Had to make a sideblog for all the lovely posting going on! Main is @entomycetic. This blog doesn't mark spoilers on reblogs, and hasn't finished the book yet!
PHM is the main attraction here, but there is also Grace/Simon IronLung reblogging happening (#bloodymary). While I generally prefer a varied/complex qpr version of any of these ships, I do reblog stuff insinuating/about: #gracerocky, #gracerockyadrian, #bloodymary.
If you want to follow but dont want shipping posts, block #phmshipping. I only use the tag on posts that can almost exclusively be read as romantic (Could also block #phm simon and #bloodymary if you want phm-only posts)
I've been cooking up my #ryborg au! Only physical part of Grace on this Hail Mary is his brain :D
I'll probably add to this, but for general tags: #analysis, #clip (for movie clips/screenshots), #art (for visual fanart), #fic (for fanwriting), #mine (for my own posts), #species swap (for eridian/human swap aus), and character tags will be their first name only (#ryland, #eva, etc). Simon will be tagged '#phm simon' for easier blocking/less potential overlap with other tags
And my post of fanfic recommendations! (WIP) Apologies as it will have a mix of shipping and no shipping; I'll try to keep it organized
one of the many things that get me about the scene where grace is held down and drugged is the face that Stratt makes after she says ‘yeah, he’s running’.
she kind of looks down and nods to herself, like yeah, he’s running. Of course he’s running.
She knows him too well to have believed fully that he wouldn’t run, but some selfish part of her still hoped that he would go willingly. That he wouldn’t make this harder. That she wouldn’t need to have his blood on her hands.
But that part of her died screaming along with the part of Grace that still believed she would save him. Fate made a fool of them both.
ref sheet explaining my Rocky and Adrian designs/headcanons + Adrian breaking down how they (possibly) create a breathable atmosphere for Grace's "enclosure". yippee.
I see yall talking about Grace and Rocky being able to find a few Eridian words that he can whistle in a somewhat understandable tone, and I raise you:
Rocky finds some words that absolutely mess with Grace's ears like a dog whistle. Adrian overhears them start to argue, and then they hear Rocky start saying random words really loudly and long, causing Grace to move funny. Like-
(AKA, what if this universe had the ability to fully connect human brains to technology, and the Hail Mary was created to carry the crew's brains to control the ship. Warning for kind of canon typical suicide)
The technology for brain connection has been around for a while, but it's absolutely not legalized almost anywhere, especially not for human use. Stratt obviously doesn't care about legality, and this has enough pros over inducing comas for her to use. No one knows this is the plan beyond anyone absolutely necessary to that section of the project. Grace didn't know, but the crew did, and at times they'd insinuate at it through jokes to each other. Grace overhears, jokingly asks if they're talking about what he thinks they're talking about, and feels his stomach drop when they confirm with more jokes and smiles. Him and Stratt have a Very long conversation the next day regarding the morals of this choice. He doesn't know and she would never admit it, but his knowing of this just added to her future list of reasons to put him on the crew.
Yao and Ilyukhina's brains make it alive to Tau Ceti. They wake up one at a time so Mary can help process their waking efficiently for them. Since Yao and Ilyukhina knew what they were signing up for and were given training, their awakening was programmed to give them full memory and control after a few quick checkups from Mary. It's due to this that they both almost immediately become overloaded with overstimulation and stress, as there's simply no amount of training that can simulate the experience, and both set off the suicide command. I'm unsure if either did so intentionally, or if they just felt so deeply and thoroughly horrified at the thought of living as they were, and Mary recognized that as the command. Either way, Grace still wakes up alone.
Seeing as Grace was entirely resistant to going, he was given a memory blocker program and limited controls until he could prove in Mary's checks that he wouldn't jeopardize the mission. Without the human senses to correlate to memory, it comes back to him much more slowly, and he finds himself far more confused with his situation. Sure he can see and hear and- with one particular sensor to analyze gaseous chemicals- 'smell', but it doesn't always reach the same neural pathways that humans use for storing sensory memory.
He can control the many instruments of Mary, but Mary still acts as the autopilot and 'watchguard' of their ship (and keeps check on the brains but he doesn't know that for a while), so Grace doesn't have to sacrifice brainpower to keeping tabs on everything. Many robotic limbs and movement tracks take up a lot of the inside space, while a drone is attached to the outside that can maneuver freely, and docks in the airlock. Grace takes advantage of this, feeling a bit less mentally claustrophobic while flying around. There's also a small drone on the inside in case they ever needed to fix something out of reach of the wall. If Yao and Ilyukhina lived, they would all technically be sharing the same body, but Mary is programmed to allow only one mind in a device at a time, to prevent dual input.
Rocky would have such a weird time at first. They make the tunnel expecting company, but it's just the drone that they heard picking up the canister. No big deal, maybe this alien is just really cautious, that's fair. But as they figure things out together, Rocky gets a little impatient and asks, and feels disappointed that it's 'just' a 'robot' on the ship. I can't decide if eridians would have their own version of AI (actual AI.) or if Rocky has absolutely no idea and thinks they're just talking to some alien metal doodad. I'm thinking Grace has already come to the conclusion he must've been human at some point, but still isn't sure, so his insistence that this is just an extension of his biological self is kind of weak. Rocky still appreciates the drone promising to watch them sleep; it's slightly better than the decades of isolation they've had.
