TVSTRANGERTHINGS
trying on a metaphor
Today's Document
Discoholic đȘ©
shark vs the universe
KIROKAZE
Misplaced Lens Cap
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đȘŒ
Stranger Things
#extradirty
izzy's playlists!
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
I'd rather be in outer space đž
Three Goblin Art
Cosmic Funnies
Cosimo Galluzzi
DEAR READER
Aqua Utopiaïœæ”·ăźćșă§èšæ¶ă玥ă
ç„æ„ / Permanent Vacation
seen from TĂŒrkiye
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seen from T1
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seen from South Africa
seen from Belarus
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@inkboundlore
Kirsh is a Samoyed dog (its mostly the hair that influenced this decision)
I agree with this... And Boy surely has to be a border collie? Or perhaps something extra insane like a border collie cross Belgian Malinois. Something to explain why nothing in the world will ever enrich this kid.
LF: Beta Readers!
Iâm currently looking for eight beta readers for my sci fi horror novel, The Contagion of Stars. Based off Alien (Mostly Alien Earth) and Project Hail Mary.
Blurb The year is 2174. Earth is no longer enough. The science vessel Ardent Horizon drifts toward Erebos 3, a lush and untouched world promised as humanityâs next frontier. Its mission is simple: study alien life, test synthetic integration among its human crew, and determine whether mankind can survive beneath a new sun. At the centre of it all is Killian Reid Voss, a twenty three year old prodigy, founder of Voss Horizons, and creator of the only synthetics trusted to walk among the crew. Captain Selene Bellandi commands the ship. Dr. Maeve Kavanagh leads the research. ABEL L-03, a synthetic xenobiologist, studies what no human body was built to understand. ADAM-X, the only synthetic of his kind, watches for threats no one else can see. Around them, the crew of the Ardent Horizon prepares to make first contact with a planet that seems almost too perfect to be real. Then the Gardeners appear. Long bodied, armoured, eyeless creatures of claw and carapace, they do not attack. They watch. They learn. They mimic light, sound, movement, and fear. Curious and strangely gentle, they are brought aboard for study, and for a little while, they seem like the miracle Erebos promised. But something ancient lies frozen beneath the planetâs surface. Something waking. As illness spreads through the ship, the crew fractures under paranoia, containment protocols, and the terrible suspicion that the Gardeners are not separate from the outbreak at all. With Earth waiting, Erebos calling, and his own creations beginning to question what they were made to protect, Killian must confront the truth at the heart of the mission. Humanity has not discovered an empty world. It has found a garden. And something has already begun to grow.
Beta reader requirements Iâm looking for readers who: Are 18+ Are comfortable communicating through Discord Are willing to join a Discord server with other beta readers Are willing to sign an NDA/non disclosure agreement Can ideally read each chapter within 3-5 days of release Are comfortable with chapters around 5-8k words Can give feedback on plot holes, character development, pacing, and overall engagement Understand that grammar feedback is appreciated but not required Will not use AI or put my work through AI in any form nor use it in the server. This is not a paid position, but Iâm happy to beta read your own writing in return, or offer writing requests as a thank you. You may also drop out at any time. No hard feelings, Iâd rather everyone be comfortable and honest about their availability or if the book bores you or isn't your cup of tea!
Content warning
This novel contains science fiction horror themes, including body horror, alien infection, illness, quarantine, death, grief, psychological distress, confinement, ethical scientific dilemmas, synthetic/ai themes, and non consensual biological transformation. Reader discretion is advised.
