Watched project hail mary and its consumed me, but smth ive thought a lot about is aro/ace Ryland grace but also grace/rocky or grace/rocky/Adrian
And tbh i think for us, our favorite interpretation is based around the idea that romantic gestures dont actually mean exclusively romantic, these relationships read as romantic to us because we've learned them that way but actually just represent deep, intense emotional connections and because its with an alien species with different cultures, it's not as important that its romantic or sexual feelings, it just matters that it is an intimate emotional connection
Idk, im always a fan of the distinction between platonic and romantic being less important than the decision to express that connection in relationships, even if those read as romantic to outside perspectives, doesn't mean it's exclusively that to the ones experiencing it
Plus we always thought romantic feelings were really just an overlay onto platonic connections, so that might be affecting this. Anyways, feel free to add your own thoughts' i'm curious about other people's opinions
Another piece for the road so far (this time along) by @8yearsofsilence for the character persephone from it!
The link to the fic is here, since I didn't include it last time
Here is the unlit version for better details
Analysis and spoilers below!
So we have Persephone, and the appearance she takes on as a disguise, each holding their own cards and slightly different. Persephone out of disguise is faced slightly away, but still looking forward. She's holding back, while still observing and engaging.
She is holding up the chariot and the emperor, both reversed
The Emperor in reverse can represent a lack of control, or feeling or being overwhelmed by external forces. I used this to represent her position of being controlled by Azazel, and ties into the Chariot reversed, with a similar which also represents a lack of control, but can also represent being pulled in two different directions, which I chose in connection to her being pulled to her original deal with Azazel, to bind Sam, and what he was using her for, surveillance.
Her disguised self, has the 7 and 8th of swords, upright
The 7th of swords can represent deception, and cunning, which I think fits well with that disguises purpose and her own cunning that she shows at most turns
The 8th of swords represents restriction, or feeling trapped, which is popping up a lot I know, but this one ties specifically in with the physical tie Azazel uses, the gold chain around either her neck or ankle, and the disguise charm also being a necklace.
She also has the wheel of fortune tucked under her arm in her disguise, upright to her but reversed to the audience. Reversed or upright the wheel of fortune focuses on change, either missed opportunities, or major life changes. The reverse and upright also dictate if it represents good or bad luck. The ambiguity is intentional, in the fact that for a lot of the fic posted now she is an ambitious party, she could be good luck or bad luck for the overall fate. She is also a major change to the timeline, and could be a new opportunity.
Reversed can also represent unexpected changes and a feeling that things are out of your control, and those are specific to the audience itself, us the readers.
Persephone was one of my favorite plot twists of the fic because she was entirely new and I had no idea what was up with her. She was a completely unexpected change from the original plot, filling the hole of hell needing a pawn that I hadn't even noticed was there yet.
Being a reader also comes inherently with the feeling that you can't control the story. It's being told by someone else, and even if you rewrite it, or do your own spin on it, that is now your own separate thing and can't eliminate the original content. This is nothing against that, some of my favorite things are inspirations or fandom made, but i thought it fit well in this story especially since we gradually lose our edge of knowledge along with dean, adding to that feeling of loss of control.
I also had her disguised form holding the cards to partially obscure her face, really digging into it being a disguise, while her cards don't hide her face, she is doing that herself. Her disguised form is also meant to be more open in some ways, but has a sense of judgemental to it, whereas her undisguised facial expression is meant to be more annoyed/disgruntled but slightly harder to read.
Im in this weird in between state of i dont really have any close friends atm but I also keep stalling out of new friendships bc it just isn't clicking and I can't tell if it's because I am not trying hard enough anymore
Lonely as fuck but also a lil easier to just pretend I don' exist
We so chronically just need to bolt lately, we've had the hardest time with making and then keeping friends bc we just keep needing Out Of There randomly
Luckily everytime we do we go perusing for new social spot, and tend to make new ocs/oc content
