MACHINES CANNOT LOVE

[lumeria]

The Teach Me How to Love Meme

No matter how straightforward it may seem, the human emotion of "love," especially true, unconditional love, is complex and often hard to understand. All that forgiveness, all that dedication, all that light in the dark - how can one person have all that inside of them? You don't understand that, possibly because you're not a human. You're a calculating robot, an alien with a completely different frame of reference, or an artificially created being told only to feel certain ways. If you are a human, however, that doesn't necessarily clue you in to all the secrets of affection. Cold, uncaring assassins, brutal warriors, ruthless womanizers and maneaters, or the just plain broken can often feel like robots among their own kind.

But you want that to change. You have a stirring in your chest for someone and you want to know what love is so you can make them happy. This is the first time you've ever wanted to do so and be so unselfish. Hopefully, they can be a good teacher and help you open up, getting you both closer...

...or you could end up with someone as inexperienced as you. Well, there is something to be said about learning together.

• Comment with your character, preferences, and what side you'll be playing (learning, teaching, whatever you'd like).
• Reply to others.
• Do the thing.

Comments

Gaige | Borderlands 2

[m3chr0m4nc3r]

(Voicetesting. OTA. Permissions in the journal.)

Celes Chere | Final Fantasy VI

[runicking]

[ Cross-canon and assumed CR are fine. Also good with AU. No smut. ]

here have a loser who tries his best

[lockedtreasure]

[And here he thought Terra was the one wanting lessons in love - after all, she's the one always asking questions about it! Questions he's... not always sure how to answer. How does one even articulate what it's like to be in love? What it's like to lose it? What it's like to find it again? Locke's never been much of a wordsmith, anyway. But all that aside to be here with Celes and to be told he's supposed to teach her about love is ...

uh...

nerve-wracking. Yeah. That seems accurate. Nerve-wracking and weird and - she's going to kill him isn't she? Not that he'll mind being killed by her specifically. He vowed to protect her, and he can't really do that if he's dead, but he likes spending time with her, so this wouldn't be so bad

and he's blushing a bit. Damn it. He's thinking about how she looked in the role of Maria and the glow of her ice magic, and the sparkle of her eyes in sunlight, and this is not teaching her about love.]

So...

[Locke starts and then stops, looking at her and then away and then tentatively at Celes again. His cheeks are pink, but he smiles all the same.]

Love, huh?

[Oh gods his voice just cracked. Can this get any worse?]

prays for these two tbh

[runicking]

[ This seemed like a good idea on paper. In an effort to help ease the burden on the others when it came to helping Terra understand the world much better, it stands to reason that Celes should assist as well. But considering that Celes could not anticipate what she would ask for guidance on, it seemed like a good idea to broaden her own horizons.

In retrospect, Locke likely shouldn't have been her first choice. She could talk to Cyan, but there was that worry that it would be a bit too insensitive. Or she could ask Edgar but... No, she can't ask Edgar, she would never ask Edgar about something like this. She doesn't want to know what his feelings are on the matter. Setzer? Hard no.

But Locke... She never had too much difficulty talking to him about certain things, so that seemed like the safest, most logical bet.

On paper.

So here they sit, Celes feeling like she wants to crawl out of her skin and not entirely sure why. Why is this uncomfortable? Why does she feel like it takes all of her willpower to sit still and actually look at him. It's Locke, this shouldn't be a problem. She can tell him anything. ]

Yes.

[ No. Too terse. He's going to think she's angry at him. ...Well, she is a bit irritated, but at herself and not at him. Celes presses her lips together, trying to pull the words out of the aether. ]

You've... been in love before, right?

[ Why would she—WHY IS SHE SO BAD AT THIS!!

...Also why is he looking at her like that? ]

unsure if prayers can help them

[lockedtreasure]

[That's - that's not what Locke was expecting her to respond with!!!

He chokes a little at that question, and it takes him a moment to figure out how to respond.]

I - uh...

[A swallow, and he looks away from her again, rubbing the back of his neck. A blend of images play through his mind - Rachel laughing, teasing, confused, blank, d-- no. No, he's not going there. He takes a breath and lets it out in a sigh.]

... yeah. With Rachel. [And maybe again, but it's confusing, and he's still trying to work that out, and this really isn't helping. And anyway, he still loves her. Rachel. It's just more complicated now. It makes him wonder, though, about Celes' past. He knows the basics - knows that like Terra, she's grown up in the Empire, grown up a soldier, and she's never talked like it's ever even been a real concern of hers (quite the opposite, really), but he wonders...

