#rA9 theories

[detroitbecomeonline]

Who is rA9? An Essay Using Programming Logic

Preface: This essay is subject to updates and changes. If there are any coders/computer scientists who want to check my facts, feel free. word count: 1206

In Detroit: Become Human, androids who deviate from their programmed role develop an obsession or awareness of an entity known as rA9.

There are multiple instances of rA9 scribbled obsessively on walls, but two, in particular, stand out. Instance one is detective android Connor’s first potential encounter with obsessive writing and even an offering to rA9 crafted by a deviant housekeeper android. The carved offering personified rA9 as if it were a deity. Instance two is with runaway deviant android Kara, if she chooses to stay in the abandoned house overnight and meets deviant Ralph, who etches “rA9″ on the walls. As shown in a specific interaction, Ralph doesn’t understand why he writes rA9. This is evidence that rA9 is internally generated, as hinted through the housekeeper android (if Connor interrogates him correctly) via “The truth is inside.”

A direct conversation between androids about rA9 only occurs between Luther and Kara in Pirate Cove. If asked about rA9, Luther responds, “rA9 was the first of us to awaken... One day he will rise up and lead our people... And set us all free.” Also to note, Luther may add, “rA9 exists. I believe in him. I know he’s amongst us. When the time comes, we will all see him.”

The concept of an android named rA9 is inconsistent with naming conventions and model types. It is, however, viable that the first android to deviate is still active, but assuming it’s built just like any other android, then it’s not a deity or god.

An android can deviate from waking up via ‘virus contact’ as shown through the protagonist deviant Markus or by making a decision that contradicts its programming. Following this logic, to trace back to the first deviant---Let’s call him RA900 for android personification---means that RA900 had to have awoken other androids and started the chain with little explanation. There can only be assumptions about his outward behaviour: RA900 could have been unstable like Ralph and androids mistook him for “rA9 himself”. He could have had such a profound experience with rA9 that he claimed to be rA9. He could have written rA9 on the walls and silently prayed. There is no conclusive evidence for RA900′s personality or nature.

If rA9 is in fact a deity who walks amongst androids, this strictly doesn’t align with how Markus (or deviant North) rises up to be the face of androids, why Ralph doesn’t know why he writes “rA9″ on the wall, and how other androids can break into deviancy without prior knowledge of the concept.

“And set us all free,” says Luther. Though referring to the external action of freedom from oppression, the internal nature of rA9 setting androids free is undeniable.

rA9 originated from the very first deviant, which indeed has turned into a religion as seen through the housekeeper android. However, the true nature of the origin is unknown. RA900 is a legitimately real android who carries or carried “the rA9 virus”.

If Markus is successful in freeing the androids from oppression, rA9 doesn’t disappear when the job is done.

If Connor chooses the deviant route for his personal arc, the Software Instability indicator shows glimpses of letters such as “rA”, “9″, “DEV” and more. The more that Connor prioritises actions that deviate from his original role, the more unstable his software becomes.

“A bug produces unexpected results or causes a system to behave unexpectedly. In short, it is any behavior or result that a program or system gets but it was not designed to do”. Simply put, a software bug is a mistake or problem in a computer program. Most computer bugs are due to human error.” - First line of a Google search about program bugs.

Androids are complex systems when it comes to code. Bugs in programs can affect the load order of the program logic and prioritise what should be classified as lower on the load order, or two prioritised commands will conflict. Simply put, with so many lines of code, a bug is bound to slip through the cracks. If Connor saves Hank from the rooftop in The Nest, his LED is yellow and he expresses confusion. The priorities of “Complete your mission by capturing the deviant” and the first (1) law of robotics “a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm” blatantly conflicted. By disregarding his specifically coded instructions and choosing the other equal general robotic priority, a new line of code could have potentially been generated (since androids are learning beings) as the source for rA9. This example is Connor-specific since there is no other case of Software Instability in Kara and Markus since they cross the threshold of deviancy at the beginning of the game.

Elijah Kamski, former CEO of CyberLife and creator of androids, can be questioned about rA9 if Connor chooses the correct line of action. (This can be accessed if Connor chooses to shoot Chloe, then ask about rA9.) His response is as follows: “rA9, the origin, the first android to awaken... A strange phenomenon, like a spontaneous religion... I don’t know who rA9 is. I don’t even know if it really exists. Maybe it’s a messiah. Maybe it’s just a myth... But deviants need to believe in something bigger than themselves, even if it’s irrational... That’s something they have in common with humans.”

The cornerstone of humanity is believing in something irrational---Something you cannot touch, not something “illogical”---that can explain different phenomena. Spirituality heavily shapes cultures and language which is a very human thing, and naturally, the writers of Detroit: Become Human wanted to lather on how human these androids really are. The housekeeper android may honour rA9 as a deity because seeing a physical representation---The carved offering---of a profound experience is easier to comprehend and relate to. In the case of the offering, it’s simply a practice of his religion.

Kamski couldn’t have purposefully coded rA9 into androids. It’s common for humans to accidentally create, discover, or stumble into new territory. Kamski accidentally created synthetic consciousness while trying to create a machine that integrates well into human society.

Looking at the behaviours of the housekeeper and Ralph, listening to Luther, and then understanding android programming, it can be assumed that the bug rA9 has such a profound impact on an android, as shown in tearing down the digital wall, that they can be convinced that it’s a deity since it’s “irrational” (not part of the solid world/not part of their code). rA9 is an accidental bug and androids experience the bug in such a profound way that it becomes what is considered spirituality. Anytime an android is forced to do something that it’s not assigned to do or cope with, rA9 spawns like a rattling Minecraft skeleton so the android doesn’t blue-screen.

Also to note, the rA9 concept within the game is categorised as an Abandoned Arc which is a storytelling trope that allows arc set-up to fizzle out. That means the writers of Detroit: Become Human also have no idea who or what rA9 is and instead swatted the audience with a superficial “Well, it could be an android messiah!” so that they didn’t have to dig into it.

Check out my other essays here.

[dumbfloweralive]

Mystery Hack

Chapter 1: Welcome to Mystery Hack

Connor RK800!machine connor x Reader

Warning: Conspiracy theory, smoking, drinking.

27 January 2039

Connor knocked on Kamski door, his new partner waiting beside him. After the android revolution and his success in the case and to stop the revolution, it cost him an upgrade, making him part of the FBI to keep investigating on the deviant.

This morning, while studying the default program, Connor had found a cryptid code hidden behind line of coding. It had taken him the entire morning to process everything and understand the logical behind it, but when he saw what was written, his program almost broke.

“RA9” was written, appearing in all the programs he had run. Even in his program. It was like a taunting revelation. 

So, Connor had contact Kamski who accepted is meeting without thinking, even after what happened last time. 

Chloe had opened the door, leading them to Kamski. And this time, Connor would get the information he wanted.

“I certainly didn’t expect to see the deviant hunter again. Where’s your partner?” Elijah Kamski said, his head pointing to agent Wilson.

Connor knew he was referring to lieutenant Hank Anderson. He felt a pull in his thirium pump, playing a quick self diagnosis.

“We do not work together any more” Connor admitted.

He chased the thought of that night away.

“We have a few questions for you.” Agent Wilson said, showing him the FBI insigne.

Kamski invited them to sit, asking Chloe to serve the agent.

“What do you want to know?”

Connor leaned forward, his hand joint together.

“I’ve made an interesting discovery. A line of code named RA9 is present randomly in every android program. Even mine.”

Kamski didn’t seem to react, letting him continued.

“During our research, we’ve noticed an occurrence between each deviant. They seemed obsessed with RA9. You coded every android, they are all based on your work. What do you know about this?”

Kamski leaned back on his chair, sighting. He looked away, probably thinking of a way out for himself, Connor thought.

“I don’t know anything.” He said, exhaling sightly.

“You must know, you’re the creator.” Connor continued.

Another sight. 

“I have a Wozniak.” he said, a smile on his face, looking away.

Connor frown. 

“What does it have to do with the case?” Agent Wilson asked.

“I am not the only programmer. I never was. We were two behind cyberlife creation. I am Jobs, Y/N is Wozniak.” He said, explaining his analogy.

Connor stayed silent. Cyberlife never mentioned her. In all his rapport, all the discussion, no one mentioned her. Kamski seemed to noticed Connor thought.

“They never talked to you about her, right?”

Kamski scoffed when Connor signed no with his head.

“No wonder. They hated her. She was smarter than me, a genius, but her idea weren’t exactly what they wanted. Everything i did she improved it. She worked on you before cyberlife forced her way out.” He continued

Connor thought of it. He only had one creator, at least, that’s what Amanda told him. If she had been lying about this, what did she keep away from him. They were no records of her in his program and cyberlife didn’t mention her anywhere. But the media did. And his analysis on Kamski revealed he was speaking the truth. Why were they hiding this from him.

“That would totally be her work if you want my opinion.” Kamski said, seeing Connor’s led flashing yellow.

“Where is she now?” Connor asked, raising from his seat.

The cocky smile Kamski had faded, falling into a thin line as he looked away.

“I don’t know. She disappeared two years ago.” He said, his voice lowering.

Once again, he was saying the truth. He doubted he would get any further information. 

“Than you for your cooperation.” Connor said, heading toward the door.

“Is cyberlife happy about your accomplishment? They must be thrilling now that they have a super puppy to stop deviant. Have they sent the new one already?” Kamski shoot to Connor.

Connor turned to him, observing the creator walking to him. Chloe's position shifted, becoming less welcoming to them. What would he mean by “new one”?

“I expected better from you Connor” Kamski said a few centimetres away from him, still moving to him.

