#(also freedom is the right of all sentient beings)

[earthspark-shockwaves-reduction]

all the pissed off transphobic dudebro idiots angry about nightshade being nonbinary and using they/them pronouns should be shown clockwork orange style the idw comics from 2005 where there's not only gay transformers but also explicit discussion of changing one's pronouns to better fit who they are. they should also see the mpreg

#[psychic beams cygate at them to melt their brains psychic beams cygate at them to melt their brains psychic beams cygate at them to melt] #mine #transformers #earthspark #they also go off *the fucking bay movies* for why OP would hate them as if that means anything #op who says *in those movies* 'freedom is the right of all sentient beings

[ghostingcrows]

Also on the topic of RiD

I feel like we moved past the fact that the Bee put bombs in the Decepticons head and was actively threatening their lives if they didn’t behave a little too quickly-

I mean 

The good guys folks

#I mean too be fair I think Bee was supposed to be painted as in the wrong there #but like idk #I know a lot of people don’t like RiD but I think it’s a really good comic showing the hypocrisy of the Autobots #where they preach about wanting to build a better life and equality and freedom is the right of all sentient beings #but then put bombs in the heads of those who weren’t on their side in the war and then absolutely REFUSING to drop the badge out of pride #it also just stands to show the lingering affects of functionalism and how it’s kinda mutated and morphed to target people more on their #badge #where they think their better than others based on what badge they have #both with the hatred towards Decepticons and literally calling neutrals NAIL even tho they’ve expressed they don’t like the name and find it #offensive #also I am of the personal opinion that IDW Bee is kinda a dick and this comic is just the base point for that so- #transformers #idw #Transformers robots in disguise #idw robots in disguise #bumblebee

[allottavabassa]

Everything I need to know, I learned in kindergarten (the name of every transformer)

#transformers #(also freedom is the right of all sentient beings)

[blacktabbygames]

Slay the Princess Concept Art

We shared a bunch of concept art on Twitter today. Sharing it here, too, where you can find it all in one post. Post contains spoilers, so proceed with caution (or just play the game already if you haven't 😉)

Going to start with the first piece of concept art Abby drew for the game.

In the earliest stages of development, we toyed around with the concept of there being multiple "end game" forms of the Princess.

The initial outline, rather than being tied together by an overarching metanarrative, structured a full playthrough as a 5-6 chapter long, self-contained journey down a single route, determined by your decisions in chapter 1. Here's an alternative late-game form:

The idea of deviating end-game forms didn't lost for very long, though. As we explored the game's themes more deeply, it made the most sense for there to be a singular "true" form.

If your reality is shaped by subjectivity and perception, then the "truth" has to be what's left when that subjectivity is swept away. the Shifting Mound's final design feels like that initial truth for the Princess, though there's also another truth if you push back against her and press on into the final cabin.

We really liked this "void" design, and I played around with the idea of it being an intermediary to the final form. The "void" Princess would be what you saw upon encountering the final Princess without understanding your own truth, but once you had that understanding, you would see her as the Shifting Mound, as depicted in the game.

That gave way to the intermediary design of the SM being a sea of disembodied limbs, and we also took parts of both designs and incorporated them into the protagonist (particularly the wings.) You can see the eyes and feathers for this void form in the ending card of the original trailer below:

You can see extremely early concept art for the spectre (top), nightmare (top-right), stranger (left), beast (bottom) and ??? (right) as well!

The eyes became a motif in the Nightmare route (Paranoid's manifestation of the fear of being watched), but I also like to think of them as a part of The Long Quiet's truth. You are space and emptiness, but you're also that which observes those things, and it's your perceptions that give the Shifting Mound shape.

Anyways, on the note of the original original concepts for the game, the Princess was initially going to remain human for several loops before taking on more monstrous forms. Some concepts of that are below. Had to get Abby to tone down some of the more horrifically cartoonish designs because they creeped me out and I didn't want to romance them in a video game.

We had to hold our cards close to our chest in the non-metanarrative early drafts, which is part of why, even in the first demo, the cabin doesn't really change much in chapter 2. More room to subtly play with the concept of transformation over time.

There were a lot of reasons we moved in a different direction for the full release. The branching was unmanageably large to write, and the game felt like a slog to write.

Using an overarching narrative as a framing mechanism in the final version gave us a lot more freedom to explore wildly divergent ideas within routes while still driving the player towards the originally planned finale.

Anyways, now we've got some concept art for individual princesses. There's a lot more than this lying around somewhere, but it's all in sketchbooks, and we'll probably wait until we make an art book to show it off.

First is the tower, who really didn't change much at all. (She got a little thicker, I guess. All of the Princesses did)

Not a lot to say about her, other than the fact that we knew we wanted a set piece where she gets so big that the trees and cabin orbit around her.

The stranger went through many many redesigns over the course of development. Here, she was a "princess skin" filled with a hive of sentient bugs. The script wasn't working for me, though, so instead she became a peak behind the curtains without the necessary context to know her.

A lot of people ask how these earlier drafts of the Stranger route would have played out, and the answer is I can't tell you, because I couldn't figure out something worth writing.

The writing process for individual routes didn't really start with outlines or plot beats. Rather, the routes started from a theme and a relationship dynamic, and I organically found their outcomes by exploring actions within those themes, and then seeing if those passed Abby's editor brain.

Neither of us found actions we wanted to explore with those versions of the Stranger, at least actions that weren't a beat-by-beat retelling of chapter 1, which contained way too much variation to put on a single chapter 2 route.

If each princess examines a relationship formed by perception and first impressions, the Stranger examines one that's fundamentally unknowable. One where you've seen too much, too quickly.

An insect hive-mind pretending to be a person seemed like a good starting point, but it was too difficult to write any interactions that didn't immediately feel knowable, if still strange. So the final version of the Stranger was designed in such a way where her unknowability makes interacting with her on a human level fundamentally impossible, and you don't get to have a real conversation with her unless you satisfy extremely specific criteria.

Anyways next up is the razor's final form. We decided she needed more swords.

Hearts became an accidental motif very quickly in the development process, too. (The fact that it is only strikes to the heart that fell her in the demo was accidental, but it felt poetic so we extended it to the rest of the game.)

So on top of adding more swords, we made her heart visible. This is something we did with the fury as well, as a way of showing their emotional (and physical) vulnerability.

