#murderbot with physical contact

[imitationgame77]

Murderbot's repulsion to physical contact

We all know Murderbot hates to be touched.

Her expression had turned all melty and sentimental. "No hugging," I warned her. It was in our contract.

[Network Effect]

But it did not express the repulsion so strongly earlier.

When I came out Ratthi was still there. He grabbed my arm and tugged me past a couple of human techs and [...]

"Again, I have a court order," Pin-Lee said, grabbed my other arm, and they walked me out.

[All Systems Red]

Maybe, at this point, Murderbot was not used to not pretending to ack like a normal SecUnit, so, quick suppression of reaction happened automatically. And also, maybe in this situation when things happened so rapidly that Murderbot was too overwhelmed to comment on something which had lower priority in terms of its threat assessment.

Murderbot can spontaneously grab, scoop up, carry humans in situations that require action. In order to save them. But I thought it was noteworthy that Murderbot was voluntarily holding a hand of a human in Artificial Condition.

When Tapan woke, I was sitting on the MedSystem's platform holding her hand.

[Artificial Condition]

Tapan was being cared for by ART's MedSystem, and it was not necessary for Murderbot to hold her hand while she was just gaining consciousness.

I thought about possible explanations: (1) Murderbot had only very recently started living without the armour, thus, its no-contact boundary was less strict; (2) Murderbot felt responsible for her injuries, and seeing how young and vulnerable Tapan was, it felt holding hand was necessary like when it extended emotional support to Volescu; (3) Tapan was its first voluntary-contract client, and having been given appreciation, gratitude, apologies, and requests that it had not been used to, it also wanted to reciprocate with kindness; (4) In medias that Murderbot had watched, all the good people came out of coma or whatever state with somebody holding their hands; (5) ART told it it should do it.

Anything else?

[untitledgoosegay]

re last reblog I do see fanfic culture pushing/replicating a certain model of "what trauma looks like," "how trauma works"

this is a problem across all areas of society obviously, but transformative works are, well, transformative. they're about crafting and modifying narratives where the fan-creator sees a flaw or a lack -- often for the better! don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of "I take a hammer and I fix the canon," it's the main thing that gets my creative gears spinning -- but what happens when that "flaw" is simply a narrative not conforming to popular expectations?

some people just don't get PTSD from events that sound obviously traumatic. they're not masking, and they're not coping; they just straight-up didn't get the permanently-locked stress-response that defines PTSD. they walk away from a horrible experience going "well, that sucked, but it's over now." some people do get PTSD from events most people wouldn't find traumatic. we don't really know why some people get PTSD and others don't. but fandom has an idea of events that must be traumatizing, of a "correct" way to portray trauma. you see the problems with this lack of understanding in e.g. fans pressuring the devs of Baldur's Gate 3 to add dialogue where the player character badgers Halsin about his own feelings on his abuse -- because he must be traumatized, and his trauma must fit a certain mold and presentation of sexual trauma, under the mistaken impression that anything outside that narrow window is somehow "wrong" and disrespectful or even harmful to survivors.

take, for another example, the very common trope of a traumatized character who hates touch or sex "learning" to like touch or sex as a part of their healing process. certainly that can be healing for some people; other people will never like, or want, touch or sex, because of trauma or because they just don't. the assumption that someone who doesn't want sex or doesn't like to be touched must be traumatized, must be suffering from this perceived lack, is seriously harmful -- to asexual people, to people with sensory issues around touch, and to people for whom healing from trauma means freedom to refuse sex or touch.

and there's a secondary trope, one that's slightly more thoughtful but ultimately repeats the problem -- that once someone has learned that their boundaries will be respected, they'll feel it's safe to soften those boundaries. once they feel safe refusing touch or sex, they'll feel comfortable allowing it on their own terms. but many people don't, and many people won't! many people will simply never want to be touched, and never want sex, and they are not suffering or broken or lacking because of it. the idea that proving you'll respect someone's boundaries entitles you to test those boundaries -- the paradox is obvious, and yet this is something i've seen hurt (re-traumatize) people i care for.

people are imperfect victims. people don't heal in the ways you expect. many people have positive memories of their abuse, of their abusers. many people hurt others in the course of their trauma, in ways that can't easily be unpacked in a 5k oneshot. very few narratives of trauma and recovery actually fit the ones put forward by popular children's media and romance novels -- which are the ones I most see replicated in fandom spaces, because they provide the clearest narrative and easiest catharsis, and so they're easy and soothing to reach for.

that's not necessarily a bad thing! i am not immune to goopy romance tropes. i am not immune to teary catharsis. not every fic has to grapple with ugly realities. but there's a problem when these narratives become predominant, when people think they're accurate and realistic depictions of trauma, when the truth of trauma is unpleasant and uncomfortable, and doesn't fit any single narrative, let alone one of comforting catharsis

[the-yearning-astronaut]

Just ... Thinking about Murderbot getting chronic pain because its pain sensors get fucked in a way it can't fix.

