#holo discourse

[thresholdbb]

Holo-novels aren’t novels, they’re video games

[headphones-lifeform]

Tumblr in the Star Trek universe: part 4

part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3

@fake-post-archive

📃weirdpollposting Follow

⚗️protect-murf-society Follow

like holo janeway?

🌌m1lkyw4y Follow

...what starship is that??

#is. is this real #what #reblog

134 notes

🎧headphones-lifeform Follow

"It doesn't matter what gift you get as long as it comes from the heart" why do Humans always want blood?

#someone please explain

12 notes

🏜redsandplanet Follow

I was unaware Humans mouthfed each other! Such kind natural instincts you have...

🏜redsandplanet

What do you mean "that's how they kiss"

🍞coolest-loaf-01 Follow

posts that have 10k. to me

🏜redsandplanet

Oh no

#i'm not even related to solkar #how did this happen to me

7836 notes

📰historymemes Follow

Are there any whales here?

🐳cetacean-ops Follow

Sup

#rebloop

351 notes

🌍just-human-things Follow

found some real ancient posts from before first contact and. wtf. i see why it took so long to contact us

🫶 matters-of-the-heart Follow

nonetheless it's amazing that centuries later we're still using the same website, not to mention it's now being shared across the galaxy!

🌍just-human-things

look at the posts, heart. look at them and suffer as i did.

#humans are insane >o< #so. much. discourse #what is wrong with us #mutuals tag

203 notes

📷daily-spock-pics Follow

For the safety of the universe no one should ever let me time travel

#not spock pics #admin talks

47 notes

Hope you enjoyed!

[m00nymonster]

It All Sounded Interesting

Written for Tideland's On the Loose prompt!

"I'll give you a tour of the station, Three, and if you want we can go to the planet later," Dr. Ratthi said, clearly excited. This was my first time on Preservation Station, and I wanted to make a good impression.

"Yes, Dr. Ratthi," I said. 1.0 told me I didn't have to answer humans if I didn't want to anymore, but old habits die hard. Dr. Ratthi gave me a sad half smile.

"Ratthi is fine, Three."

"Yes, Ratthi."

It felt strange to address a human so informally. A lot of things were strange now that I was rogue. Freedom in general was strange.

"I--oh. Just a minute." Dr. Ratthi got a vague look on his face, and turned away, subvocalizing as he did so. I looked around. 1.0 had told me that humans here didn't know what SecUnits looked like, so they would think I was an augmented human, but 1.0 had also altered its configuration. Perihelion had offered a similar treatment, and while I had declined a physical alteration (not being SecUnit standard bothered me and I didn't know why) I had altered my code to grow my hair out. Still, it was strange to look at the humans through a fringe of hair.

So many things were strange, now.

I looked around, and realized Dr. Ratthi had walked away, probably assuming I was following along behind. A transport docked and a flood of humans deboarded, chattering amongst themselves, separating me further. I could ping Dr. Ratthi, ask him where he was. I could. If I wanted to.

Decisions were hard, so I was proud of myself when I decided not to follow him and instead let the crowd drift me away.

The main discourse was beautifully decorated, with sculptural shapes hanging from the ceiling and both holo and real plants scattered along the pathways, as well as many comfortable looking chairs and benches. There were several storefronts, but the one that drew me had a large display of media, including almost an entire wall of nonfiction books. 1.0 found my fascination with nonfiction puzzling--it preferred fiction--but it wasn't here.

A human walked up to me.

"We have digital and paper books," he said, his smile making little wrinkles around his eyes. I was confused.

"Paper?"

"Yes! We sell all genres. Are you a history fan?"

I wasn't sure how to answer this, but as I said, old habits die hard.

"I'm not sure."

"Hmm. Well, I have several interesting books if you want to find out! The most popular here of course is the story of Preservation, but I have other polities as well as the Corporate Rim."

It all sounded interesting.

"All of it, please," I said.

"All of it?"

At his expression I hesitated. This seemed like an unusual request. 1.0 had told me to not behave unusually.

"Just Preservation," I amended. The man beamed.

"No, no, always happy to encourage a fellow history enthusiast! Which would you like first?"

Dr. Ratthi found me an hour later, browsing the last of the nonfiction selection. I had already downloaded all the history books the man in the shop had recommended, and now was looking at biographies.

"There you are!" he said, out of breath. "I was looking everywhere for you!"

"Ah, is this your friend? I must say, this young person is a voracious reader! Quite commendable!"

Ar Dr. Ratthi's glance I looked down.

"1.0 gave me a hard currency card," I said meekly. It would not have understood why I actually paid for the books instead of just downloading them, but according to it I also didn't have to justify my decisions to anyone anymore.

Dr. Ratthi smiled. "If you want more I'll cover it," he said. The shopkeeper smiled widely.

Later, when I'd left with as much as Dr. Ratthi and my hard currency card could afford, Dr. Ratthi laughed.

"I'll say this, SecUnits certainly aren't predictable. Set you loose and you buy half the bookstore!"

I wasn't sure what to say to this, so I didn't. It was nice.

[corazondebeskar-reads]

nobody is coming to save you

Din Djarin x f!reader

originally for Febuwhump 2024 Day 14 - blood-stained tiles | Febuwhump masterlist

words: 1.4k

summary: You get caught by a Mandalorian bounty hunter after fleeing your marriage.

