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elkian · 9 months ago

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I've seen a few of my Murderbot posts reblogged with tags to the effect of "I don't go here but I know of it" and for people who are interested in the Murderbot series looking to break in:

Tor.com (now Reactor Mag) has the entire first chapter of the first book, All Systems Red, available free to read on their site.

Link to the article.

ASR is a novella, so this not only covers a lot of ground, but is a pretty good litmus test imo if this book is for you or not.

(I read ASR twice before getting Artificial Condition, and that was the book that got me totally hooked on the series, for what that's worth.)

I'm also just going to post the text under this readmore because free Murderbot.

---

I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.

I was also still doing my job, on a new contract, and hoping Dr. Volescu and Dr. Bharadwaj finished their survey soon so we could get back to the habitat and I could watch episode 397 of Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.

I admit I was distracted. It was a boring contract so far and I was thinking about backburnering the status alert channel and trying to access music on the entertainment feed without HubSystem logging the extra activity. It was trickier to do it in the field than it was in the habitat.

This assessment zone was a barren stretch of coastal island, with low, flat hills rising and falling and thick greenish-black grass up to my ankles, not much in the way of flora or fauna, except a bunch of different-sized birdlike things and some puffy floaty things that were harmless as far as we knew. The coast was dotted with big bare craters, one of which Bharadwaj and Volescu were taking samples in. The planet had a ring, which from our current position dominated the horizon when you looked out to sea. I was looking at the sky and mentally poking at the feed when the bottom of the crater exploded.

I didn’t bother to make a verbal emergency call. I sent the visual feed from my field camera to Dr. Mensah’s, and jumped down into the crater. As I scrambled down the sandy slope, I could already hear Mensah over the emergency comm channel, yelling at someone to get the hopper in the air now. They were about ten kilos away, working on another part of the island, so there was no way they were going to get here in time to help.

Conflicting commands filled my feed but I didn’t pay attention. Even if I hadn’t borked my own governor module, the emergency feed took priority, and it was chaotic, too, with the automated HubSystem wanting data and trying to send me data I didn’t need yet and Mensah sending me telemetry from the hopper. Which I also didn’t need, but it was easier to ignore than HubSystem simultaneously demanding answers and trying to supply them.

In the middle of all that, I hit the bottom of the crater. I have small energy weapons built into both arms, but the one I went for was the big projectile weapon clamped to my back. The hostile that had just exploded up out of the ground had a really big mouth, so I felt I needed a really big gun.

I dragged Bharadwaj out of its mouth and shoved myself in there instead, and discharged my weapon down its throat and then up toward where I hoped the brain would be. I’m not sure if that all happened in that order; I’d have to replay my own field camera feed. All I knew was that I had Bharadwaj, and it didn’t, and it had disappeared back down the tunnel.

She was unconscious and bleeding through her suit from massive wounds in her right leg and side. I clamped the weapon back into its harness so I could lift her with both arms. I had lost the armor on my left arm and a lot of the flesh underneath, but my non-organic parts were still working. Another burst of commands from the governor module came through and I backburnered it without bothering to decode them. Bharadwaj, not having non-organic parts and not as easily repaired as me, was definitely a priority here and I was mainly interested in what the MedSystem was trying to tell me on the emergency feed. But first I needed to get her out of the crater.

During all this, Volescu was huddled on the churned up rock, losing his shit, not that I was unsympathetic. I was far less vulnerable in this situation than he was and I wasn’t exactly having a great time either. I said, “Dr. Volescu, you need to come with me now.”

He didn’t respond. MedSystem was advising a tranq shot and blah blah blah, but I was clamping one arm on Dr. Bharadwaj’s suit to keep her from bleeding out and supporting her head with the other, and despite everything I only have two hands. I told my helmet to retract so he could see my human face. If the hostile came back and bit me again, this would be a bad mistake, because I did need the organic parts of my head. I made my voice firm and warm and gentle, and said, “Dr. Volescu, it’s gonna be fine, okay? But you need to get up and come help me get her out of here.”

That did it. He shoved to his feet and staggered over to me, still shaking. I turned my good side toward him and said, “Grab my arm, okay? Hold on.”

He managed to loop his arm around the crook of my elbow and I started up the crater towing him, holding Bharadwaj against my chest. Her breathing was rough and desperate and I couldn’t get any info from her suit. Mine was torn across my chest so I upped the warmth on my body, hoping it would help. The feed was quiet now, Mensah having managed to use her leadership priority to mute everything but MedSystem and the hopper, and all I could hear on the hopper feed was the others frantically shushing each other.

The footing on the side of the crater was lousy, soft sand and loose pebbles, but my legs weren’t damaged and I got up to the top with both humans still alive. Volescu tried to collapse and I coaxed him away from the edge a few meters, just in case whatever was down there had a longer reach than it looked.

I didn’t want to put Bharadwaj down because something in my abdomen was severely damaged and I wasn’t sure I could pick her up again. I ran my field camera back a little and saw I had gotten stabbed with a tooth, or maybe a cilia. Did I mean a cilia or was that something else? They don’t give murderbots decent education modules on anything except murdering, and even those are the cheap versions. I was looking it up in HubSystem’s language center when the little hopper landed nearby. I let my helmet seal and go opaque as it settled on the grass.

We had two standard hoppers: a big one for emergencies and this little one for getting to the assessment locations. It had three compartments: one big one in the middle for the human crew and two smaller ones to each side for cargo, supplies, and me. Mensah was at the controls. I started walking, slower than I normally would have because I didn’t want to lose Volescu. As the ramp started to drop, Pin-Lee and Arada jumped out and I switched to voice comm to say, “Dr. Mensah, I can’t let go of her suit.”

It took her a second to realize what I meant. She said hurriedly, “That’s all right, bring her up into the crew cabin.”

Murderbots aren’t allowed to ride with the humans and I had to have verbal permission to enter. With my cracked governor there was nothing to stop me, but not letting anybody, especially the people who held my contract, know that I was a free agent was kind of important. Like, not having my organic components destroyed and the rest of me cut up for parts important.

I carried Bharadwaj up the ramp into the cabin, where Overse and Ratthi were frantically unclipping seats to make room. They had their helmets off and their suit hoods pulled back, so I got to see their horrified expressions when they took in what was left of my upper body through my torn suit. I was glad I had sealed my helmet.

This is why I actually like riding with the cargo. Humans and augmented humans in close quarters with murderbots is too awkward. At least, it’s awkward for this murderbot. I sat down on the deck with Bharadwaj in my lap while Pin-Lee and Arada dragged Volescu inside.

We left two pacs of field equipment and a couple of instruments behind, still sitting on the grass where Bharadwaj and Volescu had been working before they went down to the crater for samples. Normally I’d help carry them, but MedSystem, which was monitoring Bharadwaj through what was left of her suit, was pretty clear that letting go of her would be a bad idea. But no one mentioned the equipment. Leaving easily replaceable items behind may seem obvious in an emergency, but I had been on contracts where the clients would have told me to put the bleeding human down to go get the stuff.

On this contract, Dr. Ratthi jumped up and said, “I’ll get the cases!”

I yelled, “No!” which I’m not supposed to do; I’m always supposed to speak respectfully to the clients, even when they’re about to accidentally commit suicide. HubSystem could log it and it could trigger punishment through the governor module. If it wasn’t hacked.

Fortunately, the rest of the humans yelled “No!” at the same time, and Pin-Lee added, “For fuck’s sake, Ratthi!”

Ratthi said, “Oh, no time, of course. I’m sorry!” and hit the quick-close sequence on the hatch.

So we didn’t lose our ramp when the hostile came up under it, big mouth full of teeth or cilia or whatever chewing right through the ground. There was a great view of it on the hopper’s cameras, which its system helpfully sent straight to everybody’s feed. The humans screamed.

Mensah pushed us up into the air so fast and hard I nearly leaned over and everybody who wasn’t on the floor ended up there.

In the quiet afterward, as they gasped with relief, Pin-Lee said, “Ratthi, if you get yourself killed—”

“You’ll be very cross with me, I know.” Ratthi slid down the wall a little more and waved weakly at her.

“That’s an order, Ratthi, don’t get yourself killed,” Mensah said from the pilot’s seat. She sounded calm, but I have security priority, and I could see her racing heartbeat through MedSystem.

Arada pulled out the emergency medical kit so they could stop the bleeding and try to stabilize Bharadwaj. I tried to be as much like an appliance as possible, clamping the wounds where they told me to, using my failing body temperature to try to keep her warm, and keeping my head down so I couldn’t see them staring at me.

PERFORMANCE RELIABILITY AT 60% AND DROPPING

Our habitat is a pretty standard model, seven interconnected domes set down on a relatively flat plain above a narrow river valley, with our power and recycling system connected on one side. We had an environmental system, but no air locks, as the planet’s atmosphere was breathable, just not particularly good for humans for the long term. I don’t know why, because it’s one of those things I’m not contractually obligated to care about.

We picked the location because it’s right in the middle of the assessment area, and while there are trees scattered through the plain, each one is fifteen or so meters tall, very skinny, with a single layer of spreading canopy, so it’s hard for anything approaching to use them as cover. Of course, that didn’t take into account anything approaching via tunnel.

We have security doors on the habitat for safety but HubSystem told me the main one was already open as the hopper landed. Dr. Gurathin had a lift gurney ready and guided it out to us. Overse and Arada had managed to get Bharadwaj stabilized, so I was able to put her down on it and follow the others into the habitat.

The humans headed for Medical and I stopped to send the little hopper commands to lock and seal itself, then I locked the outer doors. Through the security feed, I told the drones to widen our perimeter so I’d have more warning if something big came at us. I also set some monitors on the seismic sensors to alert me to anomalies just in case the hypothetical something big decided to tunnel in.

After I secured the habitat, I went back to what was called the security ready room, which was where weapons, ammo, perimeter alarms, drones, and all the other supplies pertaining to security were stored, including me. I shed what was left of the armor and on MedSystem’s advice sprayed wound sealant all over my bad side. I wasn’t dripping with blood, because my arteries and veins seal automatically, but it wasn’t nice to look at. And it hurt, though the wound seal did numb it a little. I had already set an eight-hour security interdiction through HubSystem, so nobody could go outside without me, and then set myself as off-duty. I checked the main feed but no one was filing any objections to that.

I was freezing because my temperature controls had given out at some point on the way here, and the protective skin that went under my armor was in pieces. I had a couple of spares but pulling one on right now would not be practical, or easy. The only other clothing I had was a uniform I hadn’t worn yet, and I didn’t think I could get it on, either. (I hadn’t needed the uniform because I hadn’t been patrolling inside the habitat. Nobody had asked for that, because with only eight of them and all friends, it would be a stupid waste of resources, namely me.) I dug around one handed in the storage case until I found the extra human-rated medical kit I’m allowed in case of emergencies, and opened it and got the survival blanket out. I wrapped up in it, then climbed into the plastic bed of my cubicle. I let the door seal as the white light flickered on.

It wasn’t much warmer in there, but at least it was cozy. I connected myself to the resupply and repair leads, leaned back against the wall and shivered. MedSystem helpfully informed me that my performance reliability was now at 58 percent and dropping, which was not a surprise. I could definitely repair in eight hours, and probably mostly regrow my damaged organic components, but at 58 percent, I doubted I could get any analysis done in the meantime. So I set all the security feeds to alert me if anything tried to eat the habitat and started to call up the supply of media I’d downloaded from the entertainment feed. I hurt too much to pay attention to anything with a story, but the friendly noise would keep me company.

Then someone knocked on the cubicle door.

I stared at it and lost track of all my neatly arrayed inputs. Like an idiot, I said, “Uh, yes?”

Dr. Mensah opened the door and peered in at me. I’m not good at guessing actual humans’ ages, even with all the visual entertainment I watch. People in the shows don’t usually look much like people in real life, at least not in the good shows. She had dark brown skin and lighter brown hair, cut very short, and I’m guessing she wasn’t young or she wouldn’t be in charge. She said, “Are you all right? I saw your status report.”

“Uh.” That was the point where I realized that I should have just not answered and pretended to be in stasis. I pulled the blanket around my chest, hoping she hadn’t seen any of the missing chunks. Without the armor holding me together, it was much worse. “Fine.”

So, I’m awkward with actual humans. It’s not paranoia about my hacked governor module, and it’s not them; it’s me. I know I’m a horrifying murderbot, and they know it, and it makes both of us nervous, which makes me even more nervous. Also, if I’m not in the armor then it’s because I’m wounded and one of my organic parts may fall off and plop on the floor at any moment and no one wants to see that.

“Fine?” She frowned. “The report said you lost 20 percent of your body mass.”

“It’ll grow back,” I said. I know to an actual human I probably looked like I was dying. My injuries were the equivalent of a human losing a limb or two plus most of their blood volume.

“I know, but still.” She eyed me for a long moment, so long I tapped the security feed for the mess, where the non-wounded members of the group were sitting around the table talking. They were discussing the possibility of more underground fauna and wishing they had intoxicants. That seemed pretty normal. She continued, “You were very good with Dr. Volescu. I don’t think the others realized . . . They were very impressed.”

“It’s part of the emergency med instructions, calming victims.” I tugged the blanket tighter so she didn’t see anything awful. I could feel something lower down leaking.

“Yes, but the MedSystem was prioritizing Bharadwaj and didn’t check Volescu’s vital signs. It didn’t take into account the shock of the event, and it expected him to be able to leave the scene on his own.”

On the feed it was clear that the others had reviewed Volescu’s field camera video. They were saying things like I didn’t even know it had a face. I’d been in armor since we arrived, and I hadn’t unsealed the helmet when I was around them. There was no specific reason. The only part of me they would have seen was my head, and it’s standard, generic human. But they didn’t want to talk to me and I definitely didn’t want to talk to them; on duty it would distract me and off duty . . . I didn’t want to talk to them. Mensah had seen me when she signed the rental contract. But she had barely looked at me and I had barely looked at her because again, murderbot + actual human = awkwardness. Keeping the armor on all the time cuts down on unnecessary interaction.

I said, “It’s part of my job, not to listen to the System feeds when they . . . make mistakes.” That’s why you need constructs, SecUnits with organic components. But she should know that. Before she accepted delivery of me, she had logged about ten protests, trying to get out of having to have me. I didn’t hold it against her. I wouldn’t have wanted me either.

Seriously, I don’t know why I didn’t just say you’re welcome and please get out of my cubicle so I can sit here and leak in peace.

“All right,” she said, and looked at me for what objectively I knew was 2.4 seconds and subjectively about twenty excruciating minutes. “I’ll see you in eight hours. If you need anything before then, please send me an alert on the feed.” She stepped back and let the door slide closed.

It left me wondering what they were all marveling at so I called up the recording of the incident. Okay, wow. I had talked to Volescu all the way up the side of the crater. I had been mostly concerned with the hopper’s trajectory and Bharadwaj not bleeding out and what might come out of that crater for a second try; I hadn’t been listening to myself, basically. I had asked him if he had kids. It was boggling. Maybe I had been watching too much media. (He did have kids. He was in a four-way marriage and had seven, all back home with his partners.)

All my levels were too elevated now for a rest period, so I decided I might as well get some use out of it and look at the other recordings. Then I found something weird. There was an “abort” order in the HubSystem command feed, the one that controlled, or currently believed it controlled, my governor module. It had to be a glitch. It didn’t matter, because when MedSystem has priority—

PERFORMANCE RELIABILITY AT 39%, STASIS INITIATED FOR EMERGENCY REPAIR SEQUENCE.

#elk text #tmd #the murderbot diaries #if you aren't in a position to purchase the books check out (hehe) whether your local library has anything #i know there's audiobooks too and apparently they're pretty good #i tried to indent it and tungl did not like that #tried to make the opening break obvious

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idleglowingpixels · 2 years ago

Note

talk about Collector

WHYYYYYYYYYY okay now that I got that off my chest let's get serious LMAO

Before I dive in too deep, to any other ppl reading, THIS IS YOUR FAIR WARNING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ANY CRITICISM OF TOH. Something that is really apparent in this fandom particularly is that a lot of ppl refuse to allow and accept genuine criticism discussions, dumbing it down to personal biases, misinterpretations of the text (or in this case, the show), and proclaiming "It's intentional that the show did that!" every time someone breathes something negative about it. This is ESPECIALLY annoying with the "Blame Disney/the shortening" nonsense -- a key skill in television writing is to be capable of working with the allotted time that the studios give you. After they were told Season 3 got cut short, they still had 11 22-minute episodes of Season 2 and all three 40+ minute episodes of Season 3 to conclude the story in a satisfying way.

Seeking and reading criticism posts outside of the general tags, ignoring warnings on posts that give forewarnings, then getting mad and upset that someone criticized your comfort show is generally an unhealthy behavior, especially if you're not in a good mental state. If you can't take people criticizing something you enjoy, and more-so if you deem it your comfort media, and feel the need to bother them because you made yourself upset reading their posts, you've got a lot of soul searching to do. That, or maybe you should log off until you can handle it.

Also, obviously, spoilers ahead for TOH, as well as Amphibia because these shows parallel a lot more than I want them to. :')

---

I have a LOT to say about The Owl House from a critical and writing perspective, and I feel like the show is EXTREMELY overhyped for what it actually is. I feel its sister show Amphibia executed much of the same/similar themes better, and that's not even a bias thing. Just from the way both shows are written, you can tell which one feels more competently structured from a narrative standpoint (and, let's be honest, which one is actually funny).

Okay enough about general opinion, let's get to Collector. From a character design perspective, GOD I love this little guy, both the reflection/shadow form and the actual form are distinct from the rest of the cast. I'm a big Sun and Moon design/symbolism enjoyer (Sun and Moon from FNAF, Sun and Blake from RWBY, Celestia and Luna from MLP:FiM, etc.) so these types of characters are always welcome. And while their voice annoys me personally it ABSOLUTELY fits them, so no matter how annoying I find it I don't think I'd want them to have any other voice.

But that, unfortunately, is the only props I can give to Collector.

The show is FULL of redeemed antagonists that range from okay (I'd like to think Amity was decent enough and Hunter was alright but definitely should have been introduced earlier so his redemption was a slow burn but this post isn't about them so I'll end this note here) to "what the actual fuck" (Idc what anyone says, there is no excuses PERIOD, Lilith's redemption was the absolute worst redemption arc I think I've ever seen AND I'VE SEEN CATRA'S), and Collector is very much on the lower end of that scale. We hardly see them overall and their character writing is rushed beyond belief -- and again, I'd like to reiterate that that is ENTIRELY on the writing team for the show. Disney and the shortening DID NOT DECIDE TO KEEP COLLECTOR IN. The writing staff were aware of the time they had left and made the decision to shoehorn them in and expect everyone to just be okay with it.

From a writing perspective, they bloat the story exponentially and 100% should have been left in the drafts or saved for future content like what Dana said she might do if she is able to through books and such. If we only get hints of the other Collectors, this one should have STAYED hints with them.

We have essentially no significant amount of time with them outside of Hollow Mind and the season 2 finale before season 3, and what we DO have of them in season 2B is so drastically different I'd consider 2B Collector and 3 Collector as two different characters entirely. And before you tell me, "They're different because sun/moon symbolism!" "They're different because Belos and King influence them differently!" etc. etc., don't waste your time. Yes, those are good explanations as to why they feel so different between seasons, but that does not make the writing of the character inherently good. Allow me to elaborate:

In S2B, of what little we see of Collector, they are extremely sadistic in nature, and while they appear childish the writing of that lack of care for others is ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. And it seemed that way even as Belos first encountered him as Philip in the flashback episode. There, they weren't yet "influenced" by Belos and his plans; hell, he hardly had an actual plan yet.

Skip ahead to Hollow Mind, easily the best episode of Season 2 imo, and Collector is taunting Belos, mocking him and his schemes. Saying things like "Ooh, you were mad!" and "I'm starting to think you make those [grimwalkers] just to destroy them. You have fun with it, admit it!"

I cannot find any reasonable explanation as to how or why Belos would influence Collector into doing such things. Why would he want a little pain in the ass making fun of him for hundreds of years? And by his response to Collector's taunt about the grimwalkers and Hunter, "Of course I don't, Collector. It hurts every time he chooses to betray me," he took offense to their words, but kept his tone from shifting to anger as he does with everyone else because of Collector's power.

Belos doesn't want Collector thinking he doesn't like them because of their abilities, but he does want to stay on their good side for information. For knowledge of spells. And he puts up with Collector's annoyances because of that.

Essentially, that wasn't something Belos taught them or influenced them to do. All Collector knows is to adapt to their friends' behaviors, yes, but Belos is like, over 400 years old. I don't know about you, but I doubt with the way he speaks and how he's written that he would taunt his underlings in the same childish vain as Collector, and do so enough for Collector to pick up and mimic that behavior.

Now to the finale, their appearance is pretty much just them getting duped by Belos and sent into the depths of the titan skull, where King ever-so-conveniently finds them, making the pinky swear that releases them.

They maintain that mocking attitude even after Belos betrays them, calling King "boring" for calling them Mr. Collector and feeling generally disinterested by King before he promises a game to play. And even after they're released, they continue the attitude further with the whole "I remember someone throwing me off a bridge...I'm not angry, though!" bit, only to send Belos to his "death" moments after, deeming it as a game of tag. They've seen Belos kill grimwalkers first hand, fully aware that their lives mean nothing, and replicated the behavior by returning the favor to Belos (or so they thought). Their lack of care continues when they nearly try to do the same thing to the Hexsquad, people who didn't even do anything to them, before King stops them, changing the subject before they can cause further harm.

After stopping the draining spell, Collector continues the destructive maliciousness they have all the way to the end of the episode, and that's the impression of them we're left with. They were sadistic, uncaring and childish, but only learned the behavior of killing from Belos -- even though Belos didn't actually die, the intent was to kill him, and they were fully planning to continue with the Hexsquad.

And then...We get to Season 3.

Just a side-note, I think it's a safe assumption to say the first 2 seasons of The Owl House took place between roughly 2 months, as Luz was outside waiting to leave for a summer camp after the school year ended before initially arriving in the demon realm. Going off of that assumption, in Part 1 Luz returned to school as she returned to the human realm, presumably in late August/early September due to her living in Connecticut. And since Part 1 takes place in the timespan of about 3-7 days, the last day being Halloween, the timeskip only brought us about 2 more months ahead. Keep this in mind.

After Luz and co. return to the demon realm in Part 2 -- objectively the worst episode of the season -- we already see King's influence on Collector since they turned everyone into puppets instead of actively injuring or killing them when they don't comply. Still bad? Yes. But from how it looks in Part 3 with the Hexsquad, it seems more like the puppets' consciences are just comatose or an alternative to sleeping, maybe in a REM-like state. But of course, the show didn't have enough time to explain that further over all the nonsense in Part 2.

Anyway, when we see Collector in Part 2, they're still being childish, which is unfortunately the only thing that stays consistent with this character. They then say two lines that were the most god-awful writing decisions I've seen in a hot minute, and this show is STOCK FULL of really bad "this is peak humor LAUGH" moments like this.

They say that Eda has this "cool aunt vibe" and such, which sounds like one of those "character dynamics/tropes" posts on social media like Tumblr and whatnot. It comes off as really pretentious in the writing, and was shockingly unfunny to hear for a show that calls itself a comedy. Another line that frustrates me, more-so for lore reasons, is when they ask Odalia to make pizza bagels, when it was previously stated that human food is inaccessible to Luz during her time in the demon realm. So not only is it contradicting that whole thing (Eda actively struggled to find food for Luz that she could eat), how would they or King even know what one is or how to actually make one??

It seems like a small point to get heated over, but it once again feels like one of those stupid one-liners that one of the writers thought was the funniest shit they've ever thought up and kept it in because they knew die-hard fans would just laugh it off and brush it off as a joke, and that the writers forgetting about Eda's maternal struggle to feed her adopted kid is Disney's/the shortening's fault because they're at fault for everything wrong with the show...and not the ppl who wrote it.

Regardless, this whole shtick is extremely out-of-character for the way they had spoken in Season 2, and from what I can recall (I'm not gonna rewatch the entire show for the sake of a single post), King never talks like this. Luz does around him, but he himself doesn't talk like this.

I've discussed with friends before about this, including Robin (the one who asked me to talk about this), but from Part 2 onward Collector gets the same Luz-like writing every character that gets redeemed suddenly dawns out of the blue. I started calling it luz-ification, but it doesn't just happen to Collector.

It happened to Hunter, where his more cocky and ego-centric dialogues from early 2A was dropped for a more "comedic" personality and an anxiety-ridden character, though it's later eluded to that his cocky attitude was him masking his true self, so I try to keep it to that perspective.

But this happened to Lilith as well, where she suddenly started acting like "Cool Aunt Lilith" IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING HER ADMITTING TO CURSING EDA AND ALLOWING HER CAPTURE. WITH NO CONSEQUENCES TO BE FACED OTHER THAN THE CURSE SPLIT WHICH IS HARDLY UTILIZED IN THE SHOW.

(Side-tangent: Characters facing little to no consequences for their actions is something that goes on so much in this show but this is long enough already and I really don't like talking about this shit for long 'cause I could be using my time on better pieces of media, I'm sure there's plenty of posts explaining this point elsewhere by ppl who enjoyed TOH more than me)

Hell, it even happened to Amity for a hot minute. For some moments in the show she's written really off-character and saying things that just completely contradict how she's typically written, but then goes back to the more sassy and balanced character later on.

This post has gotten WAY longer than I wanted it to be, but to keep me from spending even more time on this, Part 2 shows a drastically different Collector, to the point that they do not by any means have the same character writing as they had before. They got luz-ified. Using social media lingo they couldn't even have access to in canon, and being written to quite literally just sound like a mini-me of Luz with the more obnoxious undertones of the childish thing.

Point is, they mimic these behaviors of Luz that they wouldn't even have reasonable access to learning from, because she's in the human realm for almost all the time after their release. It only makes sense in Part 3, when Luz is actually there for them to see her behaviors in action, but even that is so contrived and rushed that it feels unrealistic and narratively unnecessary. Remember what I said before about the timeskip only being 2 months? Yeah, 2 months isn't nearly enough time for a character to fundamentally change who they are as drastically as Collector.

Now to the part where I talk about Amphibia really quick and mention how it did the whole "having an alternative threat acting as a mini-boss" thing a million times better than this shit ever could. King Andrias, paralleling Collector for this particular scenario, is shown relatively early on that he's an antagonist to the audience. It's later revealed as a plot twist not to the audience, but to the characters, who least expected it. They don't waste time trying to throw off the audience with red herrings or telling its audience "He's not a bad guy, he's totally not going to be evil later on." They just show the audience he's evil and keep the story moving.

He's given enough time to feel like this ominous, looming threat, and True Colors masterfully showed how messed up this guy is and the lengths he is willing to go to ascend to the Core and cheat death, just as the souls within the Core had. His motive to avoid death and return Amphibia to the world-conquering ideologies from centuries' past is what made him such a love-to-hate villain. And the motive to cheat death in a children's cartoon? Metal as hell. The Core also parallels Belos here, and further on in Season 3, being the one manipulating Andrias through his fear of death in order to make him do what they want him to.

In the third season, Andrias continues his work by the Core's demands, only giving up in the final battle when he's read a letter from someone he had considered a friend long ago, which admittedly didn't have much set-up but it was at least the focus of an entire episode prior to the big pre-finale.

At the end of the series, he's shown to have moved on, allowing himself to age naturally and to stop using technology to keep him in pristine condition for eternity. He accepted the natural cycle of life, and in turn accepted that he will come to pass one day. He wasn't a perfectly written character, but considering what it's being compared to? Leagues better.

Like I said before, TL;DR, Collector is the bloatware of The Owl House's plot. They were shoved in as a last minute addition because they were the writers' "precious bean silly goose little gremlin blorbo" that they couldn't just keep in the drafts with the rest of the collectors. So instead of maintaining what little integrity the show's writing had to begin with and follow through to the end with the Day of Unity plotline being the series finale (Which was VERY OBVIOUSLY WHAT THEY WERE GOING FOR), they essentially made a side quest distraction that dragged the story on for longer than it needed to, wasting the audience's time.

I'm not mad that the Collector exists, I just find that their inclusion in the series did more harm than good for the writing. The show has a serious issue with giving screentime to unnecessary characters like the miscellaneous Hexside students, giving characters too much screentime (The biggest offender for this is Amity, there's more episodes centered around her than Hunter, Willow and Gus combined) and not giving ACTUALLY necessary characters enough screentime (Looking at you, Emerald Trio).

I really want to rewrite TOH, and if I feel the need to rewrite a show, it's usually because there's too much fundamentally wrong with it for me to give it anything higher than a 6/10 overall. But I've already got a whole AU and a whole rewrite in the works for two other series I care wayyyyy more about, so that's gonna have to be left to other writers in this fandom.

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If this post is how you've stumbled upon my page, hi :') Feel free to ask me about more or to elaborate on smth I said here if you want clarification, but if you check out my intro post and see another mutual interest we have maybe ask me about that instead of TOH please and thank you

#toh criticism #toh critical #the collector #heed my warning or get blocked #I'm not dealing with ppl that take general media criticism personally #anyway have fun with this novel ig #amphibia is so much better than this show and I'm tired of ppl not seeing that

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cwilbah · 8 months ago

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tagged by @sickfreaksirkay thank youu <3

Last song listened to - set me free by jimin because i re-watched this dance cover. it's one of my favourite covers i love the person covering jimin:

youtube

Last Book Read - 'making edwardian costumes for women' by suzanne rowland. it's been sitting in my room for like two months now lmao i need to take it back because i read it front-to-back and i don't need it anymore but my uni's library is out of my way</3

Last Film - good question… i don't know lol it's been months since i've seen a movie so i dont remember orz

Last TV - hannibal because my sister is bingeing it right now and i watched some of it out of curiosity. i'm not a tv show person so it was .. interesting. i see why people like it but i think im just a watch-the-same-things-over-again person </3

Last Video Game- lotro, to claim the free mount giftbox on my main toon and also to log into my other toons on laurelin so i dont get kicked out of the kins

Last Thing Googled - 'how to make photocard holder kpop'. i don't have any pcs on me (theyre all with my albums back home so i might buy replica ones on etsy) but im looking at ways to spice up my backpack. it only has pins and i want more stuff on it!!! i think i just need to go get a plastic folio thing, sew a rectangle, cut it out, put a keychain on it and boom simple pc holder.

Last Thing Ate - tangerines 🍊 but these ones seem to be hit or miss lol one will be good and the next will be kinda weak and shitty. i have a whole bag so i'm going to eat them all anyways

Sweet Savoury or Spicy - sweet always!!!!! you will have to pry chocolate out of my cold dead hands

Amount of sleep - last night i got like 4 hours :'( i miss having black out curtains so badly. i could sleep through anything and now if its 9 am and the sun's bright out, i'm awake

Currently Reading - i'm always in a perpetual state of reading le morte darthur. one day i will get through it!!! i just have to get through the first couple paragraphs first 🧍‍♂️

Currently Watching - im in the middle of watching run bts episodes because i am so incredibly far behind. like when the hell was there 155 episodes??? i just finished this special ep specifically:

youtube

on my to-watch list is teen wolf.. i will get to that eventually. probably in may or june when uni's done. i can't get into something new this month, i have to do my assignments that are all due in 19 days :X

Tagging - @danshine @ba-sil @wei--wuxian @permafrost7767 @cooliostarstache @cantofworms and anyone else i havent tagged but wants to

#tobias talks #girl im about to make an unwise financial decision

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findthenorthstar · 10 months ago

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A Follow up to the last post

An actual full list of projects and their progress

Dnd hombrew setting guide book (50 pages in mostly formating, few rule sets fully added in.)

2. Slice of life book The stars are made for us (11,000 words, chapters and story fully planned out. Just need to write it all.) 3. Horror fantasy story podcast "Agerath's log" (two episodes fully written, 20 fully thought out, main story arcs noted.) 4. Short story Spirit above the world (2,000 words so far, Good writing done) 5. A Full Billy Joel Musical (song order and changes added, characters and story complete, need to add dialogue next) 6. Music or... something. My artist tag. (some songs fully written, need to be recorded) 7. 3 dnd games Ocultus fallus (Story fully written) Eather Engine (Story somewhat written) Circle of Old King (main arcs written)

This is the full list of projects at this time however I will mention a few wants I want to do. 1. An arg (I have had an idea for one for two years) 2. Want to write new stand up comedy (I used to do some) 3. An actual ongoing blog. 4. A dnd podcast called homebrew and moutain dew. In which each episode we talk about homebrew while reviewing a diffrent flavor of mt dew.

#neurodivergent #adhd #autism #I think i have a problem #help me #projects #wips #wip #dnd #writing #author

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fourorfivemovements · 8 months ago

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Tagged by @rebeccamarinwife (thank you! :D)

1. Nickname: Lucão, wich is just an augmentative version of my name.

2. Height: 1.70m

3. Last google search: Closey Watched Trains, a movie from 1966. One of my Letterboxd mutuals logged it and I got curious about it.

4. Song stuck in my head : Änïmä, by Milton Nascimento.

5. Number of followers: 1.590.

6. Amount of sleep: 7 hours, 5 to 6 the last few days.

7. Dream job: Art historian.

8. Wearing: A black shirt, blue jeans and blue shoes.

9. Movie/book that summarizes you: Ooohhh, that's a hard one. I want to say Fantasia, because that's where a lot of my life interests come from.

10. Aesthetic: Watch any episode from the Granada Sherlock Holmes series and you will get an idea of what it is. At least what I hope I can achieve as an aesthetic.

11. Favorite authors: J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Brontë, Álvares de Azevedo, Oscar Wilde, Fernando Pessoa.

12. Favorite song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, by The Beatles.

13. Random fact: I watched Jaws 3, Alien 3, Home Alone 2 and Ferngully 2 BEFORE watching the original movies.

I tag @agoldenbear @feralgodmothers @imsinenomine @decomposion @cafeomancer and anyone else who wants to do it ;)

#tumblr stuff #rebeccamarinwife #My Post

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jaeellec · 4 months ago

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Instagram🔹Wattpad🔹Ko-fi🔹Art Tag

Formerly apirateslifeforbudgie

Welcome! You've had the misfortune of stumbling upon my blog, but may as well linger while you're here!

My ask box and messages are always open! I don't mind chit chat about common interests or OCs, just be sure to keep things kind!

Commissions are currently open! I need to make another comm post, but feel free to message me in the meantime! I offer character art ranging from simple busts to full design sheets, Log Collection covers, Wattpad covers, wanted posters, devil fruit design, Hanafuda cards, fake screenshots, so on and so forth. And I have a graphic design background, so I can do logos too! Whatever you need, I'm your girl~

I've got all the basic bases covered above, but *Starship Troopers voice* would you like to know more?

I go by Jaeelle! At least on the internet I do. This is a One Piece blog that I made for the sole purpose of posting my fanart and fanfiction with JJK content showing up from time to time. You will also see my OCs often - especially my main character - I've had most of them for a very long time and they are a major part of me. Currently, they are in the world of One Piece while a handful are also in JJK at the moment. I will talk more of my fics a little further down!

As much as I love One Piece (despite trashing it for years and years please forgive me), it is not my only interest! I am very much into plenty of other anime (literally too many to name), video games (ranging all the way from Stardew Valley to the SoulsBorne games. Monster Hunter World, The Witcher 3, Skyrim and Fallout 3 are personal favorites), horror movies, TV shows (GOT/HOTD, The Boys, Love Death & Robots, Yellowjackets, Spartacus), comic books (I used to own a comic shop!), music, and dragons! I love, love, love dragons.

Clearly, I am very much into many fantasy tales of all medium. If there's anything to know about me, it's that I love deep-diving into lore and background for characters and worlds alike, and I hope that presents itself in my writing. And speaking of...

As I mentioned, my characters are currently in the worlds of One Piece and JJK. While I have written or posted nothing for JJK (and am unsure if I will), below is how the One Piece story has shaped itself!

ONE PIECE: WANDERING STAR - (In Progress/Unpublished for now) This is the main story! It focuses on the Captain Trio and is led by my main character, as this is her story - the classic One Piece tale of reclaiming a kingdom but take it a little darker. Lots of revenge, so much beheading, but a little wonder and romance sweetens the adventure.

If you would like to sample some snippets from the story to see if you're into it, check them out here.

There is also a playlist I made for the series here!

BLACK STAR - (Not Started/Not Posted) If Wandering Star is dark, then this prequel story of Carmen's time in Eventide is downright gritty. Glimpses will be given in WS, but this is the brutal uncut tale, and it takes place roughly around the events of Sabaody and the Summit War.

DAMN THE STARS - (Select Scenes/Not Posted) This is Wandering Star's sequel! It's a Kid Pirate story that runs parallel to the in-anime events ranging from just before Punk Hazard to the start of Wano. Still undecided how far I wanna take the mature content in this one.

There are also anime inserts to be written for my main character! While there are some earlier mentions, her first "official" in-anime appearance would start at episode 603 and (as of today) end at episode 1112. But I'm sure there will be more to come!

That should be a good start! Enjoy your adventure!

#blog intro #one piece #jjk

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msmargaretmurry · 2 years ago

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rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better or who are just your friends who you always tag on these things wait who said that. i was tagged by @vivathewilddog

last song: "the absence of god" by rilo kiley. when i was at a wonder years show last month, "it's a hit" came on one of the between-sets playlists, which obviously made me want to listen to the entirety of more adventurous, which i then went home and did, and then my favorite tracks from the album migrated over to my metro playlist, which i was listening to on shuffle on my way home from work today and that was the last song that played before i got back to my apartment.

last show: i am going to interpret this as last music show, since there's a tv question right below this, and concerts are more interesting. i saw vienna teng at a tiny coffeeshop this past weekend! it was lovely! she's so good!!! also last month i went to two wonder years shows in a row and lost my voice for several days. they're also so good!!!

currently watching: i'm watching 911, abbott elementary, and bob's burgers loosely as they air (usually within a few days of the new episode dropping), and i'm watching ted lasso but i'm a few episodes behind, because apple tv logged me out of tasha's account and it's a pain in the ass to log back in. i am very slowly working my way through succession and just finished season one. also, because sometimes you need to put on a gimmicky procedural from the mid-late '00s and let it totally smooth out your brain, i've been watching the mentalist to unwind before bed. it is such a stupid little copaganda show and it makes my brain feel so smooth.

currently reading: i just finished the member of the wedding by carson mccullers, which is the book for this weekend's book club meeting and i'm excited to discuss it with my pals! and i just started the dead romantics by ashley poston, which i can tell is going to grate on me a little, stylistically, but i'm soldiering on because i'm trying to give more contemporary romances a shot. i am also still slowly working my way through the home team: fathers, sons, and hockey by roy macgregor — i read a chapter every week or so, it usually makes me cry, etc etc.

current obsession: god i guess it's still. fuckin rat boy. ratthew. tkachuckles cheese himself. and his big dumb german boyfrienemy. also i know it's been over half a year but i'm still obsessed with the hum goes on forever. also obsessed with playing old jimmy eat world songs on the guitar, with making silly little beverages with the office keurig as afternoon treats, and with maggie’s and my current main chatfic, which will never leave the gchats but sustains me nonetheless. OH also obsessed with that one cidery, iykyk, i wanna go baaaaaaaaack

i'm tagging @hopetorun @bropunzeling @leapyeap @drysdaales @birdcage @thecroissantgirl @bakingblues @slightly @devantesmithpelly if y'all want to! 💖

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threebooksoneplot · 8 months ago

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New guest and ex-mormon Sunshine is here to shed some light on the mormon influences in the Twilight saga in a totally wild pre-book talk with G and Shannon! Then it’s time to tackle chapter 13 of New Moon, including werewolf drama, vampiric revelations, and incredibly significant wood.

#episode 35 #3b1p season 2 #poll #Spotify

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arwainian · 1 year ago

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i was tagged by @podcastingpineapple in "9 people I'd like to know better"

Last Song: Greetings by Pilotredsun. This made me realize I hadn't listened to music in a few days, just podcasts, so in order to have a song I just went and put on a playlist for a friend's TSL character

Currently Watching: the current Master Chef season, a day or so after each episode airs. also plenty of people on youtube playing magic the gathering to act as background noise throughout my day

Currently Reading: Heart Haunt Havoc by Freydís Moon. I decided I was gonna finish this book this morning so I am one chapter away from completing it at time of typing (pay attention to my posts in "#cal reading log" if you want to keep track of what I read! there's a lot, and i'm always happy to talk about it)

Current Obsession: hm, my monsterhearts season that's reaching its conclusion? cleaning a bathroom bit by bit? friends at the table obviously

9 people I'd like to know better! @ourplesummer (it was your character playlist that I picked out!) @clementineskesh @misspickman @scholarschism @mosswolf @ahwhoevenknows @ernestinapickman (and now for two people I know very well but would like to get involved with a fun little tag game:) @febo-asoma @tzeimi

#tag game

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berrypass-de-murdler · 2 months ago

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2 - 16 Yule Pay For This + clearup post

I apologize for yesterday. I was caught up in a lot of unwanted drama. I'm still trying to get things settled.

One thing I want to make clear though which I think was misunderstood - I am not opposed to spam-reblogging. It doesn't hurt anyone and I wasn't actually part of the post regarding it. It was a misunderstanding, and I did not oblige that post nor did I want to be referenced in it.

On a less serious note

I am very happy to see that the murdle underdogs me and @royalleblue are up on the tag!! <3 I LOV YOU BLUE!!!

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Poor Gico tries to sleep through the morning again. But he’s interrupted (shocker)!

VIOLET: Wake up, sleepyhead! LOGICO: …I thought for sure Christmas would be the last of these ‘holiday parties’... VIOLET: NOPE! It’s time for Yule! LOGICO: …The fuck is Yule- VIOLET: We’re all gathering to one of my huge mega-mansions in the coldest part of Drakonia! To feel more ‘authentic’.

An episode title that ends in ‘for this’? Surely my precious chonkers must be there!

Why of course, along with the measly Flint and the emotionless Celadon. They’re all standing on the roof, freezing, with a single heater.

LOGICO: Lovely. So… what is Yule. VIOLET: I dunno! Probably just celebrating the cold. LOGICO: But it shouldn’t be cold, it’s almost summer. VIOLET: Not here it’s not! This place is freezing year-round.

The only things around are a stand for ‘drinks’ and empty space, which Violet has dubbed a ‘dance floor’. They all stand around the heater.

VIOLET: This is fun!! Right?? FLINT: Fun. Want to know that word origin… CHALK: …no… LOGICO: WHAT IS YULE?!?

He’s so bored, he falls asleep against the heater and very nearly catches fire. He wakes up to Violet screaming at him.

VIOLET: WAKE UP!!!

Logico sees that the heater is now broken, and there’s also a dead mechanic beside it. Everyone is shivering. Flint has icicles growing on him!

VIOLET: Okay. Logico, you deal with the murder, everyone else, we’ll warm up better if we move around! CHALK: …or we go home… VIOLET: PARDON? CHALK: NAAAAAAAAAA-

Flint tries some breakdancing moves to ‘break’ the ice. (So many puns in one!) He’s not good.

CELADON: Snowball fight. That’s exercise.

She yeets a snowball from nowhere at the little guy. He ducks, and it explodes in flames when it hits the ground!

FLINT: WHAT THE FUCK?

Chalk is holding a log, which is suspicious. He’s also eating it, which is… also suspicious, I guess?

LOGICO: The fuck are you doing? CHALK: I don’t know how long she’ll keep me here, and I CAN’T have one of those ‘drinks’ as sustenance!

Celadon monotonously chugs one and then throws up off the edge. Not only is that the most ‘emotion’ she’s ever shown, but that’s the third time someone’s barfed onscreen in just the second book!

Irratino gets a note in the mail from Flint. He has to do some research into Yule, and discovers a vital clue that could save Logico. He tries over and over to radio the island! And he just can’t reach…

Logico uncovers the truth without him.

CHALK: [scream!!!] LOGICO: You can’t play the victim card now! CELADON: Fucking Christ, Logico. LOGICO: …Alright that was a little tasteless. CHALK: Oh, oh, oh, I hate this cold! So much… but when the mechanic came to fix the heater, he slipped a manuscript into my bag!

He shows it off. “The Joys of Heater Repair - p.s., publish me plz”

CHALK: NAAAAAAAA! I hate when they do that! Even more than the cold! So I FREAKED OUT!! And I’m sorry…

Logico snorts in disbelief. But not really.

CHALK: …I should go…

He slowly inches to the stairs, but Violet and the others take a vote. Since he is the only warm-blooded creature there, they agree that he should stay.

CHALK: …Oh. Hooray…

Everyone has to hold onto him for warmth. And it makes him so uncomfortable…

The end!

Mai precious chonkers <3

Warning abalone is in the next episode

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

#murdle #cartoonmurdleverse

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