#not sure about soong-

[ussenderprise]

food for the daforge crowd

[spockvarietyhour]

Star Trek The Next Generation "Lonely Among Us"

[freakdroids]

Data winking at Picard and scanning him w his eyes. last gif is a slowed down version so u can more easily see it

[good-wine-and-cheese]

The other half of Star Trek AU! Ochanomizu (ft. mind meld with Tenma)

I thought about putting him in science division but I like the idea of Ochan having a background in communications tbh. I feel like he would be really interested in that.

He grew up hearing about the development of the world's first "positronic brain" - supposedly a piece of technology that would enable humans to create life forms with true Artificial Intelligence. However the research was shelved and left incomplete, leading Ochanomizu to take interest in conducting his own work on the subject. This gets him scouted by Starfleet, with promises of ample resources and a retinue of colleagues with the varied skills offered within the Federation; and while it was never his intention to join Starfleet, he could hardly resist the opportunity.

This eventually lands him leadership of a research initiative whose aim was to continue the research done into the positronic brain, hoping to create the Federation's first truly self-determining AI android. It's three years into his efforts that the outpost gains its first representative of Vulcan's own science institute, though it could be argued he's much less of a "help" than he is an annoyance; Tenma does not make a strong first impression with the human crew he so derides. Though he's proficient as an engineer, it'll certainly take time for the two to warm to each other in any capacity.

Ochanomizu, outside of his primary research, loves Tribbles! He is a licensed caretaker and helps educate people about them. He has a Tribble nursery on the outpost, much to Tenma's chagrin.

Also, even though he's at the rank of captain, he has never sought out his own command. He likes what he has on his little research outpost and doesn't really have the itch for space cowboyisms.

[neemie101]

The Eyebrow Raise Data gives Fajo as he pulls the trigger is the best part of the episode.

[namorian]

I've been reading various conversations over whether or not Data has had emotions in some form or another the whole time or not because it's the exact kind of historical fandom conversation I love to study and it's WILD to me how little people are bringing up Lal in what I've seen so far. I've seen people mention things like Tasha's death, Spot in general, the Most Toys and In Theory episodes but so far I've only seen Offspring mentioned on here and in 1 youtube comment.

Now I haven't even seen any of these episodes yet, I'm still in season 1 and only just now coming up to Tasha's death but I know enough about things to know that Lal should REALLY be the center of this debate along with the fact that he ???? wants these emotions to begin with? because why would an emotionless android want that to begin with?

But regardless of that part just -- Lal and Data's desire for a child, how he interacts with her, his reactions to her death are all logically really good fodder for this conversation????

And on top of that even if you take the stance that the show SAYS he has no emotions and that any we see are either his in-universe mimicry or a product of human (and thus emotional) writers and actors -- he DOES UPLOAD LAL'S BRAIN INTO HIS. SO LOGICALLY HE NOW HAS AT LEAST SOME CONCEPT OF/CAPACITY FOR EMOTION. While he didn't really get that from the uploading of the colonists minds when he was made, given the different context and how much more compatible her brain is to his and how IMPORTANT things like her feelings were to her existence it's INSANE to think they didn't get copied over into him and INSANE to think it doesn't impact him in some way.

Like via having her memories/experiences/programming in his own head now and the fact that she CANONICALLY experienced things like love and fear he AT MINIMUM now has experience with feeling those things even if second hand and now also has INPUT which would be processed by his subconscious functions and likely Do Something to him in the long run.

Just like --- even if you're a hardliner that he didn't feel emotions until the chip i just feel like you gotta explain Lal just like IN GENERAL and also how the FUCK having her mind downloaded into his wouldn't SOMEHOW effect his capacity for emotions.

[quarkfancam]

actually i find the idea that voice synthesizers will come so far they are indistinguishable from real people in the future of star trek so interesting (e.g. data & emh & such). and i do mean synthesizers, e.g. not the RCV ai-pasted-over-voice type thing, i mean completely newly generated from scratch - sure, with voices modeled after their inventors, but every word they speak is new and not taken from a pre-existing recording. if you think about it the soong bots and most of the holograms that appear and such are basically (among everything else about them) really evolved versions of VODER or microsoft sam or (in specific cases) hatsune miku

[startrekmemequeen]

Thinking about Noonien Soong again...

People give him a lot of shit for "being a bad father" but i don't think they realize how hard it actually is to have an android kid.

