mindgrapes & thoughtsicles

Mary. She/Her. 30s. “These fragments I have shored against my ruins.” ― T.S. Eliot

[aroace-ryland-grace]

Various Rocky tools!

[gaynaegis]

“You save me!”

“Yes. I caught the Taumoeba in time. I still have fuel. Set up the tunnel. Im taking you to Erid.”

“You save me and you save Erid!” He squeaks.

[truncated-symphony]

I've done it again! And this time it's quite long! I swear this was going to be such a short fic, and now it's six chapters long.

a great and difficult transformation

Fandom: Project Hail Mary (2026), Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir Rating: Teen Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ryland Grace & Rocky, Adrian/Rocky (Project Hail Mary) Characters: Ryland Grace, Rocky (Project Hail Mary), Adrian (Project Hail Mary), Original Eridian Characters (Project Hail Mary) Additional Tags: Journey to Erid (Project Hail Mary), Illnesses, Sick Character, Rocky Loves Ryland Grace, Ryland Grace Loves Rocky, Hugs, Platonic Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ryland Grace Meets Adrian, Anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Rocky (Project Hail Mary), Ryland Grace on Planet Erid, Healing, Ryland Grace's Biodome | Beach House on Erid, Aromantic Asexual Ryland Grace

Summary: Grace and Rocky return to Erid, and Grace settles in while recovering from the long, stressful ordeal of his time on the Hail Mary.

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Chapters 1 and 2 are up now, and the fic is fully written and ready to go. Chapters will probably go up every day until it's finished because I just like getting things posted, and why should you have to wait?

[spookyveggies]

Still in disbelief that my last post got so much attention here and on insta,, it was originally the doodle on the right that I spent like 2-3 minutes on!!! Here's some more cartoony pieces of my current favorite spaceboys I did while trying to see how they'd look in my style :)

[moonofpoosh]

Project Hail Mary | behind the scenes

Ryan carries this film on his shoulders. And having him on set really created some sort of magic and spontaneity.

Directors Phil Lord & Christopher Miller

[castielrisingabove]

I just keep thinking about how Ryland Grace used to be a regular at his local diner.

[galacticsabc]

part two of Grace knitting on the Hail Mary. This time, he's crochet his besties.

[bigwozz]

[nimadelolll]

scapegoat

[whateverholic]

did we ever consider how grace has no family left on earth? it's a pretty big point that grace has nobody to come back to.

what happened to his parents? are they... dead? but, grace is quite young. did he... cut them off? but then, that would be a pretty big life decision that most people don't make.

I think more people should explore. why does he have nobody. yes, no friends, no lovers, no pet, no siblings. but... everybody has parents. something happened here.

[stargirl-and-potts]

- Disowned? Cut them off?

- Car accident killed them, maybe siblings too, left him alive? Maybe he was at summer camp or a science internship?

- Raised by grandparents who died recently?

- Murder-suicide? Parents went on vacation and suspiciously vanished?

- Aged out of foster care?

All we know is his glasses and watch and sass are expensive but his lifestyle isn’t. He used to have money, whether from childhood or not. And I think someone along the way was gentle with him, because he is gentle.

[plushievash]

i bring you another doodle

[stargirl-and-potts]

This video from Screenplayed on Instagram just blew my mind a little. It shows what’s the same and different between the script of “Grace go home” and the final scene. The balance they found was perfect.

Most of all, this change struck me:

Rocky didn’t mention his crew at all in the draft! But I watched an Ortiz clip where he said he was thinking through this scene in bed, before shooting, and realized they needed to change the lines. He’s the reason Rocky says, “Rocky watched crew die, could not fix. Grace say Grace will die—Rocky fix.”

Ortiz knew we needed to come back to Rocky’s grief. That Rocky would need to say it out loud: if his crew couldn’t go home, at least Grace could. He needed to honor them that way. I’m so glad Ortiz understood Rocky so well.

And then there’s this which is not a change but a devastating description of what we see:

All the emotion! He’s been holding in! To survive!!

And finally this:

First, the fact that onscreen they made Grace almost speechless with shock and relief, and Rocky is the one telling him he can go home—I love that.

And that he didn’t stay stoic until that—that’s a good change. His voice starts to roughen with emotion earlier in the scene (“We’ve got stars to save”), and he turns his back to hide his face. He can’t hold onto the deliberate calm the script describes. I am glad they showed the cracks forming as soon as he sees Rocky’s grief for him. When he breaks you’ve already been feeling the weight, how much he’s been holding.

And finally, the fact that he sits down because his knees have gone weak—not changed, the same onscreen, and it hits me in the heart. The swelling of emotion getting stronger and stronger, even after that, until he can’t do anything other than hold onto Rocky. It’s perfect.

[pattinsonsupremacy]

something so poetic about this

[jellyfishforest135]

Mondays, amiright?

[jarondont]

we will make it

[cloudabserk]

rocky must be as close as possible to watch sleep. for safety

[wrencorner]

I love Stratt but her trying to persuade Grace to leave by telling him he has no family is such a stark contrast to Yao telling Grace that bravery comes from Having someone to die for. Like, her argument directly opposes what could give Grace that bravery to go on the ship. I’ve been thinking of it from the perspective that Rocky becomes that family for Grace later, but now I’m wondering why she tried to sway his opinion to leave with that line. Like, of course he doesn’t want to go. He has no one to go For

[stargirl-and-potts]

I think she said that because that’s what she tells herself. She knows after the ship is launched she’s going to prison, likely for life. She knows her days of choir and history books and launch day parties are almost done, and the future is as profoundly lonely for her as if she was being launched into space. And she tells herself, it’s a good thing it’s you. It’s a good thing there is no one to need you, no one to miss you. It’s a good thing no one will cry when you’re gone.

She is angry that’s not enough for him to comfort himself. She is angry that he’s grieving the loss of his life, his home, his work, because his grief bares hers, and she can’t afford to feel it. She doesn’t believe she is allowed that. She can’t allow him that. If she did, I think he’d come through the grief to the truth that he has to do this anyway. But we will never know, because she does not allow it.