Here's an early version of the Adversary and what would eventually become the Eye of the Needle, back when she was still called the Fury. Originally her hair was going to be fire (as seen on the right), but it didn't feel right in its execution.

She's hit the gym since this concept art. Good for her :)

And we're going to end with the Beast, who at this point was called the Adversary. I think this was before the Witch was added? The Beast was originally designed to be a Questing Beast who lurked in the shadows, where you'd only see glimpses of her, and where each glimpse would make her appear to be a different animal. This was too difficult to execute, though we gave her a more chimera-like appearance in the final game.

This design was from when we still has the Voice of the Obsessed, and the route was going to be a more feral mirror of what eventually became the Adversary, but it felt too thematically similar while being less interesting, so we moved in the direction of making the Beast about consumption as a form of love.

Anyways, that's all we've got for you right now. Hope this was fun!

#slay the princess #interactive fiction #character design

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

Nimona headcanons just cause

Nimona and Ambrosius are both like sentient space heaters 

Nimona runs hotter than the average human being because obvi

But Ambrosius is a whole nother ballpark 

I just know this man hates summer more than the average person

Poor baby is just a miserable sweaty clammy mess and if anyone tries to touch him during summer he threatens to bite them

Nimona and Ambrosius always refuse to let the ac get higher than 60 degrees and Bal suffers 

Bal should be classified as a damn reptile 

Poor baby has terrible circulation

It’s bad enough that Ambrosius has dragged him to the doctor multiple times 

He clings to Ambrosius and Nimona in the winter because this man is constantly freezing 

I just know he’s a damn menace the second it gets a little chilly

This little brat will shove his hands up Ambrosius’ shirt the second he gets home to “warm up”

And he’s got a metal hand so it’s twice as cold

Ambrosius has been woken up from a deep sleep by freezing hands or freezing feet and will whine about how it feels like waking up in an ice bath

One time Ambrosius walked into the living room to find Bal chasing Nimona around while they were screaming “Frosty the snowman is trying to kill me with his icicle hands” 

Ambrosius is weirdly good with all kids he’s been described multiple times as a “natural parent”

Does he like kids…. That’s up for debate 

Like he doesn’t hate them if their parents raised them right but if that kid is a little bully then fuck no he doesn’t like them 

Nimona is also really good with kids 

He’s a little cautious around elementary school kids cause you know trauma and has weird beef with all middle schoolers 

Bal is fucking terrified of babies 

One time someone asked him to hold their baby and then walked off and which sent him into a panic attack 

He’ll go on hour-long rants about how fragile are and how he can’t be trusted with something that can suffocate if you don’t lay them down the wrong way

He’s okay with elementary school kids and doesn’t mind middle schoolers but he has massive issues with highschoolers for some reason 

A high school once asked him to visit and give a talk to the students and Ambrosius had to take his laptop away before he emailed them back saying “I’d rather chop my other arm off”

Honestly I think even though Nimona craves stability she also needs freedom 

So every couple of weeks she’ll go on little solo adventures 

She keeps the boys updated constantly about where she is but she never tells them when she’s coming back because she doesn’t even know 

Most of the time she’ll come back when she wants a homecooked meal (and when she misses the boys)

The boys are pretty used to this routine so they aren’t surprised anymore when they come home to a note saying she’ll be gone for a bit

They also aren't surprised when he climes through their window at 2 in the morning to wake them up and demand food 

Could he make it himself? Absolutely 

Does he want to? Fuck no where’s the fun in that 

Plus he knows no matter how much the boys complain about messed up sleep schedules and how he “gave them a heart attack” they'd rather be woken up in the middle of the night so they can make sure he’s healthy and fed 

When they do come home the boys “force” them into a sleepover in the living room where they eat a stupid amount of junk food and watch old horror movies  

And they call out of work so they can catch up and learn everything that can't fit in a text

#nimona 2023 #nimona movie #nimona headcanon #nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #I am Ambrosius #but I'm also Bal #I have terrible circulation but I also hate summer #summer can suck a dick #Nimona is like a cat #they come and they go as they please #the boys never try and stop them #cause they know it's not their place #oh they miss her for sure #and they worry about her all the time #but they also know she needs her freedom

[fiber-optic-alligator]

I love how you have written your First Contact Au in that the human and cybertronian made a genuine connection with each other, but the human still rightfully is going through the complex feelings of grief, terror, and depression of being only seen as a pet. A lesser being that has no autonomy by the very person they formed a bond with. The fact that it seems like Drift will be given a much needed eyeopener and discover that human's are just as sapient as cybertronians is a plot point that I wish I saw more of in this Au.

Can't wait to read your next chapter!

Ahhhh thank you for the kind words! When it comes to the first contact au, I really like delving into the idea of a Cybertronian and human forming a close relationship that has so much well-meaning in it, but is obviously unbalanced with the mech having a clear power advantage over the human. It’s an au with so much potential to hold hurt, comfort, horror, terror, grief, and depression, just like you said, within it. I like exploring those components of human-bot dynamics; I like writing human-bot dynamics in general. Cybertronians are always destined to have their fated intertwined with humanity for at least a little while. Whether that fate is positive or negative is completely up to personal interpretation, which I love to explore!

Drift receiving an eye-opener after realizing that you are fully sapient is really going to add to his growth in this story. He’s always meant well. He cares about the reader so, so much, and he’s dedicated much of his time to taking care of you. This is something I also wish other first contact stories focused on a little. Obviously sooner or later Cybertronians are going to find out that humans are more than just tiny animals. How will they react? It changes a lot of things concerning human-bot relations. Laws will have to be made, regulations will be enforced. And then there are the personal conflictions to worry about, especially within the Autobot ranks. How can you call yourself a peacekeeper when you realize you’ve been essentially holding another sentient being hostage and treating them like a pet? How can you wear the Autobot badge with honor when you’ve taken away the autonomy from a creature your leader has sworn to protect? (Because Optimus Prime says freedom is the right of ALL sentient beings.) There’s a lot of contemplate, and an empathetic bot like Drift is definitely going to suffer from this. Both you and him are having a TERRIBLE time.

