so many things

blog like no one's following you

Ken was created from Barbie’s rib

The Climb by Miley Cyrus

I really hope studios are paying attention to the audience reaction to Project Hail Mary, and more specifically the audience reaction to the lack of romance in the story. So many people are talking about how wonderfully refreshing it is to have a story focused on friendship as a dynamic, how relieved they were when they realised there would be no romantic side-plot forced between Grace and Stratt, and how significantly less meaningful the narrative would have been if the validity of love and the power behind it was reduced to a character's desire for romance and sex. For so long fictional narratives have been suffering as a result of pandering to and supporting the heteronormative idea that every story must contain a romance, no matter how forced, no matter how underdeveloped, no matter how uncomfortable, in order for the protagonist to become fully realised as a character. It's nonsense, but furthermore, it's reflective of popular media's ongoing dismissiveness towards the importance of platonic bonds. It's a trend that has been extremely exhausting to witness as an audience member who, like most people I would assume, highly values their real life friendships. The outpouring of adoration for a narrative the emphasises the importance of platonic love, even going so far as to frame it as the world-saving device within the text, is so genuinely heart-warming to see and I really hope this signals the exploration of similar stories in the future.

Everyone, especially the allo/heteronormative folks, who saw project Hail Mary and felt sympathy towards Grace when Stratt told him ‘you don’t even have a dog.’ I need yall to feel that same emotion and empathize with your single and childless friends, be they aro/ace/aroace or just not interested. Just because someone doesn’t have a partner or child does not mean they have inherently less worth and it does not mean their life is inherently less meaningful. Grace loved his kids. He loved his job. He had joy. He had fulfillment. He was a person.