More detailed Trigger Warnings For The Book:
Body horror (including infection, mutation, biological transformation, bodily deterioration, invasive alien organisms, physical contamination, and loss of bodily autonomy.) Illness and medical trauma (including quarantine, symptoms of unknown disease, fever, delirium, medical examinations, emergency treatment, fear of infection, containment procedures, and clinical discussions of survival.) Death and grief (including major and minor character death, death of crew members, mourning, survivorâs guilt, hopelessness, and the psychological impact of isolation in space.) Alien infection and parasitic/ecological horror (including themes of forced biological adaptation, alien organisms spreading through bodies and environments, and ambiguity around whether infection is harm, communication, or transformation.) Psychological distress (including paranoia, panic, fear, anxiety, hallucination like experiences, confusion, trauma responses, emotional breakdowns, distrust between crew members, and deteriorating mental states under extreme pressure.) Violence and injury (including blood, wounds, emergency medical situations, attacks, defensive violence, physical restraint, possible mercy killing, and descriptions of pain.) Containment and confinement (including quarantine, locked rooms, isolation, restricted movement, decontamination, and characters being trapped aboard a ship or within medical/security protocols.) Ethical horror (including scientific experimentation, debates over sentient alien life, synthetic autonomy, possible exploitation of alien organisms, and morally difficult decisions made under survival pressure.) Synthetic/artificial intelligence themes (including questions of personhood, control, obedience, created beings, programmed loyalty, autonomy, and the use of synthetics in dangerous or disposable roles.) Claustrophobia and space horror (including shipboard isolation, failing systems, darkness, hostile environments, limited oxygen/resources, and the inability to escape.) Planetary and ecological horror (including colonisation themes, environmental contamination, invasive species fears, first contact failure, and the discovery that a seemingly habitable world may be incompatible with human survival.) Family loss and abandonment (including references to orphanhood, grief over parents/family, loneliness, and emotional isolation.) Age gap authority dynamics (including a very young director/prodigy in command or partial command over older crew members, workplace tension, resentment, and pressure placed on a young person with extreme responsibility.) Firearms/security threat themes (including armed response, threat assessment, and possible violence during containment failure.) Animal/insect/reptile like creature horror (including eyeless alien creatures, claws, camouflage, stalking movement, unnatural body structure, and unsettling non human behaviour.) Moral ambiguity around consent (especially regarding infection, biological change, alien contact, medical intervention, quarantine, and whether the Gardeners understand harm in human terms.)
How To Join!
Just message me on discord: youcancallmequills
who were the first mushers or the first to do the run of the dawn? is there a story of the first team to make the journey and why đ€ the church grims of aurellan sled trails? so cool tho love mushers and aurellan is peak đ„
The First Mushers Of Aurellan And The Birth Of The Run Of The Dawn
Long before the towers of Aurellan pierced the clouds, before sky ferries traced luminous arcs between the islands, before the Dawn featherâs doctrine was carved into marble and glass, there was ice, hunger, and silence.
The old chronicles do not call them mushers.
They call them the Ground Bound, or the Ones Who Ran While the Sky Was Closed.
In the earliest recorded age of Aurellan, a winter fell so violent it is still spoken of only in fragments, The Sky Severing. Storms raged without pause for weeks. Snow buried entire settlements. Birds froze mid flight and fell like omens. The aurora burned red, and the priests declared the heavens impassable.
The two great Aurellan islands were cut off from one another.
On the northern island, the Dawn featherâs high shrine lay dark, its sacred fire failing. On the southern island, grain stores were locked behind ice, and sickness spread through the low halls. Messages sent by bird never arrived. Fires dwindled. Panic rose.
It is said the temples argued.
The nobles waited.
And the sky refused them all.
And so, a small group stepped forward, not knights, not priests, but hunters, herders, and ice walkers who had learned to live close to the ground.
They brought with them dogs.
The oldest surviving names vary by telling, but the most accepted canon speaks of Eiran Frostbound, a tracker priest cast out of the upper temples for refusing to abandon the ground born ways, and Thyra of the Low Pass, a woman who bred snow hounds from the last great wolf lines of the north said to be those that raised King Skaen of Skaegir.
Their team was not large, just six dogs, thick coated and sharp eyed, bred for endurance rather than speed. They fashioned a sled from whale bones and pine, bound together with rawhide and prayer cords torn from a ruined shrine.
They did not believe they would survive.
But they believed someone had to try.
The crossing between the islands had frozen, not smooth and clear, but cracked, groaning, layered with storm blown snow that hid death beneath beauty. Eiran is said to have carved the Dawn featherâs symbol into each dogâs collar with shaking hands, not as ownership, but as invocation.
And then they ran.
The crossing took three days.
The storms blinded them. The ice split behind them. One dog was lost to a fissure, its name, Bright Tooth, is still recited in musher rites. Another was injured and carried upon the sled rather than abandoned. Eiran walked the entire way, bleeding through his boots, refusing the sled even when his legs began to fail.
When they reached the far island, Thyra collapsed at the gates of the shrine, half dead, her hands frozen into the reins.
But the fire was lit.
The grain was moved.
The sick were warned and treated.
And the islands spoke again.
The priests called it a miracle.
The mushers called it survival.
The people called it The First Run of Dawn, the moment the sun rose again not from the sky, but from the ice.
After the crossing, the church could not deny what had happened. The Dawn feather had not closed the heavens to punish Aurellan, he had closed them to remind them that the ground still mattered.
The dogs were declared to be touched by endurance, creatures who could walk paths humans could not and return without corruption. The collars Eiran carved became the basis of the modern dawn talismans worn by sled teams today.
And yet, reverence came with fear.
For if the dogs could walk where death waited, then surely something walked with them.
During the rites honoring the first run, it is said one dog did not rest.