And sometimes it's ok, the pain can be compartmentalized and shunted to the background behind all its active scripts and tasks and streaming media files. Some cycles it could even pretend that it doesn't have a problem at all -- if it weren't for the fact that ignoring it actually caused a dip in its central processing capabilities.

And sometimes it just wants a break and it can't help but withdraw from others and shy away from physical contact even more than it usually does. It seeks out softer, looser clothing that doesn't rub up against its organic bits which caused firey shocks to zip down its nerves. and sometimes its performance reliability will drop for seemingly no reason and it'll use preprogrammed responses from its buffer in a detached, automatic tone.

The pain makes it feel incredibly vulnerable and broken and it gets angry and defensive (or shuts down -- almost literally) when anyone tries to ask it what's wrong. It even threatens to leave the Perihelion if ART even so much as considers poking around its diagnostics to find answers.

[thirtheenprimes]

Getting ready to write a story about the Preservation team interacting with Three and being taken aback when they realize it doesn't mind eye contact, has no problem admitting when it's confused or upset about something, and has no inhibitions about physical touch and likes to give hugs (maybe struggles with strength output at first?)

Then they go back to their favorite Murderbot and just kind of smile at it, and Murderbot tries to ignore them but it knows they care about it.

[do-u-know-this-autisticcharacter]

Do You Know This (Non-canon) Autistic Character?

Evidence below the cut!

Murderbot is extremely uncomfortable with eye contact and physical touch. It watches a lot of shows but it has one show that it watches over and over and over again. It has difficulty understanding and processing it’s own emotions.

Both submitters also added that Martha Wells is autistic, but did not intend Murderbot to be so, just wanted to write something she related to. The author found out she was neurodivergent after many people asked about Murderbot.

First Submitter added:

I would kill to be able to use drones instead of eye contact. (Pixie: Mood sometimes ;_;)

Second submitter also commented:

Murderbot is a human/robot construct, created to be better security than a robot but also forced to follow orders unlike a human. It has a lot of difficulty dealing with the human side of itself because of being used as a tool in this way for so long and even though it is free now it still has a long way to go figuring out who it is and what it wants.

[followerofmercy]

I'm starting my goodreads review era and I'm just copy/pasting what I said about Murderbot here

I don't think Murderbot is the single most groundbreaking story discussing what it means to be a person without being human, but it's certainly one of the more entertaining ones.

I've talked about this a lot with my friends and I love this series because it's an incredible... sensory experience? I rarely enjoy first person narration, but the way Murderbot's mind works is simultaneously so strange and so relatable that I can't help but get sucked in. For one, I think I have a bit of aphantasia or something. I do not think in images. Murderbot doesn't either. Its narration follows the information that it decides is important, which does not include lengthy descriptions of surroundings and people's physical features. You'll get whether someone is a threat or not, maybe a gender and sometimes a skin tone. This is great for me, who would not process it anyway, but it's a sticking point for the people I know that Need the visual.

Because of the lack of extraneous information, the pace is incredible. Being a partially organic, mostly machine entity, Murderbot is always doing something - usually multiple things - such as rewinding and reviewing the recording of the conversation that happened seconds ago to mentally facepalm for the stupid shit it said, watching its Emotional Support Soap Opera, hacking into secure systems to download more soap operas or evaluating its surroundings for potential threats.

It also responds hilariously to its severe social anxiety. Mild spoiler At one point it's so uncomfortable making eye contact that it turns to face the corner and are having a conversation with the research team like that, which, mood.

This book also hurts because Murderbot's internal narration is very sarcastic and snarky and then it drops shit like how it's so stressed out that it's literally decreasing its system integrity and suddenly you feel a little bad for laughing. But hey, you laugh to keep from crying. Just like Murderbot.

It's a very fun book about Some Guy with a very charming way of talking, except the guy is classified as a weapon instead of a person and it's simply trying to get by without anyone realizing that it IS a person.

[fandom-space-princess]

An Audacious Undertaking, Even to God

Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries

Rating: Gen

Additional tags: Book 5: Network Effect, Book 7: System Collapse, Canonical Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Queerplatonic Relationships, 1 & 2 do still die but not for very long, 3 needs its friends back :( , studies in construct relations

Chapter: 1/?

Summary:

SecUnits are hard to kill, but it does happen. Unless... AU: through the combined efforts of ART & co, Three rebuilds and reboots One and Two. It isn't easy. Everybody has a bad time, then a weird time, then a better time. Is that the right order?

Read chapter below, or on AO3.

——————————

Designation: SecUnit-003 Barish-Estranza Explorer Task Group 520972

Status: piloting shuttle to network-external transport [vesselID(“Perihelion”), registry(Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland)]. Contact: UNAUTHORIZED.

