Love Begins
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Not today Justin
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Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
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Sweet Seals For You, Always
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YOU ARE THE REASON
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@missdeeds5070
I've seen a few posts that suggest that in the Coltland Gentry AU Grace is the older twin bc having a feral younger twin is more interesting.
I see your vision, and I raise you this: Grace is the feral younger twin.
Bc Ryland Crashout Grace is a head canon I will never let go of.
It's been said a million times, but I love the PHM fandom. Specifically how we're not just chill about all the different takes on Grace, from his sexuality to ships to his past and everything else, but we cheer each other on. Everything gets a supportive hell, yeah, brother. And it's awesome to see that even as fandom seems to grow, that hasn't changed.
Rocky really said medium rough texture circle planet with his whole carapace.
But it makes me wonder if Eridians just aren't big on naming things. If memory serves they weren't a space faring race and only went to Tau Ceti out of necessity. And when Grace asked him the name of his ship he said it's just called ship and compared naming it to naming a chair. The convention didn't seem to really make sense to him. So perhaps it's just not a thing they do which is so interesting. Especially when coming from a culture that names everything AND has a habit anthropomorphizing the things around us.
Grace heavy sighing at Carl on the walkie talkie is peak brat behavior.
Ok. Grace returns to Earth (I'm inspired by all the time travel, weird science fix it fics) and it has only been half the expected wait time. So his friends and brothers are still alive and kicking. Ofc he brings the Taumeba Solution and helps deploy it etc.
What interests me is the aftermath. It would be so intense for him. Every eye in the world would be on him. Imagine the weight of being that kind of hero. How do you even begin to navigate that? He can't just hide away but going anywhere is an ordeal because he requires so much security. Because most people are normal and, while they would be excited to see him, they still act relatively normal.
But he's always being followed and watched. There's always something on social media about him. There are always people way too invested in him. Judging his decisions and making commentary about him.
Different agencies, prestigious schools and big corporations want him, too. Not only for the optics but because he's proven himself while he was on the taskforce and while he was in deep space.
The problem comes with the folks on either extreme of the spectrum. Those who begin to diefy him and those who see him as something wrong and demonic bc he subverted God's will to end humanity or whatever. Both factions are dangerous. One side wants him contained or caged for them to worship and think only those who follow their doctrine should have access to him. The other side wants him sacrificed on the altar. They want to make him confess and repent before he's killed.
No matter what his life will never be normal again. He won't ever get to fade into obscurity like some celebrities because he literally saved the world. Everyone alive and everyone who will ever live owe it to him.
He would be a prisoner of his own success.
I've developed more head canons about Grace bc when I'm not working phm is all I think about. Some of these are probably repeats. Sorry.
He loves reading, but doesn't have the time to really engage in the hobby. He often has to bring his work home with him or he's working eighteen hours days for the taskforce so he's mentally and physically drained at the end of his day. Or he's preoccupied with not dying while trying to save two worlds. He does get to indulge on the way to Erid. Sometimes reads out loud to Rocky so they can discuss.
He indulges Colt about the baby brother thing. Yes he younger by some minutes but he doesn't think much of it. He'll bristle when Colt pulls big brother rank bc he knows Colt likes getting a rise out of Grace.
He has so many nicknames.
He was, in fact, always muscles. He never had a routine, but he's active in ways that might get overlooked. I think he loves swimming in the ocean (but not public pools).
Is annoyingly competent at things no one expects him to be good at. He learns things really fast, too. New skills come easy to him.
Is an absolute brat with his brothers sometimes. If they insist on babying him...
His sexuality is super fluid. He can also go very long periods without sex with no issues because honestly he just doesn't feel the urge. He doesn't understand why everyone can't do that.
Will try almost anything once. Except needle drugs.
Once did a line of cocaine off of a toilet seat at a bar and was so ashamed and grossed out afterwards that it was the beginning of the end of his partying days.
Enjoys the mental exercise of coming up with inventive and unique insults. Bc whats funnier? Calling someone an asshole or telling them they look like if an alien who'd only seen a human once tried to draw one from memory.
