Endless Trash!

Murderbot TV is often compared to a fanfiction by its creators. This is part of my meta series examining it in the context of fanfiction tropes.

Romance tropes

The series isn't shy in comparing the relationship between Murderbot and Mensah as a mirror to NavBot and Hossein.

We've had Murderbot hallucinate Mensah in Hossein's outfits and calling her captain, the awe with which it compares her to an intrepid galactic explorer, we've had the camera transitions and overlay of Navbot and Hossein to Murderbot and Mensah

And in episode 6 we get an investigation of their relationship that mirrors the trapped romance episode SecUnit has been watching while trapped with Mensah.

The 6th episode opens with episode 356 of the Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon featuring NavBot and Captain Hossein trapped on a planet.

The relationship between the two is explicitly a romance. Murderbot narrates this in a soft and gentle voice, one almost of longing, even as it says it is not possible for a bot to experience love due to their design.

It provides them with an opportunity to bond, to understand each other, to fall more in love with each other. Hossein lays out what this episode is about: constructs feel emotions, everyone deserves a bit of warmth.

Trapped Together

Then the show itself opens up with Murderbot and Mensah trapped on a planet. Fanlore describes Trapped Together as a trope in which characters are trapped together. The characters involved could be friends, co-workers or even enemies.

One character can be injured and dependent on the other to help them. In this case, Murderbot is physically injured and Mensah is emotionally injured.

The forced intimacy of been trapped together, as with NavBot and Hossein, provides them an opportunity to understand each other, to bond with each other.

Not only are they trapped together, but if they don't find a way out of this situation, the rest of the survey team will die.

The longer the situation goes on, the more the stress of the situation gets to them. Physical health is degrading and the anxiety between the two of them is contagious. As their vulnerability to each other is shared, this is represented by an opening up of clothes (and eventually a removal of armour).

Murderbot asks Mensah to sit with it on the bunk where it shows her an episode of Sanctuary Moon of two lovers who are dying together. Not removing its armour yet, but showing Mensah something more intimate than that, Mensah who has seen in naked and on display is now being shown something it has never shown another person - it's love of this show:

The oh moment

Fanlore describes "the oh moment" as a way to demonstrate a pivotal moment of realisation, often of a character's own feelings for someone, or a moment of understanding on a character or a situation.

It is also, most often, used as a romance trope. When a character realises their own feelings about someone, when there is a shift inside them and they see the other person in a while new way.

Mensah experiences this when Murderbot opens up to her by showing her its anxieties, its vulnerabilities, and something incredibly important to it. She realises she has been wrong, and she accepts it. Nods to herself.

Hurt/comfort

Fanlore states that Hurt/comfort is a fanwork genre that involves the physical pain or emotional distress of one character, who is cared for by another character.

The injury, sickness or other kind of hurt allows an exploration of the characters and their relationship.

Mensah saves SecUnit by bandaging its wounds and inserting lubricant into its resupply ports. She tries to make it comfortable, creating it a pillow from her clothes and then sitting over the side of its "bed", waiting with clutched hands for it to wake. Her wedding rings prominently on display. And when it wakes, she greets it so gently, says hello, asks it how it is.

And during this moment, while between the two of them and this moment of hurt/comfort leading to a jointly developed solution, the camera confirms their compatibility.

Fuck or die

However the situation has been getting more dire. Murderbot is leaking fluids and shutting down, the worries of who could be killing the survey team is getting to them. Now that they are in a compatible state, they know how to solve this.

Murderbot removes its armour, opens the back of its skinsuit in a visually evocative way, making itself as vulnerable physically in contrast to how it was emotionally. They are now both in a state of undress. Mensah is hesitant about the intimacy of the solution, of what they're going to have to do. This violates her personal morals.

Fuck or Die is a fanfiction trope in which the author puts two or more characters into a situation that forces sexual intimacy between them, or risk death. For episode 6, Murderbot TV requires that Murderbot and Mensah are intimate in a way far beyond typical sex.

Fuck or die often has a physiological reason why someone will die without sex, though it can also be combined with tropes such as Virginity Sacrifice to create external motivations. This is often to one, or both, character's reluctance.

Both Murderbot and Mensah want to save the PresAux Survey and so Mensah has to let go of her morals and enter into Murderbot, despite her frustrated reluctance. Its logic of the situation, and the act of taking control and instructing Mensah, wins out.