Bright Toothâs body had never been recovered. On the night of the consecration, witnesses claimed a black coated hound stood at the edge of the torchlight, larger than life, eyes pale as frost, breath steaming though no lungs moved.
It did not threaten.
It did not approach.
It simply watched.
The priests declared it an omen,
A Grim of the Path, a guardian spirit bound to the trails walked in devotion.
Thus were born the Church Grims of Aurellan, spectral hounds said to appear on sacred sled routes, especially during storms. They do not guide. They do not warn. They test.
To see a Church Grim and continue forward is to prove devotion greater than fear. To turn back is not shameful, it is said the Grim shows itself only when the trail ahead will take a life.
Mushers still leave offerings at trail markers, bone, tallow, prayer thread. Not to command the Grims, but to acknowledge them.
The Church teaches that the Grims are the Dawn featherâs eyes upon the ice.
Mushers believe something older walks there too.
Every Run of the Dawn since then is not a race alone, it is a reenactment.
The starting prayer names Eiran and Thyra.
The dogs are touched with frost water and ash.
One empty harness is carried at the rear of the procession, for Bright Tooth and all who did not return.
And when the teams vanish into the white, the priests look skyward while the people look to the ice.
Because Aurellan learned its oldest lesson that winter,
When the heavens close, salvation runs on four legs.
-
Banner and Logo done by @/EmptyIcedCoffee on Instagram,Toyhouse and X/Twitter. A beloved Elkarion associate đ
vaelreth serathem my goat đ„đ„
i love this stupid fox man met vae
a little messy but yes
character and universe by my good friend quills đââïž
@elkarion-offical is where hes from
Last thing I was expecting was Dreamer art! Hello Vaelreth đđ Little skeleton-esque fox.
(art by @emptyicedcoffee, read full post for more details including commissions below.)
Aesteryn
In Aesteryn, wisdom is the closest thing to magic, a quiet, luminous power woven through every street.
A city of lantern lit archives and whispering scholars, where ancient observatories crown the skyline and every courtyard fountain is carved with equations older than the kingdom itself. Here, the royal family is shaped not by blood alone, but by knowledge, chosen as much for their mastery of logic, diplomacy, and history as for their lineage.
Aesteryn stands as Velmiraâs living library, a capital where ideas are currency, intellect is honour, and the pursuit of understanding is the highest form of devotion.
-
(Logo and art all done by @EmptyIcedCoffee on Twitter, Toyhouse and Instagram. Coffee is a beloved Elkarion associate who currently has commissions open! Please email them at @ [email protected] to inquire. We strongly recommend them. They do a variety of stunning art.)
Kirshâs disdain for humanity is clear, but what makes his dynamic with Boy so compelling is the nuance in that disdain, at least that's how I see it. While heâs often curt, impatient, or even at times cold toward Boy, thereâs a distinct difference between condemnation and disappointment in his tone. In my opinion Kirsh does not hate Boy for being him, i think he pities him for what humanity made of him. In Boy, Kirsh sees the failure of the species as a whole, a living embodiment of their wasted potential, their neglect, and their cruelty. Boy could have been extraordinary, perhaps even the pinnacle of what humanity was capable of, had he been nurtured, guided, or loved properly. Instead, he was born into instability, shaped by abuse, and raised without any real understanding of structure or empathy. To Kirsh, Boy is not a symbol of what humans are but of what they ruined. The frustration he shows him, the way he words himself and his corrections, often feels less like anger and more like disappointment, maybe even the closest thing to annoyance towards others for what Boy might have become in another life, under another world.
A large part of Kirshâs perspective is rooted in the idea that humanity consistently squanders its rarest gifts. He sees in Boy a creature who should have represented human brilliance, inventive, curious, passionate, endlessly capable of creation. Yet all those traits have been distorted by trauma into self destructive eccentricity and manic instability. Boyâs potential wasnât nurtured. it was weaponized against him when he was young, turned into proof of his brokenness rather than his genius. In this sense, Kirshâs attitude toward Boy isnât one of hatred but tragic recognition. He knows that the things that make Boy difficult, his volatility, his lack of restraint, his obsessive tendencies, are all symptoms of a greater failure that began long before either of them met. Kirshâs resentment, then, is directed not at Boy himself but at the architects of his suffering, the humans who created something remarkable and then abandoned it.
Perhaps thatâs why Kirsh, despite his coldness, seems incapable of fully discarding Boy (and I guess yes technically there's programming.) He understands, even if subconsciously, that Boy is what happens when potential meets neglect, when creation is left to rot without compassion. Thereâs something almost reverent in the way Kirsh continues to stay near him, even as he scolds or lectures him, as though heâs caring for a broken relic of a fallen world. His treatment of Boy reads less as cruelty and more as a grim kind of guardianship. Heâs not trying to save him in the human sense, Kirsh has no illusions of redemption, but he acknowledges Boyâs existence as proof of what humanity was once capable of, and what it chose to destroy.
