Reading

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Murderbot fanficlet: Sanctuary Moon forum flame wars

scioscribe gave me a delightful Murderbot TV-verse prompt, hidden because it's somewhat spoilery for the finale:

Click to view

Post-finale Gurathin, burdened with all these memories of Sanctuary Moon, still doesn't like the show but now can't resist getting into nitpicky arguments about it on futuristic forums, where he and Murderbot keep crossing paths and gradually realize who they're talking to and get very fond about it without admitting to anything.

( 600 words or so of future fan forum shenanigans )

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Murderbot Interview

Here's a gift link for the New York Times interview with Paul and Chris Weitz, who wrote, directed, and produced Murderbot:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/arts/television/murderbot-season-finale-chris-paul-weitz.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V08.exvw.M_qE37ROOT58&smid=url-share

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2525 / Fic - A Nice Indian Boy

Alt Text
A Nice Indian Boy | Jay/Naveen | ~1200 words

(Also on AO3)

( 'You know, someone with an unflinching gaze who sees all of me?' Jay photographs Naveen. )

Current Mood: tired

Five things make a post?

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Another Murderbot TV fic, Temperature Flash, and Hurt/Comfort-Ex

I wrote another Murderbot 1x10 episode missing scene.

Echoes (gen, 2500 words, Gurathin-centric)
Summary redacted because of spoilers; basically Gurathin's POV on some of the events of the finale.

A few notes on the fic (spoilery for both fic and episode):

under here

• I kept tweaking Gura's final line to Murderbot, so it might be a bit different if you read an earlier version. (I felt like I needed to soften it from how it originally was. They are hard to write! Especially keeping their edge when they're so soft in the final scene.)

• We know Murderbot has trouble figuring out what it's feeling, but I also think it's very plausible that Gurathin has the same problem, if not as badly. He's repressed so much for so long. Asking himself to identify exactly what emotions he's feeling is something that some therapist or other taught him to do.

• This is not necessary context for the fic and it's entirely subject to interpretation, but what I was thinking when it wrote it is that Murderbot using "its" for augmented humans in its last line of dialogue to Gurathin is actually MB doing roughly the same thing (except more emotionally positive) that Gurathin is doing in the episode of the show where he's arguing with Mensah and calls it "he" and then corrects himself to "it." It's over-identifying and doesn't even realize that it's doing so; I mean, it's worried about Gurathin, obviously, and that's why it's here, but there's also a certain amount of "we are the same kind of creature" going on here, even though it doesn't realize it's relating to him on that level. It knows that he might have damaged himself with the data overload because it also knows that it might damage itself in a similar way, and he has much less storage to handle it. And it's just kind of subconsciously being concerned about him as it might be concerned about a fellow construct, or itself, having taken damage. Of course neither of them parses all of that consciously.

In other events, Terrible Temperature Troubles Flash Exchange revealed gifts tonight! I got two absolutely delightful gifts - An Official Complaint Against the Universe (Babylon 5, Vir & Londo, hypothermia and h/c) and Consequences of Cold (Biggles, Biggles/EvS, snuggling when chilled). I loved them!

And finally,

hurtcomfortex author reveals were tonight. I wrote Sleepover (MASH, 1700 words, Margaret POV) with huddling for warmth and light comfort after nightmares.

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interview

Two new interviews

In Psychopomp, with me, Wole Talabi and Alix E. Harrow:

https://psychopomp.com/fantasy/issue97/interview-with-world-fantasy-finalists-part-one/

And in Scientific American:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/were-light-years-away-from-true-artificial-intelligence-says-murderbot/

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tv:murderbot

Murderbot season finale (1x10)

( Finale spoilers )

( Brand new thought about the finale )

SEASON 2 WHEN

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Starting to think I need a Murderbot icon

Finished the season finale, immediately turned around and wrote an episode tag.

Arrow (~2K words, gen, Mensah & Gurathin)
Set right during/after the end of the last scene in the episode.

I also saw on Tumblr that it's been renewed for a season two. Something delightful to look forward to!

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New Murderbot Short Story

The new Murderbot short story is up at Reactor Magazine:

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy

https://reactormag.com/rapport-martha-wells/

Edited by Lee Harris, art by Jaime Jones.

