Hi friends! I'm Nova! I've been reading and writing fanfiction for years, but I'm pretty new to actually sharing it. I'm going to post all of my work here, but it's also cross-posted on ao3 if you prefer reading there :) If you wanna talk, come say hi!! I'd love to talk to you guys about whatever <3
Here's my ao3 account if you want to stalk me there!
Masterlist:
Thunderbolts*:
Series:
i gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me (cowboy!Voidwalker au)
come on baby, don't say maybe: John's car breaks down in the worst possible place. Someone stops by to help. (cowboy!Voidwalker au, pre-relationship)
heaven is a place on earth with you: Bob invites John over to play video games and John panics. (cowboy!Voidwalker au, pre-relationship)
gentle hands (yours are so kind): John gets a nosebleed during one of his matches and Bob uses a home remedy. (cowboy!Voidwalker au, pre-relationship)
One-shots:
what's yours is mine: 4 times Bob stole someone else’s clothes and 1 time someone noticed (4+1 things, fluff, general team shenanigans)
now that you're gone (where do i go from here?): John struggles with survivor's guilt after the death of his best friend and Bucky understands (angst, hurt/comfort)
scary dog privilege: While living in the Watchtower, you discover how protective the Thunderbolts can be (x reader, platonic or romantic)
Love the soft, curious moments of them sharing about their own cultures, biology, etc. I do think Rocky would have a field day when Grace explains skin as a very sensitive and permeable organ with lots of stuff packed tight on the surface. Since goosebumps are very tactile, I thought Rocky would enjoy hearing those.
Also, bonus.
Because it is endlessly entertaining to me to consider how deep in the trenches Rocky is.
Someone's gotta write (or point me in the direction of) a bloodymary fic where Simon (once he realizes/accepts that he is actually safe now) gets really clingy and Grace is lowkey annoyed by it at first.
Not that I don't like touch starved Grace yearning for connection, I'm just basing this on when Rocky first came onto the Hail Mary. Like imagine Simon just following him around, not wanting to be alone now that he's around another person who's kind to him again (after being in prison for however long and, you know, being sent to die in a blood ocean) and meanwhile Grace is like hey, I'm glad you're not panicking anymore but can you let me work please. Just has to deal with the same shit all over again after Rocky's entrance but this time it's weird in a new and original way because this guy is human.
Also idk maybe Simon not just being around him but being kind of touchy as well, like using touch as a way to remind himself that this is actually real and Grace doesn't mind necessarily but after being isolated for so long (and not being super social even when he was around other humans) with the only other person around being unable to physically touch him it would probably be a lot.
I'd just like Grace to be a bit more irritated in these scenarios, like he's kind and soft but he's also a bitch. This is very important to me. And I think it'd be interesting to have him like struggling not to snap at Simon, especially over small things like these, cause he doesn't want to undo the progress they've made but he also needs his space and all that.
things that I believe in my HEART are on the Beatles' message to Earth (Project Hail Mary)
taumoeba (obviously)
instructions on how to use taumoeba (obviously)
50+ hrs of unedited footage of Grace fucking up a bunch of stuff in the ship
so much info about Eridian language
1700+ hrs of unedited footage of Grace and Rocky fucking up a bunch of shit in the ship
Cannot emphasize how much info on the eridian sentence structure there is here
a weirdass knit sweater pattern that takes people weeks to realize is for Rocky
literally hundreds of pages of Grace just describing Eridian linguistic history which like honestly isn't even his field why should we even listen to this guy- (hes the only one to ever fucking met an intelligent alien Dave. we'll take him at his word)
Why the Goldilocks Zone is for Idiots Part 2: Biological Diversity all across the Petrova Line (subtitled "We haven't found them yet BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN THEY DONT FUDHING EXIST-")
what are essentially just those reaction videos "Alien watches Legally Blonde for the first time" "Alien gives thoughts on movie Cats (2019)" "You'll never believe what this Alien thinks of the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox"
Grace's modified cardigan charts because someone was asking for them on his Ravelry and he never actually got around to posting them
(people have already fully recreated this cardigan just months after his launch. but they appreciate it)
very respective, kind eulogies for everyone who died in this mission (Grace AND Rocky's crew)
a lace shawl pattern inspired by the petrova line with a beaded fringe. knitters everywhere weep in despair because those instructions are gOD AWFUL, the man had 0 (zero) test knitters AND THERES NO PICTURES FUCK
Grace being kind of a pushover due to a combination of conflict avoidance, low self-esteem and the amount of stuff he had to put up with while working for Stratt (eg, “you live on this aircraft carrier now”).