And thatâs why Kirsh shields Boy from certain truths, the things happening in the lab with Toodles, the darker realities he believes Boy isnât equipped to face at certain times. It isnât mercy, exactly, but conviction. Kirsh believes that, in some ways, he knows whatâs better for Boy than humans ever did. In a way he refuses to let Boy be exposed to the same corruption and cruelty that made him what he is. To Kirsh, protecting Boy from those things is not an act of kindness but of control, the only way to prevent history from repeating itself. He will not make the same mistakes humanity did. And in that cold, possessive protection lies something both tragic and telling, for all his contempt for human frailty, Kirsh still carries within him the faintest echo of human care, the need to preserve what little good remains, even if he no longer believes the species deserves it.
Summary:
Kirshâs gaze never wavered. Eyes narrowing slightly, scanning, parsing, cataloguing data Joe had no way to hide. Silence stretched, suffocating.
Joeâs stomach twisted. He knew the verdict coming, clinical and merciless, the lung was failing. He required intervention. He could not let Wendy hear it, not now, not when she shone so brightly.
Kirshâs expression remained unreadable. His gaze dipped, precise, to Joeâs ribs. A beat. Then back up.
"Humans are such⊠interesting creatures,â he said softly. Words not for Wendy, not for anyone but him.
Joeâs jaw tightened. âWhat?â
-
After his prosthetic lung transplant, Joe hides the searing pain that tears through him with every breath. He endures in silence, terrified that Prodigy will cut him open again and strip away his control, desperate to remain present for Wendy. But his fragile mask falters when Wendy brings him into Kirshâs path, and worse, into the relentless curiosity of Boy Kavalier. Under Kirshâs cold focus and Boyâs predatory fascination, Joe is forced to confront the truth heâs fought to bury, the lung is failing, the pain is unbearable, and his endurance may not be enough to keep his sister safe.
not too happy with this fic just a heads up đ«Ł but i had a few requests for it to be posted regardless so I'm giving it a chance.
Read HERE
"In the book, Wendy Darling is Peter Pan's favorite. And then she grew up! And that made Peter mad. So he kidnapped her daughter Jane."
Just want to be clear to those that haven't read the books that Wendy has either misinterpreted the ending or deliberately lied and manipulated the ending to get the kids on her side. Jane went willingly and Wendy let her to help Peter do spring cleaning as was agreed upon. It is indicated that all the Darling women do this and that Wendy's mother before did it as well.
 "He does so need a mother," Jane said.
  "Yes, I know." Wendy admitted rather forlornly; "no one knows it so well as I."
It is also not quite true that Peter Pan 'takes The Lost Boys out behind the barn' rather when Hook mentions Peter Pan and that The Lost Boys have a mother - Smee asks 'what's a mother?' indicating that the pirates may be Lost Boys who grew up. Peter Pan is not a good character, but he is also not a bad character. He is the epitome of morally grey. Peter Pan is described as "carefree and innocent and heartless." Weyland-Yutani will prove to be the real bad guys as they always have been for the past seven movies. Kavalier only wanted the aliens as toys to play with, Yutani wants to use them as bio-weapons. Big difference. I hope to see Kavalier, Dame, Kirsh and Morrow team up with The Lost Boys to fight the pirates Yutani in a redemption arc. Let's see Kavalier use that genius brain of his for something good. Let's see Dame make it up to the kids. Let's see Kirsh... do Kirsh things. Let's see Morrow get revenge for his daughter.
My opinion on episode 8, or how one episode ruined the entire series.
