#tmbd communities

[murderbot101]

Tagging Convention (mainly for Tumblr)

Here are some of the tags often used to attract people who are interested in the Murderbot Diaries (books).

General

#the murderbot diaries, #murderbot diaries, #murderbot books, #murderbot, #tmbd, #(book title), #(book title + spoiler), #character name, #secunit, #nsfw (for adults-only content)

Fan creations

#murderbot fanart, #tmbd fanart, #murderbot fanfic, #tmbd fanfic, #tmbd meta, #murderbot meta, #murderbot meme

Characters and Groups

#(individual names, such as Dr Mensah), #Three (murderbot), #Secunit Three, #asshole research transport, #ART (murderbot), #Perihelion, #PresAux, #PSUMNT, #Perihelion Crew

TV show

#murderbot tv, #murderbot Apple TV, #mbtv

Relationship tags

Murderbot fandom is very gen-leaning and aspec-heavy, so tagging becomes very important if you want to post something about relationships. If you want your posts (incl. reblogs) to reach the right people without upsetting anyone, here are some suggestions.

Use "&" for all platonic, found-family, friends of all types, or partnership dynamics.

Use "/" only for actual romance or sexual content.

If you want to emphasize the queerplatonic-ness of a relationship, use #QPR, #queerplatonic, "ride-or-die partners", etc. Some people use "the secret third thing", too. Note that some people might avoid posts if it has a "/", even if you use "/&" or "$/" to mean "very intimate, but undefinable relationship".

Safer to avoid portmanteau ship names unless you are actually shipping them romantically/sexually. I'm aware that some people use portmanteau names, such as 'mensahbot' or 'artmb' for intimate but not romantic relationships, but many people tend to assume they are 'ship' names.

If you want to mention a ship but are not shipping it, tag it clearly, such as #mention of ship, #not shipping, #ship mention only.

Common portmanteau ship names:

Murderbot/ART: murderhelion, artmb, artbot, mbart

Murderbot/Mensah: Mensahbot

Murderbot/Gurathin: Murderathin

Other popular relationship tag:

Murderbot & ART: mutual administrative assistance, mutual administrative assistants

For more tagging ideas you can also look at the list of canonized tags on Archives of Our Own (AO3): https://archiveofourown.org/tags/The%20Murderbot%20Diaries%20-%20Martha%20Wells

[murderbot101]

Murderbot communities (Tumblr, FB, Reddit)

When you have just finished reading (listening to) the Murderbot Diaries and are dying to share your thoughts with other fans, you will probably look for some communities. There are multiple communities on multiple platforms.

Tumblr

As of now, there are five Tumblr communities that can be searched with the keyword "Murderbot". The two larger communities "The Murderbot Diaries" (1K+ members) and "Murderbot Diaries - Book Only" (200+ members) have probably been around a little longer than others. The Book-Only community, as the name indicates only allow posting things based on the book series, whereas "The Murderbot Diaries" has lots of post based on the TV show, too.

Many people simply post and interact outside of the Tumblr communities, that is, they just post to their own blog. You can search posts with tags, such as "#book title", "#murderbot", "murderbot diaries", and "#tmbd".

You can also use portmanteau ship name for looking for blogs, art, etc for a specific combination of characters you like. But there are multiple portmanteau and their interpretations that exist and quite often it can open a can of worms if you are not careful. You might use one while meaning something a little different and end up getting blocked by some people. Getting blocked can hurt, but it is a way for lots of people of curating their experience and usually not personal. My observation is that portmanteau is used for (mostly) romantic relationships, and not platonic ones whether they are QPR or not. (I say 'mostly' as some people use portmanteau name for non-romantic, which makes it confusing.)

Facebook

There are several Murderbot/Martha Wells related fangroups on Facebook, both private and public. I only had had a glimpse, so I cannot give much information. But from what I gathered, people post things using their regular account with their real name visible. Perhaps not for those who want to keep their fandom activity anonymous.

Reddit

There are both one for the book series (https://www.reddit.com/r/murderbot/) and TV show (https://www.reddit.com/r/MurderbotOnAppleTV/).

The book subreddit seems a relatively small, low-drama community focused on sharing thoughts on the books, characters, the authors, and event reports.

The TV show subreddit was created for fans from the tv show who are not familiar with/interested in the book series, but also to keep the original subreddit free of too much tv-show discussion.

The tone is generally mild in both.

I will make another post on Discord servers.

[murderbot101]

About this blog

This is a blog to talk about some of the Murderbot communities and events that I happen to have noticed. I have been in this fandom since before the tv adaptation but not much longer than that. So I am not an expert. But because I was here as a very confused newbie murderbot fan not so long ago, perhaps I can share some insights. I also write about my observations about fandom culture in general.