#aurora rising Tyler jones

[too-sweet4me]

The Character of Tyler Jones from an academic perspective as someone who has studied human behavior.

Hello everyone, several months ago I made a statement saying that “Tyler Jones is a terrible person”. I know that I offended many people saying that and I am sorry for hurting those who felt offended. I have been weighed down with demanding classes and caring for a family member of mine with a mental health disease. I planned on backing up my claims much sooner with a list of all the reasons Tyler Jones is “bad”. However I regret phrasing it using the word terrible, because whether or not someone is ‘good’ or ‘terrible’ remains solely up to you, the reader. That being said, in this singular post I plan on showing how Tyler Jones shows selfish motivations and borderline egoistic tendencies based on canon events in the Aurora Cycle series. 

DISCLAIMER: I do not mean to hurt anyone, personally. If you love Tyler, this is not an attack on you. It is okay if you disagree with me, but those who send me vulgar or unkind comments will be blocked.  Thank you.

That being said, let’s jump in.

Selfish motivations: In Book 1, page 39, Tyler Jones quotes to Scarlett and Cat: “The Legion stands for something real. There’s people out there who need our help, and we’re not helping any of them by sitting here and feeling sorry for ourselves.” This leads us to believe that Tyler Jones cares about saving other people. And, in Book 1 page 84 he says to Kal: “Is that the kind of person I seem to you? The kind that decides to hate an entire species because one of them killed his old man?” Also leading us to believe that Tyler is a benevolent person. But as we get on in the books, we learn that these are performative traits. In Book 1, page 11, we see that Tyler Jones wants to leave Auri in the cryopod to die. Despite seeing the vital signs that she is in fact alive. It is only after his sense of duty kicks in which makes him rescue her. (I will say, his sense of duty can be a good trait.)

Objectifies women: Book 2, page 328, Tyler Jones is being held by the Unbroken. In this chapter, Tyler sees Saedii clad in her undergarments. And in this we read Tyler’s thoughts: I realize that once again she is trying to get a reaction from me. She knows how beautiful she is. She knows that beauty throws people off if they let it. While this could be mistaken as desire, it is objectification. Sexual desire refers to a natural, innate, and personal attraction to and appreciation of a partner's entire self - body, mind, and spirit. It is an interpersonal connection based on genuine mutual feelings of love, trust, and attraction.

In contrast, sexual objectification involves treating a person solely as an object or means to fulfill sexual desires rather than a whole individual deserving of dignity and respect. It reduces a person to a body part or a sexual stereotype rather than seeing them as fully human. This is a violation of autonomy and an abuse of power when not freely consented to by all involved. It is never acceptable for anyone, including intimate partners, to pressure, coerce or manipulate others into sexual situations.

Sexual objectification is deeply damaging and dehumanizing, while healthy sexual desire celebrates and honors one's partner's whole being. The key distinction is freely given mutual consent and the absence of power imbalances versus the reduction of a person to a mere object of sexual pleasure.

It is apparent from this chapter alone that Tyler Jones views Saedii as only an object to please him. He is under the impression that her beauty is all to be shown off for him. Instead of looking away, he chose to ogle and objectify her. 

In book 3, page 38, Tyler fantasizes about Saedii and says: “I can still feel her body pressed against mine if I try. We both knew my line about bed was halfway true…” The implication of him saying ‘we both knew’ is implying that Tyler thinks Saedii wants him just as much as he wants her. Note: Simply fantasizing about another character and thinking they share romantic interest doesn't inherently make someone a narcissist. However, it’s the way his pride leads him to assume that Saedii wants to jump into bed with him at any moment that leads to sexual objectification. Tyler's perspective on Saedii is profoundly objectifying. His egotistical assumption that she wants the same, without caring what she wants, shows he does not treat her as an equal, but rather an extension of himself to fulfill his own desires. This unhealthy mentality is textbook sexual objectification.

(Also yes, I do know that Saedii and Tyler do ‘fall in love’ in the series, but their relationship has proven to be very back-and-forth, as opposed to Kal and Aurora’s constant and steady progression. Saedii and Tyler can’t seem to decide if they hate one another or love one another.)

Overly Controlling to his daughter: In the future chapters of Aurora’s End, Tyler has a daughter named Lae. We see in these chapters just how he chooses to treat her and talk to her. In book 3 chapter 14, the situation is not ideal and one could argue Tyler is  under a lot of stress, which he is. When Lae speaks up to share her perspective: (“We cannot aid the Starslayer, nor his son, nor the fool who binds herself to him. We must kill him to avenge our loss-”) Lae is ultimately cut off by Tyler. The exchange goes: “That’s enough, Lae.” Tyler says. “No!” She shouts. “Commander, the blood of billions is on his hands. Honor demands his death! We cannot possibly-” “I said that’s ENOUGH lieutenant!” Tyler roars. (Book 3, page 175.)

The fact that Tyler doesn’t hear her out and listen to her is bad enough, but what this exchange tells me is that Tyler doesn’t value Lae’s input as valuable. Their relationship is extremely strained, from Lae only referring to him as commander while Tyler refers to her as lieutenant. There seems to be no love between the two. I have studied family crisis cases in psychology classes. And this is a clear case of father not respecting daughter, and daughter harboring intense resentment and reluctant submission. Tyler has this ultimate need to be in control at all times and it is hurting his relationship with his daughter. 

Appropriates and uses Syldrathi culture to his advantage despite knowing very little about the Syldrathi: After Tyler learns of his half-Syldrathi heritage, he is quick to use it as a way to sway others into doing this his way. This is a form of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption without understanding the historical and cultural context. As Tyler has stated many times in the series, he knows little about Syldrathi culture and knows a few words in the Syldrathi language. In book 3, page 38, Tyler says: “I’m half-Syldrathi myself. And I know more about the true enemy than anyone.” Say what you will, but that is pretty ballsy to say in front of a group of Unbroken Syldrathi who have quite literally worked with the Starslayer. Saedii even being the daughter of the Starslayer. In theory, would not she know the tactics her own father would use? Tyler is using his newly found Syldrathi heritage as a way to get them to go with his idea, despite knowing little about the Syldrathi. I wonder, if Tyler had never learned about his half-Syldrathi heritage, what would he have resorted to get the others to listen to him? And why does he think he knows the ‘true enemy’ (the Starslayer) better than all of these Syldrathi warriors? Another note: The way the Syldrathi make prejudiced remarks to Tyler about being a “half breed” is not acceptable either. But this does not excuse Tyler from his actions. 

Conclusion: This took me a long time to write in a way that was informative and filled with facts based off of canon events. Throughout the story, despite showing some good traits, Tyler cannot seem to let his poor traits get the better of him. Despite thinking of himself as the “golden boy” that he refers to himself as in Book 1.

I hope that this does not offend you personally if you like this character. I just needed to share my academic insight on this character. 

Book 1, page 39: (Kaufman, 2019, p. 39)

Book 1, page 84: (Kaufman, 2019, p. 84)

Book 1, page 11: (Kaufman, 2019, p. 11)

Book 2, page 328: (Kaufman, 2020, p. 328) 

Book 3, page 38: (Kaufman, 2021, p. 38) 

Book 3, page 175: (Kaufman, 2021, p. 175)

[every-tedious-beat]

in the clerb, we all fam

[skepticalcatfrog]

Soooo we still rockin with the Aurora Cycle orrrrrrr

(Commissions are open!!)

[lilxmoo]

312 boys and their dads :(

(audio on 🗣️) chat i think we need to talk about their parallels more! Anyway, here I am once again with more art :)

[brother-lipsmackariah]

[astrophelite]

Aurora Rising (A Tumblr Take)

— Made by astrophelite

*part one because I couldn’t fit all of them in one post

[multiverselibrarian]

Fantasy AU Saedii x Tyler✨🌟

How many Aurora cycle details can you spot?

+bonus bisexual lighting version

[rhaenyraqueenred]

"But in the end, she unwinds our fingers. Unstrapping the sheath from her thigh, she slides the knife home, presses it into my palm. Folding my grip around the graven handle, she kisses my knuckles, soft and warm.

“I will see you in the stars, Tyler Jones,” she says.

And she lets me go."

Tyler Jones & Saedii Gilwraeth from Aurora Cycle.

[byzantine527]

Does anyone think if other species in the Aurora Cycle series might also have subcultures of their own? Because it does feel weird how amongst the humans, betraskans, and the syldrathi (I mentioned these three as they are the most prominent ones), only humans seem to have different cultures of their own instead of having only one culture. And again, this is not to criticize the authors; a lot of the other sci-fi franchises also do this.

[gergthecat]

The Amie Kaufman shelf has grown…

This stack is as tall as my knee

[alystar00]

Tyler: WHAT ARE ALL THESE DEAD BODIES DOING HERE?

Zila, nudging one with her foot: Honestly, not much.

[serien-grl-22]

Maybe I'm weird but sometimes I remember out of the nowhere that Tyler Jones killed his former love interest, who still had a heavy crush on him, with a knife his new love interest gave him.

And when he was dying of blood loss this knife was the only thing he hold on.

[aurora-cycle-unofficial]

Zila: So. Who broke it? I'm not mad. I just want to know.

Tyler: I did, I broke it-

Zila: No, no you didn't. Aurora?

Auri: Don't look at me! Look at Finian!

Finian: What? I didn't break it.

Auri: Huh. That's weird. How'd you even know it was broken?

Finian: Because it's sitting right in front of us, and it's broken!

Auri: Suspicious.

Finian: No, it's not!

Kal: If it matters, probably not, but Scarlett was the last one to use it.

Scarlett: Liar, I don't even drink that crap!

Kal: Oh, really? Then what were you doing by the coffee cart earlier?

Scarlett: I was using the wooden stirrers to push back my cuticules, everyone knows that!

Tyler: Let's not fight, I broke it, let me pay for it Zila.

Zila: No! Who broke it!

Auri: Zila? Saedii been awfully quiet.

Saedii: Really?!?

*Everyone starts fighting*

Zila, doing a cutaway: I broke it. It burned my hand so l punched it. I predict 10 minutes from they'll be at each other throats with war paint on their faces and pig heads on a stick. It was getting a little chummy around here.

[icrytearsofsadness]

Tyler: *slams something on the table in frustration* Kal: Stop that. How would you feel if I banged you on the table? Tyler: I - Tyler: I don't know the correct answer to that question

[lilxmoo]

anyone hungry for some art 😏

this obsession will never die

[every-tedious-beat]

tyler: have you considered getting a job

lae, who was planning on being a full time weird little goth girl: what