#as they grow up and inherit wealth and replace his donors

[thebestpartofwakingup]

I love Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and it's theme about the tragedy of men and women who become most famous through their impact on children. How they are doomed to watch their most devoted fans grow up and learn to stop loving them, of being an adult and never having the respect of other adults for the work you do. Of being dependent, financially and egotistically on this rapidly changing and inherently fluid class of person. Of not fading away into obscurity, but the much worse and more specific tragic fate of being rediscovered over and over again by your former, now adult, fans and being given the impossible responsibility of upkeeping a sense of innocence and childlike wonder that you are associated with but that is destined to fade from all adults --- of being blamed for that loss when kids become old enough to see the cracks in your façade that were always there, being reminded of your own age and insignificant as children who once saw you as an impossible compenetant adult grow up and begin to perform circles around you, both of you horrified by the development but you the one heavy with the blame

[tohruhondaismydaughter]

I've just discovered there's people who hate Kakeru. Not dislike or don't get the hype about him but genuinely seem to hate him. Now obviously personal preferences are a thing but I seriously don't get where this hate could be coming from because with

1. Akito- phyically assaults people (including kids), held a teenager hostage for daiting & trying to take a box of her's that Akito already knew was empty & also stabbed someone after they tried to help her & left them to potentially die

2. Shigure- regularly makes perverted "jokes" about people who are underage (including the 16 year old girl who lives with him & cleans/cooks for him + he's family) & admits to manipulating everyone around him for he's own selfish goal regardless of how it could hurt others & that he dosn't really care about being kind even to the people he supposedly loves + he likes messing with people he knows are already terribly anxious & he also won in the end while never having to actually sacrifice anything important to him or really learn anything of value

3. Ayame- abounded he's brother to abuse till he was almost 30 & says various inappropriate things in front of & towards High Schoolers

4. Kagura- pretended to love someone 3 years younger then her who she saw as beneath her in a violent (though it was obviously in out-dated slap stick) way until she was like 18 & then slaps Tohru so hard she becomes uncounsious

5. Kureno- enabler of Akito despite no longer being supernaturally bound to her & knowingly fell for a High Schooler

6. Hatori- enabler of Akito & erasers people's memories when told to regardless of how he knows it'll hurt others

7. Katsuya- knowingly married (& later impregnated) isolated & homeless 15 year old Kyoko when he was in he's 20's after meeting her as a teacher in her middle school

8. Ren- everything about her

9. Kyo's sperm donor- everything about him

10. Momiji's parents- how they handled the situation

11. Machi's mum- raised her daughter like a robot, replaced her, insulted her entire personality, acussed her of attempted murder with bassically zero evidence, kicked her out of her home, cut her off from her sibling & only ocasnially calls to insult her leading to her developing a rather unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with her damaged mental health

12. Machi & Kakeru's dad- cheated on his wife, made he's kids fight over thier inheritance before getting another child & then treating the first two like they no longer exsisted

13. Kakeru's mum- took years to realise that she shouldn't use her child to get money/power from an affair

14. Haru- got a little too insistent about phyical affection from someone who he knows is super emotinally scarred (I still love him though just don't think certain scenes with Rin were handeld as delicately as they probably should have been) & can get rather harsh to random people when he goes dark (the worse case of this being when he grabbed Tohru's arm)

15. Rin's parents- belong in hell

16. The Sohma maids (especially the old one)- are part of the reason Akito became as messed up as she did + just straight up seem to not view kids or the zodiac as human beings with thier own feelings or rights

17. Uo's mum- straight up abounded her young daughter after getting into a new relationship

18. Yuki & Ayame's mum- narsastic, dismissive, controlling, litrually sold one of her kids to thier abuser in exchange for wealth/status, never apologised or even acknowledged what she had done

19. Akira- pursued a relationship pretty much out of pure lonleyness, went along with the suppression of Akito's biological gender, didn't do enough to protect Akito from he's wife's abuse (though in he's defense he was incredible sickly), last few things he told he's child before dying was that he was glad he had her as proof of he's relationship with Ren (AKA the person that had made it clear to Akito that she hated her guts) & that she was special due to being god & her bond with the zodiac was her birth right & would always be there (leading Akito to obviously feeling possessive & intilted over the zodiac & base her entire identity on her position as their god)

