#"Feeding The Machine"

[petya-in-a-cup]

We're all the pig here, Professor.

[telestoapologist]

Starbuck: Signs that you are not straight-

Sao, gently pushing in beside him: Number one... you like boyyyssss~ 😏😉✨

Clovis, flustered and offended: NUH-UH NUH-UH!!!!!

[looseleafteeaves]

A new quote that Turtleduck and I agree on:

“In my perfect world, Pong Krell was never a jedi.”

This spawned specifically from an AU he has created called “Rejecting Bane” AU where Pong Krell is a Sith called Darth Slaughter, the Lord of Brutality.

I drew a picture many eons ago with three hutts pointing blasters at each other that makes me laugh to this day.

[vyva-melinkolya]

we all agree that the push towards short form, vertical video (tiktok/reels/shorts) is ruining fucking everything right? Tiktok has been useful for the dissemination of political information (e.g Gaza) i’ll give it that, but that feels moreso a result of meta and twitters algorithms being just a little *more*’evil and censor happy. And i want to make it very clear that my hatred for tiktok has nothing to do with the fact that it was a product of a Chinese company, because i see a lot of critiques relying on some sort of sinophobic conspiracy. On the contrary, it’s what tiktok has become in the vacuum of western popular culture and marketing that makes me fearful.

I know that every generation faces a new, polarizing technology and inevitably, there are those among said generation who will critique it. That is the nature of things. However, there is also something to be said about how, with the acceleration of technology (running parallel to the acceleration of capitalism, acceleration towards collapse etc), each coming generation faces an increasingly more malevolent “advancement”. TLDR, i’m going to talk my shit.

I’m going to speak on the aspect that is most relavent to me, as a musician. I am petrified by what short form video is doing to music and to musicians. I think that tiktok provides the illusion of making music and being a musician more “accessible” while actually pouring gasoline on the fire that the pop music machine had already started. Standards for what popular culture “expects” from music are being doubled and tripled. Let’s talk about song length. Success and marketability favoring shorter songs is not something new, it has been the trend for decades. But with short form video, it goes even further. You’re not just hearing the same song over and over on the radio, you’re hearing the same 15-30 seconds of the same song over and over again. This in-turn, starts to influence the way people write music, persuading people to make songs that *could* have that 15 second appeal. There is an art to pop music, there is an art to writing a catchy hook—this is something else. We weren’t meant to hear or understand music like that. There are so many songs from reels that i found annoying, until i heard them in their full context. It’s insidious. It makes everything feel like a fucking commercial, even if nothing is being advertised.

I’m going to pull directly from someone else’s experiences, someone who’s music seems to be everywhere on short form videos. The ambient musician My Head Is Empty has a hundred million streams on the song “i was only temporary”. Despite that exposure, they experience “never ending copywrite issues” and have “received death threats” by people who refuse to credit them when using their song. Pulling a quote here, from a comment on their own post

“vyva_melinkolya unfortunately it just gets worse. i saw a bot content page that steals pod cast footage and spams dozens of videos with my song stolen, comment on a "motivation" spam content , who actually made a post telling people the name of my song, and the previous page i mentioned, the pod cast spam commented on that video saying "Bro stop don't give out the sauce. this audio helps me pull numbers brooo" - so people are actively INTENTIONALLY stealing it and telling people to not credit me. like. u can't make this stuff up”

Beyond this, My Head Is Empty feels frustrated that despite all this exposure, the rest of their work (nine albums) as a musician remains under appreciated, and i think that frustration is 100% valid. People cannot fully appreciate music, or even understand it as a work of art created by another human, when it’s taken so far out of its context. Again, the soul being sucked out of art by “the machine” isn’t anything new but, this is a whole other level. Being a musician is more expensive than ever, streaming earns you fractions of a cent etc, it all feeds into itself.

When a song or a musician i love deeply finds its way on to tiktok (let’s use Duster’s “Stars Will Fall”, one of my favorite songs ever as an example)I am not upset that i cant “gatekeep” it anymore. I’m not upset by the idea of something I love and hold dearly finding a larger audience. I AM upset in the manner in which it is being disseminated. I’m upset with art I hold dear to me being chopped up and used as “trending audio”. When I saw Duster in concert recently, lStars Will Fall” was the song I was most looking forward to hearing. It was the last song they played, and it was the song seemly everyone chose to talk loudly over. The audience was mostly people my age and younger. This complaint might come off as petty or pretentious or cliche, i frankly do not give a shit.