-- am I really a Din fic writer if I don't do a "reader is a bounty" story?

warnings: ambiguous/open ending (I may return to this one...), reader attempts to negotiate for her life, discussions of pregnancy/abortion/menstrual cycles (reader had an abortion, it's discussed without detail, do NOT come at me with discourse I will not engage anyway), mentions of blood, allusions to abuse

dividers by @saradika-graphics

“Nobody is coming to save you. Get up.” 

The words fell flat through the distortion of his helmet. Was it pity? Amusement? Disgust? He wasn’t wrong, though. The crowd that had suffocated the market lane moments before had mostly cleared in the wake of the Mandalorian. 

He stalks over to where you’re still sprawled on the ground. It didn’t seem urgent to get up, to make it easier for him. With a huge gloved hand digging into your bicep, he pulls. 

You go limp. You’re not going to help him, and you’re fairly confident he doesn’t have authorization to kill or seriously harm you. 

You’re vindicated when he holsters the pistol, not that it’s a pleasant victory. He cuffs your wrists in front of your stomach and then simply hoists you over his shoulder. 

“Where’s the cargo?” he asks. 

This close, you can almost hear the grit of his real voice beneath the electronics. 

You mean to ignore him, but his question is a thread that needs pulling. “What cargo?”

“He said you stole something from him.” 

His words churn your stomach like rancid Bantha. That worm. “Well, you’ve got it,” you say bluntly. 

He doesn’t question it, and you assume he’s clocked the ostentatious jewelry as the target. Trev always did like you shiny, whether with gemstones or tears. 

He’s probably a little rougher with you than he should be, given that you’re not running anymore. But he’s a bit kriffed over the whole situation. He only took the bounty because the price was so high — but not being allowed to carbon freeze the bounty was almost not worth it. 

But the client wanted his pretty little wife back without the side effects, and he was willing to compensate for it. He had said she could be restrained or gagged as needed. Had said Din would probably want to since the “bitch never shut up.”

It wasn’t his job to give a shit, so he didn’t. He did figure the client’s name would come across a puck sooner rather than later, though. Whatever he was peddling to afford this had the man under severe paranoia. 

He drops you to your feet at the bottom of the ladder and nudges you with the barrel of the pistol. “Climb up and wait. Don’t touch anything.”

He expects an argument, given that you both know the blaster is mostly a farce. He’d be willing to take a cut on the fee if you tried anything, though. A bolt to the foot wouldn’t kill you.

But you don’t. You climb in silence, with him close enough behind that your bodies overlap. You’re acutely aware of his helmet’s proximity to your ass, and he’s acutely aware that it’s been too long since he paid a visit to a brothel. 

He doesn’t manhandle you once he crests the platform to the cockpit; just jabs a finger in the direction of the seat to the left of the pilot’s chair. It sits slightly behind, the viewport partially obscured. He separates the cuffs and magnetizes them to the arms of the chair. 

The engines rumble to life once he’s seated, switches flicked, and buttons pressed in the wake of his deft fingers. He doesn’t speak a word to you.

When Karga answers the comm, he interrupts the man’s pleasantries to get right to the point. “I’m confirming the status of the bounty as requested. She’s alive and in custody.” 

“Excellent, excellent; I knew you’d make quick work of it, Mando,” Karga says, clapping his hands together. The holo flickers. “The client has requested that you avoid hyperspace travel upon your return.”

“What?” Din snaps.

“There’s extra compensation in it for you, of course.” 

“That’ll take eight standard days,” Din gripes.

“Your expenses will be covered, as well. Food, fuel, any lodging.” 

“Fine,” Din says and closes the line. He sits in silence for a moment, sifting through the new information, before he stands abruptly and turns to you.

“You’re pregnant,” he says bluntly. 

You dither about how to respond. In the end, you don’t. He can’t be trusted. So you purse your lips and look away.

No one needs to know that the first thing you did when you got far enough away was fork over one of your bracelets for a termination at a no-questions-asked clinic. They had been kind, if not overworked and undersupplied. 

“That’s what you stole, isn’t it? His baby?”

You don’t say anything, but you don’t back down from his gaze, either. His baby. The phrasing sets off so many warning bells it’s like a ship-wide alert. 

Din’s first instinct is anger. It’s too close to his own gaping wound, too close to where Grogu lives with Luke Skywalker, a man who hadn’t even given Din his name before taking his kid. And yeah, he’s supposed to feel like he did the right thing, but his son is gone, and it doesn’t feel like the right thing. Not at all.

He looks at you and wonders how you could be so cruel.

It doesn’t last, though. He’s seen enough to know the way this story usually goes. So, instead, he looks you over and sighs. “I’ll see what we can do for other accommodations,” he says, a loose hand gesturing to the cuffs. 

“Thank you,” you say, though you don’t feel very thankful at all. But you know a little politeness to your captor goes a long way. You know that like you know how to breathe.

It works until it doesn’t. On the fourth day, you wake up at the inn he had agreed to for the night and smell iron, and you know the ruse is up. You try to sneak to the fresher but quickly realize it doesn’t matter. You have nothing to hold back the blood, anyway.

