［STM anon here hiii :D Ik it's been awhile haha]
For OC ask game:Optical
10,50,60
10. Their most defining moment vs your favorite one of them
Their most defining moment was when they first joined the Alliance, before they were promoted to a chief engineer. When the plan to construct a titan was put forth, Optical was against the idea because they did not want a single person to have that much responsibility. They fought the plan, but ultimately lost. So, instead they demanded to lead it
I can never pick one favourite of anything lol. I think what I like most is their activation day (memory #1), their defining moment above, this comic, and probably several random moments in their future when they have their character development They're just my favourite in general lmao
50. If faced with a magical mirror revealing their deepest fear and greatest desire instead of their reflection, what would they see and would they be surprised by it
Everyone they know alive and happy.. or dead and lost.
60. What type of smart are they
I like to explain the smarts of the chief engi trio by the D&D stats: Whistle is Wisdom, Parallax is Charisma, and Optical is pure Intelligence.
They think with logic, facts, and are extremely pragmatic and practical. They have a lot of raw knowledge and prefer processing information over hunches, feelings or social relationships. Optical doesn't do well with emotions or socializing and overcompensates by trying to logically solve everything in their life.. including personal relationships and "fun" things.
This leads to a lot of issues whenever Optical tries to do something that isn't work or makes sense logically. Casual activities or social events get overanalyzed for their purpose and leave Optical very confused as they struggle to fit in and participate, often getting stubborn or acting out in unconventional ways. However, Optical's model was built with a nudge to encourage curiousity in their AI, which draws them to learn about new engineering techniques, do and examine research. ..And also attempt new things they don't understand like fun or socializing.
That curiousity gets suppressed by Optical for certain things that they learned through bad past experience lead to punishment or harm to them and people around them. Abusive human supervisors didn't exactly want their advanced engineering robot getting distracted by learning how to play darts or chatting away at coworkers.
So, Optical is stuck between being immensely curious about something, trying to understand it through logic, but hesitating to interact with it due to past trauma.
(OCs from @lens-guy-art, @bethesecretreader, @that-other-dead-person, @thephonemenarentreal, @askthesmoltitans and @gamie99 for fun cus TCam mention)