It's fucking hard to be a parent. That's just a fact of life. Ask anyone who has kids. But imagine if your child also has enough physical strength to stop a moving car with one hand and can think about 10 000 things faster than you blink. But they still have trouble regulating their emotions. They still new to life, everything is new to them. You have to explain things to them, you have to teach them everything. But their brain is something so complicated and difficult, how can you even know that conventional methods will work on them? Do you have to go back and make adjusments to their programming or is it a matter of finding the right words to explain a very complicated subject in a way they would understand? Is their brain capable of comprehending this particular thing? It's your job to find out!

You live in a colony so you're a part of a community and so is your child. If a one year old human child has a tantrum and hits someone, that's totally normal. But what if an android does that? Everyone in your community would be terrified cause they'd think you built that "evil robot" from horror movies and they would want to burn your android (and probably you) on a stake. In fact, even if your child just says something weird or misinterprets a social que, people might become wary of them. So you have to make sure that no accidents happen. It's tricky to keep an eye on a little human all the time, but your child is faster and stronger than any human adult.

There's no parenting book about all of that, cause you made an entirely new type of creature. Problems so unique that no one ever even thought of them become a part of your daily life. And you have to deal with it, you have to figure it out because you CHOSE this fate. You couldn't possibly imagine how this will turn out, because no one has ever done that before. But you still made that choice. You chose to bring a new kind of life to this world. Of course, you could've just built the android, taken all the credit and called it a day. You could've secured a future and a good reputation for yourself. You could've made integrating them into human society and helping them develop someone else's problem. But you didn't. You chose to be there every step of the way. You could've stayed just a scientist. You chose to become a parent. Now you have a child and you're responsible for them. If anything bad happens, it will be your fault. Good luck.

[worfsbarmitzvah]

fellow star trek jew. im not sure if youre a datalover like myself but while it is obviously a deep, deep oversimplification of what a golem is- do you thing data & lore could be considering a kind of... futurism golem? while the soongs arent canon jews, spiner is openly a jew (and noonien gives me hardcore Resident Jew Of The Village vibes) and noonien sculpted data & lore into men and who knows whats written on that emotion chip and i feel like there could be definite parallels with the emotion chip and lore's going haywire vs data's emotion chip things... what if doc soong's colony (or at least his [jewish] community) had data as their fitst step to a protector to at least him as a jew or the colony's jewish community or idk.

im rambling now my mind is getting away from me and i dont know as much about golems as id like. but. the soong-type androids being futurism golems.

ROTATING THIS ASK IN MY BRAIN LIKE A FINE ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

[bunnakit]

do you want to get chicken noodles?

i've had several people wonder why i'm obsessed with playboyy's aob and why i'm constantly saddened by the indifference towards him on the dash so i figured i'd grab hold of my 'too much' habits again and do a breakdown of all the reasons i love aob.

as always, i'm just a little guy on the internet. i could be way off base, i could be seeing things that aren't there, i could be reading too much into things, could be forgetting points of the plot or times when people have mentioned aob in a bad light, whatever. i just ask that you be nice to me because i'm only this big 🤏🏻 (and i also took the time to make gifs of almost every single aob moment across 8 episodes and i've been working on this for 5 hours - some gifs are crunchy because i had to lower the quality to capture everything i want to address)

to preface, so much of aob isn't in what he says - you actually gain so much more to learn from aob about what he doesn't say and observing his body language and facial expressions closely. aob tells his entire story with his body, because that's how he's grown used to communicating.

episode 1 🌸

we see here aob is genuinely baffled by the behavior of teena and soong. he's used to the environment of playboyy where clients are just paychecks and there's game of cat and mouse and as a result no need for any sort of emotions or emotional manipulation. he's simply providing a service and doing a job. he doesn't have to lure and romance, his clients come to him. the idea of getting emotions involved is completely foreign to him.

episode 2 🌸

we're brought to a flashback almost immediately in episode 2 that raises a lot of questions but also shows us quite a bit. as aob walks up the stairs he moves as if he owns the place, with the utmost confidence. as he ascends we see security treat him with respect and offer wai's in passing - almost as if he is someone in charge here. this shows us what a big deal aob is among the club, how respected he is even as far as the security is concerned. i think it's a very interesting detail that helps back up aob's arrogance and confidence, because why would he be anything else?

