#//it's why I generally try to space the words out b/c otherwise I worry about attracting that crowd

[reflections-of-mobius]

I've seen a few posts with the tag going around, so as someone who's in circles where it gets used more, I'm going to give my two cents.

If you condone proshipping, I will block you. For reference, in my understanding, 'proshippers', and thusly the 'proship' tag and everything associated, believe in the line 'ship and let ship'. They actively allow and sometimes even encourage things like incest ships, ships between rapists and their victims, adults being shipped with minors, so on and so forth.

To which I say, get the fuck away from me. If you're a proshipper, just block me. I am not letting you anywhere near my blog or my spaces. Most ships are fine!....some...should be burned and never encouraged.

[tittyblade]

tumblr etiquette 101

a list that is nowhere near exhaustive, from yours truly.

First off, welcome! Whether you’re a twitter veteran looking for anything but whatever twitter is, or a new user just done signing up, glad to see you in our ranks beloveds! Welcome home. Refer to this quick tour to make sure your fandom experience (or tumblr experience in general) is a positive one!

Disclaimer: I know it’s long, but please try to read or skim through til the end if you’re new here! This is by no means meant to be a rule book (for the most part lol), only a guide to help you get settled easier!

1) Your blog

This is where people will see and interact with you, so put some effort into it!

Try to choose a name (url) that’s simple. You can see it as your brand, it’s how people will perceive you and remember you. If you’d like to interact with other users here (and not use the site just for the content) it’s better to have something short and sweet, preferably without spaces. (Of course, these are only suggestions.) Rest assured, you can change it literally any time you want.

Have a theme. Utilize the tool that lets you edit your blog’s color or the font of your bio! You can make it match your profile picture, or your blog if it has a theme of its own. Make it feel homey :]

Fill in your bio. People will be checking out your profile probably more often than you think. Don’t leave it empty! Put in any information you’re comfortable with sharing and isn’t too personal (like your age if you’re a minor, or other TMI that can be found on other people’s carrds). It’s always better to add a name/nickname people can use to refer to you by, but feel free to use your blog description to shitpost still.

You can have an intro post. More often than not, you’ll see a blog have a pinned post, a post permanently appearing at the top of a blog until you pin another post or unpin it. You can make one of those, if you’d like to introduce yourself in more length, link any other socials or a carrd, and show others visiting your blog how you tag things so it’ll be easy for them to navigate. Not an obligation.

Keep your anonymity and your safety. It should go without saying, but there’s no harm in repeating it just in case. Your comfort, privacy and safety has the utmost importance. Don’t share any information you don’t want to. Don’t share your age if you’re a minor, or any other incredibly personal info. I’d encourage you to go by a nickname that’s not your real name, (blog name, your brand, remember?) since there’s safety in anonymity, and that’s lowkey one of the big deals of tumblr, but that’s up to you still.

Choose what you want to be visible. Your liked posts and who you follow are all things you can set to keep to yourself and hide from the publics eye, how handy! You should go through all the setting while you’re at it, set it to your comfort.

Side blogs are a thing. You can have multiple blogs that you can use for different things (see: different fandoms, art blog, etc) to keep them organized or away from your followers. Just remember that the replies and off-anon asks you send will be from your main blog, as well as where you follow other blogs from.

2) Interacting with others

You’ve set up your account, now comes the fun part!

Follow to your heart’s desire. If you care about others seeing who you follow, fear not! In tumblr, usually only two types of blogs keep their following visible to others: newbies, and big blogs using it to point people on other good blogs’ direction. Just turn it off, and go ham following people.

Customize your dashboard. Gonna mention just two things here: this is another reason why it’s really important that you follow blogs without sparing, your dash will collect dust otherwise; and you should turn off “best stuff first” in your dashboard settings, to have a better community here and all.

Follow tags. You can set it in your settings that posts with your followed tags appear on your dashboard.

You can check the og post for edits and context. When you see a reblogged post you don’t understand the context of (or don’t recognize the character in case of fanarts), click on the profile so it will take you to the original post. From there you can check the original poster’s tags to get the context, or see if there have been any edits made to the post, since when you edit a post it doesn’t update any past reblogs.

Send people asks... This is how you make mutuals, people! Do it off-anon if you’d like them to know your blog, or anon if you’d rather not! (You can still end your messages with a signature to show you’re the same person, -[name] is one example.) Send them nice messages, ask their opinion on something, discuss things, or just straight up shitpost lol. Go wild. The sky’s your limit and it’s definitely more than 280 characters.

...and let them ask you! You can set your preference in the settings, do it on desktop tumblr to access more settings tho! What you can customize on mobile is limited (like letting people ask you things anonymously, that’s only on desktop settings). In my personal opinion, it’s always better to tag their username (or a nickname you give them, if they’re a friend) on that post, since you wouldn’t want your interactions with your friends to get buried in your blog forever.

Comment on posts. If you have something to say but don’t want the post to appear on your blog you can add a comment. The owner of the post will get a notif for it, but for anyone else you need to tag them.

For the love of god, reblog. People will only see your liked posts if you have it visible to public and they specifically go on your blog to look at them. You like something? You reblog. It’s already hard for posts to circulate properly, if you don’t reblog them literally no one will see them. If not for anything do it for the artists. Just hold and drag on mobile to fast rb.

3) Your Posts

Finally here! Don’t be a lurker, post and engage!

Make use of ���read more”. If your post is long, add it. That’s what you clicked on earlier to expand this post. On desktop leave an empty line and you’ll see three dots appear, and on mobile type :readmore: on that empty line.

Draft a post to come back to it later. Pretty self explanatory.

Queue your post. Whether it’s your own post or you’re reblogging, make use of the queue feature to a) not spam reblog and fill up the dashboard of people following you and b) keep your blog active while you’re gone. Mess around in the settings, it’s fairly easy to set up.

Schedule your post. Same as queueing, the only difference is you get to choose the exact time your post will go up. Handy if you want to schedule a post for certain dates like april fools, or 5 years in the future for some reason. 

Format your texts. You can do all kinds of fancy stuff here (that’s a link, try pressing on it). Twitter doesn’t have this, make use of it. Changes depending on whether you’re on mobile or desktop. (Desktop has less features.)

Check your stats. If you’re trying to understand the algorithm better or want to look at some pretty graphs you can get your data on that on desktop tumblr.

@ people in comments. You’ll get all the notifs when people comment on your posts but they won’t see your reply unless you tag them in your message.

4) Tags, and tagging a post

This is where my earlier statement “this isn’t a rule book” stops being applicable. It’s not a war crime to go against these, I won’t come chasing you (don’t take my word for this) but you’ll work up a bad rep. Just saying lol.

Do NOT crosstag posts. It’s really tempting to add unrelated tags to increase your posts’ interaction, I know, but that’s not what tumblr is about. Don’t be a dick and make other communities’ experience worse for them.

Always tag your posts with “crit/critical/discourse/etc” if it calls for it. There’s no exceptions to it. This is the reason you see people migrating to tumblr. Let people enjoy things.

Don’t main tag a critical/negative post. If your crit post is about “Thing”, you add the “Thing critical” tag, but not the “Thing” tag. People block crit tags if they don’t want to see it, don’t shove it in their faces by main tagging it. 

If you don’t want to see something, just block it. Another reason why people are able to survive on tumblr. You don’t start discourse, you don’t make call-outs, you block.��You can find something for every community you can think of if you go looking for it. The worst of the worst probably won’t ever appear on your dash, but if you’re worried or feel the need for it, you know where the block button is.

Feel free to shitpost or ramble. More often than not you’ll see people rb a post with a comment, and their elaboration will be in the tags. The tags are only visible on your profile and the notifications of the owner of the og blog. Just a thing people do.

Reblog artists’ posts with nice comments in the tags! Commenting on a drawing is usually done through the tags (Not an obligation, again, just a thing people do. Feel free to add your comment on the rb itself if you’d want other people to see it tho!) and leave nice messages for the artists! It’s a win-win for everyone involved. 

If you have more than a single follower, always use the common tw warning tags. You don’t need to tw everything, but tw’ing some common things is the bare minimum human decency. Keep it safe for others. 

Tag a post “long post” if it’s really long. Pretty self explanatory. Don’t make people scroll through all that please lol. 

You can use them to organize your blog. This is more of a pro tip, if you’d like to not miss a post in your blog, cause they will start pilin’ up soon enough.

#Liveblogging is pretty fun. If you’d like to talk to people during streams, don’t forget to add the relevant tags still! Again, you won’t show up on people’s dash otherwise.

Whew! That got out of hand. Hopefully I didn’t bore you too much. Check out blogs like @heritageposts and @hellsite-hall-of-fame to honor our past o7. @mcytblr-hall-of-fame too maybe :eyes:. Anyways, don’t forget the most important rule of them all:

Enjoy your stay! You’re meant to have fun on here while also making friends (if that’s your thing). Just be kind and respectful of others, you’ll get the hang of the rest! <3

[attack-on-kiwi]

Jean alphabet ?🥲😌

The crush I have on this man is embarrassing-

Jean Kiirstein:

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Jean is a simple guy. Any time he’s around his s/o, he’s content. Usually, he will let them pick what they want to do. He’s not averse to just spending a day tending to the horses and riding around valleys on them. He finds it freeing. It’s especially enjoyable if they two are sharing the ride and his s/o is hugging him just tight enough from behind and laughing into his back. He doesn’t think that will ever stop bringing butterflies into his stomach.

He looks forward to any sort of domestic activity. Sleeping in and holding his s/o from leaving bed, helping them cut up vegetables for breakfast, surprising them with flowers or sweets when he has the opportunity to- anything classic, sweet, and intimate.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

They bring him back to reality. He’s not idealistic in any sense- instead he tends to get lost in his thoughts and can spiral into negative outbursts. He can also become closed off, so having his s/o, who can snap him back to his sense and remind him that not everything has gone to hell (even though, it’s pretty damn close to being so), means the world to him.

Jean is smitten. Another guy who thinks his s/o is the most gorgeous being to ever grace the earth. He thinks they’re the most beautiful when. they’re concentrating on a task. The way they refuse to let anyone or anything get in the way of their objective, no matter how menial or grand, bubbles pride in him.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Jean would drop everything that can be put off to help his s/o. He absolutely hates when they feel upset, and he’s not that good at comforting people. He’ll just crouch down (or bring them down if they’re taller) to eye level and ask them what they need him to do. His voice is soft, laced with concern. 

Jean damn near might tear up himself if his s/o is upset enough. He’ll stay with them for as long as they need to, and then some more. He’s likely going to hover or keep an eye on them for the next few days to make sure they’re truly all right.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Jean wants to get married and have a family. He doesn’t care if the kids are biological or adopted, but he wants kids. He could settle for a son and daughter, but it doesn’t really matter. He’d like at least two kids to keep him on his toes. He aspires to give them the most peaceful life and wants to be present in their lives for anything and everything.

He’s terrified of the idea of becoming a husband and father, but it’s one of the thoughts that keeps him going. He knows he wants his s/o by his side for the rest of their lives. Considering everything they’ve been through, he’s already planning on how to propose.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Jean doesn’t think of being dominant or passive in a relationship. He can take initiative in most cases, but he’s not going to impose on his s/o. He’s present in the relationship, and will often check in with his s/o. to make sure that they’re okay. It’s important to him that they be transparent and aware of how the other is feeling, though he might bury his own feelings quite often.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Being as confrontational as he is, it’s not uncommon to get into fights. He never gets physical with his s/o. The two are rather prone to heated arguments that can escalate to screaming at each other if the conflict is serious enough. 

Jean absolutely hates that he can’t hold himself back. He’s too forthright with his thoughts.. He does try his best not to hit low blows. No matter what, his arguments are based on fact and he won’t rely on jabbing at his s/o’s insecurities to gain an edge during a fight.

He needs his space. Usually, this just means the two separate and cool down a few hours. The longest he will go without speaking to them is a night. First thing in the morning, he’ll try to calmly confront them and apologize for his behavior, asking if they can try to talk the issue out now that they’ve had some rest.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Jean’s a grateful man, even if his slight pessimistic attitude can point you otherwise. He doesn’t verbally say that he’s grateful, but his actions truly speak louder than his words. He’s always got an eye on his s/o, he stops them when they’re overexerting themselves, he can sense when all they need is to be held for a few moments, and he’s always seeking out ways to make their day brighter. 

One way he might allow himself to be vulnerable is sitting behind them in bed and clasping their hands together, kissing each of their knuckles lightly. Jean likes to speak just above a whisper, listing why he loves them.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

No huge secrets. He does hide how he’s feeling at times, especially if he is stressed and doesn’t want them to feel pressured. Jean does press his s/o to tell him whatever is on their mind, though. The two have an honest relationship. You have to be blunt if you want to work with Jean, after all. He doesn’t mind if his s/o needs to keep secrets, as long as it’s nothing serious, like their loyalty to him shifting.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Jean allows himself to be more sensitive around his s/o. Normally, he would never entertain being overtly emotional or softer yet around his s/o, he’s quite different. There’s a gentleness about him which no one gets to see any other time. Truly, he will keep this persona for behind closed doors, but it does seep into his day to day. He’s kinder to people after he’s spent time with his partner. 

He is fighting for the people he loves-- to guarantee they can live fulfilling lives, grow old, then finally die peacefully. It’s all he wants, and having people to fight for is his heaviest inspiration.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He’s secure with himself in most senses, but there are times when Jean feels like he could be giving his s/o more attention or time. He may feel a twinge of guilt if his s/o starts to deflate at the idea of asking him if he has free time because it hurts that they worry about getting in the way of his work. During these episodes, it’s easy for Jean to become suspicious of other people, specifically other men, that are hovering around his s/o more than before. If it bothers him enough, he will call it out.

Usually, Jean is to ashamed of feeling insecure to outright explain why he’s jealous. His s/o can gauge if he’s uneasy by how clingy he is afterwards.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Jean’s kisses are either shy or extremely passionate. Depending on how much adrenaline is rushing through his body, he can encapsulate his partner in a fiery lip lock that will leave them short of an accidental asphyxiation (sorry I need to shut up). When he’s sleepy or has been missing his s/o, he’s prone to soft, short pecks. He likes to whisper into their lips, most of the time, he will be saying, “Just one more” as he dozes off.

His s/o is his first kiss, so it’s about as awkward as first kisses can get. His mouth and throat were dry. He wasn’t sure if he should tilt his face. They would get close then Jean would fumble, trying to adjust for better access. Finally, he got frustrated and just crashed their lips together for not even a second before pulling away, face glowing pink. Don’t worry, he’s gotten slightly better.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Jean discovers early on. Within months, he’s positive he’s in love with his s/o. He is terrified of telling his partner due to fear of abandonment and humiliation that stems from a childhood of being bullied. (pry this from my cold dead hands). Regardless of how strong he feels, he won’t outright confess his love until the two have been together for a good amount of time. That can amount to months or even a year or so, depending on just how serious he’s feeling about the relationship.

