#i wouldn't be upset

[thetom2002]

So called free thinkers when an newsworthy event happens

[teaboot]

if ur a murderbot nerd now do u have any fun opinions abt it yet?

Oh my goddd you have no idea

I really, really, really like Murderbot because it comes at life with this perspective we don't often see that is very real among people who have already been through traumatic experiences, who developed skills and abilities to suvive that were once useful but no longer have context- that search that traumatized people go through to recalibrate and reorient ourselves in a world where we no longer really need those things to survive.

A bit personal here, but my own issues personally involved a lot of psychological abuse that made it difficult to trust my own perceptions of reality, and as a result I found I was very easy to lie to and manipulate.

To handle this, I became obsessive over writing things down, cataloging details and making notes of things as they happened- I'd carry recording devices and make audio recordings and stay up late at night to transcribe what they'd picked up, read those over and over again to reassure myself of things I wasn't certain about.

While doing this, there were others close to me that I felt responsible for, who I had to protect from others and protect myself from at the same time. Life was about two things: Evidence, and defusing threats

Over time, I learned to trust myself as my memories matched what had been recorded where their narrative didn't, but I never really kicked the habit. Like Murderbot, I had added something to my own programming that reassured me I was safe, that I was in control of myself, that I couldn't be mistaken or crazy or broken or used.

I'm only on book two, but already I see myself in Murderbot again. No spoilers here, but when I left home- left that dangerous context- I didn't need to repeat these patterns to survive anymore, but I still did, because I didn't know anything else anymore. It felt safe, comfortable, knowing knowing that the past couldn't repeat itself, because I'd written that flaw- blind trust in myself-  out of my programming and replaced it with something else.

Still, though, I'd become something specially suited to thrive in a very specific environment. Nothing else felt right like followinghigh-risk situations, like witnessing and watching and recording and knowing I had proof of the truth where others might not.

People took notice. I wound up in security by accident, but's an environment that I thrive in due to the same patterns and behaviours I originally developed when I had no other choice. I climbed the ladder pretty quickly, once supervisors caught on that my reports were the most accurate, most objective, most factual, detail-oriented and timely. I keep others and myself safe and prioritize public safety above all else, and I perform well under pressure

Now I'm in a position where I often wonder, do I enjoy this job, or is it just what I'm good at? I have a set of skills now, but do I have the option of choosing not to use them? What would I be, if not this? Could I be anything else? Can Murderbot be anything else?

It has a set of skills that set it apart, make it different, special. It does what it knows best. But is it free? Does it want to be? What does it want? Does it have to do what it was built to do? What if it didn't?

I know what I'm good for. The idea of deliberately leaving what I'm good for for something uncertain, that I might hate, that I might be useless at- the choice to give up what was so important to me for so long and become deliberately obsolete?

Let go of my entire purpose? The only thing I know, that I fit so well into but don't actually know if I enjoy? Now that I can choose? Now that enjoyment is a luxury I can afford to consider?

Yeah, that resonates.

I like the Murderbot series so far because it feels the way I feel: Like the most significant and formative part of my story, the part where I became what I am, has already happened

And now I have to just. Keep going

Into... what?

It feels absurd. Like a microwave giving up on reheating food and deciding to start a life around abstract dance.

So, uh. Yeah. It's really very wild to see this same philosophical-ish dilemma I've been digging over in the back of my mind and in therapy for the last forever laid out so plainly in a genuinely exciting and enjoyable story like this. I feel much less alone, and I... kind of really need to see how it resolves, I think.

So, uh. Yeah. Read Murderbot, I guess

[leathered-wayfarer]

Bloomburrow starting off strong

[uesp]

Happy 28th birthday Daggerfall. Even after all those years, this is still easily our favorite gamebox.

[deadboyswalking]

no hold on i can't be normal about this

Zoro trusts Sanji so much. He trusted Sanji to take care of half of the crew when they were separated, and he trusted Sanji to be waiting for him when the crew reunited. They were only separated for 11 days, and yet when Zoro gets to Zou, Sanji is all he can talk about.

And then Sanji is gone. He's gone, and he left to get married, and he broke the trust that Zoro had in him to be the crew's other protector, and Zoro loves him so much and missed him so much, and Zoro doesn't know if he'll ever see him again.

[blood-orange-juice]

It's been more than two years since Inazuma and I'm finally starting to appreciate Yae.

I think what threw me off was thinking of her as a trickster (although she is one as well) and what helped was thinking of her in terms of DnD alignments.

Yae is chaotic evil, and I don't mean it in a judgmental way, only in the way that her "meanness" is not a funny quirk, it's pretty much core to her character.

She's openly sadistic and she only does things for her own entertainment. She only behaves because of Ei, that beautiful trope of a fox falling in love with someone principled. Wrecking too much chaos would upset Ei so she plays nice.

Also I'm not even sure she's good influence on Ei most of the time. Evil fox advisor/courtesan is a Trope.

At the same time she's innocent in the way all yokai are innocent. She loves power in such self-gratuitous way, but she also loves mysteries of the universe and she's one of them.

I hate her. She's precious to me.

She also has the prettiest love confession I've ever seen.

"Let me tell you all that has happened over the last few centuries. [...] It will probably take me another few centuries to relay it to you."

