Grace, playing a fucked up prank on Simon: Here this is a hamburger! Its from cow and totally not me.
Simon: well thats a weird thing to say... *eats it* <I hope my stomach takes this well, I cant remember when I had animal meat last. Also I havent seen any animals here.... thats probably nothing>
Grace: Ha! I lied. It's a me-burger!
Simon: *not phased, keeps chewing*
Grace:... heh.. Si? You hear me? ... its.. its human meat...
Simon: Yeah, tastes better then the others ive had though so *shrugs* <at least I know my stomach wont reject this. This fuckin slaps. Wonder what makes Ryland taste so good>
Grace:.... si? What.. what do you mean by that buddy? .... simon.... simon, dont look at me like a steak bud.
Rocky: Now friend Grace know what Rocky feel when Grace show his teeth. Also Friend simon please do not eat friend Grace..
she's platonic about it but in my opinion, stratt 100% treats grace as her dead wife. she keeps a tacky fox trinket in her coat pocket. there's a framed photo of him in her study . he's grinning goofily in it (bc he's a dork). new guy like: is that her husband? / no, dumbass, it's dr. ryland grace, 1/3 of the hail mary mission. / oh, fuck. were they... ? / yeah, it's unclear. black-and-white montages of grace messing around in high-level meetings play every time stratt contemplates committing more environmental crimes. she looks up at the night sky and vaguely wonders if he's enjoying his space ramen. that's her dead wife. she killed him.
She keeps a photo of him on her desk and gets possesive of his rain coat for unclear reasons. The interns are gossiping. She asks Carl to keep his stuff while shes in prison for the very well documented murder of her dead wife.
Ngl this would be absolutely killer as a "I ussually only date women but then came Dr Grace annnddd shes transfem. Welp." And its just Grace in his dead crew mates dress waving in the videos like "Captian Dr. Grace, She/her today, Guess what! I found the stuff thats been eating the sun and Im currently breeding a type thatll survive in our atmosphere."
Stratt who very vivdly remembers Grace not mentioning anything about this: .... The amnesia made her trans. Crazy. Anyway-
no matter how bad it gets it cannot possibly be as bad as it was this time last year when i was using all my free time to replace the music in captain america the winter soldier with 2000s pop hits
Rocky, once again, being baffled and STRESSED about human biology and the things his human does to keep healthy
i dont think mr "my whole crew died of radiation sickness" likes the fact that his alien and most things on his planet needs it for survival very much xD
previous
Greying grace who came back to earth and married Carl for tax purposes and now when ever they go anywhere Carl, despite being retired, is still his body gaurd. Only difference is he used to protect people from Grace and now he protects Grace from people. Esspecially now that Grace is pretty adverse to goverment personel and has white coat syndrome.
Graces dr: Savior Dr. Grace you have to take your health more seriously! I recommend you take this medicine
Dr. Grace, already out the door with his walker, 3 twizzlers in his mouth: Ah heck no.. Im not taking that.
Carl: *sighs* Ill make sure he takes it doc..
Grace: *almost trips with his cane*
White house security: *tries to catch him* I got you Dr. Grace
Grace: *slapping their hands away from him in a panic* Dont touch me!
Carl: I got him fellas.. Ryland you can't slap secret service -
Grace: *grumbles old man science insults*
Carl: You can't call them chunks of useless organic matter either 🙄
Grace: I'll do what I want I saved the planet.
Meanwhile, one his old students: Dr. Grace can I please experiment on you?
10+ year Age gap soft butch, captian of the space military Ava Kaplan and stone fem, literal prison break Eva Stratt.
Ava, whos like a doberman puppy.
Eva, whos a grey tabby cat with a pouch.
Ava who wants to uhaul immediately.
Eva, who only wants to get married for taxes (and so people can't contest agasint her in court)
Ava, who litsens to Gigi Perez.
Eva, who litsens to Mitski
Ava, who makes a bunch of sexual jokes but short circuits when Eva holds her hand first.
Eva, who doesn't flirt sexually but has insane strap game.
