fics with a gender neutral reader will usually tag any applicable option (for a male character x gn reader, this will be f/m, m/m and other) so that's likely what you're seeing. if you want only male reader, probably just look through the male reader tag instead
Yeah, I do get that. I’ve seen a few fics like that for sure, but I have also seen way too many fics, as stated previously, that are tagged M/M and F/M, but are basically just F/M/M with the reader being the female.
I don’t mind gn reader fics that tag with both F/M and M/M, but the F/M/M ones really irritate me me
So many M/M x reader fics are only tagged that way bcs it’s a threesom with 2 male characters and a female reader but that doesn’t feel right to me. If I’m looking in a character x reader tag, and i filter it to only M/M works, then I expect the reader to be male.
I choose to believe that, in the movie verse, Eridians still wear clothes and eating is still considered a private thing, but Rocky is just a freak and has become a nudist during his decades alone on his ship.
Here’s some more of my Grace headcanons!! This batch is a mix of pre-canon and during/post-canon
(god i love how he looks in these photos…)
-Sore loser
-Was always the dog when playing family as a kid
-He tilts his head slightly when focusing on something, he knows it’s useless for humans to do it as it doesn’t help vision or hearing at all, but it’s a habit
-No matter how much he tries to stop it he continues to instinctively do it
-Frequently plays Just Dance on his way to Erid
-Post-Coma, remembers the big picture but has a hard time remembering small details
-He can picture what his childhood room looked like but he cannot for the life of him remember what pattern he had on his bed sheets
-He remembers that there was a specific type of bird that would always chirp outside of his classroom window before class, but he can’t remember what type of bird it was
-It doesn’t seem like too big of a deal, but it often sends Grace spiraling
-When he got to erid he asked Rocky if he could specifically program that specific bird chirp right outside the bedroom of his house.
-At some point in middle or high school, he went through every type and classification of animal and picked a specific favorite breed or type
-It does change occasionally if he has specific positive interactions with an animal, or somewhat fixates on a breed, but a shocking majority have stayed his favorite to date
-Has, on multiple occasions, caught his kids playing or looking at something on the school computers and has looked into it later only to get genuinely interested
-Found a kid playing Run 3 and ended up playing it for hours once he got home (Thinks that it’s stupid that the website is called Cool Math Gams when no one actually plays any of the math-related games on there)
-Found out about AO3 because of a kid and was flabbergasted when he saw all the smut on the website
-He was glad that it wasn’t all smut, but he was still worried about what type of fic his student was reading, at school no less
-Ended up reading a few fics from shows he likes and eventually made his own account but doesn’t post (yet. Maybe eventually he’ll get the courage to post the short fic that’s been rotting in his notes app for months)
-Likes watching Sci Fi movies and criticizing everything they did wrong
-At some point on the Hail Mary, Grace listens to Space Oddity and it makes him start loudly sobbing
-Rocky forbids him to listen to the song again because Grace’s reaction scared the shit out of him
-Grace does notice when people flirt with him but he just continuously tells himself he’s reading too far into it until the person straight up tells him they like him
In addition to my prev. MLP Grace post, imagine Simon also in this universe
He is also a blank flank, he wears complete clothing constantly to cover his flank
Simon gains his cutie mark at some point while in the SM-13 but he never realizes since it’s fully covered and he has more important things to focus on
And possibly Simon surviving and realizing that he now has a cutie mark of the most traumatic moment of his life, but also it meant something. It truly was more than him, it was his purpose to help others
I’ve been thinking a lot about Grace recently, so here’s some hc’s I have about him on earth
-Doesn’t have very many clothes, his wardrobe consists of school clothing (suits and stuff), a few pairs of pants, some jackets, and a collection of t-shirts with stupid designs on them
-He always has some money stored away for if he finds a good t-shirt
-He goes all out for spirit week. The week before he’ll go to a thrift store and buy a crap tone of clothes for the following week, then donate them back afterwards
-Unless he likes something specifically, in which he’ll keep it (He has a few pieces of clothing he’s kept that range from things he actually finds comfortable to things that are so dumb that he got stupidly attached to and he cannot bear giving them away)
-Not an impulsive spender, except for things he thinks would look good in/would be beneficial to his classroom
-Always has snacks stored away in his classroom incase a kid doesn’t have food or needs something quick to eat (Some fruit gummies, granola bars, apple juice, etc)
-Very jumpy, his kids will purposefully jump scare him because they find his reactions hilarious
-Doesn’t talk very much to the other teachers, mostly just a few words in passing, but most don’t really mind because they know how much the kids love him
-Buys his class a treat if they all do good on a test/project
-Lowky a gossip
-He was always a fairly quiet kid, something that continued into adulthood, so he ended up being able to listen in on so many conversations because people either forgot he was there or knew he wouldn’t snitch
-He knows all the teacher drama, one of the only reasons he goes to the teachers lounge semi-regularly is to listen in on others’ conversations—that and to get coffee
-Knows student drama too but mostly because kids rant to him about things during lunch
-Aroace in the book, Pan in the movie. Walk with me here
-Very petty
-Can and will hold a grudge
-But will also accept when he is wrong, albeit sometimes begrudgingly
-He’s not exactly shy, more so socially awkward, but he will get very passionate about certain things—both in a good, nerdy way and an irritated, mad way
-He’s an open book, it’s very easy to read exactly what’s going on in his head
-Loves his friends but also values his alone time especially after school since he barely gets a moment of alone time at school with how clingy some of his kids are
Summary: Ryland has a nightmare and finally tells Rocky about his family back home—something he’d been putting off up until that point.
