"Is fuck bad plan!"

Iron Lung/Project Hail Mary fandom blog. Assume spoilers for both movies and PHM book. Created so I can flail around in this section of fandom while I write a very long and angsty gen Ryland x Rocky x Simon crossover fic on AO3. ********** My IL/PHM Fic: Shed Light **********

[wendyllwins]

I will probably write out a scene of Grace’s POV of the ending scene of Chapter 8/what occurred between chapter 8 and 9 of Shed Light eventually because I cannot get the visuals and Feels out of my head.

[wendyllwins]

Excerpt of upcoming chapter 9 of Shed Light wherein mostly-amnesiac Simon gets the novel experience Getting Scienced At about his Cosmic Horror Condition and Grace gets to name a bunch of things about said Horror Condition because Rocky’s out of commission and Simon’s not exactly going to step up to the plate.

[wendyllwins]

Swear I’m gonna give Simon more chances in my fic to propel the plot forward than just be bounced around the mental and physical meat grinder 17 times soon! XD

[wendyllwins]

Me: watching the scene in PHM where Grace shows Rocky what you do with trees in the mental health node

Grace: And you climb. And you climb to the top if you can.

Me: Is this BloodyMary???

[wendyllwins]

Shed Light | Chapter 8 | 2.1k

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Excerpt:

“Do not fear, my son. This mark counts you amongst your Brothers. It is a reward for your loyalty in surviving the ailments of infancy to continue your service of Eden. The pain is temporary.”

“You were so brave, Simon. I’m very proud of you.”

“Head on the table, Convict. COI regulations say you can’t be on this station prowling around with that ink.”

“If the Consolidation were to take you alive, they would attempt to cleanse you with fire.”

“Simon, look what I brought you.”

“Simon, oh God, Simon, you can stop holding him now.”

“Convict, just let it happen. Pain’s temporary, unless you screw it up and the wound gets infected.”

“To burn would be the greatest failure. We must ensure not just death, but the correct death.”

“Simon, will you please talk to me?”

“Simon, are you awake? Can you hear me?”

“I let you burn me, so now what?”

“Now? Solitary confinement until the Captain decides what’s next. She’ll be busy cleaning up Eden’s mess for months. Maybe even years.”

“My son, the preparations are nearly complete.”

“I thought we didn’t want them to burn?”

“In the cell, Convict.”

“Hey, you forgot to take the handcuffs off. HEY!”

“Simon!”

“Simon, come on. Come on! Oh, my-”

“There are nutrients to be found in ashes!”

I SEE YOU.

Simon opened his eye.

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Read on AO3.

[wendyllwins]

Was at work during the Iron Lung release and am STILL at work, but I wear headphones (dog groomer) so you better bet your ass I’m on my second listen-through of the movie already.

[wendyllwins]

changing the title of my blog from Traumatized Characters in Space

to

"Is fuck bad plan!"

[wendyllwins]

I had a blast with writing Chapter 7 of Shed Light, but one part in particular I enjoyed was the moment where (chapter spoilers beneath cut)

Simon, who barely remembers the events of Iron Lung, just assumes that Grace would tell him to fuck off for asking a question about what was happening during a life or death situation, because there’s echoes of his memory of his treatment by the COI in all of his assumptions of how people will act towards him. (Ie they don’t tell him shit, ever, even when his life is at stake.)

But this is Grace he’s talking to, so what actually happens is all he needs to do is prod the barest amount and Grace just EXPLODES continuous scientific explanations at him WHILE trying desperately to save Rocky.

Meanwhile Rocky’s like: Grace’s xenonite epoxy screed technique for repair sucks ass statement :(

[wendyllwins]

Instructions unclear, what do you mean slow burns don’t involve actual burning???

[wendyllwins]

Shed Light | Chapter 7 | 2.8k

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Excerpt:

There was black smoke curling up in the dark outside of the Tree Dome.

There was also screaming, multiple inhuman notes piercing the air and echoing off the wall. They sent all of Simon’s instincts flaring to life and made him feel like his overworked nerves were pricked to full attention, his throat closing up as his lips parted.

”Flames? Why would there be flames?”

He stood on dirt ground under bright, warm lights, his bandaged body stinging and his head aching, and listened to that awful sound, his right eye staring unblinkingly into a landscape of sand and shadows and the two figures directly on the other side of the strong, clear wall of his prison. The waves of that unseen ocean were still crashing in the distance but, for once, he didn’t give a shit about them.                                 