Doesn't like pranks. Is very careful about teasing. He's sensitive so he treats others as if they are, too. Just in case.
His friendliness is often taken as flirting. He's just so charming and handsome. And he makes people feel important and interesting.
Isn't as oblivious to others interest in him as he seems to be. He just sometimes doesn't want to deal with it.
When he is interested in someone he knows exactly how to apply pressure and get their attention.
Can be a really good liar as long as he's not completely caught off guard. It's a skill he learned in undergrad.
Has that weird thing where walking can sometimes be a hazard, but is so surefooted when dancing. Knows all the millennial dances. Will hit the Dougie when he's especially impressed with himself.
Will say the most insane shit in the group chat but won't explain or reply afterwards.
I love that Andy Weir left Ryland juuuuust blank enough that we can all build the character how we like.
I really do take silly things too seriously sometimes. Like why was I pressed that a someone left a (actually really excellent and thorough) review on a fic, but ended it with "Rocky should go home with Grace!) and I immediately was like UM, HE NEEDS TIME WITH JUST HIS BROTHERS. ROCKY CAN VISIT IN A YEAR.
Like, my God in heaven, girl it's just not that serious. I try to catch myself when I start getting prickly like that and I'm soooo much better than I used to be.
The fic is Quantum Starwalker, btw. If you are not reading it you're missing out. One of my favorites in the archive tbh. And a new chapter just dropped, too.
I've seen a lot of people giving their analyses on Ryland Grace and, since PHM is currently my entire personality, I thought I'd join in. I saw someone say that he didn't love anyone on earth enough to want to save it and that feels like a total misunderstanding of the character and his growth. It was never a question of caring imo - otherwise he wouldn't have changed his entire life to work on the project. He always wanted Earth saved. He just also wanted to live. And I don't totally see it as cowardice either. I think that was a very human reaction. Especially after having it dropped on him suddenly.
I've also seen this interpretation of him as this milquetoast weakling who gets bullied and I don't believe that at all. I see him as a conflict last type of person, but could probably really verbally eviscerate you if it came down to it (I'm basing this completely on the whole waste of carbon thing). I think he's anxious and insecure, but has a spine of steel underneath it.
I think the general analysis of Grace in fandom glosses over one tiny little nugget (two, really):
Grace didn't say "don't send the mission, let everyone on Earth die so I might live." Grace said, "send the mission three months later after I train someone else who will actually succeed and wants to die." STRATT was the one who said that casualty estimates go up "exponentially" if there are any delays, so she didn't want to wait.
Let me repeat that for emphasis: Stratt sent their BEST EXPERT IN THE THING KILLING THEIR SUN in a potentially-fatal coma to bumfuck nowhere, Space because she didn't want to wait THREE MONTHS for him to train someone who was NOT their best expert in the thing killing their planet to go. I don't blame Stratt for her decision-making paradigm because Grace hadn't done any of his really cool shit yet. However, astrophage is supposedly impenetrable. However, taumoeba has to lyse astrophage to eat it and is not lysed by astrophage in self-defense. We literally watch it happen on screen. Grace, in the book (they don't go into this in the movie) figured out how to lyse taumoeba so he could eat it, in somewhere between one and three years. So it is entirely possible that if Stratt hadn't wasted Grace on a twelve-year (non-relativistic time) coma, he may have figured out how to lyse astrophage on his own. He never even attempts that line of research in the movie canon -- they task him with breeding and testing astrophage, then immediately yeet him into the void upon completion, and he's working on figuring out Tau Ceti's deal immediately upon waking -- so we don't know how quickly he would have figured it out. It could have been in the one to three year timeline of lysing taumoeba, or potentially longer. Either way, that means that to save three months' of casualties, Stratt may have spent somewhere around twenty years' of casualties. (It took twelve years for the Mary to get to Tau Ceti, six months for Grace and Rocky to figure out Taumoeba, twelve years for the beetles to get to Earth. We don't know how long it would have taken Grace to figure out the chemical compound that lyses astrophage on his own, but the excess casualties are (the twenty four years and change it took to solve astrophage in the canon continuity) minus (how long it would have taken Grace to lyse astrophage).) That is a bend over a dollar to pick up a dime situation if there ever was one, not that Stratt had any way of knowing what Grace would ultimately be capable of beyond the general principle that it's a bad idea in war to use your general for cannon fodder. Stratt also had no way to know that Grace would magic food out of taumoeba, and could magic food out of fucking taumoeba. But if that man had been back on Earth with an actual CRISPR and more to work with than one space amoeba strain, her starvation problem also might not have been as bad. But we will never know, because Stratt would not wait three months.
... I would feel really bad for Replacement!DuBois, in that scenario, to wake up alone on the Hail Mary and the Earth's sun is already at luminosity.
... OTOH, that does lead to the potentially hilarious solution for Rocky of packing the lone human up on his ship and heading off to Earth so his new leaky space hitchhiker roomie can ask on Erid's behalf what the fuck the humans did, since figuring out the Tau Ceti thing has been nothing but a bust.
You bring up something I've wondered about since I read the book. Grace might've been able to solve this. No guarantee, of course, but it's like everyone got so focused on Hail Mary (understandable) that they forgot to look for other solutions. Like what if it was as simple as seeding Venus' atmosphere with some chemical that could destabilize/destroy astrophage's cell membrane? It's not like anyone tried. Why weren't any simpler solutions tried before going straight to interstellar travel?
Of course we lose the story we all love BUT it's interesting to think about.
Does anyone have any Ryland Grace glazing fics? I could use some everyone loves him, everyone wants him, he's so brave and good at everything reading material. Bonus points for maximum obliviousness.
i need more Everyone Loves Ryland Grace, because
(i’m ranting here, gonna go off-track)
let’s face it, constantly being called stupid by a space rock doesn’t do wonders for self-esteem. it is also, objectively, not true. Ryland Grace is a smart man. humans, in general, are all cunning and smart. it is very unfair for Rocky to insult humans because he’s comparing their survivability on Erid to native Eridians’.
now, recommendations:
Good fic recs above!
Thank you!
Ryland Grace is not and was never a coward. And the proof is in the source material.
He's a guy who, despite his name, gives himself very little grace.
And Stratt calling him a coward in the heat of the moment doesn't make it true.
Not wanting to go on a suicide mission doesn't make him a coward. Wanting to live doesn't make him a coward. Running when he's told too bad we're going to kill you anyway doesn't make him a coward.
Screaming when something scary happens doesn't make him a coward.
I will never stop defending my close, personal friend Ryland Grace.
I think one of my very favorite things about Coltland Gentry is how the twins instantly turn into Little Brothers™. Court can do anything. Court will protect them. Court will fix it.
I especially love the few I've seen where there's no imminent danger and it's either a happy reunion or they were never separated and the twins get the sillies. Coooourt Colt's being annoying make him stop.
I love that stuff bc Court would be so happy to hear it. So happy that they still see him as their big brother.
And I believe in my heart of hearts that no matter how old they are in the AU Court's word is law for the twins. Imagine Ryland makes it back to Earth and he's THEE Hero. The most hero there ever was. And Court can still give him a bedtime.
I just want to see Ryland fighting for his life.
Coltland Gentry X Dungeon Crawler Carl crossover AU.
I don't have anything fleshed out, but those three would be complete and total terrors. And I think they'd have such different styles, but, like more of a gradient rather than total disparate.
Court is deliberate and precise.
Colt is brazen and unpredictable.
Ryland is stealthy and chaotically clever.
Coltland Gentry X Dungeon Crawler Carl crossover AU.
I don't have anything fleshed out, but those three would be complete and total terrors. And I think they'd have such different styles, but, like more of a gradient rather than total disparate.
Court is deliberate and precise.
Colt is brazen and unpredictable.
Ryland is stealthy and chaotically clever.
I was doing research on what kind of salary Grace would have (search parameters: SF public schools, 5+ years experience, middle school, PhD) and his earning potential is $94k ~ $115k which, guess what, is low income for the area.
There's wiggle room depending on certifications and what subject is being taught, etc. Since Grace teaches a "hard to fill" subject that will probably increase his salary.
So let's max him out at $115k/year (not including stipends or add ons or tenure) and he's still considered making "enough to get by".
I got curious bc often in fics his apartment is described in so many different ways ranging from modestly small to cupboard under the stairs. And, honestly, those aren't far off bc COL is crazy in SF. It seems that having a roommate is a common workaround but imagine having to have a roommate. Yuck. I'd eat that rent, too.
So him riding a bike instead of having a car makes perfect sense. However the car he has in the book is probably at least five years old and possibly paid off.
But my point is that he's definitely keeping track of every dollar but he's not necessarily one breath away from poverty. Also we have no idea what his financial state is as far as savings or perhaps coming from a very middle class background. So it's possible he had a good cushion that supplements his teaching salary.
Idky I'm thinking so hard about this, but I thought it was interesting bc it often plays a role in fics.
Angsty Coltland Gentry idea:
Court has been in the gray for years.
Colt pushed everyone away, but eventually pulled himself together. Never unblocked Ryland.
Ryland is left to his own devices with no support system. Bitterness and resentment become the two main feelings he has regarding his brothers. Largely towards Colt bc every single thing that happened was a choice he made. Court couldn't help getting killed in jail, but Ryland still feels angry bc Court isn't there.
Ryland keeps moving forward of course because there's no other option. He still loves his job and his students (they're the only bright spots in his life), but there's a cloud over everything now bc he's alone. He thought nothing could tear him and Colt apart, but even smart people are sometimes dead wrong.
And so it's another year or two, still pre PHM, that his brothers try to re-enter his life. Except Ryland has had time to pressurize all that hurt and anger and loneliness and feelings of abandonment down into a diamond of spite. There is no forgiveness, no starting over, no let me explain. He doesn't want to hear any of it. They don't get to throw him away and then show up when they're tired of feeling guilty and have decided that he's worth knowing again.
Ryland is dead set on keeping them out. If he sees them in the street no he didn't. On one desperate occasion Colt shows up at his school and Ryland says he doesn't know him. They are personae non gratae. Unfortunately for Ryland they're as stubborn as he is. Colt moreso than Court bc Court always assumed he wouldn't be welcomed back with open arms
But it's a struggle. It's a war of attrition. Eventually they wear Ryland down enough to at least talk to them, but Ryland still gives very little ground. And even when they do finally onto some kind of safe ground it's never the same. Ryland keeps them at a distance bc he doesn't trust them. He doesn't go to them for anything. He used to be open, pouring out every emotion but now plays everything close to his vest. They're not his Safe People anymore.
And then Eva Stratt finds Ryland in his classroom.
And then Ryland makes discovery after discovery on astrophage.
And then Ryland lives on a boat.
And then there's an explosion.
And then brave volunteer astronaut Dr. Ryland Grace sets out on a one way journey to Tau Ceti charged with a mission to save humanity.
I'm beating a dead horse but I find myself getting more and more pressed about how Grace is portrayed in some (too much) content. I generally don't say anything bc idk. It's free content that no one is obligated to make or share. HOWEVER. There's this strange need to write him as this useless liability who can't do anything except scream and cry. Do y'all even like the character? It's so weird to me.
Everything that makes Ryland Grace interesting to read is stripped away. His intelligence, his kindness, his willingness to step up and his refusal to give up even when he's scared. His BRAVERY that was always there. His strength to push through the most difficult things to survive. His unwillingness to die. His sass and sense of humor. His sense of responsibility that actually set his path towards Tau Ceti.
All of it gone and in it's place is this wet rag of a character.
Just bc he isn't written as a typical Dead Wife McMilitary Man action hero doesn't make him less of one.
I understand that fandoms across the board tend to fixate on one aspect and erase everything else, but this is particularly galling. The least interesting thing about the character was focused on, twisted and offered up as the best characterization.
I don't understand how a character who is complex and so, so ripe for amazing interpretations in fan content got whittled down to pissbaby.