Of reassurances to Mensah that this won't hurt it, that she can enter it and take from it for the greater good. (And Mensah learns that it can feel pain, just before she starts to cause it pain)

Of the spinal surgery framed by the camera as an intimate encounter, of Murderbot's soft gentle voice guiding Mensah through the process of entering it, of visual and auditory sexual imagery, slow shots panning down skin, the sounds of Mensah's panting, the romantic mood lighting,

until she successfully penetrates it the first time.

The constant background of Mensah's distress to do this to Murderbot, the repeated reminders that she has to do this to it, or the rest of PresAux will die.

Sexually Explicit Fanworks

According to Fanlore, the medium can impact a reader's response to sexually explicit material; for better or worse, visual or auditory sexual content is more immediate and visceral, whereas textual descriptions can provide more distance between the reader and the subject.

The entire scene is recorded and presented as a sex scene. The lighting is warm, the movements slow, the blood is minimal and adjacent to movie tropes in showing someone's sexual first time. There is no romantic music, instead the wet slaps of flesh and grunting of Mensah. What is happening here is not an act of violence but an act of coerced intimacy and trust.

The visuals showed Mensah slowly opening Murderbot up as she enters it for the first time. She claims first blood on it. The audio includes slick sounds of flesh being penetrated and the scalpels ongoing cutting. Mensah continues to alternate between whimpering, grunting and moaning.

Murderbot telling her to go deeper, to open it up more. To more noises and a camera that moves over its skin and her hands slowly and sensually move down its spine and leaves it gaping open.

(and while that is going on, the camera cuts to Pin-Lee and Arada being intimate in a similar position, with Ratthi joining them.)

Cannibalism

There's a reference to cannibalism, a common horror trope that doubles as a metaphor for love and sex, to which Murderbot reminds her that while she is doing part of the actions (cutting it up, penetrating it) she does not have to eat it (see this to be sex.)

When she's done, carving it up like a slab of meat, there's an abstract representation of a vulva (yonic imagery) into its spine. For humans, the vulva includes the labias (the first and second layers Mensah breached), the clitoris (the dataport with all its electrical neural endings) the hymen (its spine), the vagina (inside the spine, where Mensah seeks to go).

But they've not yet reached climax - Murderbot telling her to keep going. They change positions, Mensah undresses more. The audio continues with the moaning and the sounds of tools on wet flesh. She cracks it open, breaks its hymen (spine) so she can enter its vagina (spinal channel).

The climax is reached when her hands are deep into its spine, her wedding rings visible again and the brightest part of the framing.

On the audio, she moans and whimpers, chasing the neural cord and source of electricity. The movement makes Murderbot's head involuntary twitch forward as she pushes/pulls it. This is the most reaction we've seen from it over something entering its body, that she's so deep into it that its making micromovements.

She places the bloodied scalpel into her mouth, an indirect form of cannibalism (as love) to fully commit herself to helping them both reach the climax.

And finally, panting in satisfaction at the success, she pulls her hands out of Murderbot with a bloody piece of itself to save Mensah's team with.

First time

And while Mensah is panting in relief, wipes the sweat off her face from the exertion, Murderbot makes a joke about this being her first time.

A fic classified as a first time is one where the featured characters engage in an intimate or sexual relationship with each other for the first time.

And at first she finds this funny, forces a laugh the way Navbot did in the opening scene while holding the scalpel with its blood in her mouth. Perhaps some of the laugh is from her relief, to be done with carving its back open like meat so she can use it like a tool.

Virgin Sacrifice

And then she looks at it walking away into the light.

Mensah realises she has unintentionally participated in a Virginity Sacrifice - which puts two characters into a situation where the outcome of a major event (e.g. PresAux survey team not dying) requires one virgin character (Murderbot), to have sex (penetration) with another character (Mensah).

She's left in darkness.

That to save her friends in this fuck or die situation, Mensah has penetrated and used the SecUnit that is enslaved to them. That has sacrificed a part of itself. That even while verbally it seemed to have control of the situation, and is physically stronger than her, that its entire life has been to lay itself down and let others use and abuse it to get results. She has taken from it, in her role as its leader, its captain, the only human it trusts.

And this situation concludes with them both in a state of undress, covered in each others fluids, after Mensah has deeply penetrated Murderbot so that they may go save the human survey team that doesn't trust it, looking into each others eyes, and in the process of this situation Mensah has come to a deeper understanding of it in both emotional mind and physical body.

