The Collector Toh - Tumblr Posts
SAME
ENERGY
Not to mention that I made a post where I mention how Luffy and Collector are similar, except that Luffy has mental and emotional maturity and Collector doesn't.
It would be quite interesting if Dana based on Luffy (and especially his Gear 5th form) to create Collector or just she at least knew about Luffy and his Gear 5th form.
If this is Belos using the Collector's power of reality manipulation to gain possession of the titans heart,
while Collector seems to only use his powers to put Luz, Eda and King in dangerous games
does that mean that Luz being dressed as Belos was his own idea? Because it seems very weird to me that while hexsquad are dressed in clothes from the past, Luz is the only one who, instead of having a past appearance, is dressed as Belos.
There are two options for this to be possible:
1) Collector decides to do this on his own before Belos steals his powers.
2) Belos convinces Collector to make Luz and Hexsquad revert to their past outfits while Luz is dressed as Belos, telling him it's an appropriate way to punish Luz for taking King away from him.
3) Belos, after getting Collector's reality manipulation power to possess the titan's body through his heart, decides to make hexsquad have their past appearances but Luz is dressed as him.
If options 2 and 3 turn out to be true, this would prove that Belos is so obsessed with Luz that he dresses her as him because he wants to turn her into his successor, his heir and protege, or he simply wants to force Luz to see things his way, to be like him.
SAME
ENERGY
Not to mention that I made a post where I mention how Luffy and Collector are similar, except that Luffy has mental and emotional maturity and Collector doesn't.
It would be quite interesting if Dana based on Luffy (and especially his Gear 5th form) to create Collector or just she at least knew about Luffy and his Gear 5th form.
If this is Belos using the Collector's power of reality manipulation to gain possession of the titans heart,
while Collector seems to only use his powers to put Luz, Eda and King in dangerous games
does that mean that Luz being dressed as Belos was his own idea? Because it seems very weird to me that while hexsquad are dressed in clothes from the past, Luz is the only one who, instead of having a past appearance, is dressed as Belos.
There are two options for this to be possible:
1) Collector decides to do this on his own before Belos steals his powers.
2) Belos convinces Collector to make Luz and Hexsquad revert to their past outfits while Luz is dressed as Belos, telling him it's an appropriate way to punish Luz for taking King away from him.
3) Belos, after getting Collector's reality manipulation power to possess the titan's body through his heart, decides to make hexsquad have their past appearances but Luz is dressed as him.
If options 2 and 3 turn out to be true, this would prove that Belos is so obsessed with Luz that he dresses her as him because he wants to turn her into his successor, his heir and protege, or he simply wants to force Luz to see things his way, to be like him.
They probably don't ngl
Ok, the more I've thought about it, the more I think I understand why the conclusion they gave the Collector was so off to me. And I think it was mainly two things; the execution of it, and the vagueness of it. Let me explain.
Disclaimer! I am not claiming to know everything about writing or how to do it, so take this with a grain of salt ^^
(Major spoilers below!!! You've been warned!)
First of all, I feel the need to clarify that, a lot of the vagueness here does probably have a little bit to do with how much time they had left for this. (The shows cancelation and all that.) The crew had about, like, 10 minutes to properly wrap everything up? So they needed to make it fast enough to fit as much in. With a good majority of the characters and the conclusion of their arcs, there just isn't that much to go that in depth into.
Luz? She can properly travel between both realms now, her insecurities and guilt complex have been dealt with, and she can properly be herself around the people she loves.
Eda? While, she does still have to deal with the curse, shes properly accepted it as a part of her, and feels free to be around the people she loves.
King? While he's definitely still got a lot to learn about himself, he's more free to do so than ever and has the support and help to do so from the people around him, and those he loves. I can go on with basically everyone else, but I think you get the idea by now.
The more I think about it, in theory/concept, I think having the Collector go back to space can work. But you have to establish three main things in order for it to do so.
1) Give us enough of an idea for what exactly he will be doing in space to grow as a person. Presumably, to me anyway, I feel like they're most likely on some kind of quest to undo as much of their siblings's doings. Until, potentially facing them directly again.
2) Make sure to note that the Collector is fully aware of the fact that he has a genuine and loving support group/found family that he can return whenever he feels the need to see them again. And especially make it clear that they do just that when they can. Not too often, but still somewhat regularly.
3) Inforce the fact that the aforementioned support system/found family (Luz, King and Eda, though this can include others later on) really do care about the Collector's well being and that they are willing to be there for him when they can be.
Alrighty!! Now that I have those things out of the way, let me explain how the show messed up properly showcasing them, despite how expertly everything before this was handled.
