@\./

Key M. queer! they/them, ve/ver/vis artblog: @mothcat-art [Icon I.D.: a sketch of a simple, rectangular ghost with a crown over it's head overtop of a blurred genderqueer flag] [Header I.D.: a simple, cartoony sketch of a snail overtop of a blurred lesbian flag]

[mothcat-art]

[I.D.: pixel art of Coco from Witch Hat Atelier. she is in her normal witch outfit: a blue cloak over a white dress and a blue pointy hat with a tassel. /end I.D.]

Coco my beloved!!! she's such a cutie <3

[aroace-ryland-grace]

Love love love that Grace is staring at the "who would you die for?" line on his whiteboard right before Rocky shows up in his xenonite container. Yes hello here is someone so important to you that you would sacrifice your life for him. He's in a hamster ball on your doorstep and he's about to run into your spaceship and insult your house and wreck your shit. You would die for him in every lifetime, and only because of that do you end up living.

[calc1fire]

I've seen alot of people talk about Grace and Rocky's codependency post Project Hail Mary and Grace getting to the point of not being able to sleep without knowing Rocky is watching but I raise you this:

Going back to Erid and Rocky not being able to hear Grace for the first time.

Rocky who spent over 40 years in complete silence and now has a friend that physically can't stop making noise.

Rocky, who got used to always being able to hear Grace's heart, having to leave the Hail Mary to talk with the other Eridians.

Rocky who doesn't notice how much he's gotten used to it and how much comfort it brought him until its gone.

Rocky who wakes up at his and Adrian's home and isn't immediately greeted with that soft thumping noise.

Rocky who panics in the breif moment where his body is coming back online only to remember where he is.

Rocky who will then find excuses to go hang out with Grace just to listen to his heart again. To be comforted know his friend is alive.

And for the extra angst:

Rocky who is there when the thumping final stops, knowing he'll never get to hear it again.

[cranberrrysoup]

thinking about how the Book!Hail Mary has about 15 meter+ sized holes cut in the hull. Grace plasmacut a man-sized hole in literally every single fuel tank. Rocky bust a hole in the side to connect his own tunnel to the Blip-A. Grace cut a chunk out so Rocky knew what his ship was made out of. If the Hail Mary ever made it home I genuinely think anyone left alive who was part of the construction would have an anyeurism.

[ajhasmademistakes]

#convinced the hail mary is held together with the equivalent of eridian flex seal#its literally two liquids in the book#to showcase the power of xenonite#i sawed this spaceship in half!

[shastafirecracker]

eridian children in Grace’s class interested but slightly disappointed to learn that much earth life is bilaterally symmetrical with even numbers of limbs

Grace going “oh!! But!” and teaching them about starfish, to their absolute delight

new eridian schoolchild trend of starfishing aka flopping flat down with all legs out and moving by wiggling and squirming around, giggling. parents hooting at Grace in despair. why did you teach them this

[autisticlittleguy]

"Grace Ryland is Rocky's dog" is such a funny fucking dynamic when you think about it

Eridians are further behind than humans technologically right? They dont have computers, relativity, quantum mechanics, etc. In fact, Eridians probably dont even know about the Big Bang because their atmosphere would filter out most of the cosmic microwave background radiation we use to detect it. On a human timeline, theyre anywhere between like early-mid 20th century. Rocky's basically a cosmonaut.

So the human civilization is pretty advanced from Rocky's perspective. Rationally he understands this. On a conceptual level he knows this to be true.

But at the same time... imagine youre one of the first ever cosmonauts to make it into space. Then you meet a 10 year old alien dog who cant do 2+2 without pulling out its calculator. It forgets everything constantly and has to keep notes everywhere, like it basically lives in Memento (2000). Also if it doesnt nap constantly it gets even stupider. And you somehow has to reconcile this with the fact that this dog has a better understanding of physics than your entire civilization does. Like the dog knows how the universe started.

[autisticlittleguy]

This isnt better from Grace's perspective btw. Eridians never developed computers, so all their ship systems are steered using basically the manual labor of 24 Eridians. Also theres no radiation shielding on their ship. Actually im pretty sure half the reason why Rocky is always busy fixing shit is because the radiation keeps frying all the onboard electronics, so hes always building and fixing and replacing components

Like imagine being a modern day sailor navigating the Pacific with GPS and strong hulls to protect against the raging ocean. And from portside you see like an honest to god viking ship. Except its made of some high tech carbon fiber material. But like, its still very definitely a viking ship. You can clearly see there's 24 oars along the hull where sailors are supposed to use to manually row their ship. Also the ship is leaking and theres like one little dude on board whos skittering around patching the holes constantly. Also this little dude is blind and doesnt know about water. Thats how insane Eridians look being an interstellar species without computers or radiation shielding.