He’s the type of person that is practicing in the mirror how to confess, and unknowingly, his s/o will hear him. If he’s lucky, they feel the same way and just walk in to tell him they love him too and watch his brain short circuit as it processes what just happened. 

On a serious note, though, Jean would be nervous to confess. He’d make a date out of the entire ordeal-- choosing to take his s/o out for a nice dinner and at night, as they’re stargazing in a remote field, he’d hold their hand and say he needs to tell them something. Even in the evening, it’s easy to see him heat up. He’d whisper it at first. His s/o needs to let him collect his thoughts, and as soon as he’s gathered them, he’d confess full throttle. His voice shakes slightly, but his conviction is apparent.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Jean fantasizes of getting married quite often, and this only increases as he gets closer to his s/o. 

He’s honest with his s/o and the topic of marriage comes up in late night conversations quite often. He’s confessed that once the fighting is over, they’ll get married the next day. There’s no proposal, just a promise that keeps the two fighting to live another day. His mother actually gives him her own wedding ring, telling him to get it resized if need be, but she hopes it can become a family heirloom. Jean’s a romantic, and this gets him flustered yet excited.

Peaceful. Marriage with Jean is as mundane as can be. Sure, there’s going to be times when old friends come wreck havoc, but it’s all taken in stride. He likes waking his s/o up with a kiss to the cheek. If they want to pat his hair dry or brush it after his shower, he’ll try distracting them with sly neck kisses. He wants his kids to see how much he loves his spouse and groan in disgust as they try to get their parents to hurry up so they can all eat. Jean’s content/

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

He calls them by their name mostly. Sometimes he’ll shorten it or give them an alternative where it’s the first syllable of their name with -y at the end if possible. 

Jean calls them beautiful and gorgeous when he’s trying to make them laugh.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

The beginning is akin to puppy love. He’s so flustered but curious about everything they do and say. He’s kind to them and chokes up around them when he hasn’t had time to formulate a response. Definitely the type of guy who stares at his s/o wistfully with a dazed grin on his face. He’s been caught doing this to them across the room on multiple occasions. Needless to say-- everyone and their mother knows Jean’s smitten.

He tries to express his feelings by complimenting them. If he can help them out with errands or studying (if they met during the cadet training) he’s more than happy to shave off time to do so. He likes being able to take a load off their shoulders, so he won’t mind doing a little extra work.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Jean acts big, but he gets shy. The only time he’ll ever really kiss his s/o in front of others Is if he’s being teased or egged on and he wants to show he’s not ashamed of his partner. He loves them dearly, but showing affection in public isn’t the biggest priority for him.

 If they’re out in the market, he loves having them hold onto his arm as they lead him wherever the like. If there’s less people around, he won’t argue with locking fingers. His s/o might catch him off guard with some sneaky kisses that are sure to provoke him.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Everything about his hands. They’re not as rough as some other people, though they aren’t insanely soft. He can give amateur massages and knows how to exert just the right amount of pressure to make the experience enjoyable, even for the most fidgety/ticklish s/o. It’s his secret to helping them relax and release pent up tension.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Jean loves romance. He loves being in love and having an excuse to try his hand at sappy love letters and poetry. He’s not the best, but what he writes down makes his s/o’s heart flutter. He just wants them to know how much he cares about them, even if he has a hard time expressing himself accurately. 

He’s the type of guy who picks up pastries because he remembered his s/o liked them a few weeks ago and the bakery finally made them again. He’ll polish their shoes if they haven’t had the energy to do it themselves. He’ll remind them to eat. His idea of making them happy is making sure that they are well taken care of.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

He’s their biggest fan and simultaneously their biggest critic. Jean supports their endeavors, but he will not mask his opinions just to make them feel better. He’s tough on them because he wants to see them succeed. He’ll help them if he can, but he won’t hold them back from their potential by lying to them. 

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Jean loves trying out new things with his s/o, especially once the world opens up to them. He wants to explore everything, while still having some sense of routine in their lives. No dates that could potentially harm him or his s/o. He’s spending time with them, not trying to fight for survival, after all. Dates can be adventures-- he won’t mind going on hikes or exploring nearby terrain, however, he’d much rather try new foods and experience new technology instead. 

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Jean likes to think he knows his partner inside and out, but he’s conflicted about the duality of everyone in his life when push comes to shove, so he finds himself wondering if he truly knows them. This is just his insecurity and hurt surfacing, but he can spiral into pondering whether his s/o care about him as much as he cares for them. He knows he gives them opportunities to tell them about themselves, and he’s picked up on their quirks over the time they’ve been together. In reality, Jean genuinely does know more about them than he thinks he does. It’s hard not to feel comfortable around him, after all. 

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

His relationship is extremely important to him as he’s always had issues with letting people in on his vulnerable side. He has insecurity issues stemming from a variety of sources and knowing how people could use him puts him off from working on most relationships. Finding his s/o and being slapped in the face by the reality that someone genuinely loves him and wants to learn with him is eye opening. Due to this, Jean tries extremely hard to work on himself and the relationship as best he can. There’s no way he’d half ass something so good.

Though Jean’s relationship is on the. top of his priorities, his mission is still going to overshadow his desire to be with his s/o. It’s not that the mission is more important-- it’s that he needs to complete the mission so that his beloved can finally rest. He wants to protect them, and protecting them means he has to put his life on the line, unfortunate as it is.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Jean’s a mother hen to his s/o. He’s always nagging them to eat, sleep, shower and make sure they’re taking care of themselves. He’s always been in tune with the health of other people, and he just naturally wants to make sure that his s/o is in optimal condition. He will literally snap and physically force them to sleep if he needs to. He gets irritated if they’re neglecting themselves due to the fear of them getting hurt or sick.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Yes!! All he wants to do is cuddle. He loves holding his s/o, but he loves being held more. When they run their fingers through his hair and mention a silly hairstyle he could try, he almost considers it. He falls asleep on their chest almost every night. 

If he’s upset, a simple kiss to the cheek or head is enough to bring a small smile back on his face.

His favorite place to be kissed would be his temples. There’s something soothing and homely about soft lips brushing past his hair to linger right above his brow. It’s also a surefire way of inducing drowsiness in him.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Jean just bites the feeling back and swears that he will see his s/o as soon as he can. The idea that they will be waiting for him is enough for him to power on. Occasionally, Jean may doodle them in the margin of a report or in his personal journal. He thinks about what their next date could be and wonders if they ever found that stray cat they mentioned a few conversations ago. He thinks about them and all the things they can do once they’re together, and it’s enough to motivate him.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