Ava, who acts all top but folds the second that dutch woman smiles at her. (Same)
Eva, who's actually a stone top and is into mistress bdsm.
Ava, who didn't know what being a lesbain, was until she was an adult and honestly is a hopeless romantic. Has never really felt attraction towards anyone but women.
Eva, who's aroace but enjoys telling people what to do+ make them come undone. Prefers women but isn't agasint strapping a male sub.
Ava, who gets jealous really easily and has a short-ish temper.
Eva, who is quite monotone and wouldn't mind bringing another in to play with. Can be quite selective, though, and the rule list is pretty extensive.
Ava, who runs her fingers over Evas prison tattoos.
Eva, who kisses Ava's face scars
Ava, who beats around the bush a little about her feelings, is often intimidated by that sharp stare.
Eva, who says exactly what she wants, tries to soften her words so not to hurt peoples feelings.
Both sometimes think saying nothing is better- which can cause issues.
Both of them enjoy leaning on each other, even in complete silence.
Both enjoy the warmth that the other puts off (even if Eva runs colder)
One of them is actually trying at Karaoke. The other one is drunk, screaming her heart out.
"...Do you know why they chose Laika to go on the mission Dr. Grace?"
The man, who was admiring the sunset in the distance, turned to her. "Because she was the most trained? Or are you talking about the fact her companion had pups before launch, so couldn't go?"
She didn't say anything for a moment, only looking at him.
Grace blinks, tilting his head.
The woman turns away, emotionless.
"Because she was the most resilient. They believed in her."
"Uhm... Okay? What does that have to do with the project?" He asks.
I love me a good growly hissy "first time introducing stray cats" type of Simon where he's all confused and aggressive, but I kind of want more 'heavily truamatizef and distrusting of people' Grace. Where this weird guy shows up and now Grace has to live with the fact he's not alone anymore but also, if he dosn't learn to trust this guy hes going to give himself a panic attack from the anxiety.
Haven't seen the concept of Grace wondering/worrying if he accidently brought a multi-sharp mouthed shapeshifting predator on board the Hail Mary and wondering if Simon isnt human at all but is actually just making himself look it so to blend in. Like ligit having paranoia about it and Rocky not getting the full concept of what "shapeshifting" is. Which makes a bit of sense because he can see all simons organs. It's a little screwed up in there, but it looks similar enough to Grace' body.
"He's just standing there... menacingly!"
"...Rocky think Grace need sleep."
Alternatively, I haven't seen anyone have Simon make sure that Grace is actually human either.
Simon, just sitting there dissociating while staring out the window heavily, wondering if all this is real and if this is some kinda trick from the eel, a last hallucination before he dies type thing. But he can't really do anything about that now, can he? He's on a tiny ship in the middle of space. Where would he run? They seem okay enough. They feed him stuff he's never had before and don't seem to mind sharing resources. Oh well I guess.
Meanwhile Grace is rubbing his wrists and arms trying his best to be patient but he really needs Simon to start talking soon. Or at least explaining. Nothing he says adds up and its freaking him out- scientifically wise.
What the fudge do you mean the Earth is gone? He could see it live on his screen. The heck is he talking about, "The eel monster" ? Eden? Like.. the bible??
Grace was trying to be nice. He really was. But he hated being watched when he worked. He used to not, he used to love his peers or students watching and asking questions, but Stratt ruined that for him. Having all those important guys (and gals- maybe theys? He didn't ask. He should have asked, actually nevermind. He didn't care) watching him for hours at a time, peering down on him like hawks ready to snatch him up if for even one second he did something wrong. To be a guinea pig.. to be expendable.
Now the idea of anything with eyes watching gave him such bad anxiety that he has almost killed them twice. Too much of x into y, not enough space for x's reaction, forgetting to set the air lock, etc. It was a problem. A problem he couldn't seem to get over. All the staring. All the silence.. the immediate apologies and tears that made him feel like a jerk.
Just the other day he threw a tape measure for snapping his finger the 5th time, a final straw; and the guy went and retrieved it like a darn puppy.
