HELLOOO I came to say thank you for writing rootbound its genuinely amazing!! And my question to you is:
What are Simon's and graces favorite flowers? (specifically flowrs not plants) becouse im a sucker for flower language and I want to see if it fits
(Also im not sure if Simon's favorite flower was stated in the fic, im re reading it rn becouse i realised that I forgot a couple of things that happend )
Thank YOU for reading it!! As for favorite flowers, I don't have one in particular for either of them, but a couple ideas come to mind for me!
For Ryland, I think he naturally gravitates towards sunshine-y, warm yellow flowers. If a kid asked, he'd probably say sunflowers (no I am not projecting onto him... much), because of how neat they are (the florets and the spirals!!) and their cheer. I also think he sees them and sees himself a little: tall, bright, unmistakably there. He struggles with feeling like he takes up too much space (physically, sure, but emotionally), so maybe he's told himself to stand tall, to be more like them (something he'd never admit to anyone, but I think Simon would make similar connections if he learned Ryland liked them.)
Forget-me-nots are also up there for him. He loves their color, a shade of blue so rarely found in nature that he finds it fascinating (he IS a science teacher afterall!) In a lot of ways, they’re the opposite of sunflowers. Sunflowers are tall, warm, and impossible to miss; forget-me-nots grow low to the ground and can disappear into everything around them until enough bloom together to turn the whole space blue. I think Ryland sees himself in both. The sunflowers are the part of him that stands at the front of a classroom and fills the space, while the forget-me-nots are the quieter part that only really makes sense through all the people and memories he carries with him. I think they also make him think of his parents. Maybe his mother’s field guides have plenty of them drawn in, and there are pressed flowers in frames that his grandparents held onto for him. And while Ryland can’t remember his parents for himself, he also can’t ever forget them. He carries them with him in everything he does.
I also think he likes yellow carnations as something kinda ruffled and messy looking, long-lasting, and cheery without being too in your face. He doesn't care that they're "ordinary" or "boring". I like to think carnations were the kind of flower he got his Gram when he and his grandpa went to the grocery store, so he has some nostalgia for them there. I know the meaning of yellow carnations and I think it makes it that much more sad though. (For anyone who doesn't know, they tend to symbolize rejection and disappointment.) For Ryland to pick a flower that symbolizes some of his greatest fears, it just fits too well.
(Simon, who has maybe read up on flower language during quiet hours at the shop, hears that they’re one of Ryland’s favorites and makes the connection on his own. He isn’t huge on flower language, purely because he cares more about how flowers make someone feel than what some long-dead Victorian decided they meant. Still, he doesn’t want to give Ryland yellow carnations at first. Even if Ryland is unaware of their traditional meaning, offering him any suggestion of rejection (especially after hearing the way Ryland speaks to himself) is exactly what Simon wants to avoid. Eventually, he does give them to him, because to Ryland, they don’t mean rejection. They mean Gram’s kitchen table. They mean something ruffled and ordinary and long-lasting. They mean messy and bright, just like him.)
For Simon, he’s a bit tougher to me. I think he’d probably like your everyday chrysanthemum. There are so many different varieties (some very neat and compact, some a little weird and spidery), and I think he’d enjoy that they’re sturdy and long-lasting without looking boring. People do tend to treat mums like generic grocery store flowers, but Simon absolutely does not care about a flower being “ordinary.” Call them boring and Simon will quietly decide you don’t know enough about flowers to have opinions. They’re reliable, more complicated than they look, so... kinda like him!
Calendula also keeps coming to mind, though I’m not sure it would be his actual favorite, so much as a flower that feels like him. They’re warm and kind of sunlike, especially the dark orange and rust ones, but they can symbolize grief, sorrow, and remembrance. They’re also associated with healing and protection, which gives them this whole "hurt and healing can exist in the same place" thing that I really love for Simon. The healing doesn’t undo the hurt; they just become parts of the same flower. Calendula is also hardy and useful instead of only decorative, so I think he’d approve of it on principle. There are other reasons this one fits him especially well, but those are none of your business yet <3
I also think Simon has a much softer favorite that he’s less likely to admit to: sweet peas. His mom grew them, and I think he associates them with helping her tie the vines up and finding little jars of them around the house. They’re ruffled and delicate and almost aggressively romantic, which does not seem very Simon at first (he is well aware of who he is, you don't have to point it out), but I think that’s why they fit the part of him we haven’t seen much of yet. They also don’t last especially long once they’re cut. He can grow the same varieties his mom did and recognize the scent immediately, but he still can’t make them stay. Anyway, Simon is doing great and I have no further comments at this time lol
Sorry if I took away some of the flower language fun from you, but I couldn't help it!!
