i like when eridians describe grace in other-worldly, incorporeal, eldritch ways. that he's beautiful and terrifying at the same time. a horror you can't look away from because you don't want to miss a thing.
you can never get a clear listen to him. his primary sense node is covered in "hair" and the part that isn't is hidden by two crystals that refract sound waves in a pleasing but disorienting way. he covers his body in billowy cloth at all times. not snug and sensible and unobstructive like eridian coverings, but loose and layered, draped and flowing.
the most clear part of him are his internal organs. because yes, the alien's carapace isn't sound-proof. his single heart beats insistingly in his core, his lungs exchanging gas constantly, his long digestive tract always bubbling and contracting. his thorax is packed impossibly tight and it's all moving and singing.
and it shouldn't be possible, with how fragile he is, for that internal pressure to maintain. how does the thin membrane of his external organ (another horror that sends eridians reeling) keep it all contained? his "skin" is so easily pierced, cut, bruised, burnt, how does he not split open under his own mass?
when savior rocky first arrived home and described the environmental needs of his alien, the scientists thought he'd made a mistake in his frantic panic to get everything out. it isn't possible this being lives at such low atmospheric pressure, at half the gravity, and in a gas that's nearly double the weight of ammonia. in a gas so dangerous, so caustic. and if it does then how is it obligately terrestrial like rocky claims? shouldn't it fly or float instead? (and then to see it in the water, learning that it can float or sink at will.)
and this alien has come bearing gifts that will not only save your species but launch it into impossible heights of technological and intellectual advancement. he has discovered the solution to astrophage and bred it to thrive on threeworld and translated his instructions into eridian. he has given your people the complete sum of his people's knowledge, advanced in ways the eridians can't believe and behind in ways that seem ludicrous. and he has given his life for your people to have these things.
he knows how your solar system was formed. he knows how the universe started.
his name means beautiful and generous and relieving.
thinking about a very specific scenario of a grace with no video logs, with no xenonite failure, who comes back to earth as rocky comes back to erid, heart full but missing a very distinct piece. ten, twenty years go by, and grace is not malnourished nor does he look even half his age, but there's a deepset something in his eyes that has nothing to do with stratt's actions being revealed or the press or adjusting to earth again. about earth getting news of a ship coming down, whose atmosphere is fundamentally different now and causes trouble for that ship. damages sustained on that ship. a red light in the sky. suspected eridian contact as confirmed by dr ryland grace. thank you tom, anna temple here and we're live at nasa's makeshift landing pad, ready to receive, watching- oh, my- a row of officials that cannot pin down ryland grace this time as he, live on air, tears apart every country's anxiety of eridians by ripping from the crowd and jumping the fence into the launching area. a camera pan that judders from dr grace sprinting, the most energetic he's been in years, to a brown eridian kareening towards him in a xenonite suit. prepared to catch ryland's tackle and embrace him properly, there on the green grass, for the very first time. first contact.
“Oh my god, I can't believe Kevin day fumbled two different situation ships” Kevin Day who surgically removed himself from the people he loved when he realized he was not the better option. Kevin day who even when he's the first option knows he's never the best option. Kevin Day who lets people use him as they learn to love each other and themselves until he has no use anymore and lets them go even as they rip parts of himself away when they leave. Kevin day who is always the first choice and never the last.
UPDATED APRIL 2025 (previous version | oldest version)
the links broke again so this time we're trying the tumblr image links and hope they don't spontaneously break (as has been known to happen) 🤞
Are you frustrated you can't leave second kudos on AO3? or third kudos? or whatever-who's-counting kudos?
Well, have I got the html for you!
Plop any of the codes in a comment (by copy&pasting the code under Keep reading - scroll to the bottom of the post) to make an author's day and show your appreciation!
bonus: cookie kudos
SCROLL DOWN TO GET THE CODES (under the cut)!
Feel free to spread and use these as much as you like, however you like!
[ if you enjoy them, consider supporting my ko-fi ]
I've received a lot of good suggestions for more variants but can't keep up with them all, so here are some resources to make it easier to make your own.
PSD for easily editable text (there is a color fill layer for adding a bit of white where the stroke doesn't cover small holes. I recommend cropping excess empty space out before exporting as PNG)
and here are PNGs of the kudos button for any other editing needs, with and without white stroke:
Use your favorite image host, copy the direct image link, insert it between the quotation marks in the code, add alt text, and you're ready!