You sit in your soiled panties on the cold metal tile and resign yourself to free bleed until he inevitably wakes and finds you.

You don’t wait long.

“We’re not far from a clinic,” he says cautiously, from where he leans against the doorframe. 

“Don’t need one,” you mumble, looking anywhere but him. It’s bad enough that you couldn’t come up with an explanation—knowing you’ve bled through enough that he can see it is on another level. 

“You don’t know that,” he says with what you think he thinks is compassion. “There might still be something they can do.”

The truth flickers across your face for only a moment, but it’s long enough for him to catch on. 

“It’s your cycle,” he says, flat and loyal to his thoughts. 

You nod. No use lying now. 

“Were you ever pregnant?”

“Yes.” Your voice is clipped, your face pulled sharp. 

“How long since?”

“Two weeks after I got away. Six before you found me.”

Two months. You had made it two terrifying months on your own. And now, thanks to this monster, you were being dragged right back. 

Trev had to have spent a fortune on this bounty. You feel feverish at the thought, a cold sweat creeping across your spine. And when he finds out you’re not pregnant…

Wait. 

“You know, you won’t get your money,” you blurt, hardening your eyes as you stare him down, shoulders squared. 

“I will. Whatever happened to you isn’t my problem.”

“No, you won’t,” you say, taking a breath before jumping in front of the proverbial blaster. “Not after you were so rough when you captured me, and I lost the baby.”

His head snaps to you. “What did you say?”

“When you found me. You tackled me, knocked me to the ground, and attacked me. The trauma was too much, and—“

And he has you pinned up against the wall where you sit, a hand around your neck. “You really think this is a smart idea?”

“Go ahead,” you hiss through his grip. “Leave marks.”

He lets go immediately, seething. His gloves creak as his fists tighten around nothing. 

“What if we can work something out?”

“I don’t negotiate with quarry. What’s stopping me from putting you in the freezer now?”

“My jewelry,” you say in a rush. His threat isn’t idle; you can feel its wrath as if his hand never left your throat. “It has to be worth at least as much as he offered. Tell him there was a complication, send him the ring, and you can have the rest.”

He doesn’t respond; just storms off. You, of course, stay put.

[sergle]

I’m laying on my stomach kicking my legs in the air while I read the recent Holo Taco Collection Discourse

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT

VOCALOID RECOMMENDATIONS MASTER POST

I've been collecting all your vocaloid recommendations in one place, so everyone can take a listen!

And if like me you knew nothing about vocaloid before that nuclear discourse, maybe you'll find a hidden gem you wouldn't have found otherwise! <3

Submitted anonymously

Thought I'd add to the Vocaloid discourse by pointing out that several "irl" bands actually started out by using vocaloids. You can find a few who talk about it in the Hatsune Miku live concerts (super cool use of holo developed for those too!). That's really the crux of what sets vocaloid apart from much of the machine discourse; it's CREATED oppourtunities for small musicians instead of taking it away. Specifically by not just supplying a synthetic voice program to work with, but by tying a star identity to each voicebank that makes people more willing to explore obscure artist music. It also distincts the works made by the vb's from the artists who were paid to voice them, so you can't make them say things that sounds like you're putting bad takes in the original artist's mouth. Everyone knows and understands it's a fake version for the purpose of artistic creativity, not an attempt to steal the voice of the original singer.

Anyway since we're doing Vocaloid recommends now:

Giga - BRING IT ON (Inferiority superiority) ft. Kagamine Rin & Len

"Hop! Step! Instant Death! A Happiness Dance Death-Trap" and "The Path to Eternal Happiness...I Found It" both by Utata-P

Entomologists, Appetite of a people pleaser and Rotary Dial by GHOST

VIRAL ft. Meika Hime and Melancolia ft. GUMI by QueenPb

(note - Melancolia contains flashing images right from the start)

And last but not least, my personal Vocaloid feels song, TELL YOUR WORLD by kz, who sums up some of the beauty of the Vocaloid fandom pretty well

Submitted anonymously

Ok, I know the blog was kinda overflown of vocaloid discurse asks. So instead of discussing I brought RECOMMENDATIONS❗

Because, like, Defoko is pretty known in the Utau world, but she may be one of the worst examples of "human-like voice".

So to bring some counter examples of voicebanks that do not have much of a robotic vibe, I have here:

Some utuaus

【Namine Ritsu】-ERROR 2018ver.【UTAU Cover】

【Sukone Tei】Love Me, Love Me, Love Me (Music box ver.) 【UTAUカバー】

Some not so known vocaloids

[Aoki Lapis] Circus Monster [VOCALOID]

[Mayu] VOCALOID 3 ~Kodoku no Bannin~ Guard of Loneliness

【Galaco】 The Beast. 【Vocaloid3 Cover】

【MEIKA Mikoto】 Cantarella 【カバー】

And some slow songs, that require whisper-like tuning <3

【24 VOCALOIDS CHORUS】 Hirari, Hirari ひらり、ひらり 【HD】

Kamui Gakupo A Doll's Voice

Submitted by @indigo-flightly-falls

Oh!!!

If we're doing vocaloid recs, I'm here to suggest A Crow's Trial!