And Murderbot was renewed for a second season!

https://deadline.com/2025/07/murderbot-renewed-season-2-apple-tv-1236453764/

“We’re so grateful for the response that Murderbot has received, and delighted that we’re getting to go back to Martha Wells’ world to work with Alexander, Apple, CBS Studios and the rest of the team,” Chris and Paul Weitz, said in a statement Thursday.

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buster

He Moves My Heart

Watch on YouTube

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watching the screen

Dexter (2006-2013)

Once upon a time, I watched the first five seasons of Dexter and then stopped for whatever reason. Recently I saw it was on Netflix and thought I should finally finish the series and I might as well start at the beginning so as to maximize the amount of time I could spend not having to think about anything else in the world except for what a selfish asshole Dexter is and how much I love Deb.

Previously on Dexter...

( Spoilers for the series )

Current Mood: frustrated

The plaque.

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weeping in frustration

Help me, great fandom hive-mind.

I signed up for Netflix.

I updated my iPad iOS. (Two hours.)

I downloaded the Netflix app. (Fifteen minutes.)

I signed into my account.

I clicked on Old Guard 2.

Several sources tell me that I can click the "Download" button to get it on my iPad. But I've looked all over the screen, and don't see anything that seems appropriate. Do any of you know what the hell it looks like, or where it is on the screen?

Alternatively, this article -- https://techdetective.com/netflix-no-download-button/ -- tells me that I can download with Windows 10, which I'd much prefer; I want it on my laptop. But Netflix says it can be download only on Apple or Chrome devices, or Android phones. Can anyone confirm or deny, and walk me through it?

Yeah, I'll watch it through Dish on my TV -- but I want to have it close for when I make a transcript. (I feel like it's kind of my duty...)

Y'know, I'd happily pay $39.95 for a DVD if Netflix would just make available!!! I'd even break down and buy a Blu-Ray player if they put it out only in that format. I just hate this current expectation that everyone is enamored of streaming services. Grrr...

EDIT: Thanks to Mific, I found the download button, and it's in progress. Now to figure out how to get on my laptop... *StarWatcher wanders away, mumbling into her beard*

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games,
listening

wednesday update

I don't have much to say about books or TV, because I am still in the middle of my current read and current show. But! For those of you who casually enjoyed the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris, the third (and final) season is coming out now. There are a couple of "mini-sodes" which will help you catch up to what's going on, and two regular episodes, and the third will be out soon (it's out to high-dollar Patreons but I am a low-dollar contributor). I listened to the mini-sodes when they came out, and today on my run I listened to the first two regular episodes. Again, I kind of feel like I'm using dystopian fiction about authoritarian regimes as escapism from actual authoritarian regimes...

But the real reason I wanted to post was to say that I'm a bit more than 55% through Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, and there's a 30% discount for it in the Steam sale which ends tomorrow, so - if my post last week intrigued you, I encourage you to buy it, it's inexpensive, it's captivating, it's sophisticated and spooky and atmospheric with occasional touches of humor, fourth-wall smashing, and weird supernatural stuff, and the puzzles are clever and thinky and (mostly) fun. As I mentioned, I told my brother about it and he bought it - and he finished it last night! He admits he got so into it that he put in way too many hours too quickly, but he really loved it.

If you do buy it, the hints page at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3249636035 is really great as it is nudge-y rather than sledge-y; it points you in the right direction (or tells you what a wrong direction is) which for me is mostly all I have needed.

Also, there are in-game espresso machines.

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What I'm Doing Wednesday

( books (Forrest, Aaronovitch, Aaronovitch, Hamaker-Zondag) )

dirt
goddamned thrips. Beyond that struggle, the spider plants are putting out babies, the baby thaumatophyllum is up to 3 leaves and needs potting up soon, the money tree is looking better, Grandma's thanksgiving cactus is looking pretty great, the rhaphidophora cutting finally put out some baby leaves, and the terrarium is overrun by red stem peperomia. I need to trim it, srsly.

meditation work
Yesterday I listened to/watched

HealingVibrations' sound bath video on cutting old ties with crystal singing bowls and a windsinger instrument. It was surprisingly intense, or maybe it just hit me right at the time.