When the epilouge's beginning starts after Luz has finally put an end to Belos's evil-doing, we get to see everyone slowly start getting use to the new circumstances of their home. None of it can ever be the same way it was before, but that's definetely for the better in most cases. After all, everyone's gone through a lot as of recently. Especially this episode.
Including, (and in my opinion, most of all) the Collector. For the last ??? amount of years, everything in their life has been... stagnent, inauthentic and overall not great. Even during what we saw during For The Future. Despite it's happy, cheery and colorful surface, it was only really a facade to mask the lack of actual care and support that Collector has in his life.
The stories and adventures he plays out with King are like his own interpretation from a game of broken telephone. They can only really immitate the genuine experience and connection formed when the real thing happened. All the denizens of the Boiling Isles are reduced to a sparkly, cute puppeted version of themselves. Lacking any real emotion in order to go along with the tone of the story.
Realistically speaking, King is the only somewhat genuine thing in the Collector's world. He's the only person that they can trust and talk to. Sure, he techically has his distant, idealized connection with Eda, but she's (at least to the Collector's knowledge) always stuck as the owl beast. So that's kind of impractical for him.
In all of these stories and games of pretend, the Collector takes what would otherwise be Luz's role in King's life. They're jealous of the relation she's had with King for so long. Collector knows that while he's close to King, they can't be as close to him as Luz.
Going by this information, we can come to the conclusion that the Collector desperately wants to have real friends, and people who won't use him or lie to him. Much like how his (presumably) distant, but still likely very ill-intentioned siblings, the Archivists did. First so they wouldn't have to deal with him, and later to take all his friends away. This pattern continued with Belos, which also lead to betrayal and abandonment for the Collector.
For his entire life, Collector has struggled grasping empathy and the overall concept of death. He said it himself, clear as day. "Toys break all the time! You just fix em'!". There is a fundamental misunderstanding for him in this regard that they are unaware of.
As for the struggle with empathy, his status as an all-powerful immortal tends to make him kinda unapproachable for most non-immortals. So in order to actually play with people who he wants to play with, but are afraid of him, he forces them to do so against their wills.
Near the beginning of Watching and Dreaming, Luz and Co. are finally able to try explaining what it means to understand other people to the Collector. And after a bit, it seems like they're finally starting to get it. Kindness and forgiveness! Who guessed it was that easy all this time?? Soon after this, the Collector tries applying his newly found morals towards the first person they can. Unfortunately for everyone, that person is the furthest thing from somebody who can be reasoned with.
The Collector starts to feel as if they can finally fix things, only to nearly get blasted by Belos, mere seconds later. Thankfully, Luz swept in to safe him and tries explaining to him that he did do the right thing, just... not with the right person. Soon enough, we find out that Luz did get grazed by Belos's power. She immediately starts disintegrating and disappearing before everyone, but more specifically, before the Collector's eyes. Moments after this, Collector is... scared, but mainly confused. King and Eda are completely speechless, only being able to stare ahead of them. The Collector tries to bring Luz back, only for nothing to happen. Things go from bad to worse when King and Eda lose themselves entirely and start fighting off Belos.
In this moment, right before Luz comes back with her titan powers, the Collector is about the lowest they've been in forever. Having just realized that they can't just fix everything with the snap of their finger, and completely powerless to do ANYTHING. King and Eda are there, but they're not there. Luz is gone. There's nowhere they could go from here. It's hopeless.
A bit after Luz comes back, the Collector decides to do something with their currently fading power and help everyone in the Archives (yknow, from falling hundreds of feet in the air towards their certain deaths).
After Belos is defeated and all the goop goes away, the Collector gently falls onto the floor of the Archives, exhausted. The moment they see Amity (someone he doesn't know well, but knows is close to Luz) walk towards him, he covers his head, expecting for her to start scolding or even attacking him. But she doesn't. She reaches her hand out to him as a friendly sign of peace, and understanding. His face literally lights up when this happens.
After all of this, while I think that Collector really can't be in the Isles all the time, considering how many people probably won't be that ok with having him around all the time after what he did, it's still obvious to me that they do finally have people who they can lean on and properly be better around. Luz, King and Eda.
...Too bad that their send-off scene doesn't make any that clear!! Like, whatsoever!!
While, yeah you can say that the main trio are DEFINITELY also exhausted after everything, I don't think that would make them all of a sudden be totally fine with the Collector leaving into space on his own.
Firstly, unless we can assume that what I said earlier about him undoing the Archivists's damage where he can, it seems like he's just, isolating himself so he can't hurt anyone until he feels worthy enough to ~maybe~ go back to the Boiling Isles eventually? You know. Like the same thing Luz wanted to do in Thanks To Them because she felt like a burden onto everyone around her? But there atleast, the show made it clear that everyone seeing Luz confess to this, had a problem with it.
During this scene. We don't see anyone other than King go after the Collector. Sure Luz is looking, but that still doesn't count for much. The phrasing of King's last onscreen words to the Collector are "I hope I see you again" before he gives them François. The way this was worded makes the idea of King giving François to the Collector seem more like an almost permanent goodbye gift. Like, the two of them won't be seeing each other again, or at least for a LOONG WHILE.
I think that adding on a "soon" at the end of "I hope I see you again" could've made it a lot better, and make it more obvious that François being given to the Collector is to remind them of their newly found family and that they will be there for him, wherever he is in the universe. Which I feel is way more fitting coming from King. Like his own version of "I don't know what the future holds, but it would be so cool if you were in it" to the Collector.
One thing that I feel like made everything make way less sense is the "No one argued" line from Luz. It makes literally no sense to me considering everything they've been through together? Like?? You'd think Luz and Eda would atleast ask him if he'll be okay going away on his own?? Considering that Luz was able to recognize where the Collector was at the beginning of the episode, it feels extremely out of character for her not to recognize what they're going through here, especially when taking into account that she went through something VERY similar as of very recently herself??
As for Eda, she just kind of, lays back away from the whole situation to begin with? For some reason? Which also feels weird to me since she was also open to being there for him earlier in the episode? She's grown enough at this point to know what to say to kids when she can tell they're not doing well at the moment. Not to mention how she would also probably be able to recognize the Collector trying to isolate themselves as something she's also gone through to protect the people she cares about!! She's fully aware it doesn't work out well when you have absolutely no one by your side! So I feel like having her atleast also reminding the Collector that they're all here for him would've meant a lot more.
As for why all of this came off as really jarring to a lot of people (i'm mainly using myself as an example here btw), The Owl House has always been a show that's overall narrative message has been about found family for different people. The main example I'll be using here is for neurodivergent people. Whether or not it's something like ADHD, autism, or any kind of personality disorder.
The Collector, to me anyway, is extremely ND coded in a few ways. So, in a way, to me personally, having it seem like nobody out of the main trio was actually concerned with the Collector's well being in this scene, felt... jarring? It gave off the message of "neurodivergent people deserve love and belonging, unless they have unstable emotional regulation and struggle grasping empathy, in which case it's okay if they isolate themselves from the people they love because those loved ones don't care about them enough to where they would have a problem with the person isolating themselves", which would be ridiculously insensetive and insulting from what's otherwise such an open-minded and emotionally mature show. I read ts this way when I first watched the episode when it aired, and I feel safe to say that it was not what I needed to hear at the moment. I feel like I'm doing better now, and I understand why it hit me the way it did considering everything I mentioned earlier.
I'm not calling anybody who worked on TOH ableist for any of this, and I want to make that clear. This was obviously unintentional on their end and I'm glad that I can understand that now. This show has been here for me and so many other people through so much and other than this on gripe I have with the Collector's send-off scene, the finale was everything I could've asked for and more. That's all.
Rats are definitely very cute and very underrated. <3 My sister used to have a pet rat that was very sweet and social.
Oooh now I'm imagining the Collector with a fluffy eastern dragon palisman like Falkor from the Never Ending Story or Sisu from Raya and the Last Dragon. 🥰😍🤩😻
A good extended breakdown.
What would the Collectors' Palisman be?
That's what I will be theorizing today!
Kitsune. In my opinion.
What do Foxes represent?
Foxes, generally, represent cunning, playfulness and resilience. They walk the fine line between the wilds and urban living, making the best of both environments. They are adaptable, clever and full of mischief.
One of the most common associations with foxes is their cleverness and resourcefulness. (as said from above) They are known for their ability to outsmart predators and humans alike, and have long been associated with trickery and deceit. (I will be talking about this part early on) This cunning nature has earned them a place in many cultures as a symbol of intelligence and shrewdness. In fact, the phrase "as sly as a fox" has become a popular expression to describe someone who is clever and quick-witted.
Most of these (not all) are personality traits of our Collector.
The Little Prince parallels
The Collector himself, is clearly inspired from "The Little Prince" a story about loneliness, friendship, sadness, and love. The prince is a small boy from a tiny planet (an asteroid to be precise), who travels the universe, planet-to-planet, seeking wisdom. On his journey, he discovered the unpredictable nature of adults. Which is funny because, that's what the Collector is doing right now. He's returning back to the stars, trying to grow by himself - whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. And also to potentially face his siblings again.