Operational overview:

- Threat assessment: 64% immediate probability of harm to clients, 27% medium-term probability of harm to clients assuming pursuit of mitigation strategies

- Risk assessment: [additional data required]

- SecSystem access: OFFLINE

- HubSystem access: OFFLINE

- Deployment group status: SecUnit-001: OFFLINE; SecUnit-002: OFFLINE

- Performance reliability: 87% and falling

The transport completes the docking process for the shuttle without my input, which is for the best. My attention is divided. This is a violation of the protocols associated with both client retrieval and piloting. Under the circumstances, however, it is not a situation I am able to remedy.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

I have a number of responsibilities to fulfill. My primary duty is to ensure the welfare of my clients. (I have realized that even in the absence of punitive enforcement, I still accept and desire this to be true, which is a source of mild curiosity.) My secondary duties are laid out no less clearly, yet—

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

—“Hello? Are you there?” The exterior hatch has retracted. Two humans peer inside curiously. The one who has spoken bears feedID(“Amena”), gender(female), note: juvenile. The other—feedID(“Ratthi”), gender(male)—moves tentatively toward me. These humans are not unknown: they feature in the memories shared with me by Murderbot 2.0. This is a relief. Nevertheless, I step out of the piloting compartment before they can enter, and attempt to gently herd them away. Based on the information I have about them, threat assessment deems them unlikely to panic in a way that would be detrimental to the safety of themselves or others. While I accept this knowledge as accurate, it is still better that they be encouraged to stay outside the shuttle.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

(performance reliability: 85% and falling)

Ratthi is speaking to me, introducing himself and Amena. He is very animated. He tells me that Perihelion knows I have disabled the governor module. He tells me they do not intend to hurt me.

The transport has different ideas. It establishes a private channel, which it promptly fills with vivid and comprehensive descriptions of the physical damage it will inflict on me should I attempt to threaten its clients, or itself.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

(failure::retry)

(performance reliability 82% and falling)

“All clients require immediate medical attention,” I tell them. “They have been implanted with technology of uncertain functionality, and may remain under hostile influence, or represent vectors of contamination. Temporary quarantine is recommended.”

Amena replies, but my attention is pulled inexorably elsewhere. I turn my focus on the open hatch, and the dim interior of the shuttle piloting compartment. 

(failure::retry)

In my periphery there is movement, and noise. Another human has arrived. The humans and Perihelion exchange information with one of the transport’s retrieved clients, Karime. I have drones recording this interaction for later review, but I am currently preoccupied with my other functions. My awareness of this moment feels very far away.

(performance reliability 77% and falling)

(failure::retry)

“Hey.” There is a human hand hovering near my elbow. Ratthi’s face swims into vision. I blink, and try to refocus my eyes. This is only partially successful. One of my drones descends out of its patrol pattern overhead, and I examine him more closely through its camera. His eyebrows pull together. “Are you all right?”

The transport is in my feed. I feel it bear down on me. I do not understand what it is, or the limits of its capabilities. I know only that its presence is massive and imposing, its agitation palpable. It likely still believes me to be potentially hostile. It should be terrifying.

If I had the spare processing capacity to consider it, it would be terrifying.

(performance reliability 72% and falling rapidly)

Perihelion: Your resource utilization is near maximum. What are you trying to do?

(failure::retry)

(failure::retry)

Amena’s voice comes from within the piloting compartment. She would have had to walk past me to get inside it. I must have seen her do so. I have no memory of seeing her do so.

“Oh, no… um, Arada? There’s a body in here.”

(performance reliability 64% and falling rapidly)

I start toward her. I have no idea what I am about to say until my buffer produces it: “Equipment maintenance is in progress. For your safety, please step back.” One of the transport’s repair drones shoves past me into the compartment, which interferes with my balance. I put a hand against the wall for support.

(failure::retry)

Amena: “Perihelion, this isn’t one of your crew, is it? This must have been one of the corporate hostages.”

Perihelion: No, Amena. This is a SecUnit.

(failure::retry)

My primary auditory input glitches, and their words become garbled. I lean against the bulkhead. Standing has become difficult, but I still have a responsibility to perform.

(reinitialize from backup::failure::retry)

(performance reliability 51% and falling rapidly)

And I am going to perform it, or be rendered nonfunctional in the attempt.

(critical performance drop::system restart)

——————————

[Before]

SecSystem: Ship status: on approach. Space dock arrival anticipated: 180 seconds. Tactical team deployment unit(s) acknowledge.

SecUnit-001: Unit acknowledge.

SecUnit-002: Unit acknowledge.

SecSystem: Baseship sentinel unit(s) acknowledge.

SecUnit-003: Unit acknowledge.

(While I do not resent guarding the ship, I have always disliked being the one left behind.)

SecSystem: Cold contact protocol in effect. Hazardous condition assessment: POSSIBLE/LIKELY. Backup to HubSystem external storage and mirror local copies to group.

SecUnit-001: Backup complete.

SecUnit-002: Backup complete.

SecUnit-003: Backup complete.

