BiRd

I genuinely can't stop thinking about these two. Help

Edit: It worked for me!

I received wonderful news about my health not even a day after, and was able to see my friends again after not being able to hug or high-five them for a month.

I am in desperate need of luck, my insta got hacked and I am in “superstitious mode” rn while trying everything to get it back. SO!!

MAGIC BAGEL!!!

BLESS MEEEE!!!

ryland grace + rising to the challenge

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“It’s Colt. You know what to do.”

Beep.

“Hey, um . . . It's me. I know– I know it's been a while. I should have called, I just. Since Dad, I . . . Anyway. Call me. I have three hours to make . . . To make a decision. And there's no right answer. Thought you could, you know. Yell at me or something. That usually helps.

Call me.”

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“It's Colt. You know what to do.”

Beep.

“Hey. Sorry. You're probably jumping off a building or something, I know. But listen, I'm probably breaking like three laws and seventeen treaties just leaving this voicemail, so it would be really cool if you could . . .

Okay, well. They gave me a couple hours. If you didn't break your back again or anything you should, uh. Yeah.”

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“It's Colt. You know what to do.”

Beep.

“Listen, idiot. I'm getting tired of hearing this same shit message over this shit phone so unless you have a good excuse, pick up next time, would you?”

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“It's Colt. You know what to do.”

Beep.

“Sorry for swearing at you. I know. It's unnecessary, blah blah. You know you sound like Mom.

If you don't pick up next time I swear I'm calling Jody and you know I don't want to have to do that. If she picks up I'll tell her to kick your ass for me, got it?

Wish you were here, I'd throw you off this building myself.”

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“It's Colt. You know what to do.”

Beep.

“Don't tell me that threatening violence without intent of follow-through is for cowards, okay? I know it already. I am a coward, and I'm okay with that.

. . . I am a coward.

Oh boy.

Listen.

Uh.

I have half an hour to make this decision. I know where I stand. I don't know . . . I don't know what's going to happen after that.

She . . . She has a lot of power. She could make me disappear if she doesn't like my answer.

If I need somewhere to go, I'm coming to you. Just a heads up.

I don't know what comes next. I just . . . I can't do it. I can't do it.

I'm sorry for all the messages. I just need to hear your voice.”

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"It's Colt. You know what to do."

Beep.

"Okay. My time's up, if I don't go tell her, she's going to make the decision for me, and . . . It won't be a good one.

I just have to stand my ground. They'll understand.

Well, if you listen to these in the next five minutes, you should just, you know.

Call me.

Okay.

Here goes.

Call me."

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“You’ve reached Dr. Ryland Grace. Leave a message.”

Beep.

“Hey.

Sorry. Please don't push me off a building.

I hope I'm not too late. Been out of cell service for a couple days, at the cabin with Jody. If the world's gonna freeze over, might as well enjoy it while it lasts, you know?

Did you see the Hail Mary blasted off this morning? Huge news but it's a whole lotta nothing, they wouldn't even reveal the astronauts on the mission. Top secret stuff. But maybe now we're not as screwed as we thought. You science nerd. Do you know how long a solution will take to find?

Anyway.

Heading back to Pittsburgh soon, Jody has a project she's working on, maybe you can come by sometime? Catch up. I guess there's more of Dad's stuff we never went through.

Hey, don't feel bad about not calling, by the way. It's my bad too, I know how life gets.

Well.

See you sometime.

Call me.”

