Ok so wow. Fully updated on your fic Mechanics and Microbes. I fucking loved it !
I liked how T'challa's sting operation worked, I liked pepper's "I'm sorry" flaw.
As an aroace person, you actually made gay sex clear to me. It's just pressure, wow.
Steve being a self-important professional apologizer feels like a cardboard cutout characterisation, but 1) he's a secondary character 2)it's been a while since I watched the MCU 3) we're from Tony's pov
(Disclaimer: I'm dissecting it because I like it)
During the beginning, you have used bumbling idiot as a descriptor for Grace, and meh, kinda. You've only tagged the PHM movie, so it's understandable. Sorry for the assumption, but it feels like you haven't read the book.
I get it. I mean, I've been giggling every time Grace "fangirled" at the Avengers and was in an Avengers's special situation. That's some of my favourite situations to put characters in. You're sidelining the PHM plot in favor of the MCU's Sokovia Accords, and it's really cool, but at the same time I'm like, where's Yao? Ilyukhina? Dubois and Shapiro? Hell, even Dimitri, Lokken, the beetles guy, the climatologist and the guy who actually had the idea to pave the Sahara (it's a fanfic of the movie, ik, but still).
The crux of the issue is that it's a Tony X Grace fic. You're trying to fit their relationship during the astrophage situation, with an impossible time crunch, without having read the book (sorry if I'm wrong, but I think there's a chance I'm right. You'd have put Shapiro and Dubois along with your cool smart lesbian scientist if you'd read the book)
My most sincere apology for kinda thinking about the book when you wrote the fic about the movie, but you did pave the Sahara and forgot to blow up the Antarctica. Also, I apologize for high standards, in the end it's fanfiction (not meant as diminishing, just as "you're doing this for free, on your personal time, and I shouldn't be taking this so high I need an oxygen mask")
Anyway, back to Grace, he's insanely anxious in your fic. Usually, he's more of a crier, but it's my first reading of your fic, perhaps you made him cry somewhere but I don't really recall. He's defending Tony, using his students, but where tf is "staggering waste of carbon"? He's professionally knowledgeable, don't get me wrong.
But the thing I don't get is that he's supposed to be Stratt's unofficial second-in-command. Involved absolutely everywhere except the trial for putting all human knowledge on the Hail Mary (I saw the movie once. Maybe it was less obvious).
I mean, you probably explained in an author's note, and I'm looking like asshole n°1 here. Maybe all of this is brushed off precisely for Tony X Grace to have the time to develop, setting aside the platonic relationship of Strattland.
Maybe the premise, why you initially wrote the fic, is "I need Stratt to kick everyone's ass to get the Accords over with and also I want Tony X Grace because it's brilliant" which honestly, is really fucking cool and you executed it brilliantly.
(I should probably tell you that I'm on the Cap side of the Accords atp. and that Tony involving a crimefighting teenager in his vendetta is heinous to me)
Idk why you had someone other than Grace acknowledge the Merchant of Death aspect of Tony. Why you haven't had Grace acknowledge Tony with nuance, like "he built weapons to kill people AND he's science impressive, so I'm letting him be around BC he's proven capable of change" or something like that. Also, Grace being referred specifically as younger than Tony kinda irks me, but it's a technical fact. I just don't like the fact that Grace worships the group Tony walks on, that's all. It's awesome but my high standards and I want them to be explored equally.
Overall, you characterised Tony really well. He is THAT guy, arrogant and all, not even acknowledging that his bombs actually impacted Wanda's country. He's able to be kind, and emotionally repressed as heck. I mean, that's why people like him. He's BAMF.
Grace being a good cook is well... Not within book canon, (he's literally eating breakfast at a diner because he doesn't want to cook) but it is transformative fiction after all. You do you, and it brought really great scenes between them.
I'm sorry for criticising your work through the lens of having read the book, when it derivates from the movie. This is my unrestrained review of your fic. SPQR, signing off.
HELLO!!! WOW you are AMAZING thank you so much for such a thorough read of my fic!!!
Honestly, getting a multi-paragraph, unrestrained analysis like this absolutely made my day. There is zero need to apologize!!! I love seeing reader thoughts and deep-dives, even if there's some disagreements about things!
You hit the nail on the head regarding the premise for Ryland's characterization. HOWEVER. Walking into a room with the Avengers—a group of literal gods, super soldiers, and living weapons—would be utterly terrifying for anyone, no matter who you are. Grace’s usual composure is getting tested by unprecedented levels of MCU chaos, which naturally shifts his reactions. But don't worry, Angry/Book Ryland is definitely on his way as the pressure cooker builds!
This part "Steve being a self-important professional apologizer feels like a cardboard cutout characterisation, but 1) he's a secondary character 2)it's been a while since I watched the MCU 3) we're from Tony's pov"
I really loved your note on Steve, because you actually hit on the exact reason his characterization feels that way in the fic! Because the story is told strictly from Tony’s point of view, we're seeing Steve through a very specific, tinted lens. Tony isn't in a place where he can see the full picture of what Steve is trying to do. From Steve’s perspective, swallowing his pride and stepping up as a "professional apologizer" is actually him desperately reaching out to protect the rogue Avengers the only way he knows how. It’s a classic, deeply Steve Rogers move—sacrificing his own pride for his team—but through Tony’s eyes, it just reads as self-important.
That same perspective plays a huge role in how Ryland views Tony and the "Merchant of Death" era. Ryland is viewing Tony primarily through the lens of public perception and media history. To Grace, the weapons manufacturing was years in the past, and what he’s spent the last decade watching is Tony’s massive pivot toward clean energy and saving the world. He sees someone who actively turned their life around and proved their value to humanity, which heavily shapes his initial awe. As they get closer and move past the media persona, that dynamic will definitely shift into something more equal and grounded, but that's where Ryland's head is at right now!
Because this is explicitly a movie-canon crossover and balancing the Sokovia Accords with an extinction-level space threat is a massive puzzle, I had to streamline some elements early on to give Tony and Grace’s dynamic room to breathe. That said, you will definitely be seeing more PHM faces making their way into the narrative soon as the scope expands. Get ready to see some new faces!
As for their dynamic, Grace’s initial awe at Earth's peak engineering is just the starting point. As they grow closer, that nuance you're looking for—and the reality of Tony's past versus his present—will continue to be picked at and explored. And yes, Grace cooking is definitely my transformative fiction privilege at work! Food makes for the absolute best character bonding scenes, so I couldn't resist.
I will end with this... I AM Team Iron Man, but I also deeply respect Steve's side of it. Everyone made mistakes in Civil War. Everyone. Tony isn't innocent, Steve isn't innocent. Both were wrong. Both were right. It was a mess and that's why they split. (I can write an entire essay on the Accords / Civil War, please don't get me started... or do lmao)
I'm so glad you enjoyed the T'Challa sting, Pepper's scene, and the overall Tony/Grace dynamic despite the MCU and PHM balancing act. It's funny, I was reading your ask and was like "I SWEAR this person hates this entire fic" as you assured me that you loved it. I'm glad!!! I'm so glad that you love it enough to pick it apart! After my initial "oh my god ow" phase, I realized how honored I should be that someone took the time to look at this mess of a fic and TRULY criticize it. As someone who is writing an original book, I think you really made me grow as a writer with this one!
Thank you again for reading and for screaming about these two disaster scientists with me!!!
