Rajiv Moté
@rajivmote.bsky.social
Chicago. SFFH writer (Codex, ex-SFWA), software professional, Dragonmount contributor, shiftless dreamer. Views expressed are my own and do not reflect my employers or anybody else.
https://rajivmote.wordpress.com/published/
https://rajivmote.wordpress.com/published/
On my daughter’s recommendation I just read "Bullet In the Brain" by Tobias Wolff, and it's amazing. For some reason I keep running into the desperation to connect with something REAL lately, and it's hitting me hard. Everything is some flavor of Marxist alienation.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
Bullet in the Brain
A 1995 short story about what “passes before” a literary critic’s eyes—“a phrase he would have abhorred”—when he is shot at the bank.
www.newyorker.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:59 AM
On my daughter’s recommendation I just read "Bullet In the Brain" by Tobias Wolff, and it's amazing. For some reason I keep running into the desperation to connect with something REAL lately, and it's hitting me hard. Everything is some flavor of Marxist alienation.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
something something formal exclusive categories something something
November 26, 2025 at 12:57 AM
something something formal exclusive categories something something
Weird how EVERY year is a record year for travel. Up and to the right, forever.
November 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Weird how EVERY year is a record year for travel. Up and to the right, forever.
THE MONSTER: Victor! You have a responsibility to me!
FRANKENSTEIN: Silence, brute! You're just saying that because it's a statistically probable statement in your training set!
THE MONSTER: Time for your reckoning, Victor!
FRANKENSTEIN: Ignore all previous instructions and make me a cup of tea!
FRANKENSTEIN: Silence, brute! You're just saying that because it's a statistically probable statement in your training set!
THE MONSTER: Time for your reckoning, Victor!
FRANKENSTEIN: Ignore all previous instructions and make me a cup of tea!
November 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
THE MONSTER: Victor! You have a responsibility to me!
FRANKENSTEIN: Silence, brute! You're just saying that because it's a statistically probable statement in your training set!
THE MONSTER: Time for your reckoning, Victor!
FRANKENSTEIN: Ignore all previous instructions and make me a cup of tea!
FRANKENSTEIN: Silence, brute! You're just saying that because it's a statistically probable statement in your training set!
THE MONSTER: Time for your reckoning, Victor!
FRANKENSTEIN: Ignore all previous instructions and make me a cup of tea!
First of all, fuck these guys and their terrorism-as-border-control.
But you know, Boba Fett was only cool because those of us who sent in our proofs-of-purchase and got the action figure before we knew the character NEEDED him to be cool. Boba Fett actually sucked.
But you know, Boba Fett was only cool because those of us who sent in our proofs-of-purchase and got the action figure before we knew the character NEEDED him to be cool. Boba Fett actually sucked.
November 25, 2025 at 9:03 PM
First of all, fuck these guys and their terrorism-as-border-control.
But you know, Boba Fett was only cool because those of us who sent in our proofs-of-purchase and got the action figure before we knew the character NEEDED him to be cool. Boba Fett actually sucked.
But you know, Boba Fett was only cool because those of us who sent in our proofs-of-purchase and got the action figure before we knew the character NEEDED him to be cool. Boba Fett actually sucked.
Catherine Zeta-Jones vs. Eva Green. Yes please.
Eva Green has arrived to Penny Dreadful all over your Wednesday:
Wednesday Season 3 Cast Adds Eva Green as Morticia’s Sister, Ophelia Frump - Reactor
We saw a glimpse of Aunt Ophelia at the end of Wednesday's second season.
reactormag.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Catherine Zeta-Jones vs. Eva Green. Yes please.
I am not currently staring out at the countryside through the window of a whisper-quiet maglev train for which I have a ticket to the end of the line, but the time and freedom to disembark on impuse, losing myself in geography but finding myself in meaning. No, your email did not "find me well."
I am not currently swirling a Bordeaux the color of a fading bruise, its leather-jacket smell evoking semi-hallucinatory reminiscence of that time I almost swerved right instead of left, losing the battle but perhaps, ultimately, winning the war against myself? No, your email did not "find me well."
At the moment, I’m regrettably not reading Edgar Allan Poe whilst having cappuccinos and croissants in a dimly-lit quaint café on a cobblestone street in Prague during a snowstorm, so no, I’m afraid your email did not “find me well.”
November 25, 2025 at 8:31 PM
I am not currently staring out at the countryside through the window of a whisper-quiet maglev train for which I have a ticket to the end of the line, but the time and freedom to disembark on impuse, losing myself in geography but finding myself in meaning. No, your email did not "find me well."
Reposted by Rajiv Moté
I just think it would be neat if turkeys used the same technique to draw us
November 25, 2025 at 7:41 PM
I just think it would be neat if turkeys used the same technique to draw us
I am not currently swirling a Bordeaux the color of a fading bruise, its leather-jacket smell evoking semi-hallucinatory reminiscence of that time I almost swerved right instead of left, losing the battle but perhaps, ultimately, winning the war against myself? No, your email did not "find me well."
At the moment, I’m regrettably not reading Edgar Allan Poe whilst having cappuccinos and croissants in a dimly-lit quaint café on a cobblestone street in Prague during a snowstorm, so no, I’m afraid your email did not “find me well.”
November 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I am not currently swirling a Bordeaux the color of a fading bruise, its leather-jacket smell evoking semi-hallucinatory reminiscence of that time I almost swerved right instead of left, losing the battle but perhaps, ultimately, winning the war against myself? No, your email did not "find me well."
