#we live in a post-capitalist hellscape

[a-sassy-bench]

me: i am wildly irritated at absolutely everything in the world all of the time, i want to throw every device that connects me to the outside world off of a fucking cliff, and my life is collapsing in on itself with the force of a jenga tower made of gold bricks.

my boss: so... you're not prepared for the meeting?

me: i am prepared to cry, sir.

.

[potter-inthe-tardis]

Not to say something so capitalist as a socialist, but I kind of don't care if the Barbie movie is actually some big ploy to sell more barbies, its been so much fun to see people excited about something that is at its core is made for girls enjoyment, for a traditionally feminine interest to be celebrated not ridiculed. Also at least its propaganda to buy dolls not like military propaganda or something

[fallloverfic]

I get it's a thing to get seen in this Internet hellscape but goodness one of the easiest ways to get a block from me is to intentionally tag something that has nothing to do with what you're posting about in order to get hits/eyes on what you're doing. Not even "oh if you like this, you might like this", just "here's a thing I made, here's a bunch of unrelated fandoms so this shows up in unrelated tags."

[boy-mold]

came home from my father's place because I could no longer afford food and literally the second thing my mom says to me is that it's a shame I came back because it was so peaceful without me. and yet when I say I want to kill myself she sends me to the psych ward. make up your mind woman

[theladygazingatemptiness]

.

[unhingedromione]

As a trans person, I am never, ever, ever giving up Harry Potter. And our fandom isn't going anywhere. Fucking deal with it.

Around this time last year, when JKR made some stupid comment (totally forgetting which one, there's just been so many at this point), I wrote a defense of Harry Potter fans' decision to remain in the fandom that essentially boiled down to this: giving up this fandom means giving up our people. In the wake of JKR's horrendous role in the anti-scientific UK Supreme Court ruling conflating sex with gender, this sentiment remains exactly the same.

I don't begrudge any HP fan who can no longer engage with JKR's IP due to this vile development. But I remain loud and proud in my support of the ✨community✨ that Harry Potter has brought together. As I mentioned in my last post, this community is not only full of the funniest, nicest, cleverest, and most creative people I've ever met in my life, but it is also the most diverse I have ever been a part of — and as an extrovert and community organizer who has lived in four different countries and speaks three languages, I have met a shit ton of people and been a part of lots of communities, significantly more than the average person. You are out of your mind if you think I am going to turn my back on the community that has been so critical to my survival as a queer, brown, neurodivergent, depressed, burnt out, poor Muslim femme in this capitalist, fascist hellscape. Day in and day out, my friends and I are pushing forward some of the most powerful narratives about queer, trans, and colonial liberation that society has to offer, which will have ripple effects on media and pop culture in the time to come (as is the nature of fandom). Nothing JKR can do or say will take that away from us. Nothing.

So to everyone who wants to claim that we're being transphobic for FREELY engaging with JKR's IP and doing things with it that would make her combust — that we're transphobic for wanting to keep this beautiful, generous community in tact — I not so kindly ask you to fuck off and leave us the fuck alone. You resist your way, and we will continue to resist in ours.

[renthony]

Buy some beeswax candles from a household of disabled queer crafters!

Hey everyone, there are some changes happening with the Etsy shop I run with my husband @kryptidkhaos!

For one, we've rebranded! When I first opened the shop, I was handling everything on my own, but Aiden's taken over a significant amount of the labor while I work on all the other projects I have going at any given time. The shop's original name, "Ren's Curio Shop," didn't quite fit now that it's not just mine anymore, hence...Candles and Cantrips!

The candle part should be obvious from the photos at the top of this post, but why "cantrips"? Because I'm starting to make dice and other tabletop gaming related crafts again! Over the next few weeks I'll be working to add new listings for dice, dice accessories such as bags, trays, and storage boxes, and a few more fun things you'll hear about once I make more progress.

Until that's all ready to list, we still have a wonderful selection of unscented, all-natural beeswax candles--including three brand-new listings for votives and mini tapers.

The prices on a couple of our listings have gone up slightly, adjusted to accommodate higher beeswax prices and cost of living in the second half of 2024. We haven't raised them too terribly much, though, so if you're in the market for beeswax candles, I hope you'll check out our shop! Each candle is made by a couple of disabled queers in our crappy little apartment kitchen, and each purchase supports our little queer family as we try to survive the capitalist hellscape we must exist in.

Candles & Cantrips on Etsy

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

[khaire-traveler]

I don't know about asking this, but you seemed like someone I could ask. Do I, like, NEED to make altars and do devotional stuff all the time? This is a genuine question. I believe in the gods, I really do, but the more I study it, the less this feels neccasary. Are altars a requirement or does running through a field wearing a necklace of a lyre do the same thing? I'm just kind of worried because my altars have started taking quite noticeable chunks out of my fund.

I'm literally losing money and time off these, and in my mind, they seem so materialistic. Do I actually have to do all this? I feel like altars are just another object to me. The only helpol OBJECTS I take seriously are statues, paintings, and jewelry. No shade to using altars, of course, but do I HAVE to?

Khaire!

Firstly, I want to say that your religious practice should never endanger your well-being. In this capitalistic Hellscape we live in (specifically in the US, anyway), money has become part of well-being, especially in this economy. It feels gross to say that, but it's unfortunately true. Never feel the need to put something vital to your survival/well-being/etc. at risk solely to give praise to the gods; that's my personal opinion.