Idk I just really like writing about giant robots interacting with humans I’m such a freak

#gator answers #transformers first contact #first contact au #desperation vs domestication #drift x reader #transformers #transformers g/t

[ani-and-the-corries-au]

There are some things that all troopers know Nat born's will never understand.

All the troopers grew up in a world where perfection was the standard and anything less resulted in death. Where individuality was a crime and being anything more than just another number was a danger, Where saying the wrong thing in front of the wrong person could get you killed.

All troopers know this, but post Kamino the Guards have had it drilled into them all over again. If they want to survive In the Senate they have to fall back on the lessons they learned on Kamino.

The Corries know that there are some things that nat born's will never understand. Things that Nat born's shouldn't understand.

So no one in the guard quite knows how to feel about the strange fallout of the Shiney squad's Jetti Cadets apparent discovery of the Guards position on Courcant.

It starts small, the guard notices that the boy stops being weird about the fact that most of the Corries don't use their names, when asked, the boys. "It's because I know that you have them now." raises more questions than answers, because apparently the boy just figured out that they used their designation numbers around the Senate because their names were a secret on his own. He also seemed to get an unreasonable amount of joy from the fact that all the clones chose their own names.

If it has stopped there then it probably wouldn't be so weird, but it didn't. From sneaking in extra medical supplies and food, (actual food, not just ration bars) when he discovered that 'depur' was cutting their budget for stuff that they needed to function, to the way he seemed to intrinsically understand their need for secrecy, and their reasoning for it. "secrets keep us safe." Without anyone seemingly telling him.

They all agreed that they weren't gonna ask about how the boy had managed to rangle several senators around to the truth of the situation and his point of view with only a few words to one of them. A point of view that not only had them working on trooper sentient rights bills, but also had them aiding in his more under the table helping.

At first it was weird and confusing, both because this kid was a nat born, and because how did a Jetti Cadet develop this kind of understanding, he was a child. It took them a while to connect the dots, Even as the boy started unconsciously dropping hints.

At first it was that weird little nickname he had for the Senate and Senators, in a language that even the most nerdy of Corries didn't seem to understand. They weren't sure what a Depur was, but apparently it applied to the Senate and was probably not a good thing.

The next clue was the stories, because as Anakin spent more time with the guard, becoming more of a Vod'ika than a Jetti Commander and subsequently beginning to learn more and more about the secrets that they kept from the rest of the Senate.

As the boy learnt about the lighter side of the inner workings of the guard, and how to speak the clones particular brand of Mando'a, the guards began to learn stories about Ekkreth, Leia and Ar Amu, stories about secret plots and tricking the The infamous Depur in ways that resulted in the freedom of those he enslaved.

About secret Languages, Tzai, Jappor snippets and secret rituals. About the ways one could steal back some control from the Masters in ways that they would never even notice. About things that the boy claimed that all Slaves should know, lessons that would help keep them safe from their Masters. A term that by now the guards suspended was not referring to the kind the Jedi had.

By the time the boy causally mentioned that he and his mother had been enslaved prior to him being taken to the temple, the Guards already had a pretty decent picture of the situation.

The fact that the boy had been adopting them into his own culture right under their noses had been vastly more surprising. He'd been a little awkward when he'd admitted it. Saying that he knew that they were sort of Mando'ade, but they could be Amavikka too if they wanted.

And sure, maybe it was a little dark that part of the reason the boy spent so much time in the barracks was because it felt familiar, but also this kid cared about every single one of them, to the point where he apparently sees them as family.

Well it really was no wonder that it was agreed that the entire guard would do just about anything for their Ad'ika. Including possibly stopping said Ad'ika from doing the same for them. (Bloody Skywalkers)

#ani and the corries au #padawan anakin #anakin skywalker #the courscant guard #child anakin skywalker #tatooine slave culture #of the fialleril veriaty #i had this thought in the middle of the night #its a long one but i had to write it anyway #Anakin is an Honorary Vode #and he also has several hundred siblings/new family members #they both adopted each other #tw slavery #mostly referenced but its there #the two way culture exchange is my favorite part of this au #mandalorian culture #Clone trooper culture #Corrie guard culture #the image of the Corries kind of mixing the clone brand of there mandalorian heratage with Anakin's Amavikan stories #The guards randomly weaving Amatakka in to there conversations and leaving there other siblings deeply confused #because Anakin never said they couldn't tell the other Troopers about what he told them #but he did say that they should use there own judgement #so they do

[thankskenpenders]

MORE behind the scenes Sonic info and other tidbits from the BumbleKast as I continue to get caught up. These range from September 2022 to early December. (This means there are spoilers for Frontiers in here.)

They're doing episodes even more often now, so I've got a lot to catch up on and I'm sure most of y'all do too!

1. The IDW comics are, in fact, canon to the games now. Ian was a little coy when first asked about it, saying he "would not argue against it" if people said the IDW comics were canon to the games now. "I have made it clear that the comics follow the lead of the games, so… as long as there's no contradictions anywhere, we're good." So, yeah, come on. The comics are canon.

2. Ian apparently pitched another idea for incorporating Sticks into the IDW series last year that was once again shot down, although he says this only makes him want to dig his heels in and try harder. (I'm assuming most of you are already aware of her shout out in Frontiers, confirming she's out there, somewhere...)

3. If Surge was a streamer, Ian thinks she would just grief people on Fortnite

4. On the October 7th, 2022 show, Ian says there is a behind-the-scenes answer for how the depiction of Silver's future in '06 can fit together with Rivals and Rush... but he can't talk about it right now.

It's hard to convey his tone through text, so just imagine he's saying all this with a big, defeated shrug:

"Here's the thing. Working on something else, I actually did get a straight answer, and it was... frustratingly simple. And, it's like, 'That works. [sigh] Okay!' No, I can't get into it - that's all private work stuff - but maybe it'll come to light eventually. But... there is an answer. And it works. And I kinda feel dumb for not thinking of it."

I honestly have no idea what this could be if it's something Ian hadn't considered, because he has talked about popular theories and readings before, such as the reading that Blaze was transported to the Sol Dimension at the end of '06. Maybe we'll hear about it in the comics, since Silver and Blaze are both back right now, or maybe they'll be the subject of a TailsTube episode.