Conclusion

Murderbot TV episode 6's surgery scene is a sex scene, in terms of the imagery and tropes. But it is not sex. It's also not-not sex. But it is love and trust and care and intimacy and sacrifice and giving and receiving.

And much like episode 356 of Sanctuary Moon, this setting where they are trapped provides them with an intimate opportunity to bond, to understand each other, to fall more in love.

What kind of love?

They connected in ep 4 when they kept looking at each other in wonder and concern

mutually orbiting each other to the exclusion of all else. They have eyes for each other only.

it's not a "this partner is more important than the others" situation or anything. but it's very much "this person understands me in ways no one else, even my other partners, ever have", yknow??? everyone else in her life is still so important to her, but there's just that insane level of connection and understanding.

and then on the flip side you have murderbot whos just... never had that level of connection. with anyone. ever.

Mensah coming from a big family with multiple partners and a big community and multiple people having crushes on her contrasting to the SecUnit that has nothing, has never had anyone, not even itself, who has been chained up even in its own mind and when it breaks free it has no-one to go to so it turns to media.

She is its first conversation as a person. Its first joke. The first person it can confide in. Its first conflict and its first resolution. Its first bonding moment.

They are fast tracking the weird codependency of two parts of the one soul meeting and they're living in a world that would support that! If not for the fact that it is a secunit. They could crash and burn so hard.

and also yes omg the scene where she's asked if she has feelings

This scene cracks me up for so many reasons. First we have blatantly obvious hero-worship crush man going :< "Do you have feelings for it?"

Because the one thing worse than having no chance with her is the knowledge that she's interested in a piece of corporate rim equipment over him.

And she's stalling and thinking and he knows she's stalling and thinking with a very roll eyes of course SecUnit.

And she pauses, she thinks, she has her thinking face on, she can't tell him her thoughts. She doesn't confide in him that way, not like she has with SecUnit. She can't - she's his superior and she knows he's emotionally dependent on her and she's just that slightly closed off from him. She cares for him but not that way.

AND SHE AVOIDS THE QUESTION. REDIRECTS BACK TO HIS ILL HEALTH. She does it with concern and care but she AVOIDS THE QUESTION.

And he knows that's what she's doing, but he also doesn't call her out because it is some kind of attention and care from her even though it's not what he wants!

And then SecUnit returns and Mensah IMMEDIATELY TURNS AROUND and ducks her head and SMILES like she's hiding a joke. Maybe she is, because she immediately makes a joke for SecUnit before getting into their mutual jobs of keeping everyone alive.

I’ve been thinking about “Don’t like, don’t read” since an anon asked me about it. I’ve also been thinking about fandom communities that discourage negative views and promote positivity.

On the surface, these ideas sound perfectly reasonable. Fandom spaces are meant to be places where we share our joy in the media we love, right? Why spoil someone else’s enjoyment by expressing negative opinions? It’s like going to a restaurant regularly and complaining about the food every time. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go there. Keep your opinions to yourself and let others enjoy things!

That’s surely the logic and it's the correct attitude.

But is it always?

On further reflection, I’ve come to think that even in fun, voluntary communities, having space for both positive and negative views is essential for a healthy environment. Not all “negative” opinions are the same, and not all of them are harmful.

I think there are broadly two kinds of negative reactions:

1. Simple venting

This is mostly about taste. “I didn’t like the casting.” “I wish they’d kept that scene.” “That's not the voice I'd imagined for ART”

It’s emotional, subjective, but it's human. Venting helps people process disappointment, and it doesn’t have to hurt anyone if it’s kept in the right space, such as sharing with like-minded friends through direct communications or posting with appropriate tags.

2. Constructive criticism

This is thoughtful, grounded, and often comes from a place of care. It includes things like:

concerns about representation

noticing harmful tropes

pointing out narrative changes that shift meaning

discussing industry biases

talking about why a change matters

For example, in the Murderbot Apple TV adaptation, some fans felt disappointed that the focus shifted away from Dr. Mensah – a middle‑aged Black woman who is central to Murderbot’s emotional development – toward Gurathin, a white‑adjacent male character. Many people loved the show, and that joy is wonderful. It was lovingly created with blessing from Martha Wells herself. The actors played the characters powerfully and memorably. The music and cinematography were beautifully crafted. It brought new people into the fandom.