Secondly, you do not need an altar to praise the gods. Some people are seriously going to hate this opinion, but I've met people with practices that differ significantly from my own, yet they experience the same success and connection within their own practices. I've met someone who believed that any god worth worshipping wouldn't require altars OR offerings from worshippers in order to form a connection with them. As much as people want to claim that you MUST do things a certain way or else, it's honestly not required. I've also read somewhere (can't find it, but it was a great post by someone) that the way many modern polytheists and pagans create altars is extremely influenced by Catholic practices. When looking into it, I noticed this to be very true, actually, and it really changed my perspective on some things. I also realized how intensely modern the idea of some altars is after reading Greek Religion by Walter Burkert; highly recommend that book for this topic (you can easily find a free PDF of it by searching the book title and "free PDF"). Altars aren't required for worship. Nature itself could be your altar, your offering, your devotional act.

Thirdly, your offerings don't need to be extremely elaborate or expensive. There is no requirement to pour a ton of money into an altar; what matters - really truly - is the intention of your offering and what you're giving (in regards to "sacrifice"). I've been giving food and drink offerings super often lately, and they seem to be accepted happily. I've decorated my altar with seemingly random items that hold a personal value to me. On Hermes' altar, I literally have a paper cut-out of a phallus; I promise your altar doesn't need to be this insanely organized, picturesque thing filled with expensive offerings that cost an arm and a leg to put together. Allow yourself to have silly offerings and decorations! Allow yourself to have items that you made, even if they aren't "perfect"! It's ok for our altars to be more casual; they don't have to replicate the massive temples erected for the gods in the past.

I hope you found this response helpful! Try not to worry too much about having an altar; it shouldn't be a source of significant stress. If anything, an altar should be something you enjoy and feel comfortable spending time at. If it's not doing either of those things for you, then maybe it's time to try something else. You can connect with the gods in endless ways, and altars aren't required for most of them. Take care, and best of luck! 🧡

[fresne999]

Murderbot - Ep 3-5

So, um, this is very long. I am very much enjoying the show. I very much enjoy the books. I think they complement each other in interesting ways. While also understanding that not everything hits for everyone. See also, folks I was *sure* would like the Good Place and bounced right off.

Anyway, post Covers Ep3-5 (which I watched last night).

I continue to find the places of divergence between books and tv show fascinating, if ultimately symbiotic.

Anywho, many thoughts.

All Systems Red (ASR) versus TV - Pin-Lee Researching the Satellite

Rewatching Ep 3, I was once again struck by the difference between how Pin-Lee's research into the satellite glitches is handled book vs show. 

Quick note, 

-book Pin-Lee - she, 

-tv Pin-Lee - they 

Book Pin-Lee looks into the glitches. MB tells us that it's noticed this because the company requires that its SecUnits watch / listen to every private moment of clients and analyze for minable data, but does not tell Pres-Aux / the team that it has been monitoring Pin-Lee's research. 

Tv Pin-Lee gets the same moment with a significant difference. 

They state that they've been researching the glitches, get a "What really" (tagging for later) and tv-MB backs them up. 

Doylistically, this lets Pres-Aux (and the audience) know that data mining is a thing that is happening without it being a voice over, which works in 1st person narrative, but less well in a show.

Non-Murderbot Digression about Security Versus Privacy

I write about this for a living, so let's take a moment to hyperfocus shall we…

Security is about protecting people/things/data from bad things happening. 

Privacy is about defining individuals' rights to control their own data. 

Privacy and Security intersect, but they are not the same thing. 

To get some terms out of the way, a Data Subject is an identifiable natural person (i.e., not a legal entity like DeltFall) whose personal information is being collected and used, and *may* have certain rights with regards to their data. 

Because there is no uniform law, these rights may vary. But collectively these rights are referred to as Data Subject Access Rights (DSAR) and most often include: knowing what data is collected and why, and by extension the right to consent or object to that collection/use, ability to correct errors, and a right (under certain circumstances) to have your data removed.

Where most people encounter consent agreements is Terms of Service, which is the consent document. So do actually read them, so you know what you agreed to. They also toggles in privacy and security settings.

If you live in a place with defined privacy rights. 

Privacy rights may vary wildly.

In a totalitarian / capitalist hellscape, an individual might not have DSAR. This is relevant because CorpRim is a Capitalist hellscape.

Back to What this Scene says about Privacy / Lack In Pres-Aux vs CorpRim

For book Pres-Aux I have no sense if they know that MB/HubSystem are watching them every moment or not. I mean, book-MB tells us everyone knows it, but ASR is so deeply in MB's POV it's hard at times to know what Pres-Aux characters know/don't know. 

And fairly significantly, when writing cross cultural documentation, it's important to understand that it's easy to make assumptions. We the viewers neither live in the CorpRim (I mean, I feel you, but I have DSAR where I live/work), nor do we live in the Preservation Alliance, which is socialistic and communal. Mind you, the part of me that is really interested in how pre-modern society barter systems work is really interested in this -- particularly as it applies to women's labor -- but doubts I'll get much detail either way. 

In the show, the DSAR of it all is explicit. Pin-Lee did not know, because they react to MB telling them their logs are being reviewed, and they take this as an invasion of privacy.

To be clear, I don't think this means that as a lawyer, Pin-Lee should have read where the contract said that the Company could data mine Pres-Aux logs, because I don't think the contract needed to mention it at all, or for that matter mention they are being watched at all times.

In the Corporate Rim, no one has DSAR. Everyone is the product and no one has privacy of any kind. 

It's something everyone in the Corporate Rim knows, but is not written down. 

This is a lovely example of cross-cultural misunderstanding. 

Because I'm fairly certain the Preservation Alliance does have defined privacy rights for their residents.

Unless Pin-Lee is a privacy lawyer (rather than a corporate), I'm not sure they would have a reason to know that. The focus of a Privacy lawyer is ensuring that customers/residents have their rights followed. The purpose of a corporate lawyer is to ensure that the corporation/legal entity they represent interests are supported. They are different focuses. 

And other Privacy Violations

It's why I'm glad shortly thereafter we see MB watching Gurathin go into Mensah's room/sniff her pillow. Because (pure speculation) this information is going to come out in a MB - Gurathin spat. 

Both what MB is doing and what Gurathin are doing are violations of privacy. 

MB's is the legal privacy DSAR context expressed above. Gurathin's violation is more rooted in the idea of privacy in one's domicile. Or possibly not. It's possible, he has permission to go in there and seek comfort when he needs it. Not sure. There's a very interesting dynamic between Mensah and Gurathin, which I suspect has a great deal to do with the trauma of coming from the Corporate Rim and Mensah getting him out of the Corporate Rim. 

Hyperfocus - Pin-Lee and the What Up the Satellite

I realize that everyone in fandom has zoomed in on Gurathin as neuro spicy, but I would like to argue that they are missing the bus on Pin-Lee as equally (if not the same) spicy. 

While deciding to research something in one's spare time isn't necessarily a sign of hyperfocus, nor being neuro diverse, a lot of Pin-Lee's interactions (relationship by contract, hiding interests, satellite research) are pinging neuro diverse bells for me, but presented in a way that…look I don't want to misgender tv Pin-Lee, but they ping a lot of information / signs for neuro-divergence in women being under reported. 

Anyway, Ratthi saying an equivalent of "No you didn't" in response to Pin-Lee saying they are researching satellite malfunctions comes across as Ratthi is aware this is something Pin-Lee would do, but is being playful in the same way as, "Who is this?" on seeing MB without a helmet.

While to MB, it's Ratthi saying, "No you didn't." Flat denial. Much as book MB took Ratthi as not recognizing it without the helmet, "Who is this?"

MB has been watching Pin-Lee conduct analysis. MB conducts analysis. Half-assedly because it hates the Company, but certainly book MB seems to enjoy analysis once it can do it for its own purposes. 

So tv MB see's Pin-Lee conduct analysis, and speaks up in Pin-Lee's defence, and immediately regrets it.

Yes, this then tangents into the whole discussion around privacy / lack thereof, but at it's basis, MB's motivation is still to speak up for a person who is hyper focusing, and hasn't repeatedly spoken about melting it down, etc. 

Doesn't put them on the same wavelength, because there's lots of plot to go, but it's some interesting foundational leg work.

Auto Grinding

If I'm understanding correctly, when Ratthi tells Pin-Lee and Arada his level on shooter-videogame, Pin-Lee's response is to suggest that Ratthi has set up code to play the game for him so he can get to that level. 

His reaction to this statement makes me think that is exactly what Ratthi is doing. It's some interesting character development congruent as it is to the self-loathing as expressed by his rant about being too hung over for weapons training and recontextualizes his Golden Retriever surface. 

That he decides to go try to rescue Mensah is an interesting play with tropes of hyper masculinity. 

He's choosing to take action when he doesn't know what he's doing and is just as likely to be a detriment. It's action media-its video-game, I know what I'm doing. But he also compliments Arada and Pin-Lee, asks for their help, acknowledges they were right about the setting thing, isn't embarrassed to have bonked himself in the head, and cheers when they arrive / deal with other SecUnit. 

This plays into the moment when he says that Seccy is their friend. "That's right, I'm a SecUnit's friend." It's simultaneously standing up for MB, because Ratthi is a sweetie, reacting to LeBeeBee's WTF energy, but also part of the narrative that Ratthi's telling in his own head. Badass/friend to a SecUnit, yeah. 

This is a premature statement. He's not (yet). There are many miles to Babylon, and they haven't gone there and back again. 

Arada and the Wind Chimes

Arada bringing a gift for DeltFall is simultaneously profoundly midwest US "Don't show up without a casserole dish", and Proto-Indo-European guest/host obligations, and also seems somewhat idiosyncratic to Arada.

After all, it's not, they consensus discuss that they need to bring a thing as uninvited guests to DeltFall, and decide what that thing is. Arada decides to bring a thing. A thing she made out of found material. 

On one hand, it's very '70s macrame art, but simultaneously, there's that moment when the throuple (for the length of the contract) are about to go into the hopper. Ratthi wants to make way for Pin-Lee, and they want to make way for Ratthi, and Arada walks through the middle, because she'll go first per usual.

This strikes me as less neuro-spicy than Arada has made some choices about how she's going to live her life. She's not going to awkwardly do the "You, no you." thing. She's just going to go first. She made a wind chime. Giving gifts feels good. She's giving the wind chime away. 

She wants to make connections. 

It's an interesting expansion on Arada from the books who is nice, doesn't want people to be hurt, but I don't know much more about her. 

Again, that works in the books, because we are so deeply embedded in MB's point of view, but in an expanded story, getting additional characterization is useful.  

Identifiable Individuals

To get back to Privacy, when the Corporation manufactured SecUnits with unique faces, they made identifiable individuals. 

I mean, for the purposes of privacy law no SecUnit isn't a natural person, but we get into this interesting space that by hacking its governor module, MB is not freeing itself. Legally within the Corporate Rim, it is enslaved property governor module or not. Physically MB is not freeing itself, it is still on a Corporate Rim mine surrounded by Corporate Rim security / infrastructure. 

But by hacking its governor module, it is granting itself control of its own data / thoughts / choice of actions. It's taking the DSAR it has not been granted. 

Tthe tv show is making me think about MB as an identifiable individual in a way the books -- which I adore and love and have read many times -- didn't because book MB has never had a face for me. 

I mean, yes, I know it has a face, that has definitely been a key point that comes up time to time, but because maybe because 1st person narrative, I have been behind the face not in front of it. 

I get others have a definite idea what MB looks like, but, okay years ago I wrote a story that featured (among others) a sentient block of stone. She identifies female, but she is an eight foot tall obsidian monolith. Who can move (and joins a girl's sports team for plot reasons, but I have about as much sense of book MB's appearance as the monolith.

Giving it a face has been a shift in perspective that I'm not sure will carry over to reading the books, because they are very separate experiences. Only time will tell.

Creating Chronically Depressed Individuals

The opening scene of creating SecUnits was a delightfully economical way to get across to the viewer that in the Corporate Rim no one has autonomy. Humans work long indentures where individuals expect not to survive because to the corporation, they are as disposable as a construct or bot.

The way many of the workers are dressed in hazmat outfits with glassy faceplates, creates a visual similarity between humans and SecUnits. 

"Have some pride in your work," yeah, no. 

The difference between MB's narration about the control and cleanliness of the creation of SecUnits versus the reality, and yet that line about accidentally creating a chronically depressed MB gives lie to the narration. That it flashes back later to images of its creation and that it was able to reconstruct what happened while it was -- technically speaking -- dead makes me think it knows exactly how much care went into its creation. 

Also, there's an interesting punch down quality to the indentured worker telling MB's disembodied head that it will kick it's ass. The repetition of the story that SecUnit's go rogue all the time. 

Corporations have media that tells people SecUnits always go rogue. Don't trust them. 

It reminds me of race-class narrative discussions about how the elite / corporations create divides between natural allies so they don't go, "The reason my life sucks is the person with five yachts and twenty houses." and instead go, "XYZ is stealing my job! / are the reason the world is on fire." 

LeBeeBee - WTF Gurl

The only question my friends and I had after finishing watching was: EvilCorp agent or ComfortUnit/Evil Corp construct? There is no way she's on the level. 

But I do see where she is a necessary addition / divergence from the books.

Because the ASR is a very quick read, it's hard to notice that we/the characters don't actually interact with anyone from EvilCorp until very late in the story. I mean yes, fighting a SecUnit, but that's a bit different from in person interaction. 

What we get in the book is MB speculating to itself (so much internal speculation for MB) that someone pretended to be PresAux to gain access to DeltFall to kill them. Also, in the book (as here), there's a fight with an EvilCorp SecUnit, but we don't see its Corp handler. Despite having established elsewhere that SecUnits (though it can be lengthened) have a distance limit from their handlers/protectees. 

So introducing obviously sus LeBeeBee allows for that very nice quick cut of tv MB talking with Mensah / speculating that EvilCorpy pretended to be PresAux kill-kill-kill, cross cut with LeBeeBee being obviously sus. 

Ominous LeBeeBee is ominous.

The part where she asks Gurathin if she can get him something from the MedUnit (and thereby get access to it - poison/drugs) or food (and thereby get access to it - poison it) is um…look she's sus. 

I sort of go two ways on LeBeeBee's sexualized conversation.

I tend to think she's being deliberately off putting so everyone avoids asking her questions. The journey back where she starts speculating on MB's non-existent pee-pee is…Jebus I have been in so many awkward conversations over the years and everyone's WTF is just so relatable. In a flight, fright, freeze, fawn, situation, they freeze / flight.

But I also think it's an indicator of punching down. I suspect LeBeeBee is indentured. I mean, I think everyone in the Corporation Rim is in some sort of contract. Like the workers who the more shifts they do (unless they die), the faster their indenture is done, this mission is more time off her indenture. The "Don't look at me / you stop looking at me," and the kiss are both retaliatory / punch down. 

As we get even deeper into speculation, if LeBeeBee is a SecUnit handler, she knows that they have faces and not other bits, and it is entirely possible that she regularly punches down / sexualizes the SecUnits under her control as a way of striking out a corporation that she can't touch. We'll find out.

MB Figuring Out Its Own Rescue

In the book, MB chooses where to shoot itself based on that being a recoverable spot, and expects as an expensive piece of equipment to be revived. 

TV MB didn't. I'm not sure I'd call it sacrificing itself exactly, because the shooting itself is very much part of the realization that it is about to lose autonomy. That it's fate is to be trapped in its own body, killing everyone, to become the stereotype of a rogue murderbot (lower case), and in it's words, "Fuck that." 

So there's this interesting quality of it going, "Why did I sacrifice myself, if I'm just going to end up there anyway." because it does not yet trust PresAux to be capable of saving it. But they are.

I really love that Bharadwaj is getting a highlight here.

In the books, she's this sort of second-remove character where MB will talk about talking with her, about things / the documentary, but there's very little in person dialog. So the series is doing a great job of characterizing her for me in a way the books (as novellas in 1st person) don't have room for, and I'd like to carry over into my thinking when I re-read the books the next time.

Why is Pres-Aux on Survey?

Rewatching Ep 3, reminded me that I really like that tv show adds Mensah talking about how some people in PresAux want to join the CorpRim, and Preservation Alliance is resource…"not rich" as an explanation for why Pres-Aux is there and that provides a context to something that isn't really explained in the the books / MB don't care.

To wit, why are they surveying the planet at all?

Preservation Alliance took an option on the planet, for which they had to go through the CorpRim. Why? Mensah's speciality is terraforming. Why go to this planet?

Neither book nor tv Mensah want to take on a SecUnit, but they want to go enough to agree.

Why? 

The tv show gives a possible answer.

Preservation Alliance may be consensual, socialistic/basic income, but also not infinite in resources, and humans are by nature fallible. We don't always think through the consequences of things. Like the paternalistic way Preservation Alliance defines construct/bot rights.

It gets at that sometimes, because people have needs, we compromise on our principles to get something or avoid something. 

By explicitly articulating that PresAux has a reason to be there, that opens up more plot path arcs for the other characters in future (please) seasons. 

But also opens up some of the internal conflict we're seeing in the episodes so far. MB is a person, but that is an abstract concept. Its you support immigrant rights in social media versus you contact your reps in support of immigrant rights/donate/volunteer/are ready to go to a protest at an ICE detention facility where you expect to be pepper sprayed and arrested. 

So to bring us back around, when the moment comes down to it, there are discussions about whether to rescue MB or not. Pin-Lee with Mensah, and later back at PresAux. 

Principles are a first step. Action based on principles is harder the more personal cost there is the principle and the show is illuminating that beautifully. 

So its a very lovely touch of Mensah knowing what she has to do to stick to her principles, but she's afraid. Having Mensah just go do the action, puts her in the realm of the unrealistic space adventurer. A title she explicitly rejects.

That there are physical consequences before after living up to principles is part of the reality of the thing.

Hair

Can't express how much I loved MB's little Sanctuary Moon delusion. It gave itself a Pike's peak, huzzah. 

So not to deny what I already said, but the MB's physical characteristic I remember the most from the book is from Artificial Condition where it spends pages talking about not having body hair. Not an offhand reference, pages

Which is why I am very delighted Alexander Skarsgard (on his own it sounds like) got full body waxed because he grokked that it's something MB has thought about / thinks about / will think about. 

So giving MB a Pike's Peak in the fantasy is fascinating. That's bouffant. That's glowing colors. That's bright visuals. That's MB's happy place. Also, possibly one that got deleted by the combat override. 

It's not real that moment with the intrepid Captain Mensah with the amazing braid. MB isn't quite ready for real interaction.  

Sanctuary Moon in General

The show within the show reminds me so much of the science fiction dramas that I loved (adored, sang along to) as a kid/young adult. It's ST:OS, which I watched obsessively whenever it was on, and it's Buck Rogers (where is Princess Ardala with her Space-Dynasty clothes?), and Logan's Run (with the future-mini van), and original Battlestar Galactica (space angels!), and…so many cheesy shows that didn't make it past half a season. 

It's big and over the top and I'm right there with you MB. Unashamedly love the thing you love. 

Seeing MB articulate that hyper fixation is so lovely, and the more it opens up about it, defends it, the better.

Because my absolute favorite scene from the book is where Ratthi very cleverly establishes MB is watching the show by bringing up a plot point that you just know in universe fandom circles was this huge flamewar thing.

It's watching the show. 

It's loving the show.

What Gurathin, you don't know Sanctuary Moon.

Crap, you say.

Them's fighting words.

Seeing it even subtly expanded on with additional details was lovely. I also understand why they delay learning MB's private name for itself. The viewer/characters are already about to the shock of SecUnit lifting Guarthin by the neck, it softens the scene a bit, but also gives us chance for Gurathin to reveal the information later.

Again, that's a private name, and this is such a show and book series with an understanding of privacy issues. Because the loss of privacy of that information could be detrimental to MB. It named itself Murderbot, and they are depending on it for safety. 

Anyway, looking forward to the delayed reveal. 

Out in the Open

I'm fascinated by how MBs speech cadence changes with the combat unit forward. There's a lot less speech wobble, hesitancy. Once it spits out that they need to kill it, it's speech is much smoother.

First, declarations, such as letting Guarthin know that it doesn't like him. Ah, my poor traumatized character, you and Gura are very similar and that's why. Also, he's been a jerk to you for completely understandable reasons, but I understand not liking someone who has said that he wants to have you melted down for parts at the end of the mission. I mean, MB wasn't there, but I assume MB watched that. I also assume Gurathin of anyone knew that MB would see / hear him say that. 

The dynamics of that scene are mostly interesting to me because of Mensah. She de-escalates the scene (just as she does in the book) to get MB to let Gurathin go.

