Murderhelion - Tumblr Posts

I think about this line in that interaction a lot every time I pass it, so to speak.

What’s cool about this is there’s no way ART doesn’t know the answer to that question. We know from [million examples including the advice it gave seconds before this moment] it avoids asking questions it doesn’t already have the answer to. It thought it had a chance to be right about MB doing social things wrong and right about what it should do to manage humans and it was fine with that.

BUT.

In the seconds while Thiago is comprehending MB’s video, ART goes from rolling its eyes at MB’s stubbornness/bad social skills to being so completely on its side against Thiago that it does its socratic assholery just to drive the extent to which Thiago understands nothing about what MB is and what it’s like into his thick skull.

Then it goes “never talk to me or my SecUnit ever again” by sending Thiago off like a child to think about what a shitty dumbass he’s just been.

ART’s position as conversational referee aboard itself is one of my favorite aspects of its love language. It has just made up with MB and Thiago comes stomping in making it SAD?! No, no.

Notice ART is a little shorter/ruder to Thiago from then on. It’s not going to mistreat him, but he done fucked up.

All of the other crewmembers have one and ART didn't want its bbf (best bot friend) left out, that's all! It's definitely not teasing it by giving it a gift it literally has zero practical uses for, not at all

-

[ID: A series of rough drawings of the SecUnit from The Murderbot Diaries, with overlaid feed text from it and ART.

Panel 1: Murderbot, an androgynous humanoid with short, messy black hair, is sitting in a chair with its feet on the seat and its arms folded on top of its knees, with a neutral expression. It's wearing a shirt, hoodie, boots, and cargo pants. A couple of tiny drones are hovering around it. The view is from a 3/4 angle and slightly above. The feed text over the top reads ART: [POKE] / (A pause symbol) / MB: Do you want to watch something else? / ART: No. / MB: What, then? / ART: I made you something.

Panel 2: murderbot is in the exact same position, but its expression is now suspicious. The feed text reads MB: I already have enough clothes, ART. / ART: It's not clothes.

Panel 3: The view changes to a straight ahead view and from slightly below. Murderbot is looking up and to its right, a bored and slightly exasperated look on its face. The feed text reads MB: What the hell is it then? / ART: Looking at things is generally a good way to find out what they are. / MB: Ha ha. Just show me what it is.

Panel 4: The view is now from profile, Murderbot is now frowning straight ahead as one of its drones looks at one of ART's drones, which is hovering into view holding a mug that reads "#1 SecUnit". Feed text reads MB: Oh, fuck you, ART. What am I supposed to do with this? / ART: I can put it in the recycler if you don't want it. / MB: Fuck you. / ART: So you don't want it? / MB: I didn't say that. / ART: I'll just leave it here then.

The second image is a close up of the other side of the mug, which reads "THINGS THAT IDIOTS HAVE TRIED TO KILL ME WITH". The mug seems to have a serrated knife and several bullets in it. Large feed text reads ART: You're going to need a bigger mug for that. / MB: Shut up. End ID.]

I think a lot about the kinds of relationships that MB literally does not have vocabulary for, and how upsetting it’s got to be to have only words you associate with horror be the same words everyone keeps trying to attach to the best thing in your limited experience.

I don’t think it’s a sign that everyone’s wrong about what MB and ART have. I think it’s yet more confirmation that MB needs and deserves space, quiet, and safety to learn what those words mean and then evaluate whether they apply.

I’m happy to accept its provisional refusal of labels, and even to accept that that refusal may be permanent and appropriate - it’s just that there’s no way it has the grounds to make an informed decision right now.

And I don’t mean that in an aphobic “you can’t know until you try” bullshit way.

I mean that in a “aspec person still uncomfortable with the term asexual bc the first time I learned it I was told it applied to people who had been traumatized out of normal sexuality” kind of way. In an “I think often about how many years I lived without community due to that one piece of well-meaning but terrible advice, and how my distaste for the label made sense in that context but wasn’t particularly true to my actual self or needs” kind of way. In an “it’s possible to be traumatized by ignorance and acknowledging that isn’t invalidating your feelings or choices” kind of way.