Let’s talk about how musicians are expected to promote music on tiktok/reels. This is a matter of opinion, at the risk of sounding very pretentious: the “POV we are x band from x” “My label says i need x followers before x” “posting this video until c musician notices me”. I understand that some of it is in jest but, what the fuck? When did this become the norm? I do not blame anyone for promoting their music like this, but we should want more for ourselves. I’ve always said being a musician is deeply embarassing, inherently. If being a musician is inherently embarassing then what is this? I dont have a solution for this, and the music industry has always been ugly and bloodthirsty and seldom fruitful— but i feel like the very small amount of dignity we had as artists is now lost and I cant fucking stand it. Artists seem to promote the same single with dozens of reels over the course of months, hoping that something sticks. I dont want to sound like i’m shaming or, again, sound like i can provide a solution. I’m just very fucking sorry that it seems like this is “the way”. And personally, i’m scared that if i dont “get with the program”, im going to fail.

Again, all of this speaks to larger trends in entertainment industry and even larger trends in capitalism. But i’m just airing specifics right now because frankly? I cant take it anymore.

[hunn1e-bunn1e]

could I get Dazai x Jessica rabbit male reader? Like reader is taller is feminine and intimidatingly sexy and Dazai endearingly is his “roger rabbit” in this situation, male reader is disinterested in me and woman alike to try to woo him and is polite but firm with he’s not there for you he’s there for someone else. The. Dazai comes strutting in and hangs on male reader’s should with love struck eyes and everyone is like “how the fuck did you end up with him-?” And male reader is like “He makes me laugh”

Dazai Osamu - Jessica Rabbit-Like Male Reader 

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

This is ADA Dazai and not PM Dazai since you didn't specify in your ask what time frame you wanted this in. This is my first time writing Dazai so I apologize if I didn't capture his character properly. I also wrote this headcannons in second person for a change, let me know if you like this more than the usual. I hope I did your ask some justice, Anon. The lyrics quoted in this one are from the song “Why Don't You Do Right” written by Joe McCoy and sung by Peggy Lee. —Benny🐰

Warnings -> Suggestive, Mentions of Suicide, Reader will have descriptions that correlate with the character 'Jessica Rabbit'

                                                                                                   

🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒

❝𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞 𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖞, 1922-- 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖑𝖊𝖙 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖓 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖆 𝖋𝖔𝖔𝖑 𝖔𝖋 𝖞𝖔𝖚❞

. . .

🎙   When Dazai and [Name] first met, you can imagine what the first thing the bandaged man said to them was, of course, asking to commit double suicide with him. The tall and seductive stranger giggled and declined, thinking the bandaged man was simply making a morbid joke, but he planted a sweet kiss on Dazai's cheek and made his way down the street and out of the ADA detective's line of sight. The way the taller man's hips swayed as he strutted away had the brunette staring after him with wide eyes, sparkling with interest.

🎙  The two met again and subsequently exchanged contact information as well as planned a date during one of the investigations he was a part of. Something about the murder of a guy that happened in the club that [Name] performed in and the perpetrator being an ability user. After the investigation wrapped up, Osamu made sure to rizz him up and once again coax them into a double suicide, to which they again chuckled at and denied. For the mentioned date, Osamu took them to the movies them out to eat at the Uzumaki Diner before walking them home and being sent off with a kiss.

🎙  Now the two are married; two years going strong. Dazai makes sure to show up to every single performance his husband has at whichever club it happens to be at; oftentimes skipping out on his paperwork in order to do so. Dazai does make sure to tell [Name] that he in no way needs to come and see him at the ADA just in case, for their safety. Occasionally though, the seductive club singer does pay the bandaged man a workplace visit; usually dropping him off lunch or just to spend time together after being apart for a while.

🎙  Most times [Name]'s visits end up with him sitting sideways on his husband's lap while listening to him talk about his day in an animated fashion. Trailing his index finger up and down Osamu's chest slowly and sensually; the natural seductive smile playing on his lips. [Name] smothering the brunette in tons of kisses; leaving prints of his painted lips all over his husband's face and staining the bandages wrapped around his neck. Feeding each other whatever Osamu decided to grab from the vending machine on the other side of the room.

🎙  Speaking of the ADA; those in the agency still can't wrap their heads around how the two got together in the first place. [Name] is a drop-dead gorgeous sex symbol of a man who has a flourishing career as a club singer and Dazai is... well himself. Poor Atsushi nearly had a stroke trying to process the two being in a loving and stable relationship. How the bandaged man and his husband interact also seems to leave a few select people feeling painfully single and Dazai absolutely revels in their suffering. The man definitely plays up his interactions with [Name] just to get a rise out of them. When Kunikida asked the tall man just what he saw in his husband he answered that Dazai made him laugh.