20. Kyoko- neglected infant Tohru for months due to her depression after Katuya's death & was even planning on killing herself to be with him again before finally coming to her senses (I love her & I tottally get why she did what she did but if it weren't for gramps little Tohru would have been in one hell of bad situation)

21. The Yuki Fan Club- just thier entire attitude towards Yuki & any girl that interacts with him (I get that it's obviously a delibretly over the top anime gag but irl the way they behave would be seriously disturbing & I'm pretty sure might even be illegal now what with all the photos taken of Yuki without he's knowledge)

22. The former school president- he's creepy fravriotisim towards Yuki (& later he's son) & he's flat out harrasing of anyone wearing the school uniform in a none tradishinal way or anyone with an unusual hair colour (despite him bassically admitting that the school officials had already said that Momiji, Haru & Kyo's appearances were ok)

23. Kimi- I like her & she's obviously iconic but honestly the way she treats Machi kind of borders on bullying sometimes for me

24. Hiro- he's a child & I like him but when we first met him you can't deny he was being a grade A shit to Tohru, Kisa & everyone else (& he fucks up again with Tohru during the beach arc)

25. Rin- love her so much but the first time she met Tohru she did try to kick her in the head while in her horse form which you know isn't great & she was rather antagonistic towards Yuki for no real vaild reason

26. Kyo- using Yuki as a scape goat he's entire life even when he knew none of the terrible things that had happened to him were actually he's fault, hurting Tohru in he's true form (I get that he wasn't in he's right mind & was suffering greatly but it still wasn't good) & rejecting Tohru after everything they had been through in the way that he did (again he wasn't in he's right mind & was suffering greatly but it's still an incredibly low blow & I think he knew that as he tragically wanted to hurt her, similar to what he did in the true form scene, badly enough that she would finally choose to give up on him)

27. The entire zodiac (outside of Kagura & maybe Momiji)- it is revealed that the zodiac are supernaturally inclined to look down on the cat & that they know about Kyo's tragic fate yet do not plan on trying to stop it from happening as he's suffering is thier one true reprieve in the curse as no matter what happens to them they will never be as "low down" as the cat yet once the curse finally breaks for everybody almost nobody even thinks to apologises to Kyo for how he was made to be an outsider since birth

28. Naohito- decides to hate Yuki out of jelousy because he has feelings for Motoko (who clearly has feelings for Yuki) despite Yuki showing no romantic feelings for Motoko & barley sharing any kind of connection with her at all which is obviously not fair as just because you happen to be liked by someone who is liked by someone else dosn't mean you should have to except being seen as a bad person (especially as in Yuki's case he never tried to encourage Motoko's obsession with him & in fact barley notices her exsistance as they aren't in any of the same social circles & she follows the ridiculous club rule of not speaking to him without another fan club member present)

29. Yuki- rather judgmental over how others choose to present themselves in regards to gender norms

30. Momiji- I love him but he did try to take advange of Tohru not knowing how old he really was to bath with her & did actually mange to use this fact to sleep along side her one night before she found out how old he actually was (now obviously Momiji is a wonderfully kind person & clearly would never actually do anything to hurt Tohru but let's be real if someone did that to you irl you'd be pretty creeped out & understandably have a hard time trusting them again)

31. Yuki & Ayame's father- has always been complety missing from he's kids lives (& even seemingly he's wive's) despite being mentioned to be still alive & well enough to work

32. Uo's dad- getting dumped for someone else must suck especially when your left with a young child & I know he did eventually clean up he's act but there's no changing the fact that he's years as an alcholic messed up Uo really bad & could have led to her death if Kyoko hadn't stepped in

33. Kazuma- I know he had good intentions & I love him but there's no denying that he did ignore Kyo's right to free will when he removed he's bracelet & though the plan ended up making he's life better if it had gone wrong in any way then Kyo had pretty much admitted (at least to himself) in S2E9 that he would have probably killed himself that night which would have clearly destroyed Tohru

34. Kyo's mum - she was obviously treated terribly by her husband & I do feel sorry for her but her way of dealing with the situation really damaged Kyo

Your really telling me that the character you have the most issues with is a boy who said a few horrible things to the MC when he was 15 in service of someone he loved who was in pain, got told by said loved one that what he'd said was wrong, felt bad about it, befriended a lonley teen that was close to the MC, quickly grew to genuinely care about them & made them come out of thier shell, wanted to help he's half sister but knew he wasn't really the right person for the job, realised that he's new friend was, encouraged the friend & he's sister's growing connection, learned how good of a person the MC has been to he's new friend, admits to he's friend that he'd been horrible to the MC in the past but just dosn't know how to go about rectifying it (especially as she dosn't seem to remember him), introduces he's friend to he's GF (further expanding the friend's positive social circle), finally bumps into MC alone & is shocked to find out that she dose now in fact remember him & even appoliges to him + thanks him for bringing her friend out of thier shell before he comes to he's senses & assures her that she has nothing to apologise for & then visits her in the hospital when she gets injured & even goes shopping for a gift to give her beforehand (even if he dosn't end up getting her something that actually fits her personality because well duh he dosn't really know anything about her).

Out of every questionably moral thing in the series this is really the hill you wanna die on?

I just honestly can't understand it. Sure he's not perfect but then no one in the series is. That's kind of the entire point of the story, that anyone can do things that hurt people but that it's what you choose to do going forward (even if it takes you a long time) that's important & Kakeru, eventually, chose to try to do the right thing. He tried to understand Yuki even though the guy didn't seem to like him at all, he chose to check up on Machi even though she seemingly hadn't made any sign of wanting to deepen thier sibling bond, he chose to finally talk to Tohru instead of continuing the ruse that he'd never spoken to her before, he chose to come clean about what happened to Yuki despite the potential of ending their friendship (& you can't tell me once he'd realised how much Yuki cared for Tohru the very real possibility that Yuki might hate him if he found out what he'd said to her wouldn't worry him at all) & he chose to visit Tohru in the hospital instead of just wishing Yuki luck or hoping Kormaki would go so he could avoid feeling uncomfortable.

You don't have to love him or even like him but I really don't think he deserves this amount of hate (especially incomparsion to some of the other characters I've listed).

[adamdrexler]

The Tragic History of the Lion People

This human subspecies is the smallest in numbers and strangest in origins. As many others, it is the product of gene modification. But the circumstances are quite different.

In the ancient times, back on Old Earth wealthy people participated in appearance modification rituals that they called “plastic surgery”. It was a time before DNA science was perfected so surgeries had to be performed in order to alter someone’s external looks.

Some were obsessed with the panthera genus also known as the big cats. So they had doctors shape their features (especially the facial area) in the likeness of these animals. The products were terrifying and barbaric. The teeth were replaced with plastic canines and whisker like implants were attached to the cheeks. These people often died prematurely.

This strange “tradition” endured many generations however rare it was. Jumping to more modern times, a billionaire whose name has vanished in history, wanted to trade the cheap and ugly looks for something more authentic. He had a group of scientists alter the genes of an embryo conceived from his own sperm and a donor woman’s ovule. The child born was not unlike those deformed humans of the past. He was just as malformed looking but he was like that from the very beginning. He was real. The boy grew quickly. Despite his beastly looks, his mind and personality wasn’t affected in a negative way.

By the records of old statements, interviews and articles we know that the father was fond of his son. The man didn’t make it a secret. He was upfront about the experiment and this was his undoing. But the public was shocked. His booming business stopped from one day to another. No one wanted to be associated with a man who did such a divisive and shady act.

Time soon came when he nearly lost all of his wealth. He couldn’t provide for himself and his son who was in his teenage years. The man did what many consider his most shameful deed. He sold the patent of the lion people’s gene map in the black market. And with this, he sold his own offspring to poachers and outlaws. After that he disappeared to an unknown place. No one knows what became of him.

The illegal breeding of the beast-men had begun. The poor creatures were used for many humiliating tasks. Most of them were sold off to combat in gladiator fights. They were pitted against a great deal of creatures. Some were torn apart by them, some torn them apart. The bloodthirsty audience enjoyed those fights where a human, a lion and a lion person fought each other to death. A number of them were forced to do slave labour. Some were sold to the riches’ private (and illegal) zoos to be spectacles or worse, setting them loose only to hunt them down for trophies. Bizarrely enough a handful of the beasts were used as sex slaves. Only the luckiest few were treated as equal or at least given a proper education and respect.

It took decades for the Republic of United Star Systems to take action against this new kind of slavery. By then the estimated number of the lion people were around 2 to 3 and half million. More and more civil rights advocates started petitioning for their liberation. Some of the atrocities between the slavers and activists ended in literal bloodshed. It took three years of conflict and multiple platoons of peacekeepers to finally free most of the oppressed subspecies.

They were given lands, education, equipment and general help from planet X-A of the Helena solar system. They elected a small council from themselves led by the lucky few who lived a peaceful life before the liberation. Their culture is simple, most of them are farmers, and they grow crops, breed livestock. Very few of them are interested in assimilating into the other nations of the Republic. They decided to live an isolated life far from humans. Despite this, the two species has a distant but peaceful relationship even to this day.

Their biology is also a subject of interest. As their origin and name suggests, they possess the physical qualities of both humans and lions. Their built is more similar to Homo sapiens but around 20% larger. The ribcage and the chest is wider, the muscles bigger. Despite to common belief they aren’t too strong. They could be a bit stronger than an average human or even weaker.

Rough hair covers a significant part of the body. The quantity of the covered parts varies from person to person, men to women. Most common places are the hands, legs, belly, the two sides of the neck, a ridge in the line of the spine, the pubic areas and of course the mane though females tend to have less. The nails are nearly identical to a human’s only it’s harder, grows faster and it tends to be darker sometimes even black.

The faces are the most evident difference. It is a grotesque mix of lion and man. The elongated snout ends in a wide nose, reminiscent of a big cat. The brows ridges are stronger and often lack an eyebrow. Their large ears make their hearing slightly better and are often decorated by jewels and rings.

We cannot pass over the tragic truth about the lion people. In the last few centuries their numbers had dwindled drastically. They share a sad biological similarity to some long extinct dog breeds like the Chihuahua or the bulldog. Inbreeding. The already small population doesn’t have any chance of refreshing their genome. Due to the manipulation in their DNA they were already vulnerable to sicknesses like spontaneous miscarriages, deformities in the infants, weak bone structures, problems with their respiratory systems due to the strong ribcage and many time mothers can’t give birth to their children often resulting in the death of both.

Those who make it to the adulthood usually suffer from some kind of an inherited disease. The bone structures are the most fragile. It can be too weak, breaking like glass or too unbending, rigid, immobilising the person. Albinism is common as well. The albinos need to take care of their sight and skin extra carefully. A few sunburns can easily result in skin cancer. Because the lion people population lives in a remote location and because of their general mistrust of modern technology and medicine, curable illnesses like chickenpox, flu or a mere cold can be potentially fatal.

There isn’t a clear solution for their problems. Interbreeding came up as a possible solution but results were disappointing. The hybrids, if they can even be conceived, mostly die in the womb or right after birth. Those who survive to their childhood are even more fragile than their purebred relatives. Only a handful of cases are known where the hybrid reaches adulthood. They could have been a promising starting point of a stronger population but all of them turned out to be infertile mules except for a woman who tragically died in labour with her baby.

Nowadays lion people’s numbers barely reach 100,000, only a fraction of the liberated millions. It is unknown how long will they survive in the shadow of extinction. It would be a real tragedy to see such a peaceful species go after all that suffering that they endured. Especially that their whole existence is our fault and we can’t do anything to aid them in these perilous times. So we can only wait and see the downfall of the lion people.