He’s literally tryna save the world for them lol

~~~

Based off @snk-warriors​ fluff alphabet prompt

[depressing-debbie]

Could you do the fluff alphabet for Armin? My favorite :) Loved eren's by the way

Aw I'm glad you liked it! Absolutely <3 

I had a lot of fun with this, but it’s very much unedited, so... yeah, hopefully it’s alright!

POST Time Skip as always

Fluff Alphabet: Armin

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

He plans absolutely adorable little dates, like picnics or hikes. He also loves taking his SO to museums and art galleries, especially if it’s something they’re really interested in. He already has plenty of knowledge on the subject, and he definitely did some research before they left, so he’s fully prepared to point out every little detail and explain the meaning behind everything as they go. Most of all, though, he just likes getting to be with his SO, so he also loves lazy afternoons sitting and reading together.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Armin thinks absolutely everything about his SO is stunning. He loves the way they carry themselves when they’re confident, the way their face crinkles when they laugh, the sparkle in their eyes when they talk about their interests: they’re just perfect. 

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Look no further, everybody, because we’ve found the most comforting man on the earth. His first instinct when his SO is upset is to make sure their surroundings are comfortable, meaning he’ll make sure to take them somewhere quiet if they are in public, or he’ll find lots of blankets and pillows. Then he’ll sit with them, letting them rest their head on his chest while he traces little circles into their hair. If they want to talk about it, he’s down. If they need space, he’s already out the door, checking on them once in a while with some water. But if they just want him there, he won’t leave their side.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He’s really happy thinking about the future, even though it’s not necessarily specific. He loves the idea of building some sort of life with his SO and getting to spend it together. There’s no specific idea in his head of what that looks like, so he’d be happy no matter what as long as they’re together.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

It’s entirely equal. He’s an absolute gentleman, but he doesn’t believe in the way society enforces roles on a relationship. Him and his SO are a team, and they work together in their relationship.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

He really hates fighting, and he doesn’t really initiate a fight ever. And, unless it’s something really serious, he would be quick to find a compromise and make up. But, even if it is serious, even though he might be a bit hurt, he still wouldn’t want to fight. They’re a team, and that team is built on a foundation of solid communication, so he’d want to have a genuine conversation rather than just yell at each other. The last thing he wants is for either of them to get their feelings hurt accidentally.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He is so incredibly grateful for his SO, and he makes sure they know it. He appreciates them and everything they do, so even if it makes him uncomfortable, he expresses it as often as he can.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

There are no secrets in his relationship. You can’t be a team if you’re not on the same page, and he doesn’t see any reason why he would want to hide things anyway. He would respect if there are things his SO just doesn’t want to talk about, especially if it’s something very personal, but his goal will be to make sure they know they can feel comfortable talking to him. 

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Armin is a pretty reserved person, and he has a lot of self doubt and general anxiety. But, he feels so much more confident and relaxed around his SO; they’ve helped him to become more comfortable with himself and his interactions in general. He can also forget his own worries instantly when it comes to protecting them, which shows him that he is capable of overcoming that fear. He embraces the sense of security they give him, and he allows himself to open up a bit more.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

He doesn’t get jealous often, but he does have some self doubt that gets in the way. It’s not that he would blame his SO or accuse them of anything, he just gets a bit insecure. It’s also not hard for his SO to notice, and all he really needs is a few words of assurance and comfort to relax.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Alright, unfortunately, their first kiss was so awkward. Armin was absolutely terrified of messing up, and he probably rambled when he asked if he could kiss them. It was honestly pretty cute, though, the way that he blushed, then got all smiley afterwards. He’s able to relax with it over time, and after a while, he’s a really good kisser. He probably gives his SO a little kiss as a greeting each time he sees them, and he’s absolutely a tiny butterfly kisses kind of guy :)

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Okay, so if we’re talking about how he asked them out, he was SO awkward. His friends had to hype him up for like two weeks, and he definitely rambles when he’s uncomfortable, so it took him forever to actually get the words out. He absolutely did it in person, though, and it was pretty sweet. But, if we’re talking about the first time he said that he loved them, it was more relaxed. He just looked over at his SO one day and though about how amazing they are and how lucky he is, so he told them, and it came out as “I love you”. He was pretty embarrassed afterwards, but he definitely didn’t regret it, especially after they said it back.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

I think it depends pretty heavily on his partner, and he’d be happy either way. He doesn’t rely on a piece of paper to show that they care about each other, so if they don’t want to, he’d be happy. But, if they do want to get married, he would be so excited. He would definitely plan the most thoughtful proposal, in a private place that holds some kind of meaning for the two of them, and it would be so cute. Their wedding would be stunning, he definitely has an eye for design. There wouldn’t be a big difference between dating and married life, just more excuse to be happy together.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

He has so many cute little nicknames for them. Definitely calls them “love”, or “sweetheart” when they’re upset. But mainly, his nicknames are super creative and meaningful to the two of them. If his SO speaks a second language, he did some research and came up with a nickname in that language. They probably also reference their inside jokes, so it makes no sense to anyone else, which just makes it that much more special.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It’s sooo obvious when Armin is in love. He gets embarrassed every time someone brings up his SO, and he keeps getting caught smiling and staring off into space. He expresses his feelings to his SO in every way can, whether that’s through little acts of service, homemade gifts, extra soft kisses, or just flat out saying that he loves them. He never wants them to feel like he doesn’t appreciate them completely and utterly, so he goes out of his way to make sure they know how he feels.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

He’s really uncomfortable with PDA, at most, he would probably hold his SO’s hand or rest his hand on their back. Otherwise, he just gets super embarrassed and flustered. He doesn’t mind talking about their relationship, though, especially with people he trusts. He’s not going to brag or share specific details, but he enjoys getting to talk about the person he loves, and he’s honestly happy that people know they’re together.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that's beneficial in a relationship.

This is very random, but he has an endless supply of cozy sweaters and sweatshirts, lots of which are oversized, and he LOVES when his SO steals them. Every time he catches them wearing his clothes, it makes him sooo happy. They’re the coziest couple on the planet.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s incredibly romantic, but not in the traditional way. He just doesn’t understand the cliche romantic gestures and sayings, and he would so much rather come up with his own way of expressing his appreciation for his SO and making them happy. It’s much more personal, and he puts so much thought into all of it.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Armin is completely and utterly supportive; he is his SO’s number one supporter. In his eyes, there is literally nothing they cannot accomplish, and he will do whatever he can to help them get there. If they’re hesitant to pursue something they’re passionate about, he is going to encourage them to have faith in themselves and chase after it, no matter what, because he believes in them completely. And if there’s any way he can help them reach their goals, he’s all ears.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Probably a mix of both. They probably have a routine of some kind set, and he appreciates the peace and stability of that. But, he also loves getting to add to his list of new experiences that the two of them have shared. He loves learning and seeing new things, and especially when he gets to share them with his SO, it makes him really happy.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He knows them incredibly well. He can predict their reactions in different situations, and he can almost always tell how they’re feeling. It’s entirely due to how clearly they communicate, and the way that he observes everything around him. He took note at the start of their relationship of what makes them happy and what upsets them, and he knows so much about them. He can empathize so well because of this.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

His relationship is very important to him. His SO means a lot to him, and he’s definitely started to build his routine around them, especially if they’ve been together for a while. He doesn’t really enter relationships without being serious about it, that’s just not his style, so it really is meaningful to him. 

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

When he doesn’t get to see his SO for a while, they carve out time in their next meeting to just talk. They get nice and cozy together, and they just spent an hour or two talking about everything they can think of, how their week went, what crazy book they’re reading, some new fact about something they’re interested in, whatever they want to share with each other. Armin loves getting to talk about the things he’s learned and what’s happening in his life, but more than that, he absolutely adores hearing his SO talk about things they’re passionate about. He loves the way their eyes light up and their voice becomes animated. He could just sit there, in their arms, listening to them talk for hours.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He’s very affectionate! Nowhere else does he feel as safe as he does in his SO’s arms, and he loves getting to be close to them. They definitely take naps together after a long day, and he loves to cuddle while they read. If they’re working or sitting together, he’ll rest his head on theirs, giving them tiny kisses on top of their head, or he’ll let them curl up into his side and run his hand gently up and down their back. He loves feeling like he can protect them.

Y earning - How will they cope when they're missing their partner?

He really hates when his SO is gone for a long time just because their routines are so intertwined, so he’s constantly reminded of their absence. He probably spends more time with his friends and writes down things he wants to tell his SO when they return, which relaxes him.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Armin is the best example of going to great lengths in a relationship. Anything he can do to make his SO happy and keep everything going well, he is more than happy to do. He absolutely communicates with his partner to see what they need, and what they think the relationship needs, and they’ll work together to make sure they are satisfied. His relationship and his SO mean the world to him, so he would definitely do whatever he can for them.

[curious-menace]

Arkham!Riddler SFW Alphabet

When I started this one I figured it would be easier since I can riddle as bi and ace and this is all non-sexual but my god was it difficult. It's hard to separate what i'd like from a partner like riddler from what this version of riddler would actually be like.�� I've done my best but if you have anything you'd like to add, feel free to hmu!

LONG POST UNDER THE CUT

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Edward can be affectionate in quite a superficial way. He’s not above using someone's affections for him to get what he wants out of them and he certainly isn't above feigning affection for the same reason. Although unless you were head over heels for him, his faux sincerity would be pretty obvious. 

However with a partner he actually likes i can imagine he’d be very affectionate with his actions more than his words. Riddler loves to talk but expressing actual love can be difficult for him, whether it’s romantic or platonic, saying how he feels about you is one of the few things that doesn't come easy. I can see him spending a lot of money on you as a gesture of affection; fancy food , clothes, first editions of your favorite books or vintage versions of whatever you collect. He’d quite happily pay for your education/college and any and all books you might want. 

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Being a “best friend”  would probably be at your insistence and not his. He’s likely left any childhood friends behind (assuming he had any to begin with) and I think as an adult, Edward would have trouble making friends. Like most things, Edward treats friendship as just another tool in the bag, he can count the people he actually gives a shit about on 1 hand. 

If you were lucky (or unlucky depending on your view) to be considered one of those friends, expect lots of phone calls about bailing him out, riddles turning up in weird places ( like in the pocket of a coat you haven't worn in a while) and him helping you out with your cerebral challenges( like your quarterly tax return, no eddie i can't just NOT do it will you put down the rubix cube and help me)

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

He’ll never admit it, not even under pain of death, but Edward likes to be held. Now there's a few caveats to this; his rules and on his terms etc.  He likes to lie between your legs with his head on your chest, either facing you for a hug while he naps or away from you, using you like a pillow while he reads or tinkers with something.  He likes having his hair played with and his back gently stroked until he falls asleep.

He keeps up the facade of being totally touch adversed for good reason, the other rouges just do not respect personal space, even ones like killer croc and clayface. For the sake of his suits, he keeps this up even in private. But if you were someone special to him, you might convince him to toss his arm around your shoulder or waist. 

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

When he’s doing well mentally, he’s pretty good at taking care of himself. Or at least, looking like he takes good care of himself. He can cook and clean a little but he has the cash to pay other people to do the more menial or time consuming stuff for him. Not that he’s above it, he just prefers to spend his time on other things and is happy to compensate people to save him from doing it. These days he's more focused on other things to be bothered with domestic chores, his place is very messy. 

Settling down is an alien concept to him, not one he’s eager to explore. Expect him to turn his nose up at the prospect of marriage but a platonic long term partner, someone for company, someone to act as a sounding board for ideas or even just someone to (gently but firmly) kick his ass into looking after himself would be pretty ideal.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He’d probably be thinking long and hard about it beforehand. Like weeks if not months in advance. He’d want to give you the perfect breakup and, depending on what happened, try his best to part as friends. He doesn't deal well with sudden changes to his routine, particularly with no plans ahead. On the other hand he might just pussy out and ghost you. He’s fickle like that.

If it was your doing, well. Edward takes these sorts of things as a challenge. He might even assume you were joking the first time around. After he got the message, I sense he’d probably be quite clingy and upset. It’s taken a lot for him to get so far with you and he wouldn't let it go without a fight. He might try to change or at the very least , be better at hiding whatever it was that you want to break it off.

Failing that expect a lot of texts from blocked numbers almost but not quite begging or apologizing and asking for more chances.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Like I said above, marriage isn't for him. I doubt he'd be compatible with a religious person given his childhood and outspoken atheism. He MIGHT if pressed, give you a question mark themed ring or token as a reminder that you were his. No papers, no ceremony, just something small. If you proposed expect him to be flustered and , if you can believe it, at a loss for words. He might go radio silent on you for a few days before giving you an answer but i honestly couldn't tell you what it might be. He does enjoy the thought of someone referring to him as “my husband” thought, so maybe persistent begging i'll get you somewhere. 

Some sort of Commitment appeals to him from a practical point; having someone to rely on, to fall back on and to care and be cared for by. It's not a normal relationship by any stretch of the imagination but it’ll be special all the same.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Edward isn't an imposing man. He might be tall but he’s all sinus and no mass. He has gentle hands but can be careless when he’s in a mood ( with objects, never with you). He's broken a lot of plates, computer monitors and mechanical pencils over the years. He lacks a lot of social grace to treat things with the necessary amount of sensitivity sometimes, but he has the sense to at least TRY and be emotionally gentle. Situations of abuse or self worth issues, things he has personal experience dealing with are things he can easily empathise with .

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Short story, yes but only coming from a trusted partner. Long story is that he has a hard time not flinching when someone hugs him by surprise. You should ask before you do it. 

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Edward is the kind of person to fall head over heels very quickly. He might say I love you before it's socially appropriate, it honestly might make you a little uncomfortable. But once that initial infatuation dies he's a lot more guarded with his feelings. He’d say i love you in a superficial way quickly but a genuine i love you with real emotion would take a lot of time and thought from him before he actually committed to it. 

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

If you look up jealousy in the dictionary, you'd see Edward's picture. Obviously he is a deeply insecure man, he’s terrified you’ll start to think of him the way he thinks of himself and seek out someone better. You need to nip any signs of jealousy in your relationship in the bud early on. Otherwise Edward will become controlling, manipulative and possessive to the point of alienating you from other people, simply for the sake of having you to himself. You need to set healthy boundaries while also doing your best to accommodate his need to be validated and his need for reassurance that you do in fact want to be with him. He gets snappy when he’s jealous, with you and other people. He has temper tantrums like a child if you don't agree with him. Like for example if he thinks someone was flirting with you and you tell him they were just being friendly. 

All that said, I genuinely don't think he does it for the sake of being a controlling partner. He is just so very afraid that someone he actually gives a shit about will leave him like everyone else in his life. 