He forces himself to look up at her again.] ... have you?

[runicking]

[ His immediate response makes Celes regret her question even more, hearing him stammer and struggle. Ah, that was a nerve she managed to nick, her brow furrowing slightly as he flounders. She knows the answer. She's at peace with the answer (???), and as Celes attempts to think of a way to shift the conversation elsewhere, he responds.

It feels heavy—for him and, strangely, for her as well. She nods only to fill the space, even if she might not know what to say. The wound is still raw. It will likely always be raw. She should apologize, and as her gaze falls to the side, she takes a breath.

But he's the one who breaks the heavy silence, forcing Celes to look up suddenly in bewilderment. ]

No!

[ The word practically tumbles from her lips before she can catch it, blurted out before she's even fully processed what he's asking.

So she pauses, brow furrowing deeper as her gaze shifts downward. Of course she hasn't. Someone like her... She doesn't need something like that. Countless stories of lovesick women robbed of logic and reason when it comes to the target of their affection.

But... ]

...That isn't important. Anyway, this isn't about me.

[ No. It's nothing. She hesitates before looking up at him once more. ]

How did you know that you loved her? What did it feel like?

r. dorothy wayneright | the big-o

[croons]

[not_without_you]

[GROSS SOBBING. Prefs in journal]

[cryfrustration]

[[Heyyy there. Would you be interested in trying a thing with these two?]]

[not_without_you]

[DUUUUUUDE. That would be fun! Also I just realized today I never replied to our other one. The notification disappeared so I thought I'd taken care of it. I'll be hitting that soon now that I realized]

[cryfrustration]

[[If you would like to continue, I'm up for it! Otherwise, we could like handwave a little bit and bank the CR for another thread with them later? I'm cool either way. Also, lmk if this works for you. Taking slight liberties for the meme, but I can always edit as needed.]

It starts, as is sometimes the case, not in a bar or an alleyway, but at a farmer's market. In a city and a place about which Vrenille knows exactly nothing (except that it seems sorta...gray), where he doesn't even seem to speak the same language as half the people, and where all the money in his coin pouch buys him precisely nothing but strange looks. That's where it starts.

It starts with a glance, with what he's sure must be a chance meeting of eyes from a man who's too guarded, a little scruffy, a little too rough. He's got an edge like a razor, Vrenille thinks, though the jacket and the cap and the way he seems to crunch into them almost manage to disguise it. He feels it from the moment he lays eyes on him: it's like a knife cut in the world, all risk and threat and danger on one side...and on the other? On the other, some kind of ghost maybe, a bond to a past that that razor line couldn't quite manage to slice away. He sees it flash in his eyes as he talks to a fruit vendor--like he wants to be with the world but he doesn't quite know how to be.

He's exactly the wrong kind of man, and Vrenille knows it. He knows it, and yet he goes ahead anyway. Maybe he's just feeling self-destructive, given the totally shit day he's having. Or maybe there's a draw that's way more ineffable.

His heart's in his throat when he speaks to him, and that...well, it never happens. He's a master at keeping "professional" distance. He dissimulates--it's a job skill. But then he usually doesn't go playing with fire this way. He usually doesn't feel quite so nakedly exposed. He's usually not in some strange foreign world, either.

He's not even sure that they'll speak the same language at first, so when he discovers that they do it's too unexpected. It's crazy that he just asks him: "Take me somewhere?" It's too plaintive, a request and an offer all at once, there's not even any artistry in it. And he's pretty sure they both find it crazy when the man actually does. Vrenille isn't sure that either of them know what in the hell for.

Mostly what he knows is that now he's standing here in this slightly scruffy room with this slightly scruffy man. He's knows that he's dressed in a way that can't quite pass for local. He knows he doesn't know where he is, and he doesn't have any money that's worth a damn. He knows he doesn't have anyplace he can go, and it's probably going to be cold tonight, and he doesn't know a single damn person, probably in this whole world. He knows that the air feels tight, like there's some kind of energy--a current, a live-wire--and he's not even certain whether the man he's with might try to kill him.

He's usually so smooth with words, so good with people, but the strangeness of the whole situation leaves him completely disarmed; he's not even sure what he should say. He wonders if maybe the jump between worlds has made him lose something of his mind. He fishes around and in the absence of anything better, he settles on the most simply honest opening: "This is a little unusual for me."

