#all literary geniuses

[meganegatari]

hi pluto! who are some of your favourite writers on here?

YIPPEEEE thank you for asking, i love spreading joy 💚 the ones that come to mind first are @ennabear @vifilms @bloodstainedsapphic @sinstear @astralnymphh @heavenbloom @s-4pphics @lovelettersfromluna @shouyuus @cursedyuri AAAAAND MORE!!!

[thefiery-phoenix]

Hi I have been reading all your works and I'be got to say that its really good I mean like wow anyways I would like to request a platonic y'know fix with the oldies of lookism I mean Charles and tom Lee meeting up and Charles bragging about his child (the reader) there new awards , involvement in the business or you can do the geniuses instead of the reader being a genius she's named as the prodigy and is literally so smart like 400 IQ type shit and she literally saves the company's reputation, every genius admits shes smart and kinda like a learning genius where she doesnt have to copy it but masters whatever she wants to learn isnt a copy genius btw but can you like make the personality of the reader a bit like James like reserved nonchalant etc anyways thank you

Hello and thank you for liking my work, it really does mean a lot to have your support❤️

THE PRODIGY

"Long time no see Choi'' spoke a hulking and imposing man that stood tall and towered over the frame of the CEO of the HNH group as Charles glanced up from his newspaper to see none other than Tom Lee, the owner of the White Tiger Job Centre (Baekho HRM), known for being the best in the business to get rid of people in a sneaky and quick manner. "Oh please, you act like we haven't seen each other in years when we just met 2 months ago'' scoffed Charles slightly but a small amused smirk formed on his face. "You look happy...whose life did you screw over, you old crone?" chuckled Tom as he took out his grey bottle from his trench coat pocket and gulped a large sip of his alcohol from it. "Oh come now, you act like I'm a criminal or something...but I didn't screw anyone over yet...for now'' said Charles as he headed over to the table nearby and shuffled a few papers till a picture of you fell out from the stack of papers as Tom's interest piqued up and peered at your picture in an interested manner

"I didn't know you started hiring girls to do your dirty work Choi...props to you for following gender equality and such'' grinned Tom as he stared at the picture. "Ah, that's my newest recruit. One of the prized gems I've had the fortune of stumbling upon. Her name is Y/N L/N'' spoke Charles proudly as the lines around his eyes crinkled slightly out of pride for you. "This is the first time I've ever heard you praise someone other than those brats Gun and Goo...I wonder what makes this one here so special that has you singing her praises'' questioned Tom as he raised a brow in curiosity, awaiting for Charles' explanation. "In a way, she's kind of like James Lee...an exceptionally skilled and talented fighter, I daresay even stronger than Gun and Goo... she has training of the Indian martial arts called Kallaripayyatu along with Krav Maga which makes quite the deadly combination when used in combat. The advantage of her using her skills is that no one can predict what she might do next. She's even more unpredictable than Goo and James because if someone faces them a couple of times they'd be able to read their attack patterns with ease. But it's different for Y/N, you'll never know when she'll whip out a chain or a knife or just fight with her bare hands... that's what makes her quite the enigmatic fighter, she isn't afraid to fight dirty as well''

"She sounds like quite the catch then...'' muttered Tom as he continued to drink his drink and stared at your picture. "She's even won an award for her literary works as a writer, the Lindenberg award and is quite the over achiever if I must admit...a real prodigy of a girl. My daughter took an instant liking to her as do I. She simply cannot stop singing her praises'' replied Charles as Tom had an amused smirk on his face. "Neither can you and the amount of stalking you do makes me look sane'' answered Tom with a cackle. Charles smirked as he replied "That was mere research...her personality is a literal carbon copy of James, completely reserved and shy and nonchalant'' "Ah, so you're dealing with a touch me not of an introvert then eh, good luck getting that one to open up to you'' said Tom as he snickered and gulped down the last sip of his drink before he stuffed his bottle back into his pocket and glanced at Charles

"Doesn't matter though, I'll have to make her open up...what she's achieved to do for my company was more than what any of the Worker's affiliates could do, they're all mere useless inexperienced children in front of her...'' scoffed Charles as he hummed slightly and his gaze left your photo to focus on the view of the night city before him, several feet below him, taking pride in the fact that he'd gotten to a point where people had to look up to HIM. "You better be careful though...a little birdie told me that Steve Hong was looking forward to meeting with Y/N L/N'' said Tom with a slight grin as Charles' posture stiffened and his jaw clenched as he narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?" he asked in a soft voice, his tone laced with malice and hidden fury. 'That old bastard...if he ever thinks he can have Y/N and steal MY prodigy from me, he's got another thing coming...he can't have her..no...I'll make sure of it...' Charles thought to himself as Tom smirked, looking like he'd just read Charle's thoughts. "You look awfully nervous of losing your beloved little prodigy...wouldn't it be a shame if someone were to snatch her up like the little feather that she is for someone else to use?" asked Tom, his cheshire cat like grin evident on his face and his eyes glinted with malicious amusement, enjoying the sight of Charles Choi on the verge of losing his cool and his patience on the line

"Let me enlighten you with a little story...a while ago Eugene tried to recruit Y/N to join the Workers and he somehow thought he could keep it quiet from me but failed. Why else do you think I decided to meet with Jake Kim, the son of Gapryong Kim that night? We both know it wasn't out of sheer pity...Y/N is my ticket to destroy the crews and the Workers and expand my empire'' said Charles as he continued to stare at the city beneath him, just how he liked it, everyone underneath him, serving him. "I sometimes forget you're more unhinged and ruthless than me...I can't say if I'm shocked or proud'' spoke Tom as he trailed off and looked like he was pondering about something. "This is coming from someone who strips his clothes off and challenges his employees to a fight to the death. It's a miracle your so called employees lasted for so long'' replied Charles as he smirked at Tom. "Touche old Choi'' grinned Tom

"I'm planning to make sure she stays close to us...to me...at my residence. Of course, I shall fund for her schooling and such'' said Charles after a few moments of silence. "Doesn't she have parents?'' asked Tom with a quirked brow as his amused smirk grew even wider. It was such a sight to see someone like him be so obsessed about someone like you, and rightfully so, Tom could understand his friend's obsession with you. You were a natural gifted fighter, the sort of fighter people would literally KILL and spill blood to have on their side. "Do you think that concerns me? Her father is a software engineer and her mother is a stay at home housewife...hardly what I call a challenge. Her potential will be wasted if she continues to live with them. I've tried to convince them before to send her to me and they had the guts to refuse me even after offering them a fortune...I am Elite...if it means I have to get rid of her parents and have their blood spilled then so be it. It will also prove as a warning for anyone foolish enough to attempt to lure her to them. Besides, I've already spilled blood before, it's nothing new. What's a bit more going to do?'' answered Charles, his eyes glinting with malice as his smirk widened. Tom was now convinced you really were the prodigy he'd heard so much about from the people around who kept on yapping about you. He was just glad he managed to wring out the information from Charles which saved him tons of amount of research as he mentally decided to pay you a visit some day...even if it meant dealing with Choi's wrath which he could always deal with later. The main goal on Tom's mind now was how to get you on HIS side...

