Hello lol. This is a mostly MCYT blog, featuring several smps such as Hermitcraft, Empires SMP, and others, but don't be surprised if random stuff pops up such as Ninjago, Transformers, Star Wars, Miraculous Ladybug, and more!
My name is Lilac and my pronouns are She/Her
My art tag is: lilacsallaround art
My only art account is: Lilacsallaroundart
Edit: we are currently running through an amazing Percy Jackson Phase so be Warned.
Edit #2: PROJECT HAIL MARY IS THE BEST THING EVER. Newest obsession unlocked.
Short list this time since I also wrote a little discovery fic for the phone.
You guys have my full permission to use anything in these posts for writing or drawing. Just tag me so I can yell about it, please!
--
Grace is bored. Bored, bored, bored. Capital B, bored.
Rocky, his partner in crime and entertainment is currently 2 hours deep into his 6 hour nap leaving Grace on his own in these enrichment deprived times. He's currently laying starfished on the floor of the dormitory running through every project they've come up with to fill time and get ready for arriving to Erid but none of them are sparking joy at the moment.
Grace groans, rolling onto his stomach and thumping his head on the floor hard enough for Armando to chirp in concern.
“It's fine, I'm fine, everything is fine,” he mumbles into the floor, “Not going crazy or nothin'.”
Armando chirps in a decidedly disbelieving way but returns to standby anyway.
Another minute passes before Grace fails his legs in frustration like a toddler and introduces his toes to the wall -hard-. He yelps, pulling his leg up to grab his toes so he can continue rolling around the floor like an idiot.
“Oh, sugar honey iced tea, that was a bad idea. Mother fluffer.”
He almost doesn't hear the panel he kicked fall to the floor..
“Oh good, now I'm breaking the ship,” he wheezes, “Sorry, Mary.”
“Apology accepted, Dr. Grace.”
He drags himself over to pop the panel back into place when he notices a device crammed between the wire bundles. Carefully, in case it's actually a part of the system, he works it out from the space and finds himself holding a smart phone with OLESYA written in silver sharpie on the back.
Heck yeah, contraband.
He sends a quick thank you to his crewmate before scrambling to the junk drawer for a suitable charging cable. Gosh he hopes this thing has games on it. Not that the laptops don't, but playing Candy Crush on anything but a phone feels like sacrilege. Knowing Olesya this thing probably has half the app store installed with all the ads removed.
He crows in delight when he finds the right charging cord and nearly vibrates while the thing charges to 10% before he can't handle it any longer and powers it on. In true Olesya fashion, the power up screen has been modded to say “Go Fuck Yourself :)” in Russian before bringing up the lock screen which is the Hail Mary patch edited so the ship is a vibrator. Grace has to hold back tears because it's so her that it hurts. Luckily, she didn't set a password so a quick swipe opens the device.
Yao, Olesya, and Dubois stand proudly behind a mess of apps littering the home screen. Grace can almost feel his attention span shorten as he scrolls through his new entertainment options before opening the settings to check the storage limits and cackling at the absurd amount of space she'd managed to stuff into this off brand monstrosity.
The gallery storage managed to catch his attention as he closed settings. It was taking up nearly a quarter of the storage space and he needed to know what the heck Olesya was hoarding in there, hopefully it wasn't just porn.
It was not.
--
When Rocky finally woke up it was to Grace holding a small rectangular device and making horrific choking sounds. His glasses were pushed up into his hair and his face soaked in tears.
“Grace?”
His thumb swiped across the surface of the rectangle and he let out another awful squealing sound.
“Grace?!”
Grace raised his hand in a “hang on” position before setting the rectangle down and launching into a coughing fit.
Ah, wait, Grace is laughing. Rocky vented a sigh and resettled into a “loaf” to wait for Grace to “get his shit together”. It took about five rounds of calming down and then immediately starting to giggle again before Grace was finally able to at least communicate that Rocky needed his light reader before falling into yet another giggle fit.
“Guh! OK,” Grace managed to croak out. He'd crawl over to rest his back against the xenonite tunnel so Rocky could get a good shot at the screen of the rectangle.
“I found this in the wall about four hours ago-”
“What is?”
“Uh, cellphone. I think I kinda explained it a while ago? The whole Apple vs Android rant?”
Rocky nodded, “Consumer loyalty.”
“Right, this one is specially built by Olesya but the system is based on Android. Overall this is what most cell phones look like, at least when I was on Earth.”
“What use, question? No reach Earth for call.”
“No but this is a smart phone, it's not actually intelligent but it's basically an even more portable laptop. Not as much storage and not great for typing but it condenses several other objects we used to carry around like cameras, notebooks, and even our wallets into one small device.”
Rocky gave an impressed whistle, “So what on cellphone make Grace laugh, question? Thought you got stupider while Rocky sleep and forgot how to breathe.”
