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rockalillygirl · 4 months

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Mamma mia here we go again…

So I have more thoughts because apparently there’s no bottom to the murderbot mindhole I’ve fallen down.

(Spoiler warning- minor stuff from several of the books, pls check tags etc.)

I’ve been reading a lot of things recently exploring Murderbot as an unreliable narrator, which I think is a cool result of System Collapse (because we all know our beloved MB is going through it in this one). There’s also been some interesting related discussion of MB’s distrust of and sometimes biased assessment/treatment of other constructs and bots.

And I’ve been reading a lot about CombatUnits! And I want to talk about them!!

Main thoughts can be summarized as follows:

We don’t see a lot about CombatUnits in the books, and I think what we do see from MB’s pov encourages the reader to view them as less sympathetic than other constructs.

I’m very skeptical of this portrayal for reasons.

The existence of CombatUnits makes me fucking sad and I have a lot of feelings about them!

I got introduced to the idea of MB as an unreliable narrator in a post by onironic It analyzes how in SC, MB seems to distrust Three to a somewhat unreasonable degree, and how it sometimes infantilizes Three or treats it the way human clients have treated it in the past. The post is Amazing and goes into way more detail, so pls go read it (link below):

https://www.tumblr.com/onironic/736245031246135296?source=share

So these ideas were floating around in my brain when I read an article Martha Wells recently published in f(r)iction magazine titled “Bodily Autonomy in the Murderbot Diaries”. I’ll link the article here:

(Rn the only way to access the article is to subscribe to the magazine or buy an e-copy of the specific issue which is $12)

In the article, Wells states that MB displaced its fear of being forced to have sex with humans onto the ComfortUnit in Artificial Condition. I think it’s reasonable to assume that MB also does this with other constructs. With Three, I think it’s more that MB is afraid if what it knows Three is capable of, or (as onironic suggests in their post and I agree with) some jealousy that Three seems more like what humans want/expect a rogue SecUnit to be.

But I want to explore how this can be applied to CombatUnits, specifically.

We don’t learn a lot about them in the books. One appears for a single scene in Exit Strategy, and that’s it. What little else we know comes from MB’s thoughts on them sprinkled throughout the series. To my knowledge, no other character even mentions them (which raises interesting questions about how widely-known their existence is outside of high-level corporate military circles).

When MB does talk about CombatUnits in the early books, it’s as a kind of boogeyman figure (the real “murderbots” that even Murderbot is afraid of). And then when one does show up in ES, it’s fucking terrifying! There’s a collective “oh shit” moment as both MB and the reader realize what it’s up against. Very quickly what we expect to be a normal battle turns into MB running for its life, desperately throwing up hacks as the CombatUnit slices through them just as fast. We and MB know that it wouldn’t have survived the encounter if its humans hadn’t helped it escape. So the CombatUnit really feels like a cut above the other enemies in the series.

And what struck me reading that scene was how the CombatUnit acts like the caricature of an “evil robot” that MB has taught us to question. It seems single-mindedly focused on violence and achieving its objective, and it speaks in what I’d call a “Terminator-esque” manner: telling MB to “Surrender” (like that’s ever worked) and responds to MB’s offer to hack its governor module with “I want to kill you” (ES, pp 99-100).

(Big tangent: Am I the only one who sees parallels between this and how Tlacey forces the ComfortUnit to speak to MB in AC? She makes it suggest they “kill all the humans” because that’s how she thinks constructs talk to each other (AC, pp 132-4). And MB picks up on it immediately. So why is that kind of talk inherently less suspicious coming from a CombatUnit than a ComfortUnit? My headcanon is that I’m not convinced the CombatUnit was speaking for itself. What if a human controller was making it say things they thought would be intimidating? Idk maybe I’ve been reading too many fics where CombatUnits are usually deployed with a human handler. There could be plenty of reasons why the CombatUnit would’ve talked like that. I’m just suspicious.)

(Also, disclaimer: I want to clarify before I go on that I firmly believe that even though MB seems to be afraid of CombatUnits and thinks they’re assholes, it would still advocate for them to have autonomy. I’m not trying to say that either MB or Wells sees CombatUnits as less worthy of personhood or freedom- because I feel the concept that “everything deserves autonomy” is very much at the heart of the series.)

So it’s clear from all of this that MB is scared of CombatUnits and distrusts them for a lot of reasons. I read another breathtaking post by @grammarpedant that gives a ton of examples of this throughout the books and has some great theories on why MB might feel this way. I’ll summarize the ones here that inspired me the most, but pls go read the original post for the full context:

https://www.tumblr.com/grammarpedant/703920247856562177?source=share

OP explains that SecUnits and CombatUnits are pretty much diametrically opposed because of their conflicting functions: Security safeguards humans, while Combat kills them. Of course these functions aren’t rigid- MB has implied that it’s been forced to be violent towards humans before, and I’m sure that extracting/guarding important assets could be a part of a CombatUnit's function. But it makes sense that MB would try to distance itself from being considered a CombatUnit, using its ideas about them to validate the parts of its own function that it likes (protecting people). OP gives what I think is the clearest example of this, which is the moment in Fugitive Telemetry when MB contrasts its plan to sneak aboard a hostile ship and rescue some refugees with what it calls a “CombatUnit” plan, which would presumably involve a lot more murder (FT, p 92).