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The ENTIRE POINT of Grace’s arc is that he is a Coward, with a capital C. He is a coward not only in his refusal of the Hail Mary mission, but in the way he lives his life before the Petrova Line was ever discovered. Grace has no close friends or coworkers, no pets or hobbies, no partners (short or long term), no family that we know of. His two main drives in life are (1) being a Cool Teacher to his students, and (2) nursing a grudge over getting kicked out of academia for proposing wild theories about life forms not based on water. As Stratt ACCURATELY points out, both of these things have large self-serving components. Grace genuinely loves his students and is good at teaching, but it’s at least partially because his classroom allows him to demand respect and attention without returning emotional vulnerability in the same way a peer relationship would. His academic theories were also largely motivated by a desire to be The Specialest Boy - and while Grace DOES prove himself very smart and capable, his pet theory wasn’t supported by his work with astrophage. Grace doesn’t jump at the chance to work with Stratt when she first approaches him, and he isn’t out there Living LIfe to the Fullest every day. He ADMITS to himself and to Stratt that he IS a coward, both for the way he’s lived up to PHM and for refusing to go on the mission when the timeline made it clear that there wasn’t enough time to bring another candidate up to speed and have the same odds of success. He straight up tells Stratt that he’ll sabotage Project Hail Mary if she tries to force him, DESPITE HIM KNOWING that Earth is headed for a literal apocalyptic Ice Age, and that everyone on the planet - including his beloved students!- has a pretty good chance of DYING if the mission doesn’t succeed! Stratt has to give him a coma cocktail that induces mild amnesia, and bet on him being at least good Enough (TM) not to kill the whole planet because he hated her for doing this to him.

(Also no hate for Eva Stratt, I love her and I will SUPPORT THIS WOMAN’S WRONGS until my dying day, she committed so many crimes and I cheered the whole way)

Despite Ryan Gosling’s very pretty Sad Boi eyes and sweaters, Ryland Grace is NOT a manic pixie dream scientist in love with Earth and its life and cultures. He just ISN’T. And if he WERE, then. Well. He certainly didn’t love Earth enough to fully embrace it while he was here, OR to volunteer to save it when he had the chance. This IS one of those situations where the distinction between “I love life” and “I don’t want to die” is a meaningful one. Does this make Grace a Cancelled Villain of All Time? No - it makes him a coward, but that doesn’t mean he inherently deserved to die. Does it ethically or morally justify forcing him onto a suicide mission while he fought and pleaded not to go? No! It makes Grace ORDINARY. Just some average fucking guy, not evil but not valiant, either. It’s like trying to claim Laika was the top search and rescue dog in the city when she got put into the pod. You don’t NEED to give Ryland Grace all these Tender Tragic Qualities of “loving Earth/Life” to have empathy for this poor dude who got launched into space.

In fact, Grace’s arc DEPENDS on him STARTING from that place of “I don’t really have a reason to be here” to “I have EVERY reason to turn my back on survival and do this act!” Grace wakes up on the Hail Mary, and has no context for why he’s on the ship but assumes that he was a Heroic Volunteer, like Yao and Ilyukhina. He sees their personal effects and Reasons Why They Volunteered, and keeps searching for his own Reason Why until he remembers that he didn’t HAVE a “reason why.” He was never a heroic volunteer. He comes to terms with the fact that he’s going to die, and IS. IN FACT. AS STRATT PREDICTED. A GOOD ENOUGH man to want to save the earth anyway rather than die alone without even trying to figure out the Petrova Problem out of spite. And he can do some pretty neat science along the way, which has always been one of his life motivations! At least he can do that before he dies, in the absence of anything else!

But the thing that Grace ACTUALLY loves enough to die for is ROCKY. The one in a million friend! Who saved his life and opened up his entire view of the universe! Grace’s core trait was NEVER “loving the Earth,” or “loving life.” The WHOLE FUCKING EARTH wasn’t enough to get Grace willingly onboard the Hail Mary! What made him turn the ship around was his GOTDAM SINGING ROCK FRIEND. The whole point is the change! Humanity’s capacity for massive apathetic cowardice and also astonishing bravery and hopefulness in connection. Andy Weir has his head in his ass about politics in his work, but you see?!?! You see, right!?!?!?!

fall in love again and again...

I NEED EVERYONE to watch this NOW

and the last time it’s said before the final job in crooked kingdom it gets interrupted before anyone can say “no funerals”

based on this tweet i made as i jumped on the bravebyers bus: