You are sitting comfortably on the couch at night, scrolling mindlessly through reels on Instagram. Since you watched a few space videos earlier, your feed is now filled with astronomical reels. They are interesting and fascinating, so you keep watching. Ryland gets curious about what you are watching so intently, so he looks over your shoulder at your phone screen.
A dramatic edit plays, showing how Jupiter’s gravity pulls asteroids toward itself, saving Earth from getting hit. You open the comments section because it is always an interesting place to be. Ryland starts reading the comments out loud, getting confused by internet jokes:
“Oh my God, babe, look at this. Someone wrote ‘thank you daddy jupiter’ and 13.8k people liked it? Why are they calling a gas giant ‘daddy’? Why are people like this?”
He slides his hand around your waist, pulling you a little closer as you swipe to the next video. It is a gorgeous video of a solar eclipse, showing how the moon aligns in front of the sun to create a glowing ‘ring of fire’
“Wait, look at the comments on this one” Ryland says, squinting at the screen. “Someone commented, ‘Omg the sun put a ring on the moon and I can’t even get a text back’ Are people really comparing a cosmic alignment to their relationship dynamic?! The moon is just blocking the sun’s light, it’s not a marriage proposal!”
You laugh and swipe to another video. This one is another edit of Jupiter and Earth.
“Why are so many people doing this? They are planets!” He shakes his head, “look at this comment - ‘Jupiter is the protective boyfriend Earth deserves’ Earth has an atmosphere and a molten core, it does not need a boyfriend!”
He rests his chin on your shoulder, then suddenly looks closer at the next video and takes the phone right out of your hand to read a caption.
“Baby, look at this video about early space history. It shows how Saturn’s gravity pulled Jupiter back when it was moving toward the sun and about to destroy the early Earth. This is a super important science fact, right? But look at these comments. Look. They are calling it a love triangle. They say Saturn saves Jupiter because Saturn loves Jupiter, but Jupiter just wants to protect Earth. A love triangle! This is literal physics, why is everyone making gravity romantic?! Something is very wrong with internet culture!”
Meanwhile, you are shaking with laughter because he is taking these short reels way too seriously. He hears you laughing, lets out a soft sigh, and gives you a sweet kiss on the top of your head. He mutters, “Fine, laugh at me. But I am right”
Listening to him give scientific breakdowns over these edits is way more interesting than the actual reels or the comment sections themselves.
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