i adore and fully endorse the aroace ryland grace reading! even outside of feeling seen, i believe it genuinely, measurably, heightens the text, specifically the themes of expendability and friendship.
i also disagree that the text itself doesn't support the reading: ryland grace does not express attraction towards ANYONE EVER over the course of the book. i started to find the absence of this quite noticeable upon my rereads. when he brings up his ex, it's not to reminisce about his feelings for her; he doesn't actually say how he felt towards her at all. this is true in both versions of the story. there's no "i loved her, but—" or anything, and the movie goes a step further with the explanation “she thought i had my head in the clouds and she was right.” this is ripe territory for "guy who doesn't realize he's aroace drifting vaguely through romantic relationships that fail because he thinks he's supposed to be having them."
more supporting evidence (it's difficult to find behaviors that indicate a lack of something and yet i stg there's more material that supports the aroace reading than there is that outright denies it):
- completely blind to the fact that his and stratt's dynamic could be perceived as sexual by outsiders and perplexed to learn that literally everyone else thinks they're a couple
- never reaches a clearly defined conclusion on the "am i gay?" line of questioning at the start of the amnesia (there's no "no, hold on, i like women, i've loved women before" which stands out because that's the type of clarification weir usually includes during grace's internal monologues)
- can't fathom why stratt would be worried about the astronauts developing feelings for each other
- uncomfortable to the point of frustration with his coworkers matter-of-factly discussing their sex lives with him and in front of him in the book, and so confused by those same coworkers' relationship in the movie that after just seeing them flirt, he runs away to talk to stratt of all people about it (maybe because he feels some kinship with her over her apparent disinterest in sex and romance)
honestly the only things i can think of that point allo are that he was in a romantic partnership in the past and the mop he dances with in the film, but those are both easy to explain as a guy being desperate for human connection (besides, all he does is hug and dance with the mop, the former of which he does with rocky, the latter of which i can totally see him trying to teach rocky to do. "ohh, human dance so simple, only two legs" "listen rock, if you saw what breakdancers got up to, you'd be singing a different tune" "then show" "you want to see me breakdance?" "yes, break dance" "you don't, actually, i promise")
aroace grace means everything to me always!!!! and no actually I think we should get to see grace breakdance. everyone should watch the utter failure that would occur
you’re twelve years old and you break your father’s hand when he hi-fives you. the first thing you learn is that the smallest slip up can hurt the people you love. your (foster) father smiles and says it’s okay (it’s not).
your parents are not your parents. the idyllic farming community that raised you is not your home. you’re a You-Don’t-Know-What from You-Don’t-Know-Where. all you know for sure is that you’re not human.
so you can fly. so you can run fast. so you can lift cars. so what? why do you even have this power? what should you even do with it?
your father said do what’s right, so that’s what you do.
you stop a robbery. the man’s knife shatters against your skin and you see the same fear in his eyes that you saw in your father’s when you were twelve. you catch a falling child before it can hit the water. his mother looks at you like you’re a god.
they love you, even though they don’t know you. the most powerful man in the world hates you because they love you.
you wanted to write when you were younger. you wanted to tell stories that needed to be told. you never wanted to star in them. you never wanted super-geniuses and demi-goddesses looking to you for advice; like you have any idea how to handle threats to reality itself. you’re just a kid from smallville who’s trying to do the best he can with what he’s given.
you try and get back to the farm as much as you can. it feels normal being back among the open wheat; where everyone smiles because you’re that nice Kent boy.
when you were younger, you pretended to fly, hands out to your sides and running through the tall grass by the river. it doesn’t look as beautiful from on high; the details get lost and the colors of your hometown blur together from a mile above ground.
the problem with flying is that it puts you so far above people you care about
One of the keys to Bruce and Clark’s friendship is Bruce going ‘powers shmowers you think your godlike strength makes you infallible and above people? You’re just some dude in a cape. Who’s an idiot.’
Clark: Oh thank God. This guy gets it.
Bruce *expecting arrogance*: wait what
Clark: yesterday I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment in my underwear trying to get the mail and I forgot I could just break the door open. I stood there for an hour waiting for the locksmith to open before I remembered.
Bruce:….
Clark: I’M AN IDIOT OK, I’m just a guy, I have no idea what I’m doing
Bruce: I hate how endearing this is. Stop making me like you
Clark: if I get my mom to make you lemon squares will you teach me how to pick a lock
Mutuals who I have hardly spoken with but we instead communicate through silently liking and reblogging each other's posts... I hope you're all having a lovely day ✨
Just got hit with another fic idea. Think Yellowstone meets 9-1-1 and of course make it Buddie. What if when Buck used to be a ranch hand in Montana he worked for the Dutton's? And the 118 finds out on a call?
Now, I've never actually watched Yellowstone (it was more my partner's speed) but envision with me:
The 118 comes up to a call where a bunch of horses and cattle that were being transported through downtown L.A. got loose and are now in the middle of downtown LA traffic.
While Bobby (either Bobby lived or set before season 8) is consulting with the I.C no one notices Buck move off on his own. Somehow, he gets his hands on rope for a lasso and manages to get himself on one of the driving horses that he's now riding barebacked. He quickly communicates with and starts working alongside the ranch hands that have been trying to round up the cattle and horses and get everything under control. Not all of the hands are on horses cause only some can ride bareback well enough to work like that so are more useful on the ground.
The rest of the 118 don't have the luxury of just watching this wtf moment of Buck's cause they have to help some of the ranch hands who got injured when the animals got loose and keeping civilians out of the way. Eddie is especially tongue-tied by Buck's surprising display of unexpected competence and he doesn't even fucking know why (yet😏).
And then they realize that Buck seems to know some of these guys (?!) and is joking with them as they work and throwing practiced quips and using nicknames??? What is happening?
Now enter John Dutton and Rip Wheeler who were travelling separate from the caravan of livestock and crew. They come up on the scene and recognize the cowboy in turnout pants and LAFD t-shirt riding one of their horses and working with their guys to get the situation under control. While he was maybe half the size back when they last saw him, that's definitely Evan Buckley. Kid's as good as he was when he worked on the Yellowstone.
After everything is wrapped up and the 118 walk up to where Buck is handing back the borrowed horse, he gets a half-hearted reprimand from Bobby for acting without orders but then they start introductions. As Buck is finishing up introducing the 118 to the ranch hands and is about to introduce them in turn up walks John and Rip. Both men thank 'Evan' for helping out and check in with the head hand that everything is sorted. Buck introduces "Mr. Dutton and Rip Wheeler. Mr. Dutton owns the Yellowstone, the ranch I used to work on a few years back." and then reintroduces the 118 to the newcomers.
As Buck finishes introducing the ranch hands he knows and is introduced to some of the new faces, Dutton and Rip finish talking to the I.C and relevant authorities on the scene. Dutton and Rip note they're down a few hands due to injuries from wrangling the livestock or being thrown from their horses cause they weren't as good riding bareback as they thought. Dutton half-jokingly offers Buck a temporary contract to work for him while he and the men are in town for a rodeo/auction thingy (Idfk, fill in the blanks I guess).
And Buck, in true Buck fashion, takes some vacation time to take the contract. The 118 tease him about going off to play cowboy but are also excited when Rip suggests the crews and first responders who were on scene and helped get passes for the rodeo thingy Yellowstone is in the area for.
So yeah. Cowboy Buck, thirsty Eddie speedrunning a sexuality crisis with Karen and Hen not so gently holding his hand about it. And maybe some angst of Athena looking into these ppl cause she gets a weird feeling and finding out their names are connected to a lot of shady shit. And now their Buck is right in the midst of that. Maybe Chim is the one to point out that Buck was in it years ago already and decided to accept the contract. So whatever the Duttons and the Yellowstone are wrapped up in, Buck has to know, and he decided the job anyway. And the 118 have to sit with that.
for real though, if you don't translate it, you should transcribe the original language. if a bilingual viewer can understand what they're saying just from listening, then a bilingual viewer who relies on subtitles should also be able to understand those lines.
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