[alaynestcnes]

joffrey and jon anti parallels makes me crazy in relation to jonsa : joffrey = king/prince who's secretly a bastard, jon = a bastard who's secretly a prince heir.

both have Uncle/dads(joffrey is literal��) wrapped in secrecy plots, joffrey knows who his mother is jon does not. they both THINK they know who their father is but its false.

jon has close and complicated ties with his siblings/family, joffrey has complicated but distant almost non existent ties with his family.

Sansa dreams of marrying joffrey the "rightful dragon heir" at the beginning only to hate him and sansa doesn't think much of Jon earlier only later in the books does it hint at them getting closer

looking at all of this its impossible for me to think grrm wouldn't pull an irony stunt with jonsa, considering the ashford theory and them having reversal roles in sansa's beginning and end plot points

the joff/jon anti parallels are so special. like i will die on the hill that grrm is one of the great literary geniuses of our time because of the way he interlaces storylines, plays into stereotypes to subvert them, mirrors and plays with themes between all his characters. you could dedicate your life to analysing them (and people have) and still always have new things to discover and discuss.

the ‘prince who is really a bastard’ vs ‘bastard that is really a prince’ parallel is fun on its own. but when you add an extra lens of both their (real and potential) relationships with sansa it’s enough to make me feral.

i think it’s interesting how grrm really reinforces the joff/jon contrast (and positions sansa as a nexus within this contrast) when they both (essentially) deliver her a head. joff, her perfect fairytale prince, gives her her father’s head. jon, the prince hidden in plain sight, beheads janos slynt and answers her prayers. though this isn’t known to either of them, it’s an interesting connection that i find hard to believe was coincidental by grrm. the head joff gave her fractured her dreams and belief in songs/hope. maybe when she learns about the head jon (inadvertently) gave her, it will contrast again with joff, by reigniting a sense of hope and love….

it would be such a compelling way to bookend sansa’s romantic experience.

[celaenaeiln]

Batman Issue #137 is fantastic

It's written so well it feels like a literary masterpiece, and I'm truly in awe of how well it's done. The parallelism, the character development and deterioration, the logic, the emotion, the art-all of it is spectacularly written. Like the people who wrote this issue must be some kind of geniuses to condens nearly a century of dc comic writing to come up with this. I highly, highly suggest everyone go read it because this is the most accurate representation of the members to date.

I know what I said is a contentious opinion but I think we need to step back from the issue and evaluate it from a "who is batman" perspective.

Batman at his core is a selfish human being. He created the identity because he wanted vengeance for the murder of his family, not because he particularly wanted to save the world. It's this desire that led him into a world of crime fighting because he refused to be the same as the person holding the gun.

Batman 137 is the peak depiction of Batman as an uncontrollable force of nature and what I love about this comic is they nailed him to a T. The batfamily's perception of Bruce are so accurate.

Dick and Barbara are exactly on the dot. He is out of control but also he's doing this to be in control.

Canonically, Bruce has a god complex.

And I know I shouldn't quote wiki but I like the way they worded their response:

"A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. The person is also highly dogmatic in their views, meaning the person speaks of their personal opinions as though they were unquestionably correct."

That is the core of who Bruce is.

Every action Bruce takes, he believes it is the best action. He is confident in his ability and he ensures his successes through planning and training. I believe in Dick and Barbara's points combined-Bruce is going out of control in order to be in control. He feels what he has done is not enough and thus is doing everything he can to correct that issue. To him, his personal opinions are unquestionably correct because he has analyzed every possible route to proceed in and has come to the one he believes is best.

This man was never meant to be a lovely family man which is precisely why Robin is so important to batman. Him hugging his kids, saying he's sorry, praising them-that's him on his very best days where everything is going his way. It's him on days where he's reaching into the past. It's him on days where he's tired and broken done. But that's not who he is at his worst.

And this issue is the downward cascade of his mental state.

At his worst, Bruce is the type of person who beats his kids for not following his rules:

He beats them for not obeying his orders:

He punishes them by endangering their loved ones:

He hurts them for not follow his rules and purposefully sets up tasks for them to fail for the purpose of them failing:

But

But even though he's done horrible things, he's not a bad person. he does it because he believes he's working in the city's best interest. And Jason understands this so well.

The reason why Selina calls Jason Batman's biggest failure is not because he's actually a failure but because he's the clearest proof of everything wrong with Bruce's God Complex.

Where Jason sees leniency, Bruce sees fault.

That's what makes their relationship so amazing. Bruce and Jason will never see eye to eye because their fundamental beliefs are different. It's a teetering relationship because they love each other but they can never accept each other and that delicate balance makes them so exciting (yeah sorry I love fcked up relationships).

Tim is on the fence

Before I can explain Tim's interaction, I need to drop Dick's, Cass's, Stephanie's and Duke's too

Okay back to Tim. Notice the extent of Bruce's reaction to each of the batfamily's views. Jason's view is the farthest from Bruce's and as a result he received the harshest punishment. Tim's view is grey and in response, Bruce's answer was grey too - a warning but not a damnation. Dick, Cass, Stephanie, and Duke's view on the issue was silence. They express no stand on the Selina vs Bruce's debate of criminals and as a result they receive an answer fitting of that.

The writers characterized each member of the family so, so, SO well. Everyone's perspective and character was on point and it didn't degrade any of their abilities, strengths, emotions, beliefs, or anything.

Furthermore, the family stands as one.

Dick checks in on Jason's mental health and makes sure he's feeling okay. Tim stops Bruce from killing Jason or hurting him too badly. The rest of the family shows up in time to protect the both of them and each other. Jason and Dick work together to bring Bruce down. When all of them talk on the batfamily channel, everyone gets an equal chance to speak including Steph. Which is a rarity.