Rocky and Grace being in some kind of meeting with the science thrum on Erid's surface (Grace in his xenonite suit), shortly after they arrive, when Rocky notices that Grace is being even more clingy than usual. Like he's constantly got at least one arm on Rocky's carapace, and has not moved away from Rocky since the meeting started. He's much stiller than he usually is— even accounting for his weakness from the malnutrition— and his light sensing organs keep rolling around in their sockets, meaning that he's anxiously scanning the room.
Rocky begins to worry. Is Grace getting sicker? Is the higher gravity having a worse impact than they thought? Or is he just nervous to be around strange Eridians? (Though he hasn't had this reaction to anyone else? Is there something up with the science Thrum??)
Rocky is like spiralling into anxiety until they have to move to a different part of the room for some reason and Grace, slowed down by the suit, briefly loses his hold on Rocky.
Immediately, he crashes into a table. And then backs into a wall. And then nearly knocks over some important Eridian science equipment. And then stands in the middle of the room, looking confused and slightly freaked out, both hands stretched out in front of him, opening and closing like he's grasping at the air.
Wait.
“Grace.”
“Yeah Rock?”
“At which point during meeting did light emitting devices in room stop working question?”
“Uh… like two minutes after we got in. Sorry, didn't want to be a bother.”
#Helios was declawed by his former owners so he doesn't just slap things he dislikes like most cats#he really only feels confident in hissing at them#Especially because a lot of the thing he doesn't like are bugs and those are sharp sometimes :(#Selene has figured this out and now when she hears him hiss she sprints over the kill the fuck out of the bug#Helios has learned she will do this so he'll hiss at stuff louder and louder until she hears him#A nervous old man and his emotional support homicidal maniac
tags by @gallusrostromegalus
I couldn't reblog without the tags because the context is hilarious
A Nervous Old Man (right) and his Emotional Support Violence Machine (Left)
Yes, he is more than twice her size.
Yes, he is five times her age.
Yes, he cries like a big baby until she kills Unacceptable Scary Things (earwigs) for him.
Obsessed with the idea of Grace fully assimilating into Erid's society, meaning he becomes an Eridian teacher.
"Teacher" isn't really an profession on Erid like it is on Earth. Their school system is set up in development stages and pebbles move up as they're ready. Eridian teachers are more accredited caretakers than they are focused on a specific subject, working to make sure the young of their city or village are developing the best they can. Less "we're going to sit down and learn division" and more "this is a structured place pebbles go to hang out with a qualified Eridian who can nurture them." For smaller education stages, it's normal to drop your kids off for days at a time.
Grace expects to be a science teacher, but then he becomes an Earth-studies expert, which then turns into a general education teacher. They're curious about his planet! He's teaching both English and Eridani, social studies, science, and art at the same time. Grace has no complaints—it's incredibly rewarding and an honor that Eridians trust him to help their children grow.
His classes range from Eridians just a little smaller than Rocky to little pebbles he can carry around like a football. He loves his older kids, but his favorites are the little ones he has to teach things like walking in a line and how to raise one arm when four are on the ground. They're just... so bad at being alive. Some days he can barely believe the sea of skipping stones chirping around his feet are sentient beings.
Functionally, they're kindergartners, but unlike ones on Earth that Grace had to do observations of for his credential, these ones come with a certain... expectation for his job.
This results in a unique predicament: five pebbles on his doorstep.
The artificial Sun has barely touched the horizon and they're just... there. A group of little ones from his youngest class chirp at him in their bio-dome suits, the less coordinated of them rocking back and forth in little xenonite hamster balls.
