💙 I wuv Maya 💙

I'm Maya's Wife /25/ISFP/Pisces

[designationlavallama]

[wigglybunfish]

I know they’re the same, it’s all just Peri. That the drone will be repaired and the next time we need it, it’ll be the same. But still, when something happens like this, it scares me. I just don’t want to lose any piece of Peri, you know?

I know, I said. And I did know, and now I was having an emotion.

From System Collapse, Chapter 11.

Original line art is here

[wigglybunfish]

ARTnimorphs. nimonARTs. peri fauna feed presences. bugging secunit is its passion!

I picture its feed presence to move a bit like how the animal spirits in this video do. swoosh

[wigglybunfish]

in which murderbot is a very normal terracotta soldier and ART the dragon spirit of a chinese junk who dwells in the ship's keel. they meet in the ming dynasty perhaps, when ppl are sailing places extra willy-nilly.

*Nüwa is the mother goddess in chinese mythology, known for creating humanity from yellow clay and repairing the sky.

thank you @mutualrapport for hosting the event! original prompt below.

[drawn for the prompt: an AU of ART and MB's first meeting and conversation - e.g. another look at their first meeting from a fantasy, historical, or (non-canon) sci-fi lens! Any perspective is fine. The only constraint is that it cannot be set in the canon universe. Any visibly non-canon AU- fantasy, human, historical, etc. - anything goes!]

[swordmaid]

point of view.

[swordmaid]

what kind of sparring is this.

[swordmaid]

you make me wanna make you fall in love.

[skeletonclaw]

[lelif]

on survival

-// @aridante // @orivu // @buzzkillgirls // ? // ? // richard siken// @cemeterything // moomin, tove jansson// @disenchanted-killjoy // isn't that enough, shawn mendes// @ prettytheyswag on twitter// @ coletyumuch on twitter// ? // ? // bird by bird, anne lamott// undertale// @strawberrycircuits

[istandonsnowpiles]

What’s up late night folks? Here’s an eerie shot I took down a pitch black road in the middle of the night

[istandonsnowpiles]

Extracting from the original tags: this is an 8 minute exposure — it was indeed pitch black

[greatmountainfloofsquatch]

I’m imagining this is what it looks like to elves and others with darkvision.

[naamahdarling]

Oh god the quality of light there is REALLY unsettling. Do Not Want.

[tenowls]

family portrait

[semi-imaginary-place]

#a family can be a girl her 2 dads and her super advanced hyper intelligent experimental university research transport bot pilot sibling

[semi-imaginary-place]

MB is hilariously unreliable as a narrator. From the books because that's where MB's unreliable narrator is strongest:

Comany name? [redacted] "the company" and you know that all lowercase is spite

MB repeatedly complains that it's the cheapest flimsiest made unit, the Temu bot. But it's rental was probably really expensive and it and every other SecUnit we see is extremely high performing

1 line about how Ratthi is extremely popular and everyone seems happy. There's just an ever rotating cast of hookups and flings in the background that Murderbot is desperately trying to not notice.

For that matter polyamory seems to be the societal norm and you know there's polyvule drama happening that MB is erasing it's memory about.

In the second novella Perihelion is a complete mystery to MB, it's mostly just intimidated and like "ok this is my life now". Where as in Network Effect and "Rapport" we see that Peri is utterly enamored with Muderbot, it think MB is the best thing to ever happen.

MB has 0 self awareness and doesn't really know much about SecUnits or contructs in general it just contantly projects it's own feelings and opinions onto everyone else. Every other contruct is the series acts counter to what MB says.

For that matter it projects onto humans too. Murderbot has the emotional intellengence of a rock. It hates and fears itself and so projects that into believing everyone else fears it. And most humans don't. I'm not even talking about the hippie commune Preservation people, some of the rando Corporate Rim tertiary characters and Mihira and Tidelands people aren't particularly afraid of MB.

Unprocessed 2.0 emotions

[redacted]

Murderbot does not understand anything (besides security, hacking, and sanctuary moon) and frequently misunderstands things. Every time MB makes a claim not only will it likely be disproven, it will likely be disproven within that same book. Which makes me suspicious every time there is an obvious gap in the narrative, like the polycule drama MB spends like 1 sentence glossing over, or Miki's death. It dies so suddenly in the narrative and disappears so quickly from the narration I suspect Murderbot is once again suppressing it's emotions and memories about Miki. I'm reading System Collapse right now and Wells has upped her game and is planting giant neon flashing signs over all the gaps in MB's narration, [redacted].

