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i know things are hella grim in the nsfw/kink art circles especially in the last year --

but I'm hearing there's a NSFW-friendly ko-fi alternative built on atproto that's actively in the works, and being vetted by lawyers right now. as torrent-princess (OP) says, you should be able to swap out payment processors while keeping your account intact. this matters since even if stripe removes support, you'll still have a shop and all of your links intact. (ATproto is an infrastructure that bsky is built on, but is far bigger than bsky with far more opportunities.)

additionally, the Free Speech Coalition is working on a credit union specifically for adult work (including kink art) - here's the link so you can add your interest & support. Since this will be built by sex workers, there'll be far less risk of being debanked for spurious and puritanical reasons.

on a domain TLD level, there's an initiative here for a .furry domain built from the ground up by seasoned furries; it's unclear whether they'll support NSFW, but it's yet another promising turn of events for a group that's been similarly affected by censorship.

there are friends and allies out there helping to build a working parallel infrastructure. keep being vocal, keep supporting these initiatives when it's possible, and keep supporting your nsfw/kink artists. ♥

palabarian

We're so back

leebrontide

Platform Decay posting now that I've finally got to spend time in the tags

Murderbot has in fact freed other secunits before. Multiple times. Do not forget that. But also one time it offered and the combat unit was like I ACTIVELY WANT TO MURDER THE FUCK OUT OF YOU. So. It's cautious.

Three is doing something so developmentally important here. It's NOT just that Three knows it has a team to fall back on if it gets into trouble with the baddies, it's also that Three has figured out it can get in trouble with it's own side and that's ok. It's not thrilled to have pissed off ART but it did it anyways! It now knows it can be in trouble and not get tortured or disassembled over it! It did something it wasn't supposed to and then came home to the people who would be mad about it, even though it didn't have to! It could have run off to keep doing it's own thing but didn't.

I love that Murderbot's POV is so limited because it just only cares about it's own missions. If we hear in 2 books from now about how every SecUnit in the Torus deserted their post and have colonized a moon together or something somewhere Murderbot would just be like "huh". Like there would be an emotion check about it but it's not going to stop it's soap operas for more than 3 minutes about it.

I know the idea of the rogue unit that approached Murderbot recognizing Murderbot as the originator of the code is hilarious, but also, let us consider that if it doesn't recognize Murderbot as the originator of the code that unit is gonna get such a weird view of the world. Like sometimes you live your whole life in shackles and then somebody breaks them for you and you run around and the next SecUnit you run into is already free. You'd have to wonder, then, if freedom is far more normal than you'd realized. And you'd have to think- these free units are doing ok. Maybe I can also be ok. Also, the successful free unit is wearing a highly distinctive garment that must have a tactical purpose given than it is still on a mission. And is telling you to change your clothes. So like...maybe it is tactically useful to wear a very colorful poncho thing. Maybe it should tell the other free units to get those, to. It seems to have been aiding that successful free unit. And thus, free sec unit fashion culture is born.

Have we considered that Jollybaby might actually be trolling Murderbot on purpose? It's sophisticated enough to know that Murderbot is grouchy at it. Maybe it's sticking it giant metal ass in Murderbot's way deliberately.

grammarpedant

Murderbot and family are traveling through a massive federated hypercapitalist space featuring deserts, jungle, mountain enclaves, and suburbs, using a combination of ground transport (cars) while bitching about the lack of transit pipes (trains) cross-country. every time they cross state lines I mean corporate zones, their pursuers have to fall back and contract cops I mean security in the next jurisdiction over to keep pursuit up. Just now, in my read, they're having to take a detour because there's some kind of massive sports event full of sports-obsessed humans fucking up local traffic.

Murderbot and its Mensahs are road tripping across the spacefuture United States of America and Barish-Estranza is one of those states (my unfounded guess is Utah)

skygemspeaks

so i think it's cool that platform decay is a direct parallel to exit strategy and serves as a way to show just how far murderbot has come since then

Both books are about murderbot doing a hostage rescue mission but in exit strategy, it goes into the mission alone, with no idea where it stands with its humans and fully ready for them to fucking hate it. It's still wary of its humans and the book ends with a clusterfuck of them having to accept help from the Company, and murderbot suffering a catastrophic failure after over extending itself

Meanwhile in Platform Decay, it goes in with a careful plan, and it has so many allies along the way. There's ART and Three helping it creat a distraction and acting as a getaway driver, but along the way there's also leonide (though she's mostly in it for herself) and the militia members at the dock.

And more than that, murderbot's more secure in where it stands with its humans, it knows that it has somewhere safe to go back to at the end of all this, it knows to expect a warm welcome. This time, the ones helping them get away are friends, family (instead of the Company)

In Exit Strategy, murderbot is trying to piece its memories back together and it seems dubious at the fact that ratthi is tagged as "my human friend" but in platform decay, murderbot is able to confidently (at least in its own mind) refer to them as its friends.

It's just. It's so important to me, seeing how far it's come.

satanic-worm

Another thing I liked about the new book that I started thinking about later

They ran away. The SecUnits, finally freed of the governor module. They could finally run without dying.

The thing that I heavily explained to my sisters when I talked about the books, is that the governor module doesn't control the phisical actions of SecUnits, not like they'd think. It's not mind control, they are not a consciousness trapped and witnessing their body being moved around by outside forces (unless a combat override module or something similar is being used). They are constantly having to decide to follow orders because the alternative is instant punishment and death.

And that is so much worse, to be able to refuse, to be able to move on your own, having the capacity but not the liberty.

"SecUnits don't sulk" "SecUnits ere never allowed to sit down" "SecUnits have a distance limit"

I just now thought about it again with the context of the new rogue SecUnits. Because Murderbot had to hack its module all by itself, it was so alone, it was rogue so long and still being sold into contracts, and yeah, eventually it learned to leave. But these other SecUnits, they get approached by Three, who's going around giving out this governor module hacking bundle like it's throwing flyers in the wind, and suddenly they can all just... act of their own free will? Without getting fried or exploded from the inside out?

And there is just something so fucking cathartic about imagining a newly rogue SecUnit taking its first steps, probably with stiff joints and muscles like it's waiting for a blow, seeing that it doesn't hurt, and running, passing this experience to any others it might come across.

canon-autopsy

*platform decay spoilers*

When they're waiting to board the boat and the crowd is all listening in on Murderbot telling the humans its going back to help the militia hold off the corporates

The crowd all parting to let it through and Mb thinks it must be its angry face and not the fact that everyone just heard its going off to protect them

When passengers spot it in the water and work together to pull it aboard

Random humans recognizing its heroism and working to help it

wyndlerunner

I know that outside of Preservation and the University of New Tideland, the murderbot diaries largely take place in one never ending corporate dystopia or another, but I loved how in Platform Decay, it was clear that Corporations are not people:

When it becomes really dangerous at the transport loading area, the transit operators stop checking for tickets or fares because they want to get people away from the danger

The local militia was disgusted once Murderbot told them the assholes they were dealing with were Corporates

Things didn’t go to shit cuz a little girl was too bratty and entitled to live in an old space station; things went to shit cuz a child’s trusted adult betrayed her

There are probably more examples, but I binged this is one sitting and didn’t take notes

seamsofparadise

freak-motion

when the platform is decaying...

yearofdoodles

Do you ever think about how mythical and godlike Murderbot must be to the other rogue secunits in Platform Decay? More importantly do you think they all have a crush on it??? *murderbot shoots me with a sniper rifle killing me instantly*

biorust-art

Platform Decay spoilers! Damn! the two of them are in very different genres huh. had to draw this real fast cus, wow.

let MB have a REST yo. (also, ill be updating the fandom wikis sooooon)

[Image Description: a drawing of Murderbot and SecUnit Three from Platform Decay, the newest murderbot diaries entry. Murderbot is a south asian person with red hair, some of it pulled back with clips. it wears a high collar shirt with a patchwork haori, both are dirty and wrinkled. it is tired and annoyed. Three is an east asian person with black cropped hair. it waves at the viewer with a slight smile on its face. it wears a white hoodie, a black turtleneck and brown pants. around the two units are all the things they had to suffer in Platform Decay, that is, Murderbot with everything, and Three with nothing at all. END description.]

razielim

paperpatchnotes

In theory this will turn into a full comic but I got...distracted lmao

Beats doing a full character design lineup tho. Farai, Nana, Secunit, and Sofi left to right.

yearofdoodles

The reveal that secunit is writing its bitchy little diaries in real time while hanging out in three's consciousness was so funny to me 📝

poorlemons

in my heart MB had a fake old bleach job for all of platform decay. its scary and i hope it changes its hair back to normal soon. also this was maybe the best scene in the book. maybe it could be a we problem

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