This is where i reblog stuff. My blog @thewildwaffle is where I post my original stuff- it didn't come about until later when I figured out how tumblr worked.
I really wish tumblr had a feature to switch main blogs...
Grace and Rocky, giving a tour of the Hail Mary to fascinated Eridian scientists and diplomats.
Pointing at things and explaining what they are and how the ship works, lots of awed and appreciative noises are made.
Until one of the visiting Eridians points out a specific item. “And that?”
It’s a strange, circular thing, a xenonite disk mounted upright on some sort of pivot so it can spin freely, but around the edges it has… spokes? Pegs? Sticking out of it, that hit against a stiff flap that would slow down the spinning.
It is also separated into sections decorated with crude etchings of a human and an Eridian.
“Ah,” Grace says.
“That,” Rocky says.
“That’s. Um.” Grace seems somewhat embarrassed. “That’s the sacrifice wheel.”
The Eridian visitors clearly do not know what to make of that. “We think we misunderstood Savior Grace’s word,” they say, apparently hoping this is a vocabulary mix-up. “Explain (question, polite)?”
“Didn’t misunderstand,” says Rocky, sounding very sheepish. “That is sacrifice wheel.”
“So. While we were on our way to Erid, we might have gotten… anxious about each other’s well-being,” Grace says, which everyone is already very aware is a wild understatement. “And, well, you heard what happened at Tau Ceti, and after. There were a lot of unexpected dangers for the whole trip that required a lot of, at least, attempted self-sacrifice to solve. We ended up almost dying for each other several times. And we had an argument about what we’d do if another crisis like that came up. And we couldn't agree.”
“Grace argued that Grace already was unlikely to survive long-term on Erid, so he should be the one to do any potential deadly but necessary maneuvers to make sure I was able to bring taumoeba back,” Rocky says.
“Which made sense.”
“Did not make sense! Grace already sacrificed so much for me and for Erid, wouldn’t be fair to make you do it again—“ Rocky cuts himself off with a huff. They have obviously had this conversation before. “So sacrifice wheel was compromise.”
“Yeah,” Grace says. He spins it to demonstrate; it whirls around in a blur and a rattle of the flap hitting the pegs, then eventually slows down, and stops—pointing at the segment depicting a very bad but very clear image of an Eridian. “Rocky made the wheel, I spin the wheel, and whoever it lands on, that’s who gets to sacrifice themself to save the other and the other person does not get to argue. This way, we wouldn’t waste time debating who does the self-sacrifice and who survives, it’s just a plain fifty-fifty chance. Or, eighteen-eighteen chance in base six. But the point is it could be either of us and we would have to accept the outcome.”
Rocky started fidgeting while Grace was explaining. When Grace finishes, proud of the equitable solution they came up with to allow them to die for each other fairly, Rocky says, “Now that we are back and we don’t need sacrifice wheel anymore… I have confession to make. About the wheel.”
“What about the wheel?”
Rocky doesn’t answer. Grace frowns, first confused, then suspicious, and spins the wheel again.
It lands on Rocky again.
He spins the wheel again, and again, and again, and it lands on Rocky every single time.
“Rocky!”
“I weighted the wheel,” Rocky admits.
“Rocky the whole point was that it was equal, that was why we even made it—“
“Never was necessary so doesn’t matter anymore!”
“But you WOULD have!”
“And you never noticed because you were hungry and cranky and distracted and so would have done bad job on heroic self-sacrifice anyway!”
“I would not! I would have done fine!”
(The Eridian scientists and diplomats are still here watching this btw. Slowly dawning on them that 1) these two are extremely not normal about each other 2) if Erid ever does another space mission they NEED to send a therapist aboard because this is what happens when they don’t)
Grace looking into a poorly drawn microscope, a yellow text bubble is under it "Y'know, I wasn't even born yet when you set off for your mission. isn't that crazy?.... Rocky?", a poorly drawn Rocky is next to him.
A closer image of the poorly drawn Rocky, with a yellow text bubble next to it: "... Rocky?"
a much more detailed and much closer drawing of Rocky, with the words "Grace say sike right fucking now" in front of him. End ID]
When I was training to be a battered women’s advocate, my supervisor said something that really blew my mind:
“You can always assume one thing about your clients; and that is that they are doing their best. Always assume everyone is doing their best. And if they’re having a day where their best just isn’t that great, or their best doesn’t look like your best, you have to be okay with that.”
Any now whenever anyone in my life, either a friend or a client, frustrates me, disappoints me, or pisses me off, I just tell myself They are doing their best. Their best isn’t that great today, but I have days where my best isn’t that great either.
Op I’d like to thank you for sharing this. Ever since the first time I’ve read it I’ve held it in my mind and it really has helped me to be kinder to others and to myself.
Among the sizeable portion of humanity who would believe the Eridian footage to be faked, I wonder if “yeah, and Dr. Grace went to live on Erid in a beautiful biodome” becomes the new “we sent your dog to live on a farm upstate”
Grace loses his glasses one day on the ship and he's going to ignore it. He doesn't want to bother anyone, everyone on this ship is trying to save the world, and he's going to go and ask someone, distract someone from their work, just so he can ask if they've seen his glasses?? Hell no
So he does his best to act natural, he does the work ha can easily do without them and then starts working on the not so easy stuff. There is a meeting and he sees stratt for the first time that day and she immediately clocks his shit.
Eva Stratt: "Where are your glasses Dr.Grace?"
Grace: um well I lost them?
Stratt: lost them. Ok I want everyone to look around for Dr.Grace's glasses you three go check the security cameras find out when they were lost... *Continues*
Grace: oh gosh um there's no need really I can deal it's fine. Wow ok everyone is really looking for my glasses... What.. the fuck is happening?
Stratt: *on the phone* yes I would like hmm 5... Maybe 6.. 600 pairs of *turns to grace* what's your prescription? Oh nevermind I know it. *Back on the phone* yes yes 6,000 pairs of glasses...*continues*
Rocky and Adrian decide to renew their vows after Rocky returns to Erid so at the ceremony there's the beautiful spouse, the other beautiful spouse, their friends and family, and a leaky alien who is actively dying and leaks even more during the ceremony because apparently his species does that when they're emotional.
Hi yes hello it’s me the local wizard, and I- Ok well “evil” feels like a strong word but yes, that’s me. Anyway, I need your help. I know I stole away the kingdoms 12 princesses, that’s my bad. Listen, I didn’t think this through. It didn’t occur to me that having a dozen angry young women from early teen to early 20s and giving them giant powerful wings would be a bad idea.
I know I’m the one who cast the curse but it can still only be broken with true love. I’m begging you, somebody, please come and fall in love with these girls and make them leave, I can’t take it anymore, it sucks so bad. I can’t keep getting viciously bullied by one of the largest living species of waterfowl anymore. I’ve tried running away but they can fly so they just find me. I’m getting nothing done.
I’ll pay you, I’ll grant you wishes, I don’t care, please just come and fall in love with the mean angry women who live in my yard and hate me so bad
Incredibly charming to think about the translation assumptions around profanity being made by Dr. Ryland "what the fudging fudger" Grace and Rocky "everyone agrees he is swearing up a storm" the Eridian. What a beautiful duo to make first contact.
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