Apple Juice: #1 Rockyfucker

"Grace good, Stratt bad" or "Grace selfish, Stratt good" is something I'm seeing a lot of. Why are people so obsessed with putting everything in either the black or white category when the majority of things in life are all different shades of grey?

A lot of people's perceptions of Stratt boils down to proof that she is, in fact, the scapegoat. Grace made it abundantly clear that he knew that he was a coward for not wanting to go on the ship, yet Stratt ensured that he would only ever be remembered as a hero, implying that she understood that it's normal to panic and fight back when a suicide mission is thrust upon you, and how easy it would be for outsiders to take offense to him fighting back and not wanting to go.

Hence why she resigns herself as the punching bag. While it's like preaching to a choir that Grace was a sacrifice, it's very important to understand that Stratt was also a sacrifice, in the way that the rest of her life will be filled with heavy scrutiny and ostracism, which some might deem a fate worse than death. The blood is on her hands so that it doesn't have to be on anyone else's. She took a few lives for the sake of billions. You know, like, the trolley problem.

Due to her initiative, billions of lives will be saved, but she will likely only ever be known as a violent, evil, manipulative woman who treated her peers like they were at her disposal. At the same time, the crew will be commemorated for their bravery, including Grace, who, unbeknownst to practically everyone, threatened to thwart the mission.

And on the total opposite side of the spectrum, Grace is being woobified because of the combination of being a victim, relatively agreed upon to be aroace, and implied to abstain from swearing, causing Stratt to catch strays in turn. He is not a "poor baby", he is a grownass man with imposter syndrome who could not for the life of him sustain a relationship due to both suffocating societal norms and his tendency to build up walls.

“ You find solace... in death? ”

[Prologue] [Ch1] [Ch2] [Ch3] [Ch4] [Ch5] [Ch6] [Ch???]

bdubs teaches etho something new (non-condescending this time) + a peak into ethos life! bit of a slower chapter but i wanted to show they’re starting to get along <3

(excluding Real Life, values rounded to 1 dp)

1. Pearl - 3.2 (=)

2. Scott - 5 (+1)

3. Grian - 5.7 (+3)

4. Gem - 6 (-2)

4. Ren - 6 (+4)

6. Martyn - 6.7 (-2)

7. Joel - 6.8 (+4)

8. Impulse - 7.3 (-1)

8. Scar - 7.3 (-3)

10. Bdubs - 7.5 (-1)

11. Cleo - 7.7 (+2)

12. Etho - 8 (-2)

13. Bigb - 9.5 (-1)

14. Tango - 10.3 (=)

15. Skizz - 14 (=)

16. Lizzie - 14.3 (+1)

17. Jimmy - 14.5 (-1)

18. Mumbo - 16.3 (=)

notes + spreadsheet under the cut