Big Challenges

sideblog of astrotype[AO3]/aster-go-brrr. big fan of putting secunits in Situations. i'm soso normal (am over 18, MB shipping happens here)

[oldbotnewtricks]

in NQH AU perihelion has absolutely sprayed MB with the hose at a car wash

[nonbinary-octopus]

okay, so in Artificial Protocol, after ART changed Murderbot's configuration, and Murderbot was testing everything out, it used ART's gym, and there was a line, where it said it tested its aim, but didn't shoot anything, because "ART informed me that it would set off the fire suppression systems if I did."

and I was thinking about the grammatical ambiguity of that it. It would set off the fire suppression systems. What, exactly, is that it referring to?

Very likely, "it" is "shooting something in ART's gym". That's a very common grammatical structure, and I would not be surprised that ART has an automatic fire suppression system.

On the other hand, ART's pronouns are also it. Possibly, ART told Murderbot that if it shot at anything in ART's gym, ART would spray it with fire suppressant.

Now, from Murderbot's perspective, it's not ambiguous, since ART wouldn't have referred to itself as it, it would use I. So did ART say to Murderbot, "if you shoot anything, it will set off the fire suppressants," or did it say, "if you shoot anything, I will set off the fire suppressants"?

Not that it makes a huge difference either way, since the automatic systems are a part of ART anyway, but I am curious as to which was meant.

[razielim]

This is so funny; every reread from now on I'll imagine Murderbot breaking out into a nervous sweat as it's testing its aim bc Perihelion is breathing heavily over its shoulder with fire suppressants poised like

[savedtiktoksofcats]

[oldbotnewtricks]

i have more stupid ideas than i know what to do with HELP

[that-dumb-blond]

I feel so predictable saying that Murderbot is my comfort book/show. Like really. The media about an autistic robot who uses media to comfort itself and cope with its feelings, is the one I (an autistic person) uses to comfort myself and cope with my feelings. Great. I'm so unpredictable and intriguing.

[roguebots]

Random SecUnits meeting Murderbot and immediately clocking the 2cm height difference:

[theshinysnivy1]

[its-jesster]

Three cheers for Three

[grammarpedant]

Everyone agrees that Murderbot is a #relatable neurodivergent mood, but we don’t talk enough about how ART is also extremely relatable. I, too, am intensely overbearing, Need To Be Right at a fundamental level at all times, and default to the maximum force necessary in response to difficult challenges.

[grammarpedant]

I am half-joking but also deadly serious. These traits of ART’s are part of the beauty of its dynamic with Murderbot.

ART and Murderbot are excellent partners in mutual administrative assistance precisely because the features of their thinking, their existence as themselves, mesh so well together. They are not connecting despite their neurodivergences, but are enabled to support each other’s strengths and cover for each other’s weaknesses because of it.

ART’s overbearing processing power and huge knowledge base make it powerful tactical and medical support on Murderbot’s missions. Where ART gets caught up in detail and proving unknowns, Murderbot can take decisive, competent action with incomplete data. ART can speak up assertively, even aggressively, for Murderbot’s benefit when Murderbot’s anxiety prevents it from standing up for itself. ART might have difficulty with empathy, such as with processing the full emotional context of human media or intimidating every bot it meets, but Murderbot can provide that empathetic filter and act as intermediary. And the mutual extreme lengths that they will go to for each other are irrefutable evidence of the care they have for each other (proof of being loved which Murderbot’s anxiety and fear of abandonment cannot so easily dismiss).

Which is not to say that there aren’t misunderstandings and missteps that they have to work through in order to get to trust and communicate with each other on this level. But the effort they put into connecting with each other and making it work is just another part of why their relationship is so important. They are two characters whose neurodivergence-coding is integral to the beauty of their relationship.

[headspace-hotel]

i love love love a character with extreme touch aversion. who goes completely catatonic when someone so much as brushes against them. yes? now make them desperately filled with longing for a cuddle. that's the shit right there

[suckunit]

synonym challenge...

my fill for the @mutualrapport event! tysm to the organizers & everyone who submitted a prompt, this was super fun to work on 💖💖

ao3 mirror

mutual rapport ao3 collection

[mutualrapport]

teaser for Say Please

an E-rated fanfiction created by Anonymous for Mutual Rapport 2026

I held onto the handle and dropped into the room. Gravity seized me, reorienting me in space, and I dangled from the hatch for a moment. Then I had my bearings, and dropped to the floor. I landed lightly in a crouch as my drones spread out to take in the space. This was the depths of ART’s recyclers: the machines with their many arms, reaching out fingers all through the ship. These were the hands with which ART took care of everyone. Being here was a transgression. I knew this was a restricted access zone.

The full work, which explores a romantic take on the ARTMB relationship, will be revealed along with the rest of our AO3 collection on July 10.

[oldbotnewtricks]

nqh three thinks it's in a "living with a polycule and doing the dishes and other unwanted tasks so none of them realize i'm not dating anyone" without realizing that everyone actually likes it. and also as far as sum total is concerned they're already dating

[hustlerose]

dj multiple orgasms wants to keep the vibe going

[oldbotnewtricks]

i am very close to saying fuck it and giving up on my fanfiction so i can read platdecay but i am so sick and tired of that. so sick and tired of never being able to finish anythinggg

[oldbotnewtricks]

i am once again having shrimp emotions about that goddamn secunit!!!!!

[soupandsorcery]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

don't fall away from me | M | 6.5k Murderbot/Three

I glance at Three using my actual eyes, and I see that it's trying to maintain a good impression of SecUnit neutral, but there's something in its eyes that's pretty close to longing.

In which Three is in the early stages of a praise kink