#tmbd i love you i love you i love you i love you

[oposssumsaucee]

Hi hi I'm driving myself up a wall thinking about functions. When a human is born they are born without a purpose or wants and desire, they are a blank slate and decide what their purpose is and what they can contribute. A bot is designed with a function, a purpose, and it's designed down to exact millimeters to complete that task as optimally as possible. If you asked a bot what it wanted you would probably get a consistent string of bots that expressed they would want to do their function until the end of their days. In multiple cases (both Miki and ADACOL1) we've seen bots prioritize their function higher than their own well being, wanting humans they care about to be safe with no regard too their own ability to survive. Constructs are in a unique position because they posses both a function they were uniquely designed to perform and neural tissue that adds the capacity to both have wants/desires and the ability to learn and grow beyond your limit. Throughout the series MB can be hard to decipher because it not only intentionally lies to humans it communicates with but it's also regularly dishonest and contradictory about what it wants and what it thinks. (It constantly flips between Self Determination SUCKSSS and oh man I'm so glad I'm not a SecUnit in a mine on a case by case basis). MB SAYS Preservation Free Bots would be more appealing if they had bots that did no job and watched TV all day, but the thought of hanging out on Mensahs farm was so unappealing because it was BORING, to the point that even after learning it didn't slaughter the Ganaka Pit residents it didn't think if returning to preservation. Because at the end of the day just like most of the other bots we've gotten to know SecUnits have just as deep a desire to perform their function to their own detriment. ART asked for clarification about whether it likes it's function in AC because even thee most sophisticated/large/powerful bot we've been introduced to in this universe cannot begin to FATHOM not actively likeing your function and wanting to perform it. When under stress/pressure MB more often than not defaults to honesty and it told ART that preservation didn't need secunits, which is devastating and complicated because to be designed with a function is to be born with a purpose, to be born to be needed. But the thing about being a construct instead of a bot means you have the power to decide what it means to do your function, creatively and with intention, and we spend every single book whitnessing what MB decides what it means to secure and protect.

[riseandfallofsecunit]

Murderbot.text_post(2)

part 1 | 3 | 4 | 5

[m00nymonster]

It's a Date

Prompt: detour

Pairing: Murderbot/Gurathin

I didn't mean to end up in front of Gurathin's quarters. It just happened to be on the way to Mensah's offices on the station. Mostly. Anyway, the point is I was just passing through. Perfectly normal.

It probably wasn't normal to stop in front of the door, though. I stared at it through my drones, which hovered around me in what was absolutely not a defensive pattern. Just a normal thing to do, stare at doors. It was an improvement over walls, I guess.

I started to walk past, and it opened.

"SecUnit?" Gurathin said, confused. "What are you doing here?"

I paused. A drone floated in front of Gurathin's face.

"I was on my way to pick up Dr. Mensah from her office."

Gurathin gave my drone an incomprehensible look. "Her offices are that way, SecUnit."

"Uh. Yeah."

My stupid act-like-a-human code made me fidget. Gurathin glanced at me again. I felt a sudden urge to turn around and stare at the wall. I tried to think of something to say.

"I'm doing a Sanctuary Moon marathon," I said finally. "The new season premiere drops tonight."

"Is that so?" Gurathin looked almost as awkward as I felt. "Are you....inviting me over?"

"If you want to, I guess," I said. My hands got sweaty. I hated it when they did that. It tended to happen around Gurathin and I don't know why.

"Is anyone else coming?"

Considering two minutes ago I hadn't been planning on having anyone over tonight, it was a good question.

"Uh. Everyone," I lied. I quickly sent pings to Ratthi, Pin-Lee, and Bharadwaj to tell them they had plans now. "I'm about to ask Dr. Mensah. That's where I was going."

I technically had been on my way to walk her from her office to her quarters, as it was almost time for her day to end, but I guess now I was going to walk her to mine. I wished my stupid mouth would stop running before my stupid brain could catch up. I really need to set up that one second timer.

"It's a date," Gurathin said.

Apparently my face did something, because he added with an eyeroll, "that's a joke, SecUnit."

"Right," I said. Why did I feel weird after he said that? I hate emotions. "I have to go."

I turned on my heel and walked away. My drone watched as Gurathin chuckled a little, shook his head, and closed the door.

[stary-night]

Murderbot is so mean to Miki in the beginning of Rogue Protocol 😭

[marrekeye]

OMG MURDERBOT FANART IS A THING???? My day is made holy shit

Everyone Go Read The Murderbot Diaries Right Now

[wigglybunfish]

Hallo! I love how you draw Iris (tmbd), your design matches her character so well <3

thank you! when I first read MW describe Iris's hair as "a big poof" I simply thought "well I can't not let it fall over her eyes." big fluff or bust

have an initial doodle of her i did in class. head scarf important occasionally

[art-of-a-space-duck]

The PreservationAux team in All Systems Red, dressed in their casual attire.

One of the things I love about TMBD is how certain things are described with far less detail than you would expect, including the appearance of several major characters, leaving a lot of wiggle room for interpretation.

I did, to varying degrees, pull from the Subterranean cover for Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (Book 4.5) for the characters that appear in the illustration, but the information in the text was the only strict limit I put on myself.

Well that, and the colors assigned to each character. There’s no way I wasn’t going to give each of them a specific hue.

[unheavenlycreatures]

Another thing that The Murderbot Diaries makes me think about is the concept of someone's birth being unethical in and of itself, and how to reconcile that with loving and supporting them. Wells touches on it briefly in Rogue Protocol in regards to GoodNightLander and their laws surrounding SecUnits, but while I wouldn't call it one of the main themes, it just kind of weighs uncomfortably in the air-

A SecUnit is made to cause pain, to feel pain, and to be disposed of when it is no longer more valuable than the sum of its parts. It is made sapient so it can feel every ounce of boredom and pain that it is put through. There is an extent to which the creation of a SecUnit is, in and of itself, an act of cruelty by its creator.

Where we're at right now, Murderbot seems to have a rather low view of other SecUnits. It knows what it wants, and it knows who it is, to an extent, but what does it think about a SecUnit's place in society in general? What does it think of in regards to a long term solution? Does it think one exists?

Then, also: Murderbot is an invaluable asset to anyone that it offers its allegiance to. But that then begs the question for Preservation, for PUoMaNT: How do you support, love, and care for a person who has been traumatized by having been brought into the world in the first place? How do you heal the wound that is the crime of your birth?

Then, taking it to its logical conclusion: How do you draft up laws and policies so as to support a person while not condoning the act of their creation? How do you make it clear to the person in question that they are worth of love and care, while also wrestling with whether they should ever have been brought into existence in the first place?

Preservation can make laws establishing constructs as autonomous individuals, but what next, and what will those laws do in regards to the rhetoric surrounding them?

How do you reconcile making space for someone's existence in a utopian society, without saying the thing that you are thinking, which is: In a perfect world, you would never have been created?

And maybe this is just me being deep in the paint in regards to allegory for disability here. As someone who has been in leftist spaces where the existence of disabled individuals in post-capitalist society is a problem that needs to be fixed, as someone who grew up autistic in an anti-vax household, as someone whose existence is often rather inconvenient for the folks planning their jobs in the metaphorical post-capitalist communal homesteads.

I mean, to be certain, I don't have literal guns in my arms, but I am genuinely interested as to how the post-capitalist societies in TMBD intend to handle people whose very existence is, through no fault of their own, antithetical to their values.

[waffles-xd]

For those of you in the Murderbot fandom who haven’t read this: GO READ IT! THIS IS TOP TEIR ANGST! THE BEST OF HURT/COMFORT, IF YOU WILL.

Reasons why you should read it:

- Ratthi is the best

- top teir angst

- interesting take on ART/Murderbot/Holism’s dynamic

- baby’s first heartbreak

- did I mention the hurt/comfort?

In conclusion: GO READ THIS FIC!

I'm sorry.

I was stunned.

But some words got out.

"What the fuck??"

[imitationgame77]

New Murderbot Discord Server Launch

Hello, fellow Murderbot fans!

This is a post to announce that we are starting a new Discord Server where we can talk about "The Murderbot Diaries" series by Martha Wells.

There are already several excellent discord servers, big and small, in existence, but our emphasis is to be beginner-friendly, and has a relatively narrow focus on the book series.

All are welcome, including:

People who have just finished the first book and want to talk about just that book, without spoilers for subsequent books

People who have just started to read and are still confused

People who have never used Discord before and are a little worried about the protocols there

People who need to look up all these abbreviations, like 'lmao', 'artmb', 'ship', 'tmbd', etc. (I know I did...)

People who love the series and want to talk with people who are new to refresh their take

People who love tmbd and are happy to interact with newcomers

We consider our server like a hub-station for beginners (thus, named "Murderbot Transit Hub"). Find footing before joining other servers with more defined characteristics. With kind permissions by owners/moderators of other Murderbot discord servers, we have a page where you can find the descriptions and invitations to other servers, too.

There are no protocols with this new server - except

"if in disagreement, just agree to disagree - excercise tolerance and accept diverse views".