The teacher just stares and listens to the chorus of little clicks and stomps (read: angry taps, the heaviest of them is 20 lbs in the dome) for a second. He has to be dreaming—a messed up nightmare where someone abandoned five entire children on his doorstep before he's even had a cup of coffee.
Rubbing his eyes and pinching his arm doesn't make the little guys go away. Any other day he'd go grab Adrian or Rocky from the bedroom, but the pair are off at a science conference a few cities over and won't be back until that night at the earliest.
"Parent said give this to Mr Teacher Grace," the largest of them, Orange, bonks his right calf with a tablet.
Grace takes it and squints, tracing his fingers over the writing. It's fluent, true Eridiani written with elegant penmanship—not the pidgin he's fluent in. There's an attempt to break apart certain words, but most of it is incomprehensible.
♮! Grace-Doctor-Savior-Captain-Teacher-AdrianRocky-Mated𝄐 ... ♮. Parent back by λV̶.V̶V ... ♯ ? Erid teacher ... Dome ... Already fed ... ♮ !Thank you𝄐
Like Grace has been doing since he met his first Eridian at Tau Ceti, he shrugs, says, "what the heck, sure," and goes with it.
Orange, Marble, Burrata, Turnip, and Plum are great students. Some one-on-one time would be good for everyone. It's an honor to be trusted like this, really.
He can handle 5 free-roaming pebbles for 24 hours.
"Please, come on in," he smiles and bows with the confidence of a man who has only ever done this through the auditorium's thick barrier.
Grace thinks this might have been easier if more than one of them could form actual sentences. Orange happily points and says a few words, but the others just stomp and chirp nonsense that kind of translates as emotion in the human's mind.
By the time the marine layer fogs the windows, he's sure his baseboards are never going to be the same. The biggest in their xenonite suit has clipped the hallway corner enough times that there's a chip taken out of it. There's a reason Orange is still in his youngest group—they're incredibly bright and creative, but they're still working on the locomotor skills needed to execute those ideas.
His ankles are bruised from the balls hitting them. Not stepping on them becomes a challenge. It's like bumper cars, but Grace is a giant in the middle of the track that was once his kitchen.
Grace gets a moment of peace from placing them into the nest in the bedroom. The stair platforms Rocky and Adrian take turns sitting on surround the mattress the human lays on, creating a little fenced in nook. It works great for watching each other sleep, but it's purpose now becomes pebble jail. Four of them settle down and starfish easily, snuggling down with happy little chirps that squeeze his heart. Burrata gets their little legs tangled in a blanket and the resulting struggle is like watching someone try to pick up noodles with chopsticks for the first time. Grace feels so bad that he lets them all back out.
It isn't until the sun is fully in the sky that he decides to integrate them into his day and go about as normal.
The kids get beckoned into one of the sleds for transporting his teaching equipment to the amphitheater. It takes at least ten minutes to get them all down to the garden—he ends up putting marble in his pocket—without them falling out.
They're all eager to help and soon he's on his knees in the dirt, surrounded by an excited thrum.
"I don't know what the word for this is," Grace pats the bundle of what he can only describe as a zucchini-carrot cross hanging off a large stem, "but it doesn't kill me, so."
"♮?♫♪♩𝄐" Orange's claw points and there's an agreement from the rest of the group.
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Plum points at Grace, back to the vegetable, and then back to the human. They punctuate a rumble with two little stomps of a back leg.
Grace knows that one. He takes out the small notebook he keeps in his back pocket and unclips the heavy charcoal pencil on the cover.
"On Earth it's kind of like a zucchini. It's more," Grace gestures towards his mouth with the pencil, "sharp to my mouth. Which is fine, that makes it taste different than other things. Humans need variety."
"Sharp," Marble echoes. They jazz two hands clumsily and Grace tries to keep a straight face, but it's a little like watching a meatball become animated for the first time.
He coughs and starts digging the charcoal into the paper, "Now, I'm by no means an artist..."