Since they both need far less break time than a human body would need, they break through the language barrier faster than canon. Grace also has slightly improved present memory, thanks to Mary keeping backups that he can instinctually access.
When Rocky finally gets impatient and rolls into the Mary, their disappointment turns a little bitter toward Grace. They've been walking through the ship and commenting, but their excitement turns quiet as Grace's voice keeps coming from the ship speakers. Where's that biological self, huh? Talking to a bunch of scrap metal all this time... At this point I think Grace regains a flash of how he was 'uploaded' and has a very chaotic emotional breakdown at the suggestions that memory gives him. Even Rocky gets a little worried despite them thinking Grace is a robot, and tries to talk Grace down, who in turn mentally shuts down. Rocky is left in a very quiet Hail Mary for a little while.
By the time Grace resurfaces hours later, Rocky is a mess on the floor of their ball, quietly wailing 'sorry's and 'come back's, realizing they might've just killed the only comfort they had after 50 years. Grace comforts them back, and they have a (vague) talk about what the hell just happened. At this point they both know that Rocky felt alone for a long time but not why, and that Grace is definitely biological but isn't here. They end up turning to jokes in a 'laugh or cry' situation. Grace takes a power nap (to rest his brain, unknowingly) and wakes to Rocky loading stuff on the Hail Mary. More chaos and arguing ensues, this time in good spirits.
I'm once again behind on reading the book so the farther this goes the less certain I am, for now. Hidden under the read more for the length again
Grace and Rocky get used to being roommates (Rocky argues that word doesn't work here. Grace IS the room.) They enjoy discussing the differences of humans and eridians and finding out about each other. Grace finds he can recall FAR more info that he feels like he should be able to, and switches to manually browsing Hail Mary's data (Friend grace definitely not robot. Stupid, slow slow slow decision.)
While they quietly parallel work on the chain for fishing, Grace suddenly laughs and jazz hands (picked up from Rocky w the human mirroring instinct; it's actually pretty easily habitual with many of the robotic limbs.) "Grace okay, question?" "Hah- I'm a Rybot!" "...What is word, question?" "I'm- it's...it's a rhyming word joke, it's my name plus, well- the word robot!" "...Word joke is lame." "...I need to stop teaching you negative adjectives."
Grace uses the external drone for fishing while Rocky helps monitor the displays, so Grace's mind isn't too strained multitasking. I don't know how fishing goes in the book so this part is murky, as I'd like to rely more on book canon. Maybe the external drone gets damaged irreparably (Rocky freaks before Grace reminds them he's fine; he's started geopomorphizing Grace's/Mary's different parts.) This is definitely when they find out, through Mary's chillingly calm alarms, that Grace's brain is on board, and in danger for one reason or another- the Hail Mary wasn't made for turbulence beyond exiting Earth's atmosphere. Maybe it somehow slowly disconnects from wires within its holding container, leaving Grace feeling what its like to be forcefully 'shut down', trying not to scream at Rocky as he rapidly explains whats happening before total disconnect.
Rocky panicks but their improved lack of language barrier makes his understanding far better than it would be in canon. That doesnt stop the atmosphere from being lethal to him as he locates the holding container and the unplugged wires. He manages to delicately reinsert the plugs through the pain, and Grace reboots with the cameras trained on Rocky outside their atmosphere.
Through the brainfog and diagnostic checks he still manages to bring Rocky back to his side of the ship. I think while of course he can't truly feel pain like a human meatsuit, he can 'feel' the system warning of overheat and malfunction in the superheated gas and all the errors popping up, and the closest brainwire to register that is what processes pain. Like feeling a phantom limb, or those videos of people being convinced of a fake hand being real. I'm unsure if the disconnect processed as pain or if so how much, but maneuvering with and in Rocky's atmosphere was easily far less horrifying than disconnection. The process of returning Rocky fucks up his main on-rail appendage, but he promises Rocky he's watching. He does, in fact, override Mary's system to have a camera on Rocky at all times while doing his work on the Taumoeba and comprehending his own organic mortality.
"I've been calling it 'taumoeba'- like tau from Tau Ceti, and uh- amoeba, the type of cell...more human word jokes, hah! It's- we- we can just workshop it later, alright? I know you think it's lame."
"...Hmm. I've been thinking. I guess I'd be a Ryborg, not a Rybot. That's, uh. ... I don't think I like human word jokes anymore, Rock."
this is the moment he becomes her second in command by the way. not the coma resistance gene. not some insane feat of scientific discovery above the rest. ryland grace looks the most powerful woman in the world in the eye and demands to take part in the project. because he looked in those children's faces and saw death. just like stratt did. and that's what dooms him. she saw the good man underneath the coward and she will kill the coward to let the good man breathe. phm
@carlyraejepsans how does it feel to be the most correct person ever. You're so right