the following conversation with the other workers is a bit confusing to me and as far as i recall we don't have all the answers to the questions it raises just yet. we do learn aob is the one that taught jump, teena, and soong during their time at playboyy. he asks them what they're going to do for a living if they're leaving and i think this conveys the idea that aob isn't as heartless as he appears. he worries for them and wonders how they'll take care of themselves if they leave.

teena makes a comment about the boss going too far but i'm not sure if we know what he means by that yet? i had actually completely forgotten about this encounter until i went back to grab screens. i want to comment on this part more but it's not really the point, i'm just really curious what the fuck they're talking about here as they seem to insinuate they've been forced to work here and even aob is surprised by that. this leads me to believe that aob might be a bigger part of the plot later on, perhaps in uncovering whatever was meant by these comments.

episode 4 🌸

i think this is the moment aob really lost favor with so much of the fandom and i do understand why, however, there's a lot that happens here that's very interesting to observe.

"Don't say 'true love' and 'soulmate.'"

i have to wonder why these were the first words aob brings up as soong laments his situation. no one said those words, aob, but you sure did.

teena then talks to soong about what he's heard and tells him he should be responsible for first's feelings in all of this to which aob makes the above expression. aob hates the discussion of feelings, believes emotions need to be removed from the equation entirely, and is baffled by the way his friends are acting about people that should be nothing more than clients and believes any form of relationship impossible.

"Try being in love." "What, stupid love?"

something about this makes me believe that aob doesn't know what love is, not real love. he dismisses it as stupid and scoffs while the others almost roll their eyes at him. it's easy for aob to give the advice he does when he doesn't have love burning a hole in his chest the way they do, he's never felt it before, doesn't know how all consuming it is.

and then as first confronts soong the camera pans from teena to aob and i find his expression very interesting. that doesn't look like a man removed of emotions. to me, that looks like a man that has just had his world tilted on it's axis and is now questioning everything he's ever told himself. he sees first's tears and the way soong stands still and listens as first falls apart. i think that moment truly startled him and drove home that the emotions between the boys and their 'clients' are very real.

episode 5 🌸

alright, episode 5 is a lot so i'm sorry for the absolute wall of gifs and texts coming for this single episode.

"Time to work, Puen."

aob meets puen on the stage and immediately his face falls as it's not him picked first but puen. later, aob walks into the back where puen is smoking and immediately takes in the sight of him.

"Are you Puen?" "I am." "You're quite hot."

"Come find me later. I want to know why you're so popular."

aob wants to know who has dethroned him and why his clients are so enamored with puen. what does puen, someone completely new to the business, have to offer that he doesn't? this is also where aob begins to look at puen and from here on he will never look away.

aob speaks so very much with his eyes. you can see his gaze drop and take in all of puen here during their 'evaluation' as he asks permission before going further with him. it's obviously quite professional but i think it also shows us that aob isn't as cold as he tells people he is; or perhaps that's just where puen is concerned.

this is really where i realized that much of understanding aob is reading into what he isn't saying or what his words are hiding.

"I knew it, you aren't that great."

but he is, because aob can't look away from him.

"...You attract clients that want to try new things. Once they are bored of you they'll dump you."

you're attracted to me and want to try something with me, but once you're bored you'll leave me.

"Why don't you teach me? I want to be like you."

show me what you want from me. i want you to like me.

"I'm sorry. I can't be a teacher. I'm a prostitute. Oh. Don't be like me." Because you can never be. Loser."

i'm sorry. i can't like you. i'm a prostitute. and please don't like me because i can never like you back. don't look to me anymore.

but puen accepts that challenge.

(i forgot to watermark this one lmao, i don't care enough to go fix it)

i'm still not entirely sure what to make of this moment with prom. why does he squeeze aob's shoulder as if to offer him some kind of reassurance? why does aob shake his head just the slightest bit and suddenly look like he's going to face a firing squad? does prom know it's already too late for aob, that he's in too deep? is he trying to prepare aob for the sudden fire in puen's veins? i'm really struggling to figure it out, really. i think it could mean quite a few things or nothing at all.

"Why are you criticizing me? People might think you're jealous of me."

puen has so very clearly learned what makes aob tick. he's learned that aob's pride is also his biggest weakness and he picks at that weak point to evoke a response from him - and it works. suddenly aob is all bluster and anger, but interestingly puen doesn't back down, doesn't even flinch. instead, he has a confident smile and meets aob's eyes with a challenge burning in his own.

aob doesn't know what to do with that. you can see it in the shift of his face. this expression is very similar to the one he makes when first confronts soong - he's on the wrong foot, confused and adrift because suddenly puen is no longer the innocent doe-eyed novice but someone who is pushing back and challenging him. no one has ever challenged him before.

they meet again later in the bathroom where aob is doing some sort of display of dominance perched on a urinal. listen, that's my blorbo, but even i can't defend that. baby get down from there, you're making even more of a fool of yourself.