Nevertheless, the disappointment is also valid, and worth discussing.

This is not the same as “I don’t like Kevin R. Free’s voice” or “The cover art in that edition isn’t my cup of tea.” It is part of engaging with media thoughtfully. What do the choices they made – regarding actors, scenes to include or cut, scenes to newly introduce – mean? Were they commercial choices to bring in existing fans of popular actors? Were they meant to make the show more accessible to viewers who don’t usually watch sci‑fi? Did unconscious social bias play a role in sidelining a Black woman protagonist? What does the change say about the target audience and the society producing the adaptation?

These questions aren’t negativity. They’re analysis. They’re care. They’re part of loving a story deeply enough to think about it.

Constructive discussion, including criticism, has always been part of healthy fandom communities. It’s one of the ways we think about the stories we love, and how we connect with each other. But when communities treat any discomfort as unwelcome, or insist on constant cheerfulness, it can slip into toxic positivity: a pressure to only express joy, and to hide anything that might be complicated or critical. That isn’t healthy for anyone.

At the same time, it’s completely valid that some people may not want to see criticism at all, especially if they already have a lot going on in their real lives and want fandom to remain a space of comfort and escape.

I think a good fandom community doesn’t choose one group over the other; it helps everyone curate their experience. Clear tagging, opt‑in threads, and designated spaces for venting or analysis let people enjoy what they want to enjoy, and avoid what they need to avoid. Joy and critique can coexist, as long as we make room for both.

an E-rated fanfiction created by Anonymous for Mutual Rapport 2026

Can't you have one of your hull drones fix it?  This is extremely delicate work. Typically the PSUMNT engineers have to do maintenance by hand. The drone simply does not have the dexterity.  Oh. That actually did sound bad. Will they be able to repair it when we dock?  ART heaved another sigh. I wish it was that simple. Without those sensors online we will have to wait to be towed. I cannot attempt docking with it damaged. 

Tumblr: aliumfungus Bsky: aliumfungus

AO3: 3HobbitsInATrenchcoat Tumblr: 3hobbitsinatrenchcoat

Objectors to shipping them need not respond, I am celebrating all the potential and fun ways they can be explored.

Because there's so much potential built into the canon and so little time for me to be the only one writing it so psppspspspspspspsps come explore mensahbot with me:

Hurt/Comfort - the staple fanfic trope!

Murderbot whumping is just standard at this point, may I introduce you to the delicious Mensah whump

Mensah has been shot, blown up, kidnapped, tortured (psychologically at minimum and likely physically), isolated, objectified, traumatised, legal battles, had family members kidnapped, assassins sent after her, family members shot at, has PTSD and anxiety and ruminating thoughts, GIANT guilt complex about Murderbot...

These two are constantly sacrificing themselves for each other! DeltFall! GrayCris Team! Pretending to be prisoner! GrayCris confrontation! Beacon explosion! Exit Strategy! The combat SecUnit in ES! The company, the company gunship, so many assassinations, Mensah dropping everything to go rescue it in NE.

Murderbot's anxiety and PTSD!

Mensah's anxiety and PTSD!

Fluff - the other staple fanfic trope!

So much tender loving care between these two!

Always rescuing each other!

Hugs, holding hands and grabbing collars are intimate acts between the two

Mensah is the only one allowed to touch it and the only one it finds not-terrible to touch.

It likes to hang out around her and see media with her and go to her family with her.

Medical/sick fic opportunities!

Family slice of life with or without children!

Trauma treatment and therapy together!

Comfort comfort comfort all the comfort

They fucking love each other so much. She's the only one it has said to her face how much it likes her. It calls her its favourite. It was worried she was its friend. She's so relieved its alive.

They revolve around each other constantly even as they recognise the codependency as bad and support each other in maintaining health independence and a healthy relationship!

Dark fic - everything can be dark or freaky or toxic when you're not a coward

She legally owns it, explore those power dynamics or take it to its extreme

Thiago thinks it is taking advantage and isolating Mensah from her family - hell yeah potential seed for abusive relationship. The interrogations and suspicions of Mensah's family. It COULD be abusing or manipulating her, it would be so easy for it do to!

She's the planetary admin and power corrupts, corrupt her. It would be so easy for her to manipulate and lovebomb Murderbot. Have her abuse and manipulate it.