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

I should point out that he doesn't kiss often. But when he does,He’s all over the damn place. What he lacks in experience he makes up for in enthusiasm. He is a very sloppy kisser when he gets into it but generally his kisses are very short and chaste. Like i said, he doesn't really know what he's doing so he's all over the place in terms of location. I think smooches on the cheek  because it's easy access, for him and you. He likes body worship, so if you're kissing him, anywhere will do as long as you're praising that part while you do it. 

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Edward does not like children but he’s good pretending for the sake of his image. Childrens naturally inquisitive nature coupled with his bright and colourful appearance makes for some entertaining moments but in the long run I can see him worrying too much: about screwing the kid up, about being perceived like his father, about the child not meeting his expectations etc. 

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

He's more of a night owl tbh. If you're living with him he might wander into the kitchen while you're getting breakfast , wondering why you're up so late. You'd have to tell him he’s accidentally pulled another all nighter. He might have coffee with you and talk about what he was working on, maybe ask if he could have some breakfast with you. But by the time it's cooked he’ll have passed out on the sofa.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Edward prefers to work and operate at night so expect him to be in a flurry of activity, building things, calling people and working at his computer. He likes to have company, even if you aren't doing much talking. It would be nice for him to just spend time with you while you both work on your respective projects. Sometimes he gets his shit together and lives during the day like most people ( read as, when he’s just been to prison and has an actual schedule for once) he would like to unwind with you by watching game shows or playing video games.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Edward has a bad habit of gloating about his accomplishments but in a way that is so obviously false it unintentionally tells more about him than he really wanted to. Like in Arkham knight, he gloats about “not having any friends at all” in reference to his riddler bots when Catwoman teases him. He meant that as a snipe at catwoman but the fact he’s so open about his lack of friends, to most people anway, is incredibly sad. 

He’s a well known villain, if you didn't know most of his backstory before dating him it would be hard to miss once you were together. He’s unlikely to tell you it himself, having to repeat it time and time again in therapy has him perpetually bored of the subject .

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He gets upset quite easily, he has very limited patience . He’s used to other people's cuts and jibes so he mostly lets that roll off his back with only a little annoyance. But for stupid people, and people outright insulting him, dismissing him or for acting like batman he is liable to start seeing red very quickly . In your relationship I would say he is easily irritated by a lot of things, generally a bit grumpy if things don't go his way but rarely as angry as we see him in the climax of Arkham knight. He doesn't yell or shout at you but he will seethe and let his anger fester for days at a time. He can be very mean when he’s angry. 

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

You would think for someone with a photographic memory, he would be better at remembering things about you. It's not to say he DOESN'T remember, only that he requires prompting to do so. Yes, he will remember everything about you but he puts it in the back of his head so he can focus on other things. Don't be surprised if he lets important dates slip by or does things at the last minute because something reminded him of it. 

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

It's probably something innocuous that you wouldn't think of, or even realise he was there for. Maybe he remembers meeting you in a coffee shop months or years before you met and started dating. He remembers because you held the door for him or gave him a genuine smile. You were something colourful in his gray day, something hard to forget. I doubt he tried to build a relationship out of that one moment but when he met you again he would remember that and decide that it was fate or something.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Edward is protective in a strange way. He’s most powerful in situations where he controls everything , which isn't usually possible in real life as he's not a particularly strong man. He has more power in the digital world so that's where he feels most comfortable looking out for you. He might watch you on security cameras to make sure you get home safe, send you texts to check in or hide your profile from the police. You can be online together and in the public eye ( for him to brag about you to his online followers of course). To tie back in with his jealousy, he would be pretty protective initially but if you told him to back off, he’d be careful to do it more secretly. 

Edward needs to be protected in a lot of ways, mostly from himself. He’s not good at looking after himself, either physically, mentally or socially. His big mouth gets him into a lot of bother so he might need you to act as a social filter. He’s had several large breakdowns in the last few years and with arkham closed for good, he has no support besides you. He needs to be grounded and kept in the present lest he get wrapped up in his thoughts. 

 T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?) 

Honestly? He doesn't really try. He's very lucky in that he can pull something out of his ass last minute and it would still have a similar effect to if he’d spent the whole month planning. Someday it's going to blow up in his face big time but he doesn't seem to care.

Same goes for everyday tasks. He's usually so focused on his own stuff that he doesn't realise other things need done. He's a master of doing things at the last second and still making it look like he put in effort.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He has a bad habit of underestimating people, even you. He might be inclined to patronise you when you try to do things for him but just showing him that you are a capable human being is usually enough to shut him up. He's very egocentric, narcissistic and conceited, but given everything he's been through, it's not really his fault he's like this. What is his doing is his refusal to work on his faults or try to grow as a person. Perhaps with the right encouragement you could help him but don't hold your breath. 

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Normally yes, Edward is narcissistic and very concerned with his looks but recently, with his mental health declining, he's forgotten to take care of himself. I imagine when/if he snaps out of this funk he’ll be mortified by how he’s let himself go. He’s more concerned with how he looks socially, how he might be perceived and his reputation than what he physically looks like. 

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Edward is and always has been convinced he was meant to be alone. He’s somewhat made his peace with that . there would always be a hole in his heart that he really thought nothing could ever fill. But meeting you? Well that changes things. Edward will never be a complete, well rounded person but having someone to kiss his wounds and pour their love into the cracks in his being is infinitely better than being alone. 

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

I mentioned in some of my mini headcanons for him that he used to do gymnastics as a kid. It wasn't so much that he wanted to or even enjoyed it all that much, in his highschool you just had to pick a sport and it was one of the only things that wasnt team related and had the lowest chance of being hit in the head with a ball, bat or racket. He was pretty good at it, even if he didnt like it that much , and probably could have taken home some bronze or silver awards in his state if his parents had encouraged him. Nowadays he can barely do a pullup but he's still got most of the flexibility, even if repeated breaks at the hands of batman have left him a little sore while he does it.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Edward doesn't like people appearing to be smarter than him. but his ego usually protects him from acknowledging that fact. he doesn't like bullies, despite being one himself . but his most hated trait in people is alcohol use/ dependency. If he knew you were an alcoholic he likely never would have started dating you but even the odd drink will make him turn his nose up. of course, hes a hypocrite , when hes feeling really sorry for himself he will definitely drink his sorrows away in whatever hole in the ground gotham rogues frequent. the self loathing is as strong as his hangover the next morning. he knows hes like his father, in more ways than one and it makes him sick. any mention of alcohol is likely to bring up these feelings

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

Edward is a chronic insomniac but there is one thing that is guaranteed to send him right to the land of nod and that is having his hair played with and his back stroked. I don't know if it was one of the few kind touches he ever received as a child or if his parents did it when he was a baby but it's one of the few things that makes him feel truly safe and cared for. Riddler has spent the majority of his life alone, so finding a partner he trusts enough to allow them not only into his space but also his bed would be a difficult thing. If that's you, however, expect him to be badgering you every night to help him get to sleep.

that took a lot longer than i thought it would! arkham riddler is obviously my favorite so i was trying to write a lot for him but i hope i havent been rambling

if you want to talk more about any of the riddlers, hmu!

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Eight: Science ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

It’s a rainy day today. Not that it matters much to Sasuke: all of his classes are indoors, and he’s got a car to drive home from school when the time comes. But for now, he’s off to his last class of the day.

Home ec.

He’s about three weeks into the school year, and he’s actually turning out to be glad he has this class. The rest of his schedule has homework like you wouldn’t believe, tests far more often than he’d like, and projects out the wazoo. So, the last hour block of his day has turned into a saving grace.

There’s no tests. Very light homework. And most of the in-class work is actually...enjoyable. It’s just a very relaxing class. The old woman teaching it seems to know that most of them aren’t really there to be professional homemakers, so she takes the whole thing a bit lightly. Most days they just go over a chapter in the book, discuss a thing or two, maybe do a worksheet...and otherwise, they’re free to practice whatever falls under the proper category. For most, that’s either sewing or cooking.

Sasuke’s taken up the latter for the most part. Turns out he’s really not that great at sewing.

Naruto still gives him daily crap about it, but it doesn’t really bother him anymore. His mother, as it turns out, is thrilled he’s taking it. She’s had him help out in the kitchen several times since starting to make dinner. And...it’s nice. He can’t remember the last time he spent a lot of time with his mother. And she seems more than pleased to have him around giving her a hand, rather than buried in his room doing homework as he is for the rest of the night.

Itachi teased him a bit about being ahead of the game when it comes to finding a spouse: surely his new skills will give him an edge. But otherwise, he’s been asking him what he’s learned whenever he comes home on the weekends to see family.

And Sasuke’s been making a new friend.

Hinata’s always his partner. She’s the only other senior, and though he’s hardly done anything intimidating, the rest of the girls seem to be far too nervous to approach him. Which he...doesn’t mind. He’s not here to rub elbows with underclassmen. He’s just here to get his miscellaneous credit and be done with it.

...but given he doesn’t have anything squared up for next semester...maybe he’ll come back to it. It’s not like he has anything else lined up.

And he enjoys the class. And his current company.

“It really is just science, you know.”

“Huh?”

Noticing he’s been spacing out, Hinata laughs softly. “Cooking! It’s all chemistry, and knowing how to use it to get the results you w-want.”

Sasuke blinks. He’s...never really thought about it that way. “Yeah, I...guess you’re right.”

“I mean...I guess I don’t know the specifics of it,” she giggles, tucking hair behind her ear. “But I know generally what happens, and why it works. One of these days, w-we should make bread! But...it takes a while. Probably too long for class…”

“I can stay after, if you want.”

That earns a blink. “...well, I don’t have volleyball tonight - our c-coach is out of town. You want to try it…?”

“Sure.”

“Okay! We actually have a bread machine here, so...that takes a lot of the work out,” she replies, giving a small smile. “Otherwise the kneading and rising are q-quite the process. We’ll have to do the whole thing another time.”

“Kneading?”

“Mhm! Mixing the dough by hand, and g-getting the right consistency. Personally I find it rather calming, but...bread can be rather temperamental! Temperature and time and all that.”

“Oh…” Mikoto’s never made bread from scratch that he can remember, so...Sasuke has no idea. “Guess I’ll take your word for it for now.”

“Don’t worry, the machine does all the hard parts. Let’s see…” Digging into a cabinet, she fetches a book that looks to be all about bread. “Hm...here we go! This recipe here is for a machine this size.”

They split up and gather the proper ingredients, of which there aren’t many. Hinata measures them out, including yeast.

“See these?”

“Uh...yeah.”

“This is yeast. They’re what make bread what it is, really.” Dumping them in, she explains, “They sort of...feed off the flour. They break it down into s-sugar, which they then metabolize, which makes carbon dioxide and alcohol! Bubbles of it form, and inflate the bread, and that’s how it rises! It also helps form gluten, which makes the dough sort of...springy! Kneading does that too. But the little paddle in there will both mix the dough, a-and knead it.”

Hinata points a finger at the little menu of controls. “So, we did a recipe for a pound and a half loaf...and we’ll do light crust. Then we just push this button, and…!”

The machine gives a whir, and Sasuke actually leans back in surprise, earning a giggle from his partner. For about a minute, it gives little spurts of movement, Sasuke peering over and watching through the glass top. Then suddenly, it barrels into a constant pace.

“It’s got several steps to go through, and it’ll even bake it when the dough’s done!”

“...why does anyone make bread by hand when there’s something like this?”

She laughs. “Well, there’s a lot of different ways to make bread, and this only does some of them. But for something basic, yeah, it’s p-pretty handy. Actually doing it all by hand is pretty fun, though...and personally I think it’s more rewarding. It’s like the brownies we made the first day! Sure, you can b-buy a box mix, and it just takes a few ingredients and some stirring. But wasn’t it fun to do it all from scratch?”

“...I guess so.”

“Overall, cooking’s really not all that complicated. Just a little math, and reading directions. You can do fancier things as you l-learn, of course...but a lot of people seem to overestimate how hard it is.”

A while later, class ends, but the pair opt to remain. Left to their own devices, they check the machine every so often, but mostly they’ve got little else to do but idle.

Which leads to browsing the net and watching videos about yeast and baking.

“See the foam?”

“Huh...so those things are alive…?”

“Yeah! It’s how they metabolize stuff to make bread rise. I told you, it’s s-science!”

Sasuke chuckles. “Yeah...math, science...guess I don’t need to be taking calculus and chemistry, do I?”

That earns a laugh.

Then, for a while, they sit atop desks and just watch the rain slither down the classroom windows. Though it’s hardly late, the sky is dark enough to make it look like evening.

“This is going to be fun to walk home in,” Hinata eventually muses.

“You walk?”

“Yeah, I only live a few blocks away.”

“I’ve got a car - I’ll give you a lift.”

“Oh, y-you don’t have to -”

“I know. I want to.”

Observing him quietly with a slow blink, Hinata breathes a small sigh of defeat.

It’s then the machine beeps.

“Oh! It’s done!” Hopping down, Hinata scurries across the room with Sasuke on her heels. “Here, we need hot pads…”

Lifting the lid, the smell of bread fills the air. A perfectly fluffy loaf is revealed, golden brown and steaming. Carefully, Hinata lifts the pan out, and with a spatula loosens it from the sides. With a shake, it plops out onto a cutting board.

The pair lean over and observe before looking to each other.

“...taadaa!”

They let it cool for a few minutes before breaking out a serrated knife, carefully cutting a few pieces. Hinata doesn’t even dress it with anything, just peeling off a chunk and eating it with a happy hum. “Mm…!”

Sasuke does the same, chewing thoughtfully before nodding. “That...is the best bread I’ve ever had.”

“N-nothing beats bread fresh out of the oven. Er...bread machine.” Eating another piece, she asks, “So? Worth the wait?”

“Oh yeah. The power of science.”

“Yummy science!”

They split the loaf in half and each take a box, Hinata gathering up her things before they both sprint to Sasuke’s car. “Holy crap, it’s r-really coming down!”

“Which is why you’re catching a ride and not walking,” Sasuke replies from the driver’s seat. Once they’re buckled in, he makes his way out of the lot and following Hinata’s directions.

“I think I might eat the rest of this while I do my homework,” she laughs, smelling the box in her lap. “You better not l-let me make another one for a while, or I’m gonna get fat.”

“Worth it, in all honesty.”

Pulling up into her driveway, he waits for her to open her umbrella out the door. “Try not to drown.”

“I think I can make it.” Stepping out, she peers back into the car. “Hey, t-thanks for making the bread with me today. That was f-fun!”

“Yeah...we’ll do it again sometime.”

“Okay! Bye, Sasuke.”

“Later.” Staying to make sure she gets in okay, Sasuke backs out and heads for home.

His car’s gonna smell like bread for a week...and it’s going to make him hungry. And also remind him of today.

Which’ll make him happy.

     Phew, it's not one am for once! xD      So this is a sequel to day ninety-eight, I believe: Sasuke's introduction to Home Ec class! Turns out he's liking it better than he'd feared. I took home ec for like...a few days in high school before switching to drama. While I LOVED drama, I'm a little sad I didn't get to take Home Ec, lol - seems like it'd be a rather low-key class.      I've also made bread in a bread machine, but...I've not bravened up to doing it all by hand yet, haha - we'll both get there one of these days! I will agree though: warm, fresh bread is hard to beat.      Anywho, that's all for today! Hope you enjoyed - thanks for reading!

[robotslovedeath]

Why You? | Draco M. x Reader (2)

A/N: Fuck it, I'm writing the second after not even 24h :)))) hope yall are happy uwu smh only 30+ notes for part 1 and thats more than enough for me,,, i love u all 💖

Word count: 2,050 words

Warnings: Cursing.

Summary: Y/N's been awfully interested in Harry Potter ever since she met him the first day she arrived at Hogwarts. Not that everyone else did, but crushes. What else could she say? It isn't until Draco, coincidentally crushing on Y/N, spots Potter and her laughing wholeheartedly, like nothing else in the world matters. Frustration hits him unexpectedly, and he tries everything to get him to lure you to him, eventually making you his.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |

Sunlight hits your skin, carefully waking you up by the second it caressed you. You were thinking about what had happened yesterday, trying to remember everything. That's right, Draco Malfoy had wished that you should rest, after that stupid gesture of slapping Harry. You knew it wasn't right, but why did he have to mention Malfoy everytime Harry was talking to you?! Was he obsessed with him or something? Didn't he catch on by now? How could he be so foolish in a time like this?

You got up from your bed, changing in your robes and grabbing a few books from your shelf. Morning wasn't exactly your cup of tea, having to wake up so early. However, you knew Hermione and Ron were already awake, making you smile widely, excited to join them again. For Harry.. you wanted to wait for more than a week before talking to him again. Or maybe apologize now and forget about it? How the hell were you suppose to say sorry and get over it in only such a short matter of time?

Maybe Harry isn't my best choice..?

You think to yourself, before frowning and shaking your head in resentment, feeling the bitterness of your jealousy pitch in. He had someone else in mind, didn't he? Could it be? What if you were just over thinking everything? You knew how aggravated you could get sometimes, especially when one of your crushes had their eyes on somebody else.

Stomping around the coridors and walking inside the Great Hall to join your friends, you notice Harry eyeing you, touching his cheek before excusing himself, to leave you, Ron and Hermione alone. Your heart broke in millions of pieces, each and every one of them stinging your insides as you tried your best not to worry. Hermione rubbed your back soothingly, while Ron tried to make up reasons as to why he left. "No need, Ron," You cut him off, smiling softly, feeling as melancholic as ever. Your eyes glistened, tears falling free out of your E/C orbs. It was like you had lost the tiny stars that usually shun in your pupils. Your cheeks were soft as they held the taste of salty tears.

During breakfast, you couldn't help but see Malfoy, always staring back at you. He almost laughed everytime he thought back to when you slapped Potter across the face. Although, you ignored him, simply playing with your food or talk to your friends again. After what had happened, you weren't hungry, nor tired. All you needed was someone to talk to, someone even closer than the trio. Not that you hated them, or didn't trust them. You just wanted space away from them.

Parting so early, Hermione pouted at the notice of your exit. She told you it would be fine at the end of the day, and that you didn't have to worry about Harry. You picked up your belongings, waved goodbye and left for class. It was way too early to be heading there, but better be safe than sorry. God, it had to be Snape's class too. Way to start the day.

"Hey, Y/L/N, over here,"

"Y/L/N.."

"Y/L/N!"

You were startled by the sudden yelling, turning around to see who it was-

Draco fucking Malfoy.

You couldn't believe your eyes when he had just ordered you to come his way. Who did he think you were? His little pet? Chuckling, you shook your head in disgust and walked away from the now angered blonde-haired male. He was furious, thin brows furrowed while he trailed behind you, your body getting pulled backwards without hesitation. "What the fuck, Malfoy? What do you possibly need from me, for you to drag me away towards you?!"

He expected that response, a sly smirk forming on his pale rosy lips. "You know, Y/L/N, I've always wondered why you hated me. Is it because of what dear Potter told you? Do you truly believe him after that night?" He was easily teasing you, you backing up in a corner as Malfoy had you right where he wanted. "Uh.. to be precise I, uh.. I-I mean, y-yes," It had been a while since you stuttered your sentences, feeling yourself becoming weak and unsure with the questions he was about to ask you. "Aren't you too good for anyone, though? I've heard Potter mentioning great things about you. Like how selfless and helpful you are for your comrades. He doesn't see you like how you see him. He acts just like.. your little fanboy."

You were left speechless. What Malfoy had said was getting through your head. Was it true? Who could you believe? You hadn't known Malfoy for a while but, what if he was correct? What if everything was just a lie and that he had been been playing with you? Hermione and Ron had hinted plenty of times to Harry that you liked him.

He knew, didn't he.

"I-I.. Draco.." You began sobbing, thankfully your sleeves were wiping everything away. But it kept going and going, when would it stop? You made such a fool out of yourself, in front of him, too. It was at that moment a large figure embraced you; comforted by the touch, you stayed there, mesmerised by how gentle the gesture was. None other than Draco finally spoke, looking away from you.

".. Never speak of this," Draco whispered below your ear, hot breath tingling your neck. He felt absolutely devastated. Not only did he just undoubtedly tell you that he loved you, but just witnessed you crying for he 2nd time today. It was an issue that he could get way more attached than he intended to, insisting on accompanying you to Snape's class with him. He just had to have the same class, didn't he?

You two walked together in silence, Draco about to speak, then giving up on ever starting a conversation. It was too awkward to talk anymore, you being too tired to make an effort or just desperately wanting to get inside the classroom and forget about everything. That's right, you wanted to forget. While Draco, him on the other hand, had enjoyed every second. He had you placed exactly as planned, and he didn't even try his best. Was he a genius or a genius?

"Mr Malfoy. Miss Y/L/N. Unusually.. early. And together..?" Snape stared at the two of you, curious as to what you would reply with. "I wasn't with him. He just happened to be in my way. I'd be grateful if you didn't get the wrong idea, Professor," That proved you were in your wrong mindset, talking back to your teachers in a way you would never dare use. Oh boy, did Draco love that side of you. He goddamn loved discovering what else you could do.

Class finally started and went the same as usual. The trio being shocked to find you here before anyone else but otherwise it was like any other normal Hogwarts class. Snape rounded the class up, eyes especially locked at you. "Do not forget your assignments tomorrow.. any excuses will be a detention with me.. class dismissed," At last, you could now go and take a small break before heading to your second period.

Draco kept an eye on you too, following you as always instead of meeting up with his friends. He got way too attached by the second he laid hands on you. It.. wasn't pleasant. You're now heading close to your other class, wondering if Malfoy had the same. You prayed to God he didn't. He was behind you for Potions and all he did was mumble and stare. Mumble and stare. He didn't even look that happy and it genuinely made you feel scared for him. No reason to, but you just did.

Sitting down on the ground, you patiently waited for the second bell to ring, leaving you to go to your next class. Not now though, you had to finish off your F/B. Chapter 11 was always the interesting part. Meanwhile, Draco was hesitant. He took a deep breath, stepping towards you to back away again. It was useless. You weren't ever going to give him the attention he craved, were you?

"Y/N,"

You looked up, seeing the familiar boy stand in front of you. A deep sigh escaped your mouth and you stared back down at your F/B, uninterested as to what he had in store for you now. The way he looked at you earlier; he was serious. Probably a bit too serious. Not the Draco-- Malfoy, you knew earlier. You didn't want to get involved again, knowing what he had accomplished an hour ago wasn't something you wanted to experience again.

"What do you need now, you annoying cutie-?"

Did you just say that? Out loud? You didn't mean that at all. You swear it was an accident.

"ANNOYING PRAT. ANNOYING. PRAT. What do you want, Malfoy!" You smile widely, embarrassed, nervous and regretful towards yourself. You wish that was Harry- however life wasn't always that generous. He laughed, louder than usual, and crouched down to take a look at your book. "Huh, you read F/B? Never thought someone like you would be interested in such genre," That's fine.. he wasn't touching on the fact that you called him by the nickname 'cutie'. "And.. you shouldn't get too cocky, Y/N. Who knows what a cutie like me might achieve once alone with you?"

Now he was going way past your likings. Fuck! Why did you call him that in the first place? He wasn't cute.. or adorable.. he wasn't sweet.. you didn't find him charming at all. It wasn't like he was handsome too. None of that you thought of course. You liked Harry. Harry Potter. Potter, the one who rejected you. The one who had gotten slapped. Everyone knew about that too. They couldn't believe someone from Y/H would dare do such a thing to The Boy Who Lived. "..Merlin's beard, will you please just- just leave me alone. Please. Just once," Your sighs were repetitive now, everytime Draco was in sight.

"Understandable, sweetheart," He muttered, leaving you behind with a wink and light brush of his hand touching yours. You hated how you melted at that single action. It wasn't normal for you to be so tense around a guy you despised with a passion. What else could he be planning behind your back? When you were distant from your friends and family, you had plenty of reasons to stay alone by yourself. You could finish so many assignments with no one around.

The next class finished in a mattered of minutes, already grabbing your stuff and heading straight for the door. After all this fuss, it was lunch. You were starving. You kinda felt like Ron right now, craving anything that deemed edible but at first entering the Great Hall. Alone, book in hand while feeding yourself, your friends were immediately coming towards you, wanting to catch your attention ever since this morning.

"Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N!" Hermione yelled, "Where were you this whole time?! We've been wondering and saw you with Malfoy, is everything okay?" Ron hurried over next to you, examining you head to toe. "Thank Merlin, you're okay. Why were you sat at the back during Potions? And what happened during 2nd class? You nearly fell asleep at the back! Again! You're never ever at the back!" They gave you a reason to smile slightly, putting your book down and explaining everything. Expect for when Draco hugged you.

They were all surprised but were glad you were okay. The only person missing that didn't show up was Harry. You hadn't seen each other since this morning, making your heart ache. Your smile was widening again, being the wonderful sunshine you use to be years ago. You missed this. You wished Harry was there to see you.

"Y/N," Speak of the devil, "I need to talk to you. Privately," What was so important, all of a sudden?

"I know your secret,"

[etcwrites]

Missing & Unknown

Lancelot Week Day 2 @lancelotweek

Prompt: love/hate

Rating: General Audiences

Status: Completed

Summary:

Lotor is still new to the alliance and Paladins of Voltron are a touch distrustful. But no worries, Lancey Lance has the perfect solution: A party! (Post S04)

AO3 Link

“Regretfully, I must decline.”

A line appears between Lance’s eyebrows, confusion bleeding into his expression and creasing his otherwise perfect skin.

His immediate response is to ask why?! Why would Lotor decline his proposal?

From every viewpoint, attending a party should make perfect sense. Besides being extremely fun, (because, please Lancey Lance knows how to throw a fabulous party) it creates the perfect opportunity to socialize with allies, solidifying their newly formed alliance and allowing Lotor to gain a little bit of trust.

“Decline?!” he exclaims, voice going high before he could control it. “You realize that half of the alliance distrusts you and the other half hates you, right?”

Lotor doesn’t even blink but still Lance can see how his words hit at the core. The prince must realize his situation as well. With his strategical thinking and innate need to analyze, Lance knows that Lotor perfectly understands the delicate situation that he faces. With barely a month under his belt as the new ally of Voltron (and with the fact that he is Emperor Zarkon’s freaking son) he stands on thin ice.

“I’m aware, Paladin of Voltron.” Lotor replies, voice soft but his chin up, looking almost adorably stubborn.

“No, no,no, no, no stop right there!”

“I apologize-“

“No, it’s fine. Just call me Lance. Not-” Lance grimaces at the formal words. “Paladin of Voltron”

For a second confusion passes through Lotor’s face, elegant brows rising before tension bleeds out his shoulders, slowly transforming into a smile. Albeit not a nice smile, but still a smile.

“Lance…” he repeats, voice pleased, commanding, testing…

A shiver runs down Lance’s spine before he can understand what is happening.

“Uh-“ he stammers, already feeling the color rising to his cheeks. “Yes, so…the party! Uh- I think you should attend, you-”

Lotor leans back on his chair, eyes travelling up and down Lance’s body to finally settle on his face. “I realize this is a personal party, a celebration of a birth date.”

“Yes, a birthday.” He replies, trying and failing to keep the color away from his face. Why does Lotor have to be this pretty and have such a perfect hair?! “But it is hardly an exclusive event. We’ll have ambassadors from the coalition, even a few people from the Blades. And there will be cake and decorations! Oh man, you know Hunk makes a mean chocolate and chocolate chips cake that you can’t even believe your taste buds! And music! Pidge found a way to download songs from her archive so things might get pretty wild, if you catch my drift!”

Lotor makes a contemplative noise at the back of his throat, head leaning against his fist, and a small smile settling across his face as he regards Lance and his nervous rambling. This time the smile looks softer…

“You seem quite excited for this event.”

“Well…yeah.” Lance sobers up and focuses on Lotor. “I want this to work. To achieve peace throughout the universe, we must first get to know each other.”

“Get to know each other?... Indeed…”

“Uh-“ Lance blinks, heart leaping to his throat at Lotor’s suggestive tone. He must be dreaming… “I mean! We must try to understand each other! And, what better way than a party, right?!”

For a second silence hangs between them, time stretching out and filling space. Lance prepares himself for another rejection, the amused smile on prince’s face unhelpful at easing his suspicion. However, when Lotor uncrosses his legs and leans forward into Lance’s space, he is entirely unprepared.

“Such a compelling case,” Lotor murmurs, long hair brushing against Lance’s knees. Then fixing his gaze on the other, he smirks. “Count me in…Lance”

Heat suddenly burns inside his stomach, sucker punching and rendering him speechless for a few seconds. As Lance takes a sharp breath, eyes fleeting across Lotor’s face, the other leans back with fingers linking and a knowing smirk settling across his lips.

“Uh…good! Sure thing!” He mentally shakes himself, rising to his feet in a smooth motion and turning to leave. “I’ll let you know about the details.”

With an affirmative nod from the prince, Lance turns back and moves out, all the while feeling Lotor’s burning gaze down his back.

Strange…

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

“You did WHAT?!”

Lance can see a vine popping across Keith’s temple and wow, does it look malicious, much like Keith’s entire aura right now.

“Hey!” Lance retaliates, indignant and high pitched, because he has pride (and really believes this might help them secure another alliance, but that’s beside the point and it has absolutely nothing to do with how pretty Lotor looked just minutes ago! No! Nope! NOT happening! )

“There is nothing harmful about it, so keep your hackles under control, huh, mullet!”

“We don’t even know his intentions or his agenda!” Keith continues.

“Ahh, yes… I side with Keith on this one, man.  I mean, this is Lotor we are talking about, you know evil crown prince of Galra, massive planner, schemer, because he looks like a schemer… You guys remember how he was always one step ahead of us, right?!”

Lance swallows down his sigh. Of course he knows what Hunk is talking about and he loves his best bud but sometimes the big guy worries too much.

“Guys, relax!” he gestures with his hands, palms turned towards them. “Everything is gonna be just fine. C’mon, it is just a party!”

Keith still looks like he is ready to give him another piece of his mind but Lance swiftly turns towards the mostly silent occupant in the room. “Besides, Pidge is okay with it, and it is her birthday!”

Promptly every other face turns to the girl, who is typing on the transparent tablet. “It’s fine.” she replies nonchalantly, eyes never leaving the screen. Lance opens his arms towards her and gestures as if he is presenting something. “See!”

Now Keith looks constipated and Hunk looks quite a bit sick but Lance is almost convinced he can turn this around and stop the team from harassing Lotor when a shadow lands on four of them, causing every head to turn towards the source.

Over the seats of the common room Shiro stands, looking down at them and for a second Lance thinks he is going to be reprimanded for taking liberties, only to relax as Shiro shares his opinion. “I think we all should try to see this as an opportunity to get acquainted with Prince Lotor and introduce ourselves as well.”

“I agree” As Allura moves to stand next to Shiro, Lance feels a warm feeling settle across his chest. He can only guess what it means to lose all of your family, all of your people and yet, find the strength to overcome your pain and even accept the race that caused such a tragedy.

She is amazing, Lance thinks. More than amazing…

“This is a chance to gain new allies such as Prince Lotor and strengthen our relationships with our existing ones”

“Also,” Lance intervenes, plopping beside Pidge and pulling her close with an arm around her shoulder “to have fun!” Turning to wink at Allura, he smiles brightly. “It is a birthday after all!”

At the corner of his eye Lance can see Pidge sending him a look but up close he also notices the corner of her lips turning up.

“Ah-“ Allura says, suddenly embarrassed. “Yes, you are absolutely right, Lance.” Her voice has gone soft. “It is to have fun as well.”

Across the room Keith’s scowl has no rival. Lance suspects, it is because he is allergic to having fun.

But finally, he thinks ignoring all of that. Something is going right!

Turning back to Pidge, he grins.

“Just leave it to me!”

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The party is… a disaster!

Well, probably that is an overstatement but where is the joy if it is not an overstatement!

Still…it is going pretty rocky for Lance.

And, don’t get him wrong, it is not the countless clueless aliens and their preferences towards juuust the right music. It is not the weird, weird gifts gathered around Pidge (seriously who gets a human being a purple acid bomb!).  Strangely… it is not Keith, with his stupid frown and sulking tense expression. It is not even Lotor, who is for the most part calmly nursing his drink beside the bar and basically keeping a low profile.

No! It is Matt and his stupid sibling love!

Lance grits his teeth as Matt once again hugs Pidge close, wide grins plastered across their faces and it is great to see them as happy as this, because a) cute, b) happiness is a treasure in vast freaking space and c) it means the party is amazing and Lance is proud of himself.

But…

It hurts.

Sighing Lance turns his eyes away and quickly excuses himself from the company of a few Balmerans. He seriously needs a drink to take the edge of, fingers clenching into tight fists as he desperately tries to control his feelings.

As he passes through the crowd he can feel longing settling across his chest, a sudden feeling of loss pulling at his heart. For a second his sister flashes in the shadow of Allura, in the way she flicks her hair over her shoulder , the next moment he can see his brother’s smile on Hunk’s face and –

Lance catches sight of Matt and Pidge -

-that warm feeling that surrounds his heart whenever his little cousin hugs him…

Lance turns his eyes away, heart squeezing painfully.

I miss-

No! He can’t deal with this right now. Not in front of all these people, not when it is Pidge’s birthday!

Moving towards the bar, he bypasses the various snacks and immediately reaches for the spiked punch.