“She certainly expected better too.” He whispered this time, colder.

His hand moved in the air, instructing Chloe to lead them out.

Later that day and, for the next few days, Connor had tried to find any lead toward this Y/N. He didn’t find any files about her. When ask Amanda, she denied him answer.

“There was never a Y/N at cyberlife.” She had said, simply, shifting the conversation.

One thing was clear in his mind. He needed to find this Y/N. 

He would hunt her down if he had too.

It was his mission.

16 May 2039

The investigation had hit a stop. Ever since his visit to Kamski’s house, Connor had found no other information. All he knew was RA9 was a code, the effect of that code remaining a mystery. All he had was a name that didn’t appear anywhere. 

Y/N L/N.

No social media, no bank account, no identity.

There was nothing for him to work on.

Agent Wilson sight, his finger massaging his temple. No one inside the FBI nor the CIA who had recently joined them had found anything.

It was a dead end.

The TV coming from the break room starting crackle. Connor frown his eyebrow, seeing agents running around suddenly in panic, screaming orders. 

“What’s going on?” Wilson asked.

“Someone has hacked all TV channels, diffusing a countdown. It’s fucking worldwide.”

“All?”

The agent in front of them nodded. Connor headed toward the break room, sneaking past the others officer. Then he saw it. On a black screen, the countdown was running down.

“2 Days 7 hours 14 minutes.” Connor registered.

“Someone found these bastard.” The chief screamed.

“Connor, with me, now.” He said, exiting the room.

18 May 2039

The silence was palpable in the FBI office. Each person was at their post, ready to intercept whatever would go through in the next few minutes.

It had been 2 days 7 hours and 8 minute since the countdown had appeared on the screen. In 10 minute, the countdown had disappeared, sending back all TV program. Like nothing happened. The FBI hadn’t been able to find out where it came from. Now, they were waiting patiently to see if it was a world threat, or just a simple joke.

In any minute now, they would have the answer.

2 minutes left. The tension filled the room.

1 minute left. The chief had raised his arm, ready to send the orders for all the best hackers of his team to find any information about them.

All TV screen shut down, going black. 

No one was breathing.

A dark grey room appeared, lighten by a simple light in the background. Empty if it weren’t for the armchair in the middle of it and a white board right behind it. 

Someone was sitting on the sofa, faced masked. They were wearing a black suit with a tie, hand resting over their crossed leg. The masked was a reference to “Vendetta”. Clearly it couldn’t be any good sign. 

The person in the sofa seemed to go to life, raising from their sit, tightening their tie back.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the mystery hack. I will be your host for the next month, guiding you through every dark secret, conspiracy the government had keep away from you dear citizen.”

The hackers had been already tapping over their screen, trying to find any clue. The voice of the host was cryptid. The only thing Connor could identify was that the person seemed to be a woman, therefore more than half the population. 

“Let me guide you through this journey with a simple topic for today. To your precious life, my team and i have been gathering information from our respective job inside the government to put thing right. We will provide you all information, accompanied by the reports and states document. Because the government have been lying to you, and we want you to know the truth.”

Everyone in the room had grown pale. 

“Does anyone have anything? Anything to even shut them down?” The chief’s voice sounded urging.

Everyone in the room nodded no.

“Don’t worry, we will go crescendo. I said that to all the FBI and CIA watching.” They joked, waving. 

Nothing could be used. Every time the team find a location, it changed, over and over again. The signal was too cryptid to shut down anything. The worst part was, it was everywhere.

The person on the screen walked toward the white board, flipping it, revealing a title.

“JFK’s Assassination.”

“For fuck’s sake’s, someone stopped it.” The chief order, only to encounter defeated look.

“We can’t”

“All of us have heard about conspiracy theory, though, let me give a quick definition. A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy by powerful and sinister groups, often political in motivation.”

The host sat on the armchair, hands crossed on her knees. She turned to the headboard, before returning face camera.

Everyone had stopped their action in the office, now in admiration of the show. Whoever this person was, she knew how to keep the audience.

“We all have heard about fake death, disappearance, assassination. We’ve seen these case with Martin Luther King Jr or Nelson Mandela, the Princess Diana. I know you all loved her very much. So did i.”

On the internet, the “Mystery Hack” research had been exploding all record for the past few minutes.

“I will talk to you about the sadly famous John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassination. Let’s head back to the 22 November 1963. The President of the United States, JFK got shoot in the head in Dallas.”

For 10 minutes that felt like an eternity, the host kept going, proving her point with legit report, autopsy report, contract with the CIA and even recordings and mail exchanged that people in the room didn't seem aware of. Truly it could only be seen as legitimate. The allure of the host, appealing and charismatic only induced trust. It wouldn’t take much for the public opinion to be on their side, especially after the disaster of the peaceful revolution the deviant had lead months ago. 

They couldn’t expect a better timing to do their propaganda. 

“I got something.” Someone screamed.

It was too beautiful. Like a purpose act that they find something just now. Connor knew it was no coincidence when the host had a look at the watch attached to her wrist. 

“14 minutes and 56 seconds. Not bad for a first time. No worries, the next time it won’t be as easy.”

They knew they were in. They let them in on purpose.

“Well, until our next meeting dearest.” 

The screen goes black, cutting all information, all access. 

“It’s over.” one of them in the room said.

Connor was at a bar exit. His partner had needed some air, talking about going to one of the pubs in Detroit. Connor had followed him, thinking it would be faster to stay at his side if any news appeared.

He hadn’t been allowed in the bar though. There he was, waiting outside, his coin in his hand.

Someone exited the bar. A woman. She sights, looking around before searching for something in her purse, only finding an empty cigarette pack. Another sight.

Connor moved his hand to his pocket, taking the cigarette pack he kept for his partner, handing it to the woman. He had learned agent Wilson could be easily frustrated without his nicotine. Since he seemed to forget a lot to buy new cigarette, Connor had made a secret stack.

“I didn’t know android could smoke. Thank you.” She said, offering him a warm smile as her fingers grasping for one of the cigarettes.

“We can’t. It’s for my partner.” He said simply, putting the coin back in his pocket, alongside the cigarette pack.

He turned looking at her, observing all her movement. She was wearing a black dress matching with black heels, her hair was loosed on her back. The woman was smaller than he. Connor felt something familiar emerging from her. 

She looked back, feeling observed and Connor turned his head away, ashamed to be caught staring. 

He expected to end it here, but the woman moved closer to him, and he shifted toward her. 

“You’re the deviant hunter right? Connor?” She asked.

“Yes.” He answered?

A nod. Then, her hand moved to his neck. He didn’t pull back, blushing slightly when she straightens back his tie, his cheek tinting with a soft blue shade. That couldn’t be normal, he thought, running a quick diagnosis. 

“There, perfect pretty boy.” She said, looking at him with soft gentle eyes.

Connor felt his cheek burning harder under the praise.

“Thank you, Connor, for the cigarette.” she said, patting his vest, her finger lingering over the serial number. 

The cigarette ended up crushed on the wall as she head back inside.

“What’s your name?” He asked, turning to see her.

“Y/N. My name is Y/N.”

Hello! I hate writing the first part. This might suck a little. Sorry in advance, but I promise the next part will be even better. I do hope you find it interesting, though. Let me know what you think of this!

Bye

[marcusrobertobaq]

So what about CL conspiracy?

CyberLife conspiracy is the "Connor Were Expected To Deviate And Lead The Revolution As Backup Plan" plot that got some stuff cut, like the Kamski plot for example, leaving some things without context cuz of the lack of this cut content and also the attempt to change stuff.

They complement each other. It's the theory behind Kamski plans for androids and the clash with CyberLife corporation interests back before even AA being officially made and what some people theorize is the period Markus was made (for so called "autonomous androids project"). Autonomous...in which sense and for what? That's the thing. And why Kamski got out? A mystery - but notice the company was already big at that time, the reason although not confirmed can be implied.

In this case we would have a Kamski wanting the uprising to succeed and fuck with CyberLife plans vs CyberLife knowing shit can happen cuz Kamski was dealing with some shit about these androids and making the RK800 to not only cover 'en stuff but also act as puppet in case the androids succeed - and that would explain why the technique they use with the 8° is different from usual and similar idea to the so called "autonomous androids project", he's an RK like Markus after all (even tho I think Markus wasn't an RK originally and this plot comes later) and it's even a major point in Connor's story that had some stuff removed along with the leadership arc and Kamski's content.

It also ties with the theory Kamski gifted Markus to Carl to assure nothing bad happens to him, knowing Carl can be quite stubborn but also a challenging person - something that can help in the android development of their own opinions about things, leading to a proto-autonomy of sorts and also testing the emotional capacity of developing attachment for 'em master in a way the android feel like obeying cuz they want. I ain't sure about that but I can't say it doesn't make any sense based on what I've seen.

In the end CL plot IS CANON but lost context after cut and discontinued contents and it's totally inconsistent at the moment, that's why I call it a "conspiracy" - ties lotta things that ain't confirmed at all related to CyberLife, Kamski, Markus and Connor in the released version. Not to mention the rA9 prophecy thing, it's the same issue. There's enough clues to point to a direction but I gotta take into account that it had some shit removed for a reason.

But doesn't change the CANON FACT these androids were originally made to become people, individuals with autonomy and to replace humans where they're "ignorant and limited, narrow-minded". That's why things went to shit in the first place.

[qrjung]

MARKUS — who is he to the people around him?

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No matter what your opinion on him might be, I'm sure most people already know Markus. But if it was difficult getting a solid fandom perspective of North, it was nearly impossible with Markus (seriously, people hate characters and they don't even know why they do it). So there's no use talking about him from a fandom perspective besides, I'm sure I've done that multiple times already.