5. Froggy is not sentient in any way he really is just a frog

6. Unrelated to Sonic, Ian was asked "who is best pony" and he said Fluttershy. My longest yeah boy ever dot jpeg

7. With Surge and Kit originally being pitched as purely synthetic beings before Sega suggested they be cyborgs instead, Ian says they would've struggled with whether or not they're even real, as opposed to the end product where they struggle with not knowing who they were before Starline modified them

8. When the female cast of Archie Sonic stopped getting drawn so busty all the time that was, in fact, a very specific editorial mandate from someone at Archie. Sega, on the other hand, has never cared.

9. Now that we're back to Classic and Modern being part of one nebulous timeline and the divide being more of a branding thing, Ian explicitly confirmed that the Classic-themed IDW Sonic comics are set in the past of the mainline IDW Sonic comics. They're set sometime after the events of Mania, and before all the Modern stuff. Just don't think too hard about it

But hey! If it's any consolation, this now means all the Classic characters like Mighty, Nack, and Honey are out there off-screen in the world of the regular comics, even if the casts are remaining separate for branding reasons for now. It also means Shadow is out there being held in a pod in a maximum security off-shore military prison during the events of all the lighthearted Classic comics lmao

10. Ian reiterates yet again that he's still pushing to try and get the Freedom Fighters back in some capacity where he can (as are others). He also says that he's pushing for them to return as a group rather than requesting individual members because he believes that's the best shot at getting any of them through Sega's approval process.

(I can't remember when the last time this came up was, but Ian has also implied that he thinks their best shot is to return as Classic characters since their one game appearance is Spinball.)

11. Ian outright confirms that the forward-looking character arcs in Frontiers are reflective of what he would like to see out of the main cast moving forward in the games. Not surprising since that's, like... the whole point of those arcs! But nice that he wants it to only be the beginning.

Ian does also say, however, that he's not guaranteed to return as the writer for future games since he's still a freelancer, but to editorialize here, I don't see why they wouldn't want him back for the next project.

12. On the subject of Amy's characterization in Frontiers, Ian personally pins her general seriousness mostly on the fact that she's the companion for the first island, where the mysterious and somber tone Sega wanted for the story is being established and Sonic is still trying to figure out what to do. He says that she'd probably have been more bubbly if she was interacting with Sonic on the second or third island, after he starts to get his bearings. I hoped this was the reason why she felt a little dry compared to Knuckles and Tails, so it's nice to hear this isn't the new direction for Amy or anything.

13. While "officially" Sage's name is just an anagram of Sega and a reference to her wisdom, Ian seems to be cheekily implying that it's also a nod to the annual Sonic Amateur Games Expo. Hell yeah.

14. When asked to clear up some Frontiers lore from the Egg Memos, Ian explicitly confirmed that some of the Ancients left the Starfall Islands and went on to devolve into the Chao as we know them today over the course of tens of thousands of years. He says, however, that this doesn't mean that Ancients and Chao are literally the same species, comparing it to the difference between humans and australopithecus. But yes, they're related.

#secret bumblekast knowledge

[halsaph]

alright whats this artdrone killbot thing

hi. You will regret asking this

The Murderbot Diaries is a series of books about a human-bot construct that was designed to essentially exist as an enslaved security guard / piece of sentient spyware. It's like if Alexa had half a human brain and a gun. We're introduced to Murderbot (the murder alexa) roughly 3 years after it's hacked the piece of hardware in it's brain that forces it to obey commands. In those 3 years it hasn't changed much about it's life except now while working as a subhuman slave it watches tv when no one is paying attention. As a series TMBD largely is about themes of personhood and discovering yourself when you have largely spent your life being denied the right to a sense of self. They also don't shy away from addressing the trauma that Murderbot has experienced from having it's autonomy stripped of it for most of it's life, with the second novella and most recent novel most heavily featuring that as an element. (Although that is a core aspect of Murderbot's character that informs its decisions throughout the entire series).

Murderbot as a character is bitingly sarcastic and witty, deeply paranoid and ultimately filled with the constant low level anxiety it doesn't know what it's doing (not necessarily moment by moment but overall, with it's freedom, with it's life). It's an excellent unreliable narrator because it only tells you exactly what it thinks is important in a scenario, relationships between other characters, physical features of itself and the people around it, it's own emotions and reactions often being completely brushed over with only occasional clues, and often outright misinterpreting people's actions, most often it's own. It has this ever present self loathing in the first several books where it constantly explains it's actions away in the least charitable interpretation possible even though we see time and time again that at it's core it deeply wants to help and protect the people around it. And we see over the course of the books as it starts learning how to make choices for itself and interacting with people who treat it with respect and develops a support system as it starts to move away from that mindset (with the exception of the most recent book but to be fair to MB System Collapse is about it being forced to confront it's PTSD and it's backsliding alot from recently being thrown back into a situation from its worst nightmares). I said before its a human-bot construct to explain that it isn't purely an inorganic being but Murderbot is a deeply inhuman character and openly has no desire to be human, and it's perspective as something that is made to be a security system and enmesh into both digital and hardwired surveillance is fascinating to read. As you know I deeply deeply love robots, they're my favorite kind of 'inhuman but still a Person' kind of character and Murderbot perfectly strikes the balance between a starkly in human way of thinking and deeply relatable emotions that draws me to robots as a whole, especially as an autistic person (and Murderbot was intentionally written with autistic traits but in a subversion of the typical ableist depiction of autistic robots so that EXTRA rings true lmao)

seeing as you mentioned it I will also explain ART as a character, ART is one of the reoccurring characters in the series (the first 3 novellas all have completely different casts outside of Murderbot itself as it hops from place to place trying to decide what it wants and who it is before in the fourth novella and beyond bringing back in previous characters and having them start to overlap throughout the rest of the series). It was introduced in the second book and is arguably the character that has the greatest impact on Murderbot as a person although I say arguably bc I would personally still say that's Mensah. Unarguably tho it is one of the most important people in Murderbot's life and has been described multiple times now by the author as the love of its life (although not necessarily in a romantic sense as Murderbot is both within text and confirmed via word of god acearo). ART (Asshole Research Transport) also known as the Perihelion (although not until the 5th book/first novel bc Murderbot doesn't bother to tell tell the readers its name until then, instead deciding its a dick so its gonna exclusively call it by an insult) is a spaceship's pilot AI, made to be sentient instead of the usual smart GPS as an experiment by the university is was made by. It was raised like a child by a pair of scientists who are now part of its crew (along with its sibling Iris) and now is a teaching vessel for students learning about deep space and also anticorporate espionage worker (don't worry about it). It's a giant pushy asshole unless you're a child (the only character we've ever seen it meet on screen it didn't in some way immediately threaten was a 16 yo). It can't watch tv without having to pause at the suspenseful bits to calm down. We're introduced to it by it threatening to melt Murderbot's mind and then pouting when it's scared shitless. It then a month later asks to do surgery on it. It fully intends to blow up a planet to get Murderbot back from a group of colonists that captured it until someone talks it out of it because that isn't effective hostage negotiation.