The codependency and guilt.

Murderbot's suicidal idealisations.

The ownership.

The power dynamics - Martha Wells herself has talked about where they would have had a dark relationship and a power imbalance if it had stayed at end of ASR.

The anxiety.

The way Mensah ignores its physical boundaries when she's anxious.

The way SecUnit ignores her privacy.

The way SecUnit casually manhandles her all the time.

Martha Wells said they would be toxic if it had stayed at end of ASR.

Martha Wells said Mensah has a savior complex!!!

TV specific - she did SPINAL SURGERY ON IT. Her hands were in its SPINE and she pulled out its NEURAL CORD. Pretty freaky!

She also did lubricant surgery on it

Gilded Cage/Saviour complex AUs where the intentions are pure and the actions are not

Hell go full delusional let Mensah lock it away in a storage box to keepit safe

Misunderstandings:

Mensah misunderstood it so bad in ASR that it ran away. Plenty of room for misunderstandings to happen between them in this classic trope

Cultural clashes between a human and a construct, Preserveration and Corporation Rim, Planetary Admin and ex-slave

Friction/Tension:

They argue all the time. Back and forth arguments since ASR where it argues with her about its place on the team and that continues and turns into banter.

She literally owns it and this is repeatedly brought up as a source of tension between them. It gets sharp, sarcastic and makes jabbing jokes. The power imbalance dynamic is a HUGE spaceship in the room that they're both afraid to talk about.

It has trust issues with Mensah, they specifically talk about this in Exit Strategy. She is its friend, and yet for a significant portion of the series it doesn't trust her and it has to slowly learn to trust hurt. This hurts her and she understands it.

The whole codependency thing? Tension and conflict with a huge side of guilt in both of them!

(book) Mensah siding with it against her team, her councillors, her planetary advisors, her family, her children. It's presence brings so much tension into her life in all corners of it! We have repeated examples of Mensah getting into angry stressful arguments for it.

(TV) Mensah siding with it against her team, then siding with her team against it during charged emotional moments, then siding with it again against her team.

THE MURDERING?! It's like a key plot point in Exit Strategy? And Fugitive Telemetry? And Network Effect?! She is willing to argue with it over the murder and it backs down and is willing to stop killing for HER.

Fun witty banter/bouncing off each other:

Murderbot's very first joke in both book and TV is with Mensah. Mensah also jokes with it. They also argue in jokingly fashions. They are needling at each other, poking at each other, nudging on boundaries from the very first book.

Murderbot is sending her wild purchase magazine requests during meetings.

Mensah's response to it asking how her trauma treatment is going is to poke fun at how it got kidnapped and nearly died.

Making self-depreciating jokes and poking at each other's weaknesses.

Trauma exploration:

SO MUCH SHARED TRAUMA TOGETHER. Most of Mensah's trauma, Murderbot was the only one there! and a significant amount of Murderbot's trauma during the survey and after happened around Mensah or because of her!

Mensah straight up thinks about how similar they have been treated in being held captive, treated like an object, had choices taken away.

They are both soooooo anxious and they are both having flashbacks (Mensah having flashbacks and invasive thoughts and Murderbot having [redacteds])

Mensah is its medical proxy.

Mensah is reluctant to undergo therapy, is stubborn and pretends like she is fine so well that NOBODY but Murderbot KNOWS she's an anxious codependent wreck that has to be blackmailed into getting therapy that nobody else knows she's undertaking.

She's doing so badly she had to quit one of her jobs.

Murderbot asks her about how her trauma treatment is going because it is interested in getting trauma treatment.

Mensah talks with ART about Murderbot's trauma and it knows this and doesn't mind.

Similarities:

The whole reason she understands it so well is because she mirrors it perfectly and constantly? She knows instantly that its helping. She doesn't need to be threatened or governor moduled because Murderbot is doing what she would do.

They're both anxious sacrificial wrecks who put saving everyone else on their own shoulders? Who keep everyone behind them and protect everyone else?

They are both unravelling and losing it throughout the books and then they are both getting trauma treatment and slowly getting better!

They both have flashbacks/memories interrupting their lives and relationships...

Have you not read the short story where they both have the same thought patterns about each other?

And Mensah specifically muses about how similar they are, as does Murderbot constantly comparing itself to Mensah, and then in the TV show there is an entire episode dedicated to exploring how despite how different they appear - they are the SAME.

They are each other's heroes in each other's eyes.

They understand each other so much because of their similarities. Mensah thinks about how similar they are. Their internal narrations and concerns about each other and other people are the same type of anxiety and fretting written in similar ways.

They are both constantly watching each other and making notes of each other to the exclusion of everyone else.

Emotions about each other:

They are obsessed with each other. SecUnit is constantly thinking about her and what she means to it and what it means to her.

It compares people it meets to her on a grading scale

it mimics how she would respond to things

it is nice to people it doesn't like purely because they are important to Mensah.

And Mensah is constantly thinking about it, it left and she watched Sanctuary Moon so she could better understand it despite never knowing if she will ever meet it again.

Devotion for each other:

she is the only person it will follow orders from

she is the only person it actively changes how it approaches problems to please

she is the only person it has said that it likes - repeatedly, she is the only person it has said it doesn't want to leave.

She watched its shows when it wasn't there to understand it, she sacrifices parts of her life for it, she loses reputation and money and family members for it.

They both take turns sacrificing themselves for each other.

Mensah's spot in its life:

It is at its most relaxed around her, she is the only one it seeks out to hang around with while others it waits for invitations.

She is one of its homes and it wants to go back to her. It doesn't want to be apart from her. It WANTS to stay with her! But it also wants to be free. And it can have both and she supports it.

Basically canon something :

Whatever they've got going on is so fucking weird multiple people are confused. They are both constantly asked by other people what their relationship is and what Murderbot's intentions to her are.

Generally that's not the kind of thing you ask someone you think is taking on a child/student role.

It started in ASR when Murderbot picked her up and put her into the hopper and everyone stopped what they were doing in an emergency to stare at them. Mensah was unaffected

They have relationship "breaking up" dating jokes with each other.

They also have serious discussions with each other about their relationship and how they DONT want to break up.

They are incredibly intense about each other, orbiting each other constantly and thinking about each other all the time.

She's the only one it touches and lets touch, including in casual manhandling ways where they both grab each other all the time.

When Martha Wells said ART is the most important person in Murderbot's life she immediately followed up with a clarification that Mensah is ALSO the most important person in its life.

Power dynamics

She legally owns it in the Corporation Rim

She also owns it in Preservation under the Guardianship program - it does not have full rights and compares this to being a pet.

Mensah's daughter also owns Murderbot.

Mensah is the PresAux survey team lead.

Mensah is the Planetary Admin/President and it is a slave/ex-slave

Educational disparity

Life experience disparity (Age disparity/gap)

Freedom of movement and choice

Mensah is regarded as a person everywhere and Murderbot nowhere, not even Preservation.

Unrequited love tropes

You could totally swing unrequited feelings about Murderbot by Mensah. Role in her partners!

Murderbot thinking about her constantly and comparing everyone it meets to her and missing her and wishing it was her - totally can be explored as unrequited

Multishipping - OT3, OT4, OTMORE

TMBD is a world where poly relationships are not only canonical, they are common.

Mensah is already poly, what's another to the group?

Canonically her partners are supporting her in what the fuck are you with Murderbot. They speak to it, the work around it, they don't blink when Mensah holds its hand and they kiss her while she does so. Murderbot is some kind of part of what's going on.

This is the easiest relationship in the series to get poly with tbh.

ART is over the moon about Mensah visiting, Murderbot is baffled by it. It cleaned itself over and over like it was dressing up for a date. ART and Mensah have private conversations with each other about Murderbot. Murderbot and Mensah have conversations with each other about ART.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE THREE: All three of them have a drive to protect their teams/crew, all three of them are protectors, all three of them have been KIDNAPPED and held against their will and traumatised. ART and Mensah are incredibly similar, they both prioritise giving Murderbot choices and space, they both give it a home, they both invite it in and they both know the importance of leaving it free and LETTING IT GO. (fyi Mensartbot is a very active OT3 channel in New Tideland)

TV Gurathin has a crush on Mensah, pretty easy to turn that into an OT3 setup. Could be fluff could be dark. Lots of room to explore. The whole “Why can’t you love me” three way.

Mensahbotcule is an OT4 that is practically canon. Genuinely. Murderbot holds Mensah's hand while she kisses her partner and her other partner watches. It is involved in conversations about the whole Mensah family moving. Amena calls it Third Mom, it is basically a parent to the children, it looks after them, it goes to Mensah family events on the planet and other family outings.