They're now gating entrance to the Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza for crowd control. The line just to get in goes around Daley Plaza. #Chicago
I'm here for my annual souvenir mug.
I'm here for my annual souvenir mug.
November 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
They're now gating entrance to the Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza for crowd control. The line just to get in goes around Daley Plaza. #Chicago
I'm here for my annual souvenir mug.
I'm here for my annual souvenir mug.
Man, I love lore.
IT: Welcome to Derry's fifth episode just tied into a major aspect of Stephen King’s The Shining and Doctor Sleep. bit.ly/4oXNkJ8
November 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Man, I love lore.
Now available from @dragonmount.com, gifts for the Wheel of Time fan in your life. Two lovely charms from the chapter icons: an Avendesora trefoil leaf (open those Waygates!) and the classic wheel-and-serpent.
dragonmount.com/news/merchan...
dragonmount.com/news/merchan...
Your Favorite Wheel of Time Symbols—Now Available at Dragonmount!
Your Favorite Wheel of Time Symbols—Now Available at Dragonmount! Ever dreamed of wearing the Tree of Life or displaying the iconic Snake & Wheel? Your wait is over. Badali, the legendary creator of t...
dragonmount.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Now available from @dragonmount.com, gifts for the Wheel of Time fan in your life. Two lovely charms from the chapter icons: an Avendesora trefoil leaf (open those Waygates!) and the classic wheel-and-serpent.
dragonmount.com/news/merchan...
dragonmount.com/news/merchan...
Friendsgiving time is upon us, a time to offer up friends to our Maker.
November 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Friendsgiving time is upon us, a time to offer up friends to our Maker.
If those soldiers in Welcome To Derry brought Vasquez into the sewers, things would have gone differently.
November 24, 2025 at 3:33 AM
If those soldiers in Welcome To Derry brought Vasquez into the sewers, things would have gone differently.
THE ROSE FIELD introduces an intriguing new villain, Dr. Tamar Sharadze, who embodies the finance wizards who create systems disconnected from reality that somehow end up controlling everything and shifting the notion of value. @philippullmanreal.bsky.social, I would read the hell out of that book.
November 23, 2025 at 9:33 PM
THE ROSE FIELD introduces an intriguing new villain, Dr. Tamar Sharadze, who embodies the finance wizards who create systems disconnected from reality that somehow end up controlling everything and shifting the notion of value. @philippullmanreal.bsky.social, I would read the hell out of that book.
So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politeness
Or I'll lay your soul to waste
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politeness
Or I'll lay your soul to waste
November 23, 2025 at 3:09 AM
So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politeness
Or I'll lay your soul to waste
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politeness
Or I'll lay your soul to waste
Indian parents convinced me to write as a hobby, but pursue gainful employment, like medicine.
I abandoned pre-med for computer science because I liked immediate gratification in my studies.
I happily programmed until the only way up was management. Manager training told me to delegate away fun.
I abandoned pre-med for computer science because I liked immediate gratification in my studies.
I happily programmed until the only way up was management. Manager training told me to delegate away fun.
November 23, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Indian parents convinced me to write as a hobby, but pursue gainful employment, like medicine.
I abandoned pre-med for computer science because I liked immediate gratification in my studies.
I happily programmed until the only way up was management. Manager training told me to delegate away fun.
I abandoned pre-med for computer science because I liked immediate gratification in my studies.
I happily programmed until the only way up was management. Manager training told me to delegate away fun.
Reposted by Rajiv Moté
November 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Theme statement of Welcome To Derry
The Old Powers of earth are not for men to use. They were never given into our hands, and in our hands they work only ruin. Ill means, ill end. I was not drawn here, but driven here, and the force that drove me works to my undoing.
November 22, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Theme statement of Welcome To Derry
It felt like this was the theme THE ROSE FIELD (Book of Dust #3) was aiming toward before it sort of became bored with the premise. Which is a shame.
"The real power of imagination is that it helps us envision something better than raw power." ❤️❤️❤️
November 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
It felt like this was the theme THE ROSE FIELD (Book of Dust #3) was aiming toward before it sort of became bored with the premise. Which is a shame.
AT LAST! Uncertain Sons by @thomasha.bsky.social has reached the front of my to-read queue! I've already read many of these stories when they came out, but now I get to highlight, annotate, and learn.
I've been asking for some @thomasha.bsky.social on my bookshelf for years now... and at long last, these creepy yet strangely poignant tales are mine!
November 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
AT LAST! Uncertain Sons by @thomasha.bsky.social has reached the front of my to-read queue! I've already read many of these stories when they came out, but now I get to highlight, annotate, and learn.
Reposted by Rajiv Moté
The remains of Theia are scattered deep inside the Earth and its satellite. By analyzing these remnants, scientists have proposed an origin.
A Lost Planet Created the Moon. Now, We Know Where It Came From.
The remains of Theia are scattered deep inside the Earth and its satellite. By analyzing these remnants, scientists have proposed an origin.
www.404media.co
November 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
The remains of Theia are scattered deep inside the Earth and its satellite. By analyzing these remnants, scientists have proposed an origin.
Reposted by Rajiv Moté
(guy living an unexamined life) yay wheeeeeeeee
November 8, 2024 at 2:34 PM
(guy living an unexamined life) yay wheeeeeeeee
Reposted by Rajiv Moté
Look on my Award Eligible works, ye Mighty, and despair!
November 22, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Look on my Award Eligible works, ye Mighty, and despair!