windyspring

That's why I'm calling you back

On my way through

both simon and grace have severe trust issues. we know this. so it makes sense that they would be wary of each other at first. sure, they're probably glad to see another living human being, but of course they're gonna keep their guards up just in case.

and rocky, naturally, is excited that there's another human around. because he's a scientist! he loves humans and earth! he wants to learn more about them! but it quickly becomes evident that simon is not like grace. simon is much more guarded and traumatized. but rocky, being the ever curious and supportive sweetheart that he is, tries to mimic and adapt to simon's behavior to be able to learn more about him and befriend him.

i love the image of simon sitting on the beach on erid watching as rocky plays around in the waves. it showcases rocky himself and the ocean as nonthreatening, allowing simon the opportunity to start healing slowly from his trauma of oceans and the fact that his first nonhuman contact was with a cosmic horror eel. rocky hops out of the water and comes over to sit next to simon, but respectfully keeps his distance. but the more they converse, the closer rocky moves, until he is sitting right next to simon. simon finds it easier to look and talk with rocky because rocky doesn't have traditional eyes. even though rocky can 'see' him, simon doesn't feel like rocky is staring directly into his soul every time he looks at him. it's a step in the right direction of building trust between them.

i also love the image of rocky showing simon the trees that the eridians made for grace's biodome and that being what brings rocky and simon together and allows simon to open up more and talk about eden.

(there's also a possible joke to be made that rocky says that grace is no longer the bravest human he has ever met and grace would definitely agree after hearing simon's story lol)

grace watches fondly from afar because he knows firsthand what it's like to be alone and what it's like to be befriended by rocky. grace is glad to see rocky extend the same kindness to simon as rocky did to him.

simon probably asks questions about grace to rocky, and rocky answers them, but also suggests for simon to talk to grace himself.

They're preying on insecurities to do it. Yes, you can write an essay - but can you write a good essay, they ask you. Do you not want to improve your output? Do you not want people to think of you as competent and very clever? Why go through the mortifying process of failing and failing and failing until you succeed if you can just skip the "learning" part of doing, and simply generate a ready-made product?

I'm preaching to the choir here obviously but it's a concerning thing to witness nonetheless. My kid is 6 next week and I've been teaching her that failing at things is morally neutral and in fact necessary even before the advent of AI, but it's becoming ever more important that we teach the kids that criticism and failure and discomfort aren't necessarily bad things, but just a part of the growth process.

Molly Brown (deadlymelodic) shared concept art and the final model of Simon's shadow

Mark Fischbach as The Convict Simon

honk shoo

What happens when Grace doesn’t sleep for 48 hours.

Based on this panel from Dungeon Meshi: