SpaceshipPilot

colourful picture of the moon (or the planet Mercury, unsure)



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  1. Public Bookmark 30

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    Rocky emerges, and his body language alone is enough to get me going. I struggle around my laugh, clamping my hand over my mouth. He waits patiently for me to gather myself.

    “Eridians are gay,” he declares. “I escape closet for all of them.”

    I fail. I tuck my glasses into the collar of my shirt so I can put my head in my hands, wiping tears as they come.

    “Rocky,” I say between giggles, “Rocky, I don’t think—I don’t think you can apply human sexuality to Eridians.”

    Something in him shifts, then. He perks to attention from his relaxed state, and though he has no eyes or facial features, I swear I can feel his gaze narrow on me.

    “I also read about gay rights,” he says slowly, warily. “Read that gay humans are hated some places. Bad.” He comes closer, looking up at me with all the accusation his flat face can muster. “You hate gay, question?”

    /////

    Or: Rocky learns about another human custom, and as always, he makes it Grace's problem.

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    14 Jun 2026

  2. Public Bookmark *

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    "Rocky did not understand human names and titles when we met. Eridian names longer, give information on Eridian's home, associations, skills." For the first time in ages, he positioned two of his arms together, forming the design that Grace thought of like a family crest, a single design bisected.

    "You should teach me to read those before we get to Erid, so I can be polite." As Grace considered the linework, already picking up on some vague ideas from the shapes in Rocky's carapace, something else occurred to him. "So… I picked 'Rocky' because your outer shell looks like stone."

    "And for inspirational story of athlete who defeats human system of poverty to become great champion. Eye of the tiger."

    "Retroactively, yeah." Grace bent at the hips, getting to Rocky's 'eye' level. "So what'd you name me?"

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    13 Jun 2026

  3. Public Bookmark *

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    Grace squeezes out a wet chuckle, thick with emotion, before suddenly falling silent. Its mouth does that strange up-down up-down movement, like it’s trying to figure out if it’s perplexed or amused. “Wait a minute—“ The human flops on its side to face them.

    “Rock, that almost sounds like I’m your kids’ \.\\.”

    “New word.”

    “Uh… companion animal.”

    —————

    Or

    Grace and Rocky talk about evolution, family dynamics, and dogs.

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    10 May 2026

  4. Public Bookmark 31

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    “Hey Rock, did you know that iron is made in the heart of a dying star?”

    Or a papercut and a conversation.

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    10 May 2026

  5. Public Bookmark *

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    “Adrian will understand,” Rocky says confidently. “Will be excited to meet alien. Will be excited to meet person who brought me home.”

    “Yeah, and I'm excited to meet them too, but after that!” Is this a translation error? A cultural miscommunication? How is Rocky not getting it? “You're partners. They're not going to want some alien around while you're, like… going on dates and all that.”

    “Does not mean no time for Grace.” Rocky’s starting to sound frustrated. Part of me feels bad, but the rest is just as frustrated. “Why think this, question? On Earth, just abandon friends when have mate, question?”

    It's so clearly a rhetorical question, to which the answer is obviously supposed to be no, of course not. I freeze up anyway.

    or: rocky HATE amatonormativity

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    08 May 2026