🎙  Overall, the two have a very loving and stable relationship. Despite Osamu's want for death, [Name] makes him feel like life may be worth living just a little while longer than he thought. Every night that he spends in his husband's embrace is another night he feels safe, loved, and protected from the haunting memories of his past actions and those he's lost. Although... most nights the two of them don't get to sleep until late into the night.~ All Osamu's doing I'm sure, the scoundrel.

. . .

❝𝖂𝖍𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖓'𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖔 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙, 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖒𝖊𝖓 𝖉𝖔? 𝕲𝖊𝖙 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖌𝖊𝖙 𝖒𝖊 𝖘𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖞 𝖙𝖔𝖔❞

🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒•♡•🍒

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

Reblogs are appreciated ~ 𔓘

Wanna see similar content? Check out my Masterlist!

[mariacallous]

If you’ve rented an apartment in the US in the past several years, you may have had the sense that the game was rigged: Prices creep up not only at your building but at others throughout the city, seemingly in lockstep. A new civil lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice today alleges that in many cases it’s not just in your head—and that a single company’s algorithm is to blame.

That company is RealPage, a Texas-based firm that provides commercial revenue management software for landlords. In other words, it helps set the prices of apartments. But it does so, the DOJ alleges in its lawsuit, by effectively helping its clients cheat; landlords feed rental rate and lease terms into the system, and the RealPage algorithm in turn spits out a suggested price that enables coordination and hinders competition.

“By feeding sensitive data into a sophisticated algorithm powered by artificial intelligence, RealPage has found a modern way to violate a century-old law through systematic coordination of rental housing prices,” deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

RealPage’s reach is broad. It controls 80 percent of the market for software of its kind, which in turn is used to set prices of around 3 million units across the country, according to the DOJ. It already faces multiple lawsuits, including one from the state of Arizona and another in Washington, DC, where RealPage software is allegedly used to price more than 90 percent of units in large apartment buildings. RealPage’s algorithmic pricing first gained broader attention when a 2022 ProPublica investigation detailed how the company’s YieldStar software works.

The DOJ civil lawsuit, which was joined by the attorneys general of eight states, is a significant escalation in legal action against the company. It’s also a first for the DOJ, according to officials speaking on background during a call to discuss the complaint. While the government had previously filed criminal charges against an Amazon seller for algorithm-enabled price-fixing, this is the first civil action in which the algorithm itself, the Justice Department official says, was effectively the means of the violation.

The complaint itself quotes RealPage executives allegedly acknowledging anticompetitive aspects of its product. “There is greater good in everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete against one another in a way that actually keeps the entire industry down,” one RealPage executive allegedly wrote.

RealPage has repeatedly denied any allegations of antitrust violations, going so far as to publish a six-page digital pamphlet that claims to tell “the Real Story” about its products, along with an extensive FAQ page on a dedicated public policy website. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Attacks on the industry’s revenue management are based on demonstrably false information,” one section of that site reads. “RealPage revenue management software benefits both housing providers and residents.”

“We are disappointed that, after multiple years of education and cooperation on the antitrust matters concerning RealPage, the DOJ has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years,” said Jennifer Bowcock, senior vice president of communications and creative at RealPage, in an emailed statement. “RealPage’s revenue management software is purposely built to be legally compliant, and we have a long history of working constructively with the DOJ to show that."

The DOJ disagrees. “Algorithms don’t exist in a law-free zone,” said Monaco in a press conference to discuss the case. “Training a machine to break the law is still breaking the law.”

In this case, the complaint alleges that those algorithms consistently drove rental prices upward. “RealPage’s software tends to maximize price increases, minimize price decreases, and maximize landlords’ pricing power,” said the DOJ in a press release. RealPage also doesn’t just recommend prices; in many cases, it actively sets them.

“RealPage actively polices landlords’ compliance with those recommendations,” said US attorney general Merrick Garland in today’s press conference. “A large number of landlords effectively agree to outsource their pricing decisions to RealPage by using an ‘auto-accept’ setting that effectively permits RealPage to determine the price a renter will pay.”

The DOJ also claims RealPage has created a “self-reinforcing feedback loop” with its data intake and pricing recommendations structure that also gives it an alleged monopoly in the apartment revenue management software industry. Any competitor who plays by the rules, the DOJ claims, is at a distinct disadvantage.

The Justice Department has spent the past several years staffing up with technologists and data scientists, better enabling them to “interrogate the code,” as multiple officials described the investigative process. While this is the first major algorithmic collusion case, DOJ officials suggested it would be far from the last.

