I’ve seen different interpretations on how these two would first interact whenever Simon wakes up, so I’m tossing up my own finalized idea. Simon is just immediately scared and pleads for his life. After everything he’s physically been through and with how drugged up he was, he can hardly move. He’s stuck on the bed and only able to speak and cry. Which inevitably causes Ryland to breakdown himself as his last moments of earth replay in his mind. He understands exactly how Simon feels but can’t do anything to help. He just has to standby to be sure Simon doesn’t hurt himself. The chaos only ending whenever Simon runs out of energy and falls asleep. He virtually doesn’t speak to Ryland again for days. As well as avoids making any eye contact as much as possible. Going as far to even refuse to look at his face. He’s simply too afraid. If he can’t see his face, he can momentarily pretend he isn’t there.
So naturally their relationship isn’t good. But what about Rocky and Simon? Wellll
I actually wanna toy around with the idea that Simon’s fear for Grace overpowers any discomfort he has for Rocky. Simon has faced way worse, he can handle a rock trapped in some ball (What he thinks anyway). I never see these two allowed to be friends pre-Erid so boom, unlikely besties. Now they don’t become friends immediately, but Simon was able to warm up to Rocky significantly sooner. Rocky is just so inhuman looking but also so non threatening appearing that Simon’s mind kinda tricks him into acting like Rocky is an inanimate object. So he’s able to let his guard down.
Other tidbits:
- For the first month, Simon preferred that Rocky’s translator was turned off whenever they were to be alone together for a long time. Anything to make Rocky as non human as possible. And he also just enjoys how Rocky sounds.
- Rocky having no definitive face brings Simon comfort.
- Ryland becomes a little envious of Rocky after a while because he so desperately wants to connect with Simon but can’t. Meanwhile Rocky does it with ease.
- Simon laughs for the first time after sticking a bunch of sticky notes on Rocky.
- The first time Simon looks at Ryland’s face, post his awakening, was by total accident. He and Rocky got into a playful argument when Rocky suddenly left to find Ryland to get his opinion. Simon followed and begun to argue his case, unaware he was consistently looking at Ryland. Once he realizes he quickly left. Panicked but not necessarily scared. This was also the first time Ryland saw Simon smile.
- Simon actually really wanted to bond with Ryland, but his paranoia was stronger.
- Ryland started to leave notes for Simon to limit how much they needed to talk.
- They both 100% cried whenever they first hugged. At least like an hour of just hugs and tears.
mutated simon who can only eat human meat. grace's me-burgers. the psychological torment of knowing the only way you can live is by eating the flesh of the only person who's ever been kind to you
Very important to me that Simon essentially comes from an alien culture from grace’s pov.
I imagine the way you express gratitude or well wishes in Eden has to do with the tree also, a more formal expression might be ‘May thy body rot and nourish the soil and join the creator in eternity,” but in casual speech it gets shortened and sounds. very unsettling. To those not in the know.
I also think Simon isn’t technically speaking English, it would sorta be like a modern person trying to talk to someone speaking in Elizabethan English-like you can kinda understand it, but you gotta really focus.
Give me simon the butcher. Give me simon who feels a sense of impending doom on erid, remembering what he used to do and who he was as he recovers. Simon who slowly starts working through his trauma and secret rage that was forged into him through eden. Give me simon who is deeply terrified of grace figuring out his bloody past. Who will do anything to keep their happy yet fragile life in the biodome from collapsing from the gravity of such a confession, knowing grace would never see him the same again. Simon whose guilt is eating him alive from everything - his past actions, keeping the truth from grace, and the hidden sick satisfaction he got when performing his Father's duties
Give me grace who after finding out, welcomes him with open arms and acceptance nonetheless
I really like bloodymary <3 don't get me wrong I love the hopecore stuff, but I also quite like to think the horror follows Simon, and they have to work really hard to get rid of it.
AU summary under the cut
SUMMARY:
Grace and Rocky find Simon preserved half alive in the tree that grows from his pendant, and they take him back to the ship under quarantine, heavily irradiated, but Grace is desperately hopeful he might be able to save the only other human he might ever see again. Rocky is VERY unsure if this is a good choice. Simon is convinced the two of them are an elaborate, maybe indulgent, hallucination.
After weeks of tests and medical checkups, Simon is cleared from quarantine, still technically WITH radiation symptoms, but nothing that will hurt the others. Grace shows him the stars, and Simon feels very conflicted about it.
The longer Simon spends on the ship, the more signs of The Blood Ocean begin showing up through the Hail Mary, and though Grace was convinced he could help Simon work through HIS hallucinations, he wasn't prepared to start experiencing a very similar reality.
That's about as far as I've gotten but I think it's more of a haunting than a They're Actually Dying. I think Rocky makes for a very grounding presence in this AU, since he's accustomed to crazy heat and his xenonite bubble would make it easier to tell the difference between a somatic hallucination and reality.
See hi-res version here: patreon.com/posts/157154918
'Cause love's such an old-fashioned word
And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
-'Under Pressure' by David Bowie & Queen
The moment it starts to really sink in that you are in a safe place and allowed to live.
[ A sort of Part 2 for this comic ]
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