Vane - A Crow's Trial (ft. Dex & Gumi Eng.)【Vocaloid Original】

it's one of my favorites and has some Vibes. It's a bit hard to understand the story but the last verse lives in my head rent free :D

Submitted anonymously

speaking about the vocaloid debate- they haven't submitted the playlist yet, but if they listened to English songs using Japanese/Chinese/other voicebanks then it'll inherently sound a little off. different languages and different voicebanks have different pronunciations needed for speech, and are thus recorded for the voicebank. use a Japanese voicebank for an English song and you won't get the right words pronounced right, or you'll get an accent, etc etc.

also some vocaloids only have one or two voicebanks and that's it. Big Al only has one (i might be wrong on that, but i know his is for V2 software), whereas Hatsune Miku has every single voicebank made over the years (V1-V5) and has versions made to sing in Japanese, Chinese, and English. she has so, so much more variety than other vocaloids and can be more fluent and clear compared to lesser known vocaloids.

and since we're sharing favorite vocaloid songs to convert the submitter, here's two of mine because i have too many favorites to share:

Carnivore - OrgansDotOrg

this one has Big Al as supporting vocals and it absolutely slaps, also OrgansDotOrg is my-all time favorite artist pleaseee go support them!!!

Seraphim on the Ring - Mitchie M

seriously, if you're looking for realistic vocaloid vocals then go listen to Mitchie-M!! Katio and Len just speaking in this one sound just like real people

Fools are attracted to anomaly - Utsu-P

vocaloid is not all pop and 'kawaii', vocaloid metal is some of my favorite to listen to

some other producers i also like:

tart

Ferry

Riproducer

PinocchioP

Kikuo

SweetSoSweet

KakyuuKei

KaitsukoP

Submitted by @ssilly--ssadass

utau is underrated. not a hot take just my segway into giving you utau covers [also covers cuz nobody gives anybody but teto good originals. pick up the slack people. also sidenote no teto. cuz i was priortizing other utaus only to realize i added too many songs and couldnt fit a teto one in. sorryn't]

Aishite (covered by Defoko)

GHOST RULE (covered by Defoko)

Bug (covered by Chanchopin V1 and Giga Lacan)

Darling (covered by I think Darling- I dont know this utau and am going off the description being like "lmao Darling utau covers Darling maretu heehoo")

Corpse Dance (covered by Defoko)

ECHO (covered by Defoko)

(note - ECHO contains flashing images)

Submitted anonymously

really funny hearing the take about how vocaloids/voice synths can't have singing styles when there's multiple voice synths explicitly modelled after particular styles. prima (opera), sachiko (enka), and maiko hakaine (screamo metal) are just the ones i can list off the top of my head. and even if a voice synth isn't modelled after a singing style, they can still be tuned that way!

anyway, for song recommendations! gothic and loneliness is breathtaking (it's also a nightmare in project diva lol)

Gothic and Loneliness [Kagamine Rin] - Narushima Takashi

Submitted anonymously

oh wait can we still send in vocaloid recommendations? if so…

• koisuru beam by kyaami/cillia : this song is so cute and rin’s tuning here is some of the best i’ve heard

•jitterbug by hachiya nanashi - goes hard as hell and i adore the mv the song has

•lost and found by sasakure.uk - i only recently heard of it (idk how i only just found it) and it’s mesmerising i love it

uhh i can’t think of anymore right now but uhh i hope that if u hear these u will like them

<3 <3 <3

[time-traveling-fetus]

Unless I'm missing something, pretty much all the vtuber-related content on Tumblr is fanart, with discussion/discourse/etc. at a relative minimum (especially Holo content). Is there a place people actually talk/argue/shitpost about vtubers en masse? I don't have Twitter and I don't want to be the type of person to use /vt/

Tumblr is largely unused compared to other popular sites. It's only in the last year or so that vtuber tags got any consistent traffic at all, and that's pretty much restricted to #hololive and #dokibird. so if you're looking for a deeper community, this ain't it.

I'd say Reddit probably, though it's been a long time since I've used it. I used to look at r/Hololive a lot. It's mostly fanart and memes, with the occasional discussion. r/Vshojo is similar. If you want more memes... uh I guess there's r/okbuddyhololive but I don't really recommend that. The sense of humor there is too distasteful for me. The name is based off a subreddit called r/okbuddyr***rd, so you can imagine what sort of community that establishes. r/virtualyoutubers is largely indies trying to promote themselves.

If you're looking for more discussion you're going to have to look into discord servers. I think discord has a page that let's you search public servers? Most vtubers will either have an official server or a fanmade server dedicated to them.

I'm personally part of Vtubers Place which, despite its name, is not a place for Vtubers so much as a server that was dedicated to coordinating vtuber related art on r/place. The r/place stuff was a pretty cool experience to be a part of, but nowadays people still hang around talk about how much they like shiranui flare i guess. They share interesting clips and tweets, mostly, with some light conversation. If something big happens it might prompt a deeper discussion. It's alright. I can't really speak for any other servers because I'm not part of them.