Grace stuck his tongue out at him before turning the device on and tapping at the screen, “I found some old pictures and videos from the Project. I think half the storage on this thing is dedicated to the crap we did on Stratt's Vat, she even downloaded a copy of the internal ‘Vatchat’ app.”
Rocky hummed like he knew what Grace was saying.
“Here, let me show you.”
--
Carl taking a break on the couch, he's holding a thick novel and wearing itty bitty reading glasses. Grace is being pinned behind Carl to the back of the couch, it looks like he passed out mid-struggle.
Grace, Ilyukhina, and a couple lab techs trying to teach Armando to dance.
Dr. Lamia giving Grace, Ilyukhina, and a couple lab techs a stern lecture for trying to teach Armando to dance.
Compilation of scientists standing up and stretching accompanied by horrific joint cracking.
A sign detailing the newly instated mandatory stretch routine and chiropractor/physio appointments. A note threatening mandatory exercise is scribbled in the bottom corner.
An incident report about citric acid poisoning.
A notes list of all the incredibly out of date sayings that Grace picked up from the older teachers and the old VHS tapes he played for his elementary work-study classes. (Sometimes the American lab techs would go check the calendar date when he said something particularly bad and then yell "It's not 1997, I checked!”.)
A video series styled and edited like the Bill Nye series but it's Grace explaining astrophage and the Hail Mary Project in a kid friendly way. (These were released to the public.)
Grace finds a phone tucked in a random maintenance hatch a couple years into the Erid trip and starts laughing so hard he's crying because the pictures and videos folder is full of Vat shenanigans.
--
Shapiro drowning in Dubois’ EVA suit. Dubois with Shapiro's suit taped to him and her helmet balanced on top of his head
Grace looking at the camera confused while the core time circle around him like the one girl surrounded by five guys meme
Stratt reclined on a couch looking demure with a coffee mug and using Grace's legs as a lap board for her tablet. Grace is dead asleep, obviously snoring with his mouth wide open and covered in reports. His glasses are on Stratt's head.
Carl walking by the camera with Grace thrown over his shoulder. Grace is visibly pleased and yapping.
Illyukhina walking by the camera with Grace thrown over her shoulder. Grace looks vaguely ill.
Yao passionately doing karaoke with each of the core staff members.
Lamai asleep on a prototype coma bed.
Steve Hatch maternity shoot with the Beatles.
Grace and Dimtri using a centrifuge to make butter.
Grace and Dimitri getting yelled at by Lokken for using a centrifuge to make butter.
Dubois carrying Grace and Shapiro under each arm to the cafeteria. They all are talking like this is a normal occurrence.
Yao hanging upside down from a simulator that glitched with a straight face while Illyukhina is crying laughing on the floor below him.
Compilation video of the world's greatest minds dropping tools, tripping, and running into the glass walls.
Videos of the astronauts defeatedly drifting away from the mock ship in the buoyancy tank after losing their grip. The others are dramatically reaching out for them.
Redell teaching the Russians about New Zealand bombing dives in the training pools.
Shapiro, in formal wear, standing next to a slideshow titled “How I Cloned and Replaced the World Leaders”
Dubois - “My Alien Seduction Tactics"
Grace - “Middle Schooler vs Scientist”
Dimitri - “Using the Incorrect Equipment for Correct Results"
Hatch - “Yoko Ono: First Contact?”
Lamai - “How Not to Use a Coma Robot”
Lokken - “Grace is an Idiot”
Leclerc - “The Ice Age and You”
Stratt - “Things I DO NOT Have Time For”
Carl - “Securing a Home Depot for Idiots”
Yao - “Worst Times to Make a Joke”
Illyukhina - "Benefits of Vodka in Space”
Reddell - “What I Did in 1989”
Illyukhina passed out on top of Dmitri (also passed out) surrounded by a minefield of bottles none of which are for alcohol.
Leclerc looking upset and holding a penguin plushy.
Horrible mishmash of memes from all over the world plus some homemade memes of various quality.
A shakey video taken around the edge of a doorway of Dimitri belting some Russian opera while running a late night test ‘alone’ in the lab.
Yao kicking ass at the mahjong table.
Bill Nye watch parties. Everybody looks like zombies except Grace who looks like he just shotgunned a Redbull. Hearing scientists in the labs chant Bill, Bill, Bill under their breath is not unusual.
A notes app document full of the most popular multilingual vocal stims going around.
Carl pulling a blanket over Stratt and Grace after they fell asleep against each other on a plane.
The core team half asleep after a late check in meeting with The Governments™ Stratt has her head on the table, Grace tries to eat a donut but misses his mouth, Lokken and Lamai are looking into their coffee mugs like they hold all the answers, Dimitri is fully asleep and snoring, Redell is not far behind, Hatch is petting his Beatle prototype like a cat. Even Carl looks like he's asleep standing up.
Rave night with homemade glowsticks.
Stratt and Grace sitting on swings after a meeting in Switzerland edited to look like an album cover.
