, OutRun is a concept album presented as if it was the soundtrack of a movie that never existed, about a young guy getting killed in a car crash in 1986 and somehow fusing with his car mentally and reappearing as some sort of technological zombie in 2006. And Roadgame is one of the best songs on the album if not the best. Well, my favorite song on it is actually Testarossa Autodrive, but you get my point.

I was like “there’s no way this is going to be big”, and I was dead wrong, thankfully. As a big fan of electronic music full of lights and flashes and colors but with dark overtones, I couldn’t be happier about this being one of the sounds of the year. Just fantastic stuff.

It’s 2020, man. Please drop that second album. We’re ready to have our minds blown all over again. Just do it.

Also, thank you random vendor from the disc store.

Next up: I have no idea why some people call 2014 a really bad year for hit songs tbh

[fencer-x]

I prefer liogalo, and I’m generally not interested in switching. I feel like some folks talk about switching because it’s idk more woke or some bullshit but lbr most of the fandom is gonna go for the ~twinkier~/smaller/delicate-looking one bottoming? (Whether that’s actually true or just a headcanon) And like half the fanfic with the rarer configuration is gonna emphasize how ~rare~ it is for the other one to top like “dw this isn’t how they normally do it of course ;))))”

Examples that immediately come to mind: otabek and iwaizumi in the western fandom because that’s also unfortunately (unfortunately in the sense that my preferences went against the fandom grain and therefore I have almost nothing to consume) where my interests swung as well, and at some point you just get so tired of it like yeah yeah okay *insert meme of Ben Affleck smoking*

It’s a lot easier to not have a hardline stance when your preferences are met I guess? People make their preferences obvious in art portrayals/visual cues/their characterization — it’s in the way the tropes are used/what’s emphasized even with pg stuff. Idk if it’s necessarily a bad thing — i def use it to determine if a fic /dj/artist artist enjoys the same configuration I do. Idk sometimes it’s super obvious? Sometimes it’s just kinda lonely not being in the majority lol

Lol sorry didn’t mean to wall of text you, it’s just something I think about sometimes. Not necessarily top/bottom dynamics but like, what gets popular and why and how this influences fan content, feel free to ignore me :’D

I personally prefer the OPTION of switching, because the fans I’ve met who are adamant about one or the other are adamant for gross reasons (usually couched in “lol have you SEEN him! He’s a TOTAL bottom!” expecting me to agree with them... which is what the shippers that prompted my initial post were saying...).

And I expect this isn’t widely understood in PM fandom, but: liogalo is not actually all that rare (in JP fandom at least)! It accounts for 1/3 of the content with lio and galo together at the next event, so while galolio has more doujinshi/fan content coming out for it at this event, it’s by no means utterly dwarfing liogalo, so the idea people need to be ‘on guard’ and aggressively express their support for one version over the other is a little absurd. It’s in the minority, but one out of every three people enjoys it, pretty much :) And that’s just JP fans who ONLY ship it, to the exclusion of galolio, suggesting that a much larger portion are more than excited for lio topping. He may have the ‘look’, but even Japanese fandom isn’t treating him like they treat other characters with similar builds.

I already talked about your Otabek and Iwaizumi woes (I assume you mean Yuri/Otabek and Oikawa/Iwaizumi? since those are the alts of the more popular versions; but even Oikawa/Iwaizumi isn’t terribly rare, in JP at least, because tsundere ukes are super popular here...)

On which note, you mention fanfic a lot--have you looked for doujinshi of your rarer ships? Because people who ship ‘usually on bottom one is on top’ are almost NEVER the ‘lol this is just a one-off thing’. They like that one on top--or more aptly, they like the OTHER one on bottom. So you’ll find eager shippers of those ‘orders’ in JP fandom rather than ‘switching for social justice points’ (which boggles my mind... why wouldn’t you just ship switching pairings BECAUSE IT’S HOT? I get to see either character in whatever position I like. IT’S FANTASTIC. why do it performatively? fandom.......)

And yes, even PG stuff can be OOC when an artist/writer ships something in a way you might not enjoy. Making one character overly aggressive, or another crying at the drop of a hat. It all stems from a poor understanding of the characters imho, but that’s another story entirely, because sometimes a creator just has an itch they want to scratch and who really cares what others think, because they’re creating for themselves, not others.