[roses-r-rosie3]

Pop!: Let The Chaos Begin

Miguel O'hara x M!Reader

[Pop! Masterlist]

Warnings: Crack, Spideplush being mischievous, Miguel is a victim fr😔

Summary: Miguel is asked by reader to take care of spider plush while he goes to take care of an anomaly and spider plush ends up wreaking havoc but as soon as reader comes back from his mission spider plush acts innocent

A/n: Okay so, originally it was going to be Put It Straight that was going to get a part 2 first but I just got this idea and now I can't stop thinking abt it

Quote: "I'm gonna get back at that little shit head"

✁ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ever since Spider Plush was invited to the society, you have been treating him like your own child. Feeding him, bathing him, cradling him, and more. Miguel would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous from your treatment of Spider Plush. But anyways back to present day.

"Hey babe" You said as you walked into Miguel's office while cradling spider plush in your arms.

"What is it this time?" Miguel grunted.

"I just need you to babysit Spider Plush while I go handle another anomaly" You said as you handed Spider Plush to Miguel.

"Can't he just take care of himsel-"

You interrupted Miguel by giving him the 'don't test me' glare.

"Alright! Have fun and be safe!" Miguel laughed awkwardly.

"Bye Bye Spider Plush, your other dad will take care of you while I'm gone" You said after you gave Spider Plush one last kiss before you opened a portal.

"Dad?!" Miguel yelled as you walked into the portal.

When you were finally gone, everything seemed normal, at first.

"So.. uhhh.. how are you?" Miguel said.

Spider Plush looked at Miguel, blinked a few times, and he immediately got out of Miguel's hands and started to attack him.

"GAHH!" Miguel yelled as the spider plush started to attack his face.

Miguel started to try and tear the Plush off of his face as he stumbled around and accidentally knocking stuff off of his desk. When Miguel finally ripped the plush off of his face, Spider Plush started to run away to cause more chaos.

"No! No! No! No! Come back! Your dad is gonna kill me if you get hurt!" Miguel yelled as he chased the plushie around the building.

The Spider Plush ran into the cafeteria and started throwing food from the other spider people's plates at Miguel. Miguel increasingly got more annoyed as the plushie started to throw more food at him, but all of a sudden a whole plate was thrown at Miguel's head as it shattered to pieces on impact, causing Miguel to stop for a bit.

"OW! You little piece of shit!" Miguel roared as he heard a little laugh coming from Spider Plush.

When Spider plush was done wreaking havoc in the cafeteria, he started running towards the therapy room.

"So what brings you here?" said the spider therapist.

"It- It's about my Uncle" One of the spider people sobbed.

"Agai-"

Spider Plush and Miguel bursted into the room. Spider Plush tried using the spider therapist as a human shield, but failed as Miguel caught him and started to bring him towards the 'go home' Machine.

"I'm done with you, you little piece of shit" Miguel growled, ignoring how Spider Plush kicking at him.

"Margo, prepare the go home machine for spider plush here" Miguel mumbled.

"But won't y/n get mad at you?" Spider byte said worryingly.

"I don't care what y/n will think! This little rodent has put me through hell and back!" Miguel yelled.

"Alright" She said as she started to prepare the go home machine.

Miguel looked on at spider plush as the giant robotic spider came out and was about to send the plush home. Until it stopped.

"Miguel O'Hara!" You screamed.

"Y/n! It- it's not what it looks like!" Miguel said.

Spider Plush saw you and started to make crying noises.

"What did you do to him! You monster! He is supposed to be your son!" You scowled.

"He was causing chaos around the whole building!" Miguel said.

"Spider Plush would do no such thing!" You yelled.

"Y/n! Please! You have to hear me out!" He pleaded.

"I think Spider Plush has been through enough already, I'm going to take him to get a nap" You said as you walked out the room with spider plush hung around your shoulder.

Spider Plush looked up at Miguel and glared at him with mischief in his eyes.

"I'm gonna get back at that little shit head" Miguel grumbled.

[creations-by-chaosfay]

We have our regular bills mostly covered now. I called around for plumbers because we still can't get tub to drain.

First plumber: $159/hour, $5 fuel feed, not sure how long the work will take, obviously, so budget for three hours minimum.

Second plumber: $149 for the trip, no hourly fee, but won't know how much it'll cost until they get here and examine everything. I'll need to cover materials and the cost of the job. The fee for the trip here will be waived if we accept their quote and have them work on it. Could be a $500 job for all we know.

Third plumber: $189 to make the trip here, $149/hour, minimum one hour, trip fee is waived if we hire them. Suggested to budget three hours for this.

I'll be finished with the dining set I'm presently working on. There are loads of scraps, so I'm opening "pay what you want" with a minimum amount.

I'm applying for a grant through a city program here to have the plumbing replaced, but they cover up to $10k. We were quoted $11k two years ago. There's likely a waiting list, and I'm not certain if we'll be approved or not. If we are, yay! If not...well, who wants to pay ahead for some quilts? When I have a machine for my quilting frame that will allow me to quilt items larger than 30x30 inches, your quilt(s) will be first on the list after I practice. With a lot of luck, I'll have a machine by the end of the year.

Here are examples of my work:

[queer-devil]

DRDT Incorrect Quotes Pt 2

Bc it was fun last time

Same generator was used

Eden: Good morning!

Ace: Is it? Is it really?

J: You know what the problem is? Your really cute, so no one ever told you to shut your pie-hole.

Veronika: You think I’m cute?

J: SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLE!

Nico: Hu, Ace keeps bullying me at school.

Hu: Ask your teacher for help.

The next day…

Nico, to their teacher: Will you help me beat up Ace?

Teruko: That's it, I'm cutting off the internet!

Nico: No, please don't! I have a family to feed!

Teruko:

Teruko: What?

Nico: I need to feed my Neopets!

Teruko: Is anyone going to tell me what's going on in here?!

Eden: It's kind of complicated, but Ace-

Teruko: Got it. Forget I asked.

Whit: Yo! I heard you like reptiles, got any fun facts?

Nico: If a crocodile eats your dad, they become your new dad.

Eden: Breathe, just breathe.

Arei: I’ve done nothing with my life! I’m a failure!

David: Awww, that never bothered you before.

Rose: I am not an early bird or a night owl. I am some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.

Whit: If I die, my funeral will be the biggest party ever and you're all invited.

Charles: "If?"

Ace: Great, the only party I'm ever invited to and they might not even die.

Min: I regret getting dragged into your heterosexual tomfoolery.

Whit: Fellas, I gotta know for science. Is the opposite of red green or blue?

Rose: Technically a mix of green and blue?

Ace: So blurple.

Levi: That's implying you're mixing blue and purple.

Ace: Would you rather have fucking bleen? MOTHERFUCKING GRUE?

Levi: You were confusing before but now I'm scared.

David: What are the hardest things to say?

Charles: I was wrong.

Teruko: I need help.

Whit: Worcestershire sauce.

Teruko: Who else is hiding in the laundry room trying to listen to Charles and Whit's convo?

Eden: Me. I'm in the laundry basket.

Veronika: I'm in the washing machine.

Ace: I'm in the closet.

Eden: We accept you Ace.

Ace: No I'm literally in the closet.

Eden: Love is love.

Charles: There's nothing to do....

Whit: You can wash the dishes you promised to wash about a week ago.

Charles: *pulls out his phone* Nevermind.

Veronika, watching Ace: Ah yes. The mysterious and beautiful Ace…

Veronika: …I wonder what sort of melodic sounds this wonderful being makes?

Ace: *screaming*

Eden: What makes you think it's okay to watch Hannibal given its subject matter?

J: Sometimes, I watch television shows for entertainment purposes.

Veronika: Because I condone murder and cannibalism.

Teruko: Why would you give a knife to Xander?!

David, shrugging: Xander felt unsafe.

Teruko: Now I feel unsafe!

David: I’m sorry…

David: Would you like a knife?

J: I have a problem.

Veronika: Kill it.

J: Can you chill for like, two seconds?

Xander: Don’t go picking a fight with me. I could make your life difficult.

Ace, sarcastically: Wow. I wonder what it’d be like to have a difficult life.

Whit: Don't quote me on this, but I believe murder is illegal!

Ace: Come to think of it… You’ve always been nice to me.

Ace: I mean, you listen to all my problems-

Levi: No, Ace I just simply stand here while you talk, there’s a big difference.

Eden: You know what I learned from my friendship with Ace?

Nico: There’s no such thing as too mean?

J: Never let your friends know for sure if you like them?

Levi: Always hold a grudge?

Levi: What situation is not instantly improved by the addition of fishnets, I ask you.

Nico: Being a fish.

Levi: …Well, shit.

David: I don’t mean to be rude—

Teruko: Yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often.

Hu: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

David: ...

David: What a stupid fucking quote.

David: I'm killing way more than two people, idiot.

Eden: You know, Teruko, when you generalize, you tell general... lies.

Teruko: ...

Teruko: Are you trying to teach me moral lessons through puns.

