#also take all of the this with a grain of salt

[loveandlegacy]

the thing that extra rules/is extra chilling is that he arguably might not have gotten his daughter back if you really think about it, or may have gotten an outrageously fucked up half-version of her.

this is kind of a shaky theory that hinges on old lore but in league orianna basically gets her body replaced in pieces over time as different organs fail due to her exposure to toxins in zaun. as this happens she starts to lose her sense of self and becomes increasingly alienated from the idea of whoever orianna was before all these transformations. but in the show it seems like she just. died. and then came back as a little robot girl which imo has some outrageously traumatic implications. like to go from your last memories being "dying" to "waking up in a body that you don't recognize at all"? lol no way she's normal

also linke said (tho take this with a grain of salt) that in the show sky was part of what brought orianna back to life. i'm not entirely sure how to interpret this but one way you could take it is that whatever fragments of her consciousness or memory remained in the hexcore (or wherever lol) got imbued into orianna, thereby creating someone with a distinctly different and possibly fractured personality upon her resurrection.

all of which i feel like singed.....possibly knew could happen? given that it clearly wasn't his first attempt at bringing people or animals back from the dead but he did it anyway because he just kind of likes the idea of having his daughter back regardless of the actual consequences of that and that feels profoundly on brand for him

absolutely obsessed that singed of all characters took the fattest W in the end like here's dr. plotdevice mcwarcrimes chilling in the background actively making things worse for everyone through the whole show but was so committed to minding his own business he walked out completely unscathed with his daughter newly restored. king shit honestly

[allastoredeer]

Overlord politics! I love reading about overlord politics and how it relate to how they all coexist and tolerate each other without going into turf wars everyday in Hell!

GOSH I love thinking about Overlord politics so much and why they aren't constantly trying to kill each other. Moreover, how they ended establishing what is, essentially, a council so they're all running the city together while also having the freedom to run their own districts.

There has to be a system of checks and balances.

Carmilla Carmine sells angelic weapons for crying out loud. Weapons that could kill the Overlords. They have to be watching her like a fucking hawk to make sure she's not going to turn against them.

The Vee's have control of almost all media AND have the means to spy and collect intel on all the other Overlords. They have to have some degree of restraint so it doesn’t look like they’re stepping on the other Overlords toes and painting themselves as a direct threat to them and their people.

Rosie owns all the cannibals. We know she's not as powerful as the other Overlords (I believe Viv confirmed that, but take it with a grain of salt), but the other Overlords don't mess with her. At all. Why does she get to have a monopoly on the cannibals? Is it just that she gets to them first? Or are the cannibals so much of a risk, are so unruly and unpredictable, that the other Overlords happily pass them over to Rosie so she can keep control of them?

And Alastor???? This guy who came out of nowhere, has no territory as far as we're aware, and just...offed a fuck-ton of Overlords and gained so much power overnight that the other Overlords didn't even have a chance to step in. They go on with theirs live, meeting up with each other, with Alastor in the same room, knowing that somehow, someway, he has killed (permanently killed) multiple of their associates, and that he could do the same to them if the fancy hits him? I know Carmilla brushed him off during the meeting, but like???? Can you imagine the first Overlord meeting Alastor showed up at? Him just sitting with the handful of Overlords he spared after mass-murdering their colleagues????

I have so many thoughts about the Overlords, their politics, and how they run the city together. So. Many. Thoughts.

[musashi]

Musing on Movie!Nessa's Future in Part 2

A lot of people simultaneously expressing confusion alongside their celebration of Nessarose finally being played by a wheelchair user, because her being able to walk in act 2 is obviously a huge plot point--the spell cast on the shoes is what turns them into the ruby slippers which establishes the continuity and leads to a bunch of other plot threads, etc etc.

This is obviously the reason a lot of people give for her being played by an able-bodied actress in the past, it's obviously a bullshit reason because a huge majority of wheelchair users are ambulatory and can walk and stand for varying periods of time just fine. So like. They could have still had an ambulatory wheelchair user playing her, but I digress: the point is she is played by Marissa Bode in the movie. A wheelchair user, hurray!