"I'm sorry.. he's sorry." The hybrid man had said to the tape measure. A TAPE MEASURE.
It had made Grace cry, taking it from him as he presented it like one of the abused unpaid intern Yale used to keep around the lab for "extra experiance." The kind that he vaugly remembered also participating in the abuse.. demanding coffee his certian way, scolding them for things they possibly couldn't have known. Grace even remembered throwing a chair at one point with one of those poor students in the room.. Simon flinched like them. He apologized like them... but worst, he stared like them.
His eyes were so dark, staring driectly into his soul as if he knew all of his sins. To break him of this, Grace has tried to ask things of him, ask him for certian tools or to check on things that didn't exist. He felt cruel for it, but he knew if they all died he'd feel way worse- actually, no he wouldn't. He'd be dead.
To his suprise, Simon- despite not saying anything half the time, Was very observant. A couple days ago he accidently used the same question, resulting in the first time of Simon declining one of his empty requests.
"Simon, can you go check the mechanical transmission?" He asked him.
The man sat there, staring at him for a second like he just slapped him before looking at his hands in his lap. He opened his mouth, closing it, then opened it again in a whisper.
"...There is no mechanical transmission.."
It's not that he thought simon was stupid. Rather, he was proud. This was the first time he rebuttled. Thank god.
He chewed his inner cheek, smiling. Okay- chill. Be cool. Dont want to scare him off..
"Soo uhh... Why do you keep staring at me? You like me or somethin?"
OKAY Not chill. Totally not cool! Gosh darn it, Ryland!
As simon stood up to walk away (as he did when he assumed Grace was being hostile towards him) Grace put his utensils down, his hands coming up.
"Wait wait! Im sorry! ..I.. I haven't had anyone in my lab in years.. just.. you make me nervous." He says, mentally slapping himself. Still not chill..
Simons head lowered, shifting back and forth on his feet as he swallows. "..I'm sorry." He turns his face away. Grace could tell he was probably going to go cry and space out somewhere if he let him leave the area. "I.. I can stop.. please."
This, to say the least, confused Grace (and frustrated him) even more. What the fudge was he saying please for? As much as he thought, 'Good! Stop staring at me before we all die!' He felt a wave of guilt. Aauugghh.
"You don't have to be sorry.. do you want to hang out? Is that why you're following me around all the time?"
Tears prick his eyes. "I'll stop.. im sorry. I-i swear.. please." He repeats.
Grace shook his head. Breathe.. clearly something was going on. Not like simon would tell him but given the situation, Grace understood. Obviously some real truama response was happening. Only way to help that though was if he got Simon more comfortable.
"Stay." Ryland says, trying to pull the stool closer only to smile awkwardly, realizing its bolted to the ground - duh. "Erm.. please. Stay. Once im done with this, we can do something okay? Just.. if you're curious about something.. can you ask me? I'm a teacher. I know curiosity when I see it. So please.. Ask."
Hesitantly, Simon sits down, begining to stare again. A lot bit of silence passes. He starts to say something a few times, but its like his voice box just dosn't work. It's not for another whole 2 minutes that he speaks up.
"...When that stuff eats the black dots the.. the uhm.."
"Astrophage."
"Right..does it make it have more energy when.. when we eat it?" Simon asks, only to immediately back track. "Sorry! Thats.. That's a really stupid question.. please- just.. forget it."
Turning to look up at him, Grace blinks. Oh! He's had kids like this before. Ones ussually who transfered from lower income neighborhoods and were too shy to ask anything in class in fear of being wrong or picked on. Now he knew why all that staring had irked him both ways. Not only because of Stratt's people, but the teacher inside of him wanted so desperately to awnser. Only issue is he couldn't awnser if he didn't know the question.
That made sense.
Grace smiles, eyes lighting up. "No no! Please, sit. Thats a great question! Short awnser, Yes and no. Long awnser: See when an organism takes in energy from another, it converts it to their own bodies needs which makes some of the energy fall away, But, there is a way to maximize the amount of energy by allowing the main source to eat and then consuming it right away-"
"So if we feed the astrophage to that before we eat it, we'll get more energy...?"