It can be fun to explore unconventional dynamics and also her two partners are really cool and worth exploring.

Mensah/Ratthi/Murderbot - hello its two favourite humans???

Murderbot diaries specific - Kinky it's not sex but it's also not sex

CANONICAL. ROBOGORE. SURGERY SCENES. BETWEEN THEM. She carved a sapphic vulva into its back and it made jokes about it being her "first time". The scene involved it tastefully stripping and letting her touch it.

Holding hands can be kinky and sexual when you are these two.

Also holding collars/necks.

Cubicle as restraint devices. She has repeatedly seen it naked and confined.

The unhinged intimacy of those two holding hands or hugging.

Mensah has an internal implant.

We know SecUnit can feel her emotions over the feed since All Systems Red, since it was in connection with her damn near 24/7, and we know she can also feel its emotions over the connection in Exit Strategy.

SecUnit cut the connection to Mensah's implant because the malware attack would have hurt her like an augmented person.

She's not augmented but she's certainly capable of non-biological feed sex.

Also they seem to be messaging each other near 24/7 over the feed for everything. Conversations are partially feed and partially verbal.

Murderbot diaries specific - It's a construct, she's a human

SecUnit is canonically fascinated by her faces. It tracks and records her wrinkles, her blemishes, her eye bags. It notices her hair. It has drones repeatedly up in her face to get maximum looks at her.

Mensah has narrated how she thinks about it physically, how she likes its bulk, how she feels safe around it.

Murderbot diaries specific - friendly to QPR, third thing, AAA, aroace etc

they are undefined and open to exploration

They go from strangers to cautious friends with one-sided trust to boss/security guard to family to therapy buddies to ??? WHAT ARE THEY?!

Neither of them can even define their relationship, they are the definition of "What is your relationship?" "I don't know"

Mensah is clearly willing to work with whatever Murderbot wants or desires. She has two partners she can be sexual with.

Most Mensahbot shippers ship them for their queerplatonic third mysterious unlabelled thing (according to a poll in our tumblr group)

Forbidden kinks:

ready made incest is right there, put her in a motherly role and go to town!

legally, she owns it. go forth slavery!

BDSM/Ds etc Murderbot canonically likes hurting people sometimes. And who knows maybe Mensah can see the appeal or maybe she likes to let go once in awhile from her stressful job.

tbh I'm not sure what a forbidden kink really is, isn't that all kinks?

found a list: mindwipes/brainwashing - well their dynamic is just RIPE for that! (or if you're really creative, check out the mensahbot fic where Mensah has amnesia!)

Misgendering/gendering/sex parts - install them on Murderbot, give Mensah a strap on, have Murderbot freak out about its gender after sex and panic in her arms that it's a sexbot

Alternate Universes

exploring how they always find each other through alternate meetings!

they will always save each other

everyone else around them thinks they're weird

Role swaps! Species swaps!

Human AUs of light hearted fluff or never ending angst and despair

Soul mates! Can SecUnit's have them?

Wing fic!

Omegaverse! Who is what? Is Murderbot anything? How do they handle being in heat?

Vampirism! Who's the vampire? How did it happen? How is it handled?

Animal AUs where Murderbot is magical mystical animal (or a Murderwolf)

Snail AUs!

THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO EXPLORE BETWEEN THESE TWO

I could genuinely write more but I must sleep. If you have anything to add to this list, I'd love to hear it because otherwise I'm going on a rampage in google docs to keep collecting all the things Mensahbotters love about Mensahbot to explain why we love and enjoy it and that there's so much to enjoy!

suprise im back w more murderbot. dont ask me to draw mb consistently because I Wont

Introducing my Barish-Estranza executive OC, Setoka Junkōsei!

Alone and grief-striken, Setoka dove deeper into her effort to "replace" her lost partners with her ComfortUnit. She lied to her friends, her coworkers, even her children, about the true nature of her new partner. To the outside world, she remarried another human, but behind closed doors, the two of them developed an inbalaced and toxic relationship.

If you want to read more about her story, go check her out on ArtFight!

synonym challenge...

my fill for the @mutualrapport event! tysm to the organizers & everyone who submitted a prompt, this was super fun to work on 💖💖

ao3 mirror

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.

Peri's Cargo Box