Rocky lets out a melodic tune which Ryland has learned is basically the Eridian equivalent of a hum.
“Can we talk?”
Rocky pauses what he’s doing and shifts his carapace over to ‘look’ at Ryland—despite him being able to sense Ryland no matter which of his sides is facing Ryland, he’s picked up on the human movement of ‘looking’ at a person.
“Yes?” Rocky says, urging Ryland to continue.
“Uh, it’s about my nightmare from yesterday…” Ryland says, fidgeting with a pen—a bad habit he’d managed to break because of his students, he doesn’t want to be seen fidgeting by a bunch of middle schoolers, but that has come back while on the Hail Mary.
“Yes?” Rocky repeats, putting down the items he was tinkering with and getting closer to the xenonite barrier between them.
“Well, uh, it was about my sisters…” Ryland says sheepishly.
Rocky pauses before exclaiming, “Sisters! You have sisters?! Why didn’t you tell me before??”
“I- it slipped my mind,” Ryland says, shaking his head and shrugging.
Rocky gives him the closest thing and Eridian can give to a deadpan stare.
“It just never came up,” Ryland tries again.
“Grace. Not stupid.”
“I know you’re not stupid it’s just…”
Ryland lets out a sigh.
“Yeah that was a dumb thing to say,” he concedes.
Rocky nods,—moves his carapace slightly—another human gesture he’s picked up from Ryland.
“I just… honestly my explanation is total bullpucky.”
Rocky doesn’t question the word, knowing it’s one of Ryland’s weird, faux, swears by its placement in the sentence.
“It’s barely even an explanation, it really makes no sense-“
“Tell. Explain.” Rocky cuts in, not wanting Ryland to ramble any further.
“Yep, yeah you’re right,” Ryland takes a breath.
“Well, my sisters. They’re both younger than me by 10 years. They’re twins, Mel and Becca, well Mel’s actual name is Melissa but we all call her Mel as a nickname,” Ryland pauses momentarily, he knows he’s rambling.
“Since they’re younger than me I’ve always felt this need to protect them… and I know they’re grown women… actually they’re almost my age now,” he mumbles, more to himself than anything. “But they’ll always be my baby sisters.”
“And I felt like I was betraying them by leaving them behind to fend for themselves on our dying earth… Mel was a doctor, actually, still probably is. So she’s probably still helping people,” Ryland smiles. “But, what I meant by that is that Mel is fully capable of caring for herself and others, Becca is too.”
Rocky takes Ryland’s pause as a time to cut in, “then what is the problem?” He asks.
“Like I said, it’s dumb. I felt like I was damning them by leaving, and that saying it out loud would, like, curse it to actually happen.”
“… Human brain dumb.”
Ryland lets out a huff, smiling.
“Really dumb. Really really dumb-“
“I get it, Rocky,” Grace cuts in.
“Why would saying it out loud make it happen?”
“It’s just… a human superstition.”
“Stupid.”
“Yeah.”
Rocky pauses for a second before continuing, “Grace’s sisters are still alive, they are adults, like Grace said, and can do things for themselves.”
Ryland nods.
“Grace didn’t damn them by coming here, Grace saved them.”
Ryland begins to tear up slightly. Damn you overly emotional brain, he thinks.
“Grace Rocky save stars. Grace come here so sisters can live. If not they all die.”
Grace nods, wiping at his eyes
“Grace sisters still alive because of Grace.”
“You know you don’t have to talk to me like that buddy, I can understand you when you speak normally. Most of the time,” Ryland mumbles while trying to calm himself so he doesn’t start fully sobbing again.
“I know. But human brain cannot be trusted when leaky like this.”
Ryland lets out a laugh.
“Yeah. Alright, that’s fair,” he says.
“Grace brave,” Rocky says firmly.
He pushes his carapace against the xenonite barrier and Ryland leans against it. He lets out a shaky sigh, still trying to contain his tears.
“Thanks, Rock,” he says. “That helped, really.”
Rocky lets out another melodic hum.
“I know. Rocky is good at comforting.”
Ryland lets out a loud laugh, “okay, now you’re just getting cocky.”
Rocky chitters.