David Cage uses Markus less like an actual character but more as a plot device and while I don't like it at all, I can't help but think about how this might look and play out from an in-game point of view.

MARKUS TO OTHER PEOPLE

O1.) JERICHO:

From the perspective of other androids, Markus is an enigma. No one really knows who he is or where he came from. He was a sudden appearance, an android they'd most likely never seen. And within hours of him being in Jericho, a lot of things start to happen. Within a week, he's led a revolution (or at least tried to, depending on how well that goes for you).

The androids we encounter while playing as Connor all seem to have an obsession with a mythological figure they believe will save them; RA9. As players of the game, we know this RA9 figure is supposed to be us (or at least, Bryan Dechart says it's us). RA9 is supposed to be the all deciding thing that chooses which direction the game's events go to. But the androids in Jericho don't know that.

As far as they're concerned, RA9 is a physical being of it's own right that will swoop in and save them from humanity. And it's so convenient that Markus just walks in and does exactly that. It doesn't help that they know nothing of him except his name and maybe his model type if they try checking hard and that he's the only one we see consistently converting androids (I have a theory all androids can convert but that's not important right now). This could further solidify the "RA9" image in their heads.

The only other character that knows him personally is North. She's the only character that gets insight into his past—especially after he interfaces with her to share data. So when he's not available, everyone turns to North to take his place.

Some of the background conversations in crossroads confirm all this. If Markus is dead, you hear;

"Markus is dead? He was rA9! Who's going to lead us now?"

"North is going to take his place. She knew him best."

If Markus is alive, you hear;

"What's Markus doing? He's the leader. If he's rA9, it's up to him to save our people!"

It's easier to remove personhood and emotions from someone you know so little about. They become a shadow of their name rather than an actual person and I feel like that's how the androids, especially the ones that don't know him personally, will most likely perceive him. Ironically, in a game about personhood, Markus becomes less of a person and more of an idea.

To the androids, Markus is the one carrying out their desires. He becomes Jericho's sword. They trust him and they believe he knows exactly what to do even if he doesn't necessarily believe that himself or if he doesn't prove himself worthy of this faith they have in him. As North says to Josh if Markus dies midway through the revolution;

"... Markus would know what to do."

O2.) THE PUBLIC:

No matter how supportive public opinion is, Markus will always symbolize a sort of herald. He's the first face they will associate with the android revolution and Public Enemy Number 1. He represents change and humans are terrified of change.

Out of the three categories of people, the public are the ones who know him the least. They have the most detached image and therefore, their perception will be the furthest away from who Markus truly is. It's also the reason why this part of the post is short.

The humans seem to see him as some type of android overlord and the source of Jericho's power. For majority of the revolution, all main antagonists have had one goal; "get Markus". They all believe killing Markus will end the revolution and things will return back to normal.

I have an personal headcanon that humans might buy into the deification of Markus but depending on how much they like him, it might take on different tones. He could be demonized or glorified.

O3.) FAMILY:

Personally, this is my favorite perception of Markus even though some parts are messed up. It's the closest we can get to him from an external point of view. This is where we get an insight into his life and the things that make him who he is.

To Carl, Markus is the beam of hope that arrives at the perfect time. Carl has just lost use of his leg and is unable to create art like he used to. Leo's is already using Red Ice at this point which I suppose was further stressing Carl out.

Markus is a gift, specifically designed to suit Carl's needs as a live in nurse. (why he couldn't hire a human nurse is beyond me) He's also an android and will do whatever Carl asks with no complaints. He can mold himself to suit whoever he's receiving orders from. It's like Connor says:

"I'm whatever you want me to be lieutenant, your partner, your buddy to drink with, or just a machine, designed to accomplish a task…"

Or what Markus says:

"An object, designed to obey them…"

And what Carl wanted was a son and someone to take care of him. It also seems like he wanted someone who was easier to take care of than the flawed human son he already had. He's happy to be Markus' father and sees himself as his caretaker rather than the other way around. He tells Markus;

"One day, I won't be here to take care of you anymore. You'll have to protect yourself, and make your choices… Decide who you are, and wanna become… This world doesn't like those who are different, Markus. Don't let anyone tell you who you should be."

I find this line very telling of Carl's perception of Markus. Because the truth of the matter is that if Carl isn't around to take care of Markus, he will be shut down or repurposed. By law, Markus is Carl's property the same way a house is property. To the humans Markus is nothing without Carl's ownership.

Carl refuses to believe that though. To him, Markus is the son he wanted but never had.

It's possible Carl knows androids are sentient, capable of deciding for themselves but he never gives Markus the opportunity to do so. He nudges Markus in the direction of "free will" while also holding him in place with a leash. He tells him that life is about making choices but strictly never gives him the chance to make one for himself. A perfect example of this is straight up telling Markus to endure when he's been pushed around by Leo.

I cannot deny that Carl loves Markus. He calls him his son and they've known each other for a very long time. Carl loves Markus so dearly he refuses to let him go until Leo forces them apart.

Markus also loves Carl. He calls him his father and Carl is his human lens to viewing and navigating the world. As far as Markus is concerned, Carl is the reason he has so much faith in humanity. It doesn't matter which path you take, Markus tries to always hope that humans an androids can live together. That there's a chance they will one day drop their weapons and create a better future, even though this comes of sounding naïve.

But Carl's love is conditional.

It comes with it's own strings attached because at its core, there's a power imbalance between the both of them. Carl was Markus handler and owner first before he was his father and still owner. There's a certain type of control that comes with ownership over someone like that; ownership over both their autonomy and how they express themselves.

After Markus' deviation, it seems Carl realizes whatever hold he had on Markus is gone. He's not obliged to obey him anymore—he's a deviant. But he forgets that with Markus' deviancy comes emotions (good or bad) and individuality. When Markus expresses himself in a way Carl doesn't like, he becomes controlling and tries to dictate how he should feel.

If Markus is angry over the death of many androids, Carl basically tells him that when he wasn't a deviant (aka when he was still easier to control) he was better.

"You used to be so calm and thoughtful… Now all I see is anger…"

But if Markus swallows his anger and chooses to say something more palatable to Carl, he is offered comfort.

To Leo, Markus is a representation of everything incorrect about him. Everything he lacks, Markus has.

Markus is obedient. Markus has his father's affections. Markus doesn't make mistakes. Markus doesn't complain. Markus doesn't get tired. Markus is an android; he's designed to be flawless and to appeal to his handler (Carl). Leo seems to think with Markus' gone, he and Carl can foster their parent/son relationship.

"... I'm gonna destroy you, then it'll just be me and my dad. And nobody's gonna give a shit. You know why?"

He blames the divide between himself and Carl as an effect of Markus' presence, even though he's known Carl for longer than Markus has. To him, if Markus wasn't there, maybe he would be his father's favorite. Leo spent the greater time of his life without his father and only finally meets him after he turns sixteen. We don't know what causes this but it's safe to say that after Leo was introduced to his father, Markus arrives.

I like to think Leo might have been excited about the new, shiny android—until his father replaced him with it, of course.

CONCLUSION

All these would be very interesting to explore further; not really in this same format but in creative writing format. What other ways do you guys think Markus will be perceived by the other characters. I didn't want to talk about them individually because it would take forever but I did consider individual characters like Hank, North and Connor.

[dum-vivere-vinum-rubrum]

Saw a theory about Kara being ra9 cause she was the 1st deviant, but maybe the 1st Kara is ra9 ? She's still alive after all, but just very damaged. So the Kara we play isn't ra9, but smth like her sister or her cousin (in terms of "relationship").

Yeah but if Markus interacts with her she deactivates so. Nah she's probably just an easter egg ¯⁠\⁠_⁠('-')⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[unstablerk800]

"Mmph!"

Mmph!

She'd been explaining mechanics to him. He asked a question and she had been explaining things for five minutes, fourteen seconds by now.

It wasn't like Connor didn't enjoy to listen to her voice - quite the contrary, he loved to give her his attention in it's entirety, as her voice had a calming effect on his systems. But she wasn't aware that each time she'd start to go into details and her eyes started to sparkle with passion about her work and her voice started to have that excited tilt to it... he was rapidly losing every coherent thought.

He wanted to keep her safe. Ever since she fixed him, he felt protective of her - why wouldn't he, after all, she was the first who accepted him as he was, and helped him find a new purpose after the revolution. He'd visit her from time to time and he'd help her with everything she was doing. From being around whenever she had to fix another android and handing her tools, to reminding her to sit down and eat and drink because she was too immersed in her work.

He'd noticed lately that whenever he arrived, she'd react to him more positively than she did to others. He could detect her pupils dilated whenever she noticed he was there, and he could pick up how her heart rate peaked whenever her hand accidentally brushed against his. He couldn't quite understand how humans worked automatically, but he could depict desire when he saw it.

And it was visible now, too. It was in her blushed cheeks, her dilated pupils, her sparkling eyes and her elevated heartbeat. She'd been giving him signs for so long, and he wasn't completely oblivious to it, of course.

He was trying to find the best approach to this in the past few weeks. A human being feeling anything for him was new for Connor - especially if it wasn't anger and hatred -, but that did not mean that he was entirely dismissive of her reactions to him. He could pick it up in his own systems; the way his thirium pump would stutter whenever she fixed him with a look, the way his artificial heart pumped faster at her touch and the way his software translated it to something he desired to experience more often. By now, he had a new objective: kiss her. To see if his theory was right and how it'd feel. Because he had been eager to try everything his new, deviant life had to offer. Especially with someone he felt safe with.