natural disaster
my heart hurts over the Hill Country floods. So many needless deaths, so many people claiming there were no warnings. Per Robert Reich's Substack: The San Angelo NWS office is missing a meteorologist, staff forecaster, and a senior hydrologist. The San Antonio NWS office is missing a warning coordination meteorologist (who left on April 30, thanks to DOGE-inflicted early retirement), and a science officer. These people are meant to notify local emergency managers to plan for floods. That said, warnings DID go out but weren't accessible or heeded by the people who needed them. (We don't have flood or tornado sirens or anything here, something the state gvt is saying will change. Though how they'll put flood sirens out in the middle of nowhere is kind of a mystery.) Regardless, it's a tragic loss. Hopefully the news blitz will help get weather warning systems put back into the 2026 fiscal budget for everyone. More personally, my parents' area had nearly all its bridges get washed out, so they're basically stranded until they can be fixed/replaced. They've got food and hopefully no need to go anywhere, so they're fine, but it's all just a completely harrowing situation. The morning of July 5, they had 10+ inches of rain in 12 hours, and that was AFTER the floods hit. I'm just glad they live on a ridge instead of down in the valley or in a floodplain, however hard it is to be stranded. There's so much destruction in their area. It's heartbreaking. Addendum: Dad texted last night that there are teams out on horseback searching for the missing/drowned. Thank gods it's ranch country so horses are locally available. Here's one place you can donate if you feel inclined: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201

#resist
July 17: Good Trouble Lives On Protest/March

I hope all of y'all are safe and doing as well as can be. <333

Current Mood: Ready to Give Up

I am officially at wit's end

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Enemies to lovers

I ended up nominating a few things for Enemies to Lovers (hush, I'm using it as a bribe for finishing my other assignments xD) and this made me spend some time thinking about which of my ships actually qualify - I had some trouble coming up with a third fandom, and trying to figure out where exactly I'd draw the line. (Like, I wouldn't call Sam/Bucky E2L - more like people who mildly antagonize each other to friends/lovers. But some might!)

So I got to wondering how other people define it. I selected check boxes since some people might have more than one answer. I mean, *I'm* not even sure where I fall in all of this!

Poll #33342

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 59

View Respondents

How would you define Enemies to Lovers? (or Enemies to Friends, if you're not a shipper)

View Answers

Must try to kill each other (or at least want to), or be on opposite sides of a conflict with life-or-death stakes
21 (35.6%)

Rivalries like sports rivalries are fine, but there needs to be a strong personal element and/or unhealthy fixation on each other (not just regular sports team conflict)
26 (44.1%)

Any kind of rivalry or antagonism will do
12 (20.3%)

For me it's about the Vibe™ - from distrust/antagonism to trust, whatever form that takes
26 (44.1%)

I do not accept it as proper E2L if there's any softening at all - they must remain antagonists
0 (0.0%)

I know it when I see it but don't get too fussed about definitions
9 (15.3%)

My thoughts are too complex for your ticky boxes (answer in comments)
2 (3.4%)

Not my trope so I don't care, but I want to click something.
3 (5.1%)

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book report

The Deep Dark, by Molly Knox Ostertag

In paperback, this makes a thick graphic novel worthy of the name. The greyscale art is simple but expressive, and you quickly get a feel for Mags and her Abuela and their small desert town near Joshua Tree. Mag's childhood friend is back in town with her cowboy boots and pinhole camera and stirring up feelings that Mags can't let herself have because she's tied to her home and the secret in the basement that's bleeding her dry.

A tender story about learning to love yourself so you can accept the love others have for you. The art's limited use of color highlights childhood memories and photographs, but comes out in full force for the happy ending.

Contains: butch/transfem romance; death of a grandparent; and, separate from the romance: infidelity, stalking, emotional manipulation, threats of suicide, gun violence.

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2524 / Fic - The Old Guard

Serenity Prayer
The Old Guard | Nile, Gen | ~1300 words | Thanks to

sheafrotherdon for betaing.

(Also on AO3)

( Once saved, always saved. That was what Nile had been brought up to believe, what she'd heard proclaimed from the pulpit every Sunday. A Christian might falter on the path to salvation, but no true Christian could ever turn aside from it. Constancy was key. )

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exchange:misc

(no subject)

I have discovered Enemies to Lovers exchange. o deer.

THAT being said, I really need to put a cork in the new exchange signups for a bit. Summer of Horror and Temperature Flash both reveal somewhere around this weekend, as well as that being the Casefic submission deadline. I have a pinch hit, I have things to edit, and I haven't even started Just Married.

Today it's rainy AND smoky, a wonderful combination.