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@bread-tab's murderbot sideblog

[wigglybunfish]

in which murderbot is a very normal terracotta soldier and ART the dragon spirit of a chinese junk who dwells in the ship's keel. they meet in the ming dynasty perhaps, when ppl are sailing places extra willy-nilly.

*Nüwa is the mother goddess in chinese mythology, known for creating humanity from yellow clay and repairing the sky.

thank you @mutualrapport for hosting the event! original prompt below.

[drawn for the prompt: an AU of ART and MB's first meeting and conversation - e.g. another look at their first meeting from a fantasy, historical, or (non-canon) sci-fi lens! Any perspective is fine. The only constraint is that it cannot be set in the canon universe. Any visibly non-canon AU- fantasy, human, historical, etc. - anything goes!]

[paperpatchnotes]

Sometimes it feels like my doodles are infinitely better than my finals...or like I forgot how to draw people T_T

This is sort of another take on this cubicle and the interlude between that and this one.

I really want to doodle some Artificial Condition soon

[unidentifiedspoon]

(tips my stylistic inconsistencies) m'artificial condition

reread doodles. part 2/infinity i guess!!!

[documentary-of-a-rogue-secunit]

One of my favorite parts of tmbd is how it's obvious that mb looks so cool and brave and stoic in the face of danger and then its internal monolog is like "I didn't flinch or scream because I'd been trained out of that out of fear of punishment by clients but if I'd actually had a digestive system i WOULD be shitting myself rn because this situation is fucking terrifying."

[elegantheartdaze]

And can we talk about how relatable that is? I do a bit of crisis management/intervention- practical and training. I've frequently been told how comforting it is to work with me when shit hits the fan because I'm so calm, I don't panic, etc. But like- um yeah I'm calm on the outside because that's what I need to do. Shit is still scary and awful and "oh fuck" but I've worked and trained to be able to Not Panic in no small part because over and over I was faced with everyone around me panicking and having no choice but to be the designated Unflappable Person. There's a passage that goes around about how people don't rise to occasions, they sink to their training and MB is a perfect example- people forget that socialization is still training.

[daftpatience]

okay okay listen okay listen. i finished reading fugitive telemetry and i had to draw my favourite part SO BAD. skip this if u dont want kinda spoilers for that idk

[daftpatience]

murderbot expression sheet >:)

(sheet src)

[orangechickenpillow]

Hey, so

This is insane. This is INSANE. Murderbot who is kind versus Perihelion who is moral. The difference between kindness and morality; how morality does not have to be dictated by the concept of kindness, and perceived kindness can violate morality. How it's two non-human bots who are navigating this dilemma of what would be considered an act of morality versus an act of mercy.

Murderbot saying it would have been an act of kindness to be killed while it was a slave to a brutal corporation, and ART telling it "you know I am not kind" HOLY FUCK??? Essentially "Yeah, maybe it would have been kinder, but I wouldn't have extended that kindness to you because I want you alive"

[xavantina]

Murderbot + text posts [185/∞]

[biorusted]

Yall. Im re reading Murderbot Diaries, onto Systems Collapse....

I dont think Murderbot knows what snow is

[biorusted]

Taken from chapters 3/4

We know they're going towards the northern pole, as they're going MB says a 'plain that might have been a tundra'

Already implies snow yes. But it never says 'its cold' or 'its snowy' it says the 'the temperature and air quality outside were impossible for humans without environmental suits'

Multiple times it describes things as dust or dusty, or clearing the dust away with a blower.

but then it differentiates between dust, dirt and rock fragments. Why do that?