They also have a fox plushie under their bed, which can be seen in FtF referencing the Prince's best friend, the Fox. And the Fox to the Little Prince, is exactly what King is to the Collector.
Come and play with me," the little prince proposed. "I'm feeling so sad. " "I can't play with you," the fox said. "I'm not tamed. " "Ah! Excuse me," said the little prince. But upon reflection he added, "What does tamed mean? " "You're not from around here," the fox said. "What are you looking for? " "I'm looking for people," said the little prince. "What does tamed mean?" "People," said the fox, "have guns and they hunt. It's quite troublesome. And they also raise chickens. That's the only interesting thing about them. Are you looking for chickens? " "No," said the little prince, "I'm looking for friends. What does tamed mean?" "It's something that's been too often neglected. It means, to create ties..." "To create ties? " "That's right," the fox said. "For me you're only a little boy just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you have no need of me, either. For you I'm only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we'll need each other. You'll be the only boy in the world for me. I'll be the only fox in the world for you..." "I'm beginning to understand," the little prince said.
"Please... tame me!" he said.
"I'd like to," the little prince replied, "but I haven't much time. I have friends to find and so many things to learn. " "The only things you learn are the things you tame," said the fox. "People haven't time to learn anything. They buy things ready-made in stores. But since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. If you want a friend, tame me! " "What do I have to do?" asked the little prince.
"You have to be very patient," the fox answered. "First you'll sit down a little ways away from me, over there, in the grass. I'll watch you out of the corner of my eye, and you won't say anything. But day by day, you'll be able to sit a little closer..."
Language is the source of misunderstandings.
Foxes in Japanese Mythology
Kitsune are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. (Which i am speculating is true for Collectors/Archivists) According to yōkai folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers.
Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as its messengers. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune has—they may have as many as nine—the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make sacrifices to them as to a deity. (i.e the Titan Trappers in this case.)
Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. (Similar to Collectors' race) They are a type of yōkai. The word kitsune is sometimes translated as 'fox spirit', which is actually a broader folkloric category. This does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes were believed to gain supernatural abilities.
Conversely foxes were often seen as "witch animals", especially during the Edo period (1603–1867), and were thought of as goblins who could not be trusted (similar to some badgers and cats). (And wouldn't you know it, Phillip was born in the early seventeenth century!)
The Two Types of Kitsune
The zenko (善狐, lit. 'good foxes') are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with Inari; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes in English.
Evil behavior frequently attributed to kitsune is always the work of yako, not zenko. Whereas yako have no interest in advancement in kitsune society, zenko work hard to improve themselves and increase their social standing. Zenko may occasionally play tricks or pranks on people, but they do not seriously harm or kill humans. (At least for him, he didn't think that he was wiping them out of existence)
I'm bored! Is the Draining Spell ready yet? I wanna play and see everything go all… (Imitates screams)
Ooooh, you were maaaad! I thought you were gonna go all… (Imitates screams) …on that kid.
I want to be their friends. And besides, my powers don’t work on King.
You're not being very nice right now.
Aw, you act like I’m doing something bad, but I’m just having fun.
So? Toys break all the time? You just fix’em.
I get it now. You just need kindness and forgiveness, huh?
But I thought, I was doing the right thing.
Luz? Luz? You-hoo! You can come out now. Well, it’s okay. She just broke, so I’ll fix her.
I don’t want anyone to go away, I don’t want anyone else to go missing. I’m sorry for everything!
Leave them to me!
Come on, you can at least do this!
Collector doesn't necessarily want to kill people, like the rest of his siblings. He just wants to play and have fun.
Speaking of yako..
On the other hand, the yako (野狐, lit. 'field foxes', also called nogitsune) tend to be mischievous or even malicious.
Don't bother, beast. You can't run away anymore. It's. Over.
"Oh, let's play a game!", they said. "Let's play hide and seek! You go down there and see if the Titans wanna play!" So I played, and it was great! The baby Titans were the cutest, just like King! And they were all so welcoming! But the Archivists were scared of their power. So one by one, they disappeared, until there was one Titan left. And he thought I was the bad guy! He hid his egg from me and trapped me! But I showed all of them! Even when those trapper jerks started acting weird, even when Belos lied to me, I FOUND KING! I FOUND THE LAST TITAN, AND HE'S MY FRIEND NOW!"
His siblings tricked him into playing with the little titans so they could murder them. Sure, some had malicious intent or some were simply delusional or even both. But in the end, they're all pretty awful people just like yako.
His so called "friend" used him and intended to abandon him.
And now, his new pal that he just made - was lying to him this whole time and had a plan on imprisoning him. (from his perspective)
The closest people to him 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢, everyone did.
I did say I was going to bring up the topic of how foxes are generally associated with trickery and deceit, especially in Japanese Mythology, wasn't I?
Instead of him lying to everyone, everyone lied to him, and instead of him being a complete liar - he's actually a pretty truthful little guy. Keen on friendship and most importantly honesty, you can trust him with anything. That's a major part of his character that is very often brought up in the show.
I just wanted a friend that wouldn't lie to me, or trick me. But everyone's the same. King lied. Belos lied. Even they lied.
Just free me already! You've proooomiiiised!
You need to have more faith in pinky swears.
But... but you said! You said you'd let me out! I hate it here!
You better not be fibbing. You pinky swore me.
Uh, excuse-a-what- now? B—But you said you'd use the Titan blood to help free me!
But you said we were friends! We pinky swore! You LIED! LIAR! LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR, LIAR! Oooohhh, liaaar!
WOOOOAAAAHHHH! You're a liar, liar, pants on fireeee!
Leave me alone. I don't associate with fibbers.
Wait. You're not tricking me into doing your chores like Philip? Are you?
King! You promised you'd play with me! You pinky-swore!
Though, the possibility of him having a palisman is pretty low - if he does get one and it turns out to be a fox, it'll at least remind him that King truly is his friend and that nobody is lying, or tricking him anymore. He has friends now, true friends who he can turn to in times of support and it'll coincide with his wish of having honest sincere friendship as well.
Final results mewsings!
Rabbit won! So cute. Definitely going to doodle a little design for them. (Might lean towards something similar to a Jackalope? Since mythical creature got second place.)
Mythical creature getting second is understandable, considering how powerful the Collector is. They definitely give off an epic, mythic feel.
Moth third place!!! Woohoo hell yesss! Moths are so underrated so I'm always happy to see them get more spotlight and love.
Final results mewsings.
Yeah I knew right out the gate that Eda and Camila would both be heavy hitters. Definitely deserve "best mom" mugs.
Also not surprised that Raine is third place since they're amazing. ^u^
But I am surprised that Darius didn't get Any votes! Really? None? Come on y'all Hunter and the Collector would make such an interesting and chaotic sibling duo. Also having beastkeeping Eberwolf be the chaotic uncle of The Collector who was thought to be a huntsman....but turned out not to be. The parallels. The character reflection and development. * Chef's kiss *
Collector's Palisman Design Sketch
A little design idea for The Collector's palisman based on the poll results! 🌜🌞💫🐰🐇🌟✨🌛
What do you think their name should be? 🤔
Another Steven Universe character that has a lot of parallels with The Collector from The Owl House is actually Lapis Lazuli!
Both were sent to a new world by their superiors for what was supposed to be a fun and/or relaxing time.
But instead both got caught in the middle of a war between two powerful factions that they never signed up for.
Both were confused/mistaken as the enemy by those who they wanted to be their allies. And was consequently trapped away in an object.
Lapis was then found and used as a tool for the Crystal Gems. While The Collector was found and used as a stepping stone for his plans by Belos/Philip.
But then finally they were found by someone younger, a little kid who would eventually become their first ever real friend.
And that friend broke them free from the object with powerful force. Freeing them at last and destroying the object in the process.
Some days ago i did this tweet about how The Collector from TOH is similar with both Pink Diamond and Spinel….
Because i saw people saying they are like Spinel or like Pink Diamond (kinda, before WaD aired) but honestly they are munch like a mix of both….
For Collector and Pink Diamond, it’s because they are the more small/younger member of the group they were (The Diamond Authority and the Archivists) and not wanting to follow them in they ways (Playing instead of following the Collectors motto in FtF / Wanting his own colony and after changing his mind while discovering life).
And for Spinel and Collector: They were later tricked into something in which they were left alone (or trapped) for thousand years before meeting people who love them (in the case of The Collector, it’s after Belos found him, and with his backstory in WaD) …
…
I’m not sure if i explained this well, but i hope it’s understandable…
EDIT:
Updated the design!
Added some spots on the blank space of the coat and made the staff form more detailed and fancy. And more sparkles. Can never go wrong with adding more sparkles. ✨
Collector's Palisman Design Sketch
A little design idea for The Collector's palisman based on the poll results! 🌜🌞💫🐰🐇🌟✨🌛
What do you think their name should be? 🤔
Camila Noceda: Adopting traumatised children from other worlds with magic powers since 2022
The Collector Noceda will be real in 5 seconds
What if I told you that the owl house was a tragedy…