<img src="[DIRECT IMAGE LINK]" alt="[ALT TEXT]">
(you can add any image or gif to a comment like this as long as you have the direct image link btw)
if you post your kudos images, I'd be grateful if you'd link back to this post so other people can find the resources too 💗
When you paste into the AO3 comment box, make sure the quotation marks are straight:
NOT curly:
simply deleting and re-typing them in the ao3 comment box should fix this!
Many of the old image links from the original post are broken. I cannot fix them. Please use the new codes going forward ❤️
Second kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7a59d6a32ace63cdcce3911d529f8b88/08d1854086a423d0-e6/s250x400/3e75997487cf31a3ddd8d9314e78d3d63985ec7d.png" alt="second kudos">
Third kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/867894b77aae146acc60c681d556e02f/08d1854086a423d0-16/s250x400/83741777e69d723c92497dbc8909c1989bcfd8ac.png" alt="third kudos">
yet another kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/05ec40eaf2f6948ddcfd58e7b3f6289f/08d1854086a423d0-4a/s250x400/30f9e4560583a7e145ba9869c1650ee79cd989eb.png" alt="yet another kudos">
ALL the kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ae814ede90f2637ce1e58decbe783dc1/08d1854086a423d0-1e/s250x400/c52bf3d8f978b90f9fa00fee6d748fab31ba74d2.png" alt="ALL the kudos">
Heaps of kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/79486036ed102d1d6bbdcfdde40cfce0/08d1854086a423d0-97/s250x400/562c7913b5c04a0be3ae88aefb0c7b52a677de98.png" alt="Heaps of kudos">
Kisses your forehead kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/59d6eef76163bef189aab485c889d938/08d1854086a423d0-f7/s250x400/9afad07e80307757b08a752ae93d0ca30bd75f13.png" alt="Kisses your forehead kudos">
Reading in public kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2c2ef21138ac15cd86c940e18f026f18/08d1854086a423d0-9e/s250x400/1089607ba50414159c44322a09159017251b34db.png" alt="Reading in public kudos">
This is the sole reason my sleep schedule is being ruined kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/b6c7385c4b2a18d2bdd7b2f7809f7679/08d1854086a423d0-96/s250x400/34d3bdd8263439d9ebff3a630c4ff785221da2d2.png" alt="This is the sole reason my sleep schedule is being ruined kudos">
Should be sleeping kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/fc26ea389c37ea36f7842bc7b9af0ddf/08d1854086a423d0-61/s100x200/f0959d6bfc6e5c7ced8e95bd4732a175f1b153a1.png" alt="Should be sleeping kudos">
Should be working kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/960404eda62b6161dfc5293ffbd60067/08d1854086a423d0-16/s250x400/1285e4b0e3a224a697ed7e2361ceeae383b297b3.png" alt="Should be working kudos">
Read the whole fic in one go kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/dcc0ff353b88330dcc32d0ce42126472/08d1854086a423d0-c7/s250x400/fe64765f47a12175372d9bbc69897c03b90e173a.png" alt="Read the whole fic in one go kudos">
what about elevenses kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/33235fdbdca4deb1f0332efe25278473/08d1854086a423d0-41/s250x400/3790c6b7c260468371f54c5d30194b07941ecbb2.png" alt="what about elevenses kudos">
You've already left kudos here!:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3d7f5de5f16d1740360d9b264fc31d46/08d1854086a423d0-ae/s250x400/bdbfed76d384df20c1b8972f99de791e172c5c4b.png" alt="You've already left kudos here!">
You have already left kudos here. :) (red AO3 box):
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3ab87c7fa67958f45798af8f83fef41/08d1854086a423d0-27/s500x750/978088884e0431616ff413f1401706617cf5c447.png" alt="You have already left kudos here. :)">
Other links
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Ryland Grace will have the biggest funeral of any human ever
He already was the reason for the 2nd largest Eridian Thrum
When he passes, two entire planets will celebrate his life. (Head cannon) Eridians view funerals a bit more light heartedly than humans. While the passing of a loved one still hurts, it also concludes an experience so sacred within the universe. They throw a rager in Graces honor. Rocky commissions a memorial & for WEEKS it’s surrounded with food, dancing, tributes & speeches reminiscing everyone’s experiences with one of the saviors of Earth & Erid, but most importantly their memories with their Friend Grace
Earth will get the memo in an Eridian probe years later. Someone, probably a younger friend of Stratt/a descendant of PHM will give the news. There won’t be quite the collective celebration, but everyone, everywhere, will pay tribute to him somehow. Some families include him in their ofrenda, others whisper to his spirit in the wind, some name their pets for him
Statues are built, of course. On both planets. The two largest are one right outside of Grover Cleveland Middle School & the other is in Grace’s biodome on Erid. He’s wearing the fox sweater in both
Both planets name stars after him. Both planets mourn him. But most importantly, both planets Love him. The Universe cried “Hail Mary!” & it received Grace
I saw some tiktoks saying that Stratt was way more cruel to Grace in the book. And honestly?
No...?
The nature of their relationship is different, certainly. I want to say "more complex" but I'm not sure that's the right word for it.
You really get the sense that, despite it all she has a quiet respect for Grace (that in retrospect is so loud).
I keep going back to that scene were she calls him over to an empty conference room it's just Grace, Stratt and a bottle of gin. She goes over her worries, choosing between sending the astronauts awake and risking them killing eachother or the whole coma gene mess.
Why is she confiding in Grace of all people? Why is Grace the only person she allows to see her this vulnerable? She explicitly says this is her hardest decision yet.
And when Grace counters; "It's a good thing you already made up your mind, then." Stratt seems genuinely surprised (as much one is able to surprise Stratt anyway) but not displeased, he supports her decision and saw right through her. I wonder if he slowly became her moral-compass.
I could go on and on about all the little details. Her picking up on the first ring when he calls. "There's more to him than that." She affirms when people are apprihensive about letting a middle-school science teacher lead the research.
Obviously this is Grace's book, his POV. But I want so so so badly to crawl into Stratt's brain to see this world how she sees it. To understand all of her choices, the hardest ones, even the ones I don't agree with. Being in the dark about her pisses me off, I don't want to know more so I can decide whether or not she is a good person. I need to know more because she is so fascinating to me.
huge fan of the depth of a good purple but another area that draws me is definitely around aquamarine/turquoise/seafoam. you can not go wrong once the green starts getting just a tinge more blue. a gal could certainly do worse than to pull over there and stay a while
in a world where grace eventually goes back to earth when erid is ready to make full contact. he's officially an eridian and earth dual citizen and is a physically very old man. it's also been a lot of earth years since he was here, especially due to time dilation. he comes off the eridian lander in a hoverchair accompanied by rocky in his little xenonite suit and is like wow, fresh air. rocky isn't it so beautiful here. rocky this is the ground i used to walk on. rocky this is the food i used to eat. rocky these are the people you helped me save. amaze amaze amaze.
and his speech has taken on eridian habits from years of only really communicating in eridian: he drops and raises octaves to show emotion, he's speaks melodically and with a rythmn that pings as music when you first hear it. his creaky old man voice is that of somebody who has spent their whole life singing, somebody who speaks for a living, because he's both of those things. his syntax is strange and his sentences are structured oddly. he looks around at everything with the delight and wonder of somebody who thought he'd never see any of this again.
he watches a sunset. he watches the rain fall. he watches a spider spin a web. he watches a waterfall. he smells and tastes and feels and sees and hears all of the things he left behind. he misses his home on erid. he's never been happier to be anywhere in his life. it's strange. rocky, it's strange. this isn't home, anymore. but it's still part of me. rocky, it's strange.
there's a statue of him in every major city he visits. he stands in front of the school he used to teach at, which was named after a dead president when he was here. now it's called ryland grace memorial middle school. it was named for him as the sun got brighter and the earth mourned his sacrifice yet again, but praised him for saving them. the lab he used to teach in, on the days he got to lead practical experiments, is named after rocky. rocky, it's for you! they love you, too! rocky, this sign is for you, it says your name!
eva stratt is an old woman, now. she was pardoned, in the end, in the wave of relief that followed the beatles' arrival with the taumeba. she's lived out the rest of her life quietly, ambition tamped down in the wake of it all. she's still sharp. harsh. she greets grace with an, "I told you so," but even after so many years, grace can see that she's glad to see him. glad he survived. glad he doesn't seem angry with her.
and it's not that grace has forgive her. he explains this to her over a cup of strong, black coffee. rocky explores the forest to give them time to speak. it's not that he forgives her. what she did, the decision she made for him, it wasn't right. it wasn't good. it saved the world, yes, but it wasn't fair. but. but, he says. i have a good life. i have friends. i have a classroom. i know now that you were wrong about me, back then. i am not a coward, and i am not selfish. i was afraid. i was terrified. i was lost. and now i am none of those things. i do not forgive you, but i am not angry with you, either. it is what it is. rocky and i, we saved two worlds. i can live with that, even if i don't forgive you. and eva stratt nods and understands. and they finish their coffee.
a handful of grace's students, the last class he taught before being wrapped up in the end of the world, they ask to see him. not all of them. some of them didn't make it through the disasters that came with the years long dimming. some of them never really believed that grace was the one who saved the world, falling into the rhetoric of those who say the whole thing was a hoax, and the weather patterns fixing themselves is just proof of it. but the ones who do come are surprised when grace remembers each of their names. remembers where they sat in his classroom, and the jokes they thought were funny and the jokes they thought were lame. they talk to him and he remembers throwing them beanbags in the end of the world and trying to make them laugh. when grace laughs at something rocky sings into the world, he's laughing through more than a few tears. he tells his students, the kids he saved the world for, that they've just been called leaky blobs by the other savior of the world.
when his students leave, grace sits in the setting sun, strong and warm, and looks out over the ocean. rocky, isn't it beautiful? rocky, don't you see? we made this possible, rocky. we saved them. we saved this. rocky, we did it.
and for maybe the first time since it all started, grace believes it. rocky, we did it. we did it. we saved them. we did it.
do you think neil, delirious from blood loss, sleep deprivation, and brainwashing, ever saw the three on jeans jersey while in the nest and called out for andrew
okay, putting all that drama and discourse aside, robby’s character is still so compelling. are you kidding? you’re the chief of the ed who worked through covid and mass casualty, and refuse to get help. you’re 50-ish and angry and suicidal and want so badly to get out and to leave, but you can’t because you blame himself for your mentor’s death and have to keep the place running. no one can live up to it, your students don’t get it, they didn’t know adamson and they will not suffice; and because you’re 50-ish and angry, an emotionally regulated beautiful woman of colour will do even worse. so you don’t tell her how to run the place, she isn’t even allowed to try. you make fun of her name and disrespect her constantly. even try and get dirt on her to prove she doesn’t belong.
because she wasn’t supposed to be the new chief. the guy who should have taken over from you turned out to be an addict, and what do you do? you hound him so badly, pushing him towards a relapse, because you have to prove to yourself that he didn’t change. because if he changed that means you can change too; and that doesn’t mix well with the suicidal sabbatical plan and everything you believe in. you are torn between staying because you’re the only one who can handle this job, you are too proud to get out. you can’t be buried in this place, but you feel too attached to your work that you can’t imagine being buried anywhere else.
you care about your students and colleagues, but simultaneously push them out so they won’t feel pain and grief and guilt when you die; the same feeling you had when your mentor died. the second you see yourself in someone you make it their fault, causing your seasoned staff to start resenting you while you play favourites with your newer staff. maybe this round will turn into a better version of you.
you suck massively. you shame others with similar trauma for their mental health while yours is 10 steps further and will kill you if you don’t get help. you are as biases as any man your age, your anger is pointed to the woc around you. you are a massive hypocrite, you yell, you slam things, you constantly have tears in your eyes. it’s their fault, not yours. you can’t think about how they feel because you can barely think about your own thoughts without wanting to turn yourself into a pile of mush and metal on some canadian road. you feel like it’s starting to get hopeless and have nowhere to escape to. staying here will kill you, leaving will too.
looking at kevin day, renee walker, and jeremy knox & thinking mr moreau what kind of esoteric bisexual are you exactly? what do any of these people have in common? until you realise oh. they were all children lacking love who turned into people that made decisions they now regret. people born into circumstances where it would be much easier to be cruel – when cruelty is all they ever faced from those who raised them – who instead choose to try and be good instead.
i see you fake idgafer jean moreau. i see you time and time again fall for people who choose kindness in the face of everything. i see you choosing to teach kevin french and text renee back knowing what it would cost you. i see you choosing jeremy's laughter and brown eyes and warmth 'every time'. i see you
this is more a rant than anything else, but i think people are making a lot of good point's about robby's racism, misogyny, and general unprofessionalism this season without connecting the dots that the true reason behind his crashout is that he's leaving without an heir that he wants.
robby needs a clone, someone willing to sacrifice mind, body, and soul to this job, to his ed. he's needs someone who will give up a shot at life, to be so obsessed with the pitt that nothing else matters. he also needs for it to be a white man. he does not value the opinions of women and has no desire to unlearn and examine the biases he'd have to get over to be able to hire a person of man color, so he needs a biological son. and forget a woman of color: robby is a fetishist, not an ally. he desires women of color sexually, in fact, the only women we actually see him be romantic with on the show are all racial minorities, but he does not actually respect or care for what they have to say. he deems women too emotional, too irrational, too empathetic to run an ed. no, they just won't do.
it was supposed to be frank. yeah, frank had a wife and kids, but robby did too at one point and they aren't that hard to shake. but then frank fucked up, irredeemably so, and therefore frank was not only to be dismissed, but disregarded for having the unknown audacity to think he could fill robby's shoes. frank committed a crime so great that removing him from the pitt is was not enough, he needed to be brought back to purgatory to be mocked, derided, and sidelined until he fucks up enough again for robby to be able to say "i told you so," and get rid of him forever. so robby treats him so poorly that it impacts patient outcomes and still tries to pin it on frank by making him question if he should even still be there. inviting him back, letting frank work again only to say "i don't know if i want you in my ed," mere hours after their shift starts was a calculated move in an attempt to send frank spiraling.
then there is samira, his son. willing to do everything he wants, preening at praise or attention, dedicating every waking hour outside the hospital to studying how to be better at her job, isolating herself from everyone around her to make sure she is the best doctor possible. he sees himself in her so much it makes him sick, and he hates her because he hates himself. samira could get better at her job, could turn off her heart and become the perfect robot doctor in robby's mind, but she could never be a white man and for that she must learn her place. she is doing the woman thing where she cares too much (gross) and has this perposterous concern with minorities not receiving the same treatment as white people (ridiculous), and she will not stop talking about doing research somewhere else as if she doesn't know she's supposed to stay in the pitt and play second fiddle to whoever robby chooses instead. riding samira will not make her better, he knows that, but it will break her and it will be enough for him to look around and tell everyone "see i tried, she's just not enough," when asked why the eldest does not take the throne when he abdicates. robby cannot be the problem here, he cannot be the one failing as an educator, mentor, doctor, and as a human being frankly, everyone else is the problem.
and now we're at whittaker, who... let's be honest it was never going to be dennis fucking whittaker. this county bumpkin who is smart enough, talented enough, professional enough, but who else does he have? the other white man failed, the woman of color is a fucking empath, and no one is is willing to become an automaton. so when whittaker lets a beloved patient die when frank, samira, or the ghost of heather collins would've never let it slide? whittaker can shake it off. robby can tell him to get off the street team and stop seeing a woman that he very obviously cares for, he won't have time for them as heir apparent. but the problem is whittaker sucks compared to who he's been promoted ahead of. so robby crashes out. he was supposed to have a permanent replacement by now but nobody wants to listen to the obviously suicidal gen x'er who won't open a continuing education program if it starts with "cultural" or "understanding." and so on the day that was supposed to be his pity party, in walks barab al hashimi.
he waited too long, his replacement has been chosen for him, and she is his living nightmare. after ignoring her for months, both because he wants her to fail and because he doesn't care about any of her opinions or expertise, he doesn't even have the decency to pretend to be civil when she arrives. baran is calm, communicative, and already has a relationship with several other doctors. she encourages without bias and, while too by the book for the pitt, she is a quick study and starts performing unconventional procedures within hours. so what does robby do? he ices her. he undermines her decision making, treats her like a subordinate (because no one can even be considered his equal), and he does everything in his power to show her how this ship has one captain, and he rather let it sink than let someone else take the helm.
and in all of this, he is actively making everyone's job harder. he benched frank on a day where they need all hands on deck, encourages whittaker after his abandoning of a patient leads to their death and he should hav been corrected, tells samira to go home during a mass injury event, and is leaving baran in the dark about personnel conflicts she needs to know about. this whole day was supposed to be about how no one is good enough to be in his shoes (no one he wants) and how when he leaves, everyone will be so miserable and the pitt will fall apart, and when he dies, then everyone will see how much they should've appreciated their fearless leader. this is a crisis of his own making but a self loathing egomaniac in a high stress job doesn't have time to deal with his mistakes, everyone else does.
