unholyscreechfrombeyond

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

Had a very similar headcanon. Best explanation why most of the other androids rarely do this (and why tf Connor stumbles like a potato into Hank's kitchen). Love your reasoning about the constant recalibration.

(cough) I just realized smt, whenever Connor is connecting to an android or receives a case via digitally, he blinks and twitches rapidly—

^ (like in this scene-)

^ (and this scene with Hank.)

I don’t really have a built up expectation in my head but I was hoping maybe you could come up with one :> (edit: thought I could upload this anonymously 😭)

hello hello, tyvm for the ask bc i indeed have some thoughts about this very thing~!!!

so before we dive into headcanons, let's get clear about what the game's canon proposes. this rapid blinking by connor occurs first when he shares his authorization with the st300 and again when he receives a report at chicken feed. so we can extrapolate when he's sending and receiving data remotely, he exhibits this behavior.

do other androids exhibit this behavior when doing something similar?

not really. clearly the st300 receives the authorization, she barely bats an eye. when markus remotely pays for the paints at the store or calls the police, he doesn't blink like this either. when kara orders parts for the dishwasher the only thing blinking is her LED. so clearly, this is a connor-specific reaction to remote data transmission.

do other androids exhibit this behavior at all?

yes actually! the jb300s connor is interrogating at stratford tower rapidly blink when conducting a diagnostic scan. now, what can we presume from that information? well, a full diagnostic scan is quite an intensive process. for computers, it can take awhile because you're having to parse through all the data on a computer. for something as complex as an android to do it in a few seconds, it would take a massive amount of processing power.

i think the rapid blinking may be a byproduct of androids having their processors overclocking (basically going on overdrive). either it's a sort of glitch/bug that manifests itself when an android is processing a lot of information rapidly or it's a feature cyberlife included as a visual cue for humans to know that the android is in the middle of processing something and unable to respond until whatever it is processing is completed (kinda like a loading screen except the visual cue is the blinking).

according to this assumption, connor would exhibit this behavior when his processors are overclocked. but the thing about connor is that he's supposed to be cyberlife's most advanced prototype, right??? so why is he blinking like crazy over simply receiving and transmitting data that doesn't phase a st300?

it's because he's a prototype.

and as much as cyberlife touts him as being super advanced, i headcanon that cyberlife cut a lot of corners too. how else would they just have 10 bodies of this supposedly expensive android ready to go in case he got destroyed?

i think the r&d put into the rk800s was expensive and his software is super advanced, but his hardware... not so much. sure he's got the fancy mouth sensors for crime scene analysis, but just look at connor. he's clumsy (did you see him tumble through that window?? how badly you can fuck up his qtes???) he's constantly fidgeting with a coin for calibration purposes. basically they have this super advanced cpu but it's being bottlenecked by the rest of his hardware.

so what's that got to do with his blinking?

i just think connor's physical body can't keep up with his processing power so you get weird glitches and artefacts that don't show up in other androids. sometimes that shows up in needing constant calibration of his fine motor skills so he doesn't fuck up during combat. and sometimes it shows up in unnecessary blinking for a rudimentary data transfer. he's not quite at home in his body. it's new and his motor drivers don't move as fast as his processors think. he's out of sync with himself so he's not quite the perfect murderbot he's supposed to be (this is also the reason why i think markus who's lived in his body for so long can kick his ass despite being an older model)

at least that's just my headcanon! i could probably yap all day about stuff like this but i've yapped enough. thanks for the ask! love answering questions like this. apologies it took so long i wrote like 80% of this answer and then i disappeared from tumblr for a bit and forgot this was sitting in my drafts. sorry!

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

being a writer is googling "reddish pink color name" and not getting the objectively correct answer

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

My train was late. AGAIN.

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

And this is only his 1st phase

drawn for the big bang server artfest: Week 1 - 'Sleepy Head' ... (a little late and a little crispy because i had to draw this with the laptop touchpad since i cant use my drawing tablet atm :''V)

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

Night. Walks. Miyajima

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

"You have to become comfortable with the fact that most people who enjoy your fic will never bother to kudos or comment on it."

Shockingly, I am comfortable with this fact. Lack of kudos or comments doesn't bother me.

That doesn't mean it shouldn't change.

If you enjoy a fic, leave a kudos or a comment.

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

Neil learned what "zaddy" means

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

Memories of summer nights in Sevilla

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

"Last time."

I was aiming for hot but slipped and fell on angst (as usual). but hey I finally drew some explicitly shippy convin! it only took 5 years

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

i wish ao3 allowed people to give kudos per each chapter. These 100k word NOVELS need more love than 200 tiny digital hearts ☹️

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

[unholyscreechfrombeyond]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61704091/chapters/157735834

It's not a bug, it's a feature

Connor's voice died out awkwardly, and his LED flickered as he wrung his hands together.

Gavin's jaw hung loose. "What. The. Actual. Fuck. What am I hearing? Is he high?!"

He frantically waved his hand in front of Connor's face, arching his eyebrows at Hank. "Can he even get high?"

Connor always talked like he had a fucking steel rod shoved up his ass. But this... this was new. And so bizarre.

~

A virus is causing random bugs among androids and somewhere in this mess, Gavin is tasked with following up on a kidnapping report. Well shit, right? It gets even worse, because Fowler sends him off with two glitching android coworkers. In the end, they all just roll with it.

OR: The day that makes Gavin rethink his view on androids — but obviously, just the tiniest bit if you asked him.