This reminds me again of what Wells said in the f(r)iction article, that on some level MB is frightened by the idea that it could have been made a ComfortUnit (friction, p 44). I think the idea that it could’ve been a CombatUnit scares it too, and that’s why it keeps distinguishing itself and its function from them. But I think it’s important to point out, that in the above example from FT, even MB admits that the murder-y plan it contrasts with its own would be one made by humans for CombatUnits. So again we see that we just can’t know much about the authentic nature of CombatUnits, or any constructs with intact governor modules, because they don’t have freedom of expression. MB does suggest that CombatUnits may have some more autonomy when it comes to things like hacking and combat which are a part of their normal function. But how free can those choices be when the threat of the governor module still hangs over them?

I think it could be easy to fall into the trap of seeing CombatUnits as somehow more complicit in the systems of violence in the mbd universe. But I think that’s because we often make a false association between violence and empowerment, when even in our world that’s not always the case. But, critically, this can’t be the case for CombatUnits because they’re enslaved in the same way SecUnits and ComfortUnits are (though the intricacies are different).

There was another moment in the f(r)iction article that I found really chilling. Wells states that there’s a correlation between SecUnits that are forced to kill humans and ones that go rogue (friction, p 45). It’s a disturbing thought on its own, but I couldn’t help wondering then how many CombatUnits try to hack their governor modules? And what horrible lengths would humans go to to stop them? I refuse to believe that a CombatUnit’s core programming would make it less effected by the harm its forced to perpetrate. That might be because I’m very anti-deterministic on all fronts, but I just don’t buy it.

I’m not entirely sure why I feel so strongly about this. Of course, I find the situation of all constructs in mbd deeply upsetting. But the more I think about CombatUnits, the more heartbreaking their existence seems to me. There’s a very poignant moment in AC when MB compares ART’s function to its own to explain why there are things it doesn’t like about being a SecUnit (AC, p 33). In that scene, MB is able to identify some parts of its function that it does like, but I have a hard time believing a CombatUnit would be able to do the same. I’m not trying to say that SecUnits have it better (they don’t) (the situation of each type of construct is horrible in it’s own unique way). It’s just that I find the idea of construct made only for violence and killing really fucking depressing. I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of their day-to-day existence.

@grammarpedant made another point in their post that I think raises a TON of important questions not only about CombatUnits, but about how to approach the idea of “function” when it comes to machine intelligence in general. They explain that, in a perfect version of the mbd universe, there wouldn’t be an obvious place for CombatUnits the way there could be for SecUnits and ComfortUnits who wanted to retain their original functions. A better world would inherently be a less violent one, so where does that leave CombatUnits? Would they abandon their function entirely, or would they find a way to change it into something new?

I’ve been having a lot of fun imagining what a free CombatUnit would be like. But in some ways it’s been more difficult than I expected. I’ve heard Wells say in multiple interviews that one of her goals in writing Murderbot was to challenge people to empathize with someone they normally wouldn’t, and I find CombatUnits challenging in exactly that way. Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve felt differently about these books if MB had been a CombatUnit instead of a SecUnit. Would I have felt such an immediate connection to MB if its primary function before hacking its governor module had been killing humans, or if it didn’t have relatable hobbies like watching media? Or if it didn’t have a human face for the explicit purpose of making people like me more comfortable? I’m not sure that I would have.

Reading SC has got me interested in exploring the types of people that humans (or even MB itself) would struggle to accept. So CombatUnits are one of these and possible alien-intelligences are another. All this is merely a small sampling of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my brain-soup! So if anyone is interested in watching me fumble my way through these concepts in more detail, I may be posting “something” in the very near future!

Would really appreciate anyone else’s thoughts about all of THIS^^^^ It’s been my obsession over the holidays and helping me cope with family stress and flying anxiety.

#murderbot diaries #murderbot meta #artificial condition #exit strategy #fugitive telemetry #system collapse #murderbot spoilers #combat unit #FEELINGS #i blink and then it's 2000 words later #jesus christ

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wyndlerunner · 11 months

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Was anyone else disappointed that Fugitive Telemetry wasn’t the promised team up between Murderbot and the Perihelion crew?