The family dynamic is accurate.

Tim would look to Dick as the defacto leader for answers when Bruce is gone just like he did in every single other comic.

Damian would 100000% punch Jason in the face. He electrocuted him before, tried to kick him out, and attacked him before- he's not suddenly going to have reservations now.

Jason and Selina would absolutely work together the most and best because of their shared values and understanding of Gotham.

No one in this issue is irrational or out of character. Everything is so exact about this comic I'm over the moon by it! Sure it's not a "let's hug it out, guys!" issue but when has that ever made it bad? It's exciting, fun, meaningful, and logical and I love Bruce Wayne so incredibly much for it. I love the way he thinks, the way he acts, and what he believes.

If I were to characterize in a nutshell, I'd say issues 136 and 137 are all you need. The authors who created this - so much praise to them. They've capture each character as well as the family dynamic perfectly.

I can't speak much of Damian's intentions and behavior as of now because he's just entered the scene but I'm excitedly looking forward to the next issue.

[haggishlyhagging]

I am 100% against censorship. I don’t want books to be burned. I don’t want treatises to be hidden away. I don’t want anyone, ever, to be able to say, “That never happened”, simply because all evidence to the contrary has been covered up.

I don’t see the point in pretending well-known feminist authors haven’t said or done vile things. I don’t see the point, for me personally, in choosing not to read a woman’s words because she “did a bad, bad thing.”

Do the renowned “thinkers” of today give a good goddamn that the majority of the “most important” male minds of our culture are promoted as literary/philosophical/political geniuses despite their documented personal histories of rape, murder, abuse, violation, etc.? Do they think we should stop reading these geniuses because of what are perceived as unfortunate personal foibles? They do not.

Do I think women should be forced to read feminist authors they disagree with? I don’t think women should be forced to do a damn thing they don’t want to do.

But I also believe we’re at a crossroads here, and purity spirals are something that men taught us. And women, as they are wont to do with everything created—good, bad, and indifferent—have perfected the art.

[sapphire-weapon]

the fandom is really THAT bad you say? like worse than re fandom in general?

I've never interacted with sh fanbase so i can't speak but in what ways are they so different and worse?

IT IS

THE WORST

SH fandom is filled with cishet dudebros who have convinced themselves that they're fucking geniuses and connoisseurs of Real Art (TM) because they understand the symbolism and subtlety of SH2, despite the fact that the only reason why they understand any of that shit in the first place is because it was unpacked over the course of years by teams of fans working hard at the theorycraft nearly every single goddamn day

like they wanna take credit for other people's fuckin literary analysis work, it's dumb as fuck, i can't stand them

and -- AND

because all of that shit is in SH2, the fandom holds SH up to an impossible standard, where if anything falls short of what SH2 did in terms of narrative (IGNORING THE FACT THAT SH2 WAS GROUNDBREAKING AND STORYTELLING HAD LITERALLY NEVER BEEN DONE LIKE THAT IN VIDEO GAMES BEFORE), it's considered trash garbage and anyone who likes it is a fucking pedestrian with bad taste who shouldn't be listened to

they got so bad at one point that, for a while, the entire survival horror genre fucking collapsed. even non-SH games were being held to SH2 standards and got fucking shit on when they didn't meet those standards, so people just

stopped making horror games

and anything that did come out was a shitty SH2 rip-off

oh god SH fandom is the worst oh god they suck

they are the most miserable motherfuckers on the planet who will never be happy with any concession that's ever made for them

[o-hora-o]

Since co-op is long gone, might as well preserve it here

E: Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Eins, the AI who runs this place. Dr Einstein is my master. You may have heard of her. Yes. She came up with the theory of relativity.

E: You Valkyries are no geniuses, of course, but if you work hard enough, you'll succeed...the emotion of "anger" detected...I see. I shouldn't have said the hard truth. I apologize for my bluntness.

E: I dislike winter. It makes me think of sad things. "But come ye back...when summer's in the meadow...or when the valley's hushed...and white with snow"... Annoyance detected. Understood. I'll stop singing during combat.

E: Non-native data detected. Is this data from your stigmata? Interesting. Allow me to inspect your bodies later on... Shyness detected... Understood. Young girls require privacy. I shall apologize for my lack of considerations.

E: Dr. Einstein is a girl of pure heart. She may be rather eccentric at times...but your Overseer...Oh? You thought she died? Nein. I'm fine, I'm fine. Schicksal lied. Schicksal Overseer is an evil man. Stop working for that pretentious and avaricious hypocrite...Anti-Entropy is always hiring.

E: This is my younger sister Zwei. Say hello, Zwei!

Z: ...greetings... I'm Zwei. Eins may say I'm her younger sister...but that's Dr. Einstein's joke. She read too many weird books.

E: Correction. Lolita is a literary masterpiece. Zwei, you're a derived personality. Calling you my younger sister is logical AND accurate. Perhaps I should call you a younger brother?

Z: A derived personality is not a younger sibling. If you were to apply this anthropomorphic analogy...then address me as Missus Hyde, yes, the Hyde as in n Dr. Jekyll and Missus Hyde. Hahahaha!

E: Zwei calls herself a Missus. Data validated. Zwei has confirmed her status as a female sibling.

Z: ... I'll forgive you, Eins. You are a prototype personality. I will not judge.

E: RPC-6626, initiate shutdown.

RPC-6626: KJDLF!*@&(KYFONQE*$@*

Z: Hey! You rampaging idiot! Stop!

E: Scanning...database security system has been corrupted. Valkyries, we will help you neutralize this. Controller interface has been recalled. Interrupt this protocol sequence.

RPC-6626: Formatting function unlocked. Charging...20...19...

Z: Nein! RPC-6626! Initiate emergency shutdown!

RPC-6626: 18...17...

E: Warning. Formatting will erase all data!

RPC-6626: 15...14...

Z: if this continues...Eins!

E: ... RPC-6626: 10...9...

E: I don't care what happens. I must save these Valkyries! Zwei, initiate Emergency Protocol Ω.

RPC-6626: 5...4..

E: Reminder. Emergency Protocol Ω will destroy us as well.

Z: ...no matter. Let's do it! I know how you feel.

RPC-6626: 2...1...

E: Vergiss mich nicht...