But then the show extends on the interaction. She negotiates for MB to continue to protect them, because they need MB. 

In this moment, she shows she respects MB's autonomy and ability to say no. Offers it something it will want, help to get away from the Company. 

She continues on the trend of asking MB to do things and successfully getting the result she (her people) need, while doing so in a way that lets me/the viewer know she's uncomfortable with its attack on Gurathin.

Lets Go Set Off a Bomb

I think MB set itself up a bit for the conversation about Mensah's kids. It's the reverse of the conversation with Arada out of the worm pit that revealed its face to the team.

Mensah is trying to create connection by talking about her kids. Before broaching more serious subjects. Also, I think it speaks to Mensah being from a society that welcomes/accepts/celebrates sharing, interaction, community, emotion.

Doylistially, it also gives Mensah an opportunity to self-correct using one of her children's pronouns, which is a nice touch.

But um, MBs not ready to talk about her kids. 

But they do have a conversation. It's first. Back and forth. Ideas. Recognizable because of shows. While also, setting up for the non-book reading audience LeBeeBee's deal. 

All as prelude before getting to Mensah's actual point, the subject of, "Hey, choking Gurathin, not cool." 

Alas, this is a serial and a giant bomb (that's what a rocket can be) interrupt. 

Until more revelations next week. 

Well, two weeks from now for me.

[lastoneout]

Ngl the concept of natural talent has done so much harm to our relationship to art and I hate it. No one is naturally talented at anything, get that idea out of your head. Artists are not like, special or gifted or blessed or whatever, we're just people who like art enough to keep making it, and thus there is nothing stopping you or anyone else from making art. You were not born without the artist gene and thus doomed to never find joy in drawing or singing or acting or sculpting, you're a person and people have ALWAYS made art.

It just like, it fucking kills me so much every single time I hear someone say that they would love to draw but they're just "naturally bad" at it and so they can't, especially when they then contrast themselves against me and imply I have some natural talent that means I can be an artist because no!! I don't!! The only reason I'm "good" at drawing is bcs I never stopped. I picked up a crayon as a baby and I never put it down and so I have like 27 years of experience drawing, that's why I'm "good" at it. So please trust me when I say anyone can draw. And cook. And paint and sing and act and dance. You were not born lacking, you're just new to it! You just have to keep going, you'll get better!

I just...it's so fucking heartbreaking to constantly hear the people around me essentually claim that they were born incomplete and thus they can never have fun drawing or singing or just making art. That's a horrible thing to believe, and I know our society does nothing but reinforce it by punishing us for not being perfect and making a mockery of amatures and pushing the talent myth, but trust me, you were not born wrong. There is no "make art gene" that you're missing. As cheesy as it sounds, you actually can learn to do almost anything if you put your mind to it. It might not be easy, but you are not broken. You're just learning.

I've posted this before but I'll post it again bcs he's right:

Making art is human. You can make art. Hell, you can make bad art! You don't have to improve! Art isn't about good or bad, it's about partaking in a human activity because it makes us happy. I really think society would be a better place if everyone was allowed to make as much art as they want, good or bad, bcs this weird dual reverence for talent and disregard for the actual work that goes into art just serves to bolster the capitalist, AI ridden hellscape that we live in today.

Anyway, if you are one of those people who is holding back from trying some kind of art bcs you're not talented, do me the favor of trying again. I want to see all of the beautiful, earnest, imperfect art my fellow humans make. We need that now, honestly. So please, don't give up. Make art. And if you can't, well, at least try to support the people around you who do, even if they aren't churning out masterpieces. Trust me, it's good for you. It's good for all of us.

[kedreeva]

You're sort of one of the kindest people i know on tumblr, so. um. i had a question.

how do i deal with it all?

right of the bat i will tell you i am a minor and my parents are zionists, so i have no income of my own or anything i could donate. everytime i post a single fundraiser that reaches my inbox and is vetted, i get 4-5 new fundraising asks for palestine.

most of them are unvetted, but i keep thinking that if i can't donate i should at least have faith in people and reblog the fundraisers even if they're unvetted, possibly that they're actually new and need as much help we can give, however, there's a possibility they are scams, and i don't want to draw away the attention vetted fundraisers might get.

how do you decide where to help out and how to live with your decision?

I have a policy that when it comes to asks (or messages) that solicit money or other actions (like boosting posts) I don't respond to or even publish asks that come from anyone that has never spoken to me before that moment, and that's a policy that has been in place for many years now, and is unlikely to change largely because the majority of asks/messages that are requesting money or to visit a blog post/their blog/their website are scams (or more often several years ago, led to virus infections on your computer!). My blog is, as it has stated at the top for over ten years now, a personal blog, not a fundraising/signal boosting/vetting blog for spreading donations- there ARE blogs like that, and people can choose to interact with those blogs or not, but my blog isn't the place for it and that's a hard boundary I enforce for my own well being. Tumblr is my place to rest and recover, however I see fit to do that.

A random ask to my inbox asking for money, regardless of what it is for, is (in my view) equivalent to a cold call from a stranger soliciting money. It's not about faith in people, it's not about right or wrong, it's not about can or can't. This is my home, and I don't answer the phone to unknown numbers. I will help friends/family/people I know personally (or parasocially, if I like them or recognize them), obviously, but that's a bit of a different horse.

As for how I decide where to help out, if I have the ability (funds, spoons, time etc), I will seek out information on the best place to donate that can do the most with the money to help the person/people/cause that I want to help. It's the Food Pantry Equation: I could spend $5 on groceries at retail price to donate, and maybe get enough for 1 meal for 1 person (though in this fuckoff capitalist hellscape, I'm not sure $5 would even buy a whole meal), or I could give $5 directly to a Food Pantry organization, who buys in bulk and knows where to get stuff cheap, so that my $5 can help five people or ten people or whatever. I also do my best to participate in fandom events that raise money for good causes; stuff like the fanworks charity auction I helped run to donate to a wolf sanctuary, or stuff like Fandom Trumps Hate (another charity fanworks auction event). Those kind of events are generally open about where the donations go to, and have done research into organizations to ensure the gathered money goes to good charities.

Like with the above, however, it's different if I know the person. If my neighbor comes and asks for a cup of sugar or my friend needs help moving or whatever, I'm gonna give them what they need without the middleman because we have that relationship already established. Donating $5 to a food pantry would probably help more people by numbers, but helping my neighbors and friends and family etc builds community in a way giving $5 to a random stranger on the phone soliciting money cannot, and even in a way donating $5 (or $5 worth of food) to a Food Pantry cannot. It's also usually a matter of one and done, as well as semi-transactional the way any relationship is a give and take; I can give my neighbor some sugar, and down the road they can return the favor the next time I'm in need of help. I help my friends move and I know whether or not I ever move, myself, that they would do the same for me if they're able. You can't say this about a random ask on the Internet and you likely won't ever be able to say it for most charities unless you somehow end up in their exact area of expertise. So it's different.

I feel like you should also learn about Tim Wong, the guy who basically single-handedly repopulated the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly out in California. The lesson his story can and should teach is that... sometimes it can do more good for the world to care Very Much about one specific thing, and put your heart and soul into it, than it does to spread a little bit of care over a lot of things.

So, I guess what I mean to say here is... don't feel guilty about what you cannot do. There's no guilt in that. When you are ready and able to help, you can always go and look for a good way to do so (and what you end up helping may not always be the thing you think it will be), but you don't need to feel pressured by telemarketers or charity donation calls from strangers while you're trying to eat dinner. Especially if they don't even know who you are, either.

[radley-rambles]

Cannot believe that 'access to quality art and writing made by other people is a luxury not a right, and artists and writers deserve to be compensated for their labour, because as much as I believe in the ethos of UBI, we live in a post-capitalist hellscape, and creators need to eat' is a controversial opinion in Leftist spaces.

[idkhow-ks]

Looking for Pro Wrestling Pride Merch

What's up tumblr pro wrestling peeps! I have a favor to ask.

As a lifelong queer sports fan I have a nice little collection of pride merch from different teams because if we live in a capitalist hellscape I might as well spend my money for the things I care about.

When I got into pro wrestling I immediately wanted to add any pride merch from wrestlers to my collection but I have a limited knowledge of the indies and international wrestling.

SO if you know of any wrestlers that currently have or have in the past released pride merch please let me know! First step is a list, second step is scouring ebay and thirft stores to actually collect them.

Right now I have the CM Punk trans flag shirt and the Balor club for everyone rainbow shirt. Feel free to respond to this post, reblog with a link or message me directly!

Also since a lot of the original releases happen with a fundraiser (like 10% to trevor project, etc.), for any secondhand buys I'll be donating to some of my local queer orgs.

[mixelation]

have you heard of the dire wolves coming back (sorta?) through genetic engineering?? When I read about it my first thought was of you and how you'd probably write a post about its actually all a scam or something...

Ha! Yeah okay, so multiple people have contacted me over this now lol. For reference the only real article I've read about it is this one, plus some general chatter on tumblr, like this post.

I've posted about the company behind this, Colossal Biosciences, a little bit here. The tl;dr of that post is that I think I'm more pro "de-extinction" or "resurrection" than a lot of other people yelling on tumblr. I don't think the goal necessarily should be re-introduction to current ecosystems, but such techniques could give us new ways to study extinct species and the tools we'd have to develop to get there would be MASSIVELY useful to conservation of extant-but-endangered species. I'd okay with a (responsibly managed) plot of land dedicated to letting rich people go ride mammoths or whatever if the money from that (and the general public excitement/interest in biology it would generate) and the technology made to MAKE that are then put into conserving interesting types of worms or other less charismatic species.

The dire wolf being "de-extinct" thing is........ clickbait. They assembled a "good quality" dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) genome from DNA extract from fossils, which is a pretty cool feat if true. They then made 20 gene edits to grey wolf (Canis lupus) embryos to make them "look like" dire wolves. In the article I linked, the scientist they interviewed was pretty frankly like "yeah it's like 99.9% grey wolf." There's also been screen shots going around of whatever Colossal Biosci spokespersons being like "noooo this totally counts guys. Species is a manmade concept! It's the phenotype that counts!" which I think people are right to be annoyed by. You made some grey wolves slightly more dire wolf-like, my guys. Claiming you're made a "de-extinct" species is just..... not true.

All that being said, it's not like they did NOTHING. The headlines and the reddit AMA or whatever defending these wolves as "totally real dire wolves!!!" makes it sound like the company is just doing things without know what they're doing, but making 20 separate gene edits in a wolf and getting three healthy puppies is actually really impressive. They also said they used techniques they developed during the dire wolf project to clone some puppies of the critically endangered red wolf, which is potentially amazing news for conservation. Streamlining complex gene editing means potentially helping wolf populations that have gone through huge bottlenecks and are now highly inbred. Being able to put a gene of interest into another organism also means the gene can be studied, so no matter what people bitching on tumblr say, these fake dire wolves could provide insight into studying actual dire wolves, albeit in a limited capacity. I'd rather there just be public support and tons of government funding for research and conservation work, but in the capitalist hellscape we currently live in, a bro-y biotech company selling annoying clickbait but also contributing actual important work on the side is perhaps the strategy we're going to have to live with.

So, those are the potentially positives I see, but I also have very mixed feelings about Colossal Biosciences as a whole because it's unclear to me what their actual mission, like..... is? They could get us some real conservations #Wins, but they could also do shit like copyright genes and refuse to coordinate with outside scientists they'd need in order to move conservation form the lab to real ecosystems. What are they even going to do with their dire wolves, or their cloned red wolves? Is it really just to show off a big wolf or are they interested in actually studying them? Why are their representatives saying insane shit about "de-extincting phenotypes" on reddit? They're privately funded so there's not necessarily peer review or verification that their various claims are even true.... DID they actually successfully make 20 gene edits? DO they actually have a good quality genome? I have no idea. If anyone knows, please point us at their publications in a peer-reviewed journal.

anyway if i were fuck-off wealthy, i'd be resurrecting weird bugs and various diseases, so. could be worse

[kim-the-miserable-rat]

LES AMIS DE L'ABC AS THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN A BARBECUE WITH MY FRIENDS

BAHOREL: spend two hours explaining a gossip we all have already heard seven times.

GRANTAIRE: filling a big ass plastic cup with half a bottle of wine and proceeding to drink it all as if it was water // started discussing the artistic meaning of a coca cola that exploded because we let it too much time in the freezer.

COMBEFERE: started to refer to the barbequing process in academic terms as if it was a masterclass and explain the science of it, how much to wait, how to give it more taste, the way to cook each different meat....

COURFEYRAC: took a friend's phone and post two instastories. One where I made a silly face and a text that said "tuberculosis" and another asking people to PayPal me because im awesome and the best :)

JOLY: DM'd me really concerned because he thought that in the instastories we were trying to raise money like in a sort of fundraiser because I really had tuberculosis. DON'T ASK ME HOW HE GOT TO THAT CONCLUSION, HE IS SLEEP DEPRIVED FROM STUDYING. Anyways now he's demanding that I do a public apology. // trying to do a cartwheel cause I need to express my whimsical joy somehow but failing miserably cause I don't have enough strength to do so

JEHAN PROVUAIRE: bought unicorn cups and plates for the barbeque //Came to the barbeque even though she's vegan (we made special food for her, obviously)

ENJOLRAS: using any opportunity they had to rant about the capitalistic hellscape we are living // me replying that the solution is to build a barricade

BOSSUET: all the sausages fell to the ground when he tried to move something in the grill. He proceeded to not give a fuck and said "with the heat the bacteria will die :D" and put them again it the grill.

FEUILLY: couldn't come cause he was working

MARIUS: won +25 cards in a game called "SHITTY FRIENDS"

[solarpunk-nightbird]

For decades we dreamed dystopia, and in March of 2020, when COVID crashed upon U.S. shores, it seemed like we had dreamed it so well we wished it into being. While wealthy reactionaries are building actual bunkers and prepping for environmental collapse, fantasizing about which shade of hopelessness our apocalypse will take is a luxury we can no longer afford. By accepting as inevitable humanity’s demise by its own hand, post-apocalyptic fiction places no responsibility on the living to course correct.

These days, climate change isn’t over the horizon, it’s here. The virus that shuts down the globe? We had that, too. Dystopian fiction? That’s so 2012. It’s time we collectively dream of something else. A better world is possible, but if artists and writers are to contribute to that better world, we’re going to need to balance our splendid hellscapes with gardens of earthly delight. We need to envision futures that are livable and happy, and we need to imagine how we get there from here. What’s more, we need to make those worlds as thrilling and engaging as any post-apocalyptic zombie-strewn nightmare.

Fortunately, we don’t need to invent a new literary genre to show us the way to a better tomorrow. Just as there is a left-wing climate movement demanding humanity break from fossil fuels to create a bright future for life on Earth, so is there a parallel climate fiction that allows us to imagine that better world. In steps solarpunk, left-wing literature’s answer to the dystopian novel. Solarpunk looks towards a post-capitalist future of renewable energy. It rejects climate “doomerism” and shows what our collective future could look like if we heal our relationship with the natural world.

Far from Star Trek’s “full luxury space communism,” where humans race across galaxies via endless sources of energy, the technology in solarpunk is imminently achievable. In the anthology Future Primitive: The New Ecotopias, science fiction writer and democratic socialist Kim Stanley Robinson describes this genre as rejecting “the inevitability of the machine future.” Instead it asks, “What is the healthiest way to live? What is the most beautiful?” Rather than Elon Musk’s tent cities on Mars, these fictional worlds “cobble together aspects of the postmodern and the paleolithic, asserting that we might for very good reasons choose to live in ways that resemble in part the ways of our ancestors.” 

-via Current Affairs, March 25, 2024