Yes, as in the mountain

and then one day, he's not there. there's a substitute. all they know is that he was contacted about some important project. something related to the petrova line, the rumors say. but he's back a couple days later, acts like nothing happened, all is well.

but then soon, he's out again. and again. it happens more and for longer until eventually the new teacher takes on the official title of "long-term sub." they don't know when he'll be back. you start to worry that he never will.

until one morning, the principal comes over the loudspeaker and officially announces that dr. grace has been recruited for an extremely important mission that will affect the fate of the world, and won't be returning for the rest of the year at least. he's going to space.

you and your classmates are so excited for him. it's sad that you won't see him for a long time, but think of all the stories he'll have when he comes back! when he comes back a hero! even if your class is in high school by then, or even if you've graduated, maybe you could all have a reunion when dr. grace returns to earth and he could tell you all about his experiences. in space!! space!!! he must be thrilled too!!

but then months or years later, you find out—maybe from your parents, maybe from some news article, maybe from a classmate who heard it from their older cousin's roommate—that dr. grace actually isn't coming home. ever. that there was only enough fuel for a one-way trip, that from the beginning of the mission he knew he was going to die out there.

the concept of star-eating microbes causing a crisis and the solution being the introduction of space wolves to space yellowstone to control the space elk population. i love a good trophic cascade

dr ryland grace immediately pitching "turn the spaceship into a giant centrifuge to generate gravity" and then not balancing his actual centrifuge later on

the entire "life is reason" scene really

grace forgetting to open the mystery alien container in a fume hood AND immediately sticking his nose in it. if we did this in chemistry lab we were executed on the spot

academia drama being one of the cornerstones of grace's character

grace switching through every spectrum setting on the microscope to try to see into the astrophages and not being able to (relatable)

also: the astrophage dying and grace going "ohhh it died..." (very relatable)

grace having his not-scientist buddy Carl to give him frank solutions when he's overthinking. yes, often the solution is just to put the box in another box

copious duct tape usage

just sticking a filter into the path of the petrova line to collect astrophage goop

eva going "so it's alive" when grace tells them the astrophage are moving, and him being like "WELL ok that could be for a lot of reasons" in the tone of someone who doesn't even know where to start explaining why that's a hasty assumption

grace referring to the first new astrophage as his and carl's baby multiple times (HIGHLY relatable)

While I love and greatly enjoy all the adorable fics, art and headcanons about Rocky, Adrian and Grace forming a little family unit together... I strongly doubt that Eridians have any real concept of the nuclear family.

The thing is that nuclear families (family units consisting of a married couple and any kids they have) are a relatively modern and largely Western invention; for most of human history and in most parts of the world households have been larger and involved extended family members, tending more towards clans than individual units.

Notably, this is also more common in more collectivist societies- and Eridians are supposed to be even more collectivist in nature than humans are.

Eridians make major decisions by joining together in large groups that form a single consciousness.

They need to watch each other sleep on an irregular timeline, which would be wildly impractical with two people who aren't stuck on a tiny spaceship together, and instead have jobs and obligations outside the home.

They traditionally stored food from hunting in large communal piles.

In the movie Rocky has a family crest that he uses to introduce himself, indicating a major focus on family/clan as a part of identity.

James Ortiz's headcanon about arranged marriage also fits, since those usually happen in societies that view marriage as a union between families, rather than between individuals.

All of this points to Eridians living together in large groups joined by kinship, and potentially friendship as well. They have many adults in the home that all support the family, watch each other sleep, and come together to make important decisions. And this family identity is an important part of how they see themselves and their purpose in the world.

And then there's the issue of Eridian reproduction.

When you put together that Eridians lay five eggs at a time, that they live for centuries, and that egg laying is easier than giving birth, you're looking at one Eridian mating pair having up to five kids at minimum, and dozens at maximum. Maybe in the past it evened out due to child mortality, but assuming they've largely solved that with modernity it's a recipe for massive, unsustainable population growth.

I've seen several fan explanations for this, but for me the simplest is that Eridians just don't put as much emphasis on individual couples having children as humans do. Each family generation is probably quite large, but only a couple kids in that generation will choose to have children of their own, and then those children will be raised by the family, It-Takes-a-Village style.

It's similar to how it was an evolutionary benefit for human families to have single, gay and elderly members: including childless adults increases chances of survival for the children the family does have. And quintuplets have gotta be a lot for one couple to handle, even with Eridian multi-tasking abilities.

If I can get even more out there, considering the collectivist nature of Eridians and the relatively detached method of laying eggs vs. childbirth/nursing, it's entirely possible that Eridians don't actually put that much stock in who a child's biological parents are. There are human societies that historically reckoned kinship similarly, referring to some or all aunts/uncles as parents, and cousins as siblings.

All of which is to say that again, large and tight-knit extended families are very likely the default for most Eridians.

And oh boy, the implications this has for the story!

Imagine Ryland "No close family, no friends, not even a dog" Grace, arriving at Erid to discover that he has not only been adopted by Rocky's mate but by his entire, massive family as well.

Imagine Rocky's relatives, many of whom are likely also engineers, working to maintain Grace's dome. Because that's what you do for family, and any family of Rocky's is one of theirs.

Imagine Rocky and Adrian having a clutch and Grace getting ready to be an uncle only to discover he is 100% considered a parent too.

Imagine this lonely, isolated person having a huge support system for the rest of his life.

rocky: rocky has seen this on earth portable thinking machine. grace very brave. grace has name, question?

grace, not entirely paying attention: yeah man its grace you know that

grace: it is, but everyone calls me grace anyway so it's fine

rocky: grace is sure, question? grace could pick any name

grace: hmmm... worth a thought, i guess. got any ideas?

rocky: rocky 2

grace: aw :) wait whos first?

and it's when grace is out on the hull of the ship trying to still collect the taumoeba collector even though so many things have gone wrong (with rocky telling him no don't do that you will die we can try again later)

because in the movie that "i don't think there is gonna be a later" is representative of the huge risk they've taken on this plan, the ship is falling apart as they go, this has to be done now, and grace is proving really for the first time that he is now willing to die to make this work and save both their planets

but in the book because of time constraints and length required both he and rocky were working on making the chain for that thing and they've done nothing but make chain for like a week straight (he mentions at one point the noodles he's having for dinner are just registering to his brain as small white edible chain)

It’s interesting to see since in the flashbacks Grace is a mix of mellowed out but still has that lingering frustration. He raises his voice the moment he gets back into discussing the details of his paper, he starts throwing things in the lab and storms out when he’s proven wrong again, but he instantly shrinks back in on himself once it’s over.

There’s like this desperation for validation and respect with this frustration. And he’s much calmer and trying to humble himself but it seems almost like he’s gone too far in the other direction? He almost punishes himself, he talks down on himself so much for being a coward in the book. It reminds me of when people are so hurt they insist they didn’t care to begin with and it would’ve never worked, but they care so much. He barely even recognizes he’s the second in command at that point. He’s so used to ignoring his own worth he doesn’t understand when people actually properly respect him and his work.

I think just having a friend like Rocky helps so much for his growth. Someone who lets him work and prosper in what he’s good at while not putting him on a pedestal or with these grand expectations that would make him turn around and insist he’s not worth it. They just connect and their differences work together so well. Rocky will call him a mess and an idiot but take care of him and acknowledge when he’s doing great, when he IS brave.

However. I do think we need to recognize that Rocky did in fact volunteer to go on their planets first manned mission into space--a place where they cannot even perceive what's out there without highly specialized equipment--using a dangerous and only recently discovered fuel source, in a craft that was the first of it's kind ever built, all while having a whole ass spouse.