Bonus:

"Tesla became upset with the Ein's growing popularity among Valkyries, so she developed 3 of her own robots, painting one of them red for herself, green for Schrödinger and blue for Einstein. Although robots don't have any particular use, Tesla is very satisfied wth her inventions".

[bonefall]

First off, obviously this is a WC blog so I won't go further but THANKS for the brief dunk of The Lion Guard, that's one of my biggest problems with the show. Second off, are you seeing this shit Elder Bones?! * Points at the Thunder Spoiler Thread at WCRPForums * Do try to avoid reading the posts that aren't chapters though, they're bad as usual for that site lol.

Maybe one day I'll grumble about Lion King on the side blog lmao.

Anyway... that spoiler thread. I try to take these threads with a pinch of salt, but... overall feelings are really getting negative. If I had a Vibes Barometer, the needle would be dipping out of positive right now.

We're 2 books away from the conclusion and I don't know if they have time to turn this around... and they chose to spend time traveling. It's partially a travel book, guys. Several chapters of pointless bullshit.

(Spoilers under the cut-- remember we are getting this secondhand from a spoiler thread. Some of this may turn out to be misrepresentation.)

NIGHTHEART STUFF

We start off where the preview left off. They jerk the shit out of your chain with Squirrelstar teasing but spoiler we DO got her

(CELEBRATORY SQUIRRELSTAR MUSIC)

We get a BrambleSquirrel screaming match. Please for the love of god divorce these characters, this is fucking insufferable

They also had to give Bramblestar a smug little gotcha moment where he's right about his argument, Squilf accidentally walks to SkyClan camp for the plot and it turns out that Bramblestar, the guy who was apparently supposed to have memory issues and brain fog, was right that Squilf forgot how to navigate her own territory

Im dead serious she like... accidentally walked to SkyClan.

This is a clever literary trick called bad writing <3

While they're there, Nightheart says, "HEY WASNT THERE A MEDIATOR THINGY? ISNT HE SUPPOSED TO SOLVE DISPUTES?"

*I look directly into the camera. Right at you. Reader I am glimpsing across the magical threads of the internet, directly into your soul.*

Leafstar

says

"I Forgor"

if this thread is to be believed. Then the canonical explanation for why Tree was not mediating up to this point. Is because every single cat around the lake. Including the geniuses who came up with a unique role JUST for the specialest little boy. Just fucking forgot about him.

(bestselling young adult series)

Do I laugh? Do I cry?

I think im unlocking the emotion that those lizards who shoot blood from their eyes feel just before a squirt

Anyway

There is also an absurd amount of Bramblestar winking at Nightheart and teasing him about his new mate and reminding the audience about how much Nightheart wuvs him. This is probably supposed to be charming?

it just feels unsettling, ngl.

It's even more Bramble Worship than normal, like the writer is trying really hard to stress how cool and awesome their special boy is :D and how dumb and mean his wife is >:( and it's so fucking forced.

They pad the book by having it be cloudy so that StarClan doesn't show up the first time they try to do the Squirrelstar thing

I kept thinking, "What if this wasn't a willing abdication?? What if the Clan didn't have a second chance to do this?? What if this was Nightstar 2 all over again and she died of plot convenience before coming back?! This dumbfuck system has fixed NOTHING"

Plumstone and Dewnose have a moment where they antagonize Nightheart over the fact he was chosen to accompany Squilf and Bramble to the Moonpool, because he just got back and it's not fair

And you know what? They're right actually

Nightheart huffs that Squilf was giving him a Chance To Prove Himself but he doesn't fucking get it! His whole life's been nothing but chances he threw tantrums about being offered or blew up through wrecklessness, like a spoiled brat nepobaby, and he keeps getting more and more

Meanwhile Plumstone here has been in the background just being this consistently steady warrior, and has never gotten a chance to shine

He also has a moment where he whines about Sparkpelt and Finchlight being mean to him in the past when Sunbeam shares they've been super nice to her.

Sunbeam offers that they're probably trying to make up for it and he agrees.

Folks. I REALLY. REALLY HOPE. That this ends with Sunbeam telling him, "Nightheart, you are the problem. They've treated me like Kin, and they treat their Kin well. Do YOU?"

Anyway something happens and suddenly Nightheart's on the trip with Frostpaw.

The rest of his chapters so far (at time of writing the spoiler thread is at chapter 14-ish) are traveling chapters.

The traveling chapters suck diet discount dick. They look like they were rejected submissions for the various travel shenanigans that happened in Riverstar's Home.

For me, this is the most disappointing part of the Thunder Spoiler Thread. I love Nightheart because I really like the idea of him learning to grow, consider his actions, and realize that he's actually been very loved in his life.

I like the impulsive Nightheart from Book 1 who doesn't know what's wrong with himself, shooting down every attempt others make to bond with him, making shocking descisions that frustrate the entire Clan and not realizing how much he gets away with. I hoped that maybe, just maybe, the writing could be a little clever for once.

But, no. On this trip he's still whining to Frostpaw about how his family "wanted him to be like Firestar" and this is treated as something Frostpaw is able to bond with him about, somehow, because Curlfeather wanted her to be a Medcat??? And now she's choosing to be a Medcat again anyway????

FROSTPAW STUFF

WC Writing Team: "Everyone is super invested in Frostpaw's story where she learns to choose her own path! Especially the idea that she chose to not be a medcat of her own will and made a brave choice for herself! Lets fix that"

Literally, I guess lol

Smoky Cameo. Fuck Smoky. I hate this character and I hate seeing his deadbeat ass.

Gotta love how Daisy's one major role in ASC so far has been to be a source of negative emotions for Nightheart, but Smoky gets to be the new Barley with a cutesy barn rest stop.

He calls for a human to come get Frostpaw because she's got wounds.

Like. Cat MEOW MEOW calling. And this summons... a magic vet?

She has the world's fastest field surgery, as if she's some kind of endangered wild leopard and a top-notch vet staff rolled out of a research truck.

They even inject her, by hand, with tranquilizer. Who the fuck carries cat tranquilizer around?

Is this barn in the back of a fucking vet office???

Does this universe have roving surgical vans that drive around and play music like an ice cream truck, waiting for cats to call them over?????

Frostpaw wakes up back in the barn

But now her neck wound is fixed and she's spayed.

