ohnoohnoohnoo

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

The thing that I think really sets Murderbot apart from a lot of other robot media (particularly mainstream entries like the I, Robot movie) is that bots and constructs aren't a uniquely oppressed class, and humans aren't a uniquely privileged one. A lot of robot media rings a bit hollow because it portrays humans as all living a lavish, comfortable lifestyle, free from the burden of physical labor or control by their corporate overlords, and it's like. I think if the rise of generative AI has proven anything, it's that corporations and billionaires have absolutely no interest in making life easier for anybody, but will gleefully use new technology to make life infinitely worse if it means an extra buck in their pocket.

We are shown over and over again throughout the Murderbot Diaries that humans are mistreated just as badly as (or sometimes, in MB's own opinion, even worse than) bots and constructs. We see humans stripped of their rights, reduced to corporate assets to be bought and sold, sent into suicidal situations, abandoned and discarded as things. We see humans trapped in multigenerational labor contracts -- people born into an indentured servitude that requires them to pay back their food and lodging to the same company that will not let them leave.

None of these are hypothetical scenarios. These are all things that happen to real people in our world today.

And that is a huge part of why it resonates so much. The overarching theme of "capitalism is hell" actually means something because it isn't only applied to the fictional dynamic of bots vs humans. The theme is constantly reiterated through the humans themselves.

And that's also why it's so important that MB demonstrates empathy for and solidarity with humans who are themselves victims of the system. Because ultimately, that's one of the main things the series is about. It's about what it's like to be simultaneously a product, and victim, of a corporate hellscape.

That theme simply can't work if the humans aren't also forced to navigate that issue. If the story can't acknowledge that right now, in our own world, there are humans facing these same problems, and that these human rights matter quite a bit.

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

still thinking about how selfish the choreography for the GrayCris fight was and how fucking awesome that was as a narrative device.

this whole time we've seen a team from a planet of communal living and loving, who try so hard to be in unison on decisions to the point where when Mensah gives an order to Pin-Lee, they are genuinely shocked and hurt. AND THEN WE MEET THESE MOTHERFUCKERS.

who present as a united front, who blame PresAux for killing a teammate, who we assume to be united in their goals, because why wouldn't they be? even if they're the bad guys, surely they're a unit, right?

And then they start SHOOTING each other on accident or out of spite or because they dont want the other to have the right of escape etc etc until SecUnit barely has to lay a hand on any humans at all because they're so busy trashing each other to high hell. It's essential for our heroes to survive, but it's also a sharp reminder of other human cultures, and really hammers home to us (and Murderbot) that its clients really and truly are the best clients💙

what a phenoooomenal choreographic scene

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

Murderbot, end message.

Murderbot 1.10 The Perimeter

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

i love the whole world violently. and i dont want to go to work

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

I love murderbot's totebag <3 with a decapitated head inside <3

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

Ok so Gurathin has just been on a RIDE, right? He had - for a moment - all his worst suspicions confirmed. Had that horrible flash of clarity where it all seemed to make sense and ffs it namedropped him and-

'What the fuck?'

And that's when it all started to turn around for him.

The thing about Gurathin, right, is that he's SUCH a suspicious bastard that if you do confirm all his suspicions, he immediately starts to be suspicious of that. He starts to see the logic flaws, the plot holes, if you will. He starts to put two and two together. Murderbot's plan falls into place.

Murderbot gave him the narrative he'd been mentally spinning this entire time, and he rejected it. It says 'Gurathin was right all along' and he goes fuck no, I don't believe you. Lying motherfucker. You were loyal this whole time. I'm on to you.

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

They’re gonna haunt me forever

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

the most infuriating thing about personal growth is that even if someone else did have the answer you needed and conveyed it to you in a precise and effective matter, it won't make sense until you're ready for it. you could hear it every day of your life and it wouldn't matter a fucking bit until it finally clicks. there's very little you can do to influence when that happens, either

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

"The shift from the Afro-Caribbean zombie to the U.S. zombie is clear: in Caribbean folklore, people are scared of becoming zombies, whereas in U.S. narratives people are scared of zombies. This shift is significant because it maps the movement from the zombie as victim (Caribbean) to the zombie as an aggressive and terrifying monster who consumes human flesh (U.S.). In Haitian folklore, for instance, zombies do not physically threaten people; rather, the threat comes from the voduon practice whereby the sorcerer (master) subjugates the individual by robbing the victim of free will, language and cognition. The zombie is enslaved."

— Justin D. Edwards, "Mapping Tropical Gothic in the Americas" in Tropical Gothic in Literature and Culture.

Follow Diary of a Philosopher for more quotes!

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

Woke up with the thought of how Cheyenne says to the boys that they might feel like part of the scenery, like the barre, just like Gabin felt part of the scenery in every ballet before Tobias. And then Tobias puts the barre in the centre based on Gabin's suggestion. And Gabin's barre stays on the stage through the whole dance because Gabin is Tobias's support and Tobias is Gabin's...

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

not to be dramatic but! my bedroom windows!

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

Goat

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love leopard seals. they are so dragon coded. that is an entire mammalian marine wyrm

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

ohhh having a job is actually ruining my life.  ok

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

no but you don’t understand. the princess bed that her mom refused to fix for her, but did for someone else. her mom never having ever come to one of her performances. gael jabbing cheyenne in the heart and telling her she doesn’t have room in there for people or anyone or anything. “i slipped”. then having to dance to “i married myself” and sobbing in the same room where she found and looked after that little girl who’d been dancing alone at night. the same girl she bought ballet shoes for and came to see during class because she does have room in there. then “that’s why you’re such an asshole” and the broken “i’m an asshole.” and “i don’t want to be hollow” and

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

I procrastinate so much that I have a gaping hole of dread inside my chest where I think my other emotions are supposed to go. unless a potential employer is reading this, in which case I don’t do that & I have all the normal emotions that human beings have & I love capitalism

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

This fuckass outfit (it’s one of my favorites)