Grace smiles warmly.
“Thank you, for everything. I don’t know what I would have done without you. You saved me.”
“No, Rocky Grace save each other," Rocky emphasizes the final word.
Warnings/Tags: Nightmares, Grace misses his sisters
Summary: Ryland has a nightmare and finally tells Rocky about his family back home—something he’d been putting off up until that point.
He stops in place as Mel and Becca run off, further ahead of him. He bends down and places his hands on his knees, exaggeratedly huffing and puffing. His sisters stop as they realize he isn’t behind them anymore. They turn around to see his show and they giggle louder, bragging about how fast they are and how slow Ryland is.
He lets out a laugh and throws back that he’s out of shape, he’s not exactly the sports type, more of a science nerd. He’s always been the nerdy type.
He shakes his fist at the girls like a cartoon character and says he’ll get them next time. They giggle and run off, Ryland continues chasing after them.
The three run in circles around their backyard, not going outside the fence, that was one line they’d never cross.
After a few minutes of this aimless cat and mouse chase, Ryland gets genuinely tired and puts his full effort into tagging Mel and Becca. When they turn around to try to get him he puts his hands in a ‘T’ formation and calls time out.
“No fair!” Becca says.
“I’m tired guys, let’s get a snack,” Ryland huffs.
The two girls look at each other for a second, contemplating the offer.
“Please?” Ryland says.
“Fine,” Mel replies.
The two girls follow Ryland back into their house.
Their mother is at work, she trusted Ryland to take care of his sisters—which he has done many times before.
He opens up the fridge to get some veggie snacks out. He can feel a shift in the air and he pauses, confused. He looks down at his hand, opening and closing his palm but nothing looks amiss.
He brushes the feeling off.
“Ryland?” He hears Mel call from behind him.
“Yeah Mel?” He replies, turning his head to look at her.
He pauses. She looks older. Way older.
“Why did you leave us?” She suddenly asks.
Ryland freezes up.
“What?” He asks, quiet and scared.
“You left us to die,” Becca says.
He shifts his gaze to her, she also looks older.
They look the same age they did when he left on the Hail Mary.
Wait a minute…
“Why did they pick you?” Mel asks. “You’re the worst choice.”
“You’re gonna doom us,” Becca continues.
He turns his body to fully face them.
“Alright guys let’s… let’s calm down,” he tries to get the situation back under control.
He can logically recognize this is a dream—moreso a nightmare—but he can still feel the panic start to build within him.
“Come on, just have some snacks,” he says.
He blinks and looks down at his hands, now with two plates filled with snacks on them. He didn’t remember taking them out.
Is he taller than he was before?
“You’re useless,” Becca says.
“Guys.. please,” he can feel himself start to tear up.
He doesn’t want to wake up—no matter how much this hurts—these dreams of him with his sisters are the only times he’s truly able to see them now. The only times he’ll ever be able to interact with them again. He doesn’t want to give them up.
“Please just.. go back,” he says, almost in a whimper.
“I hate you,” Mel says.
“Mel…”
“I hate you,” Becca repeats her sister’s words.
“Come on…”
The lights shut off and Ryland freezes, tensing up, expecting for something to jump out at him.
He shoots up in his bed in the Hail Mary. He huffs out a few breaths, exasperated like he’d ran a marathon. He can feel streaks of tears down his cheeks and his face drenched in sweat.
“Grace!”
Ryland hears a musical voice say from beside him. He hears rapid tapping alongside it.
“Grace!”
“Hngh, yeah Rock?” He wipes the tears from his eyes, letting out one final deep, shaky, breath.
“Nightmare, question?” Rocky asks.
“Yeah. Nightmare,” Ryland confirms, staring blankly at the bedsheets.
“Want to talk?” Rocky asks.
Rocky has gotten accustomed with the idea of human nightmares due to Ryland’s—more frequent than he’d like to admit—nightmares. Ryland told him how humans may or may not want to talk about them, or be comforted, so Rocky asking if he wants to talk about them has become a usual part of his routine when waking up suddenly due to these terrible dreams.
“No,” Ryland replies.
He feels like crap. This nightmare hurt him more than he’d like to admit.
“I wanna go back to sleep,” He says.
“Grace won’t be able to sleep,” Rocky states.
Rylan huffs, he knows Rocky is correct.
“I’m gonna at least try,” Ryland says, laying back down and pulling the covers over himself.
“Rocky will watch. Protect Grace,” Rocky says.
Grace smiles, “thanks bud.”
Rocky will never be able to fill the hole in his heart previously occupied by his sisters, but he is a comforting presence and Grace appreciates him a lot. He doesn’t know what he would have done if he had not found Rocky. He probably wouldn’t have been able to save earth and would have died alone in space without really knowing who he was.
He lets out a sigh at the thought, his smile fades, but he tries to push it away and get some rest. He’ll need it for the trip ahead to Erid. His new home…