--
Glad you guys are enjoying this as much as I am because I have more in my google doc.
Eridian Scientist ‘Linecook’: *excitedly putting something sealed through the airlock for Grace* Have made new drink for human to try.
Grace: thanks, Linecook, that’s very nice of you. *takes a sip through the pouch, frowns, takes a more forceful approach* huh… *gags*
Linecook: Does Grace not like it?
Grace: *gags again* no it tastes fine, I just didn’t expect to chew it.
Rocky: *looking stern* Rocky told Linecook that Grace would not like.
Grace: *gagging harder as he contemplates taking another drink* Actually it just tastes like thick water, I just think it’s the worst texture I’ve ever pulled through a straw in my life *gags again*
Rocky and Linecook: *arguing, Grace is pretty sure insulting the others family line, but he’s also pretty sure these two are cousins so who knows*
Grace: You know, if you add some flavoring and made it twice as thick, it would be pretty close to an Earth dessert that I would like.
Rocky: *definitely judging*
Linecook: *extremely confused* -and the straw?
Grace: God no, once it’s at that point, we use utensils because it can hold itself up if it’s cold. I’ll use a spoon.
My Personal Headcanon™ is that like Humans, Eridians have a ingrained instinctual sense of what is 'cute' - that, also like us, is tied to the similarity to the appearance and/or the behaviour of their offspring (which I will call 'pebbles' from this point on.)
So what if... humans do a few things that are adorable to Eridians...?
Think about it! There are fully grown creatures that we find adorable because they do something that humans find inherently cute! Heck - look at this fandom - a lot (most) of us probably want to be best friends with a ROCK SPIDER ALIEN. (I know I do!)
So imagine:
Grace: *Bumps into table for the 1000th time like a pebble learning to get their footing*
Grace: *Humming unbeknownst to him an Eridian phrase he heard Rocky say once and sounds like a pebble trying to learn to speak*
Grace: *snoring which happens to sound just like pebble happy-rumbling-purr sounds*
Grace: *tapping random rhythm not unlike a pebble trying to get a good view of something*
Grace: *Curling as close to Rocky as possible through the xenonite barrier like a pebble seeking comfort*
All of which would remind any Eridian of a pebble, and so Rocky finds it all adorable.
Also:
Rocky: Friend-Grace is gross leaky space blob, statement!
Grace: ??? *Was just minding his own business when he randomly sneezed* *sounded just like a pebble 'sneezing'*
(Translation: You're adorable - how dare you)
phm time travel aus are always hilarious but I don't think I've ever seen one from rockys perspective before. imagine being rocky, suddenly just an engineer again and no longer hero of erid, trying to be like um. so. um. imagine. um. there are tiny tiny tiny dots in space. way tinier than astrophage. and they are like. evil. I think. and what if they get through the ship. and like. hurt us. and kill us. I think we should prepare for that possibility.
one day grace tries on one of their eridian shirts and is like hehe it has way too many holes for my few limbs :-) and to rocky and adrian its like the equivalent of putting your dog in a pair of pants
The thing is that prior to Unknowingly and Unwillingly being the science officer backup, Grace gets to Unknowingly and Unwillingly become the Hail Mary Project's entire HR team.
Like, Grace is the guy Shapiro and Dubois go to when they get into a workplace relationship. Grace is the guy in charge of training the crew in the first place. Grace is the guy that everyone else sees as Stratt's representative to the people working on the project.
And I want to know what else Grace ends up doing in this role. Especially given his insistence that he's Just Another Scientist.
Like, does Stratt send him to mediate workplace disputes between scientists and he just assumes that he's there because of his experience with middle schoolers?
Do people come to him with complaints about coworkers they feel harassed by or unsafe around (he feels flattered that they think of him as a safe person to confide in. And of course he forwards the complaints onto Stratt who has the culprits removed posthaste).
Does Ilyukhina come to him every other week with increasingly ridiculous ideas for 'team building events' she wants him to help her organise?
Dunno, feels like there's a lot of humour potential in there.
you know what's peak comedy? the human brain's pattern-seeking leading to random ass scares and spooks.
there Rocky is, doing his thing, and so is Grace, busy busy busy. Grace sits back and stretches, a bit distracted as he usually is, gets up and then he turns and SPOOKS SO BADLY!! WHAT WHAT IS IT??? Rocky hears nothing what's going on???
"Oh nothing, I thought I saw someone but, it's just a shadow."
and Rocky doesn't get it, at. all. Grace says this or that thing kind of looks like a person, or that he thought the hanging clothes was someone, but Rocky can't understand for the life of him. shadows have no shape, no depth, that jacket is inert, has no breathing or heartbeat.
that's when Grace realizes that to Rocky, he's basically a space horse spooking at plastic bags and trash cans.
watching grace & rocky & adrian hang out inside the biodome must be the eridian equivalent of when you go to the aquarium and see the trainers chilling in the sea lion exhibit
