#Rjalker reads The Imperial Radch

[rjalker]

[ID: An MS Paint meme showing three stick figures. Two are standing further away from the camera behind a large wall, having a conversation while looking sad. A third stands on the other side of the wall, eavesdropping by pressing their ear to a cup against the wall, failing to understand what they're hearing. The original conversation has the first stick figure say with a frown, "So, yeah, fashists dehumanize disabled people and it's bad!" The second figure replies, also with a sad frown, "It sure is horrible! Like, it's so evil and cruel and bad. No good person does it." On the other side of the wall and closer to the camera, the eavesdropper grins widely, thinking, "Dehumanize disabled people! Good people do it!". The bottom of the image is captioned with, "Martha Wells reading and absolutely failing to understand The Imperial Radch series before she was inspired by it to write The Murderbot Diaries anyways", with the date listed as March 22nd 2024. End ID.]

So in the next few years you can all look forward to seeing even more bigoted stories that were inspired by The Murderbot Diaries that continue the trend of failing to understand the morals of the original story.

This is just a continuation of Martha Wells' history of ableism in her writing. And there's a lot of it. Including having a character who's loved and considered wise cheerfully advocating for eugenics and we're all supposed to clap and cheer instead of be horrified.

[rjalker]

[ID: A meme version of a pop up, with someone looking at the camera and the text edited to read, "God? In my duck? It's more likely thank you think". with a button that says, "free PC check!". End ID.]

raughd denche doesn’t know 😔

[rjalker]

Laios can hang out with Translator Zeiat/Dlique.

They just need at least one chaperone to stop them from eating actual poison / uncooked meet that is likely to have parasites.

...actually, Data from Star Trek would probably be a good chaperone for them because he should just be able to tell them what they can and cannot eat, and then he and Laios can hang out with someone else who isn't horrible to them at all times for the crime of being autistic.

[rjalker]

Martha Wells in book 1: here's a class of disposable people!!!

me: okay cool so the point will be that nobody should be considered disposable, right? I can understand why this wouldn't happen in the first story but that's where you're going to build to, right, because the protagonist has to unlearn the propaganda itself?

Martha Wells, seven books into the series: Nope~!!!! They're disposable, it's only a bad thing when it happens to the protagonist. The rest of them are disposable and you should think it's awesome and cool when one of the protagonists tears one of them limb from limb while they're alive :)

and then meanwhile the series she was "inspired by" to write the Murderbot Diaries does. in fact. understand that having a class of disposable people is in fact bad and something that your characters should care about fighting against if they're supposed to be good people. They should in fact care about other people.

[rjalker]

*gasps out loud in delight*

[rjalker]

[ID: A banner in a gradient from red to dark seafoam, with multiple rings of white around black text that reads, "Translation State release events". On either side are two sillowets against white circles of a person facing towards the text. End ID.]

Translation State Release Events

To celebrate the upcoming release of Translation State on June 6th, the newest installment in the Radch series, Radchdome will be hosting two events. A fanworks bang and a discord call meetup!

What is Radchdome? It is the fandom server for the Imperial Radch series and other works by Ann Leckie. Anyone is welcome to join: https://discord.gg/WAF8uv9f3k

 FANWORKS BONANZA   From June 4-6, let’s share fanworks that showcase what we love about Imperial Radch! Use the tag #TranslationStateBonanza when you post them. Some ideas for works include: -Translation State Predictions - favorite characters/scene -Radch centric recipes -Playlists/Music -Meta Posts -Shitposts

 TRANSLATOR’S TEA   Join Radchdome for a discord meet up on June 10th for Translation State discussion and games! Tea time will be updated soon with a invitation vestige. Gloves are encouraged but not required. Questions about these events can be addressed to me, @cassyblue or in the #events channel in Radchdome. Please note I am not online most of the day. 

