Stoney🍄

- he's holding Zooble in a way so that their parts don't fall out

- he's not squeezing Gangle so that her fragile ribbons don't get tangled

- he's not putting too much pressure on Ragatha so that she doesn't get ripped apart

- he's only holding Pomni and Jax firmly because their bodies are solid and rubbery

And this scene is right after the torture too. You would think he would be more violent, but no. He wanted to hurt them, not break them.

Caine wanted them to listen. And because they never did, he made them feel what he felt when they poked at his biggest fears and insecurities.

unreliable narrator or not, we know for a fact that everything that's happened on Earth is shown to us through the lens of Grace's eyes. he's our only source of information, after all

so. like. that means. he sees Eva Stratt as the playful, neurodivergent, stoic, pragmatist who sniffs hackeysacks and says "weemp weemp" during her presentation.

he could have many other interpretations of this Eva Stratt character who kidnapped him from his school and made him analyse the Petrova samples and kidnapped him again to live in the Stratt Vat and kidnapped him one last time to be sent to space

Eva Stratt could very well be a strict asshole who never smiles and has horns and fangs and blood red skin. She could be an unsmiling, uncaring, unbothered twat and we'll never know it

because in the eyes of Ryland Grace, she is this strict German woman who, yes, kidnapped him for all the reasons stated above, but also

she smiles. she tilts her head whenever she's confused about something. she furrows her brows if she disagrees with something presented to her. she encourages her people to do their best, and recognises the effort they make. she makes people clap. she cannot live without her two coffees.

she says she's not good with jokes but it doesn't stop her from being playful. she denies being mysterious. she orders you to take a compliment. she says "weemp weemp" as she points to the fuel tanks in the hail mary ship.

she sings a song for her loved ones, telling them to remember everything's gonna be alright

She exchanged woman’s for man’s attire, and, no longer the most modest of maidens, began the life of a warlike rover. Enrolling in her service many maidens who were of the same mind, she happened to come to a spot where a band of rovers were lamenting the death of their captain, who had been lost in war; they made her their rover captain.

Like what do you mean of course they have the most gorgeous voice ever which to sound-based Eridians is basically the equivalent of why-the-fuck-arent-you-a-supermodel.

Of course they had sooooooooooo many mating/courting offers and gifts and love letters sent to them while Rocky was away (but they of course stayed faithful and weren't having any of that shit).

Of course Rocky forgot to mention to Grace their size difference and that Rocky is by Eridian standards a tiny little twink and Adrian is a giant also so when Grace meets them he's looking UP because they're less of a rock and more of a boulder.