I don't even know where to begin, maybe with how everything is falling apart in the Kavalier's hands? Boy, your entire island is collapsing, and the only thing you care about is that shitty eye, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm so disappointed.You created a mega machine that can withstand everything, but you didn't think about how to contain it in case things go bad, no, you expect me to believe that, even though Kirsh, seemingly one of the most reasonable characters, who supposedly has everything under control, simply ignored it, it sounds like complete nonsense.Instead of doing what he always did, which was keep order, Kirsch just sits and tinkers with something (maybe fixing Isaac, I think??) Not the best time for that when you have a dangerous alien species on the loose.Why the hell did you give a robot access to the entire complex? My God, I have so many whys that I'm afraid this will take a long time. The characters were simply made idiots, practically all of them. The fucking xenomorph runs away from a regular shot from a small-caliber rifle, even though we saw in the last episode that it didn't hurt him at all.They were made stupid, almost all the interesting ones we had, a prime example being Joe, who was against killing and tried to avoid deaths, yes, he didn't let Morrow finish off that guy, but he calmly watched as the xenomorph destroyed an entire squad, among which could have been his friends, whom he valued so much.A huge contradiction to his character and principles, he became a nobody, a dummy. Why, because he followed his sister's lead? Are hybrid children the new antagonists, or what other idiotic turn awaits us in the future? Oh, that heartbreaking story of the Cavalier, how did he, no seriously, do it when he was a 6-year-old? Who wrote that damn script? He made a synthetic at 6, do you expect me to believe that? Even if we can assume that yes, he could, but where did he get the plans and materials? I would believe it if he was at least 14, but 6, that sounds like fiction.Why has Kirsch been inactive all this time? Hasn't he been predicting everything? The characters have become dumbed down by the plot, almost everyone except Nibs, and the rest of the children, except Wendy, who continues to commit genocide. The only ones who lifted my spirits were Nibs and Smee, who, fortunately, weren't affected; they remained the same.The result is a complete disappointment. It feels like they simply ran out of budget and everything went downhill. There was enough going on for at least two more episodes, but what we got is all the characters turned into idiots and empty shells.My expectations were shattered, this episode is the worst of all, they ruined absolutely everything, I expected Kirsh to be the main support that will not let this place fall apart, I was waiting for Joe to prove himself as something more, I thought that the Xenomorphs would still become a problem that they would have to solve.All the scenarios in my head sounded so much better than what we got. I'm going to ignore this episode almost entirely and just hope someone writes a fanfic with an alternate ending. The best part was Slightly punching Morrow, there are a couple of other moments, but they don't really improve things.
I get where youâre coming from, this episode is definitely strange, and it doesnât give us what we were expecting at all. But I wouldnât call it terrible, and I wouldnât even call it a bad episode. Iâve watched it about four times now, and honestly I think itâs one of those episodes that needs a rewatch or two to fully click. The first time through, when youâre holding onto finale expectations, it feels frustrating when things donât line up the way we expected. But on a second or third watch, the choices start to feel more deliberate which is what I noticed.
The first thing is this was always Boyâs character. Heâs impulsive, childish, and runs from responsibility, thatâs been consistent since the beginning. Heâs always spun chaos into something that suits his fantasy. The show even gives us a pretty reasonable explanation for why itâs so extreme here, Boy has pretty severe ADHD, and in this episode (and probably episode 7 as well), heâs off his medication. If heâs been on those meds long term, suddenly stopping them would absolutely trigger hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention. Combine that with the fact that heâs cut off from his two main stabilizers (Kirsh and Eins), and you get the unhinged version of Boy we saw here. Honestly, that was one of my favorite aspects of the episode, it felt intentional, messy in a way that actually made sense. It was good genuine and quite frankly genius set up and explanation.
Now, about the building a synthetic at sox... yeah, I agree that doesnât make sense. Iâve already talked about that elsewhere, so I wonât rehash it here, but Iâm with you on that point.
The whole thing with Kirsh, though, I read differently. I donât think he was just sitting around uselessly. I think he was deliberately trying to look distracted to lure Morrow in, expecting the situation to resolve in a way that didnât pan out. And itâs worth remembering that Kirsh is a Research synthetic. Keeping order on the island is Atomâs job as Boyâs second in command. Kirshâs priority has always been hybrids (who he thought were contained) and the alien species/lab in general (which were mostly contained). Dealing with the Xenomorph isnât really in his programming unless itâs a direct threat to Boy.
On the Xenomorph point, my assumption was that Wendy called it off Dame Sylvia, or was told in an earlier instance not to harm her like it is with Joe. So far Wendyâs violence has been aimed at foot soldiers, not people she knows personally. And I donât think this was meant to be the big Xenomorph showdown anyway, this episode was clearly setting them up as a long term conflict for season two. Thereâs no one left on the island for them to feed on except Boy, Hermit, Morrow, or Sylvia. Turning them on Wendy in season two makes way more sense narratively than resolving that in a single episode.
I do think Wendy is overly OP, yeah, that bugs me too. But the hacking ability, at least, feels like something she developed on her own. Thereâs a scene where she uses it and Boy seems surprised by it, which makes me think itâs not something they gave her or even fully control. So them not "fixing" it makes sense, I also think Boy found it interesting and wanted to see what she'd do with it.
Hermitâs inaction is quite odd, but I think it tracks with what heâs just been through. He nearly died at the hands of the T-Ocellus, heâs traumatized, heâs not fully processing in those following moments. I think season two is setting him up for bigger moral conflict, especially when he learns his friends have died to the plant and he has to wrestle with Wendyâs indifference versus his own instinct to ease suffering. That will likely put him in direct conflict with her, and maybe even over Boyâs condition (since if Boy is concussed (that kick was insane) and destabilized from going off meds, Hermit would want to treat that, and Wendy probably wouldnât).
