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1. On Wanting To Live And Other Choices by mustangisinflames

   Fandoms: Project Hail Mary (2026), Iron Lung (2026)  

   • Mature
   • Graphic Depictions Of Violence
   • Gen, M/M
   • Work in Progress

   06 Jun 2026

   Tags

   • Graphic Depictions Of Violence
   • The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung)/Ryland Grace
   • The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung) & Ryland Grace
   • The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung) & Rocky (Project Hail Mary)
   • Ryland Grace & Rocky
   • The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung)
   • The Convict | Simon's Mother (Iron Lung)
   • Ryland Grace
   • Rocky (Project Hail Mary)
   • Other Character Tags to Be Added
   • Cosmic Horror
   • Science Fiction
   • Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
   • haunting the narrative (Simon’s mom)
   • Body Horror
   • Blood and Violence
   • Blood and Injury
   • Major Character Injury
   • Religious Imagery & Symbolism
   • Religious Guilt
   • Religious Cults
   • Religious Horror
   • Hurt/Comfort
   • It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better
   • Mental Health Issues
   • Slow Burn
   • Grace is a fusion of book and movie because I can do that okay?
   • Childhood Trauma
   • Trauma
   • Angst with a Happy Ending
   • chapters all have content warnings at the start with more info!
   • author has a lot of experience writing horror. so uh. you're getting horror.
   • but also Hope
   • Trees
   • Blood Eel
   • Loss of Identity
   • Identity Crisis
   • The Convict | Simon Needs a Hug (Iron Lung)
   • Amputee The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung)
   • The Convict | Simon has Mommy Issues
   • cannot believe that's not a tag btw
   • Whump
   • Ryland Grace & Rocky are Best Friends
   • Ryland Grace Needs a Hug
   • Ryland Grace Is Not Graceful
   • Autistic Ryland Grace
   • Psychological Horror
   • Heavy Themes
   • Eventual Romance
   • Mutated The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung)
   • Blood and Gore
   • First Meetings
   • The Convict | Simon (Iron Lung) and Ryland Grace are Patron Saints of One-Way Trips
   • meet cute? nah meet ugly
   • I stand by the opinion that Simon and Rocky would be great friends who gang up on Grace
   • Simon appears after Grace and Rocky use the sampler to gather astrophage
   • but before the time go fishing mission!
   • just to establish the timeline :)
   • Simon has mutations of the tree/plant variety
   • Rocky Grace Simon save Earth. Save Erid. Save each other.
   • Science
   • Demisexual Ryland Grace
   • Author Has Read Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
   • Author Has Watched Project Hail Mary (2026)
   • Author Has Watched Iron Lung (2026)
   • Author Has Played Iron Lung
   • Eden is a Cult (Iron Lung)
   • The COI is no better
   • The Convict | Simon is a Killer
   • Morally Grey The Convict | Simon
   • also I will be so real the romance in this can also be read as a qpr
   • are they in love? are they friends? or are they some secret third thing that cannot be defined in human terms?
   • Disassociation
   • Gardening as a metaphor for killing

   Summary

   Ch.7 excerpt:

   "Grace's stomach twisted into nauseating knots, palms clammy and itching beneath the latex, aggravated by a slowly healing burn and the muted feel of another human being underneath them. He settled on gathering a small handful of hair from where it was tucked behind an ear, strands wavy and brittle as he ran his thumb over them. Pieces of dried blood and something denser crumbled and flaked away.

   ‘Not dead human’s’ remaining eye stayed closed, breathing steady, heartbeat quietly beeping. He looked peaceful. Kind. Like a person Grace could’ve passed by on the street back on Earth. Something tightened in the space behind his lungs, panged with a longing and a revulsion. It had been so long since he’d last been so close to another human (or human-like lifeform, he corrected himself). It was strange in a way he couldn’t place, in a way that had him wanting to run and hide and curl against Rocky’s ball for comfort instead.

   Had human touch really become that foreign to him?"

   -

   Or: It's not enough to want to live. You have to make a choice.

   www.tumblr.com/mustangs-flames

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   27,392

   Chapters:

   7/?

   Comments:

   139

   Kudos:

   183

   Bookmarks:

   49

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   2,217