rand0mfandom

[rand0mfandom]

So, I’m awkward with actual humans. It’s not paranoia about my hacked governor module, and it’s not them; it’s me.

Glare intensifying. “Okay, so what did you hire yourself to do?” That was an interesting way to put it. I kind of liked it. And it felt so weird to be talking to a human like this, a human who knew what I was. I didn’t have to force myself to stare at Pin-Lee’s face, worry that my expressions were normal. Abene had known I was a SecUnit, but she hadn’t known I was me.

Farai said, “Thiago, no. She asks for space, you need to give that to her.” She smiled at me politely. I never know how to react to that. She leaned in to Mensah to kiss her, and said, “We’ll see you at the house.”

Indah was looking at me again. I hadn’t said anything because what was I supposed to say at this point? Oh, I guess I could have said “hello.” Well, it was too late now.

We didn’t have time for me to show it 35,000 hours of media and I didn’t have access to my longterm storage anyway. And that had worked on me, but I knew I was weird even for a SecUnit.

According to the report 2.0 had downloaded to me, 3 had actually seemed to like the other two SecUnits on the explorer, as if they had been friends, at least to the extent that they had been allowed to communicate with each other. I’d never thought that was possible. Maybe I’d always been a weird SecUnit; maybe 3 would have better luck communicating with other SecUnits.

a collection of moments :3

my favorite thing about this string of moments is that then in "home" we get mensah's pov, and she's lying to her friends and constantly thinking "secunit can see right fucking through me" (and it can-- it reads her so well lol)

She didn’t want a corporation’s excuse for a trauma support specialist poking around in her emotions. She almost adds, I didn’t need it, which would be a dead giveaway. And then it occurs to her, a giveaway of what? What is she worried about giving away, here among these people she trusts with her life. SecUnit is looking at the far corner, as it usually does. But they installed cameras for it in these rooms so it probably is watching her expression. It says, “Why not? Is it free here?”

That was taking the conversation to a place Ayda didn’t want to go. “I might have time later,” she tells them easily, and pours herself another cup of tea. When she glances up, SecUnit is actually looking directly at her. Their gazes lock for what seems a long moment but knowing SecUnit, is probably only a second at most. As its gaze shifts back to the corner, Ayda feels her cheeks flush, as if she’s been caught in a lie. Well, it was a lie.

She thinks she’s deflected it, but then it comes right back around to its target. “Maybe you should go to the Station Medical like Dr. Bharadwaj.” I can’t, I’d have to tell them what was wrong, is her first thought. And yes, she’s aware that’s the problem. She can’t bring herself to lie, so she only says, “I’ll try.” There’s a quiet, skeptical snort above her head, and she knows SecUnit isn’t fooled.

and her perception of it interpersonally is quite different from its own:

The killing machine in question has just sent her yet another message packet. They’re piling up in her feed and if she would stop encouraging SecUnit by opening them, it would probably stop. They’re all formal requisition forms for Preservation Station Security, requests for increasingly improbable armaments. She responds to the latest with I don’t even know what that is. It’s a good thing she understands SecUnit’s sense of humor.

Still not meeting anyone’s gaze, SecUnit’s expression flashes through a brief, eloquent ironic twist. Ayda hides a smile. Of course you have to pay for it.

“Station Security is forty-seven seconds out.” SecUnit’s voice is even and conversational. And confident. This is a confrontation it knows how to handle. It’s slipped in front of her, reassuring lean bulk between her and the intruder. 

just one of many reasons that "home" is my favorite short story in the murderbot diaries canon ^^

plus we see many indications of murderbot's rapport with mensah in the books, even early in all systems red. from its pov, despite murderbot being awkward with humans, it connects easily with mensah:

I panic all the time, you just can’t see it, I told her. I added the text signifier for “joke.” She didn’t answer, but she looked down, smiling to herself.

mensah also makes effort to understand and accommodate murderbot early on in asr, which is not framed as a big deal or a burden for her:

“Maybe, under normal circumstances.” She was looking a little off to one side, not trying to make eye contact, which I appreciated.

and of course, she's also the first human to tell murderbot she thinks of it as a person— and in a way that it's able to hear/accept, which seems very meaningful for it

“But this situation is different. It would be better if they could think of you as a person who is trying to help. Because that’s how I think of you.” My insides melted. That’s the only way I could describe it. After a minute, when I had my expression under control, I cleared the face plate and had it and the helmet fold back into my armor.

i think this is part of why she's its favorite human. yes, murderbot is weird and awkward, but mensah vibes with it regardless and makes effort to understand and respect it in all their early interactions. that feels special for it. from "home," we know that feeling is reciprocal. i think it goes a bit further, because there we also learn mensah has similar issues with emotional vulnerability and self esteem in the wake of her trauma, which adds another layer of uniqueness to the dynamic. mensah doesn't see murderbot as inept or lacking, and murderbot likewise has a high opinion of mensah despite her negative self-perception.

i always love when a character who sees themselves as a freak has a person (or more) who understands, respects, and connects with them so thoroughly. this feels extra meaningful for a character like murderbot who sees itself as incapable of things like friendship and being understood due to social conditioning and trauma. that's part of why its friendships and comfort level with the preservation humans are so nice to see. likewise, it's no wonder they're so important to it.

imo, the murderbot diaries series has an interpersonally hopeful quality to it, since murderbot has this type of connection with a variety of characters in different permutations throughout the story. it has optimistic messaging that even if you're a social outsider, there will be well-intentioned people hoping to understand and connect with you no matter where you go.

i think there's a lot more to be said about this topic with respect to murderbot's trust issues, its perception of its personhood, and its history of being forced to enact violence, but.. i've said enough for now ^^'

[rand0mfandom]

I have additionally been informed that I am required to post this meme I made earlier today, regarding ART letting Murderbot on board the first time:

[rand0mfandom]

I just had a funny idea:

Ghosts can change their appearances based on their minds

Halfas can extend this to their living body too to an extent

Danny is trans

When he dies from the portal, he suddenly emerges in a fully transitioned body

[rand0mfandom]

"It's rogue. It's powerful. It would rather be watching TV."

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one scene i cannot get over in System Collapse is murderbot and ART, both barely functional, staggering their way onto the shuttle to leave the 2nd colony. MB getting ART-drone strapped into a seat, worried about how damaged it is. doesn't even notice Iris getting it strapped into its own seat (as she worries about how damaged it is). MB and ART-drone, their humans' first and last lines of defense, destroyers of hostile secunits, sniping back and forth as they try to keep each other from shutting down. their humans, once again just barely Not Dead, looking after their extremely badass and very nerfed defenders. at least 15% of my brain capacity is dedicated to this scene at all times

[rand0mfandom]

Genuinely looking forward to seeing how people will manage to write Murderbot x Y/N smut fic once the tv series comes out in a couple of weeks.

Cause it might be aro ace, have no genitalia, and find humans annoying as fuck, it’s Alexander Skarsgård, so obviously there will be considerable thirsting after the poor SecUnit.

At least we will (hopefully) get some great autism representation for once?

[rand0mfandom]

I won't say it's, like, the series' best feature, but on a personally relatable level my favourite thing about The Murderbot Diaries is the repeated implication that most of SecUnit's success as a hacker stems from the fact that it keeps bumping into mission-critical systems where nobody's bothered to change the factory default wi-fi password.

[rand0mfandom]

"And it hit me then that ART had been desperate and terrified since the moment the B-E explorer had sidled up and done whatever it had done. It had tricked its captors into taking it to me not because it had some kind of grand strategy but because it needed me."

YOURE ONLY REALIZING THAT NOW????

[rand0mfandom]

I wish I had a helmet to opaque so the people I don't know can't see my emotions on my face.

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These dance moves lmao...

They're all so weird I love it. (Especially Gurathin)

[rand0mfandom]

fandom: murderbot

me, insanely: I don't have permission to use that name, I should just call it secunit

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Murderbot canonically goes by it/it's and the audiobook is narrated by Kevin R. Free who is Black. They could have cast fucking anyone, literally of any gender or race, for this character that is heavily coded as genderless and of color. And they chose the most generic White Man in existence. It's the laziest casting I've ever seen.

[rand0mfandom]

That’s when it dawned on me that Hostile One was a Combat SecUnit.

Exit Strategy has so many good scenes but this is the one that I can’t get out of my head.

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It eventually gets a haircut too.

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This scene in Network Effect gets funnier the more I think about it.

Sorry, is ART not your cute pet name for it?

[rand0mfandom]

MurderBot is my newest favorite blorbo from my books

[rand0mfandom]

Been thinking, as a Murderbot fan is wont to do, about how ART is prone to deleting systems and how Murderbot has to step in and rescue them from deletion. Is ART prone to it because it simply doesn’t have the patience for finesse? It did, after all, scare the metaphorical crap out of mb in their first interaction—an interaction ART wanted—by being its big, brutish self. It makes sense to me that it wouldn’t bother being delicate with a system it couldn’t care less about, especially when it has stuff to do.

Murderbot, on the other hand, has expressed that it likes to find clever ways to do things. It likes using finesse. It’s sentimental about other systems even if they can’t be of further use to it. It doesn’t like to use force whenever possible.

I know we’ve been over this a hundred times but it’s still so funny to me how ART and mb subvert expectations on how they ought to handle things. ART the scientist, throwing its weight around and crashing carelessly into shelves. Murderbot the mercenary, carefully grabbing all the wobbling/falling stacks of delicate teacups and gently setting them to rights.

Murderbot treats other things the way it wants to be treated, because it’s been treated badly most of its existence. It knows that if it doesn’t step up and advocate for the “little guys”, no onr will. I posit that ART doesn’t seem to care about how it treats other systems partly because it hasn’t been mistreated to the same hypervigilance-inducing levels that mb has. It doesn’t know what it feels like to be on the other end of carelessness. Murderbot? Very much does. And it’s a kind person to its core, so if it sees an opportunity to help? It helps.

(this also has fascinating implications re: the “you know I am not kind” exchange in System Collapse, but that’s for another post or for someone else to dig into if they want~)