Sauron: *after LotR* As Much As Being A Spirit Sucks, At Least I’m Not Trapped Under A Mountain

ignorance brings hate

[Tweet from @/fozmeadows: "human gender and sexuality are very much like animal taxonomy, in that both look structured and simple on the surface, but once you start investigating, it turns out there's actually no such thing as a fish despite the fact that we all know what a fish is, and that's okay"]

“Being cheerful starts now, Will thought as hard as he could, but it was like trying to hold a fighting wolf still in his arms when it wanted to claw at his face and tear out his throat; nevertheless, he did it, and he thought no one could see the effort it cost him.”

With Three and the potential for more SecUnit characters, I think we are all excited for ones with very different quirks and interests than our Murderbot.

My thought: SecUnits don't have a digestive track, but they have a sense of smell, and it is unclear if they have taste buds. I would propose they likely do, because their mouths seems to be organic (although I have some questions about how that works in regards to saliva. I have many questions about how secunits work but I respect Martha Wells' decision not to tell us) and I can't think of a reason to reduce the ability to taste.

My idea: a SecUnit who is a foodie. It gets really into the TASTE of food. It either licks the food or chews it and spits it out. It gets really excited to try new restaurants with friends and never acknowledges the weirdness of how it interacts with food.

I just imagine the horror and amusement on the faces of its dining companions as it just excitedly licks a very nice steak or something.

True crime podcast but you realize as you're listening that the host is just describing episodes of Scooby-Doo

“When I first heard it, from a dog trainer who knew her behavioral science, it was a stunning moment. I remember where I was standing, what block of Brooklyn’s streets. It was like holding a piece of polished obsidian in the hand, feeling its weight and irreducibility. And its fathomless blackness. Punishment is reinforcing to the punisher. Of course. It fit the science, and it also fit the hidden memories stored in a deeply buried, rusty lockbox inside me. The people who walked down the street arbitrarily compressing their dogs’ tracheas, to which the poor beasts could only submit in uncomprehending misery; the parents who slapped their crying toddlers for the crime of being tired or hungry: These were not aberrantly malevolent villains. They were not doing what they did because they thought it was right, or even because it worked very well. They were simply caught in the same feedback loop in which all behavior is made. Their spasms of delivering small torments relieved their frustration and gave the impression of momentum toward a solution. Most potently, it immediately stopped the behavior. No matter that the effect probably won’t last: the reinforcer—the silence or the cessation of the annoyance—was exquisitely timed. Now. Boy does that feel good.”

— Melissa Holbrook Pierson, The Secret History of Kindness (2015)

rejected valentine's day card #1