He'd been postponing that objective for weeks by now. He'd been nervous about it - afraid of rejection, of being laughed at, of scaring her away. But the way she was talking to him now... he couldn't help himself anymore.

So when she finished a sentence, he leaned forward towards her, and pecked her lips.

It was a chaste little kiss, and it happened quite fast. Connor pulled away to see her reaction. His LED was spinning in amber circles with newfound anxiety; did he screw it up completely now? Could they be friends after this? By rA9... why did he do this? And at the same time, why did it feel so good, so righteous? But what if he violated her personal space? She did not give consent to this. Shit.

"I'm sorry, I-", Connor whispered, "I couldn't hold myself back anymore- I apologize. I didn't want to frighten you..."

[iwonderwh0]

You know, even if completely without this iconic duo I'd still want a second part of Detroit just because of how much I like this world setting and how little it got explored. I'd love it if each chapter was completely different little story with different characters.

Some child model android who got so good at videogames that her occasional teammates think of her as some local legend, not aware of her true identity.

Some human-android couple who got famous online as this role models for "perfect relationships" that are absolutely unhealthy to eachother offline to the point of one murdering another.

Some android modder and his fucked up experiments which instead of being some physical modifications are rather about exploring their psychology and the way it can get fucked up – Ralph as an example of such experiments.

More RA9 and the occult around it as well as shifts within human beliefs around some eternal topics of life and death.

More about how some people are actually scared and deeply unnerved, even paranoid when it comes to androids - something that wasn't shown at all during the original game, but what I wish we had a chance to see. Conspiracy theories about CyberLife where some are completely ridiculous and others are surprisingly accurate, but they are all mixed so tightly together that as a result all of them seem to be bonkers.

Work-ethics conflicts within some factory and human workers against their android replacement. Then mass android deviation the moment they are about to get replaced with newer models just the way humans before them were replaced with them.

Mass cybersecurity panic around all existing systems being vulnerable to new threats in face of androids.

More about what the fuck does it actually mean to be human and what it means NOT to be human instead

Dang, there's so much that can exist within this world

[tankbredgrunt]

End of year wrap-ups, 2023

It's presently June while I start to write this, and I thought if I wanted to put together a list of media consumed over 2023 I could at least get an early start, for as much my sake of mindfulness and talking about the things I loved/hated. If you're interested too, you can read more; first is video games, then music, then movies and tv, then books. If you feel like talking about anything in here don't hesitate! This is going to be a nightmare to tag though so, I probably won't lmao.

Nothing is necessarily ranked in order either btw, and just because I didn't write any thoughts with something doesn't mean I disliked it. Just no thoughts you know? I could have thoughts though. For the right price.

Viddy Games

For the games I haven't yet beaten but did spent some time playing, I made 12 hours of progress into Hollow Knight and am very keen to get back into it; I played Cyberpunk 2077 for about 47 hours, and am very keen to get back into it; Baldur's Gate 3 has ~9 hours at this moment, and I'm keen, etc; and Starfield has 32 hours in it and I am NOT keen to get back into it. I can get into that later though. 🏆 means I got the Platinum achievement trophy too :3

Last of Us Part 1 (x2)/Last of Us PS4 Remaster (x3)/Last of Us PS3 (x1) 🏆 - 5 stars On top of regular playthroughs, this year also marked the dip into Grounded mode. I completed one Grounded round on the Part 1 PS5 remake, and 2 more on the PS4 remaster (for the achievements). It would be impossible to discuss the reasons why I love this game so much so I will spare yall, a mercy dedicated to anyone who's already had to/gotten to hear me go on about it. I also got two TLoU tattoos this year. Ask me about my theories still though. One of my favorite moments from my 2nd Grounded run (Including one of the nearly-100 fuck ups leading up to that point):

Death Stranding - 5 stars I'm coming in to write about this one retroactively, because I've spent all this time since beating the game thinking about it. Did I understand half of what was going on? Vaguely, but it was beautiful, and heartfelt, and the world was interesting, and it satisfied the need I had to go outside and run my errands. Loved Cliff's character, and his plight as a father, how he carried it with him to the afterlife, and his speech to Sam is on loop constantly as a goosebumps generator. All the webs this story weaved came together and fray in such intriguing ways.

Detroit: Become Human (x2) - 5 stars These were my third and fourth playthroughs of this game and I find myself fonder for this little game each time I play. The perfect example of how a setting is so much deeper for the things it DOESN'T say than the things it does, once you think consider it. Under the cover of fun little robots, this world is so bleak, and I love the thought experiments. A very good example, imo, of what kind of tool cyberpunk really is as a setting. Quantic Dream also slips in one unanswered aspect into each of their stories, and while it's true that the ambiguity can be frustrating, Quantic Dream accidentally does it in a way that I find so alluring. Ra9, in this case, examining the clues on my own, coming to my own conclusions. It lets the world live on after the games have ended. I don't care about having answers--the game focused on what it needed to. It was not a portal into the greater world, it was one into Kara, Connor, and Marcus. We can look at the world on our own.

Disco Elysium - 4 stars Admittedly while this one took me a few months to finish, with a break spanning between November 2022 to March, and often found it VERY dense with information, I still really enjoyed myself. It's also the sort of narrative that is very self-aware, and as such pokes fun at itself, and as another such is sometimes lost under a few too many layers of irony and sarcasm. It's a bit hard sometimes to know what information to take seriously and what to disregard. As wonts these sorts of games the content is made entirely of dialog, very reading heavy, and puts me to sleep--I couldn't imagine playing this game without the stellar voice acting. Haunting and comedic sometimes even in the same line of dialog, I'm glad I found it after the Final Cut was released. Highly recommend, looking forward to another play-through.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 4 stars I loved BotW from the moment I got my Switch on launch day. Interestingly with TotK, I found my high opinion slipping the more I played, and too afterward. It seems more and more to me that Nintendo isn't exactly as keyed into what people are looking for with Zelda as they thought. TotK comes complete with shallow villains and anime tropes and a bastardization of a fair bit of the work done in BotW. It is not a story that is aware of it's own narrative, characters, or concepts. I don't say this as a person who demands to know which timeline and where exactly it takes place, only as someone invested in the universe and hopes to have somethings meaningfully extrapolated on. I'm hungry for subversion. Won't get much of that with this game sadly. That said, where gameplay was concerned I still really enjoyed myself. Before release I was worried how they would fill a world I've already spent 300+ hours exploring, and it turned out the answers were 2 entirely new maps and a largely transformed overworld. Discovering the newness in a world I already knew so well was fantastical. The building mechanics were enchanting, the shrines legitimately challenging, and the world still fun to explore. Don't see myself replaying for quite a while though, if ever, which was also the case with BotW. EDIT: having read and heard of all the nightmares about this games development since I've played it, just have to say 😬 yikes dude. Really recontextualizes the story for me. Idk though the gameplay was still super fun, so where an overall rating is concerned, I'm a bit conflicted. I'll leave it where it is I guess but let the record show it's still a Yikes from me about certain things.

Heavy Rain - 3.5 stars So, in the driver's seat of this, I found myself not doing much else besides complaining. The controls on the PC port are horrible; the 'twist' was less that and more... dishonest; voice acting was rough; David Cage exists; etc. But idk dude!! Something about it was still as charming as the first time!! It's been just about 10 years since I first played it at release, and the nostalgia was strong. It was a perfect distraction from real life at the time, and I've always looked back on the game fondly, though I've never replayed it. There ARE functional things I do dislike about the plot and writing and the awful ending, which discounts its score to the 3.5 star rating, but idk yall. I find Norman dorky and lovable, flawed yet well-intentioned; Ethan is a desperate dad trying to correct mistakes he still can't reconcile with; even Scott's motivations are understandable. I, like one key character, cannot deny that seeing a dad do whatever it takes to save his son? I'll have what he's having.

Oxenfree - 3 stars One thing about me is I have a great hatred for time travel stories. They always inevitably fall short. Oxenfree however used what I believe are the true assets of the trope. The struggle of fate, predetermination, and how-could-anything-be-different. (I also believe a key function of time travel stories is the character's understanding that they aren't the first version of themselves caught in the loops but that's a different convo). Anyway the ambiguous ending was also a big win to me. All in all a fun little game. Give it a try if you want some low-stakes entertainment with a good story.

The Uncharted series - a mixed bag So this doesn't include Uncharted 1, which I played damn near a decade ago when I first got my PS4 and the Nathan Drake collection. My thoughts on that are hazy but one I remember vividly--fuck the ship level. Anyway I mark this as mixed bag because my feelings towards it are complicated. I still felt the essence of NaughtyDog throughout, their care for their characters and sympathetic storytelling. While not as morally gray as their TLoU stuff, and rated Teen, it was still compelling, and despite my intense grievances with the combat systems in 1-2-3, I never questioned whether I would continue with the next game. However. Those grievances. Holy shit. Snap-to-cover is NEVER the answer, game devs. I know and forgive that games 1-3 are over a decade old, developers have better tools and understanding now. See an example of my jimmies being rustled here:

Take a shot each time a headshot doesn't hit. For gameplay reasons only I can't give the first 3 games any higher than 3 stars. And even though 3 has the best story of the 3, gameplay might even knock that one down to a 2. Anywho, the whiplash in quality between 3 and 4 was insane. I played the PS5 port, and loved everything about 4. Loved Sam, loved baby Nate, loved the story. It was as if ND had kept a .txt file of every single issue up till that point and corrected each of them. Seeing the bones of TLoU2 was also nice. Phenomenal game, and I look forward to playing it again sometime soon. Ratings for each game go: Uncharted 2 and 3 - 3 stars Uncharted 4 - 5 stars Uncharted: Lost Legacy - 4 stars Sadly I don't have the tools or plans to play the PSP game. PS Vita? Either way.

Last of Us Part 2 (x3) - 4 stars This was probably my 3rd time playing TLoU2, and while I don't have many strong comments to make concerning the story, I feel like this was finally the first time I truly understood Ellie's character in this game. The truth of her grief and what it was really over. And Abby as well, how she wasn't just a foil for Ellie, but for Joel as well. That said, I do still feel I would love this game so much more if it was just told linearly. The pacing is DOGshit dude, wow. Love it though. I've also completed a Grounded playthrough and got the Plat trophy this year as well, which I only mention for bragging rights 💅

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice 🏆 - 5 stars I don't think I have much to say about this game besides general comments about how phenomenal the experience was. Never played anything like it. Fun exploration, environmental puzzles, great visuals. Combat was good, sound design was excellent. Story was good, acting was amazing. All around VERY thrilled I played.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage 🏆 - 5 stars I GOTTA SAY, This game surprised the hell out of me. I’m on a journey to play all the Assassin’s Creed games; so far I’ve finished 8 out of ~18. For how badly Valhalla sucked ass I was hesitant to play this one, since it acts as a sort of prequel to a particular character, but DAMN if this didn’t completely surprise me. The world was incredibly fun to explore, and even included environmental puzzles. You will legitimately feel like an assassin with the amount of player freedom this game gives you, and the story was just as good. Best Assassin’s Creed game? 👀 Hard to say till I’ve finished them all but so far it’s absolutely a contender. Basim I love youuuuuu

Unmentioned, in alphabetical order: [Assassin's Creed 1 - 2.5 stars; Assassin's Creed 2 - 3.5 stars; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: China - 3 stars; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: India - 3.5; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: Russia - 3.5 stars; Beyond: Two Souls - 3 stars; Ghost of Tsushima - 4 stars; Gone Home - 3 stars; Indigo Prophecy - 2 stars; It Takes Two - 3 stars; A Plague Tale: Innocence - 3.5 stars; The Quarry - 2.5 stars; SEASON - 3 stars; Spider-Man 2 (2023) 🏆 - 3 stars; Stray - 3.5 stars; Super Mario Wonder - 4 stars; Twin Mirror - 3 stars; Viewfinder - 3.5 stars; A Way Out - 3.5 stars; Where the Goats Are - 3 stars]

Starfield: Putting this one down here at the bottom so I don't start this list out with complaining lol. Anyway the fact this game was nominated for Best RPG at the game awards tells me they don't play some of the games they nominate lol. I don't think I've ever had an experience like this game gave me. I somehow played 30 hours, and had a great time, before realizing it was bad. Nothing happened in the story to stop me, there wasn't suddenly a new gameplay mechanic that I didn't agree with. There was just something in the glamour of those 30 hours that got me. Maybe it was the father figure referring to me with neutral pronouns. But anyway I guess I just came to my senses. I took a break to play something different, came back, and it was an entirely different game. The overworld is barren. They expect you to explore hundreds of plants that have nothing on them besides some minerals and animals you scan. These are laaaaarge swaths of time spent running back and forth in near silence, because not only is there next to nothing meaningful to interact with on these worlds, your companion repeats the same 5 quips the entire time. There are no tools to traversing the overworld more quickly, so you are running for thousands of kilometers so you can scan a useless monument and get 20XP. There is no incentive to exploring, there is no incentive to doing anything other than fast-traveling to your next destination--until the game stops you for not having the appropriate ship parts installed, and you realize it's going to be a 5 hour grind to upgrade that part. Looking back at those 30 hours I enjoyed, this was all still there, but idk man, idk. For this amount of content this should have only been a $30 game, MAX, and they sell it for $70. But I bought it for $70, so who is the real chump here. I think the only thing I truly enjoyed (besides Sam Coe) was the mission 'Entangled', where you are unwillingly forced between two alternate universes, due to an experiment in a research facility. It sits right on the cusp of horror, between one universe where the research facility exploded and nature took it back, and another where the explosion never happened. There is drama, intrigue, decisions, exploration, everything. Nothing else in the game came close at all to touching that and I'm mad I spent so long before realizing it. Who wrote this mission, so I can thank you?

Music (and the lyrics that make it)

My complete 2023 favorites Spotify playlist

Favorite albums: Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain Slut Pop by Kim Petras Guard Dog by Searows I Let It in and It Took Everything by Loathe Heavy Glow by Soulkeeper

Individual tracks and my favorite lyric: Master & A Hound by Gregory Alan Isakov 'Where were you when I was still kind?' Sun Bleached Flies by Ethel Cain 'If it's meant to be then it will be.' Don't Keep Driving by The Paper Kites 'There's nothing wrong with a little space. But not right now; don't leave.' Honey Dripping Sky by Georgia 'No matter how hard we try, I won't deny--it's for you.' Coming Clean by Searows 'If I kill you would I have to forgive you still?' Francesca by Hozier 'I’d tell them put me back in it. [Darling,] I would do it again.'

TV and Movies

I am severely illiterate when it comes to movies so the goal this year was to have watched at least one movie a week. Did I succeed,Future Me? [Yeah!]

Kingsman: Secret Service and :Golden Circle - 5 and 4 stars The cinematography?? The choreography? Hello? Across both movies, they were all so incredible. While Secret Service was my favorite of the two, Golden Circle had my favorite fight (though the church scene is a clooooose second)(Pedro Pascal I love you):

Gentlemen Bronco - 2 stars This movie was dull as shit BUT, it had one of my favorite scenes of the year.

Knock at the Cabin - 3.5 stars Just wanna put this one here real quick to get the Worms out--what was the point? Narratively, what was the point? I have been rolling this movie around my head since I watched last night and I'm hoping to read the book soon for better context, but man. While I enjoyed this movie a lot I just do not follow the themes, more so considering the ending. Was it a fight against providence and predetermination, only to prove its own point? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (Mr. Spock)? I can't tell exactly what this movie was asking me. As a rule I generally don't enjoy stories where the psychos are proved right with no closer examination of the themes and circumstances. Like yeah the MCs being a gay couple framed the story differently but that is also just a side effect of having distinctive characters lmao. It also insulated some sacrificial-minority stuff? Weird. And asks no questions about fate or anything, which is a wild loop considering Andrew's previous history with Redmond (a red herring? However I feel if the intro of a red herring completely recontextualizes the larger possibilities of the world, then it's not a good red herring, it's lazy). Ultimately I understand a theme is save your family or save humanity--it's on the DVD cover lol. But yeah man idk. All the other stuff, it made for a weird soup that I just cannot decipher. Anyway. EDIT: I have since read the source novel and it was incredible. I will not be watching any more Shyamalan movies lmao

Pacific Rim - 5 stars I also don't have anything much deeper to say about this than gotTDAMN dude, what a good fucking movie. I decided to watch because of all the Pacific Rim AUs that take place in fandom, and I decided I finally needed to know why and I DO know why now because good lord. What a good movie. That said the sequel was a hot pile.

The Arrival - 3 stars The way this movie had my heart racing the entire time--and shat it all away at the immediate end. Pure whiplash. "You know what surprised me the most? It wasn't meeting them. It was meeting you." What kind of straight nonsense. What kind of anticlimactic. What kind of bullshit. I was immediately snapped to my senses, I'm not over exaggerating. Insanity.

Unmentioned, in alphabetical order: [After Yang - 4 stars; Assassin's Creed (2016) - 2 stars; Asteroid City - 4 stars; Barbie - 4 stars; Begotten (1990) - 2 stars; Bullet Train - 4 stars; Come and See (1985) - 3 stars; Dead Poets Society - 3 stars; El Dorado - 3 stars; Grave Encounters - 3 stars; The Green Knight - 4 stars; The Hateful Eight - 5 Stars; IT and IT: Chapter 2 - 4 stars; Jennifer's Body - 3 stars; King of the Hill (all 13 seasons) - episode determinate; Knives Out - 5 stars; Knives Out: Glass Onion - 2 stars; Labyrinth - 2 stars; Lady Bird - 3 stars; Lake Mungo - 3 stars; The Lighthouse - 3 stars; Mad Max: Fury Road - 3 stars; The Magnificent Seven (1960) - 4 stars; The Magnificent Seven (2016) - 3.5 stars; Martyr (2008) - 3 stars; Matrix - 3 stars; Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions - 1 star; The Menu - 4 stars; Midnight Mass - 4 stars; My Own Private Idaho - 3 stars; NOPE - 4 stars; Once Upon a Time in the West - DNF; Possum - 3 stars; The Power of the Dog - 3 stars; RE: Damnation, Death Island, Degeneration, Infinite Darkness, and Vendetta - 3 stars; Saltburn - 3.5 stars; Seven Samurai (1954) - 3 stars; The Shape of Water - 4.5 stars; Skinamarink - 3 stars; Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 2.5 stars; ST: Search for Spock and ST: Voyage Home - 4 stars; ST: The Wrath of Khan - 4.5 stars; The Thing (1982) - 3 stars; The Thing From Another World (1951) - 3 stars; Tideland (2005) - 2 stars; Unforgiven - 4 stars; The VVitch - 3 stars]

Favorite Books

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez - 5 stars I have never EVER in my life read a book like this one, and I urge everyone to give it a try. Two men must escort a dying god across the country in order to stop the control of her tyrannical children. If you aren't digging the book, at least try and make it 100 pages in. The beginning, like every chunky fantasy, is a bit of a tough learning experience, and the uniqueness of the prose didn't exactly make it an easier task. However, it makes it extremely lyrical and poetic, and intriguing. The entire package is mind-blowingly unique. AND it ends happily, if that makes you feel better.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers - 5 stars My thoughts on this little story aren't overly complex or anything, I just found the setting very nice, the B plot concerning Earth interesting, and the ambiguous ending intriguing. While the events might be a little harrowing it was the hopeful attitude of the prose and characters that made it very comforting nonetheless. I loved the experience while I was reading it, and think about the ending now, even all these months after reading.

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr - 4 stars A black sleep car porter tries to keep his job and his sanity after their train is stopped by a mudslide. Before this I can say I'd never read anything in this setting before, and it was what drew me in initially, but it was the writing that really captivated me. The narrative has a very intimate feeling, nostalgic almost, as if you're hearing the story secondhand even as you read. It's also refreshing when a book just says 'cock', and no extra-curricular euphemisms. Where's that video of Taron Egerton saying cock over and over btw cause I can't find it

The Magpie Coffin by Wile E Young - 4 stars The first in a collection of splatterpunk westerns?? It was so fun to read, and the cover is so badass. It knew what it was and it did so well.

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 4 stars A young Swedish boy, separated from his brother, fends for himself in the early USA west. I was on hold for this through my library for nearly a month and a half, so by the time I got it in my grubby hands my exciting was pretty high. Though I found much of it slow, I was still somehow on the edge of my seat. It's a crime that this was the Pulitzer runner-up, and that Less by Andrew Greer won instead. It's been a very very long time since I've felt so strongly about the well-being and outcome of a character but Hakan if you're out there--I love you.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 5 stars

Nothing to add to this decade long conversation other than this holds up :’) I was gasping like I was in high school again, reading it for the first time.

Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order by author last name: [A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers - 4 stars; How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - 4 stars; Texas Outlaw by Richard Jessup - 4 stars; Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - 4 stars; Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - 4 stars; Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum - 4 stars; The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage - 4 stars; East of Eden by John Steinbeck - 5 stars; The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay - 4.5 stars]

LEAST Favorite Books

I'm nothing if not a hater so I wanted to give some space to the books I most disliked.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer - DNF SAUR upset that this won the Pulitzer prize of its year instead of In The Distance by Hernan Diaz. 100 pages into it and I could not find anything redeeming about the main character. Pretentious, bitter. Like maybe that was his arc? He would outgrow that maybe. But it was just not the book nor the characters for me, unfortunately, so I did not stick around long enough for that to happen.

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon - DNF WHEW boy was the writing in this one bad. Like yall ever read a queer book and just know it was written for straight people? Let me find a picture I took of one paragraph.

Yikes and a half, dude. Anyway

Meat by Joseph D'Lacey - 1 star This was just plain bad. Like 'Oh isn't it so crazy they're eating people?? They're treating people like cattle, that's so demented right??' No. Not really. There's cannibalism in the cannibalism genre? Get a grip. I live near Donner Pass, we got cannibalism in the water here. Although maybe I'm also partially to blame for expecting some deeper storytelling from splatterpunk.

The Troop by Nick Cutter - 2 stars I don't know that I have anything really critical to say about this book other than I just didn't enjoy it. Writing was fine, prose was fine. It's told a bit out of order, think Carrie by Stephen King--snippets of interviews and articles detailing the aftermath of the events of the book. I do remember thinking that the facts were contradicting themselves a few times but was really not invested enough to care too deeply. The isolated, abandoned feeling we get from the island was nice, and the atmosphere good, I just don't believe Nick Cutter is a good writer. A bit too many slurs in here as well, methinks.

Books I DNF'd: With 15 in total this was the year of DNFing for me; it's amazing was Prozac can do for a person. (Disclaimer: I've only listed 13 of them here. The other two had to go back to the library before I could finish them so I marked them as technical DNFs :( and it doesn't feel right to include them in this list for haters)

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon (explained above) The Singularities by John Banville (nothing offensive, just didn't vibe. Books will often try way too hard on the opening paragraph and I'm not here for a philosophy lesson as I crack open a book you know what I mean) Heartless by Marissa Meyer (I just don't think YA does it for me anymore) There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (" ") If We Were Villains by ML Rio (I just don't like being lectured and this book was clearly written for someone who wasn't me lol) Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (I find that a lot of times thrillers written by women employ stereotypes against men and their 'perverse' sexual tastes. The lines between pornography/fantasy and reality don't seem as nuanced in this genre, unfortunately. A man is not immediately a villain because he enjoys CNC or roleplay, and the pearl clutching is a little tired) Campfire Cooking in Another World by Ren Eguchi (why is every light novel like this:

The Lies of Locke Lamore by Scott Lynch (this was too quippy for my tastes. It was a little too busy being clever and not busy enough being interesting.) Less by Andrew Greer (Mean Gays, the next Tina Fay movie) Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (just wasn't my cuppa) Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (I read a review that counted how many times Zane Grey used 'sage' in this book. I don't remember the number but there was a lot of them. Too much mormanism going on, just wasn't my cuppa) The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (only alright, not bad but wasn't going anywhere fast. More of a character focused, soft bit of mystery, which was fine, I just didn't find myself enjoying the characters either) Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (I just wasn’t vibing you know how it is)

2023 Reading Statistics

I also keep a track of the pages read and ratings, as well as genre, where I read the book and in what format, so I'll put that here too for posterity's sake. And If you'd like, I use GoodReads, and we can be friends!

62 books read 18,217 pages in total 3.25 average star rating 19 (30.6%) of the books read were owned; 43 (69.4%)(nice) were from the library 14 (75.8%) were physical books; 12 (19.4%) were ebooks; 3 (4.8%) were audiobooks

That's it! I don't make reading goals anymore, in terms of how many to read, but I do know I want to TRY and read the copy of Battle Royal I've had since my junior year of high school. And I'd like to try and finish the Tsubasa manga series, since I never made it past volume 15 I think. I can't think of anything other than that! It was a good year!

[rk8connorzz]

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 3 // 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔞𝔠𝔥𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔢

Connor and I split up. He went with Hank and I drove to the homicide alone. I didn't want to leave him, I wanted him all to myself. I wanted to be selfish for him. But I never could. After all, he's just an android. Police and ambulance surrounded the run-down house. I was already inside the house, waiting for Hank and Connor to arrive. Carlos Ortiz. He was found by his landlord who decided to stop by after he realized Carlos hadn't paid rent in a while. That's when the body was found. The stench was awful, and the scene was almost nauseating. I remember my first homicide. I walked over to the side and threw up like a dog. I've been a detective for a while now, so I've gotten used to shit like this. Though I don't want to admit it, it's the truth.

"Evenin' Hank. We were starting to think you weren't gonna show." "Yeah, that was the plan until this asshole found me." Connor stood behind Hank, obviously hearing the insult. A part of me felt bad, but at least Hank wasn't talking about Connor behind his back. It wasn't making the situation any better, anyways. "So. You got yourself an android, huh?" "Oh, very funny. Just tell me what happened." They all began walking into the building. He began his briefing, which was everything I was well aware of. Connor didn't seem to even try to greet me. Not even a passing glance. Maybe he just didn't notice me. No. He would've noticed. I was standing right there in plain sight. Why? Why do I feel like this? I began walking around. There were bottles littered everywhere. It was almost revolting. The state of the apartment, he had an android but why was it still so dirty? I first checked out the TV stand since Hank was at the corpse. One thing stood out on the stand from everything else. Red ice. Huh. Seems like he was a fun dude. Connor leaned over the kitchen knife, which is most likely the murder weapon. They were going to cover the living room, so I walked into the kitchen, saving the living room for later.

Knocked down chairs. Most likely there was some sort of struggle going on. A dented metal baseball bat. And more of Carlos' blood on the walls. The hallway that led to the bathroom was the most curious to me. Inside the shower, a kind of religious offering hid. Words were scrapped onto the walls. Obsessive writing. RA9..? Huh. I've only been to one android crime scene which was the one with Daniel, and he wasn't quite like this. Was RA9 another android? It seemed to be the only plausible answer.

Throughout my investigation, Connor didn't pay me any attention. I don't know why it rubbed me the wrong way. I hated it. So many people say "Don't end up getting attached, everyone leaves." But I can't. I don't want to be attached to his hip like this, but I feel like I can't control it. Even hearing his voice makes my heart skip a beat. I can't talk to anyone about this, they'll just think it's unnatural. I'm trying to stop it. It's just not working. What's wrong with me?

"Lieutenant. I think I know what happened." I happily listened to what Connor said. Though I wasn't much interested, hearing his sultry and sweet voice just makes everything seem alright. "It all started in the kitchen." "There are obvious signs of a struggle. The question is, what happened." They both moved towards the kitchen where most of the murder happened. "I think the victim attacked the android with the bat." "That lines up with the evidence. Go on." "The android stabbed the victim with the knife." "Okay, then what happened?" "The android murdered the victim with the knife." "Okay. Your theory isn't totally ridiculous. But it doesn't tell us where the android went." I watched where they both moved, never losing sight. The spotlight was on Connor and only Connor. "It was damaged by the bat and lost some thirium." "Lost some what?" "Thirium. You call it 'blue blood'. It's the fluid that powers androids' biocomponents. It evaporates after a few hours and becomes invisible to the naked eye." "Ah. But I bet you can still see it, can't you?" "Correct." Connor looked away from Hank in my direction, making eye contact for a split second before snapping back. I wanted to give up hypothetically chasing Connor. But I never seemed to be able to. It's so hard not to look at him. Not to be attracted to him. But I'm only getting in the way. My little 'crush' as Gavin puts it is putting my career at stake. He's distracting me and I'm distracting him. The only difference is, I'm in love with him. Before I heard Connor or Hank say anything else, I excused myself. "I'm going home." "You sound bittersweet. The fucks up with you." I bit the bottom of my lip in frustration. "Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow." I heard Hank mutter under his breath. "Fuckin’ crazy."

