— I have to talk about The Vibes and Tbatis in general AT LENGTH because omg i was STARVED for that kind (hah) of protagonist. … Tbatis is one of my characters, and… he's an android. He is kind and patient, soft-spoken and innocuous looking. *just like john sugar*. except in the case of Tbatis — who is very much a person in his own right — it's by design. intentional even before Tbatis got to make day-to-day decisions to *keep* being that way. but the Vibes are the same, from a writer perspective: "I can't imagine a normal human person being that good, that *consistently* kind and patient and dedicated, so i'll have to make them Other in some way. but in a Good way."

… see, maybe because i'm non-binary and neuroatypical (maybe on the autism spectrum on top of adhd and being susceptible to depression) and have felt like an Outsider to humanity in some way my whole life (the worst of it having been when i was a teen) but— i have A Thing about non-humans, and i am SO ANNOYED about them being presented *by default* as threats. aliens? they will invade, or kidnap us to experiment, and it's who they are. actual artificial *intelligence*? they *will* be a threat to humanity, even if they aim to "do good", because they will back themselves into a logical corner where "exterminating humans is necessary for their own good, yknow". well, imho, FUCK ALL THESE TROPES. NO. I REFUSE.

hence Tbatis, who is an actual person and actually *superhumanly* kind and patient, because he can, and we humans need him and his siblings to be— to remind us that it's what we should be. to remind us *how* to do it, and be there to help when we don't have the energy to be at our best. (and also, there's the hjinzas, the alien part of me rejecting All The Annoying Tropes.)

and looking at the screen with no sound, every time i saw Sugar, i went "ow. that's Tbatis <3 "

… but john sugar is… not that. and neither are his colleagues.

and I was not disappointed, *until the very fucken end of the last episode*, where, while feeling a bit let down, i got more worried than annoyed.

— let's skip right over how i gradually lost the 'specifically 'android' ideas, and how at the Big Reveal at the end of ep6 i understood how that spoilery pic i barely glanced over in an image search had me tricked into thinking i'd been right… no, let's go riiight to the end, beause THIS PART IS ABOUT THE SECOND TWIST. YES THERE'S A SECOND TWIST. i don't think it will 'spoil' anything, because this show has HIGH rewatch value, VERY HIGH OMG, but. consider yourselves warned.

— so. every time i see a villain argue to the hero that 'we're alike you and i' there's nothing i can do but sigh very deeply and call bullshit out loud. ppl plz stop writing this. or at least stop letting your hero get trapped into that mindset. IT'S BULLSHIT. and in this case? 'that's us becoming more hu—' EXCUSE YOU? okay john is getting desillusionned because he keeps meeting bad individuals in his 'day' job, and that last case was even worse, because it involved his own people. and uh. with john's lines about what he likes about earth, and being among humans, it has me worried… how do they pass for human, exactly? is it just a disguise, or something deeper? what is considered 'normal' for their species, in terms of relationships, emotions, attention to things in general? i am VERY WORRIED. … but also fascinated. i really want to know more.

but also, fuck henry.

OH ON THAT NOTE.

what ARE their real names? do they even have ones that we would recognize as names?? 'cause, sure, 'john sugar' sounds fake af (and he is, well, too sweet for it to not *feel* like it's intentional in a watsonian way.) and he did insist a couple times that it *is* his real name… but to humans. what else was he going to say?