Gardening turns into making pickles. Grace is a little jealous that the pebbles learn anaerobic respiration faster as kindergartners than he did as a freshman in undergrad. They parrot back the Eridani words for some of the concepts, but they're honestly more excited about the bubbles than they are learning about heterofermentative processes and decarboxylation.
Making pickles turns into watching Grace cook, which becomes it's own chemistry lesson. Orange sits on the counter and Plum, Marble, and Burrata go in the fruit bowl. Turnip bravely conquers fire and Grace helps them use a spatula to flip a piece of bread in the pan.
Once they're knowledgeable about the wonders of sandwich creation, they politely banish Grace to the soundproof bedroom while he eats. Normally he eats over a lesson plan or movie on his laptop, but listening out for any pebble xenonite-ball accidents keeps him entertained.
He's expecting a three Eridian pile up, but it never comes.
Grace finishes eating and goes out to check on his houseguests to find them all tuckered out around the coffee table. He plucks them up one by one and puts them back into totally-not-pebble-jail for safe keeping during quiet time. It's a task done in a few quick trips—Grace has dumbbells heavier than Orange. Marble and Plum can both fit in his arms.
There's protest when he goes to put Turnip down, so he settles down with them on his side. It takes a little work to find a position in the bed that doesn't crush anybody, but soon all five pebbles scoot up against their teacher. Grace takes the quilt from over the closest platform and covers the lot of them. Burrata scoots up to below his chin to avoid another incident, and the warm xenonite against his skin has Grace's breathing growing heavy.
Quietly, the front door shuts and two pentads of claws click across hard floor. The taller of the pair starts to sing Grace's name, but is quickly interrupted with an angry stomp.
"Adrian will sleep on couch if wake mate-Grace," Rocky trills and pokes his partner's arm through the xenonite suit. "Rocky put things away, mates stasis together."
The taller Eridian scuttles off to the far side of the bungalow, quietly rumbling as they take in the uncharacteristic mess of the place.
Rocky sets down a heavy bag of trinkets from their travels on the table and hums quietly at the thought of Grace opening them tomorrow morning. They'd been bickering over a "backsplash" for the human's food preparing station for awhile, and he had found a beautiful cut of intricately patterned xenonite at the market that Grace should love.
A high pitched whistle from Adrian has Rocky scrambling out of his thoughts.
"Song, come quiet."
Blunt claws slide across the smooth floor as the shorter Eridian shoots over, frantic clicks bouncing off the soundproof wall their human insisted on in their own home. It's not quiet, but it's urgent.
"Mate-Grace okay, question?"
He slides into Adrian's with a hollow thunk. Rocky stomps worriedly, rumbling and pausing when the sleeping body of their mate bounces back with five little shapes.
"There's pebbles in our nest, song."
They rumble and click together in the doorway for a moment. Rocky's hum picks up, gently thrumming against their mate. The connection buzzes with life—adoration, pride, want. The mates' contentedness echos across the space, kept a piano symphony to not wake their sleeping third.
"Grace very good with them," Rocky chimes with a low whistle and steadies himself against Adrian. "Mates very lucky."
Adrian hums with interest, tapping two claws together in thought. They still the movement and bring their hand up to their mate's carapace, gently petting the scarred surface through the thin layer of xenonite.
"Will talk tomorrow. Rocky, Grace, and pebbles sleep. Adrian watch."
stop letting miserable people on the internet convince you that you must have a concrete, well-constructed opinion on everything that has ever existed.
Okay but Rocky “snuggling” Dr Grace by standing heavily over him, as we routinely depict. But for Eridians this is prey-grasping behavior, like cats when they crouch over prey or a toy and feel how it moves with the sensitive hairs on their bellies (Rocky gets up on the xenonite and points his ventral plate at the ramen Blip-A to focus on it maximally closely, imo).
So for everyone else. this is like seeing someone put their hands around someone’s neck. And Dr Grace is just like awww my good friend Rocky who is so heavy I’m going to pat and hug him a little bit and invite him into my lap/over my body mass constantly. I expect it.
And Rocky is just like he literally expects it
living with chronic brainworms @novastar-writes - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