Vaguely he is aware of another set of eyes watching him but at this point, he can’t find it in himself to care about anything. Pouring a generous portion, Lance turns towards the exit, the sudden need to be alone almost choking him. He needs space; he needs to be away from happy families, away from reunions, reminders and most certainly birthday parties.

Giving a fake half smile to one of the Olkari representatives, Lance pushes through the crowd, his eyes momentarily catching Lotor’s before turning away.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

In the silence of an empty corridor, Lance leans against the wall, knees folded and eyes focused on the flickering lights scattered across the vast space. He wonders if he will ever get the opportunity to see his family again, to feel his mother’s warm arms, to hear his dad’s joyful laugh…

Space is too large, Lance thinks, pushing at now the empty cup. And Earth is so far away.

The sudden forlorn footsteps pull him out of his thoughts, head reluctantly turning towards the intruder. He really doesn’t want to explain himself to the team, their faces too familiar, too close… And he doesn’t have the strength to pretend for a member of the coali-

As Lotor turns the corner, Lance can feel his brows rising in surprise. In the low light of the corridor Lotor looks divine, regal with perfect skin and piercing eyes…. and entirely out of place.

“Uhm-“ Lance stammers intelligently. “What- why- why are you here?”

One of Lotor’s eyebrows rises, an amused sly expression replacing his neutral one. “As one of your guests, can’t I enjoy the various corridors of your castle?”

Lance can’t help his frown. “That doesn’t even make sense. There is nothing interesting here-“

“You seemed upset”

Lance’s voice hitches at his throat, a lump settling right at the center.

“I’m fine,” he tries, avoiding the other’s gaze and turning his head towards the stars. “Just needed some space.”

Lotor stays silent but takes one more step towards Lance. “Would you mind if I stay here for a while?” Before Lance can complain, the other leans against the wall beside him. “It was getting rather…tense surrounded by coalition forces.”

Sneaking a look, Lance pushes down his sigh. “Sure,” he says. “Though I find that hard to believe. And you should be trying to make friends, not hide in a corridor.”

“Ah!” Lotor murmurs, amusement clear in his voice. “Such a sound advice.”

This time Lance turns to glare up at the prince. “Hey!” he complains “I’m fine! This is just tempor-“

“You were excited for this party, were you not?” Lotor diverts, looking away from Lance and focusing on the stars. “ What changed?”

“Uh- nothing!” Lance exclaims, voice suddenly spiking. “Nothing changed… It is just-“

I miss-

Swallowing he stops, words choking him and his heart breaking under the weight of space, of distance, of endless war. He doesn’t know if he will ever be back, if he will ever see his cousins, his aunts and uncles, his siblings, parents… mom…

Before he can stop himself words tumble between his lips.

“My family…” Lance starts, vision blurring “when I was back home…”

He tightly closes his eyes for a few seconds, forcing himself to calm down, to gain control of his voice. When he reopens them, they are shinning with a new force. “We used to have these huge birthday parties.” He pushes on, voice getting stronger with each word, memories providing strength instead of causing pain, as he continues to share.

“And, ah- everyone came in. The house would be full! My cousins, all of them! They are all younger than me and oh, you should have seen it! When it comes to parties the first year is always the best one!”

Vaguely Lance can feel Lotor sliding down the wall to settle beside him.

“I remember Phillipa! She took her first steps on her birthday, that little rascal! She was adorable, trying to stay upright with her chubby hands grabbing onto the sofa-“

Suddenly stopping Lance bites his lip. Why was he even talking about these things?!...

“I guess…” he admits, voice small and low but finally ready.  “I- I miss them. There is only somethings you can share with your family”

Beside him Lotor hums, though Lance isn’t sure if he understands.

Silence stretches between them, filling up the space and almost becoming deafening.

“Where are your Generals?”

At the sudden question, Lotor’s jaw clenches, his fingers growing tense then gradually, deliberately relaxing.

Lance bites his lip. Abort, abort!, his brain screams at him. “You,” he starts, nervously cleaning his throat. “You don’t have to tell me. I just thought…it was odd.”

As Lance watches, Lotor looks away, eyes searching the endless space. This time the silence that comes between them is oppressive, restricting, almost making it impossible to breathe.

“It was me,” Lotor says, in the end, successfully throwing Lance into a loop.

“You? How so?” Leaning forward Lance rests his head on his palm.

For a second Lotor looks like he might give an honest answer, eyes thoughtful and fingers linked, before his face closes off. “Galra do not have the sentiments you have described.”

“Pffft! I don’t know what you are talking about” Lance argues, letting it go and trying to keep things light. “Keith is half Galra and he is such a ball of sunshine when it comes to friendship.”

Lotor looks unconvinced but soon his features relax as he catches up to the joke.

“But,” Lance continues. “ He still cares…”

The other turns towards the window once again. “I understand he is no longer a paladin.”

A sudden anger rises inside Lance, disappointment squeezing around his heart. Vaguely he realizes this might be a ploy by Lotor to gather more information, to identify their weaknesses and divide the team, but sometimes you gotta give in to get something in return. “He wanted to go another way, yes. But that doesn’t mean-“ A sudden lump clogs up his throat. And he knows he had agreed with the others when Keith asked to join the Blades of Marmora, he knows they had this giant group hug, showing their support and acceptance but still…the thought of Keith leaving -  It still hurts…

“-that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about the team.”

Lotor hums once again, voice soft and contemplative. “Perhaps.” Then turning towards Lance he fixes his gaze on the other. “For Galra, loyalty and sincerity don’t come naturally. We-“  He pauses for a second, expression staying forcefully neutral, before continuing. “Survive… and do anything to ensure our goals, whatever they may be.”

Oh-

“It sounds lonely.”

That wasn’t what Lance had meant to say but once he says it, he can see how true it is. Beside him, Lotor looks surprised and even though it only lasts for a few seconds, it is enough.

Lance pulls his knees towards his chest, linking his long arms around his bent legs. “Whether in the shape of kin, relatives or friends, family is important.” He murmurs, looking at the floor. “They love you and stay with you even though you are not at your best. They are there to support you, to keep you in line, to show you what can be better, how you can be better. And-“

He pushes his lips together, fingers biting into his arms.

“- and I’m sorry you didn’t have the chance to find yours yet.”

When he looks up there is confusion on Lotor’s face as if Lance is an alien life form, hatching right before his eyes and once again Lance waits for that look to turn calculative, even turn into something similar to how he had regarded Lance before the party, amused, flirty, manipulative… But it stays the same.

Cleaning his throat Lance then leans back and shoves Lotor’ arm slightly. “Besides,” he points out, trying to lighten the mood. “You can’t really do worse than Zarkon. The guy literally tried to kill you.” Smiling Lance gives the prince a wink. “You can only go up from there.”

Shock is evident on Lotor’s face, brows raised and eyes wide open but before Lance can try something else to pacify the situation, the other speaks.

“You are a peculiar one, aren’t you?”

“What?! Peculiar? I’m peculiar?! I’ll tell you what Prince Lotor-“

Then suddenly there is a laugh, barely and short but it is a laugh, from Lotor nonetheless.

Lance grows silent, his eyes fixed on the other.

“I apologize” Lotor says his voice loaded with amusement, eyes soft. Then…

“Thank you…Lance.”

A new exciting energy passes through Lance, the way his name sounds in Lotor’s voice causing a shiver to run down his back. However, it is different than before. Now it feels warmer… better.

Lance cleans his throat, feeling color spreading across his cheeks.

The other gives him a half smile, a second later his face slowly closing off and smile turning into a calculating smirk.

But Lance can tell a first step when he sees one.

And for now, he’ll take what he can.

[dulceringo]

Langst Mini Fic #10: Blank

Soulmate wasn’t necessarily meant that two people should be involved romantically. There were many forms of love, many shapes of bonds. There was the platonic one, the familial bond, or the everlasting friendship that none would ever be able to cut.

In their world, it didn’t matter which family you belong with or to whom you share your flesh and blood. The family tree most of the time did not meant that you share a deep connection with them. They have bar codes tattooed in their body the moment they came to life. A single touch from another would trigger the codes to change into names, it was the soulmate sign. It was completely normal for siblings not to get along that much, for them not to share the familial bond but find it to another person that was completely unrelated to them by blood.

Now, this did not mean that families do not share love to each other. They did, it was just not as deep as the soulmate bond though.

For all of this…Lance was the odd one.

He was a blank. No codes printed to any part of his body. No connection to anyone, neither romantic nor platonic.

Most people gave him pity, others scorned him and thought for all his smiles and kind gestures Lance was just a kid with a cold heart unable to love. But that last thought was a lie and those who were close with him knew this.

No one could make their Mother smile like little Lance. No one could make his brothers and sisters get along so well unless Lance was in the room. No one could make their Father laughed like there was not tomorrow like Lance. No one could make the little nieces and nephews running around to start behaving by promising all sorts of things like Lance.

So why Lance could not have what all humans have? Why he could not have that deep connection, that feeling that he could trust someone with all his heart and soul? Why he was not allowed to have a place he could truly call home?

As time passed, Lance learned to accept this fact on his life. But he prided himself to be able to support and relate to anyone physically and emotionally.

When Hunk and he met at the Garrison, Lance deluded himself that he was Hunk’s best friend. Everyone knew this was not true but hey, someone could dream and there was no rules forbidding anyone to be friends to someone that you do not share a bond with. So for all it was worth, they could pretend…

And then someone named Pidge Gunderson came to the picture. A simple handshake and the bar code tattooed on their right hand changed from a series of vertical lines to three varying sized gears. It was the time that Lance needed to stop his game.

He was not Hunk’s best friend in the first place, it was Pidge all this time. And no matter how the kid tried to distanced himself away from them Lance knew that Hunk would never give up to get closer to the person he shared a friendship bond. The soulmate mark never lies. Lance saw everything unfold before him when they were blasted in space.

Hunk and Pidge had the friendship bond. Shiro and Keith had the sibling bond.

Alteans had a different way in knowing their soulmate bonds, this was something that Coran explained to them when he got curios at the others tattoos. The royal adviser told them that Alteans, and reluctantly the Galra, shares eye contact to others and their hearts will give a beat different from they were used to. It was a magical experience according to Coran. It was just they already know if that person would be family or their significant other.

Coran and Allura shared the familial bond.

When Voltron was formed, when it was established that they were the Paladins that would defend the universe, they realized that all of them share that familial bond. All of them…

Except Lance…for he was a blank.

He learned to accept this fact.

But realizing that even outside of earth…that Lance had no one…maybe he really just have a cold dead heart all this time.

  “Stop…stop throwing such words at me, Lance.” He knew that Keith was just tired of everything. Losing Shiro a second time was taking its toll to the Red Paladin of Voltron. From the way his eyes tried to suppress the impending water works to the way his frowns starts to be a permanent thing on his face, Lance knew that whatever would come out Keith’s mouth was something he must not take to heart. His friend was hurting. It was normal that harsh words would be thrown out.

“You do not understand anything!” Lance saw the way Keith curled his hands in an attempt to control his anger. He was not far too lost to start throwing punches then, Lance would consider this a plus. “You, of all people in this…this war ridden universe! You! Do not understand what it feels! What all of us feels right now! You are a blank!”

The moment those words escaped Keith’s mouth Lance knew that the other immediately understood what he said from the way his eyes widened in shock to the way his mouth hanged open in disbelief. Lance knew that Keith did not meant it, it was just emotions talking right not. It was enough for Lance. Those words did not hurt him anymore for it was the truth.

Lie

“Lance…I…”

“It’s alright, man!” Lance shoved his hands on the pocket of his jacket. He plastered an assuring smile to calm down everyone in the room that started to be filled by a stifling awkwardness, “We all miss Shiro, Keith. You are not the only one that is hurting right now. You said it yourself. Hunk, Pidge, Coran, and Allura are worried about Shiro too. We are a team. Just because we are looking for a new pilot doesn’t mean we are giving up on our leader.”

No one missed the way Lance deliberately erased himself from the picture.

 When he was a little child his Mother used to remind him about something from the very day that Lance could understand what it meant for being a blank.

“The heart will always yearn for a home. Just because you do not have a mark does not mean that there are no people out there waiting for you. Just wait my little ocean, my sweet, sweet star. The day will come where you will find your home.”

At first he thought it was just words to make him feel good. To erase the bitterness he was feeling whenever he saw the bar codes adorning the body of his siblings and nieces and nephews. It never crossed his mind that those words carry a whole truth.

It was a brief moment, a short encounter during their fighting against Lotor’s soldiers. But there and then…Lance knew that he found what he was looking for all this time.

The way those female Galra stopped for a moment, their eyes widening in recognition, the way they started to try to make distance between Lance and the rest of the Paladins, and the way they tried not to hurt the newly Red Paladin of team Voltron…Lance knew…he now knew…where he belonged.

The female Galra that appeared to have a ‘head tail’ (or as how Lance dubbed it in his head), grabbed him by the arm and started running away from the rest of the team. Of course the others chased after them because in a grand scheme of things, Lance was still a Paladin of Voltron up to this very moment.

But the heart will always yearn for its home.

 Lotor was surprised at the extra baggage his generals brought back to him. At first he thought that they brought a prisoner with them, a way to hinder Voltron from following them. When he voiced such thoughts it was the first time that the women around him openly growled, growled, at him and started to form a protective circle around the Paladin they brought with them.

He merely scoffed at the blatant display of disrespect against the Prince of Galra Empire. Nevertheless, he still walked forward until he was in front of the Paladin.

“Removed your helmet. I want to see the face of the person whom my soldiers brought to me.”

And then he met a pair of blue eyes that he never thought would make his heart beat unlike before. So that was why….

Lotor smiled at the Paladin and ruffled his hair.

“Welcome aboard, little brother.”

Who knew Lance had a bit of Altean genes in his body and that he shared a familial bond with Lotor and the rest of his generals?

You know...I will really appreciate to know your thoughts about my writings. I need to know if I should continue writing the ideas in my head, if there are people out there who wants to read my stories...cause honestly...not knowing what people thinks about my works just make me sad.

So, which among my fics you want to be updated:

Playmates

Langst Mini Fics

The Alternates

or one of these prompts given to me a very long time ago: 

A) Lance overdosing. Accidentally or otherwise. Maybe he just can't sleep so he takes a few more than usual

B)  Sniper Lance... but this time as a prompt?

C) Lance doesn't feel an emotion and everything he shows is just an act. Like when he sees someone sad he thinks "I should comfort them, right?" or something like that.

D) Lance over hears the team talking bad about someone and him having insecurity thinks it's about him and leaves before he could hear they were talking about Lotor. As days go by lance starts freaking out over every mistake he makes and one day he just breaks down and the team comforts him. (when did I received this request prompt?)

E)  lance has this god like ability that kills any living thing by touching with his bare hands. He didn't know that he could do this and always thought it was just bad luck (the deeper he loved the faster the death was) until he touched his first love. After that whenever someone says jokingly 'die' he gets really pissed and angry. Because of this he tries to stay happy all the time and cherishes all lives. And when one of the paladins almost touched his bare hand he cried

F)  Lance shutting himself out to the team and they are trying to help him but he doesn't want to be helped because it makes him believe that he's weak if he's helped

G)  What if they are trapped in illusions where they must insult the other paladins to escape it (but not real paladins, they insult imaginary ones). So everyone picks one thing and says it to the fake paladin like a bad cook, horrible social skills, etc.. but Lance refuses because he knows what it's like for family to hurt him and he doesn't want to hurt his space family.

H)  I would like to see some blue lion angst in which Lance actually rejects Blue. Since the bond cannot be forced, Blue can't do anything but wait. Idk, I'm just throwing out ideas. Lance might want to go home or it could relate to the Garla~

I)  just wondering if you could do a Blind!Lance thing-a-majig?

J)  Lotor challenge Voltron to a gauntlet where he pits the Paladins against his strongest warriors until Lance challenges him to a game of wit, personally. Lance bests Lotor and Shiro has to drag him out after the entire army descends upon them...

Send me an ask which one you want to be updated and majority vote will win.

Langst Mini Fics

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Our first contact with aliens might be with their robots

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/our-first-contact-with-aliens-might-be-with-their-robots/

Our first contact with aliens might be with their robots

Researchers working on Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) efforts hunt for the same thing that their predecessors sought for decades—a sign that life arose, as Carl Sagan would say, on another humdrum planet around another humdrum star and rose up into something technologically advanced.

It could happen any day. A strange radio signal. A weird, brief flash in the night sky. A curiously behaving star with no natural explanation.

It could be anything, so SETI researchers are casting a wide net, tracking down as many promising leads as they can. But one thing they’ve started to realize is that if a civilization from another world follows a similar path to our own, then we may be dealing with a whole different form of brainpower. Not a little green person, Vulcan, or strange organism we aren’t yet fathoming, but an artificial intelligence.