#the murderbot diaries #there are five novellas and two novels btw I couldn't think how to include that naturally in the block of text

[silkling]

Real question folks.

We all know Optimus’s motto right? Right?

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”

Yeah, that one. You know the one.

But. Like. Issue.

Animals are sentient. Animals like dogs, cats, wild animals, they all have sentience. So like, what do we think the Autobots think about that? How do they feel about the fact that humans (and probably every other species in the galaxy) regularly domesticate, tame, and use other sentient creatures for their own gain? For things like. Entertainment, agriculture, pet-keeping. All that stuff.

Do you think they’re bothered by it? Do yo7 think they look at humans, with our pet dogs, and think

“Wow, this situation is kinda fucked up.”

I mean. Personally , I don’t think they take much issue with it. (Especially cause like there’s instances of them in canon not giving a shit. Buster in IDW. Fluffy Ears in Earthspark. Etc.) I think they understand the difference between sentient and sapient. Like. Humans are sapient. Cybertronians are sapient. Animals are….not? At at least not really. If you want to classify animals as sapient I think you can make that argument but even then you have to agree that their sapience is severely limited compared to like. Human sapience.

So. I don’t know. Do you think the bots get wigged out but human pet ownership, I guess. Because I know what Optimus’s motto is. I know what he says. But like. Do you think maybe he means sapient where he says sentient? Cause I think that makes more sense.

Cause like. He’s advocating for total freedom, right? Equality under law, ability to self determine your own life and destiny. But. Uh. That wouldn’t really work for animals? They’re sentient, yah, but they operate on an instinct level. Not an intellect level. Not that they don’t deserve protections and shit. That’s not the point. The point is like. Do you think Optimus (and the other Bots I guess) differentiate between sentience and sapience when they apply their beliefs. Because if not then they’d have to also be advocating for total animal freedom.

I do not know where I am going with this. But. Do you all see my point???? Please tell me you do. This has been niggling at my brain for years and I just. I cannot stop thinking about it. I don’t know why.

Sentience is not sapience. But the Autobots fight for the freedom of “sentient beings”. This is driving me insane. Do you think they care about a difference? Or do they see humans as monsters for our dominion over animals? Someone help I’m thinking too much about something that doesn’t even matter.

#silkling rambles #transformers #maccadam #also #for those who do not know the difference #sentient is the ability to think and perceive and feel emotions #sapient is the capacity for intelligence and complex problem solving and learning #a big part of sapience is also like. self-awareness. awareness of yourself in the world and your relation to thr world and people around yo #it’s kinda more complicated but that’s the simple version. #so like. a cat is sentient because it can think and feel. it can even learn a little. #but it lacks the higher self-awareness that’s necessary for true sapience #I am rambling again. #someone needs to stop me #why am I fixating on this on 9 pm a Thursday night #I do not know #I just. I just wanted to let my brain vomit out. this has been ratttling and sloshing in my head for years #anyway. thoughts. let me know yours #or don’t #I’m going to shut up now

[rainbow-neko-artblog]

Sending in this ask to say !! I would LOVE to read a ramble about the Polyverse plot and I am prompting you to use this ask to ramble /nf

FNF Polyverse plot is very convoluted because as I've said before. It's an RP run by like 7-8 people and we don't stop eachother from indulging. But I suppose I can explain it >>;

Ramble under the cut!

Our story begins YEARS before the actual events of FNF take place. On a computer owned by a really talented coder we named Admin for short. Admin is really good at what they do- they even made their own firewall.

What they didn't realize was the firewall was so well made it was actually Sentient.

Admin for unknown reasons, abandoned their dream of being a coder for a really long time, leaving their sentient firewall all on its own, and it gets really really lonely- deciding to act on its own according. It catches a virus- but instead of getting rid of it, it let's the virus stay- and eventually through contact to the firewall, the virus also gains sentience.

These two are Chaos and Order. The Virus and The Firewall.

Together, the two of them used the code leftover on the computer to make their OWN world. A game world. Their own personal Earth. On this Earth, they made a race of beings called The Ancients who had the ability to change their appearance by will alone. They were shape shifters! And for a awhile things were great.

Until The Ancient Civil War.

Half of The Ancients so closely followed Order's teachings of law and right and wrong that they thought the whole of earth should value Order more, the other half saw Chaos' teachings of self control and freedom as more important, and when their wills so strongly aligned, they would shift to look like Angel and Demons respectively.

Despite Chaos and Orders pleas, Angels and Demons fought long and hard- they killed eachother- destroyed the earth in the process. Till eventually the sides realized they were at a stalemate. Angels and Demons chose to flee- with EVERY Angel fleeing to a plane above Earth they created called Heaven and with MOST of the Demons fleeing to a plane far below it, called Hell.

The Ancient Civil War was put on hold- and while the two sides were away, Chaos and Order began to put earth back together. This time with more species and varying beliefs. Humans- robots- ectect. The demons were still there because of their whole "freewill" thing but it wasn't an issue without The Angels.

This is obviously where a lot of the plot splits off, as with more creations and the earth fully healed up like this, it's obviously where different arcs come into play with the other people RPing. However my arc was BFs.

The Angel's were PISSED that the demons were still occupying earth. They felt as though the stalemate wasn't really a stalemate and vowed to destroy them all- however how to do that? How to break a stalemate with a creature that's biologicaly as strong as you? New weapons.

So a good half of the angels gave up their form to create this giant biblically accurate angel toothpaste lookin ass glob of power named The Collective - in order to CONDENSE huge peices of their code to make more powerful bio weapons.

The first three failed as you might have guessed- the 5th was SO perfect, their PERFECT Hero, that they stuffed the 4th one that was being made along side him into a robot body to go down to earth with him.