These are just the opinions of someone who is not a wheelchair user so take them with a grain of salt (and please speak up if you have your own stuff to say as a member of the community!) but from what I can see as someone who's been insane about Wicked for about 15 years now, the movie did a lot of good for Nessa's character. Previously, the ableism toward her was baked into the metanarrative itself, but it's now been moved to a more realistic place--the characters within the story.

Previously Nessa was treated with little agency or autonomy not only by the characters but by the people writing the story. Most notably of all, her chair is constantly being grabbed and wheeled around by other characters. The movie corrects this--she is very rarely wheeled around except by her father (and he is called out for his coddling/infantilizing of her by Elphaba within 2 minutes of their introduction) and the one time a stranger tries to do this in what reads even to me as a genuinely traumatizing and far too familiar scene for any wheelchair user to have to sit through, Elphaba immediately fucking goes apeshit and starts throwing fucking furniture. Nessa herself also tries to advocate for herself and tell the professor in question to stop kidnapping/assaulting her and is, again, realistically not listened to.

This last bit obviously happens in the stage musical too but Nessa's own agency is much less pronounced. The movie adds little things here and there to give her more of that agency--Elphaba's protectiveness is much less "I have to help and watch over my poor disabled sister" and much more "I have to make sure no one underestimates or takes advantage of her." Even the plot detail that Elphaba was not there to be her caretaker but just to drop her off and make sure she got settled in her dorm adds leaps and bounds to Nessa's autonomy. Her and Boq's shared look in the opening ceremonies where they both bond beforehand at their inability to see over the crowds' standing ovation. And of course, the dance scene, where he no longer wheels her out but instead beckons her to follow him!

These little details add up in ways that are, at least in my opinion, very meaningful. They also extend to the production itself--where the sets were made accessible for Marissa and she was even allowed to do her own stunts, in her wheelchair! That part in the beginning where Elphaba levitates her was her in a harness in her fucking chair and all. Dope as FUCK.

So I am mentioning all of this because I think the people working on this movie have shown that they are unafraid to make changes to Nessa to be more respectful to her agency. The ableism she faces, which is still plentiful, is framed as such instead of just casually brushed off & baked into the narrative. By making these small changes, Nessa is not just an unfortunate stereotype of a disabled woman, but a real and fleshed-out person who is dealing with the consequences of those exact stereotypes in the society she lives in. I really liked that! I don't know how others feel about it, but I thought it was very well-shifted.

All that said, 'curing' your disabled character is obviously, like, the biggest no-no of writing a disabled character. And that plot beat is a huge one in every version of Wicked... so far. But here's the thing. We have a shot of Dorothy wearing the slippers. And they... are silver.

Why. Are they silver.

And they are silver in all of Dorothy's small little cameos. Every single one. Even though this shot, which was used primarily for promotional material to draw people in like "Hey! Wizord of Oz! This is What The Refrance!" did not make the choice to even suggest that they should ever be red. One of the most important pieces of iconography, consciously and notably absent.

I genuinely don't think Nessa's going to have her disability taken away in part 2. With how much love to this part of her has been done to the retooling of her character, I do not think it is a stretch to assume that they will find a way to advance the plot without removing her disability. I believe this because that is the right thing to do for Nessa, to ascend her character, however you feel about it--she should stay in her chair. She deserves to continue on the way she is.

I realize this little change effects a lot. But after seeing part one, I am confident they can do it and do it well and replace what the change takes away with something just as good. I have so much faith in the direction of these movies. I really, truly believe it will happen and it will be good and satisfying and perfect.

It might still happen, sure--Marissa might get a stunt double, or CGI, or some other brand of movie magic. The shoes may still get enchanted and stay silver to pay homage to the original Oz books. But I can't help but consider that idea and keep asking myself... why. That makes so much less sense. Why not give movie audiences the red slippers, draw them in with the imagery, give them one more lion cub in the bike basket or Boq talking about how much he cries or poppies putting the whole class to sleep. Why not give us the ruby slippers when you... could.

I think because this is going to be a big, long awaited improvement. And I think it is hiding there in plain sight.

[mythmerth]

fluff vs feel good merlin fics…?

