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Time for a governor module conspiracy theorizing Murderbot finale rewatch, emphasis on watching its status messages.

The techs rebooted MB in safe mode, which is a fantastic little joke. Safe mode normally means software is running the bare minimum of functions so that whatever other function is causing problems can be diagnosed. But here, of course, it meant that MB was immobilized and unable to attack anyone.

We're outside MB's head during that scene, so we don't know what happened when the "cry like a baby" order came and MB momentarily didn't obey it. Would the governor module act that quickly if a human had to repeat an order? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

MB attempts to ID Ratthi in the station hall using both a facial recognition scan and a search of voice data records, and fails. Interestingly, the voice search returns "NO RECORDS FOUND," but the facial recognition search returns "CLIENT ID: UNKNOWN." Why is Ratthi still being considered a client?

Okay, on to the strike scene. MB brings up its status screen and registers the three nearest strikers as "TARGET." Once it gets the "let's do some damage" order, MB moves forward and seems to rabbit-punch someone in the gut. We next see it crushing the fist of someone trying to stab it and punching a few other people, at which point it flashes back to the mine.

The status message that comes up is "CODE MALFUNCTION." There's nothing from the governor module despite the freeze-up.

Then there's another flashback, then "IMMINENT THREAT DETECTED." Then the "GOVERNOR MODULE" header comes up, but the alert fades away as MB turns to deal with the striker coming at it. This striker is registered as "TARGET," and MB points its gun at him.

When it does that, the striker immediately backs down. As soon as he puts his hands up in surrender, MB briefly flashes back to a bloody scene with unclear status messages. This scene repeats as the striker asks MB not to shoot. Again, despite the freeze-up, nothing is coming from the governor module.

Then there's a third flashback of miners running away, and a SecUnit pursuing with its gun arms aimed - the memory from the pilot.

We come out of flashback and there's a glitchy "IMMINENT THREAT DETECTED" message. We then shift out of MB's head as the protesters beat it.

As a point of comparison, I went back to the pilot. When the miner directly ordered SecUnit to raise its arm, the "GOVERNOR MODULE" header comes up with the message "EXECUTE ORDER." That second bit didn't happen during the strike scene, but...that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Second point of comparison: when Ratthi calls for a speech in the pilot, a message comes up with the header "AWAITING-COMMANDS//" and stating "ORDER RECEIVED." A similar thing happens when Gurathin asks it to come talk to him in the second episode. So MB is capable of identifying the orders that it would be punished for disobeying, even without a functioning governor module.

What I'm seeing , I suppose is that the governor module was still present during the strike, but it never gave an "EXECUTE ORDER" message or did anything else onscreen, including punishing MB for freezing up instead of hitting people. Given how badly MB was glitching, though, it's hard to say what that means.

And now, the acid bath! This episode is a layer cake of horrors, it really is. MB's status message here is "ASSESSING LOCAL NETWORK... / PINGING LOCAL SECUNITS / DENIED." When asked to step onto the platform, it does so immediately despite being obviously afraid.

Back in the suite, MB brings up its wider status screen again. While it's Mensah who's addressing it, the first face it focuses on is Ratthi's, again stating "CLIENT ID: UNKNOWN." It then moves down the line to Bharadwaj, Mensah, Arada, and Pin-Lee and gets the same message.

Ratthi speaks up and MB tries to ID him again, but this time the message says "SEARCHING RECORDED DATABASE..." Then there's a "FACIAL DATABASE MATCH" that appears to be from their earlier contact in the station hall, but no name is put to that face.

Why is MB identifying the crew as clients despite having no memory of them? Was it told that when it came out of the acid bath area? Or is it a continuation of whatever was going on with Gurathin earlier?

Okay, post-memory dump, I'm going to try to note anything that even kind of sounds like an order.

Mensah: "You are coming back to Preservation with us. You will be a free agent there."

Arada gives a little "come on" to urge MB to show off its new wardrobe.

Mensah again: "SecUnit, uh, make yourself comfortable. Uh, if there's anything you need, let us know."

Ratthi jokingly calls for a speech, but immediately takes it back. Mensah says, "You can do whatever you want."

Gurathin, talking about Preservation: "You're gonna find your place there." And then: "You need to check the perimeter."

I've seen some folks interpreting that last bit as MB prompting Gurathin into an order so it can leave, but I disagree - it was already on its way out the door when Gurathin interrupted, and there's no indication it realized it would be unable to leave without client consent.

The only words I'd interpret as orders are Mensah's telling MB to make itself comfortable and to ask if it needs anything. It then stood in a corner and asked for nothing, which means very little because it was probably comfortable that way and "needing" something can be interpreted in all kinds of ways. And I imagine it would have shuffled into the room even without the "come on" from Arada, too.

But my takeaways are: Given the fact that the governor module was visibly present during the strike, I think there's decent odds that it's still there at the end of the episode. But I also think there's decent odds that it isn't functioning normally. It's even possible it can't affect MB at all. There's no definitive evidence either way, so I guess we'll have to wait a year to see! But hey, at least there's fic in the meantime.

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i had a problem

(no merch for my car)

so i solved the problem

(made merch for my car)

(haven't ordered yet so idk what the quality is gonna be like)

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In the show, after Mensah tells Murderbot it's coming with them back to Presevation where it won't be security, Murderbot says "We can talk about this."

I see this as Murderbot trying to let the PresAux crew know it's unhappy with the idea that it won't be security anymore, but the team is too excited about having their bestie back to notice. Murderbot doesn't have the context of the Sweet/Bitter game that the audience saw. It's only context with the exact phrase "we can talk about this" comes from when the PresAux crew was upset with it for killing LeeBeeBee.

It's trying to communicate in a language it thinks its clients/owners will understand. They just don't notice.

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Desmond shouldn't have died at the end of AC3, but even if he did he definitely shouldn't have died That Way. His whole life being laid out for him, leading to a choice that isn't a choice to do good he will never see the results of, to be burned to death by a Sun he hasn't seen in Months.

I think William Miles should bear the full weight of what he'd done to his son. Lean into the family metaphor, the Connor-Haythem Desmond-Bill parallels to their full potential. Have Desmond get steadily worse in the Animus in the Temple. Have him hate every second. Have him come out at the end of Connor's story confused. Have him respond to every name but his own. Have him stagger and wobble through the retrieval mission they sent him on anyway with an unstemmable nosebleed. Have him die on the way back. Finish the story without him.

It's about him Not being special. It's about how they hurt him for no reason. It's about how the Assassins and the Templars did the same things for the same reasons to the same man.

It’s about Desmond with blood on his teeth looking up at his father from where he’s been restrained—For his own good, really.—because the Bleeding Effect is getting worse. That the chair they’ve tied him to is the Animus is only for efficiency. Besides, it’s the comfiest chair in the place.

It’s about Desmond asking Bill if he really didn’t think this would happen. After everything. After Clay. Did he really think that his Lazy, Useless, Childish, Waste of a Son would come out of this?

Make Bill enter the inner Temple with the Key that he killed his son for and cursed him for doing it. Make Bill plan to die to make Desmond's So called sacrifice worth it. Make it work. Make Bill live through it. Make that break him.

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My favorite small detail in the Murderbot Diaries is how many of the shitty corporations have names that sound like two names mashed together—GrayCris, BreharWallHan, Barish-Estranza, etc—because to me it just screams “corporate merger.” It’s something that real companies do with their names when they’re monopolizing, where two companies of comparable sizes just mash their two brands together to make a horrible Frankenbrand. Like how it’s Warner Bros-Discovery now, or the names of publishing companies like Penguin Random House and HarperCollins. It’s just some subtle worldbuilding that signifies how the dystopian capitalist hellscape of the Corporation Rim formed through the very mundane acts of corporate inbreeding that we see all the time

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Oh hell yeah

Got the movement lines done! Going to remove the water-soluble stabilizer I printed the pattern on, then work on filling in the rest of the background 💪

Secret back of the patch ; )

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Got the movement lines done! Going to remove the water-soluble stabilizer I printed the pattern on, then work on filling in the rest of the background 💪

Secret back of the patch ; )

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"you can use ai to improve spelling and grammar"

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Stitched a couple of brooches in the meantime

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Tumblr is a fate driven website. You can't find posts through the search function, you see them when you're meant to.

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YOUR EMAIL FINDS ME ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE

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Are lace-makers ever struck by the realisation that all the holes were already there before they started?

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An Ontario court has dismissed the province's attempt to appeal a court order that temporarily stopped it from ripping up three major Toronto bike lanes. Cycling advocates say the court's decision is a victory, and means Ontario can't remove the bike lanes until a judge has had the chance to rule on a Charter challenge. A spokesperson for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria suggested that some work, however, will go on.

Continue reading

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

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We’re gearing up for our next Transformers zine and voting on the topic is open for four more days!

The prospective topics are:

Baby Needs Smoko (NSFW) - Putting commonly infantilized characters in adult scenarios like having sex, doing drugs, and getting arrested.

Femdom (NSFW) - Anything related to ladies dominating. This would include only cannon female/femme characters and female/femme Transformers OCs.

Cybertonian Dating Apps (SFW) - Anything related to digital dating on Cybertron. This could include things like fake dating profiles or a scene of getting catfished online.

Magazines (SFW) - What would magazines look like on Cybertron? Create a fake cover, some 00s style quizzes, or write articles about style and current events.

Join our Discord to become a member and cast your vote.

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Growing up, my brother and I deeply dreaded going shoe shopping. It took hours, especially if it was for winter boots. My dad would examine the stitching, the brand reliability, the temperature recommendations, every piece of information he could get his hands on, and then when he'd finally found the right brand, it was on to making absolutely dead sure they fit properly - he had a particular way of poking the toe of the boot to ensure our foot was where it was supposed to be that always drove me nuts. This was always on a weekend, and it was about the worst punishment we could imagine.

Years later, I found out that he'd spent his entire childhood on the Canadian prairies with cold feet. My grandmother just bought whatever boots looked like the best value, regardless of whether they'd keep anyone warm. They'd kept him from frostbite, probably, but never, ever comfortable.

The reason my grandmother never had a thought about this was because she was buying her kids real boots. There was a sort of magical quality about real, purpose-made boots that meant that of course they'd work, because when she was growing up on the Canadian prairies, they had the kind of no money that meant you just stuffed some newspaper into your shoes and soldiered on.

The last pair of winter boots my dad bought for me was 15 years ago, in preparation for a three-month stint living in northern Quebec in midwinter. They cost $200 then, or something like it. I've worn them every year since, driving out to the remotest locations on the Canadian prairies and never once thinking about my feet.

When I read the Vimes Boots Theory for the first time, it rang a bell that reverberated back three generations.

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