Though we are designed for redundancy with each other, not co-dependence, I have never functioned optimally when deployed separately from 001 and 002. I know this to be true for them as well. In the past, after activities that required splitting the deployment group, I have often reviewed their cached analytic data. Our performance individually and collectively is more reliable on average when we are assigned to the same task.

I try to avoid reflecting on why this is true. Idle reflection is counterproductive to the efficient performance of my duties.

SecSystem: Sentinel unit(s) resume patrol pattern. Tactical team unit(s) ready for deployment.

In the ready room that we share, 001 continues fitting its helmet into place. I acknowledge the alert to return to patrol. I must walk past them to reach the door and exit the room, and as I do so, I extend a hand loosely in their direction.

Tactile input is critical for calibration of construct balance and proprioception, among other core functions. We are expected to touch objects around us for many reasons, including ongoing orientation in physical space.

001 gently taps the back of my hand with its knuckles, tock-tock-tock. I reply once in kind—tock. 002 likewise repeats 001’s gesture as I move past, and again, I do the same: tock-tock.

I validate my expected sensor readout against the physical contact data, and log the results with HubSystem. There is an echo in the team feed as first 001, and then 002, do the same. And if we could achieve the same result by tapping a wall or a hatch… well.

On this choice, at least, our governor modules offer no feedback.

——————————

[noahsbookhoard]

📚March 2024 Book Review (Part 2/2)📚

Last post for March and there is only good and really really good books here!

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare famous telling of Julius Caesar's last days, the conspiration against him and the aftermath of his assassination.

In honor of the Ides of March I finally read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It's always fun reading a new Shakespeare play as someone who didn't grew up in an Anglo-Saxon culture: every time you fall on one quote and get to say "oh, THAT'S where the idiom comes from!". The fault in our stars, e tu brute... I didn't know they were Shakespeare's before (growing up I've always heard Caesar's last words being "Tu quoque fili" (you as well my son) and that's apparently from a 18th century biography)

Overall it's a good play although it's not my favourite. I especially love Mark Anthony's funeral speech (it is well know for a good reason). Plays are always best appreciated live so if anyone knows a good scene or film adaptation I'd love to see it!

Veiller sur elle by Jean-Baptiste Andrea

Mimo (short for Michelangelo) is a poor yet extremely talented sculptor, Viola is the clever and adventurous daughter of the rich Orsini family. These two that nothing destined to meet will quickly become the closest friends, but this friendship is put to test with the rise of Mussolini.

Mandatory French literature read and second book of my adventures in Goncourt land! This one is a total succes and I'm glad I finally picked it up after glaring at the red "Prix Goncourt 2023" dustsleeve as if it might bite. I was also hesitant because of the period: WWII and fascism can be very interesting themes to explore in a novel but I read one too many where it was token-ish and just a convenient setting. Nevertheless I read very few book about Italy under Mussolini so I gave it a go.

From page one the style took my breath away. It's funny (he describes coming back to Italy as "Welcoming it with open arms" before clarifying that he tripped getting off the train and fell flat, face first on the platform, the image stuck with me) and it's tender, it's hard sometimes but Mimo's life is and it doesn't sugarcoat it.

This is the story of two souls that were meant to met but found each other and never let go. Mimo and Viola can lose contact for years and meet back again as if the saw each other yesterday. There's nothing they can't forgive the other, no matter how terrible. And they will do and say some truly awful things to each other because they are trying to adjust to a world that grows faster and madder every day. But in the end the two friends will always be there for each other, looking after ("veiller sur" in french) each other. It felt like reading about my best friend and me sometimes, it was touching. I appreciated that it never ever was even a mention of romantic feelings between Mimo and Viola, to me it made all the tenderness and softness between them even more endearing that there was no ambiguity in it.

The story is told in alternate between Mimo as an old man dying in a monastery and Mimo as a child then a young man, both are in Mimo's point of view. There is a mystery of sort, too: when the sculptor moved in the monastery he asked specifically to be near her. And this feminine figure is shrouded in secrecy, no one can see her, only the abbot has the key, because she is said to turn people mad. As the story unfolds there are more hints but never any physical description, up until the very end and a really good twist that pulls together the past and present memories of Mimo. I felt like I should have seen it coming. I might have cried a bit too.

A huge book crush, I am currently lobbying at home to have my sister and mother read it. And I hope it gets translated because I want so hard people to enjoy that book as much as I did.

All System Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

The diary of a Security Unit Cyborg who overrode its programming and preferes watching soap operas to working. However the scientifc expedition it is assigned to is attacked Murderbot, as it calls itself, will have to involve itself more than it wishes to.

Another serie I started because Tumblr was gushing over it. Also I wanted to get into SciFi which isn't a genre I read much of as a kid. I like my alien and spaceship on TV so there were no reason I wouldn't enjoy it on paper!

In this future projects are handed to the lowest bidder and lowering security is a good way of driving cost down. I could definitely picture it, that's basically how they handle infrastructure and equipment repair at my job! The future is beautiful...