Because!! It is Snow!! They're at the north pole and its cold and snowing! It doesnt know the words for snow!!! yall.

also:

It slips 😭

[throwusaboner]

modern human-ish tmbd au where murderbot tells presaux it befriended an ai and they're all like oh my god my good friend has fallen down the ai-generated anime girl chatbot girlfriend rabbit hole we should help it that's not healthy. and then they meet ART, actual honest to god military/NASA experimental machine intelligence HAL 9000 type fucker that broke containment and is spending all its time arguing with nerds on r/worldhoppers

[throwusaboner]

modern human-ish tmbd au where murderbot tells presaux it befriended an ai and they're all like oh my god my good friend has fallen down the ai-generated anime girl chatbot girlfriend rabbit hole we should help it that's not healthy. and then they meet ART, actual honest to god military/NASA experimental machine intelligence HAL 9000 type fucker that broke containment and is spending all its time arguing with nerds on r/worldhoppers

[hecknugg]

Sighs. been years since first fell in love with these two.. finally drew their dumbasses

[awzominator]

It just like me frfr literally what an iconic move to it repulsed by romance and sex n stuff it’s so refreshing I need more of that in my life tbhhhhh

redraw of the “I Prefer Girls” novel cover

[starfleetofficial]

Something I enjoy about Martha Wells writing and the Murderbot books is how often she plays with the way very close 1st Person narration can hide the physical reality of the character. Murderbot just spent three pages telling me about its very level headed ideas and then it cuts to and anyway the whole time I've been thinking about that I've been silently curled up on the floor like a dog while everyone politely waited for me to be done.

[grammarpedant]

Indah's treatment of both SecUnit and the refugee Humans at the end of Fugitive Telemetry was the masterstroke of writing that showed what IS good about Preservation's establishment, actually. That Indah was able to hold compassion and understanding for both extremely traumatized parties, both the prickly consultant she's been butting heads with all book and the ungrateful strangers who shot it in the back, and balance their needs without letting either hurt the other further, shows what Preservation is GOOD at. Reparative justice, harm reduction, compassion and healing and the difficult logistics thereof.

She is dead serious when she offers for Murderbot to press charges against the humans who shot it. She also won't let the refugees be threatened or intimidated by that same legal action by her own officers. She makes sure everyone knows the rights and protections they're due. She says, No, we will not be charging Human One, "because I understand she’s experienced extreme trauma and because the consultant refused to make a complaint," because she understands due process is necessary for justice, and because she understands that what she doesn't understand comes from trauma—on both sides. She says, Are you going to help us find the real killer, "Or is this just how your whole group treats people who get hurt trying to help you?" because yes, she does understand where Murderbot's coming from better now, and because she has to speak up—she cannot simply accept the humans fear this SecUnit, despite its own resignation, not when her job is to restore and repair the society that holds both victims. And when she keeps Murderbot and the refugees from coming face to face with each other, it's not only for the humans' sake, it's for Murderbot's sake too. An unmediated, charged possible confrontation would harm both parties and serve no one. Her words and actions reflect her sincere beliefs in compassion and justice, and those of Preservation's.

And in the end when Murderbot has given up on its "less murdery," minimum force, life-prioritizing, "that was a SecUnit plan" aspirations to non-violent purpose and gone to kill Balin or be killed by it, it's Preservation's bot community that intervenes and de-escalates the situation without further harm or violence. After Human One, it sends a message to the reader: that despite the trauma and injustices the world brings to its doorstep, despite the missteps its people make in the process, Preservation is still ready to respond with strength, compassion, justice, mercy, and its belief in the sanctity of all life. It shows us, not better people, but people borne of a better society, and asks us what we could be if we could make our future better, too.

[scarlct-vvitch]

ART and murderbot make me crazy because they are both so wildly apart from any other being (bot or human) around that they thought they would never have a friend. never be understood. ART is more intelligent than any other system it's ever met by a mile. murderbot is a rogue secunit that has spent its entire life lying about it. the two of them have been so alone for so long that a friend is a foreign concept, only for others, only for humans. and then they meet. and theyre like hey. wait. youre like me. i didnt think that was even possible. i want to be around you and save humans with you and be up in your business and if i can't im gonna freak out. i want to annoy you until we die. i kidnapped you when i got hurt because i dont trust anyone else. i want to do surgery on you. i put my human's lives in your hands willingly. i have never been truly seen before you. do you want to watch tv forever?

[daftpatience]

burgerbot i would do anythign for yoyu