[cipheramnesia]

I seem to remember you mentioning that Event Horizon didn't do much for you. Are there any cosmic horror movies you do like? I'm trying to broaden my horror palate and I've seen very little of this subgenre.

It depends if you mean cosmic horror as in horror that takes place not on Earth, horror with a science fictional element, or horror about encountering something beyond a human ability to understand. Like, to my mind Event Horizon is the first one, because it's pretty much just a basic horror movie but in space. But cosmic horror is less common because it's rare for any filmmaker to attempt to convey the idea of something incomprehensible.

Anyway, not to start with the obvious, but Alien (1979). It's a classic for a good reason and stands the test of time. It's a group of artists who handed in some of their best work of all time in a single movie. On the off chance you haven't heard of it - fantastic. It's the yardstick of all science fiction horror.

Annihilation is a recent example of what I'd call cosmic horror. For all purposes it's about an alien world trying to understand and adapt to Earth, a fully alien environment seeking to understand the world through adaptation.

I would also say Arrival, while not horror per se, is a fantastic movie that presents humanity encountering something alien and beyond understanding. It's easily one of the best alien contact stories told.

The Color Out of Space (Die Farbe) from 2010 is a German adaptation of an HP Lovecraft story, which is about as traditional as cosmic horror gets. I think this may be Lovecraft's most adapted work, but this version truly gets it and uses the medium of film to tell the story in a unique way. There's a more recent Nicholas Cage adaptation which is alright if you want to swap "beyond understanding" out for "body horror and fractals." Fine and all but not precisely cosmic imho.

In the same range, I think Stalker (an adaptation of Roadside Picnic) is one of the most disturbing cosmic horror movies ever made. Your mileage may vary because it is also very much just some guys walking around in fields, but I found it filled with dread and terror and the oppressive sense of something beyond my understanding at all corners.

In a more modern and easier to watch tangent, Daniel Isn't Real is a complex and very well thought out film, a personal favorite movie that also completely upend the "mental illness is the monster" trope.

Somewhere in between Stalker and Annihilation and Arrival is Under the Skin, a slow and meditative movie about an alien on Earth. Sort of an inverted and horrific version of The Man Who Fell To Earth.

You may also find The Alchemist Cookbook of particular interest, and I personally think Blair Witch from 2016 is a very interesting cosmic horror style movie, along with (sigh) Grave Encounters 2. No, but really, it's weirdly complex. Not good precisely but interesting.

In more general outer space horror, if you want something that has the feel and aesthetic of Event Horizon, I recently watched Pandorum which is less "ooh isn't hell scary" and much more "what if a colony ship went mad and devolved into a group of survivors and cannibal monsters fighting for survival." It's a good action movie with delicious horror touches.

It's also been awhile but my recollection is that Sunshine was quite excellent. And while we're on the subject, the Russian movie Sputnik is wondrously disturbing. And if you want something truly bonkers consider Life Force. It's uh... something.

Anyway, I'm certain I'm missing some other ones, I have a nagging feeling something important slipped my mind but this ought to be a start.

[lizarin]

Star Trek Music vid rec list

A while ago I said I'd share with you a music vid rec list, so, here it is. May add more later.

Last Friday Night : Star Trek TOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niRUpJEbVx4 Just.. go watch it. You won't be disappointed. Definite spirk undertones.

I Lived :  AOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMBjI2jT5M Balances some humor with seriousness, and all in all a damn good representation of star trek.

Landslide  : tos movies Spirk http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/rhaegal/clips/landslide-k-s-fanvid This vid examines the realities of getting older. LINK TO OUTSIDE SITE (NOT YOUTUBE) BECAUSE THE bleepers AT YOUTUBE TOOK IT OFF.

Centuries : AOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUQbwN8LXmkF this one is definitely more modern/scifi/thriller feel, or maybe a star fleet recruitment commercial, but it's done really well.

Cat's in the Cradle : Spock and Sarek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3rsIOFiJPA This vid is included because it really illustrates the relationship between Spock and his father.  Imho, Sarek didn't set out to be a bad father; rather, he was just completely unprepared to raise a half human child and was too prideful to admit he and the vulcan way might be wrong. Spock and Sarek are both more alike than either of them want to admit.