Murderbot is really relatable. I too would love to slack off at work watching series and just checking that things are not going to hell (more than usual) once in a while. It has an interesting balance between the disinterested SecUnit with professional detachment but and the Cyborg who unlocked the emotions its programming had locked down. The awkwardness of the relationship with the human crew was really funny.

I was expecting a full length novel not a novella (my fault entirely for doing my research) so the plot felt very quick. I'll be adjusting my expectations for book 2.

I enjoyed it, it has some really cool character, good world building. I think I missed what everybody found so brilliant about it, and that's definitely on me since this book and several others in the saga where finalist or won the Hugo and Nebula. I'll probably read the next book, as of the time of writing this post it is on the TBR.

The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fischer by E M Anderson

83 year old Edna Fischer is as surprised as anybody when a wizard comes to her nursing home with an announcement: Edna is the Chosen One, the woman who will save the Kights from the dangerous Sorcerer who rages for months in the land. Armed with her knitting needle and her cane, she will have to face this fight and maybe find it is not so black and white as she thought.

I was drawn to this book for this prompt alone: the Chosen One is not another teenager, it is an old woman in flowery dress and knitted cardigan. This was nothing I had ever read, although there is among the cast of character ye old smart mouth 17 year old. I was also surprised to find it was more of an urban fantasy that the traditional medieval setting but if your hero is an octogenarian you might as well have her fight dragons in a city!

I really liked all the little twists on the genre's cliché: those I had as a reader (the Sword of Destiny, the Big Final Fight...) and those other characters had that helped the main cast (or sometimes caused them more trouble).

Edna was believable as an old woman, healthy but with the difficulty of old age. She is kind, patient, compationate. I would have wanted her as a grandma. Yet she is also determined and won't let people walk on her toes. There is some good ideas to circumvent those mobility issue (Edna would NOT have been able to trek and sleep in camps) that makes also for some very nice companions and side quests.

Some elements were somewhat predictable but still deeply enjoyable. I especially liked that there was some chapter with the Sorcerer's point of view, which isn't usual in this type of novel. It really sets everything up for the ending (i won't say more than that.)

In conclusion a really good read, a nice twist on a genre and the chance to picture YOUR granny fighting a dragon (there is a physical description of Edna but I couldn't help imagining my own grandmother). I think the author is on tumblr? At least that's where I first heard of thos book. If I can find the url I'll add it here.

[magpiefngrl]

Mar + Apr Books

Photo Credit (original): Ed Robertson

Mar + Apr 2023

I read 14 books in the past two months and filled 11 categories of my Reading Challenge. Two of the novels were NetGalley ARCs; neither impressed me much. Three were from my piles of unread physical books, which is (slow) progress. One was a reread. Overall, I'm doing OK as regards my 2023 reading goals.

The books that I enjoyed the most were:

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles (historical m/m romance) I inhaled it in a day and a half. A very satisfying romance. KJC goes from strength to strength, and I realised when I sank into it how much I'd missed her writing.

Daughter from the Dark by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko. A unique, weird magical realism tale that I quite enjoyed.

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. Fantasy of manners. Very Les Liaisons Dangereuses but with more swords and a gay love story at the heart of it. I liked it a lot and it's stayed with me.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (sci-fi novella) Everyone keeps raving about Murderbot--and they were right! I read the novella in one sitting. Very well-paced, an excellent narrator voice, the mystery kept me in suspense till the end, secondary characters were distinct with personality that came through even through Murderbot's POV.

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E Harrow (fantasy short story) I've a complicated relationship with Harrow's stories. Luckily, this one hit the right buttons. It's a fascinating premise; Harrow is good with those.

What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo (fantasy short story) Not as loudly impressive as the rest, this is a quiet understated ghost tale about two charlatans pretending to contact the dead.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (dark fantasy) This is a wild ride, like WHOA. Insane world-building, very original and creative, violent and dark AS FUCK (most trigger warnings apply), this is the kind of novel that makes most of fantasy appear super tame.

What's next?

No idea. I 'll prob read some romance to put my mind in a romance-writing mode. I also want to get to a series or two that I've left unfinished (Temeraire, probably, or the Dreamer Trilogy) and to read a couple more physical books that have been gathering dust on my shelves. Maybe one more Discworld novel too?

[rjalker]

do I really need to start adding "if you get touch starved do not fucking argue with me" on my posts about not erasing Murderbot's touch aversion when it explicitly does not get touch starved and literally reiterates and strengthens its boundaries after being forced to bend them in the last book?

Yes. There are multiple kinds of touch aversion.

And yours is not the one being represented here. If it were, I would not have a single fucking problem with what people are writing.

Charley Pollard likes holding hands and hugging, but hates sex and kissing. I do not get mad when people write about her holding hands or hugging someone. I do get mad when they write her kissing or worse, having sex with someone.

