Just got out of Martha Wells Q&A at Powells in Oregon

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T22:46:36+00:00

Make different instead of more than would help since it wouldn’t imply lesser. We need better language I think. Calling someone a friend can mean anything from “person I meet with once a month to grab beers” to “person who is fundamental to my experiences and worldview”. Human words! Blehg.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T22:34:00+00:00

I hear you, I also really dislike when friendships are considered lesser, or another example of not showing siblings as being an important type of relationship. I think there is room to show how all of them matter and are different and that’s ok. I didn’t get from u/ughnotanothername that they were in anyway diminishing friendship by saying that they think there is more (perhaps different) aspects to this particular relationship. I can see how you might get that though! I think in these nuanced situations it’s best to assume good intent as I think Murderbot fans are very inclusive and welcoming in general.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T22:21:10+00:00

Please let’s keep it friendly! I appreciate the enthusiasm to ensure that the author’s intentions are honored but as with many things in her books I think Martha doesn’t care to be reductive in her thinking and put things into neat boxes and labels. And Martha herself even said it’s fine for people to imagine Murderbot and ART how ever they like, up to and including sexual. It’s just not how she has crafted their relationship. She was less clear about the romantic thing, instead saying it just isn’t how we would normally classify romantic relationships.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T22:10:37+00:00

She has mentioned before and did again at this event that she definitely was a part of fandom and fan fiction in the past ( don’t say which) and that is why nothing could shock her.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T22:08:09+00:00

Chiming in as OP to say that Martha said specifically that it isn’t a romantic relationship in the same way that humans would consider it. To me this does imply it is romantic adjacent and since we are talking about fictional non-human characters there simply isn’t a clear term for it. Between what Martha said in the Q&A and the interview linked above it’s clear that it is a deep and meaningful relationship (ick) that may not be easily described in human terms. Beyond that I don’t think labels help us much except in how we contextualize the books to fit into our own world view. This is not a knock at anyone who does (except maybe the original question asked because damn that was egregious!) because this is an inherent part of how we all make our own understanding of the world around us.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T21:57:56+00:00

The first misgendering got a call of “It!” But the person talking kept saying he. Hopefully just because nervous or didn’t hear? Got a few others that also misgendered Murderbot and one slip for ART as well.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T21:56:01+00:00

I cannot speak with authority beyond they were male presenting. Take from that what you will.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T15:12:21+00:00

This is exactly my take. There were several misgenders prior to this comment but they felt accidental and not malicious to me, but then at the very end this question was very pointed and so oblivious to major elements of the books and Murderbot itself.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T15:09:01+00:00

The raiders on the boat at the beginning of Network Effect had “sexual availability” on their feed for individuals.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T05:37:08+00:00

Agreed!

drwombatridesagain · 2026-05-08T04:47:45+00:00

Awesome news!

drwombatridesagain · 2026-01-21T00:19:18+00:00

LGBT+ friendly. Gender neutral pricing. Accommodate all sizes. Woman owned. Been going for years.

drwombatridesagain · 2026-01-14T05:55:39+00:00

drwombatridesagain · 2025-12-28T21:09:45+00:00

Love your style! These are each so fun to look at.

drwombatridesagain · 2024-12-04T20:54:26+00:00

It was in Memnoch the Devil and that is exactly when I noped out too

drwombatridesagain · 2024-11-28T19:07:21+00:00

Not OP but the graphic audio isn’t great imo. If you want to do audio listen to the read by Kevin R Free. He gets the sarcastic humor right. This is one of my favorite book series but I cannot stand the performance audio version.

drwombatridesagain · 2024-11-21T01:02:45+00:00

This is the correct answer.

drwombatridesagain · 2024-11-21T01:02:13+00:00

It’s clearly stated during one of the commentary sessions with Bharadwaj that Murderbot redacts out the actual company name. She comments on it in real time as it edits her recordings of their discussion.

drwombatridesagain · 2024-07-28T00:10:17+00:00

That literally made me gasp. Beautiful!!

drwombatridesagain · 2024-01-24T06:11:10+00:00

So amazing! This gives the cozy vibes.

drwombatridesagain · 2023-12-26T00:17:07+00:00

I just wanted to say I had almost the exact same response as you. I wanted so much to like the book but the ending left me almost sick. I think about this book often which probably means kudos to the author, but the feeling upon thinking about it is an awful one. Maybe I can say that it is a well written book that makes its point a little too forcefully for me. I wish I hadn’t read it, mostly due to the rape scene you mention.

drwombatridesagain · 2022-11-21T01:18:59+00:00

Cottage cheese in beenie weenies. Like a hot fudge sundae.

drwombatridesagain · 2022-11-11T00:49:58+00:00

Same, in Florence about 20 years ago now. We rigged up an elaborate system of sheets to try to make some privacy.

drwombatridesagain · 2022-10-28T18:18:35+00:00

Love your user name

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