So yeah, I do agree that the execution was clumsy in parts, Curly was very off, Wendy is way too overpowered, and some of the plotting felt rushed. But I really do think the bones of it are solid. They were laying the track for season two, and from a writing perspective I can see exactly what they were trying to do. It just didnât land cleanly. Iâm hopeful that season two will pick those threads back up and make this episode feel more like a setup than failure. I think having it be a finale without an immediate season two to back it up is what makes it feel so bad.
Spoilers for Alien Earth Episode Eight
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I mean on the surface, I think it's easy to point to Boyâs creation of a synthetic at the age of six and stop there, to take it as proof of his brilliance and nothing more. If you wanted to dismiss him as simply a arrogant genius who never grew up like a fair chunk of this fandom like to do. But I think the real question isnât how he made it, itâs with what. Where did the materials come from? A child in a low income household (my assumption at least), raised by a father from a long line of drunks and working in a factory, doesnât exactly have access to rare alloys or complex circuitry. If anything, Iâd have assumed his first go at Eins was simply a patchwork of scraps, bits of trash and other mechanical bits pieced together and then upgraded over the years, were it not for Boyâs remark that it was âdistinguished.â
In my opinion that word changes everything. Distinguished could mean appearance, yes, but I mean he could also just mean in behaviour, mannerisms, having an air of something more than thrown together trash. But even that raises the unsettling question of who was the model? Or even just the inspiration? And why did Boy, even at six, care so much about distinction in the first place if we assume he built it purely for safety from his father? Unless he honestly was at the age of six already considering his empire over his safety. I do think it'd be weird, even for a genius child, to be thinking so far into the future rather than the short term focus of his immediate safety.
And then thereâs the silence around his mother. It isnât just absence, itâs complete erasure. Boy never mentions her, not once. When he spits out that line when talking to Wendy in earlier episodes, âOr fathers or, ugh, mothers, you know. Always telling us what to doâ, thereâs venom there, but the venom feels uneven. He speaks of fathers angrily, dismissively, but mothers? That strikes deeper. His anger in episode four, when Dame slipped into a motherly role with Wendy, wasnât theatrical, it was raw. Boy does not like mothers, and I donât think that hatred comes from nowhere.
The simplest explanation is also the bleakest unfortunately for Boy fans like myself, she simply wasnât there. Whether gone entirely, or present but complicit in silence, she didnât save him from his fatherâs abuse. And that absence, active or passive, moulded into a worldview. Mothers are unnecessary. Children donât need them, because he didnât. In his eyes, he grew up with nothing resembling stability and still turned out âperfectly fine.â More than fine, even, he's the head of a trillion dollar empire. And then he gave his children immortality, a kind of safety he personally never had. Why should they deserve the love and protection he was denied? Why should they be granted parents when he clawed his way forward without them?
This, I think, is the root of his insistence. It isnât just cruelty or ego, itâs philosophy born from pain. In rejecting mothers and fathers, or even brothers, Boy isnât simply discarding the traditional family structure, heâs reasserting the logic of his own survival. If he endured abandonment and came out brilliant, then surely the children can too. In fact, in his mind, theyâre even better off. Theyâre immortal. Theyâre safe in ways he never was. And if he had to suffer alone, then perhaps, by his reasoning, that loneliness is not a flaw in his design but the very proof of its necessity.
Episode eight. No one talk to me about episode eight. I was stressing the whole time and still am. WHAT WAS THAT
Summary:
Boy tried for a smile and found it thin. His voice came out sounding sand rasped when he offered, âNo need to fret. Iâm up.â
Kirshâs appraisal was a slow, unemotional scan. âYou shouldnât be.â The words were no bedside manner, they were data transmitted plainly.
"Itâs just a setback,â he rasped, the protest more habit than conviction. âMinor infection. Iâll-â
"You will not,â Kirsh interrupted, the syllables clipped, final. He crossed the room with that silent efficiency and set a small tray on the bedside table, a thermometer, a cup of water, a folded cloth, and a syringe already primed.
Boyâs throat worked. Vulnerability tasted foreign in his mouth, thick and raw. The idea of being tended to felt like capitulation, a forfeiture of the one axis of self he was certain of, control. He flexed his fingers reflexively, finding the old performance, chin up, deflection ready, then he let it wobble.
-
Or Boy Kavalier is lost into fever and weakness, trapped between a body that betrays him and a mind that refuses and is unable to accept comfort.
A highly requested sequel to The Threshold of Collapse.