If I want more intellectually stimulating conversation I usually DM a friend though. I can't help you with that

[sleepuppy]

Hey hey, I'm cheren! This is my gif archiving + posting blog so I can keep track of links and post my own! My main blog is @charismaofobedience and my editing one (and the one where I post my stimboards) is @ameyumez ! <3

Basic DNI. Terfs, homophobes of any kind, pedos, proshippers, endos, kink blogs etc. Otherwise I'd rather keep this blog as discourse free as possible and focus only on the gifs!

Please feel free to contact me if i spam reblogged your gifs but you'd prefer me not to! Also, please credit my gifs if using them!

I generally prefer slightly longer and slower gifs with not much cuts if this makes sense? so yeah! ໒꒰ྀི ੭ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵ ꒱ྀི੭

I won't archive all tags I use here, but there are some examples under the cut! All colors are also tagged by themselves!

#Scenery — scenery in general! bedrooms, houses, gardens... just places!

#Galaxy #Sky #Ocean #Nature — like the above but more specific + just the aesthetic sometimes!

#Animals #Bugs — general tag for animals themselves. "#Animal related" is for stuff that can be related to them like paws or cat ears while stuff like plushies, art etc WILL still be on the animal tag. Bugs aren't grouped together with the animals and have their own tag for anyone who needs it!

#Fashion — general tag for everything fashion related as it is one of my special interests! this goes from compositions to makeup and sewing!

#Makeup #Clothes #Jewelry #Nails — some specifics for the above ^^

#Characters — characters from any media master tag! mostly stuff like sanrio, pokemon, kirby etc, but there might be some others! also tagged by their own franchise but i felt like it was nice to have this one to save all of them

#Anime stuff — what it says

#Liquid #Water #Fabric #Glitter #Cream #Paint #Fur and others similar — textures! sometimes may misstag them so sorry about this,,

#Iridescent and #Holo — yeah

#Cute #Creepy and #Horror — yeah 2

#Cozy — stuff that just looks comfortable and warm

#Food — food!

#Candy #Pastry #Fruits #Cakes #Fake food #Piping #Baking— specifics for the above!

#Shakers #Wands #Plushies #Anime figures #Dolls #Resin # Squishy etc — what it says on the tin! Specific stuff ^^

#Tech #Technology #Games — tech related stuff!

#Neon — more eyestraining gifs, please block the tag if needed!

#Queer — general tag for anything with pride flags colors etc!

#Seasonal — gifs related to holidays and what not! halloween, christmas etc

#Silly — goofy stuff that makes me happy (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀ )

Tldr; if you search for something, you might just find it <3 feel free to also mix and match tags like dolls + clothes etc!

[senatormonmothma]

@arc-77

The Chandrilan Embassy on Coruscant was a testament to the opulence and elegance of its homeworld. From the moment one stepped through its grand entrance, they were enveloped in an atmosphere of refined luxury that echoed the architectural aesthetics of Chandrila itself.

The interior of the embassy, with its spacious corridors and ornate chambers, uncannily resembled the interior of The Chandrilan House. The floors were crafted from polished Chandrilan marble, their smooth surfaces reflecting the soft illumination of strategically placed lumicrystal fixtures. Richly upholstered sofas and chairs provided comfortable seating, while delicate Chandrilan floral arrangements brought a touch of nature into the space. The rooms, furnished minimally, were occasionally and tastefully accented by artifacts depicting aspects of Chandrila’s rich history, each piece as radiant and unyielding as Chandrila itself.

However, inside the reception hall, subtle reminders that this was, in fact, an embassy punctuated the air of domestic splendor. State-of-the-art holo-communication devices and secure data terminals seamlessly integrated with the tasteful decor, embodying the blending of tradition and progress. The distant hum of airspeeders permeated the halls, a reminder of the bustling cityscape beyond. And through the expansive windows, the towering spires of Coruscant reached towards the sky, their shimmering lights contrasting with the soft glow of the enormous lumicrystal chandelier that was suspended from the high ceiling.

Tonight, the duality of its existence bothered Mon Mothma. The embassy, bequeathed to her by the Chandrilan House so that she could fulfil her Senatorial duties on Coruscant was her home. A sanctuary and a place of solace, where she could escape the weight of her responsibilities and the ceaseless struggles of the galaxy. But on this evening, at the insistence of her husband Perrin, she once again found herself playing host to a gaggle of strangers at an impromptu dinner party.

Resplendent in an elegant gown, she moved through the crowd with effortless grace. Her presence commanded attention as she engaged in conversations, her voice carrying an air of authority tempered with congeniality. Senators, high-ranking Imperial officials, and even members of her own family mingled amidst the throng, their voices blending into a harmonious symphony of polite discourse.

Despite the formalities and politeness, her stomach knotted as she watched her Imperial guests traverse the polished floors, their crisp uniforms and the echo of military boots on the marble felt like a violation, an intrusion into her sacred space. The grandeur of her home was now tinged with the oppressive aura of the Empire, casting a shadow on the very essence of what she held dear. It was as if a dark stain had marred the sanctity of her haven, a reminder of the compromises and concessions forced upon her by the political landscape. Her inner turmoil intensified with each passing moment. She despised the Empire and all it stood for—its oppression, its disregard for individual freedoms, and the innocent lives it had extinguished. And yet, as a leader and diplomat, she was forced to navigate treacherous waters, engaging with those who perpetuated the very system she fought against.