[not_without_you]

Bucky recognizes people like this from a mile off. He's not entirely sure what it is that makes them stand out like they have a blaring white light on them, but it's something. Bucky can scan a crowd and find the people who feel like they don't belong. Maybe because like souls attract one another. Or maybe it's just years of being an assassin that has him primed to read people from a mile off. People who feel uncomfortable often are also the ones who look the most suspicious.

But this man? Bucky isn't sure why he let's him approach--and make no mistake: he allowed that. He seems foreign in a way that has Bucky thinking about secret documents and other universes. But at the same time he speaks English and appears to understand the basis of interactions. So it's a puzzle. But not one Bucky is all that interested in solving.

That isn't why he brings him back. He barely says anything about it, but the gesture isn't a new one for him. He sometimes would do this. Occasionally for a companion, more often to protect someone from something.

Making amends for a life that has no hope of redemption.

This falls into the latter camp, he feels. The man looks lost and profoundly alone. Bucky sympathizes. And his apartment might not be anything special, but it was secure. Bucky moves to the bed and grabs a blanket and pillow off of it, laying them both on the floor for him to sleep on, then goes to see if there's anything for him to cook.

"Not unusual for me," he says as he pulls out some vegetables and begins to make a thin soup. "I can let you stay a day. Maybe two or three but that's it. You can have the mattress. Don't touch any of my stuff. Especially the weapons. Got it?"

Proginoskes | A Wind in the Door

[a_singular_cherubim]

[Non-human at your service, although he hardly needs to be taught about the concept of Love. Would be an ideal choice for role-reversal or for guiding another non-human character.

That having been said, the idea of romantic love the way humans think of it is pretty foreign, so if anyone's interested in going that route, I'm game.]

[brooklyn_boy]

[Prefs in journal!]

K | Blade Runner 2049 | OTA

[replicant]

[someone help this loser out, please]

Sheldon Oberon || Jumanji || M/M

[mapsandcodesohmy]

Inspired by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: Rhino Run

Dr. Angela ' Mercy' Ziegler | Overwatch | OTA

[watching_over_you]

*Has a soft spot for Omnics and Cyborgs.*

Selene | Starfighter: Eclipse | M/M

[ombremoon]

[Can be either the studious technician who needs to be shown fun and love, or can definitely be the sweet and supportive affectionate one teaching how to love.]

Declan Lynch | The Raven Cycle

[sleepingpills]

[Ambitious playboy needs to be introduced to love.]

Tyl Regor | Warframe

[tubedad]

[Cyborg geneticist with encoded loyalty to twin queens, a lot of work cut out for anyone attempting the subject of love.]

kara | detroit become human

[deviantprogram]

[ subverted edition feat. the robot who already knows how to love ]

RK800 Connor | Detroit: Become Human

[thedevianthunter]

(What are feelings and why so many.)

Maria Hill :: MCU :: F/M

[standardprocedure]

"Goddammit, Maria! How can you be so worthless?! Do you really think anybody could love someone who killed their mother?"

She was six the first time she heard those words from her father, and things only went downhill from there. Hill had gone to nine different ERs by the time she was eight for everything from broken arms, busted lips, black eyes, and so on. She'd learned early on that survival was more important than being loved.

Even now, even today, love is something of a foreign concept to her. And having someone in her personal space still brings out her fight-or-flight response. Her first instinct is to almost always lash out, hurt them before they can hurt her. Or at the very least keep them at arms' length.

And relationships? Get real. There's no script, no standard operating procedure, no policy on how to navigate dealing with someone on a personal level. For years, Hill relied on her Level 9 security clearance as a crutch to avoid having any kind of close interpersonal relationship. Essentially, she was above damn near everyone's pay grade at SHIELD. And she couldn't get involved with a civilian just in case they weren't actually a civilian. Having every single command decision called into question because of her love life wasn't something Hill was willing to risk. Besides, there were enough rumors and innuendos about who she'd slept with to get kicked up SHIELD's chain of command, and she didn't want to add any more fuel to that fire.

Except SHIELD and all of its excuses are gone now. There's nothing keeping her from having something resembling a love life. Nothing except her own hang-ups and disbelief that someone might actually want to spend time with her despite the odds of getting throat punched.


[Cast/canon-mates preferred.]

Jyn Erso | Rogue One | OTA

[wherehopegoes]

HK400 | Detroit: Become Human

[hk400]

[Platonic is A+]