cameoflage | Reading

Heyo everybody, I hope y'all are doing alright out there in the world.

Today's DE:

Sort of inspired by yesterday's, who would your pup get along great with from another canon?

Feel free to mention any Milliways friendships that have actually happened, or pick someone who either your pup has never met, or who has never been in the bar that you think would be a great BFF match.

cupcake_goth

danabren left a comment on my post about Catholic aesthetics/music/Gregorian chants that unlocked a core 90s scene memory for many of us: constantly hearing Enigma at every damn kink or kink-adjacent play party.

This led me to see what songs turn up on "Enigma Radio" on Spotify. Guess what the first song was? Go on, guess.

Ah, good 'ol "Caribbean ~~Moon~~ Blue".

There are days when I think about trying to explain to Kids Today what sort of music was played for the first 30-60 minutes at Ye Olde Spooky Clubs because I'm pretty sure they'd never believe me.

marthawells

Great interview with Murderbot executive producer Andrew Miano:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-murderbot-ep-andrew-miano

First and foremost, my partner Paul Weitz read the book for pleasure, not with any eye towards adaptation, and came in with it and said, "this would make an amazing TV show." We all read it and really sparked to it and thought it was unique and special and funny, which is not something that you always get in a lot of sci-fi. [It is] also very meaningful and emotional. It was the whole package so it was very exciting and we went about it. We met Martha... One of the biggest things to focus on is how do you honor the book? How do you translate that to the screen? It's not easy, but I'm very fortunate to have Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz — two smart, talented partners — creating and running the show with their guidance and Martha's support and involvement to sort of capture and stay true to the books.

cupcake_goth

Over the past week we watched both Conclave and Immaculate. Both were fun, even if I don't understand the section of fandom that looked at Conclave and said "YES, let's write smut". Not my beautiful cake, but rock on you crazy diamonds.

Immaculate wasn't groundbreaking, and actually kind of predictable, but it was still enjoyable. And yet another entry in the "Yep, I like Catholic-themed horror" category; look I really like the aesthetics and music of the Church. As an institution, fuck no. All the art it's created? Yes. What this means is I bought the soundtrack on bandcamp, and need to look up the soundtrack for Conclave to see if I want it. (I probably don't, as I prefer my Latin liturgical music sung by female voices. As evidence, I listen to this Gregorian chants female voices playlist on Spotify fairly often.) Which leads me to one of my favorite set of tweets:

splash_of_blue posting in

ways_back_room

...Ooh! Ooh! I know!

Pick a quote or reference from a different canon entirely which sums up your pup.

Don't tell us which reference = which pup. Let everyone else guess who you're talking about!

(For example, one I've used before: Stitch's "ALSO CUTE AND FLUFFY!" line, yelled as he beats up a giant alien, is my girl Molly.)

bjornwilde posting in

ways_back_room

Sorry I missed yesterday, had a big shindig at work and spaced.

It's been forever so let's do a fic Friday, but with a chose your own adventure spin.

Either:
1. post a bit of anything you are writing,
or
2. comment with pups you'd like to write for and get prompts to inspire,
or
3. Post some prompts as a comment and see if they appeal to anyone.

cupcake_goth

Finally got to talk to Dad, yay! He's doing okay. Well, except for the part where "I can work in the yard for about 10 minutes, and then I have to rest for 45", and his cardiologist says, "Recovery is a process, Bob, and there's no definitive timeline". Which, sure, that makes sense, but he had the cardioversion at the end of March, so I'm a little dubious. Dad sees the cardiologist next week, and I told him to feel free to gently threaten the cardiologist with having to talk to me, and I'm a lot meaner than my Dad.

But things are going okay for him and his Ladylove. They are currently a household with no kitties, as Sniggle passed on a few months ago. Dad says he's been able to resist looking at kittens so far, but he'll probably give in soon.

Hilariously, he lectured me about looking after myself, then realized what he was saying. In that pause I said, "Gosh, I wonder where I learned THAT from", and he had the grace to laugh. I told him I'd try to be better if he did. We'll see how that goes.

cupcake_goth

This is something I've been thinking about for a few years, and I've finally decided to try it. I had the Madwoman in the Attic make a version of these "pants" in black lawn. I'm going to sew layers of black organza ruffle trim (the good stuff with fishing line in the hem to make the ruffles nigh-uncrushable) up to the knees on each leg. If my theory is right, then I will have a pair of long bloomers that are also a petticoat!

I will, of course, report back on how this works.

thebattycakes posting in

ways_back_room

Holy H has it been hot lately. And my car AC is out, GOOD TIMES.

Today's DE:

Waffles or pancakes?

bjornwilde posting in

ways_back_room

Time marches on...

How vulnerable is your character(s) to the Cute?

marthawells

Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology

Out in ebook and paperback on July 1. My story is "Data Ghost"

https://bookshop.org/p/books/storyteller-a-tanith-lee-tribute-anthology/a74b320486117220?ean=9798992595406&next=t

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/storyteller-a-tanith-lee-tribute-anthology?sId=e0bafab6-32a8-4ffb-9436-2dcda473349c

Edited by Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett, and Craig Laurance Gidney. Stories by Martha Wells, Andy Duncan, C.S.E. Cooney, Nisi Shawl, Mike Allen, Alaya Dawn Johnson, CL Hellisen, Maya Deane, Rocío Rincón Fernández, Theodora Goss, Getty Hesse, Starlene Justice, Amelia Mangan, Michael Yuya Montroy, Marisca Pichette, KT Wagner.

Sixteen new stories from some of today's most renowned authors. All inspired by the master storyteller Tanith Lee.

Drowning cities and unicorns. Burning deserts and forgotten gods. Golems, elf warriors, and inner-Earthers. Alien lifeforms and museum workers. Ancient plagues and the future of humanity. The familiar and the fantastical. Each story in this anthology is both unique and compelling: from fairy-tale retellings to romance-tinged high fantasy, from nihilistic horror to gripping science fiction. Immersive, wide-ranging, and sublime, Storyteller features worlds and characters that are sure to travel with you long after the last page has been read.

***

Short Story: "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy" by Martha Wells

will be available on Reactor Magazine on July 10

Illustrated by Jaime Jones
Edited by Lee Harris

Perihelion and its crew embark on a dangerous new mission at a corporate-controlled station in the throes of a hostile takeover...

***

Summer of Science Fiction & Fantasy: Martha Wells in conversation with Kate Elliott

https://www.clarionwest.org/event/summer-of-science-fiction-fantasy-martha-wells-in-conversation-with-kate-elliott/

July 30 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm PDT

The Clarion West Summer Reading Series will be held virtually and streamed live over Zoom during the Six-Week Workshop.

Join us for our final event, a conversation between Martha Wells and Kate Elliott!

This event will begin with a conversation between Martha and Kate. There will be time to take questions from the audience. Participants will be able to submit questions in the webinar.

***

The New Yorker announced "Platform Decay" will be the next Murderbot novella. No word on publication date yet.

***

Grimoire: A Grim Oak Press Anthology For Seattle Worldcon 2025

https://grimoakpress.com/products/grimoire-a-grim-oak-press-anthology-for-seattle-worldcon-2025

My story is a fantasy called "Birthright" which is reprint that's not currently available anywhere else.

***

Queen Demon, the sequel to Witch King, second book of the Rising World, is up for preorder and will be released in ebook, audiobook, and hardcover on October 7.

From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes the remarkable sequel to the USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling novel, Witch King. A fantasy of epic scope, Queen Demon is a story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.

Dahin believes he has clues to the location of the Hierarchs' Well, and the Witch King Kai, along with his companions Ziede and Tahren, knowing there's something he isn't telling them, travel with him to the rebuilt university of Ancartre, which may be dangerously close to finding the Well itself.

Can Kai stop the rise of a new Hierarch?

And can he trust his companions to do what's right?

Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/queen-demon-martha-wells/21751501?ean=9781250826916

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queen-demon-martha-wells/1146167707?ean=9781250826916

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/queen-demon

Audiobook Libro.fm https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781250291981-queen-demon

Bakka-Phoenix (indie bookstore in Canada): https://bakkaphoenixbooks.com/item/3Czr8TaWU9-_fwJ25ytSCw

splash_of_blue posting in

ways_back_room

Hellooooooooooo Milliways and welcome to Pride Cymru week!

(GodDAMN, I am tired already. Anyway...)

What is your pup proud of?

And if they identify as LGBTQ+, what's their flag?

marthawells

In ‘Murderbot,’ an anxious scientist and an autonomous robot develop a workplace-trauma bond

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2025-06-13/murderbot-episode-6-alexander-skarsgard-noma-dumezweni

Leading a TV series is a first for Dumezweni, who has previously been cast in smaller roles. She wasn’t convinced by the initial pitch at first because sci-fi hasn’t traditionally had a lot of major roles for actors of color.

“Usually I’d come in and play the receptionist,” she says. “I love to watch sci-fi. But I wondered: Who am I going to be in this sci-fi world?”

However, once she learned more about the world and the character, the actor changed her mind.

“It was an absolute joy to discover that there was nothing that Chris and Paul had to change to make it representational,” Dumezweni says. “It’s lovely not to have to fight for people’s positions in the world based on their skin color.”

ETA: Wanted to add this one real quick from BlueSky:

Vestal Magazine: Noma Dumezweni -- Off Canvas

https://www.vestalmag.com/noma-dumezweni

Set in a near future where the line between machine and human is increasingly blurred, Murderbot explores themes of identity, autonomy, and what it truly means to be alive through the eyes of a self-aware security android. Adapted from Martha Wells’s beloved The Murderbot Diaries novels, the series blends gripping sci-fi action with sharp, witty humor. At the heart of the story is Noma Dumezweni’s portrayal of Dr. Ayda Mensah, the thoughtful leader of a pacifist civilization struggling to uphold her community’s ideals amid a universe dominated by corporate greed and political tensions. Noma brings to the role a grounded strength, embodying the delicate balance between idealism and pragmatism as her character wrestles with the burdens of leadership and moral compromise. The parallels between Noma and Ayda run deep: both choose to lead with heart, courage, and conviction. “Your head will try to talk you out of that feeling of expansion. It will tell you, ‘You can’t do this,’” Noma says. “Trust your body, trust your instinct. Your body knows the truth.” That instinct and bravery have guided her career, from becoming the first Black actress to portray Hermione Granger on stage, a landmark moment for representation in theater, to winning two Laurence Olivier Awards and becoming a beacon of inspiration for a new generation of actors. Like Ayda, Noma has forged a path not only of leadership, but of quiet, transformative power.

Lovely photos in this!

marthawells

* Interview with Sue Chan, the production designer:

https://filmstories.co.uk/news/murderbot-designing-a-future-world-that-doesnt-look-like-alien/

“I started out by taking the most ancient societies on each continent – Etruscans, Asian, European, and African cultures,” Chan tells us. “I looked at the most fundamental motifs and gathered them into a bible, then asked my team to imagine 100 generations from now, when the diaspora of Earth have chosen to live together in society. How would they evolve a unified set of symbols? A language that really honours where they came from.”

This informed the alphabet that can be seen in the decoration painted across the otherwise grey, corporate habitat the PresAux crew are leasing. At the same time, acknowledging how much of the crew is queer and polyamorous, the colours of the rainbow are also entwined into their decorations.

“All of that is mashed up but it has a fundamental logic to it,” says Chan.

* Interview with Akshay Khanna (Ratthi):

https://squaremile.com/style/akshay-khanna-murderbot-actor-interview/

I’m incredibly excited for people to watch Murderbot on Apple TV+. Sci-fi has been my favourite genre by a country mile forever, and being on a show like this has always been a career goal of mine. Frankly, I had too much fun filming that show, and getting paid to do it constantly felt like I was getting away with something on set.

And the show is just so good. I can confidently say it’s fantastic – and if you don’t like it, then I would gently tell you that it’s OK to be wrong sometimes.

* Interview with Sabrina Wu (Pin-Lee):

https://www.autostraddle.com/sabrina-wu-interview-murderbot/

And then once I got the role, I read the books and I was legit just blown away at how funny the books were. I just haven’t seen such a dry sarcastic sensibility with this kind of hero sci-fi stories. And then I also just really liked that it was in the tradition of I felt like Octavia Butler, where it’s like, “oh, this is a queer imagining of the future.” So I don’t know. I just thought it was a really sweet, funny, different world. I also, obviously every comedian who becomes an actor, their dream is to get to work on something with action to move beyond an It’s Always Sunny kind of comedy. I believe there was already an opportunity for me to be in a spaceship and shoot guns, and it just made me happy that it was genuinely funny source material.

* Video interview with Tattiawna Jones (Arada) and Tamara Podemski (Bharadwaj):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NllgfEekw9s

* And a video interview with Noma Dumezweni (Mensah)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZpigqUqZXQ

* and a video interview with Noma and David Dastmalchian (Gurathin)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=361cKOujISE

* And a video interview (with a transcript) with Alexander Skarsgard, Jack McBrayer, and Paul and Chris Weitz:

https://collider.com/murderbot-alexander-skarsgard-jack-mcbrayer-creators-paul-weitz-chris-weitz/

* And there is a profile of me in The New Yorker (!!)

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/do-androids-dream-of-anything-at-all

* ETA: In ‘Murderbot,’ an anxious scientist and an autonomous robot develop a workplace-trauma bond

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2025-06-13/murderbot-episode-6-alexander-skarsgard-noma-dumezweni

Leading a TV series is a first for Dumezweni, who has previously been cast in smaller roles. She wasn’t convinced by the initial pitch at first because sci-fi hasn’t traditionally had a lot of major roles for actors of color.

“Usually I’d come in and play the receptionist,” she says. “I love to watch sci-fi. But I wondered: Who am I going to be in this sci-fi world?”

However, once she learned more about the world and the character, the actor changed her mind.

“It was an absolute joy to discover that there was nothing that Chris and Paul had to change to make it representational,” Dumezweni says. “It’s lovely not to have to fight for people’s positions in the world based on their skin color.”

*
ETA: Wanted to add this one real quick from BlueSky:

Vestal Magazine: Noma Dumezweni -- Off Canvas

https://www.vestalmag.com/noma-dumezweni

Set in a near future where the line between machine and human is increasingly blurred, Murderbot explores themes of identity, autonomy, and what it truly means to be alive through the eyes of a self-aware security android. Adapted from Martha Wells’s beloved The Murderbot Diaries novels, the series blends gripping sci-fi action with sharp, witty humor. At the heart of the story is Noma Dumezweni’s portrayal of Dr. Ayda Mensah, the thoughtful leader of a pacifist civilization struggling to uphold her community’s ideals amid a universe dominated by corporate greed and political tensions. Noma brings to the role a grounded strength, embodying the delicate balance between idealism and pragmatism as her character wrestles with the burdens of leadership and moral compromise. The parallels between Noma and Ayda run deep: both choose to lead with heart, courage, and conviction. “Your head will try to talk you out of that feeling of expansion. It will tell you, ‘You can’t do this,’” Noma says. “Trust your body, trust your instinct. Your body knows the truth.” That instinct and bravery have guided her career, from becoming the first Black actress to portray Hermione Granger on stage, a landmark moment for representation in theater, to winning two Laurence Olivier Awards and becoming a beacon of inspiration for a new generation of actors. Like Ayda, Noma has forged a path not only of leadership, but of quiet, transformative power.

Lovely photos in this!

ETA:

Great interview with Murderbot executive producer Andrew Miano:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-murderbot-ep-andrew-miano

First and foremost, my partner Paul Weitz read the book for pleasure, not with any eye towards adaptation, and came in with it and said, "this would make an amazing TV show." We all read it and really sparked to it and thought it was unique and special and funny, which is not something that you always get in a lot of sci-fi. [It is] also very meaningful and emotional. It was the whole package so it was very exciting and we went about it. We met Martha... One of the biggest things to focus on is how do you honor the book? How do you translate that to the screen? It's not easy, but I'm very fortunate to have Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz — two smart, talented partners — creating and running the show with their guidance and Martha's support and involvement to sort of capture and stay true to the books.

bjornwilde posting in

ways_back_room

What is a bar plot or holiday you'd like to see happen in Milliways?

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Reading

Wednesday DE: like a house on fire

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Dad update

Ridiculous sewing project

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Another Murderbot interview

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