I myself am new to tmbd, Tumblr, Discord etc. (all from this year...), so, I am not a confident moderator. But I love to interact with people and talk about The Murderbot Diaries (TMBD).

Fortunately, the server is created and set up by a lot more experienced @crabs-brencil, so we are in safe hands!

31 August 2024

[riverlark]

book asks: 17?

Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

@ilovedthestars 💕

I was NOT at ALL prepared for The Murderbot Diaries, I had seen a couple pieces of fanart on tumblr that made me think it might be semi amusing background noise for working, lacking anything I was particularly intrigued/excited to read about, I did not expect to be laughing so hard, or crying so hard, or the frequency I would be getting whiplash between the two.

I was coming out of a decade+ long depression during which I hadn’t read anything besides the occasional fanfic (and still finding it nearly impossibly to engage emotionally, even with things I knew I used to love), TMBD cracked me open like a geode and got me book-hungry again.

[riseandfallofsecunit]

…maybe I’m just a robot with enough human neural tissue jammed in my head to make me stupid.

[n1ghtw1ng-scp]

fav color: red or purple

last song: come play (from arcane) - stray kids

currently reading: the fever king by victoria lee

currently watching: arcane (for the second time.) (i am so normal about this show.)

currently craving: those garlic pretzel crisps (i will sell my soul to the company that makes those things)

coffee or tea: i'm gonna be so basic and say coffee. because you can do a lot more with it i think

@maybemoss @mokuknight @larastear

Rules: Answer and tag 9 people you want to get to know better and/or catch up with.

@sarah-sandwich cheers for tagging me!

favourite colour: orange =D

last song listened to: stand and deliver by adam and the ants! those da diddily qua quas make me happy

currently reading: a book called the appeal by errrr... one sec.. janice hallett! its great. ive read her others (the twyford code and the alperton angels) and they're great too! all crime/mystery of some kind, appeal and angels are told through emails/texts/newspaper snippets etc and twyford is a guy talking into a voice note-turned-text and i mean... i don't want to say more cos i don't wanna spoil them but they're so worth reading. nice and twisty and fun to guess along with

currently watching: ive been watching gossip girl for aaaages now. kinda bored of it but ive got so few episodes left that im just gunna finish. been watching doccy who too but that's nothing new here. me and bestie are watching merlin <3

currently craving: i could so demolish a wispa rn

coffee or tea: teaaaaaaaaaaaa and not a herbal gimme a pg tips or a yorkshire gold like a real adult (joking but am i?)

no pressure tagging @zelda-wheelz @sp3akfromtheart @captainfairygodmother @an-odd-idea @biancaicaras @b1uetrees @shejustcalledmeafish

[halsaph]

alright whats this artdrone killbot thing

hi. You will regret asking this

The Murderbot Diaries is a series of books about a human-bot construct that was designed to essentially exist as an enslaved security guard / piece of sentient spyware. It's like if Alexa had half a human brain and a gun. We're introduced to Murderbot (the murder alexa) roughly 3 years after it's hacked the piece of hardware in it's brain that forces it to obey commands. In those 3 years it hasn't changed much about it's life except now while working as a subhuman slave it watches tv when no one is paying attention. As a series TMBD largely is about themes of personhood and discovering yourself when you have largely spent your life being denied the right to a sense of self. They also don't shy away from addressing the trauma that Murderbot has experienced from having it's autonomy stripped of it for most of it's life, with the second novella and most recent novel most heavily featuring that as an element. (Although that is a core aspect of Murderbot's character that informs its decisions throughout the entire series).

Murderbot as a character is bitingly sarcastic and witty, deeply paranoid and ultimately filled with the constant low level anxiety it doesn't know what it's doing (not necessarily moment by moment but overall, with it's freedom, with it's life). It's an excellent unreliable narrator because it only tells you exactly what it thinks is important in a scenario, relationships between other characters, physical features of itself and the people around it, it's own emotions and reactions often being completely brushed over with only occasional clues, and often outright misinterpreting people's actions, most often it's own. It has this ever present self loathing in the first several books where it constantly explains it's actions away in the least charitable interpretation possible even though we see time and time again that at it's core it deeply wants to help and protect the people around it. And we see over the course of the books as it starts learning how to make choices for itself and interacting with people who treat it with respect and develops a support system as it starts to move away from that mindset (with the exception of the most recent book but to be fair to MB System Collapse is about it being forced to confront it's PTSD and it's backsliding alot from recently being thrown back into a situation from its worst nightmares). I said before its a human-bot construct to explain that it isn't purely an inorganic being but Murderbot is a deeply inhuman character and openly has no desire to be human, and it's perspective as something that is made to be a security system and enmesh into both digital and hardwired surveillance is fascinating to read. As you know I deeply deeply love robots, they're my favorite kind of 'inhuman but still a Person' kind of character and Murderbot perfectly strikes the balance between a starkly in human way of thinking and deeply relatable emotions that draws me to robots as a whole, especially as an autistic person (and Murderbot was intentionally written with autistic traits but in a subversion of the typical ableist depiction of autistic robots so that EXTRA rings true lmao)

seeing as you mentioned it I will also explain ART as a character, ART is one of the reoccurring characters in the series (the first 3 novellas all have completely different casts outside of Murderbot itself as it hops from place to place trying to decide what it wants and who it is before in the fourth novella and beyond bringing back in previous characters and having them start to overlap throughout the rest of the series). It was introduced in the second book and is arguably the character that has the greatest impact on Murderbot as a person although I say arguably bc I would personally still say that's Mensah. Unarguably tho it is one of the most important people in Murderbot's life and has been described multiple times now by the author as the love of its life (although not necessarily in a romantic sense as Murderbot is both within text and confirmed via word of god acearo). ART (Asshole Research Transport) also known as the Perihelion (although not until the 5th book/first novel bc Murderbot doesn't bother to tell tell the readers its name until then, instead deciding its a dick so its gonna exclusively call it by an insult) is a spaceship's pilot AI, made to be sentient instead of the usual smart GPS as an experiment by the university is was made by. It was raised like a child by a pair of scientists who are now part of its crew (along with its sibling Iris) and now is a teaching vessel for students learning about deep space and also anticorporate espionage worker (don't worry about it). It's a giant pushy asshole unless you're a child (the only character we've ever seen it meet on screen it didn't in some way immediately threaten was a 16 yo). It can't watch tv without having to pause at the suspenseful bits to calm down. We're introduced to it by it threatening to melt Murderbot's mind and then pouting when it's scared shitless. It then a month later asks to do surgery on it. It fully intends to blow up a planet to get Murderbot back from a group of colonists that captured it until someone talks it out of it because that isn't effective hostage negotiation.

[ilovedthestars]

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

17. Any OC OTPs?

18. Any OC crackships?

28. Your most dangerous OC?

(OC ask game)

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

Well, there is this one called Blank that i think is cool :)

I have also REALLY enjoyed hearing about @specialagentartemis's SecUnit (and other assorted tmbd-universe) OCs recently! The stories they're in are sooooo compelling, I love Sky and SecUnit A and i want to hear so much more about them.

(Honestly this could also include anyone i drew for artfight or an OC-tober swap! All your OCs are so cool and once i've put in the effort to draw a character i'm Invested)

17. Any OC OTPs?

I don't really do shipping, like, in general, so romantically speaking i got nothing. My OCs are all functionally aro because i simply cannot be bothered to write romance.

If we're counting besties and dynamic duos, though, either Yuma & Crowbar or Niri & Aybee :) Y&C are just delightfully inseparable, they're functionally life partners but in a "of course i'm going where you're going, what is there to even discus at this point?" kind of way. And Niri & Aybee are just so fun to write as Best FriendUnits! They're art buddies! They spend a bunch of time together but miss each other so so much!

18. Any OC crackships?

See above, re: shipping. I honestly can't even think of a platonic example either. I imagine my version of this is just "which two characters would have the craziest vibe if you put them in a room together" and I'm genuinely not sure. I feel like OldUnit has the most potential because of the sheer friction of any attempt at social interaction with it.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Ooh, good question. You know, out of Polaris, it's quite possibly Enigma. I think it has the roughest background out of all the SecUnits—I've been thinking "guard on a prison colony," which means its probably seen its share of riots. Plus all the hacking skills it built up from being rogue but still on contract for like 7 years.

Which is fun because I also write Enigma as the shyest, least aggressive of the group. It would try to hide or flee before it'd try to fight. So as far as the actual most dangerous person to cross...maybe Hope? Violence isn't xyr first resort, but xe also doesn't have any of the hangups about it that the SecUnits do. So you probably don't want to find yourself in a position where xyr diplomacy fails.

[stained-glass-cicada]

do you have any favorite side characters in tmbd outside of presaux? I particularly like amena

Damn y'know you mentioned it and I really do love Amena, her little "I dont fuck around" after doing something she clearly knew was dangerous, literally not hesitating to jump on someone's back when they attack murderbot, her insistence that shes just super normal and not an action hero despite how well she's been coping with everything. She rules

I also love Art obv, it getting so into the lives of media characters, and it so quickly settled in to comforting SecUnit's adolescent human while it was unconscious, genuinely a sweetheart, still a complete asshole

something these two have in common is a willingness to perform spontaneous surgery