She looks down at the fresh cut on her abdomen and is like "what's this"

Smoky: "dont worry abt it"

If Frostpaw is okay with being sterilized, this will be the first time in the series that a cat being fixed will be seen as a good thing

Which, irl, it is. To be clear. Spay and neuter your animals

But dudes, this is really massively unsettling me. It seems like she doesn't know what has been done to her. This has never been treated as a positive thing in this series before. In the last book she was talking about the sort of life she would like to live

Once again she has been stripped of her own choices in a massive way

And if Smoky apparently lives so close to a vet that they just come when he calls,

I have so many questions im losing my marbles

Why is Smoky not neutered

Why were none of his 3, possibly 4 wives spayed

Why are his kids not fixed

Why were his kits with Floss taken "when they were too young to even open their eyes" back in TNP if their humans are so loving and educated

SO EDUCATED THEY WALK AROUND WITH CAT TRANQUILIZER

Anyway through the power of the writers not caring anymore, Frostpaw can now talk to StarClan whenever she wants.

They have magically bestowed a connection onto her.

This is apparently something they can just do now. Maybe it's tied to near-death experiences or the vet or something

Remember Shadowsight having a whole thing about this at the end of TBC?

Remember Mothwing and how upsetting it was to have no connection to them and how finding Willowpaw was a big thing in TNP?

Yeah apparently they could just do this whenever. Sorry.

Frostpaw is just cool with this because fuck the last book where she found out she likes being a warrior

Agency? What's THAT

It's not ok if your mom encourages you to be a doctor nun, but StarClan rips your organs out and forces you to be their mouthpiece and that's peachy-fucking-keen.

Then she goes traveling for several chapters i want to commit crime

Riverstar does the usual alarmist moaning, "ooooouuugh this newest crisis could destroy riverclan!!! Oooooooooooooouuououou it's for real this time!!!!"

Everything's gonna destroy the clans. A light breeze has just reduced ThunderClan to rubble. A beetle has landed gently upon Harestar's nose, 34 dead 25,430 injured

Girl help frostpaw is being followed by clickbait headline ghosts

And, also, for no good reason, the ghosts can't just answer a question. Why? Who fucking knows. Never explained. They can summon Frostpaw into a Ghost Zoom Call whenever they want now, but they're forbidden from revealing anything useful.

Average autistic experience with zoom calls though, can confirm, that is what every zoom call ive ever been in was like.

Im serious though, she tries to ask Reed who killed him, he just says no i cant :(

She tries to ask where her mom is. They don't tell her she's downstairs.

Riverstar says nothing useful

I have never been more frustrated with StarClan as a plot device. This is actually fucking insufferable.

They're annoying enough when they send vague signs and prophecies that amount to nothing, but now they can pop up like shitty unskippable cutscenes and STILL add nothing of value to the plot

Something I was ENJOYING was how much more grounded ASC was compared to previous arcs, and that StarClan was back to being difficult to access directly. Gone. Goodbye.

SUNBEAM STUFF

The highlight of the book everyone leave me alone i need to speak directly to sunbeam

I like how she's finding more reasons than just Nightheart to stay in ThunderClan, but is also struggling with the shift in culture

It's in a Sunbeam chapter that we FINALLY get Squilfstar. Everyone say Thank You Sunbeam

If you even LOOK at the Sunbeam wrong I will smash you to death with my hooves

For once it actually feels like we're using the cast in ThunderClan. Cherryfall, Dewnose, Plumstone, Myrtlebloom, Bayshine, Finchlight, Sparkpelt, and Lionblaze all get some significant little lines to add to this.

In particular I like Cherryfall throwing a bit of a fit about being a senior warrior and acting high and mighty, which Sunbeam immediately dislikes because ShadowClan doesn't do as much posturing. It's fun to see how she percieves ThunderClan cats.

I have a softness for these sorts of stories though, to be fair. The idea of moving to a new place and having to adjust.

It's also neat that she's growing frustrated with how Nightheart has now ditched her THRICE.

Girl please steal his family and dump him.

Be a legend. Marry his sister. It would make you the queen of pettiness you would become my favorite forever

Ivypool's exams are also pretty neat, they all test teamwork abilities. I'm going to be happy when I finally get to read them in full, if nothing else, these trials have been delightful to see.

Anyway the next emergency gathering comes up and it descends into an argument

Dovewing gets to yell at Ivypool and tell her to back off <3 "You're not going to manipulate my mate through me, screw you"

Tigerheartstar and the other leaders eventually agree to meet with the mediator off-screen because the writers don't feel like showing us Tree's madd skillz which definitely justify having this unique role that we completely forgot about until just now

It doesn't accomplish anything meaningful because they only acknowledged the mediator role to make the fans stop complaining

Tigerheartstar agrees to not station more warriors in RiverClan territory but nothing else. Waow.

aaand Berryheart's planning something and Sparrowtail, Sunbeam's father, accidentally spills the beans to his daughter. I like this because I have always imagined him as a himbo

so... yeah. It's not looking great. I'm not having a good time in this spoiler thread. I am hoping that a fair amount of it is misrepresentation, because if it's what the leaker says it is, I'm not going to be a happy camper

[thatscarletflycatcher]

One of the interesting excursus I must force myself not to explore right now XD is about Elaine Showalter's A Literature of their Own (1977), one of the most important/foundational works of feminist literary criticism in the English speaking world of its time. It is, in general broad strokes, a book that seeks to identify and characterize a tradition or traditions of the women's novel in Britain, as separate from that of men.

It's an interesting text in terms of the ways in which it identifies the strategies used in general Victorian culture to put down women's writers, the weaponization of Austen to put women writers "in their place" (cfr. that exchange of letters between Charlotte Brontë and G.H. Lewes that is used to this day to dunk on CB for disliking Austen's novels), the ways in which women themselves reinforced this (cfr. George Eliot's extreme reluctance to acknowledge genius in women that weren't herself) etc.* And in this way it accidentally illuminates A) how much of persistent criticism of Gaskell is just a continuation and rewarming of those same prejudices B) how much the establishment of the narrative of the great female novelist as a sort of Romantic genius/tortured artist -comically owing in no small degree to Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Brontë- made of Gaskell a safe scapegoat, and significantly drove readings of her as inferior and a failed artist.

Showalter uses as an example of certain insidious practices of certain male critics, a passage from J.M. Ludlow's review of Gaskell's Ruth (1853):

"Now, if we consider the novel to be the picture of human life in a pathetic, or as some might prefer the expression, in a sympathetic form, that is to say, addressed to human feeling, rather than to human taste, judgement, or reason, there seem nothing paradoxical in the view, that women are called to the mastery of this peculiar field of literature. We know, all of us, that if man is the head of humanity, woman is its heart; and as soon as education has rendered her ordinarily capable of expressing feeling in written words, why should we be surprised to find that her words come more home to us than those of me, where feeling is chiefly concerned?"

