Abyss of the Shades

Uber is a fucking shell game of a company designed to leech investor capital and output bootleg cabs.

Nvidia posted a profit in 2023 of $4.37 billion. This is like someone stealing less than a penny from me.

And they lock this kid in a prison hospital for LIFE?

Court has been in the gray for years.

Colt pushed everyone away, but eventually pulled himself together. Never unblocked Ryland.

Ryland is left to his own devices with no support system. Bitterness and resentment become the two main feelings he has regarding his brothers. Largely towards Colt bc every single thing that happened was a choice he made. Court couldn't help getting killed in jail, but Ryland still feels angry bc Court isn't there.

Ryland keeps moving forward of course because there's no other option. He still loves his job and his students (they're the only bright spots in his life), but there's a cloud over everything now bc he's alone. He thought nothing could tear him and Colt apart, but even smart people are sometimes dead wrong.

And so it's another year or two, still pre PHM, that his brothers try to re-enter his life. Except Ryland has had time to pressurize all that hurt and anger and loneliness and feelings of abandonment down into a diamond of spite. There is no forgiveness, no starting over, no let me explain. He doesn't want to hear any of it. They don't get to throw him away and then show up when they're tired of feeling guilty and have decided that he's worth knowing again.

Ryland is dead set on keeping them out. If he sees them in the street no he didn't. On one desperate occasion Colt shows up at his school and Ryland says he doesn't know him. They are personae non gratae. Unfortunately for Ryland they're as stubborn as he is. Colt moreso than Court bc Court always assumed he wouldn't be welcomed back with open arms

But it's a struggle. It's a war of attrition. Eventually they wear Ryland down enough to at least talk to them, but Ryland still gives very little ground. And even when they do finally onto some kind of safe ground it's never the same. Ryland keeps them at a distance bc he doesn't trust them. He doesn't go to them for anything. He used to be open, pouring out every emotion but now plays everything close to his vest. They're not his Safe People anymore.

And then Eva Stratt finds Ryland in his classroom.

And then Ryland makes discovery after discovery on astrophage.

And then Ryland lives on a boat.

And then there's an explosion.

and ryland remembers his words the next day and groans as his head pounds because god that was so stupid of him to just announce to some playboy actor he would marry him. stupid stupid ryland. but soon he puts it out of his mind and goes about his life. tom probably just laughed it off and forgot. it wasn't a big deal. then the conference happens, the fallout happens, and he's a teacher. he never goes back to one of colt's movie sets again.

but then he gets a weird feeling one day and calls colt. tells him he feels off and that's when colt tells him they are doing a big drop that day and it's probably just colt's nerves he's feeling. it'll be fine. but ryland is not convinced, tells him he needs to delay the stunt, check everything again. colt insists it's fine.

but then just as the drop is about to happen, colt is pulled back from the edge by tom who insists they do it later. colt notes his phone is in his hand as he's pulled back up and things are checked over. they find the controls had been bumped and colt would have broken his back, or worse.

when colt asks tom why he stepped in, tom just blows him off. later, in private, colt asks again and tom says he got a text from the "angel in a sweater" he remembers seeing at a party years ago. told him to stop the stunt and tom listened cause he remembers the angel was very pretty and nice to him and told him he would marry him if he got sober. which he's been struggling to do but he's been trying. admits that when the days get bad, that memory is what keeps him going. He doesn’t even need a sticky note to remember.

I spent almost an entire work shift drawing this tooth-rotting fluff

At the end I do like that Rocky talks to Grace and tells him "hey we basically found you a way home" and when Grace asks if he can think about it Rocky is like "Yes, please do. Think about it for a loooonnng time actually if you want."

And what a contrast that is to back on Earth. Stratt tells him he has 3 hours (but we all know she's not really going to let him think about it. She's decided for him that he's going a la "yeah he's running" the fact that she had a team in place to put Grace into a coma says everything. This man doesn't get any autonomy here.)

And granted the situations are very different. Earth is dying and they need someone to go and (presumably) back on Erid they have figured things out by this point and the world is saved so Grace is afforded time to think.

But even still, it sucks that Stratt and everyone else (even Carl, come on man I trusted you to care more) decided for Grace. But on Erid, Rocky is giving Grace his autonomy back. He is allowing his friend to choose for himself what he wants.

I do also wonder though if Grace being put into an induced coma early had something to do with him surviving?

Lol. Lmao. You think Rocky is going to LET Grace die?? Fuck no. Broski has a team of Eridians cooking up some science as we speak. Throw Simon into that equation with his weird post blood ocean mutations that probably let him live longer and those chances get even lower. Grace I hope you're ready to wake up one morning and realize that for a 100 year old man you don't look all that much past 47.

Personally, I see a level of arrogance to it like he finds Grace attractive cause he looks like him but unlike Colt he isn't trying to steal his spotlight.

If you scroll past this… my mother will die 💔

I know that sounds harsh , but it’s the truth I’m living Right Now 😔

I keep wondering how many more times I’ll have to ask before someone hears our cry for help. While you’re reading this… she’s lying in a hospital bed waiting… struggling… fighting for her life.

The doctors told us the truth we were terrified to hear: If she doesn’t get this surgery immediately, we could lose her… forever 💔

We only need $999. That’s it. Not something impossible. that small amount… is the difference between life and death 😔

$999 might not mean much to some people… But to me, it means hearing my mother’s voice again. It means seeing her smile. It means she gets another chance to live.

So let me ask you something honestly..

If this were your mother and her life depended on $999… would you close this post and keep scrolling? Or Would you tell yourself “someone else will help’’?

Because that’s exactly what everyone is thinking right now. And that’s how people die. Not because they couldn’t be saved… but because everyone assumed someone else would do it . Please… don’t be the person who saw this and did nothing.🙏😔💔

I am not asking for luxury or comfort. I am asking for the chance to keep my mother safe. I am asking you to help us before we lose her . If our story reaches your heart, please don't leave without doing something. Your kindness today could be the reason my mother receives her medication in time🙏

Just $999… standing between her life and death. Don’t think someone else will help… because right now, no one has.🙏

Current process : USD 17,307 / $18,306

Vatted by: @90-ghost

Vatted by : @sar-soor