#"Feeding The Machine"

[brodyfoxxsmassivetits]

God I love people with funny animal traits got me chewing on the doorframes I need more what does Edd do what does duardo do ruaaaagghhh

i phoned em in on this one srry guy</3 MID I say mid

Tysm for the ask :3

I really very enjoy doing asks ..smile!

[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.

[txjis]

gojo being overly dramatic about you getting hit on in public

cw: none, he’s just being a DIVA

wc: uhhh 550 ish?

it was a sunny tuesday. birds were chirping, the vending machine outside the café wasn’t broken for once, and you were just trying to enjoy your iced matcha in peace when he appeared.

not gojo. which in reality it was rare for him to be your peace, but at least he was your headache.

it was some random guy in a leather jacket.

“hey,” leather jacket guy said, leaning casually against your table like it was a scene from a CW drama. “you come here often?”

you blinked. “seriously?”

“i just had to say, you’ve got a smile that could end wars.” before you could answer—or groan loudly—an intense shift in the atmosphere rolled through the café like a tsunami of egotism and infinity.

the bell above the door jangled. in walked gojo satoru. wearing three pairs of sunglasses for no apparent reason and holding a churro. he stopped, froze, and slowly removed one pair of sunglasses to squint at the scene before him.

“you’ve got to be kidding me,” he whispered, as though witnessing a shakespearean betrayal. “is this…? is this a flirtation? in my presence? in broad daylight?”

you sighed. “toru’—”

“no, no. don’t defend him, pookiebear. don’t defend this man, this… don juan cosplay reject. i am wounded.” he dramatically clutched his chest like a victorian widow, churro trembling in his hand.

the random man glanced between you and gojo, raising an eyebrow. “uh, is this guy bothering you?” gojo gasped so hard the barista dropped a tray in the background.

“am i bothering you? i— the light of your life, the infinity in your domain, the six-eyed snack of tokyo—bothering you?” you covered your face with your hands. gojo stepped forward, dramatically tossing his churro into a trash bin like a samurai abandoning his sword.

“you have exactly three seconds to remove yourself from this table, sir, before i begin quoting poetry. LOUDLY.”

“…poetry?” the guy said, confused.

“bad poetry,” you added solemnly. “he means his own poetry.” leather jacket guy mumbled something about needing to feed his dog and left so fast the door almost came off its hinges.

gojo turned to you, victorious.

“you’re welcome.”

you sipped your matcha, staring at him over the rim. “are you done?”

gojo slumped into the seat across from you, fanning himself. “barely. do you know what that did to me emotionally? i saw someone trying to flirt with you, and i went through all five stages of grief in ten seconds. it was like watching you get proposed to by a hedgehog with a credit card.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” you sighed.

“neither does the pain I feel in my soul,” he said, reaching across the table dramatically, knocking over the napkin holder. “i was this close to activating my domain expansion. right in the middle of the café. you would’ve been impressed.”

“you would’ve gotten banned.” you tried to point out, knowing the logistics of the statement would fall on deaf ears.

“a small price to pay for love.”

later that evening, you caught gojo writing in a small black notebook.

“what are you doing?” you asked, shifting your feet that were originally sat in his lap while you two were lounging around in the livingroom.

“crafting a haiku about betrayal,” he said, not looking up. “it’s called ‘leather jackets can’t protect you from infinity.’”

“do i even want to hear it?” he looked up, eyes glittering behind his remaining pair of sunglasses. he must’ve took the second pair off sometime earlier. “you always want to hear my poetry.”

you definitely did not.

but it was oddly endearing how passionate he was about any and everything revolving around you.

even if he kept trying to avenge your honor over a mildly flirtatious greeting like it was the plot of a k-drama written by a drunk raccoon.

leather jackets can’t protect you from infinity

by gojo satoru (a very wounded man)

sunglasses stacked high—

he flirted. i saw. i wept.

infinity burns.

[4vanaa]

—PILOT “Family Dinner (Or Whatever This Is)” outer banks modern family au

[It’s family dinner night at Pope and Cleo’s house—an attempt at a civilized gathering that, predictably, turns into an absolute disaster before it even starts. Each family is scrambling to get ready, kids are causing havoc, and in classic Modern Family fashion, the confessionals, give us an inside look at just how unhinged this crew really is.]

[LO: CAMERON HOUSEHOLD]

The camera cuts to Rafe standing in the living room, staring at a screaming Poppy (3), who has decided she doesn’t want to wear clothes. Milo (10) is sitting on the couch, fully dressed but casually eating a Pop-Tart, while Ava (15) is still upstairs, refusing to come down.

CONFESSIONAL Rafe & You

YOU: deadpan “We’re supposed to leave in five minutes.”

RAFE: chuckling, gesturing to the mess behind him “Yeah… that’s not happening.”

YOU: “Ava won’t come downstairs, Poppy is running around naked, and Milo—” glares off-camera“—MILO, STOP FEEDING THE DOG CHIPS.”

RAFE: shrugs “At least the dog’s eating.”

—Cut to Ava upstairs, dramatically lying on her bed, scrolling on her phone.

CONFESSIONAL Ava

AVA: “I don’t even know why we have these family dinners. Every time, someone storms out, someone cries, and last time Uncle JJ almost set the backyard on fire.” pause “It was kind of iconic, though.”

—Smash cut to Rafe yelling up the stairs, “AVA, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE OR YOU’RE GROUNDED.”

CONFESSIONAL Poppy

POPPY: grinning, wearing fairy wings and no pants “Daddy said a bad word.”

[LO: MAYBANK HOUSEHOLD]

The Maybank house is too calm, which is a bad sign. Jax (7) is fully dressed but covered in dirt, while Maya (12) is filming a TikTok dance in the kitchen. Kai (16), still shirtless, is texting someone suspiciously while JJ is making nachos instead of getting dressed.

CONFESSIONAL Kiara & JJ

KIARA: “JJ doesn’t understand the concept of—” hand quotes “— getting ready.”

JJ: mouth full of nachos “That’s because dinner is at seven, and it is currently—” checks phone “—not seven.”

KIARA: death glare

Meanwhile, Jax is whispering something to Milo(who is FaceTiming him), clearly planning some kind of mischief.

CONFESSIONAL Jax & Maya

JAX: grinning mischievously “Milo and I are bringing stink bombs.”

MAYA: rolling her eyes “This is why we’re never invited anywhere nice.”

—Cut to Kiara snatching JJ’s nachos, forcing him upstairs. Kai is still standing there, texting, when Kiara calls him out—

KIARA: “Kai. Shirt. Now.”

KAI: grinning “Ava likes this one.”

JJ: (off-screen): “Damn right she does—OW! KIE!”

[LO: ROUTLEDGE HOUSEHOLD]

Sarah is running around, trying to wrangle Lily (9) & Bennett (4) into their shoes, while Carter (14) is sitting on the counter, eating chips, and doing absolutely nothing to help. John B is... well, he’s looking for his shoes.

CONFESSIONAL John B & Sarah

SARAH: exasperated “We’re late every. Single. Time.”

JOHN B: defensive “Okay, but, like, time is a social construct.”

SARAH: “Tell that to Cleo when we show up forty-five minutes late and she glares at us until we die.”

—Smash cut to Carter smirking.

CONFESSIONAL Carter

CARTER: “Mom and Dad are always late. I don’t even try to get ready until at least ten minutes after they freak out. At this point, it’s a science.”

[LO: HEYWARD HOUSEHOLD]

Pope and Cleo are setting up dinner, the only responsible people in the entire family. Zara (13) is helping, while Jude (8) is sneakily trying to set up a booby trap near the front door.

CONFESSIONAL Pope & Cleo

POPE: stressed “This is a simple dinner. Why is that impossible?”

CLEO: deadpan “Because we’re related to crazy people.”

The doorbell rings. It’s Topper, who has arrived early with Finn (15) & Ruby (6).

CONFESSIONAL Topper

TOPPER: smug “I don’t know why it’s so hard for everyone to be on time. My family runs like a well-oiled machine.”

—Cut to Ruby throwing a juice box at Finn’s head while he scrolls through his phone, completely unfazed.

༝ Your family shows up fifteen minutes late, and Poppy is still wearing fairy wings (but now has pants).

༝ JJ & Kiara’s kids immediately run off with Jax’s stink bombs.

༝ John B & Sarah arrive last(again), and Cleo just glares at them.

༝ Ruby and Bennett start a war over the last dinner roll.

༝ Ava & Kai are flirting, which makes Rafe visibly twitch.

༝ Jude’s booby trap actually works, and Topper gets hit with a bucket of water.

CONFESSIONAL Pope

POPE: staring blankly at the camera, wine glass in hand “I hate them all.”

CONFESSIONAL JJ & Rafe

JJ: “See, this is why we don’t try to be responsible.”

RAFE: “You don’t try because you’re lazy.”

JJ: grinning “And yet, here we are. Surviving. Thriving. Watching Topper get hit with a bucket.”

—Cut to Topper still dripping wet, cursing under his breath as Ruby and Bennett cackle.

CONFESSIONAL Poppy & Bennett

POPPY: whispers “Uncle Barry said this family is crazy.”

BENNETT: nodding seriously “Uncle Barry is right.”

—Smash cut to Barry arriving fashionably late with a six-pack of beer and a bag of chips, looking at the disaster in front of him.

CONFESSIONAL Barry

BARRY: grinning “Yeah, this is exactly why I don’t have kids.”

[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.

[dustinheaven059]

No, you’re not fixing the mentally ill, dude. You’re not some fucking saint of redemption, so get over it.

Don’t act like you’re the savior of all broken souls just because you typed a few kind words on Tumblr. The truth is, people don't owe you their recovery. You can't fix someone who doesn't want to be fixed, and pushing that agenda onto others only makes it worse. Recovery isn't a neat little package wrapped in advice and support posts—it’s messy, painful, and personal. So stop pretending you're the key to someone's healing just because you slapped a 'You matter' sticker on their feed. We can see you're trying to help, but some wounds aren't healed by hashtags and self-help quotes.

They say, "Mental health professionals care about you." But do they? Or are you merely an investment—an asset for the future? Whether you become a smoker, a substance abuser, or just another weary soul suffocating under the weight of existence, you remain a cog in the machine. They care because your suffering fuels an industry—economically, professionally. Not because you, as a person, matter.

School does not prepare you for a career; it conditions you for obedience. It molds you into a well-trained servant of expectation, rewarding compliance and punishing defiance. And yet, people believe the system is built for their well-being. No, darling, it is built for its own survival. Mental health professionals care that you are alive—but not that you are living. There is a difference.

If true care were the foundation of this system, why are those who need only a little effort to heal instead confined to sterile white rooms, left to unravel further? It is not about healing. It is about preservation—preserving the cycle, preserving the economy, preserving the illusion of sanity. They do not care if you lose your mind, so long as you do not lose your pulse.

Would they call me a 'hopeless case' if I were wrapped in wealth? No. They would call it "progress," even if nothing changed. Money has a way of turning despair into "resilience." And if they did abandon a rich patient as hopeless, well—either they had exhausted every possible cent from them, or the abyss inside was simply too vast to be monetized.

It is not about humanity. It is about perception. Who cares if an 11-year-old boy carves his pain into his skin? Who cares if a 17-year-old girl trades her body for the illusion of love? Who cares if a 7-year-old is tormented by a body that does not feel like their own? Who cares if a 36-year-old woman surrenders to her hallucinations because reality is too unbearable? Who cares if a 21-year-old man is drowning in visions so vivid they become indistinguishable from truth? Who cares if a 61-year-old woman clings to the ghost of her son, longing to follow him?

The list is endless. The suffering is endless. And yet, none of it matters—not unless it becomes a headline, a viral sensation, a story fit to be consumed and discarded by the masses. Only then does the world pretend to care.

So spare me the naive platitudes. "Mental health professionals care about you!" they say. No. Most care only about keeping you just functional enough to keep the system running. After all, a dead investment yields no returns.

But who cares? I am just a dreamer, adrift in a delusion—swaying in the direction the world has already chosen for me.

And for those of you who try to 'save' those here with savior complex:

Stop trying to fix people. We’re not some fucking shattered vases waiting for your glue. We're not broken objects for you to repair with your shallow understanding of 'healing.' Our struggles are not puzzles for you to solve or wounds for you to mend with empty words. We don’t need you to put us back together in the image you deem acceptable. We're not here for your redemption complex, and we don’t owe you our healing on your timeline.

[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!

[elodieunderglass]

I've become obsessed with your jockeyposting and Killie (beloved wet cat), and i wanted to ask a question about racehorses. you've mentioned that Killie competes both flat and jumps, and this is unusual but not unheard of for jockeys. is it similar for the horses themselves or do they always keep to one discipline? if so, which one does Thunder compete in??

(thank you so much for sharing these guys, they're so fun to ponder!! <3)

Thank you so much, it’s lovely to hear that and I love to ponder them too! Thank you for pondering with me!

Racehorses tend to keep to a discipline! There is SOME crossover (Tiger Roll is a horse who moved from flat racing to jump and did well) but they tend to be bred for one discipline or the other. They're all Thoroughbreds, so keeping VERY tightly within the same exact breed of horse, but they're on different career tracks and prioritise different things.

O Holy Thunder is a great big jump racer. He's a reasonable age, around 9 years old, I think, and has known and hated Killie for a long time. <3 their relationship is so beautiful

I really liked this throwaway quote from coverage of the Golden Button, which puts the difference in horse builds in terms of cars: “Flat racing horses are the Formula 1 speed machines, National Hunt [jump] horses are more like World Rally Championship, and the horse you need for the Golden Button [rough cross-country race open to mixed-breed horses and amateur riders] is something out of Mad Max.”

I go off on some explanations/tangents below:

Flat racing is what most of the world does. High purses, dirt tracks, super fast-paced, SUPER young horses, super lightweight jockeys, all over in 2 minutes. Horses start their training as toddlers and are thought of as investments - expensive pieces of property that might win large purses of cash and retire to breeding where they could command high stud fees. It’s also an international sport, with major players including Japan, the UAE and Hong Kong. In general, with flat racing, the animals are the jewels of capitalism, and breeding pressures reflect that - increasingly favouring animals that can be the fastest sprinter in two minutes at the age of two. Breeding for the international market increasingly means breeding fast little burnouts with expensive gametes for this purpose.

Jump racing, called steeplechasing in the States, is also called National Hunt in Europe. It is mostly really popular in the UK, Ireland and France. It’s slower, more dangerous and takes longer; the horses are bigger, older, stronger, better trained, and have more temperament and focus. Interestingly, for a long time, there hasn’t been the same emphasis on stud fees - and many male National Hunt horses are gelded! Their owners pass up the chance to make breeding bucks in favour of bringing out the horse’s focus and behaviour. (Thunder really ought to be gelded, but his owner doesn’t want him to be.) this is a distinct contrast to flat racing, where horses are raced young and hard, to build up their value, and then bred a lot and then minced. Steeplechasers are objectively less valuable as bloodstock and cost more to feed and train - they seem to start around age 5 and are shiniest around age 9 - but are more Serious Athletes With Careers.

National Hunt horses need to be moderately intelligent, expensively trained, have good judgment and stamina, and be very good at jumping. Their races are longer - the Grand National’s like 10 minutes long and over four miles with seven MILLION thirty jumps, most of which are like 5 feet high and some of which are also insane.

Brown thoroughbred horsies always look exactly the same, but steeplechase horsies are a bit heavier, favouring stamina and strength.

Forever Young, 4 yo Japanese flat racer / I Am Maximus, 9 yo French-bred British jumpy boy. Almost identical horses in an almost identical pose, same breed/colour/etc, but the flat racer looks like A Baby to me, you know?