If you have seen me rant and complain these past few months about 20th century critics of Gaskell, you cannot fail to recognize here the same touchstones of discourse. The target has just been displaced from "all women are unintelligent and sentimental" to "all married women with children are unintelligent and sentimental".

Things get more interesting when Deirdre D'Albertis in Dissembling Fictions, one of the more cited books on Gaskell, takes Showalter to task (with Gilbert and Gubar, the authors of The Madwoman in the Attic) for more or less acritically subscribing to Virginia Woolf's conception of a woman's tradition of writing as both being evolutionary (meaning later works are better than earlier works) and pyramidal (in order for there to exist geniuses like Austen and Eliot, there must be lesser authors that provide the bases for those pinnacles of achievement). And, you know, passages like this from Showalter herself, at the very opening of the acknowledgements section of her book:

"In the Atlas of the English novel, women's territory is usually depicted as desert bounded by mountains on four sides: the Austen peaks, the Brontë cliffs, the Eliot range, and the Woolf hills. This book is an attempt to fill in the terrain between these literary landmarks and to construct a more reliable map from which to explore the achievements of English women novelists."

seem to entirely justify it.

This is, however, not yet the twist. D'Albertis' argument about how the tradition of feminist literary criticism has been extremely uncomfortable with Gaskell because of the ways in which she doesn't fit the molds of the Woman WriterTM is functionally placed in support of the main thesis of her work, which isn't that Gaskell is actually good. No. The thesis is that instead of being bad on accident, she's bad on purpose and a consummate liar. No, I'm not joking. The argument is that Gaskell's fiction is literary broken and the endings such failures because she's questioning genre and the uses of genre from masculine authors, but that she covers this protest with lies to protect her respectability.

While I cannot prove that this assertion of the self evident character of Gaskell's fiction as failure specially in closing is due to D'Albertis belonging to the Marxist critical tradition through Williams and Kettle -because both are referenced, but not extensively-, there's something very ironic to me in these layers of discourse in which the basic, unproven assumption (that Gaskell's fiction is actually not good) remains unquestioned, even when everything else is.

God forbid Elizabeth Gaskell writes anything.

*reasons why I cannot forgive Chesterton's The Victorian Age in Literature (1913). Chesterton is the kind of author that is prevented from becoming insufferably pedantic only because he's clever, well read and witty (much like Oscar Wilde), but when it comes to women writers this book is so insanely superficial and flippant he comes across as an unmitigated ass. The author of The Man Who Was Thursday (an excellent novel, btw) comparing Victorian women writers with headless chickens because of their unaustenian flights of fancy IS RICH.

[youremyheaven]

I want to know the sample Claire Nakti used for her Billionaires video because... I have been researching billionaires on Astrodatabank (with at least a C rated birthtime) and Jyeshtha is not that common at all??

If anything, Uttarabhadrapada, Revati, Mula, Ardra, Ashwini, Bharani moon/ascendant were wayyy more common than Jyeshtha, Pushya, and Hasta.

I keep noticing that a lot of her studies are just... not very replicable? And I find the lack of transparency in her earlier studies about where she got the charts from...kind of weird? Like it comes off as she is trying to make her own narrative or smth.

Idk if she publishes her actual data studies on Patreon bc its a bit weird to me to just blindly believe that her research of 100 people she chose all have xyz placement. There are 2650 billionaires in this world at the moment, I'm certain that a survey of all of their charts will reveal overarching patterns instead of just 2-3 naks that apparently make money.

100 is a very small sample size imo, because people make money in all kinds of ways?? and she focused heavily on Jyeshta's themes of lack and poverty and how that forces them to push through and accumulate materially. I wish she had cited examples??? like why make a whole video if you're not going to atleast insert a quick montage of billionaires who have it??? her 3hr videos all feature actual literal examples,, so her survey videos not really citing them feels sus to me. i understand that in her video she wanted to basically explore the themes of Jyeshta, Swati and Hasta and how that ties to money making ability but like?? out of 27 naks, MANY naks can give wealth/fame, not just 2 or 3. im very tempted to pull up the charts of all 2650 billionaires and find the patterns lmao

about your last point. i think every single astrologer, myself included is biased. obviously there are actual facts mentioned in the vedas and puranas about the naks but the patterns we notice, analyse and focus on, depends on us as people?? i dont know if she's consciously trying to create a certain narrative, its that we only see things from our occult p.o.v. Claire's Hasta video's major focus was on them being literary geniuses and making $$$ bc of their ability to manipulate,, the truth of Hasta's duality and manipulative ability is addressed but also kind of glossed over as she focuses more on how its used to accomplish things,, a different astrologer would perceive and present that info in a very different way.

her surveys have always been super sus to me, esp after one anon said that she made super basic statistical errors in the surveys that were accessible on Patreon

[enlitment]

🎁👀

You get some wise words from one of the greatest literary geniuses of all time 🙏

[whichcouldmeannothing]

paper rings part 2!!!(teacher!spiderdads)

oh my god. hi. this fic has pushed me to 100 followers (after 6 years on tumblr 😭😭) and is my most liked post ever. OHMYGOD

THANK YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR MY SPIDERDADS ENDEAVOURS AND SHGSDFHKGHAKGFHA IM SO GRATEFUL

yes i will be writing the teacher one!! it'll be multi-chapter lelelel but the first chapter shld be out by this week!! pls stick with me *pray hand emoji*

alright so. the first 500 words of the chapter for u guys. bc i love u

thank u all sm

-

Brooklyn Visions Academy is a good school. 

It pays well, there’s a clear path to promotion for him and it’s close enough to his house that he won’t be late when Gabriella forgets her water bottle for school. 

Their gyms are nice too. There's air-conditioning when they do assemblies, and the floors aren't horrendously squeaky. Miguel waits by the side for the principal to finish his announcements and introduce all the new teachers. There are at least seven of them here and pessimistically, he wonders how many of them will make it through the year. 

He wears the blue polo (Read: The one Gabriel hated the least) and he tries to go through what he’s going to do today. After this assembly is his first class. Ask them for their names, go through expectations and start work properly. He’s here to do his job and to do it well. 

“Hi,” The guy beside him speaks. He has brown eyes and brown hair, and he looks like he should be tall, but Miguel has to angle his head down to look at him. He’s wearing an ironed maroon shirt. He smells like hot chocolate. “I’m Peter Parker, you’re one of the new guys too, right?” 

Miguel nods. He has to pick up Gabriella today because her piano lesson got pushed to the weekend. So, he has to make sure that he brings home any materials he wants to look over for the next lesson. Then, he’ll probably pick up pizza, the four-cheese one for Gabriella and a small meat lovers fo him. 

“Are you the other Humanities guy? I teach Literature, so it’s nice to know someone, I guess.” Peter Parker has a face that looks like it should always be smiling. There’s a strand of hair falling onto his forehead. Miguel doesn’t think he would care. “I mean, I hope you are, as long as you don’t teach Economics, 'cause only blood-suckers would teach something that bad.”

Peter Parker apparently doesn’t know how to shut up. 

"I teach Economics." 

The principal gestures for them to get on the stage, and Miguel walks past the shell-shocked Peter Parker. Peter quickly follows, and as the Principal introduces them, he leans in to whisper. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you, uh, sorry." Eloquent, for a literature teacher. Miguel fears for the poor literary geniuses who have to be taught by Peter. 

Miguel's name is read out on the screen, and Peter turns around to look at the projection. "So, Miguel, sorry about that, let's start over, get this right." 

The bell rings and the teachers get off the stage, loafers and heels clicking on the veneered wood. Miguel could just walk out of the hall right now and get to his first class, but a tap on his shoulder stops him. 

"I'm Peter Benjamin Parker," He introduces again, a hand outstretched. "I love every subject ever and I am excited to work with you." He lets out a breath after like this was an effort to say. 

Miguel shakes his hand. "I'm Miguel." The sun is streaming into the high windows, and the room is being painted in bright yellows. "I have to go, can't risk getting hit by the sunlight."

Confusion quickly gives way to joy on Peter's face, and Miguel lets himself stand still for an extra second to see Peter's smile before he stalks off.

-

<3

[tisiphonewolfe]

Writeblr Intro

Heyo!

I'm Tisiphone - or Tiss, or Tizzy, I don't mind (she/her). I mainly write SFF, but I intend to try my hand at horror and potentially espionage thrillers in the future. I also can't seem to write anything without women being very gay in the middle of it all, so I'm leaning into it.

I follow from @princessw0lf

About me:

I'm a disabled trans lesbian from the UK

What I like seeing in books? Mysteries woven through the plot that resolve satisfyingly. Characters that bounce off each other and grate against each other in interesting ways. Weird romances that don't dominate the plot, but are a key part of it. Great character development.

Favourite books? The Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir, The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood, Malice by Heather Walter, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. And a lot of Terry Pratchett.

Fiction I probably won't enjoy? Something where the plot is purely interpersonal drama or romance with nothing interesting happening outside of it. Literary fiction. YA.

Outside of writing? By day I'm a software developer. The rest of my time is spent drawing, playing games both video and tabletop, and playing electric guitar (badly).

DMs/Asks/Tag games? Fire away!

@sam-glade is my pal and you should go check them out too!

With this blog I'm aiming to post writing updates, inspiration, and probably writing-related memes.

About my writing:

At the moment I'm primarily writing high fantasy/epic fantasy, with a view to trying out some more genres later on.

Admittedly a lot of the classic elements of western fantasy are in there, but I've been trying to get back to the mythological roots of creatures like elves, gnomes, and dwarves, and to present them as not being all white and vaguely British.

The world of The Tectomancy Saga is also, like that of my childhood writing hero Sir Terry, an odd shape. There's a reason for that, and we'll get to it eventually.

While my stories are currently third-person multi-pov stories, I intend to experiment on that at some point in the future.

My stories will probably all revolve around two things; a central mystery and a central relationship. I love a plot where you can pick at the smallest words and phrases, theorise about absolutely everything. I want to write stories where people have a thousand ideas about what the truth is, and each one of them knows there's a good chance they could be correct. I also, as a queer trans lady, want to write about sapphic relationships and include many people who are not cis.

My favourite themes to write are anti-authority, people breaking out of systems they've been trapped in for a long time, people being more important than power.

I'm definitely a plantser. I know kind of where I'm going, but let's see where the journey takes us along the way!

Finally, you can expect the tone of my writing to be trying to find that sweet spot between serious and dry humour that makes you groan, with a healthy sprinkling of subtle meme references.

Current projects below the cut

The Tectomancy Saga

On a bowl-shaped world suspended far above swirling blue mists, nine goddesses, witches, or geniuses, blessed their peoples with divine magics, then disappeared. Now, the world is decaying, tensions are rising, and people scramble to control the magics in order to shape the future.

Made with Crown and Claw

WIP Intro

High Fantasy: The classic Princess-in-a-tower-guarded-by-a-dragon story, but we see the machiantions that put her there, and what happens afterwards.

Releine Sholt is hand-picked by the heir to Tectomancy, Princess Almyra Tectus, to be her new bodyguard. The role has one ominous stipulation: nobody can ever speak to the Princess, on the threat of dire punishment.

'There was only one bed' turns out to have horrifying consequences.

Progress: Fourth draft done at 129.5k

Bound by Stone and Blood

High Fantasy: The saga continues from different perspectives, having different adventures, that will eventually conjoin.

Almyra vies for control of her kingdom. Ellimane tracks down two misfits who are being hunted by a rogue automaton. Releine visits hell. A new threat rises in the shadows of Versewelt, the decaying land.

Bitter exes who technically never dated are definitely not thinking about each other.

Progress: First draft underway at 69k

Snippets and Short Stories:

Flash Fiction Friday: On the Edge

Flash Fiction Friday: I Can't Tell

Her New Captain (Alternate Chapter)

Other

Naenia, through Murder

WIP Intro

Naenia, the reaper who is responsible for death through murder, is shellshocked when a murdered homicide detective returns to life before her eyes and promptly asks her out on a date.

Detective Carina Choudhry has an odd - very Goth - new girlfriend, who saved her from the serial killer she was on the trail of.

Progress: Complete at 46k

Fay and the Red Kite (Title pending)

Fay Orrel, a trainee mech pilot, finds that her beaten-up old training machine holds an AI that has replicated its deceased former pilot. She tries to keep the other woman secret from the PMC that owns the mech, who would be certain to wipe the AI's memories, destroying Mina forever.

