#do-robots-have-pp

[pearlescentparade]

requests are closed!

hello!! i am pearlescentparade, a writing blog that writes reader fics for the funny block game

about the author 💝

i am based in america, and use he/him pronouns. as for names, you can call me pearl or parade or pp or the full shabang i don't mind anything hehe i am also cambodian!

be warned that there will be instances of nsfw content on my blog, whether joking or serious and in writing or asks.. please proceed with caution and search "sfw" in my blog to find the safe posts!

all of my writing is uploaded in a single work on ao3 by the same name!

🫧fandoms i'm writing for❣️

phighting!

block tales

forsaken

✅what i will write!❇️

fluff, angst, nsfw

multiple characters x reader

headcannons and drabbles

platonic requests

continuations for reqs but only if i feel like doing it bc sometimes i js dont :[

(phighting) npcs and the sfoth

❌what i will not write🛑

ROMANTIC requests with minor characters, platonic is okay -c00lkidd (forsaken) -ducky, lightblox (phighting) -red & blue noob (block tales)

rape and anything non-consensual

romanticized yandere, i'll willing to write yandere but i will make it toxic and unhealthy and evil asf

ROMANTIC requests with (phighting) biograft, platonic is fine

character x oc

character x character

(phighting, forsaken) character skins

pregnancy i just dont think i can :[

📋when requesting, please state:

the character(s)

genre (fluff, angst, nsfw)

format (headcannons, drabble, or fic [be warned that fics will take Very Long)

scenario/extra details is optional, but its recommended and appreciated!!

currently working on:

(oc) winged staff smut drabble

📮request queue! 🎶

taph x reader fluff phantom of the opera! subreaderkit drabble top boombox x reader smut subspace x reader smut broker x reader fluff + smut (oc) winged staff x reader fluff + smut hcs banhammer x reader fluff hcs 007n7 x killer!reader angst chance x reader smut windforce sfw and smut hcs bottom medkit x reader smut hatred/builderman x reader fluff medkit x reader fluff kitchen wizard x reader smut hcs hatred x reader smut dusekkar x reader fluff boombox x reader x coil fluff and smut hcs 007n7 x reader x 1x1x1x1 smut hcs jason x reader fluff hcs two time x reader smut 007n7 x chubby reader smut windforce & firebrand x reader smut + hcs sub griefer x reader smut venomshank smut hcs noob x reader x guest 666 angst drabble griefer x reader dating hcs steampunk glove x reader smut drabble illumina x reader smut hcs griefer x fem! reader drabble spectre's servant + fem reader reverse harem shedletsky x reader smut shedletsky x reader angst yandere two time x reader "fluff" + smut builderman x reader x shedletsky fluff coil x boombox x skateboard x reader fluff 1x1x1x1 x chef reader fluff hcs azure x two time x reader fluff + smut two time x reader smut two time x reader x elliot fluff drabble elliot x shapeshifter monster reader hcs griefer joined your party! hcs banhammer x reader smut chance x sentinel reader shedletsky x reader x builderman yandere forsaken killers x reader hcs top pwnatious x reader smut drabble medkit x reader smut chance x reader smut taph x reader fluff noob x reader x guest666 fluff drabble banhammer x reader x medkit smut subspace x reader angst/comfort drabble two time x spawn deity reader hcs part 2 coil x female phighter reader fluff drabble hyperlaser x reader fluff + smut hcs illumina x reader smut medkit x reader angst "do you have any ibuprofen?" with phighters yandere 1x1x1x1 smut 007n7 x reader x two time hcs two time x reader angst scythe x reader smut forsaken survivors watching s/o get forsaken platonic survivors finding out reader is a vampire rocket x reader smut hcs suggestive winged staff x reader all phighters x random reader hcs forsaken killers + survivors with a robot s/o proposing to phighters with a ring hcs scythe x reader angst shedletsky x reader fluff drabble yandere griefer hcs subpsace x reader + beanspace fluff chance x 007n7 x support reader (oc) winged magical staff x reader fluff 007n7 x reader smut 1x1x1x1 x shedletsky's sibling reader + shedletsky drabble katana x reader hcs medkit x reader smut ghostwalker x spouse reader hcs coil x fit reader x steampunk yandere medkit hcs seven minutes in heaven with medkit elliot x isekai'ed reader drabble kyoko nsfw hcs ghostwalker x reader angst traffic x reader fluff + suggestive forsaken survivors + killers (exclud. coolkidd) "asset" preference hcs forsaken survivors x napping reader hcs taph x reader smut drabble parasocial part 2 forsaken cast and "champion" reader broker o reader fluff hcs chance x reader fluff drabble rocket x skateboard x reader fluff dom x reader fluff hcs dom x reader smut elliot x reader hcs forsaken cast + reader w/ dinosaur traits

📖masterlists🎵

💢phighting!