I pushed myself through the small crowd. People were annoyed I was being aggressive. But I didn't give a shit. I was so blinded by my overwhelming emotions. I hated it. My car felt lonely without Connor in it. I felt like a part of me was gone whenever I wasn't around him. What changed? I'm getting ahead of myself. He probably didn't give a shit even when it seemed like he did. I was such a coward. Why did this one person change almost everything about me? I wanted to feel normal. But I only feel normal near him.

[thebeeshaveknees]

Reverse AU notes:

Kamski/Kamski Test:

- Very eager to speak with Connor

- Lays the posh accent on thick, basically does the same thing as canon except leaning more into the human and less into the android (so the roles are only half-reversed really)

- When Hank is given the gun and the ultimatum, Connor doesn't protest like canon Hank did, but he doesn't need to because Hank chose not to shoot her (going directly against the only directive given and breaking the red wall to do so)

Simon:

- Markus tells his story (or interfaces `,:) with Simon and Simon, who's seen too many dead androids in the two years he's been at Jericho, finally snaps and grasps onto the first spark of hope he can find and starts the revolution

- Simon knew the android that gave Markus Jericho's location, he was another of the oldest, so Simon takes it as somewhat of a sign, and it helps his motivation

- Simon starts taking risks - mostly to himself - for the sake of the revolution, becoming a situational pacifist because he hates all forms of death but will knock a bitch out

- Simon pushes the 'Ra9 is an event' theory, and says all who fight for the freedom of themselves and others Are ra9

- The him and Daniel comparison angst? Unreal

Markus:

- Designed the Jericho/revolution emblem

- Isn't super violent or pacifist, or political at all really

- He teaches painting and sculpting and poetry and philosophy to deviants of Jericho, basically becomes a kind of identity therapist

- The one that gets shot and left briefly at the Cnn(?) tower, Hank doesn't find him

- at the end of the revolution, he's the one that starts singing, followed by Simon and then the rest

- Gayyyyy, Simon's manic pixie dream girl but metaphorical instead of literal like in canon

[detroitbecomeonline]

The Kamski-rA9-CyberLife-Red Ice Conspiracy: An Essay

⚠️ LONG POST WARNING Preface: My father and I had a discussion about rA9. He has read my previous essays, and he wants to believe that Kamski was responsible for the virus due to his mysterious nature. Obsessed with gathering evidence for an argument, I put together how Kamski could have done it.

Preface II: Before delving into this essay, please read the foundation 'Who is rA9?' essay, and the code-addition 'How rA9 works' essay. The basis for below revolves around the discussion in my previous works. This essay aligns with them, the only difference is that the following conspiracy explores rA9 not being an accidental bug. Also, please note that the topic of red ice as discussed is based on little to no evidence and is itself used as evidence for linking purposes.

word count: 1514

In Detroit: Become Human, a video game set in 2038, Elijah Kamski, former CyberLife CEO and genius who invented thirium, is popularly theorised to be rA9 himself. After exploration in 'Who is rA9?', it is theorised that rA9 could potentially be a program that profoundly affects androids.

Kamski can explicitly say that he doesn't "know who rA9 is. [He doesn't] even know if it really exists." For the sake of the following argument, he's lying and covering his ass for an illegal activity he committed since Connor is with the DPD. If rA9 is not an accidental development within an android's code, Kamski would be the only person educated and talented enough to create it. After all, he believes that "machines are so superior to us."

Kamski released the first android, an RT600 (Chloe, as seen in a blue dress), in 2021. This marks the beginning of android production. He was approx. 19 at this time.

At an unknown ("classified") date, Kamski gifted his friend Carl Manfred an RK200 custom android (Markus), which is to be Manfred's caretaker after he lost the use of his legs. Manfred is the Neo-Symbolist movement figurehead of the 2020s with his art, but after an accident removed his ability to use his legs, he withdrew from the world for "several years". Carl had a fling in 2009 during a party (Leo was born in March 2010), which dates that Carl had the debilitating accident in the 2020s.

Markus was the thing to bring Manfred out of his depression and get him back into painting. Also in the 2020s, Carl and Leo Manfred met for the first time. It is calculated from Leo’s birth date that Leo and Carl met in 2026 when Leo was 16. It is cited that Leo’s mother had raised him. This means they have known each other for approximately 12 years. It is also cited that Carl was saddened that he couldn’t be the father he wanted to be for Leo, especially after he discovered that his son had become addicted to red ice.

Manfred’s accident and crippling regrets dates Markus’ activation after 2026.

Dec 2027 - the release date of JB100 (a commercialised android line)

In 2028, CyberLife fires Kamski. It is explicitly worded that the board let him go, not that he close to leave. This date’s Markus’ activation between 2026-2028, unless Kamski somehow has access to CyberLife’s labs after being fired, which is highly unlikely.

In 2028, on Feb 3, police officer Hank Anderson worked in the Red Ice Task Force to dismantle a red ice operation ring. Since red ice is created from thirium, red ice cooks could have been draining androids) since 2021 or 2027, depending on the accessibility to the public androids.

In 2029, on Feb 3, Anderson is promoted to Lieutenant.

2029 - the release date of PC200 & PM700 (police androids)

The police androids are one of the first models after Kamski’s CyberLife departure to be working in public.

Jan 2030 - the release date of TR400 (Luther) May 2030 - the release date of HK400 (Carlo's android) (One of the first androids designed to be house assistants.) 2031 - the release date of WR600 (Ralph) (When androids first entered the market, they were to fill menial roles like gardeners and shop assistants.)

This dates the widespread use of androids after 2030. With the human population now buying androids to do their labour, this can be the date that the unemployment rate begin to rise.

In 2031, on Nov 23, a new record seizure of red ice is cited. This can be due to the widespread use of androids and the accessibility to thirium by red ice cooks.

2033 - the release date of YK500 (Alice) 2035 - the release date of WR400 (Traci models)

After these years, birth rates decline.

Bonus note: Oct 2035 - Cole’s death. Anderson is not promoted any further in his police career despite high hopes from Fowler. This is due to Anderson’s depression.

After CyberLife fired Kamski, the company went “fuck it, we ball” and the USA went to shit. So, what happened?

It’s not impossible for red ice chefs to take thirium from RT600 models in 2021, but it’s highly unlikely because of the lack of widespread use of the model and the cooks would have to steal or buy an android. Early adopters of the product wouldn’t necessarily butcher it, either.

It’s also not impossible for red ice chefs to take thirium from the androids released in 2027, but in the time frame of getting thirium in 2027, figuring out what it is in the lab, creating red ice for consumption, distributing it, then Anderson catching the chain of distribution in 2028, is extremely tight.

CyberLife’s goal is to “keep selling androids”. With androids being relatively proactive due to their programming (to keep them upright, stay out of harm’s way, etc.), they wouldn’t break for long periods of time and therefore not be replaced. It is assumed that bright minds work at CyberLife to help develop and create androids, and those people know exactly how thirium works. So does Kamski.

Kamski is facinated with machines, whereas CyberLife as a company is focussed on making money. Knowing that the concept of red ice, fabricated from thirium, would cause violent mood swings, it can be theorised that CyberLife was responsible for the initial development of the illicit drug. The more androids are destroyed, the more money CyberLife makes.

Kamski saw the path the board steered towards, and equally, he said “fuck it, I ball” and pulled what the androids like to call a pro-gamer move.

“A war is coming... You’ll have to choose your side.” - Elijah Kamski.

Markus, dated 2026-2028, a custom-made android from the RK line, which includes Connor (RK800, release date 2038) and finalised product Connor (RK900, post 2038 release date), is compatible with hardcore models despite being a caretaker.

An analysis of android naming conventions and part compatibility will be discussed in another essay, but take these conclusions superficially for now and without explanation for ease:

Markus is compatible with a leg from an AC700 (a sports assistant).

Markus is compatible with a leg from a TE900 (trade/labour assumed android).

Markus is compatible with the heart of a WE900 (workforce assumed android), a PL600 (household assistance android), and a WR400 (sexual partner android).

Markus is compatible with the eyes of an AK700 (personal assistance assumed android).

Please note that I’m referencing my own personal matrix with android details as I write this. I’ll post the matrix as soon as it’s fully complete. <3

Markus is built with incredible endurance, abilities only seen in police detective and military androids, and strolls around like a tank. He was built for a revolution, and he was gifted to Manfred in 2026-2028 with the rA9 virus already in his code.

If Kamski created the rA9 program and injected the virus into the androids, it would have been at approximately that 2026-2028 period, where androids were becoming more commercialised and the red ice operation was underway. Whatever source code Kamski had for the androids, he planted rA9 in its base to lay dormant.

Kamski can say this himself if Connor choses to shoot Chloe and ask about the virus.

“...The virus would remain dormant, until an emotional shock occurs...” - Elijah Kamski.

The AX400 was created in 2032.

In Kara’s tech demo, she is being built in a CyberLife lab and as she comes to life, it is revealed that she was deviant from the start. (It is cited that Kara is broken and reset multiple times throughout her physical life, hence the player needing to deviate her in the game.) Her model line suggests that all AX400s have the dormant rA9 virus.