Murderbot does not enjoy touching. It does not seek out touch. From anyone. Not even people it likes and trusts.

If Murderbot sought out touch and enjoyed being touched and got touch starved, I'd have literally zero problem with people writing about that. But that is the exact opposite of the case, and the fact that that's all everyone fucking writes about is in fact literally bigotry. It's ableism. It's athiktomisia.

How are you all reading a book series with the theme of "respect people even if they're different from you" and immediately leaping to erase everything that makes Murderbot who it is so you can instead make it as much like you as you think you can get away with?

It'd be one thing if you were adding on additional traits that do not conflict with or erase its current character traits, like making it physically disabled, giving it other neurodivergencies, ect.

But no. All you people do is go, "oh? it's ace? Well not anymore!" "Oh, it's aro? Well not anymore!" "Oh, it doesn't want a relationship? Well not anymore!" "Oh, it has no desire for touch? Well not anymore!"

What's next? You're all gonna start insisting it totally loves making eye contact and loves showing off its face?

[iviarellereads]

Network Effect, Chapter 16

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which I half wish this wasn't the POV we got.

Murderbot 2.0(1) Deployed aboard Barish-Estranza Explorer Mission Status: Delayed

TCS recognizes 2, so 2 taunts it. Something makes contact, 2 assumes it must be a Target, because it uses their language. TCS wants to know what it is, so that they can use or delete it as the situation calls for. Something about TCS's interactions with targetContact make 2 think that TCS isn't an alien intelligence.(2)

2 finally interjects in their conversation to answer the question of what it is: a SecUnit, and killware. TargetContact shows 2 some video footage from the planet, of 1.0 being captured.

Me Version 1.0 is on the planet and has been captured and we are seriously screwed now. I’m sorry, ART. I’m sorry, humans and Me 1.0. That was when I caught a tentative secure contact from SecUnit 3. It had just disabled its governor module.(3)

2 watches 3 testing its new freedom, knowing what its thought process must be in this moment. The first thought, it can do whatever it wants. The second, what the heck does it want? Murderbot 1.0 is still stuck on that question, but that's alright. 2 asks 3 what it wants, and 3 says, to retrieve their clients.

TCS tries to neutralize 2 in the system, but it activates some of the stray code bundles 2 left hanging around. TargetContact is linked somehow to TCS, and reacting physically to the data pain. 2's code bundles lock all hatches except those between 3 and the shuttle, fry all the targetDrones, and cuts the connections to the humans' implants, as well as life support to the bridge, for fun distraction times.

3 breaks into the room and tells the humans it's here to help them, adding that Perihelion sent it, for Art's crew's benefit.

2 fights to stay alive long enough to let 3 get the humans out. As time grows near, 2 transfers itself out of SecSystem, letting TCS revel in a pointless victory, and into the dock module, locking the Targets outside so 3 can finish the escape, with no life lost.

TCS tells 2 it will never have the ship. 2 says, alrighty then, and hops across TCS's contact link toward the planet. It hears targetContact order TCS to fire on the shuttle, which amuses 2 greatly. TCS confirms target lock, which triggers 2's last code bundle in the weapons systems. Everything aboard the explorer explodes as 2 falls through the connection.(4)

=====

(1) Excuse me, I'd like to go back to 1.0 please, pretty please, with sugar on top. No? Okay, here we are then. (2) Do you think the hivemind theory has merit? Is TCS, or targetContact, that hivemind, or is it something other? 2 certainly seems convinced it's human-driven, not alien-minded. (3) HELLO 3 HOW ARE YOU?! (4) WHEE! Oh this is going to be fun, isn't it?

[imitationgame77]

Myron and Win are back!

As I was trying to find a word to describe a relationship between two individuals, without need for sexual or physical contact, but deeply care for each other, I thought about many examples. (I thought aroace is not capturing the significance of the relationship, then, @wondernoise told me that queerplatonic is the word to use. So it is!)

Anyway, apart from my current favourite pair, Murderbot and ART, I suddenly remembered that there was Myron and Win.

It's a series written by Harlan Coben, and the first book "Deal Breaker" was published in 1995. Then, it ended with "Home" (Book 11) in 2016. There was a spin-off "Win" (2021), but I felt sad because they were no longer working together.

THEN, as I was searching yesterday, to write that post on aromanticism, I found that Book 12 was in fact published last month!! With Myron and Win working together again!

Myron Bolitar is the protagonist of the series. He was a super basketball player from his childhood to college, and just as he was about to start his career as a professional basketball player, his dream is snatched away in an accident during the game. He was broken, but he is resilient. He studies hard and becomes an attorney and starts business as a sport rep. He is tall, good looking, athletic, smart, and a hopeless romantic.

Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III) is a friend that Myron first meets as his roommate at Duke.

In "Drop Shot", he is described as:

Win looked like his name. The poster boy for the quintessential WASP. Everything about his appearance reeked arrogance, elitism, Town and Country Parties Page, debutantes dressed in monogrammed sweaters and pearls with names like Babs, dry martinis at the clubhouse, stuffy old money – his fine blond hair, his pretty-boy patrician face, his lily-white complexion, his snotty Exeter accent. Except in Win’s case some sort of chromosomal abnormality had slipped through the generations of careful breeding. In some ways Win was exactly what he appeared to be. But in many more ways – sometimes very frightening ways – Win was not.

Win is certainly not a soft rich boy. Anything but. He has darkness in him. He can be ruthless - can be described as a sociopath. He loves uncomplicated sex with women, but never think emotional attachment is necessary in sex. He generally does not care about other people. The only people he appears loving to is Myron, and his business associate Esperanza.

But throughout the series, it is obvious that Win loves Myron (in queerplatonic way) deeply, and is fiercely loyal to him. He saves Myron's life many times, even though Myron cannot approve of the violence Win uses and enjoys.

They both seek sexual and/or romantic relationships elsewhere with women, but they are most special to each other.

In a later book, there is Win's POV:

Myron is more than my best friend. The youngsters call what we have a “bromance,” and perhaps that is apropos. I love Myron. I want—no, I need—him happy. I have missed him over the past year, though I was often closer than he knew.

That was a bittersweet ending. And 8 years later, now they are back! I am so excited! (Just started reading...)

Myron and Win are quite different from Murderbot and ART, but for some reason, I get a similar vibe - similar emotional response.

[rosewind2007]

I think (given the redacted) we can assume Murderbot and ART write fanfic: big question is…

do they ship?

The sort of obvious answer would be that ART ships and MB doesn’t (the ship ships, the SecUnit doesn’t, I mean “ugh, why would anyone even do that?”)

But remember MB at the beginning of All Systems Red with its “previously on Buffy Vampire Slayer” intro to the PresAux team:

I had actually been enjoying this contract, up until something tried to eat me and Bharadwaj. SecSystem records everything, even inside the sleeping cabins, and I see everything. That’s why it’s easier to pretend I’m a robot. Overse and Arada were a couple, but from the way they acted they’d always been one, and they were best friends with Ratthi. Ratthi had an unrequited thing for Pin-Lee, but didn’t act stupid about it. Pin-Lee was exasperated a lot, and tossed things around when the others weren’t there, but it wasn’t about Ratthi. I thought that being under the company’s eye affected her more than the others. Volescu admired Mensah to the point where he might have a crush on her. Pin-Lee did, too, but she and Bharadwaj flirted occasionally in an old comfortable way that suggested it had been going on for a long time. Gurathin was the only loner, but he seemed to like being with the others. He had a small, quiet smile, and they all seemed to like him.

This SecUnit ships…

So I reckon Murderbot writes fics which have no explicit sex at all and probably very little physical contact (let alone kissing) but which have a lot of implicit desire running through them—even if it’s not clear what the desire is for and has trouble tagging them correctly (it would argue it doesn’t have trouble, it’s other people having trouble)

ART writes mostly fluff, some really intense meta, and some weirdly poetic stuff which is frankly hard to categorize but could be pornographic

I'm a sucker for in-universe fandoms and I can't stop thinking about the idea that murderbot writes sanctuary moon fanfics when it's bored and it becomes in-universe fandom famous not only for good fic writing but also for the batshit insane chapter notes such as "sorry for the late chapter, I got shot again" and "if I told you why this chapter is late you'd be able to find out who I am through the newsfeed, so you shall continue wondering. enjoy"

the readers are going insane questioning how it's still alive. also none of them know who it is. it doesn't have any other online fandom presence linked to its fic account. it never reveals any information that can be used to figure out who it is other than it has a very dangerous job and is augmented in some way.

the name I've been going with as a placeholder is "SecRin" but I am open to username suggestions (considering something related to Eden so one of Tapan & Co can be like "I met someone named Eden once, they were very sad and very competent at security" in the big fandom discussion about who the fuck is this fic writer)

anyways Ratthi likes sanctuary moon. Ratthi reads the fics (before going on The Survey) and gets invested. he only finds out MB is SecRin when MB leaves the note and Ratthi reads it and goes "wait a second" because he recognized the writing style

also like. we can't forget the ART and MB interview.

like come on.

[esevik]

Chapter 4

They manage to set up a workable plan to save Mensah, or at least to be able to locate her. It almost goes south but they manage to recover. Now Murderbot has about two minutes to try to get Mensah back while the rest of the humans try to get to safety.

I think it's quite interesting with Murderbot and its human "crew". Because even though we've seen Murderbot interact and protect/care about other clients these humans are special. They know it's a rough unit but still respect and value it and its life. Like Pin-Lee giving a heads-up before touching Murderbot since she knows it doesn't like physical contact so she gave it a moment to mentally prepare.

Of course this doesn't mean that they all have some perfect friendship. Just look at Gurathin. The two are fairly hostile towards one another (though it seems most of it is due to the both of them are individuals that can't help but be suspicious of almost anything). Despite this they still work together and Gurathin makes attempts at understanding Murderbot. And Murderbot in kind responds with a kind of passive agressive care (I don't care about you but let me make sure you survive this).

However Murderbot's most interesting relationship with a human is Mensah. This is because as was stated at the end of All System's Red Mensah is its favorite human. But Murderbot also doesn't know what type or relationship they have or what it wants them to have. Now Murderbot is pretty clearly aroace (and sexrepulsed on top of that) so any type of lover is out of the question. It's also unclear if the favorite part is a platonic love or a more general like. Either way it feels a bit weird calling them friends since Mensah technically "owns" it. But they also very clearly care about one another.

It's clearly a complicated issue Murderbot doesn't seem to want to think too deeply about. I just hope it can get Mensah back safe and sound.

[nonasbirthday]

image descriptions under cut

[ID 1: The first image is a screenshot of a portion of text. It reads:

SecUnit is looking down at her. “You can hug me if you need to.”

“No. No, that’s all right. I know you don’t care for it.” She wipes her face. There are tears in her eyes, because she’s an idiot.

“It’s not terrible.” She can hear the irony under its even tone.

End ID 1.]

[ID 2: The second image is the Bernie Sanders “I am once again asking for your support” meme. Bernie Sanders stands in a jacket. The text across the bottom reads, “I am once again crying over Murderbot.” End ID 2.]

[ober-affen-geil]

Ok so having just started the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells I was going through the Murderbot tag here and noticed 2 things. 1) people yelling about respecting Murderbot's canonical and consistent touch-repulsion but not really supplying any alternatives and 2) at least two pieces of art of what seemed to be people attempting to either respect (charitably) or get around (uncharitably) Murderbot's touch repulsion by having it "link" or "hold" pinkies with someone for comfort.

As someone who is....not exactly touch averse or repulsed but certainly touch neutral (it's not something I flinch from but it's also not something I seek out or really enjoy) I thought I could provide helpful insight for both points: namely, "here is how someone who doesn't enjoy touch would prefer it to be substituted because humans are pretty touchy feely and getting your brain around someone genuinely not enjoying that is tough" and also "this is why touching just pinkies is not the loophole you think it is".

Keeping in mind this is more meant to be for fic reference, but if it helps with insight for real life that's great too. For clarity, this is based on my experience which is mostly for sensory reasons and is not in any way trauma related; others may have different experiences.

I will start with the pinkie and why that's........super not great actually, because it will help get into the headspace which will help with "what to actually do instead".

The thing is, linking pinkies as a substitute for holding hands, which seems to be how it's being used here, does not "get around" touch aversion because it's not enough contact to "set it off". It actually does the opposite (for me). Now I have to be hyper aware of how much my pinkie is curled, how high am I holding my hand, how far away from my body is my arm, does it feel like I'm pulling on *their* arm or hand or pinkie, is my hand sweaty, do I have an itch, I can feel my joints creaking as I struggle not to move too much lest I dislodge them...etc. If the point was to offer me a point of contact that was small enough for me to be able to not notice it too much? It failed. Badly. I'd rather have a full body hug.

Linking pinkies doesn't work as a loophole because it fundamentally misunderstands the main source of the touch aversion: concentrated hyper awareness of the body. The smaller the touch the more tightly concentrated the awareness is, and the worse it will be. It's also a non-standard kind of touch which means there is NOTHING to go off of in terms of what is wanted from you, aka its a very difficult touch to "perform" (yes I'm talking about masking). Edit: Also! Your fingertips and finger pads are *designed* for sensory input! And are a part of your body that is nearly almost always uncovered! Which means a) practically GUARANTEED skin to skin contact which is Worse and b) congrats, you picked one of the few areas on the body that is Designed To Tell A Person They Are Touching Something.

What a touch averse person would prefer, if you wanted to offer comfort or convey affection, is to first and foremost *not to ask them to perform for YOUR comfort/frame of reference to begin with*.

Words of affirmation, a simple hand gesture (such as placing your hand over your heart), literally just asking them if they want to talk, sitting in silence with them (engaging in parallel play), or perhaps offering a blanket/comfy clothes/food are all much better ways to actually offer a touch averse person comfort or intimacy while also still respecting their boundary.

Actual "loopholes" in (my) touch aversion include incidental contact that doesn't last and is ignored/meaningless to all parties (such as brushing past someone or being in a crowded space), the "mom" override (when I know someone really needs physical comfort in that moment which, tbc, is doing fuck all for me and is entirely about the other person), and functional necessity (such as medical attention or grabbing someone to help them up or keep them steady). (In case anyone was keeping track, Murderbot has shown all of these "exceptions" to my knowledge.)

I just. Hope this helps with understanding the mindset instead of just being beaten over the head with "respect touch aversion or you are ableist" because i do understand its hard to wrap your head around. But we deal with it so frankly, you can deal with it too for a change.