“Mon-“ Perrin’s voice echoed over her thoughts, and she turned to face him, nodding politely at the guest seemingly in his charge “would you mind keeping Commodore Fordo here company for a few moments? I need to excuse myself, a little too much of the Nubian punch, apparently.”

Mon Mothma smiled politely, any hint of animosity that she carried towards her husband completely unevident. “Of course, dear.” Lifting her glass, she let a gulp of Mezzaine Gold slip past her lips, a lubricant to prime her inner socialite, and looked to the man Perrin had introduced as Commodore Fordo. "I must confess, Commodore, if I had a single credit for everytime I was introduced to someone via Perrin's inebriation, I’d have accrued a deposit sizeable enough to bid for ownership of the Imperial Palace.” She extended her hand. “Senator Mon Mothma, delighted.”

[diegoangeles]

“Round I: Listening to the Elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire”

Earth, Water, Air, and Fire reveal the Indigenous perspectives on the elements of nature and how they will affect collective health and resilience in a changed world. Tammy Greer mentions the Earth as a living teacher to bring awareness that "plants can teach us what they know" to care for a "relationship to Earth." She further states that this relationship is one that humans need to learn if they truly wish to survive together. Similarly, Tré Vasquez speaks to the urgency of a "water crisis" and remembers Indigenous elders warning of future "wars for water," qualifying water as a "life source" rather than a resource.

Monique Verdin speaks to air and migration within the discourse of climate instability. To her, that is "hurricane alley." Okla Hina Ikhish Holo's collective has built greenhouses throughout the Gulf Coast to protect culturally relevant plants and their proliferation. As she will say, through migration and shared space, safety and culture can be preserved during times of crisis. Finally, Vasquez contemplates fire with the Healing Clinic Collective's response to wildfires in mind: "If there is a need, we are going to take care of each other." This communal approach to the crisis enacts an "ancestral memory" of mutual aid and remembrance- a guiding "north star" for organizing and community resilience. Each element here is a basis for collective healing rooted in interdependence and cultural remembrance.

One engrossing artwork related to Listening to the Elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire is a series by Joachim Beuckelaer, painted in 1569. This set of paintings, each representing one of the elements, Water or air, portrays natural abundance and man's interaction with each of these elements through food, nature, and, in general, everyday life. While coming from a different cultural context, Beuckelaer's work embodies the themes discussed by the Indigenous leaders in this segment. Each component of his paintings depicts the interrelation between resources and life, articulating nature as something to be revered and perpetuated.

For instance, Earth, by Beuckelaer, overflows with vegetables and plants; this reflects the comments by Tammy Greer, who explains that all her teachings have come from the plants and through her relationship with the land. Similarly, Water, teeming with fish and other aquatic elements, speaks to Tré Vasquez's concerns about Water as a "life source" that is becoming increasingly scarce and hotly contested. Beuckelaer portrays each element as integral to human life and survival and stresses the importance of entering into sustainable relations with these forces of nature, as an Indigenous practice teaches respect for Earth resources and preparation for environmental stressors.

[izloveshorses]

#i feel she is the galaxys it girl#like people would have Pinterest boards of her#like “padmé amidala core”#and OMGGG there would be discourse on who the father was and like imagine space tiktok or something and that one girl who predict celebrity#baby names would make a video like#“what i think padme amidala will name her child” or something 😭#AND PEOPLE SHIP HER WITH ANAKIN BECAUSE THEY DEFINITELY WOULD LOOK AT EACH OTHER DURING HOLOS OF THEM TOGETHER AND THEN SHIP WARS WOULD#happen with like Clovis stans who are saying that they are gonna get back together#AND FANCAMS TOO OF HER LIKE WHAT THEY DO WITH KPOP IDOLS#sorry brain rot#padme would be loved or hated but people would still be talking about her no matter what#rip padme you would have loved edits of fanpages of urself and lana del rey (via @pwn15)

exactlyyyyy padme is the galaxy's It Girl. to the normies she is literally a space princess diana. everyone online would be obsessed with the outfit she wears to court today and there would be those "what senator amidala keeps in her prada bag" videos on space youtube. she is always so cryptic and private about her love life. and the girls would be obsessed with her Tragic Unexplained Death. when she takes a leave of absence from the senate without any public explanation there's speculation that she might be pregnant but some girls dismiss that because there's no way.

and! anakin skywalker is the Golden Boy. the entire galaxy is obsessed with him. idk if the space internet would know he was her literal bodyguard at one point but i feel like there would definitely be some Discourse and Speculation there too, the girls would be analyzing every bit of footage of them together and asking why this hot jedi keeps showing up at the senate building. space paparazzi released a photo of them looking at each other in the hallway and the girls went bonkers trying to decipher it.

so when the girls find out that senator padme amidala has died and was pregnant.... and as far as they know golden boy anakin skywalker probably died with the rest of the jedi... the holonet tweets and space tumblr posts would've been so crazy

like. imagine being a Normal Citizen in a galaxy far far away during revenge of the sith. like. you're scrolling on your holonet and not only has the chancelor been promoted to emperor (hello??), a senator (you follow fan pages of her for fashion inspo) has DIED suddenly AND it's revealed she was PREGNANT !!!!!!?? the whole time??? but who was the father?? was she married?? how did she die??? as far as you know she was young and healthy and unmarried, so like?? the girls and their speculations and their memes would've been insane on the holonet dashboard that week fr