Both Sides Now : TOS Spirk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o38PTd27LUg This piece has a fantastic old-time nostalgia feel that the artist accentuated with choosing a washed out sepia toned/old time analog tv feel and era appropriate song.

Wait for it : TOS Spirk and AOS Spock Prime angst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kodO5j5r1x0 omg I didn't think I'd put a Hamilton song on here BUT HERE I AM. (I didn't even know it was until I googled it... haha whoops!) Anyway, the artist makes amazing use of color in the editing. Above all else Spock is a survivor. Also; the ending we all wanted.

Young and Beautiful : TOS Spones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADRloBSPM6U This one literally made me cry. When it gets to the bridge if you don't have start having feelings you're as emotionless as Spock claims to be. The artist utilizes both tos and the movies for a truly superb, professional level end project. This is art.

I was here : Star Trek TOS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG_POeeL_74 This one's sad, but hurts and is cathartic like a good tragedy. We have an impact on those around us, and this vid examines Kirk's impact.

Only Human : AOS Bones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZZs_C3Du0E This one really illustrates Bones'.. fragility, for lack of a better word... And simultaneous strength.

Smile : TOS Spones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7YHFue-8Y This one's just sweet <3 Part of it I think is just how great De's smile is.

Angels on the moon ; TOS Spones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRhtbdscljk I can best describe this one as "we actually love each other but don't tell anyone"

Flaws:  Spones TOS and AOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjFdtGNNEaE a vid examining the slightly antagonistic relationship between bones and Spock, and how they act as foils for each other

I'll stand by you ; Kirk and Spock tos (spirk?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPBXImniDTQ I think the title says it all really.

When I was Younger : AOS Kirk and Spock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdwWk3G3BuQ really illustrates the similarities between aos kirk and Spock It’s All Coming Back To Me : TOS Spirk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYWMyPuy9ko Star Trek is a love story, basically.

And finally:  this one isn't a music video but more of a nature documentary parody but omg it is funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dePKyx81c_k

[itsdannyg]

James Roday on Reddit discussing Treehouse

Reddit with JAMES RODAY

I’m James Roday from Psych and A Million Little Things. I also directed two horror movies for Blumhouse’s Into the Dark Horror Anthology Series on Hulu. AMA!

JAMES RODAY: Roday here. I think. I'm typing things in a box so that seems encouraging.

JAMES RODAY: I think I'm an hour early. That's the first time in my adult life this has ever happened. I'll pop back by a little later. And I'll be READY.

JAMES RODAY: Yo! How about I knock out these early bird questions like a baller.

QUESTION (CharlotteBeer): Given your latest is part of a seasonal series, when did you start work on the script -- and how long did it take you? How did y'all settle on the Ides of March?)

JAMES RODAY: CharlotteBeer -- it all came together very quickly because of my schedule on AMLT. Got the thumbs up in April and we were shooting in early June. It was an idea I had been kicking around for years but current climate and conversation definitely opened a window and my collaborators and I jumped through it.

CharlotteBeer -- Oh, and we settled on International Women's Day. Hulu made it Ides of March.

ASSHOLE QUESTION (yanderebeats): So uh what the fuck was that scene with them putting the snake on his arm? Like what was the direction given to mcpoyle exactly, did you specifically tell him to do the worst job possible or what

JAMES RODAY: Yandererbeats -- 1. Well, the dude is tripping on psychotropes so he's seeing all kinds of shit and the ladies are using that to their advantage. 2. No, I think Jimmi Simpson is a genius and generally requires little direction from me 3 (bonus) You sure this is what you want to be doing with your time?

QUESTION (ConicalSun): What advice would you give to someone that wants to pursue work in film? Directing in particular.

JAMES RODAY: ConicalSun -- Make something. Get familiar with a camera and how to shoot. If you can afford to take a filmmaking class that provides instruction and equipment, sometimes that helps speed the plow. But I'm guessing you know what you like and don't like about movies and it's easier than ever to get out there and make your own content so give it a whirl.

QUESTION (psych-o5life): Out of every character you have ever played, which one are you most like?

JAMES RODAY: psych0-5life -- Probably the dude I'm playing now on AMLT.

QUESTION (seppukuu): What is your writing process like? Do you live out the stories in your head or, since you usually have a writing partner, do you prefer a more systematic approach that involves discussions and outlines?

JAMES RODAY: Seppukuu -- Todd and I have been writing together for over 20 years now. We have such a great shorthand that we can accomplish a lot quickly without spending much time in a room together. Vodka helps. We talk story, specific scenes and generally write the stuff we see best in our heads, respectively. Once we have a very rough draft, everything becomes much easier and the streamlining and polishing begins. That's generally when character voices really start to take shape as well.

seppukuu: In vodka veritas!

QUESTION (Nikesneaker): Hi James!

Do you have a favorite director/actor/actress that you look up to as a “hero”?

P.S. supa excited for Psych: The Movie 2

JAMES RODAY: Nikespeaker -- I grew up an enormous fan of Val Kilmer as an actor, Rick Baker and a SPX Make Up Artist and Stanley Kubrick as a director. I'd add Bergman, Wes Craven, John Landis and Quentin Tarantino to the list of directors I've really appreciated over the years and Lynne Ramsay is an absolute force of nature. I also CANNOT WAIT to see what Julia Decournau does next after RAW...

QUESTION (mooviescribe): If you were to direct another horror feature (not for Dark Horror), what type of script catches your eye?

JAMES RODAY: mooviescribe -- I will def be directing more horror. I love the genre and believe there are plenty more good stories to be told. As for scripts -- anything that moves me catches my eye. Being scared is fun but if it makes you think and feel -- that's the real fire starter

JAMES RODAY: I just realized I can reply to questions by hitting reply. This is GOOD SHIT.

QUESTION (Wizardmer): I am such a huge fan of Psych, and some of my favorite episodes were the fun homages to classic horror movies, here's lassie was my personal favorite. Was there any other horror movies you wanted to do as an episode?

How did the costume design come to life for treehouse? I loved those awesome outfits, super dope

JAMES RODAY: They let me check most all the remaining horror boxes in A Nightmare on State Street. It's just a big sloppy buffet but I loved every minute of it. Costume and mask design were the work of the incredibly talented Diane Crooke. She was one of a whole team of lady designers that elevated every element of Treehouse and I am eternally grateful.

QUESTION (UHeardAboutPluto): Have you heard about Pluto?

JAMES RODAY: That's messed up, right?

UHeardAboutPluto: James, you have made me the happiest I’ve been in a long time. Pysch is my favorite show ever, and that response from you was perfect. Thank you for being awesome!

QUESTION (AsymptoticGames): I just want to point out that I love when co-stars of some of my favorite shows hang out outside of the show. On that note, how was Dule Hill's wedding?

JAMES RODAY: Beautiful.

QUESTION (psych-o5life): Are you helping with production on Psych the Movie 2?

JAMES RODAY: Co-wrote the adventure and we're prepping it now. Steve will be directing and it's gonna be sweet.

QUESTION (bakuryu69): Hey big fan James - what drew you to directing horror. Will you be doing more work in the genre (possibly pineapple related)?

JAMES RODAY: I've been a fan of horror since I was old enough to know what movies were. Somehow convinced my mother that I loved being scared and wanted to learn how all the cool special fx and make up worked. She went for it.

QUESTION (Maxzhouse): Hey man, I really dig your work. I was wondering if you’re into writing and if so what your process looks like? Thanks mate!

JAMES RODAY: It generally looks like one inspired hour of writing a day and 23 hours of procrastination and thinking I should never write again.

Maxzhouse: Ah a man after my own heart! Thanks for answering brother, Hope the best for you and yours. Peace, love & Mercy

QUESTION (seppukuu): You said before that your high school production of Elephant Man was the most challenging acting gig you've ever done. Is this still true, and would you like to do it again now that you have considerably more experience under your belt? What would be another (type of) character you'd find most challenging/exciting to play?

JAMES RODAY: I'm too old to dip back into John Merrick's skin but man that is a tough play to pull off. Moving forward, I think characters that are well written with a real point of view (good or bad) are the ones that we all want to play as actors.

QUESTION (TheReelPliskin): Hey James. I just wanted to say you're awesome! I've been watching everything you're in or a part of ever since I saw a little movie called Rolling Kansas. Can't wait for the new Psych movie and I fell I'll hafta get Hulu now so I can see your new movies. Ok. Enough of that. Now for the question. Outside of Psych and Little Things, what is one of your personal favorite movie or show you've been a part of? P.S. . . SUCK IIIIIIT!!!

JAMES RODAY: It's gotta be Treehouse. And a tiny film I was lucky enough to be a part of a few years back called Pushing Dead directed by Tom Brown. Worth checking out. Important subject matter.

QUESTION (deadpool902): Hey James!

Quick two-part question:

What aspect of anthology storytelling entices you the most?

Were there any horror stories or films that you turned to for inspiration when directing for Into the Dark, and if so what were they?

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait for your return to Santa Barbara!

JAMES RODAY:

The fact that, in this case, 12 different filmmakers got to come in and do anything they wanted without worrying about stepping on toes or syncing up with any of the other films

Raw, Thelma, Goodnight Mommy -- 70s horror.

QUESTION (tedlogan43): Mr. Roday - Gravy was fantastic, A Million Little Things blows my mind, and Psych is a part of who I am at my core. I wanted to ask what it is like to get to continue working with so many great professionals like Dule Hill, Michael Weston and Jimmi Simpson. Do you feel like your continued projects with them are improved by your on-going relationships with them? Thanks for the profound impact your roles have had on my life!

JAMES RODAY: I am tremendously lucky to have so many insanely talented besties. I am no dummy. I surround myself with ladies and gents that make me look way better than I deserve and will continue to do so as long as they'll let me.

QUESTION (fangirl005): What is the best thing about working on AMLT?

JAMES RODAY: The cast. And knowing that we're dealing with issues that affect so many people every day. It feels good to be a part of those conversations in even the smallest of ways.

QUESTION (jmsturm): Hi Mr Roday, big fan.

Who would win if Shawn went head to head with the Mentalist?

JAMES RODAY: Well he'd def be the comic relief.

QUESTION (TheWalkingGamefreak): Good evening James, just want to say hi

JAMES RODAY: sup

QUESTION (seppukuu): Marvel called and wants to give you half a billion dollars to direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Do you accept, and would you still try and shoot it in 3 weeks on a 200 dollar budget instead?

JAMES RODAY: hahaha. that's a great answer and the honest to God answer is that I'd only do it if I thought I could bring something unique or unexpected to the fanbase. Otherwise there are plenty of ladies and gents for the job.

QUESTION (FusionCinemaProd): What would you say is the most creative horror film of the last decade?

JAMES RODAY: Creative? That's pretty subjective. I'd say last years reboot of Suspiria was a pretty big creative swing that mostly succeeded IMHO. And I stand by RAW as one of the best films of the last decade, period.

FusionCinemaProd: Raw is a fantastic film. I’ll have to check Suspiria out on blu ray when it comes out here in the UK.

QUESTION (modsrfagbags): What was your favorite “Gus don’t be...” line from Psych? My favorites gotta be either “eleven and a half pound Black Forest ham” or “the 100th luftballoon”

JAMES RODAY: I am a sucker for a luft balloon

modsrfagbags: Oh shit thanks for responding

QUESTION (imdannyg): Have to admit, the torture scenes with Peter Rake (Jimmi Simpson) gave me flashbacks to your work in Blood Drive. Is there any connection there at all and/or did it prepare you in anyway for this scene in Treehouse?

JAMES RODAY: Welcome Daniel. You know I hadn't thought about it until just now. The two projects are so tonally different but I'll say this -- shooting scenes designed around a character that cannot move is challenging to say the least. Blood Drive probably did serve as a dry run for me without even realizing it.

QUESTION (seppukuu): Have you ever done special effects make-up on another person? If not, would you like to try or are you happy watching the professionals do it for you?

JAMES RODAY: I used to do it quite a bit as a kid. There's a reason I didn't end up being the next Rick Baker.

QUESTION (HippoMafia42): Hey James, huge psych fan here, I know psych the movie 2 will start production sometime this month, but when will that be? Hopefully within the week?:)

JAMES RODAY: Soon. We need a little time to find and build things.

QUESTION (miatosc): What was your favorite scene to shoot this season on a million little things?

JAMES RODAY: There were so many. My scenes with Colin the dog in the "day before" episode were especially sweet.

miatosc: haha! I was guessing any scene with Colin since he’s such a sweet dog.

QUESTION (thepineapplesplat): James! Man glad to hear your free-spirit self. Huge fan of Psych and no matter how much I’ve watched the episodes over and over it never ceases to make me smile. You were apart of a master piece and taught me to always stay true to the inner child in me. Absolute master piece!

Serious question, do you see yourself doing any meet and greets with fans in Canada? Perhaps in Vancouver where Psych was shot?

JAMES RODAY: thanks! So glad it resonated with you. As for meeting fans, I'm always happy to say hi -- I struggle with the format of conventions because I wish fans didn't have to spend their money. They already do so much by just watching and keeping shows on the air....

thepineapplesplat: Yeah definitely makes sense. Meeting you and Dule Hill is definitely on my bucket list. I’m not a huge on meeting celebrities (I think of them as regular people) but psych stars will definitely hold a place in my childhood/adolescence memories. Thanks for bringing it to life! Sorry if I seem like I’m fan girl-ing out haha!

QUESTION (seppukuu): Will we ever see a new play written (and directed) by you?

JAMES RODAY: someday.

QUESTION (psych-o5life): What was your favorite episode of Psych to film?

JAMES RODAY: Probably Dual Spires because it was the closest I'll ever get to being in Twin Peaks.

QUESTION (NateLeport): What was your favorite episode of psych to work on? What was your favorite running gag like the pineapple, I’ve heard it both ways, come on son, I’m Shawn spencer and this is my partner ____, etc.

JAMES RODAY: I became partial to singing suck it towards the end

QUESTION (leeselislisuh): What was your biggest recurring nightmare as a kid? Mine happened a lot when my mom was pregnant with my little sister, and I kept dreaming she'd be born with a full set of very pointy teeth. Horrifying. Huge fan and excited to see more of your work!!

JAMES RODAY: What a question. And what a nightmare. I used to dream that I was a werewolf but I thought that was awesome and didn't want to wakeup

QUESTION (bsischo): When does the next Psych movie come out? I loved that series and I really enjoyed the last movie.

JAMES RODAY: Good question and not sure of the answer. If I had to guess I'd say around the holidays again

bsischo: Really looking forward to it!!!

QUESTION (imdannyg): How did the music choices for Treehouse play out? Priscilla Ahn's Under the Covers is the bomb!

JAMES RODAY: All those needle drops are in the script. I tend to write very specifically to music and, knowing we'd have little to know music budget, I chose songs we had shot at getting. We got all of them. Priscilla, per usual, stepped up and wrote something incredible just for the movie. Another ridiculously talented dear friend who I will employ forever and ever as long as she says yes.

QUESTION (TheWriteOwl): James, thank you so much for doing an AMA and letting us all fan-girl our hearts out. I think it's rare to see someone who moves as smoothly as you do from being a comedic genius in a show like Psych and a thrill master in movies like Treehouse.

What attracted you to these two, disparate genres, and can you speak a little bit about why you think you've seen so much success in both?

JAMES RODAY: Better to be lucky than good and I've been very lucky. I have dedicated myself to being as good as humanly possible to try and make sense of how blessed I've been. Growing up, horror and comedy were the genres I gravitated to the most so they've been in my bones for a very long time. I still remember seeing An American Werewolf in London in the theaters as a six year old. That just about sums me up.

TheWriteOwl: Your dedication and your inherent love for what you do really shows up in your work. As a fan, it's awesome to see - thank you!

QUESTION (eppukuu): Film or digital?

JAMES RODAY: Film. But I do understand the revolution. We shot the first three seasons of Psych on film and Tuesday the 17th was shot on Super 16 which is one of my very favorite formats. There's something truly special about knowing you only have so much film to shoot on and so many takes to get it -- really brings a crew and cast together. And it just looks so good. Though technology has definitely curbed that with HD.

QUESTION (angelusgirl): I started watching Psych after I watched the awesome episode Dual Spires. What was your favorite Twin Peaks Easter egg in the episode or memory of filming it?

JAMES RODAY: The last scene in the diner was a blast because it was a basket of easter eggs. And I'll never forget watching the cast of my favorite show reunite in real time at the Sutton Place bar. Some of them hadn't seen each other in 25 years.

angelusgirl: And a follow up if I may, what did you think of the showtime season?

JAMES RODAY: Well. I loved it because it felt like the deepest recesses of David Lynch's mind were turned loose and who knows if or when we'll get to experience that again. That said, I understand why it wasn't for everyone and if you came in expecting an evolution of the original series....well, you probably didn't get what you were hoping for.

QUESTION (cabose7): How is Timothy Omundson doing?

JAMES RODAY: He's such a badass and he's doing great. He has exceeded expectations at every turn and I cannot wait to bring Lassie back home.

QUESTION (]miatosc): what’s it like working with Allison Miller? She seems super funny and passionate about her work.

JAMES RODAY: Miller is a truly gifted performer. I lucked out getting her as a scene partner. She pushes me, carries me and makes me better. No question.

QUESTION (imdannyg): Did you write Agnes with Nancy Charles in mind? She (and all the cast) is incredible!

JAMES RODAY: We did not but boy did she come into her audition and own that role. When she left we all looked at each other and were like "well, that's that."

QUESTION (seppukuu): You survived the (non-zombie related) apocalypse. The planet is a wasteland. What do you miss most?

JAMES RODAY: Dogs and pals.

QUESTION (mndrlyn): Hi James! Two questions. 1. Does the beard stay for the new Psych movie? 2. What do you do in your off time that makes you happy?

JAMES RODAY: You'll just have to wait and....oh who are we kidding, Shawn doesn't have a beard. I generally spend as much time in NYC as I can and relax by thinking about the next juicy thing I can make. And vodka and sports.

QUESTION (psych-o5life): Do you know what's gonna happen in AMLT season 2?

JAMES RODAY: I may know a thing or two -- which still leaves close to a million

JAMES RODAY: You awesome ladies and gents I'm gonna wrap this up in the next five minutes. We've actually gone over an hour and I don't want to break Reddit.

QUESTION (imdannyg): What are the most difficult constraints to overcome with a limited budget such as this? Is it just time, is it human resources, is it gadget/technology oriented issues? What extra thing would help the most with a limited budget like Treehouse?

JAMES RODAY: All of the above. And I would always choose time over money.

QUESTION (SydneyHollow): Shawn was a big hero of mine for a long time. Then I realized over time that Shawn is a huge dick. Nevertheless, your ability to breathe such life into his character is nothing short of amazing. All the actors on Psych, really, are truly gifted!

​Did you ever have doubts about how successful Psych would be?

JAMES RODAY: Hahaha! I love this. And believe me the longer the show ran, the more challenging it became to keep a character like Shawn digestible. It's like watching Puck of Peter Pan for muuuuch longer than a movie or a play. But yes, that was a wonderful group of actors and humans and we are family. Lightning in a bottle to be sure. The success of Psych never ceases to amaze me. Truly. And that's all because of the fans. 100 percent.

QUESTION (JessicaSimbro): In writing a female role for one of your films, what personality traits does an attractive woman have in your mind? And what then makes that same woman gaspingly frightening?

JAMES RODAY: I believe attractiveness lives primarily on the inside. I'd say the same for what makes anyone frightening.

QUESTION (woahbells): From interviews you seem introverted and introspective but not uncomfortable being questioned about both work and personal topics. Assuming I'm correct and that you are an introvert, how do you reconcile that aspect of your personality with fame?

Also, I noticed the subtle pineapples on Peter's daughter's shirt at the end. Was that intentionally done?

JAMES RODAY: Not my choice but I also didn't veto it so...

QUESTION (firmhair): Come back to White Rock. Our Pier is gone :(

JAMES RODAY: Deal. And with that, thank you all for joining me. It's always a pleasure to connect with you all. If you haven't checked out Treehouse on Hulu, give it a spin. I am enormously proud of the work from all involved and especially grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from so many talented and insightful women. Be kind to yourselves and others and get ready for a million little spoonfuls of delicious flavor in the future....