Sometimes, I imagine Simon really getting into philosophical discussions with Rocky. Real heart-felt stuff. I think he and Rocky would totally go bitch-for-bitch, but they'd also level with each other a lot over really deep shit. Rocky is really good at simplifying Simon's conflicting thoughts down into something tangible and streamlined.
Observe:
Simon: I hurt people, and I meant it. I tell myself I didn't, that I was forced... but I still did it. When I think about it, though, I'm ill. Even when it didn't matter.
Rocky: Why it not matter, question?
Simon: Cut the shit, yeah? You're not the first alien I've met.
Rocky: Simon at high risk misunderstand Rocky. Grace misunderstand often.
Simon: I'm not an idiot. Try me. M'good at filling in blanks.
Rocky: ...
Rocky: It did matter, and you know it did. That is why you feel very confused. Simon meant to kill them because felt passion and love for the cause of Eden, but not anymore. Your world did not end on the outside alone, but in your heart. Nothing mattered because you gave up, and to give up is to lose your 'humanity'. To Eridians, it is a different word, but this one you know well. Strive to see in each other. Humans never quit. I know from watching you and Grace. Murder is unforgivable in my culture, but trials are still necessary, and life is considered sacred even when many are scared to go near. Not forgiving does not equate to acting cruelly in return. Did you have animals on Mars, Simon? Question.
Simon: ...we had these... 'super-mutt' dogs. Hardy little fucks. Ate rocks and threw 'em up a lot.
Rocky: I studied some about dogs. They are a predator species. They eat other biological organisms to survive. You said they were eating rocks, question?
Simon: Close to the Quiet Rapture, our living situation wasn't so great. Somethin' about the world bein' thrown off from too much trade.
Rocky: Invasive species overrunning Mars. They were wronged with no ability to determine what happened.
Simon: Yeah, they were eatin' the rocks 'cause their food sources were runnin' out. Saw some of 'em turn on each other on Eden when we didn't have enough to keep feedin' 'em. Think one of 'em bit a kid... before we had to put it down.
Rocky: Did that make the dog evil, question?
Simon: What? Nah, they were starving, and we did it to them. If anything, we're the bad ones.
Rocky: Imagine if you were a dog.
Simon: Where is this going?
Rocky: 'Try me', as you say.
Simon: Uh... okay. I am a dog.
Rocky: And you hunt to survive.
Simon: I hunt to survive.
Rocky: And something much bigger than you has taken away your ability to live in your home.
Simon: Right.
Rocky: You begin to bite anything to stave the hunger off, even friends.
Simon: Hunger for what?
Rocky: Hunger for relief of mourning.
Simon: You're saying I killed people to make myself feel better about something out of my control.
Rocky: Did it make you feel safe?
Simon: ... yeah.
Rocky: Then you were threatened.
Simon: Not always.
Rocky: But your body felt threatened.
Simon: Feels like I have to start swingin' or I'll die.
Rocky: You are a predator in an ecosystem that built them. Killing is wrong and you know that.
Simon: I never want to hurt someone again. Not if I can help it.
Rocky: Will you do the right thing, question?
Simon: ... I dunno. I'm used to having to make the hard choices.
Rocky: Hard choices are easy when you listen to yourself.
Simon: Head says 'stop seeking therapy from the talking rock', gut says 'keep talkin'.
Rocky: But it helps. 'Gut' is correct.
Simon: ... maybe.
Rocky: 'Maybe' is not a good answer for hard choices.
Simon: Half measured.
Rocky: A title? Was it given to you?
Simon: Twice.
Rocky: Hesitating is your problem. Stop doing it.
Simon: I'll die if I move wrong. I'll die if I freeze.
Rocky: Survivor mindset in newly-acquired liveable condition is very difficult to understand for Simon. Simon will not die.
Simon: I won't?
Rocky: You are eating rocks with a meal in front of you because your diet has been rocks for many years.
Decided to draw the boys in the pose of that last scene of ponyo. I think it's fitting since Simon is kinda part sea creature and ryland loves him unconditionally.
‘While bats can only sense the outer shapes and textures of their targets, dolphins can peer inside theirs. If a dolphin echolocates on you, it will perceive your lungs and your skeleton. It can likely sense shrapnel in war veterans and fetuses in pregnant women. It can pick out the air-filled swim bladders that allow fish, their main prey, to control their buoyancy.
It can almost certainly tell different species apart based on the shape of those air bladders. And it can tell if a fish has something weird inside it, like a metal hook. In Hawaii, false killer whales often pluck tuna off fishing lines, and “they’ll know where the hook is inside that fish,” Aude Pacini, who studies these animals, tells me. “They can ‘see’ things that you and I would never consider unless we had an X-ray machine or an MRI scanner.”
This penetrating perception is so unusual that scientists have barely begun to consider its implications. The beaked whales, for example, are odontocetes that look dolphin-esque on the outside—but on the inside, their skulls bear a strange assortment of crests, ridges, and bumps, many of which are only found in males.
Pavel Gol’din has suggested that these structures might be the equivalent of deer antlers—showy ornaments that are used to attract mates. Such ornaments would normally protrude from the body in a visible and conspicuous way, but that’s unnecessary for animals that are living medical scanners.’
Cetacean echolocation is one of those things that boggles your mind once you really start to think about the implications. They can see each others' hearts beating fast with fear or excitement. They can see if another dolphin is healthy, or pregnant; how the fetus is doing; if they have ingested debris. Their echolocation is also incredibly precise: a bottlenose dolphin could discriminate between cilinders differing in wall thickness by just 0.23 mm (0.009 inch) from 8 meters away!! And they certainly notice when something is off.
I'm not sure if I ever shared this story before here, but in Curacao, when I was allowed to assist in a guest interaction programme, there was suddenly consternation in the pool behind us. A guest had entered the water and the dolphins were going crazy, paying no heed to the trainers anymore. The lead trainer that was with me gave the dolphins to me to watch over while she went to help. When she came back she told me what had happened. The guest that had caused so much uproar had left the water again and was asked if he had done anything to upset the dolphins. He hadn't, and he couldn't imagine what was wrong... until he mentioned he had a pacemaker. The younger dolphins in the pool had never seen someone with a pacemaker before and apparently it rocked their world.
It was such a wild experience, and offered such a cool insight into how dolphins experience their world. I'll never forget it.
i like when a piece of media says that an all-powerful character "sees humans as insects" because that really could mean a lot of things. maybe they view us as insignifigant and will squish us under their boot. maybe theyre actually studying and cataloguing us for their thesis paper. maybe theyre campaigning for human protection because we're an important part of their ecosystem. maybe they see a human and go "ew ew ewwwwww someone get the cup and get that FREAK out of my house." .
One of my favorite hcs is Rocky and Simon being a ragebaiter while Grace is the ragebatee (or however you spell it, idk I'm tired.)
Rocky laying on Simon, and Grace being confused on how because of Rocky's heavy ass weight. And all Simon has to say is, "Grace is calling you fat, rock."
Now both Simon and Rocky are just accusing Grace of calling Rocky fat, and Grace has to defend for his life.
Both Rocky and Simon annoy the hell out of Grace, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!
It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.
PITCH: We call it Moon Day, and then every 7 years when it falls on a Monday, that's an even BIGGER deal and we call that Moon Day Monday and go absolutely apeshit about it (the next Moon Day Monday is in 2026 so we have a couple trial runs first)
gracieabrams
germansingergirl
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
origamiaround