Levi: Hey, Ace, do you have feelings for me?

Ace: Yeah, anger.

[imitationgame77]

Murderbot and ART reading each other's mind

Murderbot claims that ART does not read its mind – that it really knows Murderbot well. But sometimes, it DOES appear as though ART is reading Murderbot’s mind. As if its inner thoughts are leaking into its private feed where ART is sitting and watching.

Here are some examples:

[Quote]

I hate it when ART is right. “I can’t do anything about that.”

You can’t alter your configuration.

I could see the skepticism through the feed. “No, I can’t. Look up the specs on SecUnits.”

SecUnits are never altered. Skepticism intensifying. (Artificial Condition, p.42).

[Comment]

How can see the skepticism through the feed, unless they know each other very well? Murderbot has observed and calibrated ART’s various responses through the hours of joint media viewing, and can now interpret subtle changes in the feed. Basically reading ART.

[Quote]

Its arms were bare, and there was no metal showing and no gun ports. This was not a SecUnit.

I was looking at a sexbot.

That is not the official designation, ART said.

The official designation is ComfortUnit but everybody knows what that means. (Artificial Condition, pp.89-90).

[Comment]

I mean, how can ART tell that Murderbot is looking at a ComfortUnit, thinking of it as a sexbot, without reading its mind?

[Quote]

Without drones, I couldn’t see what it was doing. ART had switched over to Iris’s feed, using her enviro suit camera, and the resolution at this distance wasn’t good. ART needed a field equipment upgrade. Wait, a human would look at it, right?

ART said, Look at it. It’s obvious you’re avoiding it.

Maybe I’m a nervous human who’s afraid of bots, I told ART, but I looked at it anyway. (System Collapse, p.13)

[Comment]

By the beginning of System Collapse, ART is practically always in Murderbot’s head in order to monitor its stats. Murderbot also has the constant awareness of ART’s activities, because of their practically wall-free intimacy. ART can probably hear anything Murderbot is thinking in language (human or machine language) unless Murderbot tries very hard to think privately.

In this scene, it is also sweet that Murderbot does as told by ART, because even though it hates when ART is right, it knows when ART is right (which is always).

[Quote]

(Obviously this is not actually what I’m upset about, it’s just easier to be angry about B-E Unit1’s fuckup and/or disregard for minimum client safety.)

Safer to be angry about it, ART said on our private connection. (System Collapse, p.15)

[Comment]

It really is literally reading Murderbot’s thoughts.

[Quote]

I should have paid more attention. I’d fucked that up, too.

We both fucked that up, ART-drone said. No, it doesn’t read my mind, it just knows me really well. I should have banned refreshment items containing stimulants earlier in the day. (System Collapse, p.133)

[Comment]

Even if ART isn’t reading Murderbot’s mind (which I think it is), ART’s choice of expression is also spot-on.

[Quote]

On our private channel, I asked ART-drone, Is it one of ours?

There’s a 66 percent chance, ART-drone replied. If after our first message they decided to send assistance, they could have met the second pathfinder en route and received the map coordinates that would allow them to locate our exact position.

[…]

Sometimes the thing where it’s like ART reads my mind goes both ways. I said, But you don’t think it is.

No. (System Collapse, pp.191-192).

[Comment]

Murderbot says “it’s like ART reads my mind goes both ways” – even if it is not literally reading its mind, they are so attuned to each other’s processing patterns, that by noting spikes in the feed activities, they can read each other.

For more thorough analysis of implicit communications between Murderbot and ART, I wrote this piece on AO3:

[19-020221]

what is the most iconic quote on hannibal and it why is will telling jack that he sees the ripper "as one of those pitiful things sometimes born in hospitals. they feed it, keep it warm, but they don't put it on the machines. they let it die. but he doesn't die. he looks normal. and no one can tell what he is"????????

[telestoapologist]

Clovis, watching a random titan whale on a Salvation dreg: I'm sure with a little discipline and patience, I could easily reign them in and fix them to be a /proper/ guardian.

Elsie, looking at him with mild disgust and confusion: You're literally worse than them.

[tayasui-mono]

Hi! If you’re okay with this, can you please explain what this quote from Hannibal by Will Graham means: “He's a monster. I see him as one of those pitiful things, sometimes born in hospitals. They feed it, keep it warm, but they don’t put it on the machines. They let it die. But he doesn’t die. He looks normal and nobody can tell what he is.”

Also, if you’re okay with it, can you please share how you feel about it?

*i say heart ripped out pre-mortem and it's not necessarily that, I know. Semantics? What I meant to imply being surgical mutilation and the crime scene having similar ingredients to a Ripper's case.

[femsolid]

French TV is just amazing. I don't own a TV so I only watch it when I'm at other people's place and the news channels are simply phenomenal. We're told a 16 years old guy was killed by the police again (and the police didn't call for an ambulance it's a neighbour who did -10 minutes later- because some kids came to tell him what had happened) so the journalist asks a police union representative to give us his opinion which is of course that if you try to run from the police you should expect to be killed. In other news today Marion Marechal Le Pen is campaigning to revive her nazi party because she wants to "protect her daughters from the anti-police riots and the illegal immigrants who rape french women". Think the journalists are going to address this quote? Nope. Then the journalists discuss the inflation in France and how the prices are so high that french people are struggling to feed themselves (in one of the richest country on earth). A journalist gives us a simple solution: we need to be more responsible and stop buying expensive food. Merde alors! Hadn't thought of that. This way the brands that increase their prices will lose money and stop doing so. Duh! Anyway back to the most pressing matter nationwide right now and for the last decades: should muslim teenage girls be allowed an education if they wear a veil? Survey says... non, apparently. A girl was expelled for wearing what she claims to be an opened black kimono but really is an outrageous religious symbol that threatens our great nation's secularism.

Wow. Not only did she deserve to be expelled but it's definitely worth talking about all day on the news. I'm traumatised just looking at this picture. Of course the great debate is back: how can we stop those provocative muslim girls who are obviously on their way towards islamic radicalisation and terrorism from trying to bypass secularist laws by claiming to be wearing some sort of kimono when really we all know it's just a facade and what they really mean to do is scream allah akbar with a machine gun in their hands? The journalists quickly ask a law professor who explains unironically that this outfit is illegal in much the same way that muslim girls who wear long skirts because they can't wear a hijab are illegal. Almost as if it's not about displaying your religion but belonging to a religion instead. Almost as if girls are forced to show their bodies to men. If I ever doubted selling my TV years ago here is the reminder as to why I did.

[jessicas-pi]

EVEN MORE Teenage Rebellion AU incorrect quotes

Sabine: I'm going to fight the next person who insults Youngest Brother. Youngest Brother: I hate myself. Sabine: Alright, square up.

---

Katka: Sabine, I know you snuck out to see Youngest Brother last night. Sabine: If you tell Juno, I swear I’ll murder you, and she’ll never find the body. Katka: Five bucks? Sabine: Fine.

---

Katka: *about Youngest Brother and Sabine* They make a cute couple, huh? Luke: They certainly are standing next to each other.

---

Youngest Sister: I am very small and I have no money, so you can imagine the kind of stress that I'm under.

---

Youngest Brother: Come on, Leia! How any times do I have to apologize? Leia: Once! Youngest Brother: …No.

---

Sabine: Look guys, I need help. Katka: Love help? Leia: Financial help? Luke: Emotional help? Youngest Brother: Help moving a body? *Everybody looks at Youngest Brother* Youngest Brother: What?

---

Youngest Sister: Honestly, I am so evil. So full of darkness. I feed off the souls of the living I strike fear into- Youngest Brother: Don't you still sleep with my old stuffed tooka? Youngest Sister: He’s my sECOND IN COMMAND IN MY ARMY OF DARKNESS!

---

Katka: Am I right, Sabine? Sabine: I’m almost certain you’re not, but to be fair, I wasn’t listening.

---

First Sister: I’m the smartest, wisest person in the Inquisitorius. Eldest Sister: Really? Then why is your hand stuck in a vending machine? First Sister: I paid for my Mars Bar, I’m getting my Mars Bar.

---

Aylan: When did you become a hero? Youngest Brother: Um… the moment I saved you from getting tortured. Aylan: An Inquisitor is the last person in the galaxy I wanted to rescue me. Youngest Brother: Well… sucks to be you, don’t it.

---

Sabine: You have to apologize to them Youngest Brother. Youngest Brother: Fine! But I must warn you that this might make me a better, nicer guy and that is NOT the person you fell in love with!

---

Seventh Brother: Youngest Brother is at that very special age where a boy only has one thing on his mind. First Sister: Girls? Youngest Brother: Homicide.

---

Katka: How do you know how to kiss? Like who teaches you? Aylan: Well it’s actually a class, but unfortunately it’s full right now. Aylan: Would you like me to tutor you? Sabine: That was smooth.

[honourablejester]

My Top 3 Ravenloft Domains

My three favourite (non-Barovia) Domains of Dread, essentially. With maybe some honourable mentions. Apropos of nothing, I’m just idly rereading some things.

No. 3: Bluetspur

The mind flayer domain. It would get points just because I love cosmic horror, but the thing I actually love most about Bluetspur is that it’s not designed for humans. It’s not a domain you can live in. It’s a domain people get taken to, have horrific things done to them, and then (if they’re lucky) get spat back out of again. It’s alien. A dying world, a vast, tortured, chaotic landscape under a dying red sun, such that even its alien inhabitants, the mind flayers, have to live underground. In, to quote, ‘their ancient metropolis-laboratory’, ruled over by a dying god. It’s not survivable. Not for anyone, not even its god. Bluetspur isn’t a domain you adventure in, it’s a domain that is forced upon you. A domain you have to escape, or rescue someone from, but never, not once, a domain you stay in.

If you’re in the mood for alien abduction, wiped memories, horrific psychic experimentation, incredibly inhospitable environments, and an alien world that is genuinely dying all around you, Bluetspur is worth a look. It’s a fantastic backstory horror to give to inhabitants of other domains, too. Extremely Lovecraftian, think the Plateau of Leng, with some William Hope Hodgson throw in for good measure.

No. 2: Richemulot

The plague domain. Look. Have you played Dishonored? Did you enjoy Dishonored? Would you like to play in an equally plague-infested series of cities ruled over by incredibly corrupt aristocrats who would not remotely balk at using bioweapons on their own people for their own selfish ends? Because if so, Richemulot is the domain for you! The rhythm of the domain is dictated by a rat-borne plague that ebbs and flows but is never successfully eradicated, and it may turn out there’s a reason for that. Navigate the fear, the sickness, the quarantines. Do you intend just to survive, to make it out? Or are your sights set higher, towards the eradication of this ever-present threat?

Look. The Pied Piper of Hamelin was one of my favourite fairytales, and Dishonored is one of my favourite video games. Richemulot is about paranoia, terror and control, the claustrophobia of the quarantine, the horror of corruption. Which, granted, given recent events, might not be what anyone’s in the mood for, but I do enjoy it.

No. 1: Lamordia

The Frankenstein domain. With some other influences mixed in. Lamordia is a fascinating mix of gothic, industrial and environmental horror, with a little bit of nuclear paranoia sprinkled in. An industrial hellscape of cities and universities pinned between a frozen sea and an irradiated mountain range, Lamordia is all mines and factories and broken bodies, relentless and remorseless progress, the flesh blackened and burned (by frostbite or radiation) and fed to the machine. You will be ground down, you will be broken, and you will be remade. Lamordia is a very 19th-to-mid-20th century sort of domain, the horrors of the industrial revolution made manifest. Staked out in a frozen and lethal world, this industrial hub uses science to write its own horrors, as terrible as anything one might find in the wastes. There are iron-clad whaling ships carving through the ice to feed the cities, there are mines where strange ores emit dangerous radiation and mutated monsters roam, there are universities where amoral scientists exploit the poor for experimental subjects, there are vast industries fed by bodies both living and dead. It’s a fantastically evocative setting, and I adore it. Lamordia is easily my favourite domain of dread. If you want a campaign built around bodily autonomy, class conflict, mad science, industrial revolution, worker’s rights, and environmental pressures, this is the domain for you.

(For real, I want to play a campaign where the party’s trying to get a worker’s revolution off the ground in Ludendorf, complicated by the facts that a) without industry the city literally freezes and starves to death, b) it’s hard to maintain morale when the factory bosses can, with the help of the universities and their mysterious backer, literally kill you, rebuild you, and put your corpse back on the assembly line, and c) death is the least worrying fate you could be landed with for trying to shake up the status quo. I don’t know, I feel like that would be an interesting storyline, you know?)

But, yes. Favourite Ravenloft domain, for sure.

Honourable mentions:

Cyre 1313, The Mourning Rail. It’s a haunted train that travels the Mists, fleeing a disaster they don’t realise has already killed them, inhabited by ghosts who don’t realise they’re dead, and a mysterious passenger who damned them all once upon a time. It’s fantastic, no notes.

The Sea of Sorrows. Just. The whole thing. I love nautical horror, we all know this.

Mordent. It’s just a good old-fashioned haunted-house-and-ghostly-moors domain, and I’m a sucker for a classic ghost story.

So, for a summary, I did rather enjoy Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft? Heh. I do like my fantasy (and science fiction) with a generous dash of horror for spice. And Ravenloft has a lot to offer outside of Barovia and Strahd, though of course I’d never knock the OG darklord and his domain.

Pardon the random diversion, and carry on!