🔪forsaken

⚔️block tales

blog tags:

sfw, nsfw - self-explanatory

paraderest - general posts or asks, essentially non-writing posts

paradesupport - supportive messages sent in by pearls 💝💝

pearlideas - drabbles or ideas sent in by other pearls!

pearlescent ocs - completely original characters from yours truly!!

pearlfanart - lovely fanart made by pearls!!!!!

paradeart - me drawingfs

want to interact with fellow pearls? join the communities!!

sfw community

nsfw community

if you have any questions about anything not on the list you are welcome to send in an ask about it!

thank you!! pp out 😎

[lycanthropixx]

PLEASE AT LEAST REBLOG ;-;

Hi I'm Lycan, a queer disabled artist. I'm in a bit of a money crisis as most people are right now, and I'd appreciate some commissions right now if you can! (FORGOT TO INCLUDE, ENVIRONMENTS COST 45 USD$)

All prices are in USD. Please DM me for my C$sh$pp or P$yp$l (replace $'s with a's) as I am weary of spam bots

Slightly more detailed wills/won'ts AND my policies under the cut since I ran out of space for readibility

PLEASE REBLOG BEFORE SCROLLING (not forced, but I'm in dire need here!)

Will Draw :

Specialize in = ♡ ♡ Furries of any kind ♡ Centaurs ♡ Bugs/Bug Furries ♡ OSC (Object show characters, blorbo and ocs are great!) ♡ Mechas/Robots/Machinery ♡ Animals/Monsters ♡ DID/OSDD Alters/System Avatars Selfship, or ships of most kinds (see won't dos for what i will not) Profile pictures and Banners Environments (I specialize in Nature, but buildings are fine too) MILD gore (ie; Cartoony Zombies, or Candy Gore) NSFT stuff* (* You MUST be over the age of 18 to commission this, I will not post publicly either. All characters involved must be unrelated adults. And PLEASE have your age in bio.)

Won't Draw. EVER. :

IRL people, unless it's YOU. (MCYT avatars do not count as IRL ppl) Inc*st, p*do, prosh*p etc Specific Media (D*SMP, Hell*va/Hazb*n, South P*rk, Gensh*n, etc) (All asterisks are so I do not show up in tags.)

I reserve the right to refuse any commission for any reason. Wait times may vary depending on my physical and mental health, but on average take 1 day to 3 weeks. Please be patient with me. PLEASE PAY HALF UPFRONT. I REFUSE TO BE SCAMMED. If you have any questions please DM me so I may clarify.

Also if you ask for my email in any capacity I will immediately block you. That seems to be the most common scam tactic right now.

[rockalillygirl]

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.

[lcdrarry]

LCDrarry 2024 Round-Up Post | Week 5

On Sundays during our posting period, we won't post new works, instead you have time to catch up with the works that posted during the week and hopefully leave lovely comments for our creators.

Happy reading, commenting and sharing! ;)

~Your LCDrarry Mods

PS: Please have a look at the author notes and tags on AO3 for additional information. Thank you!

PPS: Please share far and wide! Thank you!!

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Fic

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Black Sheep

Prompt: "Shaun the Sheep", 2007-2020 Prompted by: Anonymous Author: Anonymous Word Count: 10,808 words Rating: Explicit Warnings: smut, dirty talk, praise kink, soft d/s dynamics, begging

Summary: “You know, Potter, maybe all you need to win is a little—incentive, let’s say.” “An incentive?” Harry asks, his interest piqued. He takes a step closer to the fence, and then another one, until he’s standing so close that he can smell the intoxicating scent of Malfoy’s expensive cologne. “Shall we say that if you win, you can have whatever your heart desires?” Malfoy replies with a smile. “Anything.”

Read it now on AO3.

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Jackknife To The Heart

Prompt: "Mad Max: Furiosa", 2024, George Miller Prompted by: Anonymous Author: Anonymous Word Count: 11,723 words Rating: Explicit Warnings: Gunfights

Summary: Draco licked his lips, slow and sensual. He climbed over Harry’s lap and slid down onto his knees. “Keep making love to me, darling,” he said, gazing up at Harry, something starry in his eyes; and then he pulled down Harry’s pants and took his cock in his mouth.

Harry sucked in a breath, threw the shifter into gear, and drove.

Read it now on AO3.

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the beating of our hearts (is the only sound)

Prompt: "Pacific Rim", 2013, Guillermo del Toro Prompted by: @stavromulabetaaa (stavromulabeta on ao3) Author: Anonymous Word Count: 12,675 words Rating: Explicit Warnings: canon (Pacific Rim) creature grossness

Summary: Do you want awesome, kickass fights between giant robots and aliens??!?!?

Go watch Pacific Rim.

This is a story about two flawed men who fall in love during an apocalypse.

Read it now on AO3.

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Draco Malfoy's New Guide to Old-Fashioned Dating

Prompt: "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days", 2003, Donald Petrie Prompted by: @sleepstxtic Author: Anonymous Word Count: 52,377 words Rating: Teen and up Warnings: Non-Consensual Drug Use

Summary: When Harry's job as an auror is threatened by his perceived negative attitude towards Death Eaters, he makes a desperate gamble with his boss to save it. Bring a Death Eater as his plus-one to the company holiday party. Unfortunately for him, there's only one person he can think of to ask...

Meanwhile, in order to save his best friend Pansy Parkinson from a terrible social fate, Draco Malfoy makes a bet with Pansy's mother. He believes that old-fashioned, traditional courting methods are the best way to repel, not attract, a potential suitor. Now, if only he can find a wizard who has no clue about those methods...

Read it now on AO3.

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A Ferret, a ScarHead, a Weasel, and a Baby

Prompt: "Three Men and a Baby", 1987, Leonard Nimoy & "Taken", 2008, Pierre Morel Prompted by: Anonymous Author: Anonymous Word Count: 91,420 words Rating: Explicit Warnings: Angst, Anxiety, Epic Fight Scene(s), Canon-Typical Violence, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Blood, Muggle Weapons, References to Past Child Abuse, Abduction, Injuries

Summary: They say becoming a parent is an unparalleled, priceless joy. Draco Malfoy finds himself putting that theory to the test when the star witness in his dangerous illegal potions case entrusts him with a powerful wish: protect her newborn baby at all costs. Now, it's up to Draco to fulfill that wish despite the looming threat of criminals hunting for the child. To think, just the day before, he was fretting over his inappropriate feelings for his annoying, bespectacled git of a housemate—not the mechanics of changing nappies!

Thank Merlin it takes a village to raise a sack of flour, ah, child.

Read it now on AO3.

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Please help promote the fest by sharing your favourite submissions, so more people can enjoy all the amazing new Drarry works of LCDrarry. Thank you!

Creator reveals are on 15 June.

[8um8le]

Holla Holla! So I might have missed this (or other people may have already asked these 2 lil Q's), but:

1) Do the robots consume foods and liquids just for the fun of it? This question popped into my brain after watching Moon consume that pizza with the shell on. Also Koi gave them some lovely green tea -u-.

& 2) What is your opinion on people making like fun little drabbles or drawings based in the same AU, like perhaps their version of Y/N or OC interacting with the gang? Cause o' boy have I latched onto this AU like a leach and I am desperate to draw one of my characters in this world.

1) Aside from actual fuel like gasoline, oil, cooling liquid, etc (robo food), they sometimes indulge in human food even though it has no benefit to them. Sun doesn’t do it often since he thinks it waste food, but moon likes to put everything in his mouth. They incinerate the food and it comes out the same hole it went in as small little chunks of coal :ppp, like a robot version of a hairball

2)yesss I love that <33 thats the whole reason I didn’t make a specific Y/N / self insert in the story, since the whole little thing is inspired by rpgs! Kinda like making your own character before starting a game, but more customizable than just appearance :pp!! Others can do the work of how they would (or their ocs) actually live in this world. So I love seeing people’s ocs/ y/ns interacting with the characters!!

[realcleverscience]

AI

As someone who follows AI news a lot, I really wish the general public was aware of what's going on with it.

AIs are improving at a dramatic rate, I'd say basically doubling in ability every 6 months (possibly even exponential growth by now). If you base your idea of what AI can do based on a tool you used last year, then you are wildly out of date.

Hell, if you base your idea of AI on the tools out right now, you're still out of date - because in 6 months the field will have advanced dramatically.

Again, this sounds crazy but that's because we're not used to this kind of growth. But consider this: Some people have estimated that the latest AI tools could potentially do 1-9% of economically useful tasks. (e.g. it can write emails for you, saving you time. Or it can summarize spreadsheets. whatever.) Let's assume AI can currently do just 1% of tasks. Clearly no-one is in danger of losing their job from just 1%. But if AI is doubling its abilities every 6 months, that means in a year it'll do (1x2x2 =) 4%. In two years from now (4x2x2=) 16%. In three years (16*2*2=) 64%. In four years, 100%. Now, I think there are still challenges to reaching 100%. (E.g. AIs still have master robotics; better 'real world' modeling, and more) But I think we could definitely hit at least 50% with our current trajectory. This could mean that everyone doubles their output, or it could mean that companies maintain output but fire half the workers. Or some mix. But if even 10% of people lose their jobs, our economy is gonna be in crisis. If 50% lose their jobs, it will be a nightmare. (The US great depression of the 1920s saw around 24% unemployment; the US already has 4% unemployment). In addition, even minor growth in unemployment can seriously stress our social safety nets (which are already being damaged by the current administration in the us). So let alone 5, 10, 20 percentage point gains.

And if AI keeps its pace of improvement, that basically means that within a year, the situation should get twice as severe. Forever. AIs will never get worse at performing. They will continue to learn and improve at ever faster rates while human roles will shrink by ever faster rates.

in short: AIs are getting very good, very quickly. The job market is going to get turned on its head. There are a lot of major changes just around the corner. AI is here. AGI is nearly here. ASI is on the horizon.

Buckle Up.

p.s. Even if you hate AI, you cannot stop it. Also, there are lots of reasons to love AI. It could help us achieve a world of plenty for all, excellent health, etc. But, that depends on society. If we keep our current system, it will be a nightmare. But if we reconfigure, this could be the greatest gift to humanity at large. Pps. I know a lot of people are concerned about ai companies controlling ai. i want you all to know that there is a ton of open-source programming for AI happening. The capitalist angle here isn't really the ai as much as the data and data centers. and even then, the data is becoming less important (e.g. we can now create artificial data), so it's really about the people who own the server farms and chip manufacturing (as well as the supply chains). Anyways, my point here is that we shouldn't oppose AI. We should recruit AI to our cause. i.e. we need new economics for an age where machines do most of the work.

[misfitwashere]

Safe Terrain

A new campaign to clear mines in Ukraine

TIMOTHY SNYDER

AUG 18

Today is my 55th birthday, and my friends at United 24 and my fellow ambassador Mark Hamill have prepared a special gift: the chance to help lead Safe Terrain.

This is a new campaign, starting right now, to help save Ukrainian lives during this terrible war by funding robots that can clear mines.

Mines are one of the most insidious killers in this war. Russians have strewn millions of mines on Ukrainian territory.  Even in places that Ukraine has deoccupied, such as the parts of Kherson region I visited last summer, sappers and others have to risk their lives to remove these mines.  Otherwise the mines will maim and kill civilians years or even decades into the future.  

In Kherson I watched sappers move carefully through the fields under the hot sun. And in Kyiv I visited people in a rehabilitation center who had lost limbs. 

Here technology can help.  Robots can do this work.  In Safe Terrain, Mark Hamill and I are enlisting you to help raise $441,000 to fund thirty demining robots.  These will clear Ukrainian lands of explosive ordnance, reducing risks for sappers, and allowing people to return to their businesses, their farms, and their lives

I am spending this 55th birthday on my family's farm.  Whenever I am here, I think of the farmers in southern and eastern Ukraine who have to struggle with the aftermath of occupation: all of the mines in their fields. These are fields that, in good times, can feed half a billion people — fields on which hundreds of millions of Asians and Africans as well as tens of millions of Ukrainians depend for their food.

I won't be asking for any other presents today: if you want to wish me well, please make a contribution today to Safe Terrain.  The Safe Terrain fundraiser begins today at 11:00am eastern on August 18th, right as I am posting this note.  Thank you!

Contribute to Safe Terrain

PS: If you want me to know about your contribution to Safe Terrain, feel free to mention it below, or to write me on timothysnyder13100@gmail.com. 

PPS: And please share this message with friends of Ukraine who might also want to help.

Share

[imitationgame77]

Twice, Mensah melts Murderbot

Murderbot is a very private person, often struggles to keep its emotions under control. Even though Murderbot is often blunt, sometimes even a bit rude to the humans, it is generally keeping its emotional expressions under control.

It can be openly rude to two - Gurathin and ART.

Gurathin was probably the first (augmented) human to whom Murderbot could openly express strong disapproval since it disabled the governor module (I don't like you; Fuck you)

ART is the receiving end of various expletives in Network Effect. (Because it is Murderbot's friend and not its client)

Mensah, on the other hand, is the only person that seems to be able to melt Murderbot's metaphorical heart, and gives it a sense of vulnerability. Because she understands it as a person - as only friends on the same wavelength can.

------------------------------------------

All Systems Red

I muted my feed and the comm, and she said, “I know you’re more comfortable with keeping your helmet opaque, but the situation has changed. We need to see you.”

I didn’t want to do it. Now more than ever. They knew too much about me. But I needed them to trust me so I could keep them alive and keep doing my job. The good version of my job, not the half-assed version of my job that I’d been doing before things started trying to kill my clients. I still didn’t want to do it. “It’s usually better if humans think of me as a robot,” I said.