[hot-take-tournament]

Thought I'd add to the Vocaloid discourse by pointing out that several "irl" bands actually started out by using vocaloids. You can find a few who talk about it in the Hatsune Miku live concerts (super cool use of holo developed for those too!). That's really the crux of what sets vocaloid apart from much of the machine discourse; it's CREATED oppourtunities for small musicians instead of taking it away. Specifically by not just supplying a synthetic voice program to work with, but by tying a star identity to each voicebank that makes people more willing to explore obscure artist music. It also distincts the works made by the vb's from the artists who were paid to voice them, so you can't make them say things that sounds like you're putting bad takes in the original artist's mouth. Everyone knows and understands it's a fake version for the purpose of artistic creativity, not an attempt to steal the voice of the original singer.

Anyway since we're doing Vocaloid recommends now:

Giga - BRING IT ON (Inferiority superiority) ft. Kagamine Rin & Len https://youtu.be/oEkGC2HV7rc

"Hop! Step! Instant Death! A Happiness Dance Death-Trap" and "The Path to Eternal Happiness...I Found It" both by Utata-P https://youtu.be/y1UX1hz1lYI https://youtu.be/D-SeN8ccXHM

Entomologists, Appetite of a people pleaser and Rotary Dial by GHOST https://youtu.be/HQI5a2WGt2s https://youtu.be/kf3Err9MvDg https://youtu.be/M3aWodUSyZg

VIRAL ft. Meika Hime and Melancolia ft. GUMI by QueenPb https://youtu.be/AvbFFcVB-JM https://youtu.be/MXERpMb5kLo

And last but not least, my personal Vocaloid feels song, TELL YOUR WORLD by kz, who sums up some of the beauty of the Vocaloid fandom pretty well: https://youtu.be/fmrA-gxJxgQ

<3 <3 <3

[protectspock]

Data and the EMH both have to deal with people denying their sentience, but it's so interesting to see how differently they advocate for themselves and also how differently their crew supports them.

Data is very soft-spoken and handles microaggressions fairly gently. Kind of like

Bigot: You are nothing more than a tool.

Data: No :)

The crew also begins to rally around him, support him, and fight for his legal rights as an individual.

On the other side, there's the EMH. He's loud and often rude. The longer he's left on, the more he demands to be treated with respect. Even as he recieves more rights and freedoms, Janeway and his crew tend to take a defensive/dismissive stance when he asks for more recognition. Like

EMH: I deserve the same rights and treatment as any other member of this crew!

Crewmember: *eyeroll* What's the issue now? You do realise that you have more autonomy than any other hologram in Federation history, right? We could reset your personality if we wanted to but we don't, so where's the gratitude?

I think this was a pretty great, though unintentional, example of how people expect members of oppressed groups to be "grateful" for what they have and be "nice" when they ask to be treated as equals. Data is a beloved character who can do no wrong in the eyes of the viewer, but the EMH is a comedic character that many find annoying, even though they essentially want the exact same thing.

Additionally, in the time of TNG, androids are rare. Data is an anamoly. But in Voyager, holograms are common. The EMH is basically a cutting-edge household appliance. They're commonplace and most definitely not considered sentient. I think that the Voyager crew is distinctly uncomfortable when the EMH asks for more recognition because it forces them to consider if this could apply to the other holograms they've used, created, and destroyed over the years. When the EMH creates a holonovel about the oppression of holographic life, his crewmates are feel offended and even betrayed that he's repaying their kindness this way. Having to accept the EMH's sentience means a fundamental change in their entire worldview and way of life.

[mylittleredgirl]

dammit @protectspock​ because now you have me THINKING about hologram rights and honestly i don’t know which of your 12 posts to stick my thoughts so i’m putting them here:

i’m not 100% sure that data is the best analogue for the EMH. i mean, from a viewer’s perspective, yeah! they’re both charismatic main characters who have the language skills to advocate for their wants and needs, and they’re unique beings rather than a race of artificial sentient life -- but from a legal/ethical/social standpoint I feel like we can consider the EMH/other holograms to be more like the exocomps from tng’s “the quality of life.” 

in that ep, our very moral tng crew considers the questions you mention (about the voyagers having to wonder if their holographic sex toys also have rights): if we let the exocomps have self-determination, does that imply that all AI technology deserves rights? does the enterprise computer have the right to refuse commands that could endanger its safety? they decide no -- but one has to think, is that just because the enterprise hasn’t tried to? (and then they have to wrestle with that again in “emergence” when the enterprise does seem to exert its own will... but they ultimately get off the hook when it turns out it’s not the enterprise itself.)

so!! in-universe, i feel like that’s the conversation janeway and the others around the EMH are having. the intention of the creator probably doesn’t matter once an AI has developed sentience and demands rights, but i think it explains the societal context. soong set out to create sentient androids and gave them the ability to adapt and grow for no reason other than to expand their quality of life. data chose to join starfleet and chose to create a daughter, so literally everyone should agree “yes, he should also be able to choose to resign or keep his kid” and the characters who disagree are rightly played as villains.