Both of them thinks the other one is the completely ridiculous and absurd one and theyre both totally amazed at how far the other has come in spite of it

[audhdspacewizard]

Knowing that Eridians have much longer lifespans, and also he can't be at every school on the planet at once, Ryland Grace decides to record a bunch of entertaining science lessons with Rocky's help.

Hundreds of years later, Eridian kids still get excited when the substitute teacher rolls in the 3D shape projector, because they know they're in for an episode of Friend Grace the Science Ace.

[vespiday]

very in favor of art depicting eridians cuddling with grace or each other but also a fan of the idea that eridians just don't really do that. they're mostly inorganic matter and covered in sensors for audio input so being touched is a little weird. they do their psionic connection thing to bond instead

which means they're just completely perplexed by grace's/human's constant need for touch. hugging? you just grab each other? why? grace will absentmindedly pat his students and even rocky or adrian sometimes. this leads to a new eridian culture trend of scuttling up to your friend and whacking them and going "Look! I'm a human!" and a subsequent conversation about if that's insensitive

[adrenaline-revolver]

“Eridians dislike earth because they abandoned Grace.” *Incorrect Buzzer Sound* ya missed the point of the story buddy! It’s not about someone being ‘bad’ it’s about the incredible power of love and that love being worth dying for!

Gimmie Eridians who are absolutely heartbroken to hear that humans where so desperate and so scared that they where willing to part with not just one Grace, there were three of them! Gimmie Eridians touched to find that the humans planned a way for their sacrifices to be as comfortable as possible. Gimmie Eridians who send earth a message saying “We know it must have hurt to send your heroes to die, but one made it and he’s safe here. We lost 22 good Eridians on the journey we would have lost 23 if not for your Grace.”

Give me humans sitting on Earth slowly coming to the conclusion that when we look up not only are we not alone, someone out there is alive because of one of us. That no matter what we think of ourselves a whole species thinks highly of us because we helped save the galaxy. Give me humans who figure out how to send a probe to Erid filled to the brim with messages for Grace and footage of a monument being raised that reads his name, his crews names, and then “in memory of the 22 Eridians who lost their lives on the journey to save the stars.”

[six-improbable-things]

I'm so emotional about Adrian. I mean think about it. Their partner leaves on Erid's first ever attempt at space travel. They don't know if they will ever see him again. But they wait, for decades looking to the stars for his return. 186 years is a long time. But so is 50+. Some people think they're a fool, that they should accept that Rocky isn't coming home. But they never lose hope. Because who would they be if they lost hope?

And then Rocky comes home! He's alive!! But he's alone, the sole survivor. Adrian can't even imagine what 46 years alone would be like. No one to watch him sleep. Their heart breaks.

But he wasn't completely alone! He made a friend. A leaky space blob that he calls "Friend Grace". All of Erid (and Rocky) would be dead if not for Friend Grace.

And Rocky, for his part, is so attached to Grace that he can't leave the space elevator. He's the savior of Erid, and he can't even set foot on it. That's a problem. Not just for optics (people want to see the savior of Erid! They want to hear about his adventures!) but for Adrian. They want their mate home.

But this leaky space blob can't survive on Erid. And even more importantly, he's dying. So the brightest minds get together, the second largest Thrum in Eridian history. (Both this and the largest involved Rocky, which Adrian finds amusing. He always did have a talent for finding trouble.) And they figure it out! They can save the leaky space blob! (Friend Grace, Rocky corrects them.)

But he can't live on that tiny spaceship forever. And Adrian wants Rocky to come home. To be able to watch him sleep. So they put their everything into making a home for Grace. They lead the project. Not just because they are one of the best engineers on Erid (the best, Rocky would say), but because while all of Erid owes their lives to Grace, Adrian owes something more. Grace saved their mate. Saved Rocky. He gave up his only chance to go home so that Rocky could come home. The very least Adrian can do is give him a home on Erid.

And it takes years, but they do it!! A dome on the surface where Grace can live. And finally (FINALLY) Rocky can spend more than a day or two on the surface without pacing anxiously, carapace tilted towards the space elevator and the ship docked at the top.

Throughout all of this, Adrian gets to know Grace, and it turns out they like him. More than they were expecting. They can see why he and Rocky got along. Rocky has always been a bit of an oddball among Eridians, even before his nearly half a century of isolation in space, but he and Grace are perfect for each other. And as much as Adrian wishes they could truly understand what happened to Rocky out there, they can't. There is a kind of comfort that can only come from someone who gets it, and Grace gets it. Adrian is just glad Rocky has someone who he can lean on (although in most cases it's Grace doing the leaning, at least physically. Erid's gravity is HARD on him, at first.)

And privately they worry about what will happen when Grace dies (human lives are so short compared to Eridian ones) but for now they're just glad that their mate is home, and they welcome Grace into their life with open arms. Rocky may be Erid's savior, but Grace is Rocky's savior, and Rocky is Adrian's world.

[onikrii]

I know other people have likely talked about this already, but I can't imagine how terrifying the trip back to Erid would have been not only for Grace, but for Rocky

Imagine having your life, and by extension your entire planet, saved by your best friend only to have to watch him slowly waste away day after day from malnourishment with absolutely nothing you can do except for watch and hope that someone back home can do something to save this leaky space blob who's come to be your platonic soulmate

Imagine having to watch him get progressively weaker every day with all he has to eat being strange slimy space amoeba and you can see he's trying to keep his spirits up and stay positive but you know this is taking a toll on him, you can hear it in the pitch of his voice or the way he breathes when he moves and see it in the way that he's been sleeping for longer than he used to

Imagine having to force him to eat because some days he doesn't want to or to get up and walk even just a little to keep his muscles working or having to ask him to tell you his favourite stories about earth and science and the things that he loves and remembers to see a little bit of light come back into his eyes

Imagine doing your best to let him know that you're here and you're his friend and you aren't going to leave and that you're in this together and that things are going to turn out okay because Grace Rocky save stars and you saved me and that can't be the thing that kills you

[bwabbitv3s]

Rocky holding up Grace: Leaky.

Adrian: No, don’t be mean.

Rocky gently swaying Grace: Leaky space blob.

Adrian: No!

Grace grinning as Rocky sways them in the air: Very leaky, squishy blob.

Adrian, warbling: Noooo!

[stealthetrees]

I think Rocky named Grace ‘Dumbass’ or ‘Idiot’ or something and then just never changed it. Then when they get to Erid he’s so used to calling his alien friend ‘Shithead Moron’ that when he introduces him to a large crowd they’re all like ‘woah man what the fuck’ and ‘that’s not nice!’ and ‘you can’t say that bro that’s too mean’ and Rocky has to awkwardly explain to Grace why they’re upset. Grace, who is now very familiar with Rocky’s standard vocabulary, laughs until he is crying on the floor and can’t breath, which makes all the other Eridians panic while Rocky stands there yelling at Grace that it’s not that funny asshole.

[jelicatessen]

PHM means so much to me as a scientist because for once, a movie celebrates the wonder of science and human capability, of morality without throwing anyone (not even Stratt!!!) under the bus, it celebrates our ability to collaborate and come together when we need to, it celebrates teachers and scientists as people we can aspire to be like, it celebrates the love of learning and curiosity, and in a time where anti-intellectualism is so rampant, it's everything the world needs to remember that being smart and being passionate and being brave is what the world needs to grow

[edgebug]

"grace. grace! grace give attention. rocky perform human ritual of escape closet now. statement."

"come again?"

"i learn more from thinking machine. human gender preference. attraction to same gender, means word 'gay.' all eridian same gender." rocky stands straight up. "rocky come out to grace now. all rocky plural gay, statement."

"...wow, that's... rock, i'm not sure it makes much sense to apply human ideas of sexual orientation to a monogendered species."

a long and judgmental pause. then:

"grace HOMOPHOBIC, question????"

[brothermouse-skeleton]

Stratt is the funniest bitch in the project on purpose. When she makes a joke she 100% meant to do that and she knows that it's the funniest shit ever, even if everyone is too intimidated to laugh.

Grace is the funniest bitch in the project by accident. He's used to being around kids so he's forgotten that filters are a thing and just says the first, dumbest joke that pops into his head. He has no control over it. Nobody makes him feel bad about it because they're afraid of what Stratt will do if they hurt his feelings.

Rocky is the funniest bitch on the Hail Mary because he's been alone in space for years and has probably gone insane, sane, and then insane again. He's 10-20% worried that Grace is just a vivid hallucination and treats him accordingly.

[sharrrrknight]

I love the fics where Rocky is described as an asocial outcast who's only got his job (and Adrian) going for him because it puts into perspective that no, not all Eridians are that rude, it's just Rocky being Rocky.

And then it's really funny to think of like Eridian scientists getting mad and embarrassed as hellll that it was ROCKY of all people to make first contact.

In contrast to everyone saying how perfect it is that Grace, a teacher, is the one to make first contact. Meanwhile the people who knew Rocky are doing damage control for how badly he may have fucked up Erid's representation 😭