And - can’t stress this enough: ART has the same problem. It has very limited frameworks through which to understand interrelationships with non-humans. It’s just not so bound up by the words for them that it can’t bear to consider them. Remember that it does not intrinsically parse emotional register. It goes silent because it is trying to understand, bc it knows MB doesn’t like those words, but can’t understand why. It is wracking its brains for a resolution bc MB’s hatred of concepts is as baffling to it as MB’s hatred of its function. It’s used to not understanding apparently illogical behavior from its humans, and is used to having to let people be wrong until it matters to correct or ignore them, so it’s not exactly more emotionally intelligent than Mb but it is more patient.

insane that u can literally tell that ART has a crush on murderbot without murderbot having a single clue. whenever ppl mention their "relationship" ART is suddenly dead silent. like no protests at all. not even any comments. when amena called murderbot 2.0 their baby ART was just like Well yeah. not only did it talk about muderbot with its crew, it showed off pics. like ok gay. homo. gay.

These are both glorious.

Two collab pieces I did with @hazelek! We've been working on these since October and it's been such a joy to see our styles come together like this.

The process:

I roughly sketched a pose idea

I sketched my Murderbot

Haze sketched their ART

I inked

Haze colored

This was for the one on the right. The left was the same process but the roles were swapped.

(They have always been items.)

I said, "ART asked me to join its crew for a mission." ... Amena paused her feed and frowned. "For how long?" "For the duration of the mission." But I had the feeling that ART meant for this to be the first step in a longer...association. Amena's forehead indicated suspicion. "Just the one mission? Kind of like asking someone to come stay with your family for the break between work seasons, to see if they all like each other before you get serious?" "I don't know what that means," I said. I was noticing ART hadn't jumped in to tell her how wrong she was, and I knew it would have, if she was wrong. So she wasn't wrong. "But yes, maybe."

-From Network Effect

And I had decided, for real this time, which ship I would be on when I left. Do you know where we're going next? I asked ART.

-From System Collapse

So...are Murderbot and ART an item now? Because that kinda makes it sound like Murderbot and ART are an item now.

I love how this piece of art invokes such a wide spectrum of relationship mutual administrative assistance depending entirely on how literally or figuratively you choose to interpret it.

This is MB’s fear when they first meet.

This is a facetious representation of ART’s ambitions for people it cares about. (Remember - it’s a spaceship. Putting people inside itself is possessive, yes, but also literally just what it does

This is a horrifying representation of the threat ART always poses to autonomy

(It’s some other stuff that if you’re sensitive about, skip the purple smalls)

It’s bondage and vore, sure -

But it’s also a depiction of a giant blue cryptid tasting (eating?) a trussed up construct that —- isn’t struggling.

So:

It is also a representation of acceptance and trust.

I don’t understand where so many people get so entirely caught on single narratives - especially in a fandom that basically exists bc everyone reading this series takes something unique from it - and none of us take precisely what MW puts in. That is the literal nature of narrative.

That is the literal nature of narrative.

Ok that said honestly I did not intend this when I started this repost. I was actually just musing about the lovely art. So let me get back to it.

/soapbox of exasperated huffing

Frankly my favorite thought about the piece is the way it makes me think of how I usually conceptualize ART’s sensory experience as a bot with spaceship and drone senses. Bc of what it is (made of data, literally immaterial) it interacts with other data-beings like an amoeba in an agar dish. So many depictions of it are poking at how to MB it is huge and smothering. Intimidating just by being what it is. I intend more expansion on this but what was supposed to be a quick repost has already gone haywire so pausing there - but I am VERY interested in bot and construct sensory experiences.

One more Murderbot holiday gift 💛 this one's for a friend who's not on Tumblr. So glad to have been introduced to you by a mutual friend! It's been great getting to know you and I hope your 2024 treats you right!!

Holism’s EYES. I love this

system collapse feedsonas!!

featuring ARTdrone and Holism <3

(IDs in alt)