Warning! This post contains spoilers for “Project Hail Mary” and “Iron Lung.”
Over the past few weeks, I have somehow tumbled headfirst into a fandom rabbit hole so unique, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. The rabbit hole in question is a new crack ship called BloodyMary, the pairing between Ryland Grace from “Project Hail Mary” and Simon from “Iron Lung.” A crack ship is a bizarre relationship between characters that isn’t likely to ever become canon – whether that’s because the characters never interact, are different species, or in this case, are from completely different universes. Essentially, it’s a ship just for the hell of it. I’ve seen my fair share of crack ships in my time online, but I can say with certainty that I have never seen a crack ship garner this much genuine love and community.
Meet Cute
The original and most popular explanation as to how these characters find each other goes something like this: on the way to Erid, Grace and Rocky detect another ship nearby with a faint human heartbeat. They rescue this person as quickly as possible from his ship (which looks more like a bloody submarine than a spaceship) and take him back to the Hail Mary to clean him up and tend to his almost fatal wounds. Other variants to this story also crop up: Grace is already on Erid when he gets the news, Simon is originally sent on the Hail Mary with Grace, they switch places entirely, and Grace is the one in the SM-13, etc.
Why Them?
You’re probably wondering, why these characters? At first glance, BloodyMary looks like most other crack ships – purely nonsensical. But Grace and Simon’s storylines have more in common than you’d think. First off, they both have to embark on lonely one-way trips against their will to save humanity. During this suicide mission, they both meet alien creatures (though Grace’s is much friendlier). By the end of their stories, they sacrifice something for the greater good – Grace gives up his chance to return to Earth, and Simon gives his life. Interestingly, religious symbolism is a recurring theme in both universes: Grace and the Hail Mary’s names, the “Quiet Rapture,” and Simon’s background with Eden, a possibly pseudo-religious cult. Maybe the ship’s popularity is simply because both movies were released around the same time, but it’s hard to deny the parallels in their storylines.
Explosive Reactions
Regardless of its origin, BloodyMary has sunk its claws into hundreds of thousands of fans. Nearly three hundred thousand people follow “#bloodymary” on Tumblr, and users have posted over fifteen hundred works of fanfiction to AO3 – the most popular of which amassing over two hundred thousand hits. The first work uploaded to AO3 dates back to February, before the “Project Hail Mary” movie even came out, but the ship really picked up steam about a month ago.
It’s not just the rapid fan attention that makes this ship particularly unique, although it is impressive. Fandom activity usually stays somewhat under the radar from the actors or creators involved, especially something as deeply rooted in fandom culture as crack ships. BloodyMary, however, is an exception. In a recent video announcing that “Iron Lung” is available on YouTube, Markiplier said, “I’ll finally be able to escape the blood ocean and curl up in Ryan Gosling’s arms.” The BloodyMary community freaked out – rightfully so. For an actor/director to not only acknowledge, but also, in a way, approve of a crack ship is practically unheard of. That video only turned more eyes toward the ship, tripling the number of fan works since its release.
Unexpected Attention
What’s especially fascinating about this ship is the dramatic surfacing of the aromantic and asexual communities.
Few characters have captured the heart of the aromantic community faster than Ryland Grace, but curiously, that attachment has extended to Simon as well. A vast number of people contributing to this ship have decided that one or both of the characters are on the aroace spectrum. They’ve depicted Grace and Simon as entirely platonic but still just as vital to each other; in a queerplatonic relationship (a very rare occurrence in fandom culture); in a romantic relationship with the boundaries that come with being aroace; the list goes on. In the grand scheme of things, it’s still a relatively small grouping of fans. Still, I have never seen the aroace community so loud and so numerous and so joyous in a fandom before.
Budding Community
It’s not just the aromantic and asexual communities that have gravitated towards this ship. The most popular BloodyMary fanfiction on AO3, “where nothing bleeds” by interstellarisms, caught the attention of a NASA engineer who offered to peer-review the scientific details in the story. Since then, dozens of other professionals in various fields have extended their expertise for this one fan project.
That’s exactly what fandom does – it connects people from completely unexpected places. The ship as a concept is a bit silly, sure, but it has fostered connection in a way I have yet to find literally anywhere else. BloodyMary is a testament to fandom culture’s ability to cross boundaries of media to forge creativity, representation, and ultimately, community. The BloodyMary fandom is still relatively small compared to others, but regardless of its size, this community is loud and creative. Even in the time it’s taken me to publish this article, nearly three hundred new works have rolled out on AO3. I’m certain that the outpouring of love for these characters will only continue to grow from here.
Watch “Project Hail Mary” on MGM+ and “Iron Lung” on YouTube!
Check out Kaden’s latest article about incoming indie games!