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

Wells, Martha. All Systems Red (Kindle Single): The Murderbot Diaries (English Edition) (pp.103-104).

-----------------------------

Exit Strategy

Huh, why did I like Sanctuary Moon so much? I had to pull the memory from my archive, and what I saw there startled me. “It’s the first one I saw. When I hacked my governor module and picked up the entertainment feed. It made me feel like a person.” Yeah, that last part shouldn’t have come out, but with all the security-feed monitoring I was doing, I was losing control of my output. I closed my archive. I really needed to get around to setting that one-second delay on my mouth.

[...]

She said instead, “Why did it make you feel that way?”

“I don’t know.” That was true. But pulling the archived memory had brought it back, vividly, as if it had all just happened. (Stupid human neural tissue does that.) The words kept wanting to come out. It gave me context for the emotions I was feeling, I managed not to say. “It kept me company without…”

“Without making you interact?” she suggested.

That she understood even that much made me melt. I hate that this happens, it makes me feel vulnerable. Maybe that was why I had been nervous about meeting Mensah again, and not all the other dumb reasons I had come up with. I hadn’t been afraid that she wasn’t my friend, I had been afraid that she was, and what it did to me.

Wells, Martha. Exit Strategy: The Murderbot Diaries (pp.115-116)

--------------------------------------------

I don't wish to sound like Anne Shirley, but both Dr. Mensah and ART are kindred spirits (or something like soulmates) to Murderbot, but in different ways.

ART 'gets' Murderbot's thought/action processes and tendencies perfectly, and also comes to understand its emotion reactions since they shared long hours of media viewing where ART learned to process subjective emotions through Murderbot's reactions. ART is more likely to challenge Murderbot when it notes unproductive thought processes, or gets Murderbot to express it to make it understand its own thoughts.

Dr. Mensah, in contrast, is a highly empathetic and intelligent person, and she instintively understands Murderbot. Her high intellectual and emotional intelligence made her the planetary leader, loved and admired by many. She expresses her understanding of Murderbot, which is often accurate and makes it feel vulnerable, but not in a bad way. It feels being understood.

It is very touching the way Murderbot can be vulnerable in her presence and trusts her completely. HelpMe.file reveals that how it has come to unlearn its instinctive response to use violence in order to eliminate threat by trusting her.

Murderbot likes PresAux people, and calls Ratthi its friend, but it is clear to readers that Dr. Mensah is a very special person to it. And Murderbot is also a special person to Dr. Mensah that she can trust with her life.

It melts ME whenever I read them interact.

Amena seems to have inherited some of her second mother's emotinal intelligence. Hope she appears in the future again. I liked the way the relationship between her and Murderbot developed in Network Effect.

[the-realest-accountant]

1/3 slots taken [Emergency Comms]

I figured out actual pricing, so I’m remaking this post. [Will open slots back up as I finish them]

My housemates are becoming more and more aggravated towards my minor brother, so I’m opening up emergency comms to help get him a plane ticket elsewhere and to help with the costs of packing. Turnout time will be a few days to a few weeks depending on the commission, so I ask that you please give me time- I only use c@sh@pp rn, PayPal and me have beef and kofi doesn’t work on my device for some reason [???], so I apologize for that inconvenience :[ No limits on what I will draw beyond sexual stuff mechs/complicated tech, or complicated backrgrounds, I’m not super well versed in it yet and I wanna study it better before I offer it- Nudity is fine, and little simple robots/tech are fine though [feel free to ask about your little robot in specific, it kinda varies] Also, furries are hit or miss, I have trouble with canines/felines/bunnies and less realistic ones, so depending on how they’re styled/how you want them drawn, I might have to decline, I’m sorry- - Not the only options, just the easiest to set up -

Prices: [flexible to a point] [Not the only options, just the stuff I’m most versed in

Emotes/Little critters: $2 for single, $10 for 15, +50c for additional character in emote [Might vary with detail of critter]

Chibi/Cartoon: Half body: $5 [no/one color] - $7 [full color] Full body: $10-$15 [Might vary with detail of character, though not badly] [Pictures included at the end since I do a lot of full pages in this style] Proper style: Bust: $5 [no/one color]- $7 [full color] Half body: $7-$9 Full body: $10-$15 [Pictures included at the end so I do a lot of full pages in this style] Full page: Same prices as either chibi/cartoon or proper style, but with an additional $2-$9 attached depending on the stuff you want. It’s hard to explain what they are, so I’ll attach the photos and just let you see. It can be doodles, a portrait, another character, some very simplified refs, whatever.

[Margo the snake and Orchid Moon aren’t my characters, I drew them for an art trade with @/thetrinketdrawer and @/theartcreatures-blog respectively] [Also I used to be branded as JustAMuppet, some of the work pictured is from them, hence the different watermark]

[instaquarius]

"Gregory! Run! Do not look back! Do not watch! Chica, Roxy, Monty... do not listen... resist her! Please... You do not want to do this... No... Stop! No, please...!"

~ Freddy getting torn apart by his bandmates

You live on making promises yet you can't keep You're running from the consequence you won't reap Sell me out in the end Were you ever a friend? But it was never perfect Tell me, was it all worth it? Thought you were my family But now you're nothing to me Yeah, now you're nothing to me So way to go you superstar, it's lonely at the top (lonely at the top) But know that when you're ten feet tall, it hurts more when you drop Am I just a line in your song? You said you'd regret this, but still followed through Now tell me, what was I to you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcoqI_rMiLs

(Because this song reminded me about the cut content for shattered freddy and it wouldn't leave me alone)

cuz the song REALLY sounds like it would have been from Freddy's POV if the events of SB still takes place (but with freddy getting torn apart by the other shattered animatronics protecting gregory instead of the STAFF bots doing that in the actual game lead by vanessa/vanny) while trying to get their pieces back from freddy/gregory

*Roxy's eyes, chica's voicebox and montys legs

(Originally also in the cut content for those that don't know, it was Monty's legs that Freddy was supposed to be upgraded with, not his arms. which imo, make WAY more sense considering he's cut in half after being shattered)

-----------------

Also decided to draw the glamrocks as anthros/organically cuz drawing them as robots is a pain in the ass and it's more fun trying to figure out the damage each of the glams got because of gregory but if they were actual living breathing creatures soooo this is kinda what happened lmao

--------------

For those that wanna know more about shattered freddy/have never heard about this cut concept before:

https://unpublished-villains.fandom.com/wiki/Shattered_Freddy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y1Xg-0F1NA&pp=ygUQc2hhdHRlcmVkIGZyZWRkeQ%3D%3D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLjHNUCLCjM&pp=ygUQc2hhdHRlcmVkIGZyZWRkeQ%3D%3D

https://youtu.be/pWByo3atJ7M

--------------------

Note: The "I should have listened to you" comment was referring to how at LITERALLY the very beginning of the game (and half way) Freddy tells Gregory to stay quiet, stay hidden, and not to draw attention to himself. (and him doing the complete opposite by stealing all the Security Tags and triggering every alarm ever so all the glams know his location) referring And half-way when Gregory suggested stealing their upgrades and Freddy asked him kindly not to, because they're his friends.

[iveneverplayedmegaman]

Hello :D I hope you are having a great day.

I've been reading your comic. Cutman is my favorite robot master ^^

I've been trying to start my own Mega Man fancomic too, but I am not sure about it. Do you have any advice for me? Idk, what inspired you to start it? Or, how did you create the plot for the comic?

I would appreciate any help you can give me.

Thanks!

Hello, I hope you’re having a great day too! For my comic I was inspired by a Ruby spears compilation I saw a few years ago: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rZdEZSsIZIs&pp=ygUGY3V0bWFu

I can’t go too much into the plot development here cuz of spoilers, but basically I saw this video and REALLY wanted to expand on Cutman’s general role in the Megaman world/ story. I’m not great at writing outlines but I did a lot of brainstorming for different key moments I wanted in the story, and as I’m actually drawing the comic I rearrange and stitch them together. As for advice I got a few things:

If you’re doing a comic with an overarching story you should have a basic outline. It doesn’t need to be a lot, but at least having a vague beginning, middle and end to fall back on when you’re stuck is really helpful.

Try to avoid perfectionism if you can. Even with planning at a certain point you got to accept that no art piece or comic page is going to be completely PERFECT. Sometimes you just need to get out of your head and let a page just be good enough (or even bad! No one is grading you!) cuz otherwise it’s easy to procrastinate drawing for a realllly long time.

On that note, definitely don’t worry if your first attempts at comic art don’t meet your expectations. I’m emphasizing this since it’s an early hurdle, but honestly the first comics pages are going to be janky no matter what. It’s a totally normal part of the process, even if you’re a prodigy at art it takes time to adjust to drawing characters the way you want them to look. I remember this was a tough part for me. Fun fact: the current run of CMDHB is actually my THIRD attempt at this comic. And I have several other comics that never went anywhere either. I think the main reason they didn’t takeoff was because I was too focused on making something FANTASTIC right out the gate, when comics are more of a medium of consistency leading to generally better work over time. Not saying you have to do exactly this, but with the current Cutman run I made the first several pages as quickly and as terribly as I could and posted them as soon as possible. This got me past the first page curse and forced me to actually draw my comic instead of just daydreaming about an amazing comic I could HYPOTHETICALLY draw

General thing, but any main characters you draw ought to be fun to draw in some way. A lot of people say to simplify them cuz you’ll be drawing them over and over again, but I personally think it’s also really important to have a part of your characters designs that you look forward to.

Have fun! At the end of the day comics and fandom don’t have to be super serious business. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself when you’re playing around with your story! (But if you decide to post any of it, I’d love to get a link)

Hope this helps!

[meownotgood]

I was wondering… have you ever thought about writing a machine herald fic, where he still has his organic pp intact? Idk, a lot of nsfw fics with men with mechanically altered bodies tend to have their man parts replaced with a robotic one. My horny ass likes to imagine Viktor who’s ofc done all these mechanical augmentations to himself, but has still kept his original dick, because he hasn’t denied himself sexual pleasure as his (probably) last part of his human side. This of course clashes a lot with his world view and his character, but hey, a girl can dream! Don’t know if this makes any sense but yeah wanted to ask you how you would feel about this. Have a nice day and happy new year, looking forward to your next fic! :)

yes!! thank you for reading my fics :D and okay for me I'm like. half the time I want to see what that mechanical dick can do. but the other half. there's definitely something so intimate about it when most of vik's body he's replaced with mechanics. in my last machine herald fic (forwards beckon rebound) I was attempting to imply he still has that part intact, he's kind of like more human than he is trying to appear in a way

it's definitely something I'd be inclined to write someday. the machine herald fic I'm currently working on probably (don't quote me) won't have any actual sex because in this one vik is implied to be much more mechanical... but... yes, I definitely see your vision anon

[agitateandeducate]

These are a few Mask Up series I've had in my drafts with miscellaneous pieces of media I've enjoyed. I snuck a Doom Patrol one in because I couldn't help it Like this post? Please support the Children & Elderly in G by sharing the second slide to your story and if you have the means, please dough-nate*: pp: MustafaNasrallah *if you send at least $5, see my giveaway post to enter for the giveaway bundle!

1) a screenshot from They Cloned Tyrone, featuring Fontaine, Yo-Yo and Slick Charles discovering secrets in an underground lab. They are all facing the camera and looking down, with shocked or concerned expressions. Fontaine is wearing a blue elastomeric respirator, Yo-Yo is wearing a yellow KN95, and Slick Charles is wearing a mauve elastomeric respirator. To the bottom right of Fontaine is a white speech bubble with black text: Covid is still here, they just removed the tools! To the bottom right of Yo-Yo is another speech bubble: So they lied about it being mild! Above Yo-Yo and Slick Charles head is a final speech bubble: There it is again… state neglect and racism. I hate to see eugenics.

2) a screenshot from Pacific Rim, featuring Mako, fitted in full Jaeger pilot gear, save for her helmet. She is facing someone off camera to the right with a serious expression. She is wearing a mauve elastomeric respirator. To the right of Mako is a white speech bubble with black text: I'm not drift compatible with anyone that refuses to wear a mask.

3) a screenshot from Z Nation, featuring Roberta Warren, in her leather jacket, standing in front of a bloodstained cement wall. She is facing someone off camera to the right with a serious expression. She is wearing a mauve elastomeric respirator. To the left of Roberta is a white speech bubble with black text: Y'all really think you'd survive an apocalypse… but refuses to wear a mask?

4) a screenshot from Doom Patrol, featuring Robot Cliff Steele, sitting on the pavement outside his daughter's house. He looks upset and lost, staring vaguely in front of him while holding a mask in his hands. Above Cliff is a white speech bubble with black text: Am I really being shamed? OR am I choosing to center the guilt I feel for ignoring the harm i've caused and being asked to do better, instead of just... doing better? In the bottom right is another speech bubble, presumably from a family member off screen: OMG Grandpa. Just wear a mask!

[thiings-with-wings]

What kinds of stories do you write? What kinds of characters did you create? I want to peer into your universe.

I’d say the stories I tend to “write” are kinda all over the place. Most of them take place in high fantasy with strong inspiration from north and east English mythology and folklore, though I get inspo from everywhere :33. A lot of these stories also have a pretty strong focus on world building and fictional ways of life.

When it comes to characters, I like to think I put a strong focus on their bonds with others. I also have an affinity with non-human characters. Most of them being a creature or robot of sorts. This usually ties in with the worldbuilding of said world.. :pp

(Hopefully I interpreted the question right ^^;)

[ktoaster]

Well hello dear fans!

