Murderbot

I (Penna) started reading the Murderbot Diaries books in late 2021, and a few months later stared writing fic for the series. These are a sci-fi series about a character in a dystopian setting who learns there are pockets of utopian societies to be found.

Murderbot is canonically agender (using it/its pronouns), and is disinterested in both sex and romance. Many fans appreciate and even treasure these aspects, and therefore I'm splitting my list of fics between those with no shipping, and the murderhelion fics (the ship name for Murderbot / Perihelion).

For those readers who are on the fence about murderhelion (because it has many interpretations among fans), I'll include a bit more detail below with the second list of fics.

List of Murderbot stories with no shipping:.

1. Intrepid Galactic Explorer - a crossover with Anne of Green Gables
2. Shakespeare for SecUnits - MB helps Mensah with a production of Hamlet
3. Happy Dance - MB remembers SecUnits being made to dance on a contract, and explores whether it can enjoy dancing now that it is free 
4. Something to hold onto - Iris gives MB a plush animal 
5. Refund - the end of Exit Strategy from the POV of a company systems analyst; what happens when Pin-Lee demands a refund from the company? 
6. Unity - an AU in which MB had a construct childhood and grew up with ART & Iris before being taken away to become a SecUnit 
7. Swashbucklers - MB & Three take up sword fighting 
8. The Good Knight - MB spins the plot of Network Effect into a fairy tale for Mensah's kids 
9. Monsters - MB learns about monster myths and wonders if it is a monster 
10. Security Threat: Santa Claus - MB and ART have concerns after reviewing the lyrics of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" 
11. Rogue Rumors - inspired by the line in Network Effect about how MB was every SecUnit in the newsfeeds, this work for December Drabbles focuses on Three hearing rumors about a rogue SecUnit before meeting MB, and then processing the fact that it has actually met the rumored rogue
12.  A Day to Forget - Intrigued by amnesia plots in media, ART & Holism want to try an experiment. Of course the subject of the experiment is MB

List of Murderbot stories with murderhelion shipping:

Regarding the shipping: Writing these stories has helped me explore what being aroace means to me, and what my personal boundaries are with regard to sex and romance. The Murderbot Diaries books introduced me to a set of characters with whom I felt safe and comfortable with that exploration. I hope other aromantic, asexual, and aroace readers will also feel comfortable with these stories, and I perfectly understand if that is not the case. 

The first two stories in the list should be perfectly safe for sex-repulsed ace readers.  

Smitten has potentially romantic elements and no sexual elements. ART questions whether the term "romance" applies to MIs, but it does want to be special to MB in a way that many readers will interpret as romantic. 

It Has Been 01 Missions contains a couple of comments from ART that can be interpreted as romantic.

The Devotees series has declarations of love, which many readers will assume is romantic. Fever introduces those elements in the final chapter. Honeymoon and beyond include what MB calls "vibing," which is the use of vibrations and other sensations to generate an experience similar to a sexual climax. There are no "sex parts" or fluids involved.  

1. Smitten - At the end of Network Effect, Seth suspects that ART is smitten with MB. 
2. It Has Been 01 Missions Since SecUnit Ended up in Medical - comedy about MB experiencing a series of injuries on missions  
3. Devotees series: Fever - MB learns that SecUnits can experience fevers. After a loopy experience filled with math jokes, it admits to having feelings for ART. 
4. Devotees series: Honeymoon - On a cargo run, ART sets out to seduce MB. Respecting MB's lack of interest in sex, they explore others ways to experience pleasure. And ART creates a hologram form. 
5. Devotees series: Reproduction - The university's plan to breed MIs creates two adorable baby MIs. It also causes serious trauma for MB and ART, who were unwilling participants in the creation of the twins. 
6. Devotees series: Thought Crimes - not posted yet. We learn about the origin of SecUnits.
7. Devotees Series: Become Ungovernable - not posted yet. MB takes serious risks to find a way to free more SecUnits.