Cringe Adult

Saying a courtesy call would have been nice even if nothing ever came of it, E.T. told reporters Monday he was shocked at not being contacted by director Steven Spielberg for a cameo in his new sci-fi movie Disclosure Day. “I knew I wasn’t going to be the lead, which was totally fine, but are you telling me that after more than 40 years of friendship, he can’t pick up the phone and say he’d love to throw a few lines my way?” said the extraterrestrial, adding that it was him and his “glowing fucking fingertip” that gave Spielberg one of the top-earning movies of all time.

Okay, I breezed through some so here

the real twist is in ryland’s backstory. this story is such an interesting take on this type of narrative and the “chosen one” archetype because they’re inverses.

we’re drip-fed ryland’s backstory in flashbacks as he remembers it while on the hail mary, and in those flashbacks, it’s said time and time again that ryland has no intention of volunteering to go on the mission. and we (and present-ryland) are thinking “well, he must’ve agreed or had someone change his mind eventually because he’s here!” cuz that’s the entire second half of the story.

the twist comes in learning that, when presented with the choice, he refused. he turns down the choice (thinking it is one), and no one convinced him to do it. we hit that moment of “will you do this” and were expecting him to say yes cuz we know where he ends up, and he walks into stratt’s office and says no.

it’s such a purely human moment that also fittingly goes directly against something that happens earlier. he got roped into this project because of his theory about life not needing water, and he was proven wrong. he then willingly came back and asked to continue to be included because of his kids. he cared so much about his students that he wanted to keep experimenting with astrophage. i’m CONVINCED that was the moment stratt knew there was something different about this guy, and she (rightfully) calls him on his bullshit at the end when he refuses. “if you really cared about those kids, you’d get your ass on that ship!” or whatever she says. because his refusal is cowardly, but in a very human way of “i don’t want to die”.

speaking of stratt, she’s such a fascinating character. driven, with a deep passion for saving humanity, and VERY desperate. someone who is quite literally willing to do whatever it takes to save her species. she presented going on the hail mary to ryland as a choice as a courtesy, but in the end it didn’t matter. he was getting on that ship whether he wanted to or not; stratt was just hoping it would be of his own volition.

He introduced three different species of aliens that interact with Grace (including the Taumoeba). And none of them are fuckable. Not even the Eridians! Hell, consensus among most fans have Grace not having any sexual/romantic relationship with even the humans! This book had so much potential to be a horny thing, and it took serious effort to say "forget all that; who needs a relationship when there's science to do and apocalypse to avert"

1. She is in an impossible situation and does not have the luxury of the morality someone may impose upon her

even once he met rocky he was called grace. now it's because of a language barrier - "ryland" is a proper noun with no real semantic meaning but "grace" can be translated - but even with the one individual who actually sees him as a person of worth and value and not just something to be used, he's still grace.

your name is ryland grace and you are a teacher. you are good at laying out the facts, at disgusing useful information in your quips. you are good at meeting people where they're at and getting them to understand the things that click into place in your brain so easily. you are smart but you love to learn new things and you love to help others love it, too. you used to think you were only good at teaching children. you were wrong.

your name is ryland grace and you wake up alone and with no memory of anything and it comes back to you in fits and starts: the earth is dying. you know how to save it. you used to stand in front of a classroom and help kids understand. there was a woman who believed in you. your friends needed you. your planet needed you. you do not remember being a coward because it is not important when the world is dying and you, ryland grace, are the only one who has a chance to save it.

your name is ryland grace and you remember being a coward but it feels like a different ryland grace. it feels like the ryland grace you are now, who leaps into space to collect a sample and does everything in his power to complete his mission, this ryland grace is not a coward. but you know that your name is ryland grace, and you are a coward. what do you do with that?

your name is ryland grace and you're faced with a choice: accept the fate you were so close to avoiding. go home. be a hero and be welcomed back with open arms. prove to the world you left behind that you could do it, that their faith in you was worth it, even though you are a coward.

or turn back and save the friend who is the only reason you were able to do any of it in the first place. save the friend who saved you. save the friend who can't save himself, and whose planet and people will die without him. and in doing so, make the choice you never made in the first place. make the choice to turn around and leave the earth and your people behind, never set foot on a beach again, never breath the fresh air again, never feel the light of your sun again.

your name is ryland grace and the choice is not hard. rocky would do the same for you. rocky did the same for you. rocky almost died for you. rocky gave up years of his life to make sure you could go home, and that sacrifice is the only reason saving him is even option. your name is ryland grace and you know, now, that it doesn't matter that you were a coward, once. there's more important things to worry about.

he is! catherine's! childhood friend! she doesn't see him as a handsome mysterious stranger she sees him as her other half and as someone who was there for her and loved her when she was a kid running around and being dirty and improper and deeply disliked by everyone in her house including her father for daring to not live up to the gendered excpectations of what she should be. and she misses being that kid so so so bad, and she hates married life and she wants to go back home even though home was awful and abusive and she ran away from it because at leaaaast she was allowed to be herself there. and heathcliff is home.

and heathcliff isn't obsessed by Cathy the way people describe him she's not a thing to own. she's the only person to have ever loved him apart from his dad for like a few years. she's the only one that doesn't constantly dehumanize him or wait for him to turn into the savage beast they all think he is. he's deeply alienated from the society he grows up in because of his skin color and she! doesn't! care!

sure sure their love is bad for them and those around but you know why it is that way? not because they're toxic or whatever (i mean sure, in part, but) but because they're not fucking allowed to love each others. because god knows and Heathcliff knows and Cathy knows they could never get married. because the only way for Catherine to hope to help him is to marry a nice guy she kind of likes because as a woman she's powerless because even if Heathcliff comes back a gentleman he's only ever be perceived as a crook! because even if he owns "Wuthering Heights" he's "cheated Hareton out of his birthright", because Heathcliff doesn't and will never have a birthright!!

"Quote unquote real americans will only use you as a mascot to help them humiliate other ppl they see as lesser. You have to accept being a loser in the big picture sense so you can enjoy the wins of the every day, or you will never ever be happy"

And i just thought it fucked lmao