We "liberated" Inazuma and left it with a lovely duo of a lawful evil ruler with a chaotic evil advisor/lover. Yay. The Traveler is a nice person indeed.

[mariana-oconnor]

[aficionadoenthusiast]

*will and hazel talking*

*will phone buzzes*

will: oh, it's nico

will: he's upset with percy and jason

will: *buzz* and leo

will: *buzz* and dionysus

will: *buzz* and zeus

[jesteringbug]

Wow! Your Ignihyde redesigns are so fucking ugly! So hideous and uninspired, and their ugliness is only amplified by your very poor drawing skills and even uglier art style! And it's laughable how you really believe that you did better than the official designs, never do that again, you can't design or draw for shit.

too late i'm already planning a heartslabyul redesign lmao

[capinejghafa]

Every time I feel like I might rant about tua again, I have to remind myself it's over. They can't hurt Diego anymore... bc they killed him off.

[detectivebambam]

hey btw Wymack recruiting people no one else bothers to look at also means recruiting the two incredibly good players who are considered "too short".

fyi.

YOU CAN ONLY PUT 30 TAGS???

[aidylweiss16]

I've been playing Paleo Pines recently (it's fun!) and I've come to the conclusion that Pippin is a dinosaur that got turned into a human by a wish.

[livefungus]

act 2 prediction

[stardust-falling]

fandom psa; there is nothing whatsoever that is inherently "problematic" about shipping characters who are "found family."

Adoption is not found family. A blended family is not found family. A found family or chosen family is a group which, through circumstances or simply mutual affection, hold their relationship to one another with equal care and importance as family members ought to. It's not the same type of relationship.

It's not incest. It's not even pseudo-incest unless you want it to be. I personally don't care what people ship, but I'm absolutely tired of people misusing the term "found family" to just recreate the idea of a nuclear family and force those roles onto the entirety of a fandom. Sure, maybe characters who are found family may view themselves like siblings, or like a parent and child or aunt and niece, but they might also just see each other as friends-- and guess what? romantic partners too! That's technically the most widely-accepted form of found family/chosen family there is!

The whole point of found family/chosen family is to have the importance of "family" on relationships that lie outside the commonly-understood bounds of that relationship. Not to recreate the "mommy-daddy-daughter-son" dynamic with unrelated characters and use that headcanon or fanon dynamic to enforce your own morality or preferences on other fans.

[chayannesegg]

I think Tallulah is lying to herself when she says she's scared of the new eggs. Not completely, I don't doubt they make her nervous, but I'd bet Sunny and Tubbo are the root of her fear and she doesn't want to admit it.

I'd bet Tallulah doesn't like that she doesn't like Sunny. She wants to like everyone, but she doesn't like Sunny. So it must be because the eggs are new, right? All the new eggs are scary. Because they came from that horrible island. Because we don't know what they want from us. She couldn't possibly dislike Sunny just because she's loud and brave and loved by someone who used to put her first.

We know Tallulah was overwhelmed the first time she met Sunny. Sunny came up and tried to say hello first thing and Tallulah got barely anytime between that introduction and discovering Sunny is Tubbo's kid.

She was overwhelmed that whole time through meeting Em and Sunny, but one of the only times we see her relax is when she's teasing Tubbo about relationships. Because she loves Tubbo; he always works to make her feel seen. Then he leaves immediately off with his daughter.

Then yesterday, we heard Tallulah's concerns re: the new eggs. She also expresses concern over Niki and Tubbo's reaction over her hesistance. Especially Tubbo. She brings up Tubbo the most. While she really loves Niki, they haven't spent that much time together. When Phil left, Niki was supposed to watch Tallulah but instead Tubbo cared for Chay and her by himself. That last week before they left, Tubbo spent the whole time making sure they stayed alive. He comforted her on that last day. He shooed the others away and brought them to uppies and sang Jort Storm!

And then on that island, he stayed by her the whole time in that awful room. Waving and dancing and keeping her attention even when things were confusing and her papi wasn't there and they were in danger.

But now he has a daughter. A daughter he's going to put first, the way he put her first. A daughter she saw with her own eyes who seems louder and cooler and braver than she's ever felt. Where does that leave her? Another person gone from her life? Left behind for something better?

Why would she want to know the egg that's taking someone else from her. An egg her papa says steals and takes and wants. An egg who stole and took and wanted Tubbo. An egg we don't know the background of.

Today I think showed proof of Tallulah's underlying insecurities with regards to Sunny and Tubbo. She was totally fine to ignore Pepito when he woke up. He didn't interact with her, but she stayed in the area. It could just be that he didn't interact with her so it was okay, but that's the point. Pepito isn't trying to take anything from her.

Sunny though? We saw Tallulah get upset and leave at the mere mention of Sunny when she asked about Tubbo's crown. Tubbo who's showing his daughter's ownership love of him at all times. She turned around and left immediately after he said that.

We haven't seen much interaction with Tallulah and the new eggs, for obvious reasons. That said, I bet when we do it'll become clearer that her concern is centred around one egg in particular! And it'll be GREAT angst because Tallulah doesn't want to dislike someone, but she does. What happens when she can't hide behind fear of the other eggs? Or her grounding? What does she do then?

[mitzvahmelting]

"hey, you know all those terrible things you already knew about Armand? well, the truth is he was marginally worse than that the whole time!"