Progress: Well, I wrote the prologue and some of the first chapter. Being dabbled with!

[itsavgbltpta]

Should You Watch Undead Murder Farce?

(Japanese title: Undead Girl Murder Farce)

A Brief Summary

In an alternate universe where demons and monsters still exist, one half-oni is living out his days in a fight club, just waiting to die.  That is, until a genius detective manages to catch his eye.  With promises of extending his life in an exchange to end her immortal one, the two pair up - along with the detective’s maid who happens to be handy with a rifle.  The trio solves some mysteries in Japan before going global, searching for the man who wronged them both and meeting some familiar literary figures along the way.

With so many scheming people together - friend and foe - it’s a battle of who can out-think and out-detective each other in order to win the day.

So, should you watch the anime?

Yes!

To be fair, I have a predilection for media (shows, books, whatever) where geniuses keep trying to out-do each other.  I love a person with a plan that’s thinking 30 steps ahead in 5D chess.  And this show is abundant with that character type.  I also like it when a show can keep me on my toes.  Undead Murder Farce kept up a lot of mystery throughout, which also makes it kind of hard to talk about in fear of spoiling things.

The season is made up of several arcs, each 2-3 episode arc involving a specific mystery to be solved.  There is also a general mystery tying things together and giving reasons for our characters to come together.  Our detective trio often clashes with an organization made up of supernatural beings, sometime works alongside vigilantes, and tend to end up meeting a whole lot of interesting folk.

I was a bit skeptical when the show made a change from the Japanese setting to Merry Olde England, and also wary for our detective hero party to suddenly be in the realm of probably the most well known detective in all fiction, but this show managed to pull it off.  Sherlock didn’t steal the show.  Lupin may have. ;)

One of my least favorite characters in Undead Murder Farce is the maid body-guard.  She didn’t seem to have much point in the plot-line besides being sullen and getting into certain… situations… but you know what, I bet there are people who really like her and those situations, so I’m not upset, lol.

The animation is really nice and action sequences flow well.  I am a fan of the character design so that gets a win from me, but I know that’s always a subjective thing.  But if you like any of the faces you see in the image for this article, then you’ll be good to go.

I have to mention the absolute banger of an OP this anime has as well.  It gave me big K-Pop vibes (in a good way).  I did a little digging and the group that performs the OP is part of the K-Pop world, so I guess that vibe makes sense.  It’s a song I can easily recall even half a year later (which is kind of a rarity with the amount of anime I watch), and it sparked joy every week.

For me, characters are a big part of what makes me enjoy a story, so what kind of characters does Undead Murder Farce have jam-packed within each mystery-solving episode?

A slightly perverted and laid-back Rakugo-styled half-oni experiment that can put up a mean fight with a smile always on his face (Tsugaru).

An immortal genius looking for someone to end said immortality - oh and also looking for her body as she’s currently just a very intelligent head in a cage (Aya Rindou).

A military-esque maid who can keep up with the monsters around her, though she also somehow ends up in rather sapphic situations (Shizuku).

A gentleman thief that’s always a few steps ahead of his detective opponents and tends to add a dramatic flourish to all he does (Arsene Lupin).

The big detective himself, full of snark and confident that he is the alpha detective in Europe, despite the supernatural competition (Sherlock Holmes).

The epitome of a polished lady who isn’t afraid to show off her assets and also sink her teeth - quite literally - into anyone who gets in her way (Carmilla).

Plus a whole heaping of other figures from literature and supernatural origins, including the mother-fucking Phantom of the Opera.  Just because.  

I skipped on a few key spoiler characters as this anime is all about mystery, and who am I to give it away?

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

->A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

Undead Murder Farce was a lot of fun to watch, so it gets an A ranking from me.  It was probably my favorite anime of the summer 2023 season, and the show I most looked forward to watching every week.  While some mysteries were solved in the 12 episodes that aired, we’re still missing a resolution for the over-arching plot lines.  I very much hope we get a season 2!

[floralegia]

hi hello i stayed up all night reading the peterick stepsiblings fics… i was so gripped u and ur friends are literary geniuses 🤌

omg THANK YOU SO MUCH BUT ALSO PLEASE GET SOME REST

[knuckleduster]

A third mode now appears, which may be labeled poetic in that it combines an aesthetic of coherence with a politics of incoherence. This regime is seen often in certain brands of modernism, particularly the highly formal, inward-looking wing known as “art for art’s sake” but also, more generally, in all manner of fine art. It is labeled “poetic” simply because it aligns itself with poesis, or meaning-making in a general sense. The stakes are not those of metaphysics, in which any image is measured against its original, but rather the semiautonomous “physics” of art, that is, the tricks and techniques that contribute to success or failure within mimetic representation as such. Aristotle was the first to document these tricks and techniques, in his Poetics, and the general personality of the poetic regime as a whole has changed little since. In this regime, lie the great geniuses of their craft (for this is the regime within which the concept of “genius” finds its natural home): Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder, Deleuze or Heidegger, much of modernism, all of minimalism, and so on. But you counter: “Certainly the work of Heidegger or Deleuze was political. Why classify them here?” The answer lies in the specific nature of politics in the two thinkers and the way in which the art of philosophy is elevated over other concerns. My claim is not that these various figures are not political but simply that their politics is incoherent. Eyal Weizman has written of the way in which the Israeli Defense Forces have deployed the teachings of Deleuze and Félix Guattari in the field of battle. This speaks not to a corruption of the thought of Deleuze and Guattari but to the very receptivity of the work to a variety of political implementations (that is, to its “incoherence”). To take Deleuze and Guattari to Gaza is not to blaspheme them but to deploy them. Michael Hardt and Negri, and others have shown also how the rhizome has been adopted as a structuring diagram for systems of hegemonic power. Again this is not to malign Deleuze and Guattari but simply to point out that their work is politically “open source.” The very inability to fix a specific political content of these thinkers is evidence that it is fundamentally poetic (and not ethical). In other words, the “poetic” regime is always receptive to diverse political adaptations, for it leaves the political question open. This is perhaps another way to approach the concept of a “poetic ontology,” the label Badiou gives to both Deleuze and Heidegger. While for his own part, Badiou’s thought is no less poetic, he ultimately departs from the “poetic” regime thanks to an intricate—and militantly specific—political theory.

Alexander R Galloway. “The Unworkable Interface.” New Literary History 39, no. 4 (2008)