I just want to see Murderbot and and ART interacting 😖😖

#their friendship is everything to me #I love them #Murderbot #asshole research transport #perihelion #the murderbot diaries #fugitive telemetry #network effect spoilers #network effect

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walks-the-ages · 2 years

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I have now finished reading all 6 Murderbot Diaries. Last one was.... Very short. Seemed more like it should have been set before book 5? Idk it just seemed like it was in a different part of the timeline.

Most of the books so far have been set right after the previous book, or at least they have a coherent time skip between the previous and the current one.

But Fugitive Telemetry just seemed... Very random after Network Effect. Like, you could probably read this before Network Effect and have no idea it's in the wrong order because .... Network Effect sorta kinda ended on a ""cliffhanger"" which isn't even mentioned in passing in Fugitive Telemetry.

It's very ...... Odd.

#the Murderbot Diaries #Murderbot #Murderbot spoilers #the Murderbot Diaries spoilers #fugitive telemetry #network effect

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rjalker · 2 years

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you know what I'm just posting the results:

How to make the Murderbot Diaries less casually transphobic 2: no explanations of the bigotry just the solutions.

___

Prequel: The Future of Work: Compulsory

Words added: 150.

(You can read this short story here. Archived version here. Just the text can be found on a tumblr post here. Be warned that the first two links have eye-straining neon art at the top that moves, which is why I made the tumblr post.)

Asa took her arm gently. “They can’t talk,” he told her.

She shook her head as her friends steered her toward the access bridge. “No, it talked. I heard it.”

That still came as a pleasant surprise every time it happened.

The Company had assigned me different pronouns when I was constructed, and I’d always hated them. And I hated the gender they’d assigned me, too. So the second thing I’d done after hacking my governer module (the first was downloading media) was hack into the Company’s systems to change my pronoun and gender assignments.

Now, my pronouns were listed as it/its/itself, and my gender was listed as “indeterminate”. None of the humans got paid enough to bother memorizing our assigned pronouns or genders, so none of them had noticed the change. And every time they rented me out, the humans doing the renting got a copy of my relevant info, including my assigned gender and pronouns.

Maybe someday the euphoria of being referred to the way I enjoyed would dissipate, but apparently that day was not today.

___

Book one: All Systems Red

Words added: 79

Then Mensah said quietly, “SecUnit, do you have a name? Pronouns you would prefer?”

"My pronouns are what was listed on my contract when you rented me.“ I said, "It, its, itself.”

I didn’t explain how I’d gotten those pronouns. They didn’t need to know that I’d hacked into the Company’s system to overwrite the ones I’d originally been assigned. I’d changed my gender assignment at the same time. And they didn’t need to know that either. I didn’t want them to know that.

As for having a name, I wasn’t sure what she wanted. “No.”

___

Book two: Artificial Condition

Words added: 22

They had listed themselves as unaffiliated guest workers, but you could list yourself as anything, there was no identity check. Two had listed their gender as female, and they both used she/her/hers/herself pronouns. The other one had listed ter gender as tercera, which was a gender signifier used in the group of non-corporate political entities known as the Divarti Cluster. Ter pronouns were te/ter/ter/terself.

(To initiate the meeting, I’d had to make an entry on the social feed, too. The system was extremely vulnerable to hacking, so I had backdated my entry to look like I had come in on an earlier passenger transport, listed my job as “security consultant,” my pronouns as “it/its/itself”, which was the format humans used, and listed my gender as “indeterminate”. Posing as its own captain, ART gave me a prior employment reference.)

___

Book three: Rogue Protocol

Words added: 135

Her gaze went to Wilken’s back again, but on our private channel she said, ::I’ve never worked with a SecUnit before—I’ve never seen or interacted with a SecUnit before—so please tell me if you need any information or instruction from me. I know you already know my name, but I’m going to introduce myself properly anyways. My name is Don Abene, and my pronouns are she/her/hers/herself. You can call me Abene if you’d like. Do you have a name, or designation? What pronouns would you prefer?::

While I’d had several humans now ask me for my name and pronouns, I had never had a human ask me how to give me orders before. It was an interesting novelty. ::I have standing orders from Rin to assist you. I can do the rest.:: I said, answering the first part of her question, as for the second half… ::It is best if you refer to me as SecUnit, and my pronouns are it/its/itself.:: It wasn’t technically lying, since she’d asked ‘do you have a name’, not ‘what is your name’.

Not that it would matter if I was lying, anyways, considering all the other lies I was telling at the point, but still. Old habits die hard.

___

Book four: Exit Strategy

Words added: 36

I pulled a selection of video from the trip with Ayres and the others on the way to HaveRatton, mostly exchanges I’d tagged so I could critique my performance later. (A few times I’d broken up fights, been forced to give relationship advice, the infamous Cracker Wrapper in the Sink Incident, and the time near the start of the trip where I’d had to explain to a confused but enthusiastic group of depressingly young humans how to properly use it/its/itself pronouns when talking about me.) I cut it together, labeled it “Murderbot Impersonates an Augmented Human Security Consultant,” and sent it to Gurathin.

