prehistorictreesap

The students ABSOLUTELY gave him a nickname. If you are a well-liked teacher in a middle school, the students are giving you a dumb fucking nickname (I would come up with some examples, but the nicknames are 1. Never logical and 2. Almost never that related to your actual name. So I could say they called him Professor Tuna and yall would just have to believe me on this one)

Additionally: if PHM takes place in the semi-present, a student DEFINITELY made one of those pink flags with Grace's face on it.

I am absolutely sure Grace would be the kind of teacher who had classroom memes--ones that only the students in his class would know, and would confuse the other teachers in the building and annoy the students who hadn't had him in class yet

Have you seen those tiktoks where teachers share how they ragebait their students with their lame jokes? That's Dr. Ryland Grace to a T

However I can also see Grace being the kind of teacher who demands to be in on the gossip whenever he overhears it, and gives the kids sappy advice to get them to make up with their friends

As a young, single, childless teacher, he definitely got volun-told to chaperone all of the dances and events throughout the year. I am sure he would come dressed in something (appropriate, gotta keep that job) but also a little silly to make the kids cringe on purpose

He probably had a line form at the end of every school year of students waiting to have him sign their yearbook. It probably only ever became a line because he would write a personalized message to each kid.

Grace was probably the kind of teacher who made sitting through staff meetings bearable OR the one who always made the staff meetings go over time with all of his questions

I fully believe Grace did a Transition to Teaching program after being laughed out of academia for his dissertation, so I can just imagine him as a first year teacher being like "....a 5-0-what? What is a TOR?" (cut to frantically making flash cards to keep track of all the new terms)

illustrations by edward miller for subterranean press edition of gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir

illustrations by edward miller for subterranean press edition of harrow the ninth by tamsyn muir

I mean full-on khaki-shorts-wearing, traversing-wilderness-with-nothin'-but-a-machete Adrian who yoinks snakes outta trees and pets swamp puppies and will unflinchingly dig around in elephant faeces for signs of a rare parasitic tapeworm if needed.

Oh, humans eat socially? No problem, Adrian has observed many many animals eat. Did you know that an obscure species of small underground dirt creature from the north side of Erid also eats socially? Adrian can give you a not-so-short presentation on them.

Oh, the human has no external carapace and so its internal sounds are absurdly loud, wet and off-putting? No problem, Adrian was just conducting an expedition last month researching the incredible eridian animal, the Wet Loud Worm from the south-east region of Wet Loud Wormland. They're desensitised, it's fine.

Oh, Grace leaks often from many orifices and it can be a bit of a learning curve to get used to? No problem for Adrian, see Wet Loud Worm paragraph again!

believe me if grace and rocky could be in the same atmosphere theyd be all over eachother