Read it here
On the surface, the T-Ocellus seems driven purely by the pursuit of the perfect, most intelligent host, detached and ruthless in her methods. But I donât think her interactions with Boy are malicious in the way most people in this fandom seem to assume. In fact, I think she sees him as a kind of bridge, an opening into human connection, a chance to engage with someone unlike the others she could prey upon. When she starts bleating after Boy asks about PI, it doesnât strike me as mockery. I think sheâs trying, in her own awkward, alien way, to communicate âNine" without stomping it out to him. Sheâs attempting conversation. Sheâs testing him, probing the edges of interaction, and I think she would talk to him if given the opportunity. Thereâs a thread of amusement in the way she regards him, a curiosity that isnât borne of contempt.
The T-Ocellus isnât simple, we know that, and neither is her intelligence. Sheâs after the ideal host, yes, but I think sheâs smart enough to recognise that Boy is uniquely capable of keeping her safe. While she could strike down others without risk under his protection, she also knows he represents safety currently, he's a shield she can rely on. That knowledge, I suspect, impacts how she treats him. She wouldn't be dismissive of his quirks or frightened by his strangeness, I'd argue sheâs fascinated by them. She watches him as he fumbles and fidgets and indulges in the absurdities of human behaviour, and she seems entertained rather than irritated.
Her fondness isnât sentimental sure, itâs pragmatic, but itâs also unmistakably real. Boy is unpredictable in ways she finds interesting, a creature capable of both cleverness and genuine excitement, and heâs not afraid of her in a way that humans usually are. That lack of fear, combined with his intelligence, makes him a rare subject for her attention, someone she can study, engage with, and perhaps even appreciate in her own alien way.
Would she choose him if survival demanded it? Absolutely. But if another host presented themselves who was suitable by her standards, she would likely take that option. Boy is not her only possibility, he is, for now, her best option, for communication, for protection, and for the strange companionship she doesnât usually encounter. In T-Ocellusâ strange, alien mind, Boy is simultaneously a tool, a shield, and a curiosity, a human she can engage with, amuse herself with, and, in a way, trust. That trust, fragile and conditional as it is, makes her relationship with him far more complex than anyone watching would assume.
Ultimately, I think the T-Ocellus is not simply a predator like everyone assumes. She is an alien navigating a human world, testing boundaries, gathering knowledge, and discovering and in Boy there is something that is rare and new, a human who doesnât recoil, a mind she can measure against her own, and a presence she seems to genuinely enjoy. Her amusement, her curiosity, and her careful calculation toward him make her far more nuanced than she appears, intelligent, cautious, and quietly fascinated by the strange human who refuses to be afraid.
I really don't want him to die okay & this is my far fetched reason on why he might not in the finale đ§
Summary:
"Sir,â Kirsh greeted, his voice levelled, void of inflection. âYouâre working late.â
Boyâs answer was instant, too polished, too arrogant even for him. âCuriosity doesnât sleep, Kirsh. Neither should I.â
The synthetic advanced and his eyes passed over tools and filament spools before pausing too long on Boyâs hands.
âYour pulse is elevated.â Smooth, declarative.
A laugh, soft and practised, slipped free from Boy before he could think. âAdrenaline,â He replied, his tone shaped into nonchalance. âDelicate work. Itâs exciting. You wouldnât understand.â
Kirsh said nothing. His gaze lowered once, catching the faint stain blooming through the cloth, red, bleeding and blooming across white.
Boy shifted, his wrist sliding behind the silhouette of a glass beaker, his smile narrowing. âEverythingâs under control.â
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Or Boy Kavalier pushes himself too far during a late night experiment and his recklessness catches up with him. And when Kirsh arrives Boy is left playing a game he doesn't like.
My first published fanfic for this fandom đ«Ł i hope you all enjoy, it was a bit difficult at times to write ngl. But it's one of many to come, I take requests too.
Read it here
I think Boyâs habit of playing with plain white Lego is one of those small details in the show that says far more than it first appears. On the surface, it looks like simple fidgeting in the scene we most clearly see him with them, it's a restless mind needing something tactile to occupy itself with as he watches different things. But the choice of only white bricks, and the way he uses them, hints at something deeper in my opinion.
White Lego could be said to resemble bones, although this point might be my biggest stretch so bare with me. Boy, who literally prints synthetic bodies for the hybrid children, may be unconsciously echoing that process in miniature, building skeletons/parts, or at least prototypes of them. The bricks become mock ups, not in a traditional âbuilding a setâ sense, but as loose, abstract gesture towards eventual structure. Heâs more invested in the process than the end product. He builds, unmakes and reshapes because itâs not about completion for him, itâs about rhythm, control, and repetition.
That repetition itself is stabilising for him. White Lego is predictable, all the same colour, the same texture, the same form. Unlike a mixed pile of random pieces, which could be overwhelming, a set that's all the same creates order. He doesnât need to worry about having the ârightâ shape or colour, everything works together by default. For someone as overstimulated and chaotic minded as Boy, that predictability is soothing. Itâs a way of containing his own mental chaos in a clean, controlled system.
The colour choice also carries symbolic weight. White suggests purity, sterility, and blankness, a reflection of the clinical âtoo cleanâ world heâs built around himself. Maybe the Lego represents parts of a whole he canât quite complete, which is why his structures often look like messy towers or unfinished forms with gaps. Heâs grasping toward a shape he feels but canât define. In that sense, his Lego play becomes a kind of subconscious expression, not childish distraction, but a silent way of feeling and externalising what he canât put into words.
In the end I think Boyâs play with white Lego is both a fidget and metaphor. Itâs grounding, structured play that soothes his overstimulated mind but it also symbolises the things he builds, the sterile world he lives in, and the gaps in himself he canât quite resolve. Itâs an activity he can return to endlessly, alone, without the risk of it being ruined, because it belongs fully to him, as predictable and unfinished as he is.
The use of pure white Lego really interests me. Here are my theories on why but I did write this on the 23/8 so not as updated to current episodes. My asks are open if anyone wants me to do an analysis on a specific part of Boy or on another alien earth character! Or just any questions in general đ€§
I think Boy Kavalierâs avoidance of responsibility is far more complex than people often assume. At his core, he is a Peter Pan like figure, he wants to be seen as a leader, admired and deferred to, without ever actually taking on the responsibilities that come with leadership. Whenever real accountability arise in the show, he hands it off to the âparentalâ figures around him which for him are Kirsh and Eins.
Thatâs why he distances himself from decisions like firing Arthur, capturing Morrow, dealing with Hermit, Nibs and Wendy, or containing either Alien Outbreak. Those are serious, heavy matters that require responsibility, which Boy refuses to carry. Instead, he busies himself with what feels fun, like playing new games with the T-Ocellus, indulging in distractions like reading Peter Pan or playing with Lego and turning ever serious moment into play. For him, itâs not negligence out of laziness but almost a survival mechanism, responsibility isnât just burdensome to him, it seems to be threatening.
I personally think this ties directly into the circumstances of his upbringing. Prodigy is said to be about ten years old from memory? Boyâs exact age is never stated in the show, but based on the available information we do have heâs probably around twenty three. That means he presented Prodigy and joined the Big Five at about thirteen or fourteen, because by fifteen he was already publicly identified as a CEO in some of the past news articles we see. That strongly suggests that Boy spent his teenage years and possibly much of his childhood rushing to be treated as âmore than a child.â With no parental figures ever mentioned, itâs likely he was forced to grow up far too quickly, especially after suffering that huge personal loss that drove him to create the hybrids in his grief in the first place.
In my opinion, his arrogance, egotism, and childishness arenât simple character flaws like most assume. He was a brilliant child who had to shoulder unimaginable expectations, whose worth was tied exclusively to his intelligence, and who never had the chance to simply be a child. Now, as an adult, he clings to the fragments of a childhood he never experienced, refusing to face the reality that it was taken from him. His hunger to speak to someone smarter than himself is less about competition and more about longing, either for a friend or a mentor, or simply someone who wonât dismiss him.
Imagine what it would be like to grow up with a mind like his. Too intelligent to relate to children your own age, unable to understand their games, yet dismissed by adults as immature and irresponsible. Boy never learned who he was, only who he wasnât. He grew into an unstable adolescent, brilliant but socially stunted, defined by grief, intelligence and a, at a time, forced maturity that he and the rest of the world it seems are unwilling to acknowledge.
In the show so many of his quirks seem to hint at this, like his rejection of the word no and his spoiling of the hybrids suggest he grew up in an oppressive, overly strict environment, one where freedom and play were denied him. His refusal to wear shoes or follow formal dress codes could be a deliberate rebellion against the rigidity forced upon him in childhood. And his defensiveness whenever someone challenges his intelligence reflects the insecurity at the heart of his identity, if he isnât the smartest or most interesting person in the room, then what is he worth?
Ultimately, Boy Kavalier is not simply irresponsible in my eyes. He is a man caught in the cross between the child he was never allowed to be and the adult he was forced to become and is still trying, in his own broken way, to reclaim the childhood he lost.
Anyway yap over đ€§ I plan to post a few more of my thoughts and takes on different characters over the course of the next few days. I also have a few fics I've written that I want to post on AO3 shortly as well.