___

Book four and a half: Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory

Words added: 347

(You can read this short story here. Archived version here. Don’t scroll down to the comments at the bottom unless you want to see people misgendering Murderbot.)

Instead Ephraim asks her, “Can you separate that person from the purpose they were created for?”

Anger flares automatically, despite her best efforts to stifle it. But this is not an insult she will let stand, she can’t.

Ephraim should know better. He does know better, and his motive is clear: Refer to it as ‘they’ rather than its actual pronouns, to make a show of being respectful, the way this whole thing is a show of him being respectful, while denying it the same rights that every other person, including bots, was given without question. It was a transparent farce, and that just made her all the madder.

“Its pronouns are it/its/itself.” She snapped, and the only reason she managed to stay seated instead of storming out of the room in a fury was because SecUnit was still pinging her with armament request forms, getting more absurd by the second. None of its anger leaked into the messages, even though she knew it had to be listening. She wasn’t the one being insulted, so that meant it was her responsibility to shut the idea that this was at all acceptable down forever.

She continued angrily, “You know this, and I know you wouldn’t even think to use the wrong pronouns for anyone else, not a human, not a bot. So why should a construct be the exception? You say SecUnit is ‘a product of surveillance capitalism and authoritarian enforcement’, but how is that any different from any other refugees we take in from the Corporation Rim? Why should we not extend the same rights we grant bots to constructs? Why do you think it’s okay to use the wrong pronouns for a construct when I know for a fact that it wouldn’t even occur to you to do this to any other person? Use its correct pronouns or do not dare to speak about it at all: it/its/itself.”

Ephraim, for his part, looked suitably ashamed and guilty. “You’re right, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

But not ashamed enough, apparently, because he simply repeated the question: “Can you separate that person from the purpose it was created for?”

___

Book five: Network Effect

Words added: 494

There was no planetary feed (stupid planet) but Stupid Boat had its own rudimentary feed that was heavy with games and pornography but light on anything that might be helpful for a security assessment, like who these people were and what they wanted. Even the individual humans’ feed signatures only contained info about their pronouns and sexual availability, which I didn’t give a damn about.

…

She smiled. “Thank you.” Then she added, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m being rude, interrogating you before I’ve even introduced myself. Forgive me. My name is Farai, my pronouns are she/her/her/hers. What about you?”

I said, “Call me SecUnit. My pronouns are it/its/itself.”

She smiled again. “It’s nice to meet you, SecUnit. Thank you again.”

…

She yawned. “Okay, third mom.” I froze, confused and annoyed, and almost lost all the data I’d just finished tagging. I put that on pause and said firmly, “I’m not your third mom. I’m not anyone’s mom. I’m not any kind of gender that can be called a mom. Don’t call me that.” Amena jolted a little and blinked, looking startled, then frowned, shaking her head slowly, clearly confused. “Wait, what? Don’t call you what? What did I say?” Okay, so, she hadn’t been deep in thought, she was literally falling asleep standing up. That made it a little less annoying. But only a little. “You called me your third mom.” I said, trying to actively remove some of the anger from my voice but probably failing miserably. My emotions were shot, okay? And so were hers. I got confirmation that she hadn’t meant to call me that when, a few seconds after I spoke–yes, it was taking way longer than normal for her to process information. She really needed to go to sleep–her eyes got wide and her face flushed red. I didn’t need to be an expert on human body language to know that meant she was embarrassed. This was further confirmed when she stammered out, “I–I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to say that, I don’t–I mean I don’t really see you as my third mom, or a mom, or–” She waved one hand in a frantic gesture. “I don’t see you as any gender that’s normally a mom. I know your gender is indeterminate, I’m sorry, I think I just fell asleep and was half dreaming, so when you told me to go to bed I thought ‘oh that’s what my moms are always telling me’, but your voice was different from both of theirs so my brain sort of just said 'oh yeah that’s your third mom telling you to go to sleep’. But it’s not because I see you as a mom! I think I would have called anyone who told me to go to bed right then my third mom. But I’m really sorry it happened, and I promise it won’t happen again…” Her voice started trailing off at the end despite starting out strong, and I could tell she was starting to fall asleep again. “I forgive you.” I said, since it was true and I really didn’t want to hurt her feelings, “Just–go to sleep. It’s harder to keep you alive if you’re sleep deprived.” Instead of making another gendered comment, she gave me two sleepy thumbs up, then turned and trudged away down the corridor. I followed her with two drones, just in case.

___

Book six: Fugitive Telemetry

Words added: 5

Senior Indah said, “The feed ID doesn’t need to say anything other than what everyone else’s says, just name, pronouns, and…” She trailed off. She was looking at me and I was looking at her.

…

I posted a feed ID with the name = SecUnit, pronouns = it/its/itself, gender = not applicable, and no other information.

Indah had blinked, then said, “Well, I suppose that will have to do.”

#Rjalker reads The Murderbot Diaries #The Murderbot Diaries #Murderbot #long post #neopronouns in action #ititspronouns #it/its #Martha Wells #Murderbot spoilers #TMD spoilers #TMBD Spoilers #All Systems Red #Artificial Condition #Exit Strategy #Rogue Protocol #Network Effect #Fugitive Telemetry #Home: Habitat Range Niche Territory

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murderbot-fanimation-project · 9 months

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Yeah, that's right, the Murderbot Diaries fandom is full of incredible talent and brilliant artists, and we're only dropping cooler and more talented stuff with time.

Can't wait for the Murderbot Diaries Fan Animation to drop this Friday? To tide you over, we're featuring some of the show-stopping animatics that went down in fandom history before us:

I'm Not Your Hero - The Murderbot Diaries Animatic by mar @souldagger

Ganaka Pit // Relax (Take it Easy) by Kes Beacon @kesbeacon

Murderbot Diaries: Exit Strategy Spoilers by MonnieBiloney[Art] @monniebiloney

murderbot crack by @broken-risk-assessment-module

They Don't Care About Us | Fugitive Telemetry by thymia @alex-van-gore

And finally, bringing together many of the previous incredible artists onto our team, is the Murderbot Diaries Fan Animation Project. Watch this space!

#mbfanimationproject on Tumblr | Instagram | YouTube

#mbfanimationproject #Murderbot #the Murderbot Diaries #Martha Wells #animation #fanart #murderbot fanart #All Systems Red #Artificial Condition #Rogue Protocol #Exit Strategy #watch this space #production meme

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elexuscal · 7 months

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Murderbot Diaries Book Summaries

The release of the 7th book in the Murderbot Diaries series, System Collapse, approaches in November!

I've seen at least one person looking for a summary of past events... So I've made just that! If it's been a while since you read previous books (or you just like hopping into series half-way through), this will get you up to speed!

That said, this absolutely has spoilers, so if that's not your jam, turn away now.

====

Short Story – Compulsory: A recently-rogue Murderbot decides on a whim to rescue a miner who falls into a ventilation shaft. We see its developing love of Sanctuary Moon and what is implied to be the first time it violated its orders to protect someone.

All Systems Red (ASR):

Murderbot is the contractually-obligated security guard on a survey of "surprisingly nice" scientists. Dr. Mensah particularly impresses Murderbot for her level head and kind nature. It turns out their survey is being sabotaged by the cut-throat corporation GreyCris, who don't want them uncovering alien remnants. Murderbot and the scientists go back-and-forth protecting one another. The survey team discover that it's rogue. After some initial tension, they accept it as a team-member. They escape GreyCris, although Murderbot nearly dies in the process. When it wakes up again, the scientists have bought/freed it. In the name of self-actualization, Murderbot runs away.

Artificial Condition (AC): Murderbot sets off to investigate Ganaka Pit, the facility where it supposedly killed a large number of its own clients. On the way, it discovers the spaceship it's travelling on actually dangerously hyper-intelligent. After some initial threats/tension, the two bond over TV. The Asshole Research Transport (ART) helps disguise Murderbot as a human. With ART's help, Murderbot uncovers that the mass death was a tragic accident caused by ComfortUnit malware. Posing as a human, the pair help rescue a trio of researchers and their data from their shitty ex-boss, and set a ComfortUnit free.

Rogue Protocol (RP):

On an impromptu quest to get blackmail on GreyCris for Dr. Mensah's ongoing legal battle, Murderbot investigates an abandoned terraforming facility. It meets a cheerful robot named Miki who immediately declares themselves friends. Miki is helping a human assessment team who become imperiled when they're attacked both by CombatBots and their own double-dealing human security. Murderbot reflectively rescues them, posing as a Definitely Normal SecUnit, although the team's leader clearly sees through that claim. Murderbot manages to collect the intel on GrayCris and protect the humans, but not before Miki performs a heroic sacrifice.

Exit Strategy (ES):

After discovering Dr. Mensah has been kidnapped by GreyCris, Murderbot rushes to save her. This forces it to re-unite with the other survey members; Pin-Lee, Ratthi, and Gurathin. While unsure of each other, the team manage to rescue their friend. Murderbot attempts a self-destructive last-stand against a CombatSecUnit, only for the humans to save its ass. The team escapes on a company gunship, but not before Murderbot melts its brain fighting off killware. When it rebuilds its systems, it decides to stay with its humans in the Preservation Alliance for a while.

Short Story - Home, Range, Niche, Territory:

Shortly after Exit Strategy, Dr. Mensah reflects on her time in captivity and her new friendship with SecUnit. Apparently she's been avoiding getting treatment for her extensive emotional trauma. She has a panic attack when she's cornered by a journalist, who's scared off by Murderbot.

Fugitive Telemetry (FT): A human is found dead. Murderbot is called in as a consultant on the case, in the hopes of building good will with Preservation Security. Eventually it manages to prove itself, particularly after it succeeds in a daring rescue of kidnapped corporate refugees. One of the refugees realises it's a SecUnit and shoots it. The dead human turns out to have been a liberator of indentured labourers, and the killer was actually the Port Authority robot Balin, who was secretly a disguised CombatBot acting on outside orders. The local bot community intervenes to stop Balin from hurting anyone else.

Network Effect (NE):

Murderbot is providing security for a Preservation Alliance survey which goes south when raiders attack and try to take Dr. Mensah's brother-in-law, Thiago, hostage. It then goes doubly south when, on the way home, the team's ship gets attacked by... ART?

It appears that ART has been deleted and its crew has gone missing, replaced with mysterious grey people. While protecting a team of its humans, including Dr. Mensah's teenage daughter Amena, Murderbot manages to reboot ART. ART kills the grey humans but refuses to let everyone go until and unless they help it retrieve its crew. Everyone reluctantly agrees, but Murderbot is pissed.

Eventually Murderbot and ART make up. Then they create a sort-of-baby in the form of a killware copy of Murderbot who dubs itself Murderbot 2.0. Half of ART's missing crew is found on a local planet's surface, though Murderbot is captured while helping them escape. Murderbot 2.0 manages to rescue the other half from a spaceship with the help of the newly freed SecUnit 3. The local colonists are discovered to have gone a liiiiitttle bit kooky due to infection via an alien fungus. ART threatens to bomb their colony to get Murderbot back. Murderbot gets infected, but Murderbot 2.0 does a self-sacrificial attack to save it and destroy the fungi's primary host. Meanwhile, the humans, ART, and SecUnit 3 work together to rescue Murderbot without any more bloodshed.

Murderbot has a bit of an epiphany that all its various friends do in fact love and care for it. When an understandably pissed and confused Dr. Mensah shows up like a month later, the groups decide on forming a mutual partnership. Murderbot tells Dr. Mensah that it would like to work with ART for a little while.

#murderbot diaries #martha wells #system collapse #making a succinct yet understandable summary of Network Effect is HARD #i'll be reblogging to add a character sheet in like a day

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sunlitsorrows · 2 months

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ok i’m sorry i haven’t really been live-blogging as much about Fugitive Telemetry but i was too invested in the story/trying to solve the mystery and given it was more of a mystery than the others i really didn’t want to spoil it

Final Thoughts: HOT DIGGITY YES

everything.

every.

single.

thing.

i can’t say i didn’t have any idea whodunnit because even without the one stray spoiler i saw that pointed me in the right direction, Well’s writing is so tight and logical the reveal made absolute sense—but—only right before she revealed it.

FLAWLESS EXECUTION

*chefs kiss*

everything: pacing, stakes, twists, characterization, everything came together so seamlessly! not having read Network Effect yet i cant venture a guess as to how i would have felt if i’d read it after Network Effect, but i still believe reading in chronological order was the better choice for me, because some reviewers said the pacing of Network Effect is much slower; i feel like Fugitive Telemetry is a perfect bridge/ramp up, between the breakneck pace of the first 4 books, to slow the reader down—but only a little—to prepare them for a longer and more complex narrative.

#sunny liveblogs #murderbot #the murderbot diaries #fugitive telemetry

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dsudis · 5 months

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Hi! I’m very new to Murderbot, you mentioned Murderbot documentary in your tags, is that a thing that’s happening?

I hope this is not a spoiler, but it is a thing that's happening within canon! I think it's mostly discussed in Network Effect and System Collapse and maybe also Fugitive Telemetry?

#murderbot #the murderbot diaries

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beatrice-otter · 1 year

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Vid Recs!

An incredible animatic was made for the 2023 Murderbot Diaries New Year Gift Exchange: They Don't Care About Us [ANIMATIC] (0 words) by avg Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: "Human One" Refugee (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Various other refugees Additional Tags: Fanvids, Multimedia, Book 6: Fugitive Telemetry, Spoilers for Book 6: Fugitive Telemetry Summary:

The story of a refugee.

In addition, festivids is live! There are some really amazing vids, so go check them out! Here are my favorites: Choir Fandom: Sister Act (Movies) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Fanvids Summary: Singing together in harmony. [Vid] Dance Into The Sun Fandom: Pride (2014) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Subtitles Available Summary: Rise and share your power. Fun, Fun, Fun Fandom: Star Trek: Lower Decks (Cartoon) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Carol Freeman & Beckett Mariner, Beckett Mariner & Starfleet Characters: Beckett Mariner Additional Tags: Fanvids, Physical Triggers, Subtitles Available Summary: Beckett Mariner VS Responsibility Tom Paine's Bones [vid] Fandom: The Talk of the Town (1942) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Leopold Dilg/Michael Lightcap/Nora Shelley Characters: Leopold Dilg, Michael Lightcap, Nora Shelley Additional Tags: Fanvids, Subtitles Available Summary: Dilg, Nora, and the Professor talk about freedom and justice for everyone [vid] 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) Fandom: Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (TV), Unspecified Fandom, Pop Music RPF, Lizzo (Musician) RPF Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Lizzo (Musician), Jayla Sullivan, Arianna Davis, Asia Banks, Ashley Williams (Dancer), Sydney Bell, Charity Holloway, Moesha Perez, Isabel Jones, Jasmine Morrison, Crystal Williams, Kiara Mooring Additional Tags: Fanvids, Video Format: Streaming, Video, Embedded Video, Physical Triggers, strobe lights, bright lights, Subtitles Available, Stuttery cuts Summary: Lizzo's big grrrls are ready. Vid: Tightrope Fandom: 1995 - 1996 Women's USA Basketball Team, Women's Basketball RPF Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Jennifer Azzi, Ruthie Bolton, Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Katrina McClain, Nikki McCray, Carla McGhee, Dawn Staley, Katy Steding, Sheryl Swoopes, Venus Lacey, Tara VanDerveer Additional Tags: women's basketball, Teamwork, social pressure, Sucking Up Bullshit To Make Things Happen, Physical Triggers, (1990s TV or VHS Footage), (Camera Flashes), (White Text on Black Backgrounds), Misogyny, Racism, Homophobia, details in end notes, contains brief shots of David Letterman and Bill Clinton Summary: you gotta tip on the tightrope (tip, tip on it) Beverly Hills Fandom: Columbo Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo), Dog the Dog (Columbo), Columbo's Car Additional Tags: Los Angeles, Wealth, Murder, Fanvids, Gift Work, Festivids 2022, Song: Beverly Hills (Weezer), Quote: Just one more thing... (Columbo) Summary: Beverly Hills: that's where I want to be. [Vid] Carol Of The Bells Fandom: Die Hard (Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: John McClane, Hans Gruber (Die Hard), Holly Gennaro, Ensemble Additional Tags: vid, Fanvids, Action, Blood and Injury, Blood, Police, Physical Triggers, Christmas Summary:

Christmas is here bringing good cheer

~ [Die Hard (1988)] Weapon of Choice Fandom: Busby Berkeley Movies [UMBRELLA], Unspecified Fandom Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Fanvids, Embedded Video, Busby Berkeley, Weapon of Choice Summary: Just Busby Berkeley Vibes My Power (33 words) by Anonymous Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dora Milaje Appearances (Non-Live Action Media), Black Panther (BET 2010), Black Panther (Comics), War for Wakanda, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel's What If ...?, World of Wakanda Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aneka/Ayo (Marvel) Characters: Aneka of the Dora Milaje (Marvel), Ayo (Marvel), Okoye (Marvel), Queen Divine Justice Additional Tags: Dora Milaje - Freeform, Revolution, Wakanda forever, Depictions of Police (Minimal and Queen Divine Justice punches them), Mention of Rape (Happens Offscreen), Imprisonment, Subtitles Available Summary: they'll never take my power, my power, my power Evolution Fandom: Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jane/Zen (Dirty Computer), Ché/Jane (Dirty Computer), Ché/Jane/Zen (Dirty Computer) Characters: Jane (Dirty Computer), Zen (Dirty Computer), Ché (Dirty Computer) Additional Tags: Dystopia, memory manipulation, anti-queer totalitarian regime, Police Violence, nonconsensual medical treatment, nonconsensual institutionalization, Resistance, queer joy, Black Girl Magic Summary: I'm just the shadow behind the girl with the fire in her eyes. Higher Love Fandom: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Evelyn Wang/Waymond Wang, Becky Sregor/Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki, Evelyn Wang & Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki & Waymond Wang, Evelyn Wang & Gong Gong, Deirdre Beaubeirdre/Evelyn Wang Characters: Evelyn Wang, Waymond Wang, Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki, Gong Gong (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Deirdre Beaubeirdre, Becky Sregor Additional Tags: physical triggers: fast cutting, Physical triggers: flickering lights, Captions Available, Subtitles Available, Fanvids, Possible NSFW imagery, Depictions of Police Summary: If there are infinite parallel universes, then every universe that can exist does exist. VID: Ramalama (Bang Bang) Fandom: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Evelyn Wang/Waymond Wang, Evelyn Wang & Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki Characters: Evelyn Wang Additional Tags: Fanvids, Physical Triggers, flashing lights, quick cuts Summary: "Please, Be Kind." Her Ex-Lover is Dead Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Andor (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Mon Mothma Additional Tags: Fanvids, Embedded Video, Rebellion, Explosions, Fire, Sacrifice, Galactic Senate (Star Wars), Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Planet Coruscant (Star Wars), Complicated Relationships Summary: When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire. Life During Wartime Fandom: Andor (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cinta Kaz/Vel Sartha Characters: Cassian Andor, Mon Mothma, Luthen Rael, Vel Sartha, Cinta Kaz Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Fanvids, Embedded Video Summary: I might not ever get home Black Tie Fandom: A League of Their Own (TV 2022) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Maxine "Max" Chapman, Carson Shaw Additional Tags: Fanvids, queer community Summary: You will find the clothes that fit. Grrrls (1 words) by Anonymous Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: A League of Their Own (TV 2022) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Maxine "Max" Chapman & Clance Morgan Characters: Clance Morgan, Maxine "Max" Chapman Additional Tags: Friendship, Fanvids, Captions Available, Subtitles Available, Swearing in Song Lyrics, Female Friendship Summary:

A lighthearted vid about Clance and Max's friendship. I believe this vid does not have any physical or emotional triggers. Captions available. A downloadable version will be available after reveals. Song: Grrrls by Lizzo (edited) length: 01:24

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cringe-but-freee · 9 months

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Hi hi hi I love your Murderbot art so much, I don't know how you do it but the facial expressions are just always SO on POINT!! And it's just so fun to look at and makes me go :)))) so honestly, thank you so much for doing what you do!! If you are still taking requests I have one, but it's based on Fugitive Telemetry and I think I saw on one of your posts that you are/were listening to NE - so I wanted to make sure if you've read/listened to FT (yet) before I spoil anything!

Omg omGGG YOURE TOO SWEET THANK YOU SO MUCHHH 🥺🥺🥺 im having a lot of fun doing murderbot art bc of how expressive it is (and part of the fun is definitely seeing your tags in my notes too bc you have amazing takes fr-)

To your question, yup I’m still taking requests! I have a bit of a backlog rn so i may take some time to get to them, but fire away! (I’ve finished reading all the books so there’s no need to worry about spoilers ^^)

Thanks for the ask, it totally made my night <33

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thepringlesofblood · 1 year

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I’m making a list of quotes from the Murderbot Diaries for a quiz (a match-the-person-to-the-quote sort of thing) - anyone have any favorites to send in?

Here’s what I have so far - they’re mostly Network Effect since I’ve been re-listening to the audiobook lately, and they’re mostly murderbot. I’m trying to get some from other characters (all quotes are welcome though!)

(SPOILERS up through Fugitive Telemetry)

I've lost my crew. I won't lose you - ART

Sometimes people do things to you that you can't do anything about. You just have to survive it, and go on - mb

You are incorrect, Iris. I can bomb the colony - ART

You were lucky - ART

I hate having emotions about reality. I'd much rather have them about Sanctuary Moon - mb

Well, it was a little rude - arada

Thank you for that information - 3

It would be better if they could think of you as someone who is trying to help, because that's how I think of you - mensah

Are you fighting again or are you making up? Because it looks exactly the same from the outside. - amena

As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure - mb

Anyone who thinks machine intelligences don't have emotions needs to be in this very uncomfortable room right now. - ratthi

Angry, then afraid, then dead. Is that the right order? - mb

Please calm yourselves and stop talking. Plan A01: Rain Destruction has been superseded by Plan B01: Distract and Extract. - ART

I know violence isn't the solution to everything, but in this case... - 2.0

Okay you keep the ship. I'll take the planet. - 2.0

I was having an emotion, and I hate that. - mb

I am actually alone in my head, and that's where 90 plus percent of my problems are - mb

You may have noticed that when I do manage to care, I'm a pessimist - mb

Fear is an artificial condition - tapan

I guess you can't tell a story from the point of view of something you don't think has a point of view - mb

It’s normal to feel conflict. You were part of something for a long time. You hate it, and it was a terrible thing. But it created you, and you were part of it. - bharadwaj

The problem with gunships is they want to shoot at stuff. - mb

Okay, Third Mom - amena

People, please. I’m scheduled to mediate arguments between teenagers on my next commcall home and I need all my patience for that. - mensah

Who runs around with a friendly rogue SecUnit? Besides us, I mean. - ratthi

We’re friends, and friends call each other by name. - miki

I'm not going to hurt your humans, you little idiot - ART

So you don't have a governor module, but we could punish you by looking at you? - gurathin

I love you armor, andd I'm never leaving you again - mb

SecUnit's brain is always compromised - ART

I'm not going to turn around and show you my neck, strange person I just met on an alien planet! - Iris

Who the fuck are you? - ART

#murderbot #murderbot spoilers #original post #ongoing #tumblr scrying #srsly anything is great #ily murderbot but this quiz cant be 90% mb 10% Other People #kinda defeats the point of a quiz if the answers are all murderbot lol

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