The Marci Rating System

*I thought ep 9 was great

*very curious to see what the show does with ep 10!

*Sanctuary Moon y/n?

(PS very very funny to me that when Preservation decides to free a secunit in ASR, they go about it very officially, legal channels, documentation, all that stuff. Court orders! Probably actual real ones! And then in Network Effect, when ART and crew meet Three, they're all just like 'so we're going to lie about this, right? everyone in favor of plan: lie and deceive? excellent, yep')

The Murderbot Diaries series has three super-short stories that I've seen in posts about suggested reading order. And I was pretty sure I once saw a post on tumblr with links to all of them, but hahahaha good luck to me ever finding that again. Luckily, it didn't take much sleuthing to track down workable free links, all of which seem to be as legit as anything on the internet these days.

1. Obsolescence
(this is actually a page where you can download a pdf of multiple short stories, including Obsolescence)
This one takes place waaaaaay in the past, and it's about the 'augmented rovers' that get mentioned in something MB watches. I thought it was sad, but wanted to read it just so I knew what was in it.

2. Compulsory
(not sure why this was published in Wired, but I know nothing about Wired, so maybe that's a thing it does?)
This one is set pre-series, and MB rescues a human worker at a mining facility. Includes the SecUnit lore that the workers don't think SecUnits can talk, and also clarification that SecUnits are not actually there to protect human workers.

3. Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
(this story is also currently for sale on various sites, and just showed up on hoopla for me)
Set directly after 'Exit Strategy,' and it's from Mensah's POV!

Overse, sitting with Arada’s bare feet on her lap, gestures in frustration. “It would be closer to being done if Ratthi’s tables weren’t all over the place and all the links broken. What were you thinking, Ratthi?”

“I was planning to sort it all out the day GrayCris started trying to kill us, it was very distracting,” Ratthi protests.

You know what, let's just do a fic rec caturday:

Interrupted Media, by corvidae9

“Hail the transport,” I responded instead. There was a muffled sound of confusion from both ART and Iris, and I explained, not at all exasperated. “I’d like to try something new before the shooting starts.”

Just checked and confirmed I did not do a 'I've listened to all the 'Murderbot Diaries' audiobooks now and they were great' post yet.

So, I've listened to all the 'Murderbot Diaries' audiobooks now, and they were great! Would listen to all of them again. Kevin R Free, narrator, hero of our times.

Not sure I have anything relevant to add, but here's some random thoughts to fill out the post:

*Book 3 sure did make me feel some feelings. Book 4 was a fantastic (and fun!) follow up.

*Same with book 5 and 7! (Yeah, the internet was totally right on the 'read book 6 after book 4' thing. That's how they go chronologically in-universe. Book 7 happens directly after book 5)

*Love love love the bot community on Preservation Station

*The idea that constructs are absolutely 100% not allowed on gunships, ever. (MB: I've boarded your gunship and it's my new second-best bot friend, lol)

*MEDIA PIRACY SAVES LIVES

*Timestream Defenders Orion sounds like such a genuinely fun show

three's company, by surgicalstainless

It sends, Objective: Annoy Leonide.

Then it adds, (optional).

[NOTE: I cannot find a pull quote that does this story justice. I want to put the whole fic in there. I read it FOUR TIMES yesterday. It is SO FUNNY.]

privilege escalation, by ariex09

You know, sometimes I miss the days when ART was just a dictatorial asshole, instead of a dictatorial asshole who was overly invested in my wellbeing and choices.

I was thinking about the Murderbot tv show (as one does), and I thought 'I wonder why Mensah decided to tell SecUnit all about her kids?'

And I was like... humanize the hostages? (Like, if you just found out that the dangerous killing machine absolutely could start killing you if it wanted to, you'd want to give it reasons not to? Like putting baby pictures in your wallet, I guess?)

But that didn't seem super likely. Neither did 'setting up a REALLY funny joke for a future season,' even if SecUnit remembering all that stuff when it met the kids later would, indeed, be REALLY funny. To me, personally.

And I thought maybe Mensah was too nervous to be willing to sit in silence, and figured talking about her kids would keep herself from panicking and also not distract SecUnit from anything important it was doing, which kind of made sense, until I realized...

SecUnit ASKED ARADA ABOUT HER KIDS. The first time they all saw it interact with one of them unprompted, it asked about children. It makes perfect sense to think that it would be willing to hear about them. Mensah galaxy-brained a topic of conversation she genuinely had reason to believe would be acceptable. SECUNIT, YOU BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELF.

Okay, there are plenty of things not to miss about how tv was back in, uh... ::checks internet:: 1990, when ST:TNG did the summer Borg cliffhanger thing, but CAN YOU IMAGINE if Murderbot Season 1 was 20+ episodes long, and ep 5 was actually ep 10, and was the summer cliffhanger?

And MOST IMPORTANTLY can you imagine the absolute MOUNTAINS of fanfic that would be created between now and September?

Which is to say, yes, I'd like to read at least a hundred AUs spinning off from the end of ep 5.

I've now read (listened to) the first four Murderbot Diaries audiobooks, plus Fugitive Telemetry (book 6, but the internet advised that it fits into the timeline as book 5, which it definitely seemed to do).

They were great, I loved them! (ESPECIALLY 'Artificial Condition,' because of ART, and also 'Exit Strategy,' because of TEAMWORK)

And NOW I'm up to Network Effect, and I'm NERVOUS! I have a vague idea of stuff that happens, and it's SO MUCH! I'm taking a break right now by listening to some other more relaxing audiobooks before I dive in.

perihelion: Fuck you ART, by sparrowlicious

"Secunit, you need a hobby that isn't just watching serials."
And that's how I accidentally started a social feed account with a cult following. It's not my fault humans have an obsession with my opinions.

aka Murderbot discovers space twitter and commits crimes against corporate entities (ART is helping!)