The rock tentacle monster thing expelled more curling black smoke as it screeched again in its clear container in the throes of pure agony. Simon could practically feel the noise reverberating in his chest. He shrunk back a step, still unsure what was causing that damage and if it would come for him next.

Ryland the Grace didn’t shrink. He brought his body over the suit that housed the rock monster and clamped his arm over the crack. Simon heard the sizzle right before Ryland’s hoarse yell joined the chorus of pain and he had to break away, the sleeve of the cloth with the snarling animal faces charred and blackened and melted into his reddened flesh.

“No, Grace!” Rocky squealed, skittering back before it desperately plunged its own limb deep in the sand, up to the main part of its body, clamping down over the cracked section of suit and shimmying itself further down. The smoke coming out of it slowed to a trickle. “Tired, stupid! Pick better choices!”

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Read on AO3.

[wendyllwins]

The next chapter of Shed Light featuring Simon's POV as the biological waste product hits the localized wind chill machine will be up tomorrow morning!

[wendyllwins]

Shed Light | Chapter 6 | 4.2k

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Excerpt:

The sounds of Mean Not-Human Simon’s respiratory system were becoming inconsistent. Rocky continued in his message to Adrian of his required supplies to maintain personal comfort and health in his indefinite quarantine in Grace’s habitat as he shifted his body from side to side for better hearing. There were movements of Mean Not-Human Simon’s body inside and outside. He did not rise but his dormancy was less still than when Grace slept. And Grace when asleep was much much much less still than an Eridian sleep. 

Rocky waited for this to be a sign of more sickness, but the sound of gurgling and muscle contraction that usually preceded the expulsion of fluid from Mean Not-Human Simon’s body was not present. Rocky was thankful.

Armando was inside the Tree Dome, observing Mean Not-Human Simon much closer than Rocky. If its behavior was consistent with the times it had cared for Grace’s injuries on his ship, Rocky estimated it would need to change the cloth for healing in four Eridian days and 22,422 seconds. In the biodome specifically built for Grace’s comfort, that would translate into almost one single Earth rotation cycle.

If Mean Not-Human Simon was awake when Armando tried to change the cloth, Rocky knew it would be bad bad bad. And Rocky was certain Mean Not-Human Simon would be awake soon.

The sounds inside the Tree Dome were coming louder and becoming varied: Rocky heard the scrape of a limb against the substrate, the top appendage stretched out over the edge of the blanket, and a low rumble, coming through the opening in the side of the face. That very low sound had helped Not-Human Simon pronounce his first Eridian word, before the speaking orifice opening had grown to expose more of the ectodermal chewing organs. 

Grace had never made a sound with that frequency. Rocky was sure the vibrations of his vocal folds could not produce it at all.

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Read on AO3.

[wendyllwins]

Me: All right, just a quick bit of research for this one-off Rocky POV fic chapter and-

Three hours later

Me: The conifer is the most effective studied tree when it comes to sound absorption. Huh, who knew?

[wendyllwins]

Okay, heads up that it is DEFINITELY going to be about a week until the next chapter update of Shed Light. I only have a 2 1/2 day workweek coming up and a 5 1/2 day staycation after that but I’m going to be diverting attention to my ongoing other-fandom fics for a bit to get some updates up in that area.

Did I always plan to dump that cliffhanger and then have a break in posting after that? Maybe. XD

[wendyllwins]

Me @ Me: It is incongruous to be intimidated by Rocky POV in this fic and not expect at all that you're going to enjoy writing that shit when the very first chapter of this fic was you, without batting an eye, writing from the point of view of an eldritch blood tree.

[wendyllwins]

Shed Light | Chapter 5 | 4.2k

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Excerpt:

So. 

A naked man.

A naked man named Simon.

A naked man named Simon who was missing an arm.

A naked man named Simon who was missing an arm, and covered in extensive, horrific injuries that would render most normal people at the very least unable to move fluidly due to the extensive nerve damage, and also seemed, at most times, about one bad mood away from trying to burst through the Tree Dome’s walls and disembowel Rocky before he clawed Grace’s eyes out.

Grace didn’t deal with the threat of physical aggression well, especially not when it came from someone who’d presented enough strength to launch Rocky’s weight across the greenhouse like he was a three month old chihuahua instead of a several hundred pound condensed weight of metal and rock housed in a xenonite suit. 

Also, there was just something spectacularly intimidating about a man who didn’t care that every inch of his skin was exposed to open air and presented the sheer will that Simon did in managing to keep functioning through his injuries.

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Read on AO3.

[wendyllwins]

And then I come out of my all-day fic writing hole to find out Iron Lung is releasing digitally in two weeks.

I’m fine and normal.