This as might have guessed, was BF. or Keith as we call him.

Keith is the Angel's perfect angelic bio weapon, destined to be sent to earth to grow up and then slaughter everyone on earth the Angel's deem unworthy to be there.

But while Miku is off getting money to keep the two of them fed and happy as her programming is designed to do- Bf falls in love. With a lot of people. A Demon girl named Lucy, Aka Gf, who the collective would obviously not approve of as a demon, A flawed murderous man by the name of Pico, who's acts of violence outweigh many of his good deeds, and a Ghost/Demon hybrid named Eric who had been stuck in a video game for so long he honestly is an abomination.

But BF LOVED them. For their flaws. For their personality. Every part of them was something he cherished. So when Miku brought him to The Collective to explain his purpose, he turned them down. Refusing to be Their Hero. Insisting that Demons and Angels didn't have to fight like this.

But The Collective had been stuck together for so long that it corrupted them- they had no room to doubt their choices and ended up chasing BF and his partners out of heaven in this epic violent chase sequence- where it then tripped, and fell off the side of the plane. Falling deep into the code when Chaos and Order dismantled it.

Leaving the 4 Poly pals to love eachother on Earth among the other angels and demons who changed their minds.

All of that though is BFs arc! There's a few other arcs like how Skid and his dad The Eyes of The Universe needed to make up in order to stop Eyes from dismantling the whole code of the game- which is how we have so many duplicate modes characters like the remixs and aus, because Polyverse is technically filled with a bunch of Holes from The Eyes. And the Eddsworld arc where BF helped Tord reconnect with his friends. The Omori arcs where he got new siblings who adopted him from the crew of FNF characters. Ectect.

We did a lot. We're technically still doing things. That's how Silly Billy/Yourself was added recently. Every new mod is a new addition to Polyverse! ^^

#rnanimations #asks and replies #fnf polyverse au #fnf poly au

[headspace-hotel]

i was gonna ask about the vegan, but you already answered that lol. so instead i offer absurd things that vegans i know have told me.

first: anything about "complete protein" and "variety", i have yet to see a vegan answer anything beyond vague generalizations.

second and my personal favorite: human meat is vegan. (tbf, the only irl time i heard this, i was probably guilty of entrapment)

third, straying into animal-rights territory: advocating the genocide of domestic species that have come to rely on human assistance. i don't recall the exact quote, but it was something like "it's better they all die than be reliant on humans"

bonus: many vegans do not consider themselves, or even humans in general, to be part of the food web (tho they usually call it the food chain)

I personally get it if people aren't comfortable with animals being killed to feed them, like, yeah I understand why you wouldn't want to eat animals that you know had to die for your meal basically.

But in terms of like, eggs and wool and milk and stuff, it's just like:

Internet vegan: These animals are treated badly! This is horrible!

Other internet person: Yeah so we should try to get eggs and milk from small local farmers that we can personally verify are treating their animals well

Internet vegan: No, veganism is about ZERO exploitation of animals, and anyway, you can just choose not to torture animals for your own pleasure

Other internet person: But they're...not being tortured? People get eggs from chickens that are loved and cared for like pets?

Internet vegan: Eating the SECRETIONS of an animal's BODY is inherently exploitative and also misogynistic probably

Like you can't really make the case that backyard eggs from chicken breeds that aren't bred to over-produce, or milk from a goat that is treated better than most pets, is "cruelty" unless you're applying human concepts of things like "freedom" and "exploitation" to them.

Anyways, domestication isn't evil any more than any other symbiotic relationship is. And the argument that there's something innately unethical about eating animals makes no sense unless you do hold that humans are "higher" or have a greater responsibility than other animals, because animals eat other animals? Humans are part of the ecosystem like everybody else. I would argue that we *are* different in that we can make choices about how to manage resources and ecosystems with consideration toward the future. But I don't think that means that eating animals is inherently wrong.

And like...ultimately, everything does in fact die, and if humans aren't eating it, something else will be. I don't know what the alternative is. Let large mammals live to old age past the point where they would be eaten by predators (which is *mercy*, not cruelty, because it's a much quicker end to suffering than just letting the creature's body age and decline until it can't take care of itself or move around without pain. and unlike a human, a horse or cow can't understand the aging process or make active decisions about its own treatment and care.)?

If no one ate meat we would still have to manage the white-tailed deer population, in the absence of their natural predators, or they would overpopulate and die slower, more painful deaths of disease and starvation. People make a big deal out of nature being "cruel" but a healthy ecosystem with lots of predators does wonders to reduce the suffering associated with death.

Also it bothers me how a lot of vegans seem to dismiss the idea of plants as potentially sentient in some ways because like...they are aware of and respond to their environment, and we are just now scratching the surface of how they sense their world and communicate (yes, communicate).

It's silly to totally dismiss a tree as inert and unfeeling, really. Trees are capable of sending messages to other trees. They sense, they feel. It's totally unlike anything we can imagine but plants possess some kind of awareness that we are only now beginning to understand. If the foundational reasoning of veganism is that "animals are sentient and can feel so don't eat them, but it's okay to eat plants" then ?????????????

[leolithe]

Since I'm a lesbian and obsessed with Warframe now, here's my headcanons/theory on why the Drifter and EidoLotus seem so friendly with each other when we first saw them together in The New War.

Under the cut; it's a decently long post!

- So, background knowledge. Sentients reproduce via Diffusion, splitting a part of themselves into a new, different Sentient with some precepts from the Parent Sentient, such as "Kill all Orokin", "Love our Sentient Family" and "Protect our Home, Tau". The ability for this newborn Sentient to later on develop its own personality/evolve and adapt on its own without its parent(s) is what determines a successful Sentient diffusion. The process of a successful Sentient diffusion is considered by Sentients as their "fertility".

(...which adds another layer of violation to Ballas's actions and oh thank fuck that dude is dead)

- Lotus was rendered infertile after traversing the Void (which is basically poison to Sentients), so the hand that was severed from her did not evolve on its own. Instead, when she and her hand fell into the Void, her hand sought to reform with the closest thing that 1) Possessed life energy for it to use as protection from Void degradation and 2) Resembled the Lotus's body when the hand was last connected to it.