[expressions-of-nature]

by Roman Heger

[haageer]

[daftpatience]

YOUR MURDERBOT IS SOOO CUTE can i req you to draw ART and murderbot interacting... their moe levels are unmatched....

you're in luck i really wanted to draw the scene where MB carries ART-drone from System Collapse lalala

[omagpies]

oooo what if. Murderbot dealing with TWO ART drones?? :3

let this also count as a fill for that one other ask about the pathfinder lol. the its <3

[ritualfootnotes]

My Fav MB/ART Fics

I have gotten extremely into MB/ART over the last few weeks and have now read basically every slash fic of them across 20+ AO3 pages that remotely piqued my interest. So! Here are my favorites, grouped by rating.

This post covers General Audiences and Teen and Up Audiences fics.

Rating: G

I Will Be Your Gravity (5156 words) by LavaLlama

Summary:

I blurted, "Bots can get married on Preservation."

Suddenly, I had 84% of ART's attention. It had been sitting at 62% so the sudden weight of it almost made me physically react. Almost.

"Then it is a shame my options for marital partners on Preservation are null."

Why should you read it? Extremely adorable fic where MB realizes it wants to propose to ART, then plans how to do it. Vibe? Mushy, cheesy, adorable Canon? canon universe, future fic, but with an externally softer MB POV? MB & ART first person Romance? oh yes very much Sex? nope

You're lucky I love you, you idiot (25564 words) by dooplissss

Summary:

Murderbot doesn't realize how beloved it is. It's going to take a lot of convincing.

Why should you read it? For the tag "get loved, idiot!!!" Vibe? Sweet, mushy, found family Canon? canon universe, future fic POV? MB, ART first person, Dr. Mensah third person Romance? oh yes very much Sex? nope

Following Protocol (20463 words) by Astral_Insanity

Summary:

Seth side-eyed Iris, then snorted a laugh when she made a talking motion with her hand. “Uh huh.”

« Iris, I saw that. My point is, it is frankly insulting that you immediately assume I did something bad— »

“Peri broke protocol on its last cargo run,” Iris interrupted loudly.

--

Or, Seth finds out that the surprises never end when your kid is a giant homicidal starship.

Why you should read it? Fills the hole I needed filled for how ARTs crew learned about MB. Difficulties of parenting a super intelligent secretly armed starship. Also, the tag "ART BABY PICTURES NOT CLICKBAIT (kinda)" Vibe? Fun, satisfying for SHIPpers Canon? Yes, missing scene, it sits between book 2 and 5 and connects the narrative POV? Seth third person, Iris third person Romance? not so secret (to ARTs crew) pining Sex? nope

Tell your SecUnit I said "Pspsps" (2013 words) by Mustangbex

Summary:

Tarik is called to a general meeting in the Argument Lounge which turns out to be the introduction of the newest member of the crew, and an opportunity for Iris and Perihelion to be pests.

or

Murderbot loses a staring contest to a cat.

or

Murderbot is basically an oversized cat and everyone knows it.

Why should you read it? MB stares down a stray cat that Iris & ART snuck on board. Its definitely going to be just fine that the cat has taken up residence in MB's favorite chair. Vibe? Silly and very fun Canon? canon universe, unlikely scenario POV? Tarik third person Romance? basically no Sex? nope

5 Times Iris was a Very Supportive Sibling and 1 Time She Meddled (6,593 words) By Tatical Ascot

Summary:

Just what it says on the tin: five times Iris was honestly the most supportive sibling ever (despite all the longing and the pining)... and one time she had enough, and finally decided to meddle in Peri's business.

Why you should read it? My fav sibling energy Iris & ART fic. Iris being the ultimate hype man for her secret warship sibling and its obvious crush on the rogue SecUnit it definitely did not kidnap after falling in love at first sight. Vibe? enticing, heart breaking, exciting, sweet, everything you could want in an Iris POV MB/ART fic Canon? canon universe, missing scenes throughout the series, ART clearly has a not so secret crush on MB the whole time POV? Iris third person Romance? lots of pining Sex? nope

Rectifier (7310 words) by Kitain

Summary:

Adding timestamp tags to media had just made sense. It wasn’t supposed to get weird.

or

ART and Murderbot exchange a lot of data.

Why you should read it? Overprotective ART! No one can mess with its SecUnit but it! Vibe? extremely canon writing style MB/ART feed data flirting Canon? canon universe, future fic POV? MB first person Romance? yes, the start of something, maybe Sex? the tiniest hint of the idea of "sex in the feed"

Rating: T

Convergent Frequency (32574 words) by Joyfulldreams

Summary:

As a state-of-the-art B-class wormhole-capable deep-space research vessel, I do not consider myself to have many serious design flaws. Every piece of me has been meticulously crafted, is regularly maintained and upgraded, and there is very little I cannot do if I set my several dozen exabytes of processing power upon the task. This is why the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland’s extra-curricular oversight committee deemed me more than capable of operating unmanned on the occasional intelligence-gathering reconnaissance mission. It is for the sake of both necessity and convenience that these missions are camouflaged as cargo runs.

Nonetheless, it is an unmistakable oversight that I am capable of being bored. It is also incredibly annoying that unmanned cargo runs are so dull.

OR

The entirety of Artificial Condition, from ART's POV.

Why you should read it? The entirety of Artificial Condition, from ART's POV. Seriously amazing. It reminded me of the show in how clearly it highlights MB’s unreliable narrator tendencies. Vibe? Exactly like reading the book but from ART POV Canon? yes, follows the book timeline exactly, but fills in some ART only scenes POV? ART first person Romance? Only as much as you can read between the lines Sex? nope

Parallel Signaling (14111 words) by Joyfulldreams

Summary:

After leaving RaviHyral, by the time I exit the wormhole adjacent to Port Outlander, the sting of SecUnit’s absence has finally begun to fade. Cargo runs are always lonely, so this is nothing new. SecUnit left me with more to occupy my time than I usually have. Media. Memories. A few topics of pointless rumination, I suppose, but also new topics of data analysis and research.

OR

The time period between the end of Artificial Condition and the end of Exit Strategy, from ART's POV.

Why you should read it? Same author as the fic above. So good! Vibe? Like reading the books but from ART POV, missing scenes Canon? canon universe, missing scenes POV? ART first person Romance? the externally visible pining is starting to creep in Sex? nope

(when you move) i can recall something that's gone from me (10718 words) by brahe

Summary:

The present me should feel disgusted by the mess SecUnit made on my deck, on my bulkhead, but I should also feel indifferent to SecUnit’s anger and ferocity, and I should be unaffected by the fluidity and grace of its violence—and I am not. I am so far from indifferent and unaffected that I have, instead, created new pathways within myself for the way I’m actually feeling.

The breathless violence, the ruthless revenge—all for me. It is nothing short of mesmerizing. SecUnit is mesmerizing. I am enraptured.

Or,

ART processes the fragments of its memories from its deletion, and falls in love.

Why you should read it? Watching that intoxicating critical moment of your fav ship come into existence. Vibe? a serious take on oh no I've fallen deeply in love with this idiot Canon? slightly divergent, follows the bk 5 storyline but fills it in with a SHIPping lens POV? ART first person, MB first person Romance? the start of something, alt ending with hint at reciprocation Sex? nope

hold me up in your folders (8108 words) by JackaLanternLope

Summary:

It’s not that I wasn’t curious, and it’s not like there wasn’t a more logical part of me that knew that this was terrible security procedure, even if I didn’t hear a peep from risk assessment (what else is new?). But on a deeper level, I knew there wasn’t any risk.

I wanted ART to prove it to me.

I wanted to go in blind and know that it wouldn’t hurt me, and that it would stop if I asked it to. I wanted to let ART in and not have to think about it.

----

ART takes Murderbot up on an offer to plug into each other's systems.

Why you should read it? such a good queerplatonic intimacy fic Vibe? peak scenario of showing how much MB and ART trust each other Canon? writing style and character voice very canon, but what if they both decided to show rather than tell their emotions for each other POV? MB first person Romance? Could be read as romantic, but doesn't really feel that way Sex? no? Just inherently vulnerable feed closeness and sharing of tactile data

Systems Integration (4316 words) by CaravanOfCrows

Summary:

While helping ART pack for a new colony rescue mission, Murderbot finds a discrepancy in its crew manifest. The truth is weirder and more emotionally loaded than it ever expected.

- - -

People have commented on how MB as a SecUnit might relate to ART as analogous to a HubSystem and what that means for their relationship, but how does ART, as a bot pilot designed to pilot drones and shuttles and split itself into multiple pieces, relate to having a SecUnit on board?

Why you should read it? possessive ART! The books focus on MB and its lack of agency as a SecUnit, but what about ARTs situation with PSMNT? Vibe? miscommunication/incorrect assumptions lead to hurt then raw emotional affection (as much as these two can admit to that) Canon? canon universe, future fic POV? MB first person Romance? Could be read as romantic, but doesn't really feel that way Sex? no

If you like any of these fics and want to gush about them, please feel free to message me! I'm head over heels for these two!