It has come to my attention from my last post with the ask about a long fluffy merlin fic that I, perhaps, do not know how to separate the definition of fluff from my own definition of feel good fics. When I think of fluff I tend to think of lovey dovey feel good hehe type of fics. HOWEVER, my definition of feel good may be different than other people and thus may not actually BE fluff…. oops!

In order to make up for this I’m gonna list off more merlin fics that I consider to be on a “fluff — feel good” scale, but first I’ll give my own interpretation of “fluff” and “feel good” so you know what to expect!

— When I think of the definition of fluff, I think of things very lighthearted, low stakes, very lovey, being emotionally and PG physically intimate (soft), playful in a sweet way, and generally just not really having the highs and lows of angsty fics.

— When I categorize something as feel good it tends to be not very stressful, minimal angst, quickly resolved/humorous relationship issues, powerful characters, has a hopeful tone/no doubts about a happy ending, makes me laugh multiple times, and high in emotional and physical intimacy (and yes I am a Smut Enthusiast). Some feel goods have more or less of these than others for me but that’s what the scale in my head is weighing them on.

that being said, to the best of my ability here is the list ranked from fluff to feel good merlin fics! fluff fics are often a lot shorter than the plotty ones (but I tried to throw some longer ones in as well that I’d consider to have a good amount of fluff BUT these also tend to have more angst so you’ve been warned)

fluff

Twitch Your Whiskers and Pull My Tail by BlueSimplicity. Soft, sweet bonding, a bit silly

The Great Merlin Bake-off by Elizabeth. Long, low stakes, silly, so many pastries

Merlin Myrddin the Muralist by deanpendragon. So touching, very soft, strong and healing bonds

Nobody Expected Uther to Approve So Damn Hard by Nakyrah. Silly, soft, quick developing relationship

Tales of Magic by amithia. Soft, developing relationships, gentle magic/love

I know why the birds sing your name by ironfamjam. Long, hopeful, developing characters with gentle moments/love, some angst

We Can Always Run by kairennart and queerofthedagger. Long, some angst, strong bonds and soft moments, adventureful

Ironing Out the Kinks by Lex18. Long, so smutty, like 90% smut but also soft, quickly resolved issues

All Things Loved and Lovesick by horsecrazy. So funny, strong bonds, humorous miscommunication

We Are All Diamonds by Footloose. Long, strong bonds/love, soft moments, power duo, quickly resolved issues

The fools will still be fools by horsecrazy. So silly, smutty, low stakes

Evil Overlord Inc by Footloose. Long, very silly, power duo, high stakes but also not worried about it

feel good

I feel like with BBC Merlin fics it’s hard to find low stakes/no angst fics! maybe it’s just my lists, and also that I was trying to avoid making this all lower word count fics (there’s definitely some 40k’s I left out if anyone’s interested), but once the word count rises it’s tough to find. hopefully this agrees well enough, I scoured the fluff tag I swear but the angst sneaks up in there too

I also have noticed that I might not actually read a whole lot of pure fluff? I very specifically seek out mature and explicit merlin fics, which I think is partially the cause of that. Also merthur and fluff are hard earned; the rivals/strangers/enemies to lovers goes STRONG and so rarely do we get to fluff very quickly. There’s always some stressful situations these two are in I swear to god. also please note that I have read SO goddamn many fics that any rank inaccuracies are likely also due to my memory blurring on fic specifics,,, my apologies for this! so take the specific ranks with a grain of salt- I don’t remember the exact details of all of these, more so the impact they left on me as a whole!

anyways, I hope this is accurate enough and that you can find some fics here that are what you’re looking for <3

~ feel free to send asks if you’re looking for specific recs, I’ll do my best to find some that fit the bill :]

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

I taken this post is an answer to my own posts.

First things first; the Valar don’t have the authority to do anything in the legendarium. They sent the Istari to help the Free people of Middle-earth fight against Sauron, indirectly.

The ultimate authority is Eru Ilúvatar, and Tolkien tells us he knows everything and that everything happens according to His plan. He knows things the Valar themselves aren’t aware of. It’s Eru that destroys Númenor, because Manwë asks him to intervene, but this was most likely already part of His plan. Tolkien would also use Eru to justify how the Orcs were allowed to exist, because only Him has the power of creation in the lore, and Melkor doesn’t have that power (and that’s the whole point of him corrupting Eru’s creation out of envy). Eru allowed the Orcs, because they were, most likely, also a part of his masterplan.

Gandalf strength isn’t power; is wisdom. He knows the harfoots will have a major role to play later on. And he’s absolutely correct because it’s Frodo and Sam that will journey to Mordor and get the One Ring destroyed, rendering Sauron powerless. Actually is Gollum that destroys the One Ring, but he’s also a member of the hobbit kin (a branch of the race of Men). Having Gandalf befriending the harfoots early in the story isn’t only a Easter egg or to justify his friendship with them at the dawn of the Third age. He was sent to Middle-earth with a mission, and he lands precisely where the future hobbits that will defeat Sauron are. This isn’t random.

I know the fandom enjoys talking about Sauron hypothetical redemption, but he’s not on a path to redemption. So, honestly, this discussion about if the Three elven rings of power can or can’t “redeem” him seems kind of pointless. Sauron isn’t irredeemable (because no character is in the legendarium), but he’s not capable of doing penitence for his crimes nor will he be for the next thousands of years (until the One Ring is destroyed). He only go deeper into evil.

You can treat and interpret the legendarium whatever you want, but neglecting the author’s explanations of his own work seems kind of a odd strategy, if I’m being honest. How do you expect to understand what the author is saying if you straight-out ignore him? I take Christopher’s notes with a grain of salt, myself, but I will take into consideration Tolkien letters and notes to understand what his message, themes and symbolism are. Because he created this world and these characters, not me. And you are clearly talking about interpreting his work, and not “fanon” or fanfiction here.

The difference between canon and legendarium in Tolkien, is not that all is fair game with the legendarium. You won’t see any Tolkien scholar saying such a thing. They use “canon” to describe the events (this happened this way and this way), while the legendarium are the themes, the messages and the symbolism Tolkien used and built. “Rings of Power” plays lose with the canon, but the core themes are still there.

And I have a hard time believing Tolkien, a devoted Catholic who infused his work with heavy Catholic messaging and symbolism, would laugh because his fans recognize the main inspiration behind his work. It was not the only one, but it’s the main. He called the hippies who enjoyed his work and saw it as a anti-war allegory “deplorable cultus” and said “many American fans enjoy the books in a way which I do not". He was probably upset because mainstream media was portraying his work as “hippie books”, when this was far from his intentions. He hated allegories, after all. This tells me the way his work was perceived mattered to him, unlike your argument.

Tolkien legendarium is not a copy-paste from the Bible, with that I agree. But the themes are still there, the message is still there, whenever folks recognize it or not. You mentioned “The Silmarillion” but this work is written from the Eldar POV and a case of “History is written from the winners” and unreliable narrators. That’s why you need Tolkien’s letters and Christopher’s notes on the work to fully understand it.

Unless your intention is to interpret and see whatever you want to see (creating your own headcanons) and that’s valid. But that’s “fanon”, not an lore accurate interpretation of Tolkien work. And this is all too common in the Tolkien fandom even before “Rings of Power” existed. Folks have way too many headcanons and pass it on as “canon”. In my opinion this is also the main reason why so many Tolkien fans reject “Rings of Power” because it goes against their headcanons.

Also this disdain for Tolkien letters rubs me the wrong way, every time, and it might not be your intention, but this is one of the “dudebros” arguments against the “Rings of Power” fandom; “we are all a bunch of mindless consumers who don’t care about Tolkien world nor his message”. When that’s not true. There are many Tolkien fans in the “Rings of Power” fandom, and even Tolkien scholars watch it and don’t have any problems with this adaptation.

Thinking about the subtle presence of the powers that be and/or the Valar in Rings of Power, and having thoughts about what part they might play in the adaptation, specifically what we’ve seen so far, and going over how those powers that be might view Sauron and his actions, and every time I think about him in that context I feel somewhat sympathetic .

However, not too sympathetic, given his repeated offenses, to qualify him for redemption or some kind of blanket amnesty, at least not before many, many ages of serious contrition, and given that Sauron is Sauron, well. Is that likely?

There are a few different threads I’ve seen that try to make a case for TROP being all about ultimate forgiveness for Sauron, while condemning the choices and actions of Galadriel, Adar, Celebrimbor, Mirdania, or anyone who gets in his way because those individuals were short-sighted or needy, or were motivated by ego or weakness, and that the Valar were handwaving Sauron’s actions or even using Sauron as some kind of tool for divine justice(!).

Do we really think the Valar are indifferent to the suffering of elves and dwarves and men, to the point that they would condemn them to be tortured to death based on a bad choice, or a personal weakness, or a common character flaw? I don't think they are quite that severe in their judgement, but I do think, being something akin to gods, their seeming lack of presence could be interpreted as indifference, and more than that I think their actions happen on a much different time scale, so any action they take might take most of an age to show any results. And of course there would be a lot of unfortunate collateral damage in the meanwhile.

But do we seriously think this means that they would allow all of the violence and destruction we’ve seen so far just to give Sauron a second (third, fourth, fifth) chance to choose a better path before he’s subdued, just because he's a Maia and that somehow makes him their special boy?

No, and I think the show has shown us that this is not the case.

I think Sauron blew it when we were shown what happened in the season two flashback, when we saw his first days as “Halbrand”. Because it feels like that was his chance, and everything he's done and will continue to do in upcoming seasons will show him going deeper into whatever passes for insanity in demi-gods, with little or no understanding of the fact that his vision of order for Middle-earth is just as much an abomination as Melkor's path of destruction.

And that’s the compelling tragedy of Sauron.

Sadly that will mean more and worse consequences for the peoples of Middle-earth in the short term. But the Valar are not indifferent to this, and based on what we've seen they know Sauron needs to be dealt with. But what proof is there of that?

Well, they sent the Stranger/Gandalf, an Istari, and he has been explicitly put on a path to confront Sauron.

Think about the timing of him falling to earth: Sauron was on the raft with Galadriel, not long after Diarmid(!) was trying to get through to Sauron in the hold of that ship (and its subsequent destruction with Sauron on board was anything but a coincidence).

Of course Gandalf has free will too, and might make some mistakes. But he is a powerful force, who also has a different perspective and can play by different rules if he chooses, but he isn’t indifferent to the suffering of the Harfoots, and won't be indifferent to any pain Sauron causes the other peoples of Middle-earth.

So we're watching the consequences of Sauron blowing his latest chance play out, and ultimately I think we know we’ll see the realization of the Valar's condemnation of Sauron's choices and actions via Gandalf, the emissary they sent to counter him and muster forces to help subdue him. And I think the rings, all of them, will come into play during that struggle.

There’s a lot of underlying stuff about free will and the fact that power corrupts running through TROP and Tolkien in general. Celebrimbor made the Three with good intentions despite the fact that wanting to make them was also about ego and his legacy, but we can’t deny that the Three did the job he made them for, and we’ve seen them used to do good things. But Celebrimbor and Galdariel and Gil-galad and anyone else who comes in contact with the Three still have free will, and any attendant flaws that come with free will, and ultimately any powerful tool can be used for good or ill, and will inspire different things in characters according to their individual strengths and weaknesses.

But I do think the Three are more benevolent tools than any of the other Rings, with the One that Sauron will forge out of desperation being the ultimate corrupted tool that could influence the others. So Elrond or Galadriel or even Gandalf might have a better chance of using one of the Three for good, for protection and preservation for some length of time, whereas contact with someone like Sauron would change them based on his intentions, and his intentions are about gaining enough power to subjugate, well, everyone. In his hands, for instance, Nenya’s tendency toward protection would quickly decay into more overt stagnation, and just like men were drawn into the shadow realm by the Nine and the One, someone like Sauron with ill intent or a long history of general malevolence would gradually feed that into any one of the Three and reap the consequences.

In other words it’s not all about the sword, but who wields it.