(I don't have any plz pretend you're one yes thanks)

As I promised (I forgot exactly when I promised it lol), I will now explain (as much as I can), what is actually Dieselpunk (for the sake of my MurderDrones Au and the curious people who need some clarification), cuz Dieselpunk deserves more attention!!

Also, if I quote/state something wrong please tell me cuz I’m in no way any professional researcher I’m literally writing this instead of doin’ my homework (I'm literally an automatic-meat-robot-being who is fuelled by caffeine and stress), like geez, but anyway, let's dive into this wonderful distopy

What is it?

‘’The farther backward you can look the farther forward you can see.’’ (Churchill, 1944)

Some of you may already know the term Retrofuturism. Is a philosophy, an artistic movement, almost a religion. The future from a past time. It doesn’t need to be accurate with the historical context. (But it can be if you feel like it tho) You can do whatever the hell you want, of course. That’s the magic of the genre.  

You put old dreams and nostalgia with a big cup of epic technology in a blender and voilá. That’s retrofuturism. You don’t just make a new future, you take the past and convert it to something different and unique.

Of course there are like a lot of variations of the concept of retrofuturism, but for now we’re sticking with the Dieselpunk one.

‘’Dieselpunk Is a genre, style and a budding subculture that combines the zeitgeist of the interbellum period through world war II and ending it before or at the early 1950’s with postmodern sensibilities from a counter-cultural viewpoint’’

Well, that’s what the Dieselpunk Encyclopedia says, but of course, that’s not everything about the genre. It's just the surface. The tip of the iceberg. The basics. The general overview.

Where it came from?

You may think ‘’Oh well, like the steampunk, came from an epic book or something-’’ Well, no. (At least that’s according to my sources* LoL)

Is pretty fucking funny cuz this genre at the very beginning it was more like a random tag for an rpg game (Children of the Sun, 2001) who has the peculiar concept of Magic and Sience as one, like something very unique, using the aesthetic of the 20’s and 30’s. It was more like a strat for marketing than a retrofuturistic project back then.

It was thanks to the fans that this genre emerged like a ucronic-post-war thing. The magic was cut out of the equation, giving us the dystopian warfare landscape that we know as Dieselpunk. 

The thing here Is that (as I said before) that u can actually be not historically accurate as long as your context is defined by a war, taking elements from the crazy 20’s, art deco, and, of course, gasoline (You can’t have a Dieselpunk without gasoline! It’s like a Stempunk without steam, everyone knows that ofc /j) 

The way that society behaves because of the war is one of the main things that are a “must be” in the genre. Post war, hope, guns, gasoline, mafias and drama are the spice of this soup. This is the real magic. 

Soooo, that's bsically it (at least the general idea)

I am not going to explain the types and subgenres of the Dieselpunk (bc I'm literally dying here in this body lol plz send help), but I wanna leave here my source if you wanna check it out by yourself (yeah, it is in Spanish, but you should be able to put it on a translator if you have internet access y'know yada yada)

Cabello, S. (2015), “Dieselpunk-Una distopía en art deco” [Grado en publicidad y RR. PP, Universidad de Sevilla] https://idus.us.es/items/54befbe5-968e-4f31-93a4-3033e6c072bc

[8um8le]

Sorry for the ask but just generally curious cuz I feel like ive missed lore or info?? About 8ot (hope that's the right name) what are they cuz like- visibly he looks female but I see u call him 'he' so I'm just generally confused what is happening

I couldn't find any info about 8ot so I thought I'd ask forgive meh

All confusion aside I adore your art/art style every time I see it I'm just in aw I am steal yo hands and in exchange I give heart 💕

Ahh yes, the black sheep of the group, 8ot/ 80t/ Bot

Long story short, He started off as virus that took over a headless feminine looking mannequin only made to pose and do fashion, hence why he got scrapped, like a zombie he roamed the scrapyard stealing parts, met a woman, that decided to take care of the mannequin, give it clean clothes, civilizing the zombie into something more human. Unfortunately she passed away which took a big hit on the guy, once he upgraded his vessel, using the money he gained from the life of crime that costed his dear human’s life; he decided to add a head to his headless design using her face. (But then changed his face up and cut his hair for the sake of individuality)

8ot barely has an identity from square one, he wasn’t built as a character mascot (like the space friends bots), doesn’t have a nationality (he’s a robot), and didn’t even have a face to begin with. Strangely he finds comfort in the shape of his body, taking pride in his curves since he ties that to his identity, completely separating it from the fact it might give off human woman anatomy vibes :pp

Use whatever pronouns for him, and u can refer to him as woman, man, whatever, cuz he doesn’t mind getting called any :pp <33