welcome to my attic, nerds!

They send someone to stop the experiment but Grace refuses cause they’re so far in already and well that would just ruin the data.

So when the other astronauts arrive and are like "you're not experimenting on him are you?" The Eridians are like "????" "Of course we are??"

"Why is a convict in space, question."

"I just want to live."

You go down just like Holy Mary Mary on a, Mary on a cross Not just another Bloody Mary Mary on a, Mary on a

thinking abt the swapped!au and im not crazy.

img for context:

Turns out there's a childhood disease to the tune of measles that erodes the carapace, and the first symptom shows up about a week before any actual damage is caused.

Grace comments to Rocky that one of his students seems to be turning oxidisation-green. About a week later that student has to be hospitalised for this illness.

Eridian scientists realise pretty quick that Grace can detect the illness long before any of their equipment can, and when caught that early it is much, much easier and safer to treat.

i like to think colt played grace when they inevitably made a movie about the hail mary. it's the first time he's ever actually had a real role but the casting directors, and colt, all knew that no one else could play ryland better. imagine colt having to act out the scene of his brother being tackled and sedated, of going up to die.

and think about if the movie came out before the beetles returned. there were definitely lots of people who didn't really knew what ryland grace looked like but had seen the movie anyway, and once the videos were released, people were in awe that the casting directors got someone who looked identical to THE doctor ryland grace!

people being shocked that the actor and the scientist that saved the planted looked so similar, and because colt's last name is seavers (which i like to think is a stage name for this au) no one knew they were actually related. (though there was definitely one person on the internet trying to convince people that they were related like guys istg they're related. my proof? trust me bro). especially since so many years had passed since the launch and before the beetles returned so they would have enough of an age gap that they would look different enough.

OH OH OH AND THE POLAROID

i like to think that the polaroid sent up with grace was not of him, but of colt. it makes me ill thinking about how ryland would have seen that and thought it was just a picture of him, because he couldn't remember he had a brother.

thinking about grace remembering he has a brother after he had met rocky and rocky being confused asf and worried about grace cause why the fuck is he slumped on the ground sobbing he was fine like five seconds ago??? and thinking about colt finding out the real reason grace went to space, having felt so betrayed for so long that ryland didn't tell him he was leaving, only to find out years down the line that his brother had been kidnapped, drugged, and shipped on a suicide mission against his will. colt having spent so many years harboring resentment and a sad sense of betrayal and then finding out all those emotions were for naught, that his brother wanted to stay so bad.