"Do you want to eat chicken noodles with me?"

aob rejects the invitation and puen laments that he seemed fine earlier when they were in the room together.

"What happens in the room stays in the room, Puen. You can't have feelings for the clients. They'll be strangers when they leave."

what i do in the room with you has to stay there. i can't have feelings for you. you'll become a stranger to me when you leave.

"Why do you have to act so cold and emotionless to everyone?"

and aob doesn't answer. he doesn't even get angry. there's just a quiet look of resignation on his face and he bites his lip, almost like he's nervous, almost like puen is looking at him too closely and starting to see right through him.

"Can you have feelings for your friends or brothers?"

or for me.

"You aren't my friend or my brother. You're a competitor."

because you have to be. because i can't handle any alternative. i can't love you.

episode 6 🌸

they're in the bathroom again but this time it's puen waiting for aob asking why he's been avoiding him.

"Why can't you have sex like a couple? You taught me how to feel. So practice what you preach."

why can't we have sex like a couple? you taught me to remove the feelings from it so why can't you do that?

and i think it's very interesting that for a moment aob drops his gaze and looks away. he's been caught and called out and looks away almost in submission before pulling up his guard again.

"I don't have any feelings for a kid like you. I just can't do it. You're not sexy enough."

he attacks puen's looks but this is a direct contradiction to when they first met and the first thing he said was "You're quite hot." once again aob says the opposite of what he means.

i have feelings for you, this is why i can't have sex with you like a couple. i like you far too much.

"Fine. I'll be better than you someday."

fine. i'll make you love me.

and aob can't take it any longer. he goes just outside the door and breaks down because it's all so much; his feelings for puen, puen's refusal to back down, the turmoil he finds himself in having everything he's ever known turned upside down. he was never supposed to have feelings, least of all for someone as stubborn and determined as puen who breaks down his walls and challenges him at every turn. his will is breaking down every bit as much as he is in this moment.

episode 7 🌸

this was one of the first scenes to really make me emotional in this show. throughout this entire scene aob cannot look away from puen. all of his attention is on puen to the point where he neglects the client and even pushes him away. he touches only puen, kisses only puen. he seems almost tortured by the moment, to be so close but so far from the object of his desire.

and puen looks at him with the challenge in his eyes again, almost mocking: look at me, i've surpassed you. you can't take your eyes off me. i've won.

and aob continues to watch him, his eyes almost a caress, gaze almost reverent as if he's witnessing something holy. my man is absolutely lost in the sauce.

"You have a crush on a loser like me, huh? So you couldn't help yourself."

"This is how you pay me back?" why are you doing this to me? "Do it to me, not in front of the client. What's wrong with you?" don't challenge me in front of a client. don't push me.

but puen knows he's won, he knows he's hit the nail on the head and aob, as he always does, is growing defensive. because he's scared.

"But I'm glad that I'm important to you. Like I said, I will be better than you someday. But that day came so quickly. You lost."

i'm glad you've realized i'm important to you. like i said, i would make you love me. that day came so quickly. i've won.

episode 8 🌸

i didn't get gifs of the scene but prom asks aob if he's jealous of puen's popularity. that's all he asks. but what's interesting is aob replies:

"Jealous? I don't have feelings for him."

aob... i don't think that's what prom was asking. prom asked if you were jealous of his popularity among the clients, if you were jealous that he'd taken your throne.

and puen appears to challenge aob again, blows him a kiss almost as a reminder of their previous encounter. but aob doesn't get angry, doesn't rise to the bait. if anything he looks sad, maybe contemplative, and perhaps like he's coming to terms with something.

You only appreciate the value of something when you are about to lose it. It's just so fucking awful.

Especially when you know in your heart that you are powerless.

Because he isn't your boyfriend.

The more you want to know the more painful it gets.

throughout this entire scene aob looks so sorrowful, like he knows he has to do something soon or he will lose his chance with puen. he has to try because this powerless feeling is growing to be too much.

aob is waiting for puen at the bottom of the stairs and if you look he's bouncing his leg in a nervous tick. when puen rounds the corning his face is immediately in some semblance of a smile which is something we really haven't seen from aob. it gives the impression that he worked himself up to this moment despite how nervous he is. (his shirt is also very wrinkled, were you in a rush?)

