#monster!simon

even moreeeeeeee creature simon, a better look at how i imagine the mouth goes!! also im actually pretty proud of this one bc to me it actually looks kinda like markiplier???? finally lol

Monster Simon again, + my thoughts while drawing him

I adore him

look at him, he’s amazing

version without words below

Thinking about Grace just being in awe all the time of the way his body adapted to survive... and making sure that Simon knows how awesome and lovely he thinks he is...

Enter Simon

...While Mark is off getting them more food and David (and company) are in a hibernation period to avoid eating more of their food Grace and Rocky pick up Simon.

Simon meeting David

Simon knows there was a David in the Coalition of Iron who was a total two-faced bitch and thinks it must be the same guy he heard on the radio and either it's another trick of the eel, or Grace and the rock thing are lying about who they are and that he's free to move around (& he's really back with the COI and this is some sort of sick test...) OR Grace is genuine and David is a spy for the COI.

Simon really wants this to be real so he takes to stalking David. He's not going back and he's not gonna let the COI hurt Grace.

David takes Simon's suspicion in stride this just means he doesn't have to look far to find Simon to treat his wounds and remind him to take his meds.

That is until Simon gets mad at the doctor's clearly fake niceness, pushes too far, and discovers David does have a secret just not the one he thought.

Simon shoves him against the bulkhead and the monster shows itself, shark teeth and mutated tentacles coming out to defend him.

David quickly calls off his guard dog as he recognizes Simon is traumatized and lashing out (the same as he used to be after coming back from Syria.)

But the damage was done in that Simon saw what they were.

Simon [just survived the horrors of a mutagenic blood ocean]: They threw you in the ocean too?

David [NASA astronaut, very confused]: That's the usual way we do re-entry.

Simon still assumes David is the David he heard on the radio but that he's been chewed and spat by the COI same as him.

David is completely clueless to all this and is just glad that Simon has become more pleasant company of late.

Simon meeting Mark

Plants, so many plants.

He was wrong. It's not the COI.

It's Eden.

No, no he won't go back...

David [uno reverse stalking]: Hey Simon, so this is Mark.

Mark: Hey man! How's it going?

David: He's from Earth. Same as Grace. Same as me... Most of me. And this is where we grow our food so we don't starve. You know not starving is important to your overall health...

Simon, traumatized, worried about their intentions for Grace initiates the thinly-veiled threats. Cue three-way shovel talk/pissing contest because all of these guys have pack-bonded with Grace, & teacher likes me best...

Grace [teacher voice]: What's going on in there?

Simon, Mark, and David [too quickly]: Nothing.

Rocky: Doesn't sound like nothing.

What Grace thinks of all this

If they are competing for Grace they're all going to lose because Rocky is already Grace's best friend. (Though he does enjoy their company.)

There are cameras everywhere on board the Mary. Grace does try to respect privacy but he can't help but be concerned about arguments brewing and he is the Captain Doctor so needs to know what's going on with his "crew." His curiosity gets the better of him when Rocky insists they were talking about him.

however, it’s raised a question, so I gotta ask:

Also it makes sense to me because you know if he didn't have access to any surgery or anything because resources are so scarce some trans men just bulk up a ton and then you can't tell what's breast and what's muscle.

Grace would eventually figure out and make t for him or maybe fish biology does the weird thing and switches the sex because it feels like it. Idk.

Also thinking about this in the context of my bloodymary au, I was playing with t4t for them bc I think it's fun, but also I like Grace not being super aware of his own feelings towards like... anything. Aroacespec nonbinary/agender Grace. It's all just a nebulous thing that kind of only exists if he really starts thinking about it. Which is not to say that nonbinary/agender people aren't/can't identify as trans if they want to, but for Grace he just exists. Grace is Grace and that's all he needs to know. (He just like me fr)

This is also the same logic I like to apply to a qpr bloodymary too btw. Like... it is a qpr in my mind but they don't need to say that. It just is. Especially on Erid without the expectations of general society. Like...

(very slightly more explicit talk about sex here)

When I think about them obviously I love allllll the interpretations of their relationship, but idk to me it just is. It changes for them day to day and they just kind of find a rhythm. Like sometimes they don't kiss on the mouth and sometimes they bang. Sometimes Grace has sensory issues (tm) and sometimes he needs to be SQUISHED, and Simon is more than happy to be his weighted blanket. Sometimes Simon revels in the sheer gentle kindness that Grace gives him and sometimes he just can't be touched because of bad memories. Sometimes they can't get close enough to each other and sex is just the next best thing and sometimes holding hands is enough to ground them in the here and now.