- TA-DAAAAH!!! After crashing into Duviri as a blazing Hand Meteor, a wild Drifter appears! This Drifter has life energy, and they have the same Human shape as the Lotus, so the Guiding Hand eagerly does what it was programmed to do. It claims the Drifter as its new protective vessel. Hence begins The Duviri Paradox questline.

- Now, the Lotus' Guiding Hand is alive. Not capable of evolving into a new Sentient, but it's still alive; retaining the functionality it had when it was last severed from Lotus' main body. Assimilating into the Drifter and sharing life energy with them, the Lotus's hand is able to preserve both itself and the Drifter's arm functionality when it would otherwise completely degrade in the Void, and the Drifter would otherwise lose use of their right arm.

Lotus' hand is also still capable of reading and adapting to a certain extent, so it adapts to the will of the being that it attaches itself into. It retains the memory of functioning as a Human hand, so the Drifter has virtually no problems using it as their own.

- Whenever the Drifter uses the Guiding Hand ability, the memory of flying through the lands of Duviri and guiding the Drifter to waypoints is subconsciously imprinted into the Lotus' hand. Likewise, the Lotus' memories of guiding the Tenno (her occasional whispers of "Wake up, Tenno") is also imprinted onto the Drifter. This forges a bond between the Lotus and the Drifter, building memories into their respective minds.

- At this point during TDP, the Drifter doesn't think too much about the Guiding Hand (they're too preoccupied trying to get out of Duviri) but they'll soon be grateful that this hand is here and helping them after reclaiming their emotions.

- When the Drifter finally leaves Duviri to save the Origin System, they rely on the Guiding hand again, this time to take them to the region of the Void where Lotus' remains are.

- Once the Drifter brings them there, Lotus' hand peels itself from the Drifter's arm. The Void restores Drifter's original hand and glove (while also leaving cool Void scarring in my headcanon hehe), and the Lotus's hand reattaches itself to her frail and degrading Eidolon body. This does 2 things, 1) Replenishes the Lotus' energy just a little, giving her a bit more time before she would have perished, and 2) 'Uploads' the imprinted memories of her time with the Drifter in Duviri into the Lotus' main body.

- This is when the Drifter finally gets to see the entity responsible for their freedom. Seeing it so weak and shattered, they put together the dots, considering what Teshin said about 'repaying the debt from those who helped you on the other side'.

- So the Drifter does exactly that. The Drifter vows to heal this entity. After fishing up the dissolving body from the Void, they are transported to Earth where they finally meet Ordis and he catches the Drifter up to speed about the Narmer invasion. Here, the Drifter finally learns that the Guiding Hand has a name; The Lotus.

- All this while, Eidolon Lotus is dying and pretty much unconscious. But because of the memories in Duviri imprinted in her severed hand, she retains her familiarity with the Drifter. Being so degraded by everything that has happened, the imprinted Duviri memories end up being the only memories accessible to her. So even while dying, she recognises when the Drifter is near and recognises that they are, importantly, a friend. Someone who helped her survive the Void, and someone who she helped in return.

Of course, one could argue that the Drifter did not consent to getting their hand crushed and replaced (and I imagine this is something the Lotus may feel guilty about if she sees the Drifter's scars after TNW), but the narrative Moral Of The Story of TDP is to allow people to help you. To allow their stories into your heart. Even if it hurts, even if you don't want it, even if you're too absorbed in your own goals... There are people out there who need you.

And after the events of The Duviri Paradox? We know as a fact, that The Drifter needed the Lotus as much as she needed them.

#warframe #the lotus #the new war #the duviri paradox #warframe lotus #warframe drifter #eidolon lotus #leoframe

[constantlymisspelled]

23 - Discrimination (Yeah I went there)

[Text in image is as below]

i) Species;

a) All Sentient Species recognised by Mandalorian Law are completely within right to be adopted, adopt, and live within Mandalore, and Mandalorian Society. b) If a Species wishes to be added to the data base, a General Notice for Recognition can be applied for through the Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients. The Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients will also keep in check genealogy to take notice of the rare cases of possible gene modification and cloning. The Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients is the official government and information authority for all occasions regarding inter-species law in Mandalorian Space. c) Sentient Species cannot be outlawed from sectors or systems – Mandalorian Law stresses the difference between a Species, and its local Governments. For example, a fleeing Zygerrian is not guilty of the crimes of the Zygerrian Empire. d) Sentient Species cannot be barred entry into clubs, pubs or venues due to their species. e) Sentient Species cannot be required or told by schools, family, or others to physically alter traits and physical features that do not cause harm. For example, a Zabracki shall not be demanded to wear a headdress to attend classes for the safety of other students.

[Text in images is as below]

ii) Sex;

a) Mandalorian Law recognises separate biological sexes for all documented species under the Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients. b) Mandalore recognises the separate sexes, sub-sexes, and individual genders within the Species Codex held by the Bounty Hunter Guild Associations. c) Mandalore retains its right to utilise the genderless and sexless terms and wordings in day-to-day use. d) Medical Professionals, and those whose services require said information are the only beings within Mandalore allowed to require a response to request of an individual’s sex, species, and gender information. e) Job applications and education shall not require confirmation of sex or gender for acceptance or application. f) Mandalore and the Mandalorian Sector practices the use of a multitude of private and communal refreshers – schools in the Mandalorian sector will tend to have two segregated bathrooms for the two more common humanoid sexes, a disabled bathroom, a unisex bathroom, and the communal bathrooms utilised in most military settings. Individual sectors can offer a differing, or greater range of choices – for example, Ordo Minor, which has the selection of disabled bathrooms, individual bathrooms, and the communal bathrooms with no segregation of any sort. g) Married Mandalorians are not required to inform anyone of their or their spouse’s gender or sex. h) Sex work in Mandalore falls under the Fair Work Acts, and is acceptable under strict and heavily monitored conditions. A Mando’ade who worked in this sector of business is permitted to apply to other forms of employment. Attempts to block applications and transfers of employment is both discriminatory to the Mando’ade’s financial freedoms and their sexual freedoms.

iii) Religious Interpretation;

 a) Incomplete

[Text in image is as below]

iv) Language;

a) Mando’a’s multitude of accepted forms are not to be excluded, impeded or banned in any way within Mandalorian Space. b) Mando’a is to be taught at every school in Mandalorian Space in the sector’s most common forms. c) No Mando’ade should be barred in any way from learning Mando’a. d) Speaking a Freed language is a protected right, and those found guilty of excluding or discriminating those speaking or who have spoken Freed language fall under Sentient Discrimination and can face charges at both Mandalorian and Galactic Courts. e) Speaking Basic is not banned in any way, but it is not a specific requirement to graduate, educate, be credited or to have a job. f) Basic cannot be a prerequisite in jobs that do not have any relevance to the speaking of the language. For example, a mechanic does not need to speak fluid Basic to practice on Ordo Prime or Manda’yaim. g) Learning to speak, read and write is a Right, not a privilege, and those barring students for financial reasons either in low or high levels of education will be held to account under Mandalorian Law. Learning languages in Mandalore is a Protected Right, and not to be interfered with by external pressures. h) Clan Foundlings wishing to continue to learn their pre-adoption language is a protected right under Mandalorian Law. Foundlings will not be punished for use of their pre-adoption languages.

[Text in image is as below]

v) Ability;

a) All Clan members, regardless of their capacity or ability to fight, are crucial to Clan Welfare. b) Clan members, or Mando’ade who are visually or verbally impaired should have allocations made for their comfort and to ease participation in day-to-day life. This includes species that routinely have these impairments, for example, nocturnal species being allowed to be as active as they require at their biologically required hours. c) Clan members, Mando’ade or warriors who have been injured to the point of being removed from combat have completed a great service for their Clan and their community, and any discrimination or exclusion of these Mando’ade is punishable by law. d) Mando’ade born with non-life-threatening defects are to be treated as ordinary Mando’ade under Mandalorian Law. e) Mando’ade born with life-threatening birth defects are catered for under the Public Health Acts, and can even be served at external hospitals around the galaxy under the Mandalorian Resources and Children Protectorate. Parents can make direct calls for assistance to the Mandalorian Protectors, and can expect near immediate response and support in the occasion of life-threatening illness or injury. This is a right under Mandalorian Law. f) Mandalorians with movement impairments, mental impairment and illness, and other neurological discrepancies are protected under Mandalorian Law. In the event of a Neurological Unsound Mando’ade hurting a child, the Mano’ade risks becoming institutionalised. g) Those of impaired, separated, different nature or disposition, and disability are completely able to be charged with serious offences. However, much like criminal justice, intent must be proved for charges such as ‘murder,’ or the charge will simply be held as high degree grievous assault and manslaughter. Ability Impaired Mandalorians will still face a firing squad if found guilty of War Crimes, Child Abuse, or Sexual Assault. h) Mando’ade that cannot live by themselves can either select, or have a carer selected for them out of their Clan or Community that passes Health and Carer Training and Psychological Evaluations. The selection will take place after their diagnosis with impairment. If a Clan member has already been acting as the Mando’ade’s carer, provisioning will be made for that Clan member to have access to appropriate resources and training without separating the Carer from their charge.

[Again, if anyone has any criticism, I am open to any form of assistance you can provide. Sections like this are close to my heart, as I have members of my family who cannot give informed consent, or have a disability that stops them from being able to hold a job. When the time comes, I'm hoping to link a master post for disability and medical beskar'gam symbols to this post so that disabled verde can colour and pattern their armour appropiately, and have it understood.]

[back to main Codex]

#mandalorian culture #star wars #jaster mereel #mandalorians #true mandalorians #mandalorian law #supercommando codex #mandalorian language #mando'ade #mandalorian code #Jaster Mereel's 70k long legal document that changed the galaxy #discrimination #mandalorian discrimination law #ability #language #sex/gender #race/species - star wars

[so-emo-i-fell-apart]

I'm still not over how rise of the beasts pointed out exactly what I've always thought about optimus. Yeah he's this great strong legendary leader of the autobots who was there before the war, was part if the revolution, and was best friends to the point of brotherhood with the bot that betrayed ans started the planet wide Civil War that even caused them to leave earth in the first place. But he's also this big brother father figure to most of the autobots. They respect him not just because he's strong and commanding and represents what they're fighting for, but also because he looks at everyone in his crew like they are his responsibility, like they are his family, like while they fight for his cause he muse protect them, like every tragedy that happens on his watch is his fault because he's the big brother he's the responsible one he is the reason they're fighting and they he knows this and won't stop them from fighting but he will make sure he is held responsible thag he makes the sacrifice because this is his war that he must fight to protect his family regardless if they join this fight or not. It may be for survival. It may be for justice. It may be for the fact that all sentient beings deserve freedom and the right to choose. But he knows that no matter what these autobots are his responsibility and his family.

You can see the responsibility he feels when bumblebee sacrificed himself. You can see his pain. That'd not just the mourning of a friend, that's the mourning of someone who is family. Every irrational decision he may have made you can see its not taken as a leader but as a brother or a father trying to protect his family. As a leader he would have destroyed that key like Noah wanted but as the big brother that wanted to protect his family and take them home he begged him to not that they should at least try. And he was going to saflcrfice himself BECAUSE HE KNEW HE SCREWED UP AND WOULD DIE TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY FROM BEING SWALLOWED BY UNICRON.

My point is Optimus Prime is tired but he won't stop nit because he's a leader but because he has a family to protect.

#transformers #rise of the beasts #transformers rise of the beasts #optimus prime

[howlingday]

Death Battle Idea:

WINDS OF FREEDOM

Eren Yaeger, the titan-slaying titan of Attack on Titan VS Sonic the Hedgehog, the living embodiment of "free as the wind" for Mobius

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." These words ring true in the hearts of many freedom fighters. But "freedom isn't free" are also words spoken in reference to the ideal of free will. Freedoms held today have often been at the cost of the suffering and bloodshed of the innocent.

Prediction: SONIC by about 65%.

It's hard to say, though I would argue that this would be a close match. Sonic can easily out-speed Eren, even in his titan forms, though Eren's abilities could overwhelm Sonic once he transforms, especially if he summons other titans to aid him. Speaking of transformations, though, I think Sonic might have Eren if he goes Super Sonic. In this form, he's been able to overwhelm foes much larger than the titans.

#death battle #death battle idea #death battle ideas #sonic the hedgehog #eren jaeger #eren yeager #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin