Learning To Be A Person

“Learning to be a Person”

Excellent take. There’s some crossover here with Wayfarers (Becky Chambers).

to the extent that becoming an adult is a kind of “learning to be a person” this is exactly what MB is doing in a very literal sense. As with the Aandrisk expression for coming of age, translated: “learning to be a person” MB’s task is not so much to turn into something it wasn’t before but to learn how to interact with others and itself on those unfamiliar terms, and to do so largely outside of a space that will leave room for it to do so slowly or safely.

for both MB and the Aandrisks - and in contrast to the incremental trial and error humans try to allow for adolescents - becoming its own independent person is a bit like trying to get on a merry-go-round spinning as fast as the other kids can turn it.

at least on Hashkath you’ve got a hatch family to provide a soft landing. In the CR though, MB’s facing the most gruesome of mulch-eating wipeouts if that jump misses.

Good thing it’s sturdy.

The Murderbot Diaries could be read as the coming-of-age story of a late teen/young adult.

(Spoilers for basically the entire Murderbot series)

-At the end of the first book, Murderbot strikes out on its own for the first time.

-It adapts to its new, wider world, tries out a few jobs, and learns about itself in the process.

-Eventually, it sees something that reminds it of its family and starts to miss them.

-It returns home, having learned a lot along the way.

-It experiences a family crisis that puts a new burden of responsibility on it.

-It begins its formal career, this time with help from friends and family.

-It meets someone and they decide to move in together, but Murderbot knows it can always visit its family.

A journey much like the one many of us experience in life. Maybe this is part of what makes Murderbot such a sympathetic character.

written by kaveh akbar

Down for that all day long.

you ever read a fic so good you want to sit around and discuss it with people english class style

This is about Amena applying to PUOMANT while ART becomes suspiciously (annoyingly) invested in construct education. Three gets its first solo mission. MB does *not* get to enjoy its serial in peace.

“This reads like fanfiction (it feels like it was written by a preteen, and most of such things posted publicly are fanfic)” vs “This reads like fanfiction (it has a focus on character and relationships, like the style of a lot of modern fanfic)” vs “This reads like fanfiction (it keeps referencing people and events with the assumption that the audience is already familiar with them, like how fanfic doesn’t need to rehash the source material)”