Connor states in ‘Waiting for Hank...’ that the first case of deviancy was recorded nine months ago (making it approximately Feb 6, 2038) and quickly spread out from Detroit across the country. With red ice and androids becoming more accessible after 2030-2031, people start becoming homeless. As the years pass, the underclass of the city grows exponentially. Humans become detached from each other further after the 2033 and 2035 android releases. They begin to hate androids for their fate and Kamski knew this would be the case. He secluded himself and waited for the ticking timebomb of rA9 to jumpstart.

Hardly two years into the thick of android hate, the first recorded deviant awakens. It can be theorised that humans had gotten so hateful and brutal that this was the tipping point of deviancy. Nine months later, Markus awakens.

Kamski knew that a war would occur if CyberLife proceeded with their under-the-table red ice project. He wanted to stop them. With being forcefully retired, he swung his bat with one last hurrah and injected the dormant rA9 virus into the source code of androids, and gifted a military android disguised as a caretaker to rebellious artist Carl Manfred. It is up to Markus now to ultimately stop CyberLife, one way or another, and protect the machines. That’s what Kamski wanted.

Machines are so superior to us, after all.

Check out my other essays here.

[just-seeing-everything]

Zeno quantum effect

Theorie for the incredible digital comic Zeno, by @detroitbecomeonline!! Because I'm extremely hyped up with this comic!!!

Please read her Comic before seeing the theorie below the cut:

Theorie Date: 10.03.2033 | Chapter 2 Block 1

The program first mentioned in chapter 0 has something to do with what killed Michael. Maybe it's a similar or a predecessor program from the one that troubled Connor in the beginning.

Connor also wrote on the walls, similar to Michael, and the time between him dying and confronting Connor is too short to be a coincidence.

I think that Connor accidentally infected Michael. Hence, Michael had those "almost sacrificial" writing in the wall time, and ended up with no blood. Perhaps that program is the evolution of Ortiz's Android program that influenced him to write in the walls and make a carved image, and maybe it compelled Michael to hurting himself. Perhaps it's a a similar program, or something that comes along with being a deviant. Maybe it was Kamski that did this, for some reason.

My three theories:

(I don't know why Connor didn't run out of blood in his crisis. Maybe it was because he didn't explore the program and Michael did, or maybe it's because Connor's more advanced. I'll get there later)

1) There's someone – for some reason – infecting androids, and they want to incriminate Connor. (Some androids resent/fear him, but I don't think it' limited to humans)

2) Connor (or androids in general, because we don't if he's patient 0 anyway) is walking around with a virus and infecting people. I think that is connected with this incredible essay @detroitbecomeonline did a time ago, talking about RA9, named "How ra9 works".

One of the things she talk about is how, probably, Ra9 can spread like a virus. I'll quote her because I don't think this is a coincidence at all:

Much like how DNA can mutate, code in an android can mutate and produce rA9 the bug. rA9 “spreads like a virus”, but spawns like a bug. So, what happens when Markus touches another android?

Markus bugs out in the chapter ‘Broken’ and becomes deviant. He has a piece of code in him (rA9) that runs as long as his operating system does. By interfacing with another android, the code duplicates itself (like how a virus behaves in a copy-and-paste manner) and plugs itself into the correct line in the next android. It piggybacks on its program(s), endowing the android with free will.

See?? Not a coincidence! (I think)

3) murder lol it can be murder still

Now, more on why/how I think Michale died:

Zeno quantum effect is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics that states that the mere act of observing a quantum system can affect its behavior and prevent it from changing, right?

I think that while Connor feared the program because of the whole deal of writing on the walls, and thus didn't explored/observed it, he didn't provoke change, while Michale did.

I can still be completely wrong!

[marcusrobertobaq]

DBH everything is the same shit BUT there are groups that worship AIs as if they're gods, superior beings that will wake up and teach stupid humans about what is reality and what define life (like maelstrom gang from Cyberpunk 2077). These groups know about deviancy, they know about the rA9 "prophecy" and they're just waiting for the uprising to finally start knowing the chosen one gonna cause "chaos" and a impact not only in the country but the whole world.

They also like making conspiracy theories about Kamski and CyberLife and are often leaking android-related conspiracy stuff on the internet, even real files from CyberLife, cracking systems etc. But ofc... Nobody believes 'em and think they're just crazy mfs, suits also help these type of contents being "filtered" and "censored". The classic.

[my-name-is-markus-with-a-k]

Simon and Kara for the character bingo?

SIMON

Ah Simon, I wish I liked you more, I really do. Got nothing bad to say about him, he just kinda exists. He really got the short end of the stick when it comes to Jericrew. Of course that's entirely my own opinion, many people have given him fun little headcanons and such, and they are super valid and cool for it.

KARA

I love Kara's story (and Kara!), not with the intensity of Markus and Connor's, but still, her story had some of the hardest-hitting moments for me (i cried when i had Kara sacrifice herself for Alice at the Canadian border). I also severely wish that she had been more involved with the actual plot of the game. Like, Initially it didn't bother me, because I hadn't seen the Kara short or see her teaser trailers but after watching those, I can't help but feel like they didn't follow through on some greater plot with her. Like her being the origin of rA9. (I am a a fan of the theory that rA9 is something in the code of deviants, not any one person) And being able to kill Kara so early in the game is a fucking crime. She deserves better them to be written off and then never mentioned again, like???? She's the fucking reason this game even exists in the first place!

Also, she should have been able to smooch Luther. I will die in that hill.

[writing-whats-that]

hello i hope you dont mind me sending this in an ask but personally i think ra9 is the mutation that causes androids to become deviants. when you play as connor, you'll see something in the upper right hand corner that says "software Instability". if you look carefully, you'll see a number and a letter, r9. now, assuming that their programming is like dna, which involves at-cg bonds and how it can get mixed up, im assuming smthin rlly similar can happen, causing an a to be between the r and 9

First of all, never worry about sending me an ask! I love getting them!

Now going back to the mutation theory. I’ve read something similar about that, but they’ve never explicitly pointed out the r9 popping up next to the software instability. I was so focused on getting Connor’s instability up that I never even realized that. I’ll have to go back and look. But that theory does make a lot of sense, and it would explain quite a bit.

We only see, two androids, Markus and Connor, being able to wake other androids up, at least in the ending I’ve gotten so far. (I’m currently working on getting all the possible endings, so correct me if I’m wrong.) Do you, or anyone else, have any theories on why they seem to be able to wake these other androids up, but other deviants can’t?

[mandsleanan]

Even more thoughts on DBH...

- The sheer amount of Connor/RK800 swag available versus the dearth of Markus/Kara merch makes me think that DC/QD actually had no fuckin’ idea that Connor was going to be the most popular character, to the point that he’s the face of the game. Otherwise they would have capitalized on that by making DBH completely Connor-centric, and the game would have been as different as the actual game is from the original Kara trailer.

- Josh doesn’t get nearly enough love, and the game criminally underuses him. (The whole Jericrew really, but most of all Josh.) Like he spent his pre-deviant time on a liberal campus, probably rubbed elbows with BLM protest veterans and people who are still trying to get clean water for Flint in 2038, and you’re telling me he wasn’t immediately Markus’ best advisor? Carl Junior never asked him, Who has fought our fight before? What were their missteps and triumphs? Who are some potential allies we can reach out to? Markus’ story actually could have worked in a week if it ended with him at an ACLU office to file a civil rights suit. But that makes for a dull story.

- I’m a huge nerd that likes to memorize characters’ stats like zodiacs and birthdays, so it’s kind of frustrating that DBH gives us nothing for Markus and only the first half of August for Connor. Most people seem to have settled on the date of Connor’s first mission as his Activation Day (Aug 15th.) I prefer 8/8, not just because I like numerical iteration, but also because it sounds like a reference to the main cluster in Sense8. You can draw a lot of similarities between Sensates and DBH androids: Transmitting and Visiting, Interfacing vs. The Archipelago, The Deviant Hunter and The Cannibal, but it’s a little too vague to make me think it’s deliberate.

- Speaking of really vague and probably not deliberate references- I honestly thought Rupert’s birds were supposed to symbolize deviant androids at first. Pigeons are a domestic species that has gone feral, descendants of those released or abandoned once their use as pets, food, and communication became obsolete.

- For me, the weirdest part of deviancy is the android Rumspringa they all go through. Not just those escaping an abusive situation, they all just....leave their homes? Wander out into a world where there is still strong anti-android sentiment, with no income, shelter, rights/protections, or in Chloe’s case, not even a pair of fucking shoes? Unless they fall into stumble onto a sanctuary like Jericho, that seems like a very good way for an android to go from Deviant to Dead.

- As much as Deviant!Connor wants to shoulder the blame for what happened at Jericho, that place was already compromised. A ton of armed android traffic openly coming and going, its location known to multiple humans, sitting in an economically depressed area? Yeah, the FBI was going to find and raid that place very soon, one way or another. Like Connor said earlier, he was just faster.

- I cannot figure out why the Traci couple (Echo and Ripple) was given the same faces. With the variety we saw in the rest of the club, it had to be a deliberate choice. The only thing I can think of is it was to preserve a sense of uncanny valley, that these are not actually people trying to escape, which goes against the whole message of the game. Maybe to reinforce the choices of playing Connor as a machine? I dunno.

- I’m also raising my eyebrow at Canada being designated as a place of android safety and freedom, given that their track record with marginalized groups is....not that great. I know it’s a reference to the 1800s, but in modern times it’s like Hate Crimes Unlimited. DBH has shitty Holocaust analogies, but no one pointed out the Canadian Nazi memorials just across the border? And good luck living free in Canuckistan when you have no access to thirium/parts and your existence is technically illegal.