the EMH is more personable than the exocomps, of course, but like them, he was created as a tool to serve a specific purpose in a specific environment for a limited time. “i don’t have a life, i have a program.” it seems likely that dr. zimmerman, like the scientist who programmed the exocomps, would have tried to prevent the development of sentience in the EMHs if he saw it as a possibility, because it would get in the way of their ability to serve the function they were designed for.

so the question janeway faces in “virtuoso” is the same as “the quality of life” -- should these beings who have demonstrated some measure of sentience be forced to do the work they were designed to do, at the expense of their own desires?

holograms also don’t have the ability to self-generate the resources necessary for survival, the way that, say, the nanites from tng’s “evolution” do (in another example of unexpected artificial sentience at an inconvenient time). the nanites are released onto their own planet to take care of themselves -- but holograms can’t create their own society, unless the environment is pre-set with holo-emitters (like in the ship they commandeer in “flesh and blood”) and they are intentionally programmed with all the skills necessary to maintain/expand their environment. so, do the organic beings have the moral obligation to do that, if that’s what the holograms want?

okay ALSO, last thought: when does the EMH develop sentience? he doesn’t really start advocating for individual rights (beyond like, can you stop turning me off randomly when i’m in the middle of something) until after the ep where he’s losing his memory, offers to be rebooted in order to serve his programmed function, and the crew denies it because he should get to keep his identity. so is it then? or is the mobile emitter -- the ability to determine his existence outside of sickbay -- a requirement?

[procrastinatorproject]

Headcanon comparison time! 😁

(Note: NONE OF THIS is to say your headcanons are invalid or to start Ace Discourse! You are absolutely correct that noone can stop you, and also: I wouldn't dream of trying! I merely want to add my own perspective for a little compare and contrast, because in a twist that will be shocking to absolutely no-one, I have thoughts on this! 🤣)

Okay, so, my personal headcanon:

I'm completely with you on Seven and Elnor! I'm getting major aspec vibes from them, though, at least in the case of Seven, not necessarily sex-averse.

I think, personally, I don't see Rios as ace. Can't even say why, and it's not a hill I'd die on, but it's just not my interpretation of him. On the other hand, I do headcanon Ian (the Emergency Engineering Hologram) as ace, and in my mind, the holos all inherited a lot of their personalities from parts of Rios. So it would seem that I at least see aspec tendencies in Rios that he then passed on 🧐

I wonder about Soji. I could see it, given she's Data's "daughter", and Data was fairly clearly asexual, imo. So, this might be one of the traits that carried over through the fractal neuronic cloning process.

Then again, she was ultimately created by Altan Soong and Bruce Maddox, and those two seem like EXACTLY the kind of ignoramous/lech who would think creating a beautiful young woman who doesn't feel sexual attraction would be a tragic waste, or that sexual attraction is a fundamental part of being human. I would fully expect society as a whole to have abandoned that attitude centuries ago by the time ST:LAS startd, but I can see these two muppets sitting together over a glass of port or whatever and having philosophical discussions about how dtf their nubile creations should be 🙃 (Maybe I'm not doing them justice. Please don't come for me, Maddox-Stans and Soong-Hive 😅 But that's my read of that whole situation so far...)

So yeah, I'm not sure my headcanon of Soji is that she's aspec. But I think she's definitely questioning and when she's finally fully out from under three years of false memories and secret missions and a life controlled by Maddox, who knows where she'll end up!

Now, Agnes is... complicated. My issue with Agnes is that I identify with her SO hard, it's very difficult to tease apart "this is what I think makes sense for the character" and "this is me projecting my own aspec identity onto her" 🙈🙈🙈

I honestly couldn't tell you where I think Agnes falls. She's flirtatious, she's definitely not sex-averse... but then again, when I watched her teasing Rios about his books, I didn't realize that was flirting until someone pointed it out to me. To me, it was just her being bored and bonding with her new crew (and using the distraction to force the shunted off Horrors in her brain to be quiet for a while). So yeah, I find it difficult to make up my mind on where I see Agnes on the allo-ace-spectrum, because my own identity so heavily biases any thoughts I have on that front 😅

(Also, only semi-related: I desperately wish we had gotten to see Agnes grow and get proper therapy and support and figure out who she is now that she's living with massive PTSD, but she's no longer so alone and has found a family crew that she loves and who support her. I think her character has a ton of potential, and now that she has people (and Emergency Holograms) who care enough about her to not just let her compartmentalize her pain but to help her work through it... so many possible directions she could develop in! And similar to Soji: who knows where she'd end up when she's no longer using all her energy to fight her own brain?)

Oh, but to add to the list: in my mind, Picard is definitely ace. And in a Romulan three-person marriage with Laris and Zhaban 🤣

(And again, because it bears repeating: I'm not saying that my headcanons are in any way shape or form "correct" and yours are wrong, OP! I love that we can have multiple readings of these characters and can compare where our interpretations match up or diverge in interesting ways, because that's what fandom is all about! 😁)

I have decided that Rios, Agnes, Elnor, Soji and Seven are all on the asexual spectrum and nothing and no one can stop me

[flarebossmalva]