I do wonder if we’ll see the Three become somewhat tied to the One in TROP, and if so how that will play out. Going back to the books, eventually the Three do lose their powers but there’s no indication that they were corrupted to the degree that the potential of any of the rings of power could corrupt or be corrupted.

The Three are powerful, and they are sought after, but they are not the Silmarils.

But would one of the Three heal or help Sauron? No, and getting back to the first part of this post, there are no shortcuts on the path to healing and redemption, and Sauron can't see that path at this point, and more than that he doesn't even know he's lost in the woods.

Quick aside because I just got a rude anon ask on the subject: Yes, I’ve read Silm and the other books and a bunch of other stuff, but I don’t treat the Legendarium as if I’m a supplicant who only accepts a literal interpretation of something Tolkien said in a lecture or a letter as something akin to religious doctrine, and I think he would laugh himself into a fit to see fans trying to contradict each other that way, especially given how he felt about the so-called dominion of the author. And given that TROP is going at Silm etc. buffet-style I don’t think we can talk about the show and expect it to adhere too strictly to every line the poor man ever wrote. This doesn't mean I didn't understand Silm, but I am coming at the adaptation mostly as it's own "thing." I hope that makes sense.

[cirrocula]

shaggy hair roy harper bc i enjoy the trope where characters with hidden eyes actually have hawklike vision

[isatartdump]

Would do the entire dialogue but drawing Bonnie crying is the bane of my existence! HA

Anyway my reaction to when this entire dialogue was over was just. Hihi.

[szynkaaa]

kicks down everyone's door folks I might have figured out how tall Sun Wukong/Destined One is in Black Myth Wukong.

Starting with a disclaimer that this is just my speculation and nothing is confirmed unless the dev state otherwise

So y'know how the collector's edition came with this amazing Wukong figurine:

amazing right? I want one too.

The description states that the figure is 40cm tall (according to playasia)

The figure is made by Queen Studio, specifically the INART team that makes 1:6 figures.

So we know that the figure is 40cm tall. It is not clear if that includes stand or not, and I was not able to find any information how tall the stand is

On another website (which I don't want to name because I don't know how serious the website is) lists up the figure as 315mm/31.5cm

If that is the height of the actual figure without stand, and it's a 1:6 figure, that means 31.5cm * 6 = 189 cm

So that means it is very possible Destined One/Sun Wukong is 189 cm / 6 feet 2 inch tall.

that is TALL. a lot taller than I thought he would be tbh LOL cause in the books he is usually described as the shortest (cause well, monkey)

which ALSO means.

Wukong better be paying for her chiropractor with the amount of crancking her neck up she has to do.

[graythursday]

‘gotham gazette’ newspaper promo for ‘the penguin’ hints at harvey dent addition to the universe— “is our legal system dented beyond repair?” + riddler crumbs :>

[spicyvampire]

Hate /heɪt/ verb -> Enduring anger focused on a particular person or group of persons. Over time hatred may generate the personality trait of hostility. Surprise /sɚˈpraɪz/ noun -> The briefest emotion, surprise is triggered by the sudden occurrence of an unexpected event. It is often a way station that leads, after more appraisal, to any of the other emotions. Fondness  /ˈfɑnd·nəs/ noun -> A liking. Guilt /ɡɪlt/ noun -> Regret about a past action [...], a feeling of worry or unhappiness that you have because you have done something wrong, such as causing harm to another person.

Atlas of emotions + Cambridge dictionary

4MINUTES (2024) EP. 6

[fucksutawneyphil]

update, i’ve now read through a lot more stuff and honestly? past me still had a solid point like from outlaws new 52 idk who that “kori” is but thats not my girl and yes jason could smoke a joint w roy but that’s dick’s friend roy’s not thinking hey i wonder what jason���s up to. from outlaws rebirth

bizarro and artemis are closer to it but they at the end of the day are his coworker friends when the job ends they’re not meeting up to get high and watch nature documentaries.

then i’m glad he keeps in touch w his childhood friend dana but she has better people to spend time with than jason. essence and isabel seem cool as hell but i haven’t got far enough to say for sure, but i don’t think jason wants to smoke a blunt with essence…. isabel though. i know they don’t work out but maybe they smoke one blunt.

so from what i gather dick grayson has many his age friends, tim drake hangs with kids his age that’s the group of one of the flashes supergirls and gay emo superman, and damian wayne hangs out (it put on play dates?) with the youngest superman hero kid. jason todd has no one to smoke a blunt with.

[faunandfloraas]

The Nobleman or 양반 (yangban): The smiling face represents the bluff and composure that an aristocrat is often known to have. The chin is a separate piece from the top of the mask, and the actors can lean forward and back to make the mask smile or frown as needed.

This monk who abandons his doctrines, or 취발이 (chwibari): Chwibari was originally a monk, but he had no intention of joining the monastic order, so he came down to the world and wanders. Represented with a forehead full of wrinkles and spots.

The widow or, 부네 (Punae/bune): represented to be a widow, or a kisaeng ( a woman who sang, danced, or played an instrument to provide entertainment for company at a drinking party), or a mistress of the Yangban. She has a very small mouth, round cheeks and forehead- giving a general look of happiness good-humor.

[scificrows]

Okay, my brain refuses to think about anything other than Murderbot, so I looked at every use of the word "friend[s]" in TMBD and... created some pie charts. Normal human activities.

Some Thoughts™ I had while putting this together (under the cut):

In All Systems Red, Murderbot notes that the PresAux crew are all close friends (twice! and goes on to explain their internal relationships which I think is very cute). This is pretty much the only use of 'friends' in ASR, except for when Murderbot says that SecUnits can't be friends with each other.

It seems that this may be one of the first times Murderbot has ever really been around a group of friends before? Murderbot notes that this is not the norm for its contracts and admits that the fact that they are all friends and the way they interact with each other make it actually enjoy that contract (before!!!! the hostile attack, so it already enjoys this contract before they start seeing it as a person etc ghghhhh). [Inference: Friendship seems enjoyable.]

The first character that calls Murderbot its friend is ART in Artificial Condition. Murderbot immediately refutes this (and then goes on to call ART its friend to its clients for the rest of the book). [Inference: Maybe ART is Murderbot's friend. And maybe that is... agreeable]

Rogue Protocol has more than twice as many instances of the word 'friend' as any of the other novellas. Why? Miki. Friendship and its implications for non-humans are a central theme because Miki is friends with everyone. Murderbot initially scoffs at the notion that Miki and Miki's humans are friends. At the end of the book, after witnessing how desperately Don Abene tried to stop Miki from trying to save them, and her grief after its death, Murderbot has to admit that she had in fact been Miki's friend. [Inference: Humans can be friends with bots and can sincerely care about them]

In Exit Strategy, Murderbot tentatively uses the word "friends" for its humans for the first time (several times actually). It questions whether it can actually call them its friends or not and later realizes that it had been afraid what admitting that the humans are its friends would do to it. At the end of the book, Mensah tells Murderbot the PresAux crew are its friends, which is the first time a human has directly said that to it (at least on-page). [Inference: Humans can and want to be Murderbot's friends]

In Network Effect, Murderbot seems to be more habituated to the word 'friend', confidently calling ART and Ratthi its friends, like it is no longer just trying the concept on unsure if it fits. There are many instances in which other characters refer to MB as ART's friend or the other way around and Murderbot's humans refer to Murderbot as their friend several times. Generally, there seems to be less hesitancy, because yes, all of them are Murderbot's friends, why wouldn't they be. [Inference: SecUnits can have friends. This SecUnit has friends. They care about it a lot.]

Conclusion: The Murderbot Diaries tell the story of a construct that does not seem to consider the possibility of friendship for itself and is fine with that - until it accidentally starts caring a little too much and suddenly more and more people annex it as a friend (ew) to the point where it can no longer deny that this is happening and has to begrudgingly admit that yes, it has friends now and maybe that is actually not a bad thing.

[chaoticshark98]

the marriage certificate (template below)

[notacluedo]

Dido Dido Dido

[biscuit-o]

In the character test in How To Read 13 there is an implication that Near doesn't sleep in a typical way which I am big fan of. I like to think that he lays on the floor like a cat.