To understand why the first intelligence we meet might be artificial, we have to go back to early efforts to look for life around other stars. SETI researchers started listening to the cosmos on the assumption that aliens might begin radio transmissions as a first advanced technological step if they’re at all like us. There’s reason to believe that, like our own path, getting from the era of radio to the computing era is a small jump.

“By 1900 you had radio; by 1945 you had computers,” Seth Shostak, senior scientist at the SETI Institute, says. “It seems to me that’s a hard arc to avoid.”

And from there, it may just be a matter of getting those computers smaller and smaller as they get smarter and smarter. Automated processes learn to adapt on their own, and someday, rudimentary intelligence arrives, just as it has here.

“There’s currently an AI revolution, and we see artificial intelligence getting smarter and smarter by the day,” Susan Schneider, an associate professor of cognitive science and philosophy at the University of Connecticut who has written about the intersection of SETI and AI, says. “That suggests to me something similar may be going on at other points in the universe.”

So what will that actually look like from our perspective here on Earth?

Worlds of Algorithms

Artificial intelligence on Earth isn’t quite at the level where we need to be worried about it. Yet. While a series of artificial intelligence algorithms may govern the day to day world, whether they’re recommending Netflix shows or determining what shows up in your Facebook feed or even sorting through treasure troves of science data, it’s a stretch to say that a Matrix scenario where intelligent robots ensnare and enslave humanity is going to happen in the next 20 years.

But the initial development of AI was incredibly fast. The first experiments in artificial intelligence came not long after the first (or one of the first) digital computers, ENIAC, went online in 1946. By 1948, researchers were attempting to make Turing B-type machines, computers that could solve problems dynamically. By 1954, the first neural network, an artificial brain mimicking the human neuron structure and decision making process, was online. This could mean that in other civilizations—not just our own—AI comes shortly after digital computing, however primitive.

So why haven’t we heard from other civilizations yet? Sure, time and space are vast, and relatively speaking we just started looking. But there are other limitations to life as well. There’s an idea in SETI circles known as the Fermi Paradox: if there are technologically advanced alien civilizations out there, why haven’t we heard from them? One solution often proposed is the great filter.

The great filter is the idea that technological progress creates as many problems as it solves. As a society advances to a certain point, those threats can outweigh the benefits, resulting in the wholesale destruction of a civilization. It’s possible we’ve already been through one step toward the Great Filter; The first digital computer was built somewhere between 1939 and 1946—the same time period as the development of the first nuclear weapons.

Simply put, some civilizations, whether through global-scale climate change, nuclear war, or famine, may kill themselves before they can become truly advanced. Artificial intelligence has even been added onto the list of potential threats at times—the Skynet solution to the Fermi Paradox.

Our present day AI isn’t too sophisticated. It can do a really good job at pattern recognition and filtering, but that’s after a lot of training, and it currently doesn’t undergo Darwinian evolution. Unless its programmed to, it doesn’t reproduce, and it isn’t necessarily sentient—it’s more like an animal running on instinct rather than a fully self-aware autonomous entity.

In her writings on AI and SETI, Schneider says, “I pushed for agnosticism about machine consciousness. We just don’t have any clue if consciousness could be non-biological.”

But non-biological components could be added to conscious beings. Societies who DO survive the great filter may do so alongside the machines, Schneider says.

“I’m actually concerned that technological civilizations may not last long, but if they do, there’s a lot of reasons to believe they’ll be post-biological,” Schneider says. “They’ll enhance their brains towards synthetic intelligence.”

In other words … cyborg societies. And from techno-enhanced, you might start to get the sort of stuff of science fiction dreams—sentient robots. Maybe it’s computer-augmented beings uploading or replicating their consciousness, ala a few episodes of Black Mirror. Or maybe it’s AI that reached the singularity.

But as Shostak points out, planets are volatile, prone to eruptions and earthquakes and the effects of an aging star. “Machines aren’t necessarily going to stay on a planet,” he says. “Planets are dangerous for machines.”

Instead, they’ll likely do what we continually aspire to do, and head for the stars.

Points beyond

The popular image of SETI is, for many, Jodi Foster in Contact with a set of headphones at the Very Large Array in New Mexico catching a deliberate signal from some aliens at an outpost around the star Vega. But SETI researchers aren’t just listening for aliens, they’re looking for them too—scanning the skies for flashing light beacons, shadows crossing stars, or, in the next few decades, weird signals in atmospheres of planets outside our solar system.

“I try to keep a very open mind about what we’re looking for. When SETI succeeds it won’t be like science fiction where we find something like us,” Jason Wright, an associate professor at Penn State, says.

The first SETI detections, should they ever happen, may be hard to parse out, just like Tabby’s Star, the dust-dimmed star that at one point Wright and others considered a possible (but unlikely) alien megastructure candidate. If the first signal from an extraterrestrial civilization is like Contact, the signal may be designed to be captured. “If that’s true, then presumably it’ll have information about whoever sent the signal,” Wright says. But otherwise, Wright says, “When we finally do find something, we really won’t understand what we’re looking at.”

But given that compared to advanced civilizations our cosmic footprint may be small, it’s unlikely that anyone out there knows we’re here, so we’re much more likely to catch a passive, rather than active, kernel of information coming from the planet. There are still ways to tell what’s going on. One idea put forth in SETI literature is the idea that we could find aliens by their air pollution or, with even bigger telescopes, by the glint of artificial objects on the planet—like catching the spectra of a large, photovoltaic panel-like silicon structure meant to harvest a lot of energy from a star. “If you see a molecule that has to be synthetic, that does not arise in nature, then that’s pretty definitive,” Wright says.

Even then, we won’t necessarily know if the society we’re detecting is made up of organic or synthetic life. And since SETI efforts are only going off one data point—us—we really don’t know what an advanced machine intelligence might look like vs aliens with unfamiliar…everything. A radio signal will likely come from an alien machine, but that doesn’t tell us anything about the operator.

“There’s no particular SETI effort being made to find the machines because no one knows quite how to find that,” Shostak says.

Those machines could be alien technology that has advanced with some degree of artificial intelligence but that aren’t necessarily a sentient artificial intelligence. Maybe we could, instead, keep an eye out for something like an advanced alien space probe—a Voyager on steroids.

Probing questions

Last year, a cigar shaped hunk of rock passed through our solar system—but it only dropped by for a quick visit before bolting back out to parts unknown. Called ‘Oumuamua, it was the first confirmed interstellar asteroid, though recently published research suggests it may be a comet. As often happens with something weird, the question of aliens was at least briefly raised, if not taken entirely seriously.

‘Oumuamua was tumbling end over end, over and over again. While some people called it “Rama,” comparing it to an alien space probe in an Arthur C. Clarke novel, Wright says the tumbling probably indicated that it was all too natural. Comets and asteroids almost always spin, and ‘Oumuamua was definitely no exception. It definitely wasn’t a “Bracewell probe,” a type of hypothetical autonomous spacecraft designed with the express purpose of serving as an interplanetary interspecies liaison.

We know, generally, what’s a comet or asteroid by looking at it. We’ve identified most of the kinds of space rocks we expect to see. Something from elsewhere may have a different composition or color depending on where it’s from. Had we the chance to study ‘Oumuamua in more detail, we might have been able to compare it to the families of asteroids in our own solar system.

There are ways to tell whether or not an interstellar object is natural. Let’s say something coming through is a weird color. And not only is it a weird color, but it’s not spinning or tumbling, but staying in place. If it’s an alien probe, “you might expect to have attitude control, so it won’t be spinning. It won’t be tumbling,” Wright says.

Given the great distances between stars, its possible that an alien civilization may not send its own individuals here, but might send a robot our way. We’ve already done that five times over with Pioneers 10 and 11, Voyagers 1 and 2, and New Horizons, all of which are on trajectories out of the solar system, and the first four of which have messages from Earth ready for aliens to find.

In addition to an odd color and a steady path, there might be an actual lightbulb moment too. They “could have lights,” Wright says. It’s something proposed in a 2011 paper by Avi Loeb, a Harvard researcher. We could also look for a robotic probe entering and exiting certain areas of the solar system, or shifting it’s flightpath through our neighborhood.

“If it’s active then it’s probably going to change its orbit to see something,” Wright says.

The idea of finding something in our own solar system is strange and outlandish, but so, too, is just waiting for a radio signal or watching for big dimming events—which doesn’t mean something isn’t out there, however unlikely.

As our search continues (for now) to be fruitless, we’re left with one last ego-bruising answer to the Fermi Paradox: maybe we haven’t heard from the aliens because they don’t care that we’re here at all, if they’ve even bothered to notice us. And that may especially apply to robots.

What is this, a planet for ants?

Maybe the great filter comes. The augmented aliens survive. Then their AI offspring take the wheel. Do a bunch of apes with noisy radio signals and the odd act of nuclear warfare really appeal to them—are they even actively looking for something like us?

When it comes to that idea, Shostak says, “It’s not even dangerous (for the aliens). It’s uninteresting. It’s like me putting a sign up in my yard saying ‘attention all ants.’”

In this case, we’re the ants. We may not have the resources of an alien society, and if artificial intelligence is supposed to search for signs of far, far advanced technology, we’re barely a blip on their radar.

Schneider says, “Earth is actually a relatively young planet so some astrobiologists think if there are civilizations out there, they may be vastly more advanced than us.”

Sure, we got radio. Then we got computers. Then Moore’s Law turned digital computers into increasingly efficient machines, year-by-year. “Machines improved very quickly—much, much more quickly than Darwin,” Shostak says.

Meanwhile, the aliens from the older planets get more advanced. So does their AI. Maybe it becomes the most dominant lifeform on the planet. It takes over its planet, then its star. It sends itself out into the universe in general—or it’s content to stay home for whatever reason. It’s plentiful and abundant and highly advanced, and when it comes across Earth, it doesn’t see anything particularly special. An alien AI may be just a few thousand years ahead of us, technologically, but it may still be advanced enough to grow disinterested in finding ants.

“We might be like cats or goldfish compared to humans and they may not want to have anything to do with us,” Schneider says.

Our goldfish status could put us in a weird place. We may be just as likely to encounter biological life on a scale unimaginable to us right now, or we may make contact with their probes before we find them. We may find a semi-intelligent Bracewell beacon from afar, or one may swoop through our backyard, its AI trained to home in on the fingerprints of our civilization. We may find robots sent by the aliens, or we may find out robots are the aliens.

At a base level, its possible to imagine that our first meeting with intelligent life beyond Earth might not be with something living and breathing, but with a different kind of fellow explorer—who just might happen to be a machine.

Written By John Wenz

[sending-the-message]

In The City Of Meatbot-Powered Killers (part 4) by molotok_c_518

Table of Contents.

Part 3.

I hit the dark web for a few minutes, burned a couple of Bitcoin for a block of stolen credit card numbers, and searched for what the hell just happened downtown.

While I took a couple of the platinum card accounts to activate some of my burner phones (their fraud support will save them some charges, and I'll still have some prepaid phones to work with), I digested what the Army and Air National Guard just did.

(*26 hours ago, in RQZ HQ...)

Col. {Jones}, HQ "Six" (HQ6): This is Six, go ahead, sir.

Adjutant General, New York National Guard (AGNY): This operation is strictly need-to-know now, Six. It has been designated "Top Secret: Compartmentalized" at the highest levels, and the code name attached is "Glass Chipmunk."

HQ6: What the... who comes up with this shit... uh, sir?

AGNY: Some spook at the NSA. More time on their hands than sense.

HQ6: Yes, sir.

(Side note: The reason top secret stuff gets odd code-names is because they are words you would not accidentally say in a normal conversation. Try to work "Glass Chipmunk" into a sentence without sounding like you're crazy. It *might** work with someone with a curio collection... sort of like Alpine Shepherd Boy... but otherwise, you will stand out.*)

AGNY: How is the perimeter?

HQ6: Solid, sir. Nothing is getting out of there. We've had a few... anomalies, but no breaches.

AGNY: "Anomalies?"

HQ6: Well... it appears that the mad scientists' little toys don't hole up well in non-humans. We've had some animals come to the wire and just melt. The larger ones, we need to put down... have you ever tried shooting a cat and her kittens? They melted, too.

AGNY: I'll arrange to get some more men rotated in. Things like that obliterate morale.

HQ6: Thank you, sir... but we need a longer-term solution to this. We've gotten lucky, so far, in that only a few infected have tried to hit us. Tracers work well, so we've taken to loading all of our SAWs with nothing else. If they hit us in anything larger than 3 or 4 at a time, we're gonna get overrun in a heartbeat and a half, and you'll have a lot more than a city's worth of these things to worry about.

AGNY: Roger that, Six. I gotta tell ya, Tom... I've never thought, not even once, that we'd be talking about bombing American citizens.

HQ6: Roger that, Six. Voting demographic will definitely shift.

AGNY: Are you suggesting...

HQ6: No, sir. Just a bit of gallows' humor. Whistling in the graveyard, as it were.

AGNY: How about our reluctant big-brain?

HQ6: Still no sign of him. We lost him during his move towards the campus. We think he's in the Advanced Research Labs facility on campus, but we're not sure enough to risk an extraction team in a hostile-heavy area of the city.

AGNY: We have a good set-up on the plaza. Give the green light for the Reaper to launch. You are covered.

HQ6: That's an order?

AGNY: Direct order, Tom. Take solace in the fact that it's an act of mercy for the poor bastards.

HQ6: Yes, sir.

(23 hours ago.)

Reaper drone pilot, designated RD-3: On station, awaiting instructions.

HQ6: What's your load, RD-3:

RD-3: I have 4 Hellfires, sir. I see the target, awaiting order.

HQ6: You've been briefed as to the situation?

RD-3: Yes, sir. Glass Chipmunk. (almost inaudible chuckle)

HQ6: Right. When you have the target locked, you are cleared to engage.

RD-3: Order received. Lightin' em up.

Video footage from RD-3

It's daytime, timestamp on the video is 1106. Wide shot of a square plaza surrounded by concrete and glass buildings, in a Brutalist architectural style.

In the plaza is a large, pulsating mass of bodies, covered in dirt, rags, dried "blood" (in reality, it's mostly meatbots at this point), sweat, and strips of dried flesh.

A fountain in the center has kept these people hydrated since the outbreak. It has allowed this... gathering... to continue unabated.

"Gathering" is too weak a word. It's like a Roman orgy crossed with Cannibal Holocaust or Green Inferno.

The weakest have either stayed at the fringes and devoured what scraps they can, knowing that they have no chance at survival in the main body, or threw themselves in early, were torn to shreds and eaten whole, in order to kill the all-consuming hunger driving them.

The strongest have formed a horrific symbiosis, tearing chunks off of each other, letting chunks get torn from them, then healing enough to repeat the process. The looks of pain when injured are almost indistinguishable from the looks of rapture when they devour a neighbor.

There is no "sex," per se. Hunger has replaced sexual desire. If anything, the erogenous zones seem to be the most targeted areas for consumption... and since they grow back, they get targeted a lot.

I don't want to look. I want to make a bad joke about oral sex and fix myself a bottle of rum. Better still, a keg.

I look anyway.

At 1113, a missile tears into a fuel truck abandoned at the east end of the plaza. The angle is perfect: flaming kerosene or diesel splashes over the crowd, and thick clouds of boiling black smoke quickly fill the space.

Some of the (un)lucky few who escaped the initial blast run away.

Most, either sensing a well-cooked meal or realizing this will end the agonizing hunger, dive into the center of the holocaust.

In one strike, the National Guard have eliminated about 3/4 of the population of [REDACTED].

I've been working frantically for the past day, trying to find a way to protect myself from possible infection. I can't think "if" anymore: those idiots out there will see me at some point and launch an extraction. I've seen enough horror movies to know how catastrophically it will fail, and how likely I will be to have highly-trained, inhibition-impaired, hungry, rapid-healing killers at my door.

Yes, I'm a pessimist.

I know now how we got to this point, and I have the entire sequence ciphered out. My meatbots were part of a power struggle within the group, and were weaponized purely by circumstance.

First, Dr. A. He got in to the GATACA compiler and dropped his little brain bomb in the code. Hidden in the "comments" in the DNA (we had plenty of space to put messages in the DNA, and did so frequently to explain why Sequence 8c, for example, was written to repair a long muscle in a certain manner, rather than another) was his excuse:

Dr. A: By the time you read this, you will no longer head this project. If I can strike quickly and "prove" that you bungled the neuro programming, I can capitalize and run this program as I see fit. Some people aren't worth saving. Others should be reprogrammed for the greater good.

Dr. B followed this up by checking out the endocrine codes and cranking hunger to 1000. His excuse:

Dr. B: Need more. We can fund this by selling the old versions on the black market, and keep the excess for ourselves.

Profiteering, meet societal re-engineering.

It might have gone almost unnoticed, except for player 3.

Late in the project, I had an assistant basically forced on me. Dr. C was also a computer scientist, come to us from government service. He said the right things, asked the right questions, and made himself indispensable.

What I didn't know until last night was, he was a military contractor on the side, and was looking for combat applications for the 'bots.

He knew what the other fuckwits had done, and instead of fixing it...