"Exactly!"
Simon gives a soft grin, relaxing his muscles, his eyes drifting to Grace's hands instead of his face. "Can I see?"
"See what?? Oh! The microscope? Yeah, here. Just don't touch the sample, mkay?"
Simon nods, carefully copying what he has seen Grace do dozens of times, looking at the sample.
This had only bloomed, opening the door for many more conversations. Simon still would space out once inawhile, but for the most part he slowly became more talkitive, asking all sorts of questions, eventually comparing thoughts. Even giving his opinion.
It would be awhile before he was ready to talk about his past, Grace could tell. But he was much happier now that the only true quiet was when in the 'Dont-go-crazy' room, Simon in his chest observing the movie.
Grace rubs his back, sighing contently with such weight on him. Alright.. maybe he wasn't so bad...even if he still didn't know anything about his extra teeth. He could deal with this. For anyone whos ever been around children, Silence was terrifying. Add ominous statements to that, and it was hell. Take away that silence and replace it with questions? Much much better.
Now.. he wondered if Simon would give him a tissue sample...
I love me a good growly hissy "first time introducing stray cats" type of Simon where he's all confused and aggressive, but I kind of want more 'heavily truamatizef and distrusting of people' Grace. Where this weird guy shows up and now Grace has to live with the fact he's not alone anymore but also, if he dosn't learn to trust this guy hes going to give himself a panic attack from the anxiety.
Haven't seen the concept of Grace wondering/worrying if he accidently brought a multi-sharp mouthed shapeshifting predator on board the Hail Mary and wondering if Simon isnt human at all but is actually just making himself look it so to blend in. Like ligit having paranoia about it and Rocky not getting the full concept of what "shapeshifting" is. Which makes a bit of sense because he can see all simons organs. It's a little screwed up in there, but it looks similar enough to Grace' body.
"He's just standing there... menacingly!"
"...Rocky think Grace need sleep."
Alternatively, I haven't seen anyone have Simon make sure that Grace is actually human either.
Simon, just sitting there dissociating while staring out the window heavily, wondering if all this is real and if this is some kinda trick from the eel, a last hallucination before he dies type thing. But he can't really do anything about that now, can he? He's on a tiny ship in the middle of space. Where would he run? They seem okay enough. They feed him stuff he's never had before and don't seem to mind sharing resources. Oh well I guess.
Meanwhile Grace is rubbing his wrists and arms trying his best to be patient but he really needs Simon to start talking soon. Or at least explaining. Nothing he says adds up and its freaking him out- scientifically wise.
What the fudge do you mean the Earth is gone? He could see it live on his screen. The heck is he talking about, "The eel monster" ? Eden? Like.. the bible??
Click for quality. (I swear to gaadd this app hates me)
Closeups!
Grace is 57 in the first sketch and 77. She aged gorgeously.
Something kinda fun for me to think about is for grace to stuff Ilyukhina's bra with socks or balled up cloth. It makes her feel very pretty. Miss Grace does not care about her body hair (to a degree) and has a weird mullet thing going on. The eridians dont really get hair fashion much but Grace says its very important to be able to style it how she wants. Bitch (lovingly) still dosn't wear her glasses properly though. Get it together, you already cracked them. Gosh. She also now has a vast selection of eridian jewelry that she wears even on non fem days, including her mate gifts. Nothing is really different. Still trips over rocks. Still has a bad back (and really should wear her knee braces- but dosn't) still yaps in the lab. Only thing that does change is if Rocky has a (controversially young) wife that day or not and if the students swap Mr. Grace for Miss Grace. Woke ass rocks.
Really like sketching fem grace. Shes so beautiful. Also my friend who dosnt know anything about PHM accused me of giving "your only transfem character scurvy during june. Thats a hate crime" in which I had to explain that Grace is not infact my character but no one is safe from my treacherous hands, pride month or not. I might lay off the torture a ttiiiiiiinnnyyy bit tho.