OTHER EVENTS **These are not hosted by Radchdome ** Virtual Panel: How Science Fiction Writers Build Alien Minds with Ann Leckie and Adrian Tchaikovsky Hosted by Orbit June 21st 3pm EST   https://twitter.com/orbitbooks/status/1659619998523088897

Free to attend panel all about world building and the aliens in Leckie’s and Tchaikovsky’s works!. 

[rjalker]

Translator Dlique/Zeiat, her jaw unhinged.

Laios, jealous, impressed, and fascinated.

Data somewhere out of frame intrigued and waiting to tell them about all of the species he knows of that can unhinge their jaws

[ID: A very simple black and white digital drawing with an uneven black border, showing Laois from Dungeon Meshi in the background standing with mouth agape and starry eyed, his hands on his face, staring towards the foreground, where, mostly offscreen, we can see Translator Dlique/Zeiat's unhinged lower jaw as she prepares to eat a large fish she holds above her. End ID.]

when I actually read Dungeon Meshi I'll write fun 3-way crossover fics. Data and Laios deserve better friends and I think they'd like Translator Dlique/Zeiat

[rjalker]

crossover friends

[ID: A screenshot of Data from Star Trek, official art of Laios from Dungeon Meshi, and a digital model of Translator Zeiat/Dlique from The Imperial Radch series, created in Hero Forge, standing next to eachother against a grey background. Data is an android with very pale skin, wearing a yellow and black Starfleet uniform. Laios is a man with pale skin, wearing metal armour over white long sleeves and pants. Translator Zeiat/Dlique has brown skin, with dark hair, and wears an all-white Translator's uniform with boots, long pants, and a coat over a simple shirt. End ID.]

when I actually read Dungeon Meshi I'll probably write a thing lol. they'd enjoy themselves.

if we ever get official art of the Translator I'll redo this

[rjalker]

hehehehehe

Sphene said hey. you're adopting me. give me food.

[rjalker]

hmmmm, one correction, I don't remember any genderfluid characters in Ancillary Justice, which I just read for the second time a month or two ago now, and finished the whole series.

I also don't remember anyone who intentionally rotated between different pronouns. No one used ze/hir pronouns either.

But in another book in the series, which is mostly a standalone novel by itself, there is a main character and several other important characters who use e/em/eir/emself pronouns, as their culture has three main genders

(Kids use they/them pronouns, then choose their adult gender when they've decided upon one.)

(One of the characters is implied to be, in the terms of this society, nontrinary, but the story ends before that has a chance to be explored because she clearly has not figured out that's an option yet, though you can clearly see the metaphorical egg cracking lofl).

This standalone novel also includes a character changing eir name multiple times, and this being respected and other characters correcting eachother and themselves when they accidentally use the wrong name.

The misconception that characters in The Imperial Radch series (what Ancillary Justice is book 1 of) are genderfluid might come because of the several languages spoken within the story, the main one of which has only one pronoun for people, which is transcribed as she/her, but when other characters are speaking other languages, native speakers of that language use he/him pronouns for the character in question (Seivarden).

Seivarden's pronouns, as far as she's concerned, because the only language she speaks is Radchaai, are she/her. That's the only pronoun used for people in Radchaai. Other people who are talking about her in languages she does not speak use he/him pronouns for her because they're pushing their cultural concepts of gender onto her.

It's a whole thing examining culture and gender and language. And I definitely do recommend it. Especially because disabled people, including physically disabled people, are actually allowed to exist in this story! And so are drug addicts! Without being demonized!!

But Seivarden's definitely not genderfluid, it's just that people who are speaking other languages are using different pronouns for her that exist in their language. And she only speaks one language, so she can't even understand them enough to be bewildered.

sometimes i feel kinda sad because like. i cant actually read things with characters who use neos?? or use neos for other ppl and myself?? i know that's why auxiliary pronouns exist but. it just feels like shit tbh. i also use neos as well so i feel double bad :/

It does suck, but after a Lot of digging, I found some books with neos!I haven't, in the strictest sense, read most of these books, but here are some books that include neopronoun rep. Here you are, for all of your bookworm neopronoun validation needs.

A Voyage To Arcturus, David Lindsay. I have read this one, and honestly enjoyed it (most of my reactions are on the blog way back in like july). The OG ae/aer pronouns. Set around 1920, a man from Earth arrives on and travels a new planet and encounters a lot of aliens (most of whom are probably cisn't.)

No Man Of Woman Born, Ana Mardoll. A collection of short stories that subverts your typical gendered prophecies, including "A quiet fisher mourning the loss of xer sister to a cruel dragon." Chapters also include neopronoun pronunciation guides in the beginning (as well as trigger warnings.)

Nine Of Swords, Reversed, Xan West. Novella about a genderfluid/genderfluid romance facing some (magical and realistic) relationship issues. The main character uses xe/xym pronouns.

The Spy Who Never Grew Up, Sarah Brennan. An alternate version of Peter Pan, which includes an intersex fairy who uses zie/zir pronouns.

Dawn, Octavia Butler. Post apocalyptic, set centuries in the future, saving the planet after a nuclear war. It/its aliens. Vague dehumanization of gender diversity but there are neos.

Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie. Sci-fi quest, exploring planets and fighting evil. Major character who is genderfluid and rotates with he/him, she/her, and ze/hir. Several other side characters use ze pronouns.

Nearly Roadkill, Kate Bornstein and Caitlin Sullivan. Cyberpunk exploration of gender and feminism. Co-writer Bornstein coined the beloved term "gender outlaw." Two protagonists use ze/hir. It does contain graphic sex scenes so do keep that in mind.

Distress, Greg Egan. Scientists explore the Theory Of Everything and have to deal with a new disease known as the Distress. Uses science fiction to explore gender and has an asexual (not the orientation, but lacking physical sex) character who uses ve/ver pronouns.

@quayilme, @hopeless-bisexual-queen,

[rjalker]

Scherzo [handshake] Translation State

[rjalker]

scifi that hates religion is shit.

[rjalker]

we got another one!

[ID: A gif of Pikachu from the Pokemon anime doing a cheerleading dance with fans, edited so Pikachu is standing against a blue sky with fluffy white clouds, with the fans and outfit changed so they’re pride flags.

The outfit has been painted over so that it’s a rainbow top and matching pants, and another rainbow has been painted on one of Pikachu’s ears.

The fans have been painted to show the transnonbinary flag, with symetrical stripes of purple, black, blue, pink, yellow, white, yellow, white, pink, blue, black, and purple. On the outside of each fan at the base is a black line drawing of a sun with eight rays like the lines on a compass.

End ID.]

[rjalker]

Ther3 fact that I'm on the first few pages and the author has made it a point to adress gender and pronouns and language meanwhile Martha Wells has written six books and two short stories for TMBD but has literally never had a single character ask anyone their pronouns or actually discuss or even think about gender despite her protagonist being nonbinary and using neopronouns.

Yeah. You are correct lol.

Martha Wells says she was inspired by this series, yet she can't even take a page out of its book to actually talk about gender in any real way when her protagonist is nonbinaryyyy ( but then again as I have said many times the only reason the protagonist is not binary is because it's a robot that doesn't have genitals and she is literally just continuing to equate gender with sex for the same way she did in The Books of the Raksura)

Anyways, followers, please read the murderbot diaries so there can be other people in the fandom who will point out and discuss the casual transphobia and the many failings of the series in regards to actual trans rep besides just me and now my twin.

“If you liked the Imperial Radch series you might enjoy The Murderbot Diaries—”

No actually I have this thing called “taste,”

[rjalker]

Page 205.

"He. I'm he."

"Gender is a thing humans have."

"Some humans. And I'm one of them."

[rjalker]

I'm 111 pages in before I realize that one of the character's last names is not Arhtur, but Athtur.

A T H T U R.