do y'all remember in iron lung when simon escaped the blood ocean and took a nice shower on the hail mary and ate a warm meal and cuddled up in grace's quilt. cause that was my favorite part

It’s a tribute (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)

Also Rocky stayed home and Adrian (a scientist) was on the blip-a

BUT I feel like I have a very different take than I normally see on how Swap!Grace would act—

I feel like Grace definitely would be all scared like I've seen at times, but I feel like we forget how smart he is!!! He would put that calculating brain to use!!! His whole thing is he’s a coward bc he doesn’t want to die so he’d definately use his brain all he can to keep himself alive.

Personally, I think he would be cold, reserved, very careful with his words but also maybe stutters? (bc | think Grace was born to be a motormouth and having to restrain himself brings Issues) but also extremely manipulative and sneaky.

Like, imagine, maybe threeish days after Simon rescued him (they're on Erid) Grace gets up early to make them breakfast. Simon is delighted, obviously (both bc brekkie!! And!! Grace is warming up to him!!) and scarfs down the (honestly less that stellar but hell if he’ll complain about it) meal and the coffee Grace also made for him.

As Simon down the last drop Grace stares coldly at him. Simon chuckles nervously "...What?"

Grace is silent for a moment, then, "The poison will have you dead in approximately twenty minutes unless I tell you the chemical compound of the antidote.

You will escort me to the nearest spacefaring ship and then and only then will I give the formula to you. Do you understand?"

Just things like that :3

Like LET HIM USE HIS SCIENCE BRAIN!!!!! HE DOESN'T NEED TO BE VIOLENT OR PHYSICALLY STRONG LIKE SIMON IS!!!! BUT HE CAN STILL ACT NEGATIVELY!!!! HES A DIFFERENT PERSON AND CAN BE TERRIFYING IN DIFFERENT WAYS!!! :DDDDDDDD

LET ME HAVE SCARY SCIENTIST GRACE!!!!!! LET 👏 ME 👏 HAVE 👏 HIM 👏

(Also additionally after the scene I mentioned I think the rest plays out like this :)))

Simon tells Grace that “uhhhh sorry there aren’t actually any ships that can fly rn 😅 Mary is still being fixed up”

But Grace is like “bs take me to a ship right now. I will not tell you the antidote without one and I can promise you that it will work and it will be painful.”

And Simon’s like “… uuuuhhhhmmmm well I can’t but it’s actually fine bc Adrian can just figure out how to reverse engineer at least a semi permanent antidote real quick she’s smart like that :)”

And Grace (in his head) is just like “……CRAP I just threatened to KILL my captor I am SO dead he’s gonna kill me! Nononononono—“

@chequered-career EXACTLYYYYYYYY OH MY GOD

YOU GET IT

I CAN FINALLY TELL YA’LL!! (I loved reading everyone’s theories hehehe)

TW: Disturbing Descriptions/Forced Amputation

Basically, it happened during a get together. Details of that event aren’t clear but it was a sort of party/going out for teachers and staff.

Simon’s red wine gets spiked and is ushered by someone into their truck. He didn’t really know who they were and who ever it was was very insistent on him getting into their truck to drive somewhere. It was hazy and he had nothing else to do, it seemed alright at the time.

For reasons I will not say yet, he realizes something is wrong and, once he has the chance at a gasoline stop, he gets into the drivers seat and tries his best to escape and get back home.

Obviously, the effects of his spiked drink hadn’t worn off and he was in a state of panic that he was swerving off and on the road. Unfortunately, he ends up ramming into the opposite lane and t-boning a car on a tight turn.

The truck he was in took most of the blow. So he managed to get out of it with only some bruising, some cuts, and probably a concussion. He tried to crawl away from the crash but another car runs him over and, not only gets stuck into the pile up, but it stops directly on top of his already injured left arm.

He smells gasoline and knows he’ll die if he doesn’t move from under it, so he grabs a shard of glass and cuts and pulls at his arm. It’s rough and animalistic, but he just wants to live, he could care about his injuries after he’s safe.

And he does, he successfully (and morbidly) had left his left arm behind right before the pile up combusted into flames. It isn’t until he’s crawling away that he hears them. The people in the cars and their gut curdling screams. There were children. And he saw them. He saw them as they burned up. As their hair singed and their faces mutilated. (At this point in the story, he might be hallucinating or he might not but that can be up to your interpretation)!

He saw cars pull up and stop, some backed away. He tried telling them to help the others. To do something since he couldn’t. He could try but he knew he was useless. He’d only end up getting himself killed if he tried. It was selfish of him, he knows that, but what else could he do?

I hope this cleared up some things ! :D

I love the three so much. To me they are a qpr

This is my first ever post but I’ve loved this series so much I could lurk no longer. I’ve not seen this done so meet the EWC’s first ever normal letter!!

Edit: I FORGOT CREDIT!!!!!!!!!! IM SORRY @justcakethanks FORGIVE MEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I literally jumped out of bed in the middle of the night to write this one down I'm so proud XD

yknow when you wake up in the middle of the night & anxiously check on the person next to you to make sure they didn't randomly die in their sleep

I just made some BULLSHIT.

Once more, I beg you walk with me here.

Imagine Grace goes to space, as always, but for some ✨bullshit✨ he enters another fucking reality/timeline/IDK, which is the one of Iron Lung. Plot twist: the C.O.I. finds the Hail Mary and believes Grace to be a criminal that stole a ship; Grace doesn't know what the hell is happening so he's unable to defend himself and he's sent to prison.

There, however, we meet Simon, and although their first meeting isn't great, they end up finding in each other the only source of light and hope left in a place that was specifically created to take everything away from them.

Honestly, I'm not sure how this story could end. Maybe they escape together and find the Hail Mary. Maybe one of them dies and the other has to live alone. Maybe both of them die because that place wasn't made for people like them.

Cool concept. Gotta think more about it.

EDIT: I just remembered Grace has amnesia when he wakes up, and that just makes this whole thing even better. Imagine you're some guy who for some reason knows science, and then some cops from an organization you've never heard of in your life come to your space ship, which by the way you don't know how you got inside of, and tell you you fucking stole it, and you're like "I did????" because you can't really be sure.

Not that he feels like Grace really minds him cursing all that much, but now he doesn't have to. There's no one to impress or intimidate, no reason to need to show he's rough and strong, and he just feels like he can be... softer, around Grace. That he wants to be. 🥺🥺🥺

Simon: *slams his toe or something* “ffffffFFUDGE!!!”

Grace: …

Simon: …..

Grace: ……… *trying SO HARD not to laugh*

Maybe they lack the political or emotional connections to the heroes and decision makers. Or maybe Whumper demanded too much in exchange. It could just be simple math; what Whumper wants would hurt dozens of people. What is Whumpee's one life compared to that?

Negotiations break down.

A hostage Whumpee who isn't really worth killing, either. Who is eventually, confusingly, let go. Who has to wander back into their old life, knowing that no one helped them. Maybe no one even realized they were gone. They're not worth saving, not worth killing, not worth... anything.