It was he who showed Bobby the "Jesus room" (he used a different name for each guard, knowing they would be impressed with what was within). He managed to get a copy of Steve's key card to the most pliable guards, then waited for the inevitable.

He got very lucky (or unlucky) that we had just begun to prep for primate trials when Bobby's wife died. He had the "perfect" weaponized version of my project, and its spread was the perfect test.

I know this because the dumb fucker emailed his superiors on a civilian email account.

The NSA grabbed him up rapidly after that. He's sitting in Guantanamo Bay, if there's any justice.

What I've learned in the past 48 hours is sickening.

When I was a kid, I read Frankenstein several times. Mary Shelley shares my birthday, so it's like we're soul mates separated by 200 years.

I always told myself, "Don't let hubris be your downfall. You're doing this for mankind. You're not playing God... you're doing God's work, if we really are created in His/Her image."

This has never been about doing it because we could. It's doing it because we need this... to save lives cut too short by disease or accident.

Do this now, decide later how it should be used. That was always the mission.

Now... now, I'm using my knowledge of chemistry to destroy my life's work. I know what to mix for the best explosives I can make given what I have on hand. The labs we've been working will be utterly annihilated.

There's no way this project gets out. They aren't ready.

They aren't worthy.

Before I do that, though, I am going to call several people and let them know what happened. I am going to tell the press why my malignant miracle is being denied to the world.

NOW I'm playing God.

I've already made several vials of my counter-bots and hid them on my person. They're untested, but better than the alternative.

I may have a way to sneak off-campus, and from there I have a possible way to get out of town. It's going to involve laying low after the powers-that-be order a full sweep and cleanup of the bot-ridden, which I fully expect in a week or so.

I did some very rough calculations. Fatty tissues have probably all been digested by now. Protein can be burned for energy, and some of it will be consumed by each repair and replication cycle. I figure that, in 3 or 4 more days, there won't be enough metabolic energy to drive a flea left in anyone with meatbots in their blood.

Before I do anything else, though... time for a smoke.

I head up to the roof, and take a deep breath... then step to the wall and puke as the foul reek of thousands of roasting bodies pours into my sinuses.

I won't be eating barbecue any time soon.

By some dark miracle, I puke right on a bot-ridden at the base of the building. He looks up, then begins licking the vomit off of himself.

Didn't need to see that.

I move away from the wall. I fumble a smoke from the pack, and light up with very shaky hands.

I also crack the seal on the cheap водка I found in a lab assistant's office and take a deep swig. I dislike the cheap stuff... it has this nasty chemical aftertaste.

All of this is distracting me from the little fucker I puked on, who is free-climbing the wall.

I catch the barest hint of movement out of the corner of my eye as he crests the retaining wall and leaps 20 feet across the roof to tackle me.

I drop the водка and spin quickly to meet him. I'm unarmed, because "Of course they can't get to me. I'm behind two locked doors!" and this is going to kill me...

...and it gets close enough for me to see that "he" is a "she," and she's emaciated and nothing but bone, skin and wiry muscle and hunger and fuck I'm going to have to punch a girl to save my life as I loop a right cross straight into her oncoming jaw, and she drops to the roof...

...and I grab my водка and run for the door as she scrambles to her feet and makes the sprint after me with frightening speed, and I stop and duck as she comes at my back and misses her grab and I stand up straight into her jaw and she staggers backwards...

...and I spin around and plant a solid left into her gut and she doubles over but she has a grip on my back and can't bite through my shirt but I stand up straight and she flips over my back to the ground at my heels...

...and I spin again and kick her in the head and she grabs her head and it gives me just enough time to get to the door and open it...

...but she's on her feet and after me and through the door just as I pull it shut and now I'm in the stairwell to the second floor with a crazed bot-ridden woman who lunges for me...

...so I throw her over the railing and she hangs on barely and I'm running down the stairs and to the second floor entryway and through the door...

...and she drops from the railing and down all the way to the first floor and I hear the CRACK-CRACK of both of her legs snapping on impact and she screams in agony but she's up on both broken legs and trying to limp up the stairs...

...and the door to the second floor closes on the stairwell.

I'm now trapped in the building with a for-now injured bot-ridden.

Oh... and my knuckles are bleeding.

I may be infested as well.

[chrismaverickdotcom]

Hidden Figures, Visible Baiting: The game of imitation in Hollywood biopics.

(Some minor spoilers in this review. But not much really. After all, it is a historic biopic… and just so you know… John Glenn did make it into space.)

So Steph and I went and saw Hidden Figures yesterday. I had really been looking forward to it. In fact, I maybe made the mistake that I always try to avoid when going to see a movie. Usually I try to go in with no expectations. I don’t want to be disappointed by something not living up to the hype and I don’t want to be tricked into thinking I liked something just because it wasn’t as awful as initial reviews or trailers led me to believe it was. That was pretty hard with Hidden Figures. When I first saw the trailer my initial thought was “well, that’s Oscarbait” (this isn’t a problem. I actually frequently like Oscarbait movies). Then, over the last week with the critical and popular acclaim that has been impossible to ignore I started thinking “wow… I guess the Oscar baiting is working.” It was impossible to ignore.

But I tried my best.

I’m glad I did. As I was sitting down to watch the movie I thought to myself “this is going to be amazing!!!” And then I caught myself and said “no, wait… don’t do that. Watch this and enjoy it for what it is. And it’s a good thing I did that, because otherwise I probably would have been really disappointed.

Instead, what I saw a pretty good movie.

It was by no means a perfect movie. I’m not even sure that it as a *great* movie per se. But it was pretty good. Above average. Enjoyable all the way through.

One really good way to bait the Oscars is to make a socially relevant biopic. There’s two aspects that go into this. First of all, the Academy loves a biopic. And there’s good reasons for this. There’s something of a challenge to presenting the life of a real person. Real people are complex. And when a writer, and actor, a director and everyone else on set can combine to present the audience with a view into a character that is very tangible and very real, that is an accomplishment and it should be celebrated. I love a good superhero movie, and Robert Downey Jr. should certainly be celebrated for bringing as much complexity and depth to the character of Ironman as he has — far more than needs to be there for those films to make money. However, Ironman will never be as complex and nuanced as Katherine Johnson was in this movie because Katherine Johnson is a real life, complex and interesting human being and Taraji P. Henson did an amazing job of de-Cookyfying herself to make the character of Johnson real, relatable and engaging.

The other half of that equation is the social relevance. And that’s where the movie really shined. Diversity, multiculturalism, people of color, feminism. Basically the entire “social justice warrior” culture. These are big buzz words and that means big business. Hollywood, especially the Academy, likes to feel good about itself when it feels like it’s doing something positive and making a difference, an nothing does that like telling the story of heretofore undiscovered minority women who were the secret backbone of one of America’s proudest and most inspiring moments. Yay us for being progressive. Something like that. And this is an important thing. Being able to spoonfeed history dressed up as entertainment is good.

But beyond the need for simply presenting a lesson on the historical significance of the civil rights movement of the sixties. The film seems to be a direct attempt to address the controversy of Hollywood not offering meaty enough roles for minorities, and particularly women of color in order to warrant recognition at the Academy Awards. Or, as it is often summed up, #OscarsSoWhite! This is a clear attempt to address that. By shining a light on the accomplishments of black women in a time in the past where they were essential to the success of the country but invisible, the film attempts to make a statement about their similar invisibility in the media today. You can almost feel the movie saying “look, black women! Black women right here! You looking for black women? We got your black women!”

And that’s not exactly a complaint. They did a good job with it. Henson is really good and does an amazing job of presenting a the character of a black woman in 1961 who must walk the line between showcasing her own brilliance while not overstepping her bounds as an impoversihed member of the society of which she is a part of. There were even some parts while watching where Steph leaned over to me and mentioned that she was surprised that this or that aspect of racism existed at a place like NASA in that time period. So yay! Learning is good! Octavia Spencer, who plays Dorothy Vaughan, similarly shines. Though in her case, this is maybe less surprising, given that she’s already received an Oscar for playing a similar character in The Help. If anything, I’d worry that she’s going to start getting typecast. And perhaps she already is. I feel like producers are starting to say “we want to make a socially conscious movie about the civil rights movement. We need to feature a sassy but respectable black woman. Someone get Octavia Spencer on the line!” Even better, at least for me, was the third lead, Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson. She did an amazing job. Despite being the C-storyline and having the least to do o the three principle actresses, she was amazingly believable and worked to earn the audience’s respect for every second she was on the screen. She was phenomenal. The main cast is rounded out by three white actors. Kevin Costner as a gruff boss who really doesn’t understand the inherent racism in the system, but when it is brought to his attention will serve as an ally of sorts because “lets move past this petty shit so that everyone can get to work, goddammit!!!” and Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst whose jobs are to be living embodiment of white privilege leading to casual systemic racism, a function that Spencer’s Vaughan has the pleasure of directly pointing out, just in case the audience doesn’t realize it… “Yes, I get that you’re not trying to be racist. But just so you know… by adhering to the racist status quo, you totally are. HTH!” They really don’t have much to do. Dunst plays “generic white lady from the sixties.” Parson’s pretty much plays exactly his Sheldon Cooper character minus the comedy. They’re good at it. But they’re as much stereotypes in this film as the token black characters would be in any other Hollywood biopic.

But the things that make it good are also part of the failings of it. First of all, it’s just very clean and neat. Hollywood loves a happy ending. It’s easier to send an audience home happy than sad. Costner’s character in particular has a moment where he becomes so offended up Henson’s Johnson having to go across campus to use the negro bathroom that he he takes a crowbar to the bathroom sign and singlehandedly ends bathroom segregation at NASA with a few swoops of the mighty white hand of God. So, at the end of the film, it just kind of feels like “yay! NASA solved racism!” and by extension Hollywood is saying “and we made this movie about black women so we’re totally not racist anymore either! Yay!” It’s all very neat and tidy and clean and wrapped up in a pretty little bow. Look, these three great women went on to have great careers and are important and honored and everything is awesome!!! And while that’s nice and all, its obviously not really true on either account, which is kind of why this movie needed to exist in the first place. It feels a tad to celebratory.

Secondly, the film has the failing of many biopics. Namely, real life just isn’t very interesting a lot of the time. Certainly not as interesting as the movies. And since movies are about tension and drama, that needed to be fixed. At the end of the day, for all of her cultural significance, Katherine Johnson’s actual job was “doing math.” She was really good at this job, by all accounts better digital computers of the time (in real life as well as in the film). But her job was still to sit down and do math, and that’s just not visually compelling to watch on screen. In fact, its boring enough that there really wasn’t enough to make a whole film out of just her doing math, which is what necessitates adding Vaughan and Jackson’s stories into the mix. Vaughan’s B-story at least kind of dovetails into the main storyline, as her struggle to gain recognition for the West Area Computing Unit (the segregated group of African American female mathematicians at NASA that the women were members of) does seem to affect the Friendship 7 mission launch and Vaughan’s promotion to supervisorship of the unit does ultimately allow the Project Mercury missions to take place. The problem with this is that it is historically inaccurate. The West Area Computers never existed at NASA. They were actually part of the NACA (NASA’s predecessor) and were disbanded and integrated into the rest of the NASA workforce when the organization restructured in 1958, three years before the film. The struggle and drama that Vaughan goes through in the movie therefore actually predates Johnson’s struggle by several years.

Similarly, Jackson’s struggle to become NASA’s first official black female engineer also occurred years earlier and was completed by the time she was actually working in the wind tunnel for the Friendship 7 module. This leads to one of the most problematic aspects of the film for me. While Jackson’s C-story of trying to gain an education so that she can be an engineer was, for me, the most compelling part of the film, the pacing of the ilm makes it ultimately meaningless. Since she achieves her goals at the end of the movie, coincident with Johnson and Vaughan achieving theirs, it is ultimately meaningless to the overall plot line. Friendship-7 had launched and the film was over. So whereas in real life, Jackson being an engineer probably was essential to the survival of John Glenn and the mission, in the movie universe, it doesn’t actually matter whether she’s an engineer or not since she didn’t become one until after the climax of the film had been resolved. This was something that I noticed while I was watching the film, even though I didn’t yet know the actual timeline of the real life Jackson (I researched it later). It felt like “Wow, this most interesting person in the movie is actually completely inconsequential. Well that sucks.” However, at the very least, it got me to do some research on Mary Jackson, and that’s a good thing.

Merging Jackson and Vaughan with Johnson’s plot line appears to have been a step to both add more diversity to Hollywood (“you wanted roles for black actresses? Well, hey we could have just given you one. But we gave you three! Please love us! Wait, what do you mean you’d rather they be spread out into multiple movies? Stop being greedy!”) and also to distract from the fact that Johnson in and of herself doesn’t actually do anything that gives much tension for the viewer to cling to. As I said before, she’s basically just doing math. Math is boring. It is super important — the film reminds us on several occasions that the math is essential to the survival of the mission — but it is boring to watch. In order to add drama and a sense of stakes as the film reaches the third act, it is necessary to create a situation where we seen Henson as Johnson basically trying to “math faster” and then running the calculations she’s just completed across the NASA campus as John Glenn is entering the rocket because Glenn refuses to launch without them. Of course if you stop to think about it, you realize that this isn’t actual drama because Glenn simply would have said no. That’s exactly what he said he would do. The actual drama of the Friendship-7 mission were the difficulties that it achieve in flight which caused it to abort its mission after the third orbit (it was scheduled for seven) but once that occurred it was too late for new math to be done. They just had to trust what they had. So the climax of the film sort of necessarily involves all the principle characters just kind of watching to see if all of their hard work actually paid off or if it was a complete failure. Having worked in the tech industry… well, that’s pretty much exactly what it’s like. You watch the product launch and you sit there and you say “please don’t blow up! Please don’t blow up!” over and over again. And it either does or it doesn’t. But the camera watches the guy actually demoing the product. Not all of the engineers and designers who worked on it standing around biting their fingernails, because… well, that shit is boring.

The movie does similar tricks to try and flesh it out by delving into Johnson’s personal life and showing the development of her relationship and eventual marriage to her second husband (which in real life also occurred two years before the movie actually begins) and to a lesser extent familial and marital relationships of Vaughan and Jackson. While this does humanize the characters a bit, it does prove inconsequential to the plot. Unlike The Imitation Game, which is in effect the same basic story (mathematician secretly helps to save the world), the personal life of Johnson never really directly plays into the events of the film (not surprising because in real life it happened earlier), so it seems ind of artificially added on. As a viewer, I am left wondering if the film had about white men trying to save the space program would the domestic life of the characters been downplayed altogether? (Hint: The answer is yes, and that movie is called Apollo 13.) As is, even though the domestic life of the characters is somewhat interesting it never really goes anywhere. The lesson appears to be “oh, and just so you know… women who worked at NASA in the 1960s were married.” Much like the five minute scene of characters watching while John Glenn (the single character in the film with the most to actually gain or lose, and therefore the focal point of the tension despite being a minor part of the narrative) this ultimately becomes filler so that there’s enough minutes to fill screen time.

So in the end, it’s a good movie. I enjoyed watching it, and I think other people should see it. But in reality, it is very much an aspect of this time. It is a response to the complaint of the last two years that the opportunities for the roles that Hollywood is currently celebrating (biopics for intellectual historic figures like The Imitation Game) weren’t available to black actresses. And so the response was to give the viewers EXACTLY that. A biopic of historical intellectual figures like The Imitation Game but this time with black actresses. It’s watchable. It’s engaging and it makes for an interesting bit of introspection as to the way the current cultural moment that the film was produced in compares to the context of the era it is portraying. But ultimately it won’t have the rewatchability that it is going for. It won’t go down as a Hollywood classic. It should get a couple nominations, and yay, there might be some black people in the crowd at the Academy Awards this year, but as good as Henson, Spencer and Monáe are, the Oscars will probably remain SoWhite. Hopefully, it’s at least a step in the right direction and not an excuse to just not try to do another film like this for another decade.

★★★½☆ (3.5 out of 5 stars).

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Hidden Figures, Visible Baiting: The game of imitation in Hollywood biopics. was originally published on ChrisMaverick dotcom