Emerson @secretlyaveragegenius - Tumblr Blog

Stratt is so much meaner in the book, when she tells Grace he's going on the mission, and I love it. It's so effective. Because Stratt isn't mean. Not to anyone else. She's brusque and ruthless, but she often chooses to be kind, when she can afford to be. She's not cruel.

Except in this one scene. She tears Grace apart, she lies to him to make it hurt more, because she's furious with him. Because he's disappointed her so profoundly. Because he couldn't do the right thing, and now she has to tear her heart out of her chest to do it for him. If he had only been brave enough to do the right thing, she could have said goodbye. Her last memory of her best friend could have been of somber solidarity, of pride in their shared purpose. But no. And now she has to live with the memory of him begging her for his life instead. She has to remember telling him no.

evilphrog

YES EXACTLY THIS THANK YOU

#the book is so much more hurtful omg

fantasiavii

One thing I love about Murderbot that I don’t see talked about much is how it literally translates everything it hears. I think it’s easiest to notice with swears. This is most obvious in Fugitive Telemetry with the crew of the Lalow. They say things like “that picker” and “penis move” and “pussing corporates,” some of which confuse even the Preservation humans. But it does it all the time.

In System Collapse, Tarik says “motherless” (as opposed to something like motherfucking) and the BE corporates say things like “lame-skulled” and while you could think those are just futuristic insults as a result of linguistic drift (which they could also be), I think they’re just literal translations. It becomes more noticeable when you see how religious terms are rendered: “oh high one! Oh deity!” Which is like…sure. They could literally be saying that. But imo it makes more sense if MB is translating something they’re saying in another language.*

I think the most notable case of this is when Thiago calls Amena “my daughter.” On first read I literally thought it was just a Preservation thing but then I realized it made a lot more sense to me (a 21st century American) if he was saying something like mija but MB was just literally translating it into its archive bc that’s how it processes language.

This is also the reason for Amena’s use of Second Mom and Third Mom. It sounds kind of clunky in English but Chinese does a similar thing which sounds perfectly natural in that language (e.g. da-ge, er-ge, san-ge for first/oldest brother, second (oldest) brother, and third (oldest) brother).

Anyway! It’s a fun little detail I really enjoy about MB. There are definitely way more examples but I didn’t have time to track them all down.

*Don’t ask me which languages. Linguistic drift ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#oooooooooo #going to reread them all now

frogpronouns

what you need to understand about recommending a show to me is that no matter how much we both know I'll like it, I can't watch it until the Neurodivergence Department in my brain approves it. I don't know when that will be, and I don't have any more control over it than you do.

nightvalechildarmy

and-fishing-equipment

daily affirmations:

i am kind

i am in control of my emotions

it does not bother me when someone is in the kitchen while i was planning to be in there alone

everyone in the house has the right to be in the kitchen

i am kind and in control of my emotions even when someone is in the kitchen while i was planning to be in there alone

mythtakens

drinking beverage. having to pee. drinking beverage. having to pee. what’s next? drinking beverage and then having to pee? fucking endless

purple-dahlias

florence welch was right. it picks me up puts me down chews me up spits me out a hundred times a day picks me up puts me down i'm always running from something i push it back but it keeps on coming and being clever never got me very far

theconcealedweapon

Working class conservatives are like, "Why are you throwing bricks at me?"

I'm not. I'm throwing bricks at the rich people who are expoiting both of us for their own profit. You just keep jumping in the way.

secretlyaveragegenius

I have repeatedly been called stupid by blue collar workers who are working jobs that will likely degrade their bodies over time….when I tell them that I am for welfare programs that will help people who can’t physically work anymore because their bodies are broken down from years of work

#conservative logic

moniquill

thebaconsandwichofregret

She's also publicly stated that she believes that anyone who reads her books or watches her shows and films does so because they explicitly agree with her political views.

There's no "agree to disagree" with her work. Every time you pick up her work or talk about it you are saying to her "I agree with you Joanne" whether you like it or not.

#every product you buy and stream you give

theconcealedweapon

#seconded #fuck you ben

imaginarygirltnt

theseventeensteps

obsessed with how fixable society is, on a structural level.

obsessed with how all you need to do is throw money at public education and eliminate most standardized testing and you will start getting smarter, more engaged, kinder adults. obsessed with how giving people safe housing, reliable access to good food, and decent wages dramatically reduces drug overdoses and gun violence. obsessed with how much people actually want to get together and fix infrastructure, invent new ways of helping each other, and create global ways of living sustainably once you give them livable pay to do so. obsessed with how tracking diseases, developing medicines, and improving public health becomes so much easier when you just make healthcare free at point of use.

obsessed with how easy it all becomes, if we can just figure out how to wrench the wealth out of the hands of the hoarders.

theseventeensteps

i've lived in four different cities in my adult life and talked to literally tens of thousands of people about politics and the change they want to see in the world and the overwhelming majority of them wanted life to be better, happier, easier for everyone, and dreamed of that world. the only people who didn't think that way were A) really obviously in need of mental/medical care, or B) rich.

wanting universal free healthcare, well-funded public education, and social support for all people is the most unbelievably normie opinion that exists, even among people who have lots of bad or misguided opinions about other things. when you feel alone, know that the reason you feel that way is billions of dollars are being spent to obscure the fact that you are in the majority.

wet-paiint

Besides, it is realistic: things could be better. The energy flows on this planet, and humanity’s current technological expertise, are together such that it’s physically possible for us to construct a worldwide civilization—meaning a political order—that provides adequate food, water, shelter, clothing, education, and health care for all eight billion humans, while also protecting the livelihood of all the remaining mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, plants, and other life-forms that we share and co-create this biosphere with. Obviously there are complications, but these are just complications. They are not physical limitations we can’t overcome. So, granting the complications and difficulties, the task at hand is to imagine ways forward to that better place.

from “dystopias now” by kim stanley robinson (emphasis mine)

transgang-deactivated20201105

you know even if a homeless person or a starving person is in that position because of their own "bad decisions" i don't care. it doesn't matter. no supposed financial misstep is enough to condemn someone to homelessness or poverty.

sapphoandvanzetti

Search and rescue teams do not ask if a hiker was properly equipped and prepared before they go out to look for them. EMTs do not ask if a driver checked their mirrors before they take them to the hospital. Lifeguards do not ask if a swimmer made a mistake by going into a riptide before they dive in after them. Judgement doesn't help anyone, including you, the person doing the judging. Just help people. Just shut the fuck up and help people.

#community is not and should never be about deserving