"How are you going to haze me today?"

and this i think drives home that puen is tiring of their game. that aob is so very close to losing puen because puen is starting to believe aob's words, believe that aob doesn't like him and only wants to harass him.

so aob takes the leap.

(and i find the handle with care on the wall particularly interesting, as both of them need to be handled with care. aob, with his unfamiliar and warring feelings, and puen with his earnest and hopeful heart.)

and as aob bridges that gap puen looks taken aback and confused because what the fuck, aob isn't soft, doesn't do things like this.

"Do you want to get chicken noodles?"

aob asks, a throwback to the day puen had asked him on a date. an acknowledgement and an apology.

i'm sorry i wasn't ready then, but i'm ready now. will you still have me?

and that's why today's episode made me cry and why i love aob so, so very much. his journey learning his feelings and learning what love feels like and what love can be isn't pretty, he fights it tooth and nail the entire way, but the smile on both their faces as he jumps on puen's back gives me so much hope that they can be good for each other and support each other.

there are still so many episodes left and maybe i'll be wearing clown make up by the end of this, maybe my hopelessly disgustingly romantic heart has misled me, maybe i've read the facial expressions and body language all wrong, but regardless of all of that aob and puen are so special to me.

[some-star-trek-stories]

The Android

Robert chuckled as he took a bite of his sandwich. The air was filled with laughter from everyone in the room while the table with Soong and his friends had great tension in it. They thought Soong's idea was ridiculous except for Anna of course, his closest friend.

"I'm serious!" Soong said more serious. "If we could build robots who were so human to the point of emotions we could win awards!" Soong was the type of man to dream of the future, he had a fascination for Robots and always dreamed of making one so perfect it could live a normal life.

"That's impossible," Ryan added in. "Robots can't be perfect. They're robots not us." Ryan gestured to all of them. "

Nothing is impossible," Anna added as she pulled out the notebook Soong had been writing in. -

"Just read it, it makes perfect sense. Down to detail." She added.

Robert scoffed and leaned back against the chair while Ryan took the book from your hands and scanned the pages quickly. He flipped through two pages before placing the book down and sliding it back to Soong.

"It's interesting, however you're missing the point to how the robots will activate and the fact that no one would accept them into society because they're robots." Ryan said running a hand through his thin brunette hair that was usually slicked back but on the days where he had stayed up studying his hair was unkept a bit frizzy.

Ryan had always wanted to join Starfleet as a medical officer but he knew something about engineering too, while the other friend Robert was the inpatient friend who wanted everything to be exactly how it was now. He had more dirty blond hair that was going a bit long with a stubble beard, he didn't care how he looked. As he said "I'm not looking for a relationship," even if every girl swoons over his compliments.

Soong had dark brown hair that was usually slicked back, people speculate he took the idea from Ryan when it was Ryan who had actually taken the idea from him but that didn't matter.

And Anna, the most patient and calm person in the group, people were often curious on the bond between her and Soong but it was like they had known each other all their lives even if it was only a year when their friendship began. She had complete blond hair that was a bit curly and was almost always in a braid or up.

The planet they lived in wasn't big like other planets, it was inhabitants only had a few people. The people on the planet were always the "I'm gonna make this planet something one day" and had bigger dreams bigger than the planet. It was peaceful unlike the territories of Romulus or the Federation, this planet almost had no problems, the people there welcomed everyone in with arms wide open.

"look," silence broke through from Robert as he took the last bite of the sandwich. "I gotta go, if you figure out something about your "genius" idea, I'll be in my quarters." Robert said before getting up and leaving the area they were eating at.

Ryan sighed. "I'll have to agree with Robert, if anything happens, tell me." He then excused himself and left leaving the two close friends alone.

Soong sighed and leaned back, he's been at a loss for days on end, all the thoughts he had placed into building these robots and now all of his friends rejected the idea of it even calling it ridiculous. All except Anna.

Anna placed her hand over his comfortingly. She had always believed this idea would work, I mean the thought and the process, it was a step by step ladder that would take a while but she was sure it was worth it.

"I'm sure it'll all work out," she said in a soft voice.

Soong flipped his hand over and held her hand not bothering intertwining their fingers. She had always been the biggest comfort for him especially when he was frustrated.

In a moment of thinking he had a sudden idea. What if he had a chip, a chip that programmed everything, the way the body would move, talk, feel, speak, even thoughts and he knew exactly how to do it.

"let's go," he said to Anna who got up when he did and guided her back to the room they've been working in still not understanding the "big idea."

------------------------------------------------------------

You two were now at the library as Soong scribbled notes down on a piece of paper as he thought of ways to come up with a chip moving from books to books.

"Soong," Anna sighed. "What are we searching for?" Soong had not yet explained anything, he just asked her to search for more engineering books.

"I'm going to create a chip, one that contains not only emotion but feelings and memories." At the time it seemed genius.

"You'd have to make it completely right." I said. But he already knew that.

Soong acknowledged even as he studied the chip, he thought about everything.

--------------------------------------------------------------

After weeks Soong managed to create the chip and so both of you began to work on the robot itself.

"I don't want it to be just a 'robot'" Soong acknowledged the term Robot as a common term. He wanted something creative.

"Android," he said turning to Anna.

She looked up from the wires she'd been working on.

"what?"

"Android," he said again. "Something unique, I mean a robot is something that is an object, no emotion, no expressions and no feelings. This is an android capable of all of that." It made sense so they stuck with it. The Android.

After about a year they had done it. They created the Android, it wasn't completely human no. It was white and they had decided to make it seem like Soong. It had brown slick back hair, brown eyes with a strong jawline.

They ran a few tests and managed to let the android sit up.

It sat up very robotic like as it should.

"Now, it should speak like a human." Soong reassured Anna but as Soong called out to the android it didn't even move its head, it stared directly ahead and that's when the frustration began to set in.

Soong slammed his hand down on his desk and sat down burying his face in his hands before Anna came and gently touched his shoulder reassuring him that they could try again since the design was perfect.

[heretherebedork]

I do adore this boy and his slow, careful sexual journey that he just isn't sure about at all and that he wants to try but is also terrified of but is just as terrified of not trying and I love that he wants to try but he doesn't know what he can do and how much space and freedom the people who truly love him give him to figure that out and the grace given to him and, even when he's hurt and they go too far, he learns and so do those around him.

Plus, the way this line turned Teena into a kicked puppy dog because he was trying so hard and he explained so much and he apologized and he stopped and, oh man, these boys are darling. They're both trying, they really are. I appreciate that.

(And the way it contrasts to Soong and First and their relationship and how it fell apart for the exact opposite reasons but in such a similar way, the issues of consent and lust and want and who you want and what you want and why and how and when. The idea of consent and safe words but also of knowing each other enough to just know, the dream or the reality or somewhere, anywhere, in between.)

[eldersoonglore]

Continuation of this thread with @data-dominant

The paralyzed android sat there for a moment, a wave of shock and sadness rippling through him as his eyes fell on his niece's immobile body. He had heard some whispers here and there about another Soong-type being here, but it was never clear to him who that may be. Now that he was laying eyes on her for the first time, a slight shifting of goals switched deep in his chest.

He had notoriously been eager to reunite with family, after all.

Lore cut the feed as soon as his brother instructed him to cover him. He wasn't sure what his brother meant by that or what his plan was. Perhaps he meant to keep the door locked. There wasn't much he could do, but even still, the elder android shifted his efforts to gain that access. If he could figure it out in time, maybe he could prevent his own deactivation and give his brother enough time to find him.

Meanwhile, Maddox stood outside of Lal's lab where Data had just shut the hydraulic doors in his face. Something was off about this whole situation, causing the cyberneticist to squint his eyes suspiciously.

"Go and check on our friend downstairs. If his neural activity levels have risen substantially since the Lt. Commander has arrived, shelf him," he instructs his assistant, Deveraux.

"Of course, sir, but wouldn't that have risks disconnecting his matrix so quickly? It would be like tearing a rooted tree out of the ground-" the meek underling replies, to which Maddox snaps at him.

"Just do as I say! I don't have a good feeling about this either..." Maddox's expression says it all, twisting in anxiety to match the feeling bubbling in his gut.

[sunshinechay]

Many others have spoken about this but I want to add to the screaming by saying how much I love the conversation that Playboyy is having about consent so far. Someone asks for it, someone gives it. Consistently every episode, someone talks about how important it is. How important it is to get it, to make sure it’s enthusiastic and how it not being so can be bad. How it can be frustrating when it isn’t given but the important thing is to make sure you stop and reassess with your partner before you continue.

This show has a lot of sex yes, but I think it’s one of the best ways to show that consent for this type of story. It’s about sex, the many ways sex can be had, the many ways sex can influence a person in ways both good and bad. Consent is consistently at the forefront and I am enjoying the hell out of it.

This show is trying to talk about how important being honest with your partner(s) is. How important it is to make sure that they know everything and can consent to it whole heartedly.

First and Soong both clearly have feelings for each other, but they are not being honest with each other. Neither thinks they are can be and they are a prime example of what happens when the truth comes out but not from the person it should.

Teena is not being honest about how frustrated he is that Zouey doesn’t want to have a specific kind of sex with him and I absolutely think he knows it’s because Zouey isn’t telling him something important. So as dumb as he is for believing Zouey actually has had sex before because of Captain’s clip, I get why he thinks that. He thinks it because Zouey is lying by omission. Only he misses that he is also lying by omission. He hasn’t told Zouey the original reason for his pursuit and Zouey is going to out and it’s going to suck.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Prom and Nont’s sexual tension feels more romantic after Prom figures out that Nont isn’t Nant. That Nont admits it. Both are being more honest with each other (though I wouldn’t be surprised if both have one more thing hidden up their sleeve). I think it’s not a coincidence that Prom feels less threatening from a narrative sense. All of his scenes have a softer edge to them this episode, because the two are finally being truthful.

Nuth and Phop’s scenes feels inherently creepy and haunting and it is at least partly because we know Phop doesn’t really want to be doing what he is doing. Still he lies and gives Nuth consent but he doesn’t want to. He lies that he bought Nant’s laptop from a secondhand store (I haven’t never seen a more obvious lie in this show yet).

It’s only when the characters start being honest that the truth can revealed. It’s only when the truth is known that we will know what happened to Nant. That all of the couples will know if their relationships can last or if they will crash and burn under the weight of life, lies and the truth.

[xm0-m0x]

I have opinions on mirror Lore/B4 because OF COURSE

Personality swap because idk B4 deserves to be villain - he’s Soong’s first so he’s used a dummy to test a bunch of random ideas Soong had so he’s a bit fucked up psychically and mentally but Soong loves him because he’s the first and the most like himself - lore is just, an emotional cry baby and Soong hates him he’s literally only really kept active cause b4 likes him, he’s less fucked up, only slightly though (also, the crew of the enterprise go through about 100 tonnes of make up a week, it’s for the glam and drama)

Also just imagine Soong as like, a mad scientist with the lab coat and evil laughter ‘it’s ALIVE’ super villain kind of vibe

Also a tip for how to draw Lore - is the smile wide enough? Probably not, make it bigger until you’re sure he wants to rip off your skin and BAM done

[autisticbokutoenthusiast]

Playboyy anniversery prompt week 9 Cross-over/AU

Plaboyy characters form a rugby team:

these are my thoughts on if the characters were all on a team together where they would play and if they would be good at it. this started cause ive been curious what position captain plays and would try to imagine his place and then that became all of the characters places. (if anyone has differeing opinions/thoughts please share them!!!)

Number 2 Hooker

Prom. A role that uses a lot of decision making, accuracy, and leadership, as well as physical strength and heartiness. (I think Prom is a great choice for this, bro is always two steps ahead, looks fairly solid, etc.)

Numbers 1 and 3 Loosehead and Tighthead Prop

Jump and Teena. The position requires a lot of strength and heartiness and body to body contact, not only do they fit this description they fit it better than anyone else (they have the thigh muscles to trust most out of everyone also if anyone working on season 2 is reading this can we get jump playing rugby. Pls for me) i cant imagine trying to put any other character here, just fits them best (jump in my heart is pick and go king, teena isnt afraid of a tackle etc)

Numbers 4 and 5 Locks/ Second Row

From my understanding this position requires strength and athleticism, also typically height. I think Puen is an obvious choice (actually qualified for the rugby team/ sports scholarship, hes probably the most qualified besides keen for any position. But hes also long and strong), less obvious is Nuth (he fits best here but i dont think hed be good at it, hes just too long hed hurt his back from all the bending down but would be good for lineouts ig. I dont see him being good at rugby in general tbh. I think he winces any time he has to tackle someone i also think he is most liable to penalties cause he has to get real low to not hit above the neck)

Numbers 6 and 7 Flanker 

HEAR ME OUT Aob and Nont, these players are always on it right? And its still a very physical position. i think Nont would be great at it (has a lot of pent up aggression, he would love running around tackling ppl while screaming etc. but not sure hed be good at passing the ball to his teammates or communicating in the moment tho, hes not giving team player sjfajkdls) but i think aob would fit well here too (hes strong hes focused hes got this. But i also think hed be done after like 20 minutes. Not even physically, hes just over it emotionally. Hes got first and porsche behind him yelling, jump is bleeding on one of his fingers but is trying to hide it, nuth got yellow carded again, captain is dirty talking badly, zouey is faking an injury, soong tripped and fell after finally getting the ball he was calling for, etc. he just would rather go home)

Number 8

Now this is my first real controversial pick, from my understanding a really versatile position, like will pick up responsibilities from other positions as well as their own, also carries an extra bit of weight and the scrum and stuff, Keen is the captain/coach, hes got the most knowledge and hes the most reliable, i think he could play any other position but fits this one best out of the cast (i also think he doesnt love his team but hes doing his best, hes got porsche behind him in absolute gremlin mode about to fight nont for not passing the ball when he needs to, but hes keeping his cool.)

Number 9 Scrum-Half

I know ive said captain before but this to me is porsche and i think hed be good at it. (I know hes tiny, but this position is often held by smaller players right? But theres a lot of control involved and porsche would love that. I also think he has the necessary quick reaction time given how he dropped jasons goon like that. To me hes one of those players who wages psychological warfare and does shit like pants the other player rather than tackle, take as much time possible digging the ball out of a ruck, scratch players/ pull hair/ etc. very effective.) (i also think hes one of those scrum-halfs that bitch the entire time the scrum is setting up and then is unpredictably fast at feeding the ball in if he cant get the ref to give a penalty to the other side)

Number 10 Fly-Half

First. Again, I know hes small but HEAR ME OUT i think hed be dangerous as hell once he locked in… like this is also a big thinking role and also organizing defense and i think hed love defending (hes in med school with like 4.0 average hed probably be an ok strategist and idk what kind of doctor hes trying to be but like medical procedures require you to practice calm and quick on the fly decision making. Boom hed be great. and hes short enough it would be easy for him to get away with reckless tackles cause of the lack of head contact probability. Also, yes he gets flattened really often but hed love hitting everyone else back)

Numbers 12 and 13 Centre

This is Captain and Zouey. I know i clown captain for being more suited to referee (which he is. Tell me he wouldnt be happier getting to boss all the sweaty guys around instead of taking hits himself) but hes probably fairly athletic and like porsche will definitely play dirty (he gives player who gets yellow carded 3 minutes in for like hair pulling of someone who doesnt even have possession) so i put him in inner centre, hes probably got speed compared to the other players, hes hungry for scoring, and he also seems like someone whod enjoy tackling. Ive also put zouey here because he has to go somewhere, but lowkey i think hes the worst at rugby (not interested at all. doesnt want to be tackled, doesnt want to do tackling, doesnt want to catch and throw the ball, doesnt wanna run back and forth, etc. maybe would be better suited to water boy, not even announcer cause he dgaf about whats happening) like i dont think it holds appeal to him at all. Maybe hell do portraits of everyone after but other than that, hes just trying his best to stay out of the way.

Numbers 11 and 14 Wing

This is a like persistent type position, and requires speed. Im putting Soong here. Soong to me is someone who thinks hed be good at rugby and fucking isnt but i think running around is the safest place to put him cause he hesitates when it comes to tackling (he wants to be hooker but keen refuses to put him on the front line cause he tried in practice and flopped sjflksjd but ill give him this, he may look cringe as hell but he puts his all into footwork and side stepping and it does pay off on occasion). Im also putting Playboyy Employee who was scared of the baddie bunch here cause we at least see he can run and im running out of characters….

Number 15 Full-back

Phop. its giving the other team broke thru the wingers and hes like ‘fine guess its up to me… again’. (Hes steady hes reliable hell do what needs to be done but hes not a flashy player.)

Announcer

Tutor, what can i say the people yearn for his coverage, he kinda gives announcer that during time off starts divulging real personal stories of the players that he refuses to explain how he got the info for

Lead medical

Firsts dad. We have a doctor in the cast yeah im gonna include him. Hes always criticizing soong and captain when he patches them up.

Team sponsor

Jason. Im sure i dont have to explain this one.

Anyway those are my thoughts.