Steeplechases are also the ones that get protested more by animal rights activists, because you might see a horsie die falling at a jump. Jockey deaths, and the fact that flat racers are generated and privately culled in far larger volumes, as a sort of convoluted way for rich people to support the dogmeat industry, are far less aesthetic, and therefore unimportant. And the fact that the rich owners are mincing the PLANET for their day jobs is not important or worthy of protest at all 😌

In a separate post at some point, I'd like to go off on a rant about the racing industry and how it's separating the flat racers into a strain of freakout-out little puppymill creatures, because Right Wing, but it accidentally turned into a land justice/political/animal rights post, and I am trying ✋not to get into it

Gosh, thank you so much though, I really love meeting and chatting with people about BONKERS SPORT WITH SOOOO MUCH INFORMATION and my rancid OCs 💖

[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.

[stygiansauce]

since MOE tango is a big romantic, does he watch really really romantic movies? like jimmy gives off the rom-com feel but is tango like… the 2005 pride & prejudice movie type? very like “you must know- surely you must know this was all for you.” (real quote from the movie, made me sob when i first watched it)

- 💿

NO CAUSE CD THIS IS CANON!

my undying love for 2005 pride and Prejudice is insane. I watch it everytime I'm sad, its the only movie I've ever willingly seen more than once I hate rewatching movies.

Tango is the biggest romantic in the world and I cannot express this enough. Like you'll see it more as MOE goes on because he is so freaking traditional southern boy with a bleeding heart. hes all "I don't do emotions, I like machines" and he's soooooo full of shit. The things he does for Jimmy in later chapters are seriously so goopy and soft and cute. I say MOE is hurt comfort, and it is, but the comfort is like Comfort. capital C. ough I love him.

MOE Tango my love. REALLY IS a "surely you must know this was all for you." because its a legit plot line that he does things ONLY for Jimmy. I can talk about one of them, but Jimmy mentions in chapter three how Tango uses pet names with other characters. Not once have I written him using a pet name with anyone but Jimmy. (endearments sure, but not pet names)

this is because the second he realized this thing with Jimmy might be for real, he stopped using them with others. He removed all proof that he might be intrested in someone other than Jimmy. Does HE know he did that? i dont know honestly. I know though, as the author, that he did that. There is a system of pet names too. Like Jimmy hasn't been called them all yet (shocking I know). But there is one name he reserves for someone he is dating. and they aren't really at that point yet, so he doesn't use it (YET). It will appear soon and you'll notice that once he slips up and says it, he can't stop. Personally, I think MOE tango is very head empty. he only knows Jimmy, engineering, sweet tea, and charm. He sooooo dumb yet so smart. I love him. I carry him in my purse and feed him grahm crackers. He means the world to me.

[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.

[mad-hatter-memes]

Ice Nine Kills: The Silver Scream Starters

A collection of dialogue prompts from the songs of Ice Nine Kills "The Silver Scream" album. Feel free to edit quotes as necessary.

TW: Swearing, threats, violent and gory references, suggestive references

The American Nightmare

"Rest your head, here's a lullaby."

"Welcome to your worst nightmare!"

"But I won't be forsaken."

"The beast has been awakened"

"It's fate that I'm still here."

They all think it's just pretend..."

"You'll never ever sleep again."

"All your friends are fucking dead!"

"You can't turn down your own deathbed."

Thank God It's Friday

"Throats get slit in this neck of the woods."

"You just scratched the surface of the curse of the [Location]"

"Thank god it's Friday..."

"Did you know my son drowned in this lake?"

"He should have been supervised. But the counselors were off having filthy sex!"

"His name was [Name], and today is his birthday..."

"Don't you know he'll never be gone for good?"

"We'll never get out of the woods..."

Stabbing in The Dark

"Oh doctor, can't you see...?"

"These are the devils eyes!"

"Your kids won't make it home tonight."

"I'll haunt you day after day..."

"I've carved up quite a scene!"

"You can't kill the boogeyman!"

"He is armed and extremely dangerous..."

"Shoot to kill. I repeat, shoot to kill."

"It's either you or some kid down the street"

"Trick or fuckin' treat!"

SAVAGES

"We're lethal liabilities 'till we die."

"Mess with the horns, and you get the devil!"

"You're not invincible."

"Stay on your side of the tracks, if you know what's good..."

"You won't make it out of our neighborhood."

The Jig is Up

"Morality takes casualties..."

"My blueprint to salvation shall breed a worthy generation."

"You want to play a fucking game?!"

"I saw through the selfish but saw no soul..."

"They're all just gears in my machine."

"They said they had a purpose, but they're losing their composure..."

"They said that they were grateful, but the jig is up..."

"Will you find integrity, when there's nothing left of me?"

A Grave Mistake

"Till death do us part came far too soon..."

"Buildings burn and people die all of the time."

"You can't save yourself or save your soul."

"Payback for what you took from me!"

"No forgiveness, just farewell."

"May you rest in pieces..."

Rocking the Boat

"Shark!"

"This is [Name], do you read me?"

"This is an official distress call, over."

"There's a monster lurking underneath!"

"I've got a fish to fry that's feeding on the weak."

"We're all just floating in a shallow grave."

"We'll compare scars with each other 'till our very last breath."

"The boat is under attack, it's a great white!"

"In fifteen minutes we'll be fucking shark bait!"

"Last chance to make amends, so try to stay afloat."

"We'll need a bigger boat!"

Enjoy Your Slay

"Going down, sir?"

"The writing on my walls will tell you how it's gonna be"

"Can't you see that you're just rats within my halls?!"

"To hell with hospitality!"

"Don't overlook the past..."

"If you need help finding peace of mind, don't hesitate to ask."

"We're here to help you on your way."

"Oh, I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm just gonna bash your fucking brains in!"

"Hey, [Name], come play with us..."

"I'll hit your whole bloodline!"

"Shall we tell old [Name] what he's won?"

Freak Flag

"We kept the pace, but we're done pretending."

"We're all messed up inside, and forced to act like everything's alright..."

The World in My Hands

"How'd I end up here?"

"I'm a stranger in this body..."

"The world's an ugly place..."

"I had to disappear, so it would all just go away..."

"The end is drawing near..."

"God I wish you would've stayed..."

"I almost held the world in my hands."

Merry Axe-Mas

"If you meet Santa Claus tonight boy...You better run for your life!"

"Don't ask for Santa's forgiveness..."

"You will believe in me."

"I won't leave a witness."

"So much for a "merry" Christmas..."

"So much for a "silent" night..."

"You're a slave to your vice."

"I'm gonna find out who's naughty or nice."

"[Name]'s taking out the trash."

"It's fucking garbage day!"

Love Bites

"The softer the skin, the sharper the teeth."

"It's tearing me apart..."

"It's us or them..."

"Call the nurse, cause it's worse when I'm alone..."

"I've fallen to a curse I can't disown..."

"Is it all in my head?"

"This is love I just can't live without."

"I'm counting on beauty to kill off the beast."

"You bit off more than you could chew."

"Now it's time to put me down..."

IT is the End

"Did you hear my circus was in town?"

"It seems I have your boat here..."

"Just reach your hands down here and take it!"

"Step right this way..."

"I'm at your service with a smile"

"I've got some big fucking shoes to fill!"

"Follow me and I'll show you the truth..."

"It's more than just a costume and red balloons."

"You know what makes me smile?"

"They say laughter's the best medicine!"

Your Number's Up

"I'm sorry sir, but I think you have the wrong number."

Tell me your name and I'll tell you mine."

"I wanna know who I'm looking at."

"Don't you know not to ask those questions?!"

"What will become of me?"

"You ought to know it's a sure death sentence!"

"Have you not seen this movie?!"

"I won't fall victim to the blade!"

"I wanna see what your insides look like..."

"How could you be so evil?!"

"Bitch, I'll leave your body on the cutting room floor!"

"All bets are off, I just buried [Name]!"

"Just let me go!"

"The call's still listed as unknown..."

[straycalamities]

old aromantic man yells at cloud under cut AUGH

maybe its the aro, but i also genuinely think its not only aros that yearn to have a significant relationship with a "best friend" that goes into the "gray area of romance"

i quote that because it literally doesnt all have to be seen as romantic is the thing and i think people deep down understand this on some level and yearn for it

i think the only thing i truly dislike overall from romo-shipping culture (other than omegaverse existing. rage. hatred.) is that it kinda devours people just being besties or just being so signifcant to each other in a non-romantic way. but then everyone's turning to hyping up "familial" relationships made it even worse. cuz now it's like oh they're non-romantic? oohhh they must be siblings...or parent/child...

like no what if people were just friends and that was also seen as significant. or enemies. or foils. or even coworkers. and all of that be seen as significant for what it is

i feel like this is especially true in fandoms into real life ppl/celebrities/influencers/etc. i feel like that's where it actually starts to become a big frustrating problem

fiction is something else because you can simply change the rules if you want, in your head, with headcanons, but you cant (or at least you really shouldnt and im judging you if you do) headcanon real people. if they say otherwise about this, or shipping, or whatever then ok thats their prerogative, BUT then ppl take one guy (gnc) saying this to mean they have permission for every guy (gnc) and it's like ok idc if people have been doing this with real living persons for centuries, we've been doing all kindsa other jacked up shit to each other for millennia am i supposed to suddenly be okay with that too because it's always been done? 😭 idk i dont mean for this to be all about how i dont support RPF and how parasocializing and celebrity worship has fucked over everyone's brains and warped them into dehumanizing people as normal even more than all of us being so online in general has and finding every buzzword that sounds like justification they can to okay it

but it is kinda linked to my point. i dont mean this in the whole "men are scared to be best friends for fear of being seen as Gay" i mean it as "a whole shitload of people are redirecting deep non-romantic relationships into just feeding the alloromantic normativity machine and my little aro ass is getting kinda tired of it"

i mean it in "everyone keeps trying to put relationships into neat little labeled boxes that have these hard and rigid rules to them and my loves-to-appreciate-the-depth-and-variety-of-human-emotions-and-relationships" ass is even more tired of this than the other thing

even in MY shipping. yes i say "shipping" yes i draw charas kissing, hugging, dating, intimacy. but i dont always mean romantically. because i remember the era when shipping could be whatever. it just meant you liked that those characters were significant to each other. and now it's become only one kinda thing (maybe two if youre differentiating between sexual and romantic shipping or a mix of the two)

and now i wish there was a word just for what i mean 😓 (and other ppl like me) that was just...yes i like these two (or more) charas together and idc what flavor of what it is theyre doing i enjoy it. and i wish that it could also not be seen as meaning less or just being lesser than romantic shipping

IM SO TIRED OF ROMANCE OUTWEIGHING AND EVEN OVERSHADOWING EVERY OTHER RELATIONSHIP PLEASE AND IM TIRED OF THE ONLY OTHER OPTION BEING NUCLEAR FAMILY DYNAMICS

i remember when "found family" didnt mean literal Mom Dad Son Daughter shit sighs

i also just think that if we saw friendships and best-friendships as more significant it'd also help with how so many people feel so damn lonely all the time just because they're "single" or whatever. it'd also mean less ppl jump into harmful romantic relationships, ignoring all red flags, just because it means they have a relationship

if they're getting social, inter-personal fulfillment outside a romantic relationship and it's treated as significant as that is. because it IS. think about your best friend, and the relationship yall have. or past best friends. its amazing! its deep! its meaningful!

think about even just your friends even if yall arent super close and how you still smile if you meet up or see them come online or get a text from them. or that coworker at your job that you probably wouldnt hang out with outside of work but they still make your shift less torture. IDK

look at the beauty and variety of your connections with other humans and how a lot of them you dont even have a term or name for. it's just. significant.

the stranger that smiled genuinely at you when you held the door open for them while you were having the worst day of your life and, for a moment, the world wasnt so bad

you'll never see that person again, but you'll probably never forget it. and even if you forget their eyes or the color of their hair, you'll never forget how it made you feel.

that's what i'm talking about. and i feel like you shouldn't have to be an aromantic person to appreciate that kinda stuff and the world would be sooo much better for it. what if we just fuckin appreciated our fellow man yknow????? especially when all the evil powers that be in the world are trying to make us turn on each other and eat each other alive so they dont have to do as much work

[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: