TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name

Fantasies wasn’t were Barcley went wrong, it was involving coworkers without consent.

The creepy thing about Barclay wasn't that he was using the holodeck for porn/sex. The creepy thing was that he was using his friends images and treating them like objects. Lots of people fuck in the holodeck I'm sure but most people wouldn't go full creepy puppet master with recreations of everyone they know.

What I loved about Barclay was that he showed there were still regular fucked up people in Star Trek's future.

This is canonically true!

By the standards of Next Gen, we're all starving refugees from a horrifying war-torn planet that would need years of therapy to recover from our harrowing ordeal. Giving one of us a holodeck would be the equivalent of giving a concentration camp survivor an all-you-can-eat buffet; it might literally kill us.

barclay is a freak in the show, and irl apparently. tuvok did it uses it for sex, when he had pon farr one time.~___~

Black Mirror did an absolutely magnificent take on this in the episode USS Callister (in my opinion easily top three episode)

I would end up causing one of the infamous "holodeck malfunction" episodes. Except mine wouldn't be a result of the terrible design of the holodeck's safety systems, but simply my urge to fuck with things.

"Computer, simulate a holodeck with safeties off while keeping the safeties on."

"Computer, use the holodeck to construct an intricate simulation of the entire ship, including the holodeck and ship's computer."

"Computer, disable the safety locks and simulate a warp core breach inside the holodeck."

"Computer, disable safety locks and simulate a world-spanning fire."

"Computer, create a holodeck simulation of a holodeck. Have that simulated holodeck simulating a holodeck. Make that a hundred layers deep."

"Computer, have the holodeck simulate both a holodeck larger than itself and a holodeck smaller then itself. Run both simultaneously."

"Computer, create a simulation of Counselor Troi. Then create a simulation of Lieutenant Barclay pleasuring himself to that simulation. Then create a simulation of Counselor Troi psychologically analyzing the Lieutenant Barclay simulation. Then add another Barklay pleasuring himself to the the second Troy. Then and another Troi. Keeping doing this until the holodeck is full. Once operational and running, send an automated message to the real Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Barclay, in each other's voices, asking each other to come to the holodeck for an urgent matter."

Full Barclay? Nah, I’m going full Bortus.

Many of us probably would. Myself however would much more likely go the other Barkley.and mutter "Computer, end programme!" every now and then.

Hmm.. that’s a tough one, I think it depends if the holodeck I have access to is on a spaceship traveling the universe or not.

If I’m stuck here on earth? Absolutely, gimme, I’ll live in it! I want to be able to see cool things and have pleasant social interactions. I desperately want to like vr for the same reason (not that it’s advanced enough for the socializing part, but not the point) but it makes me sick.

If I was on a space ship, though, especially one like depicted in star trek, totally accepting and encouraging of differences and stuff, where socializing just means wandering around whatever time of day, and talk to whomever you run into, most of the people I’d be around are brilliant, and everyone gets mental health support? Where we regularly explore novel things and new places? What else would there be to need, really? (I’m ace/aro so sex and romance aren’t something I’d be interested in using it for, only platonic companionship and novel exploration environments)

I’d probably use it for exercise, and that’s about it.

I'd like to argue that the sex drive of the future is somewhat different, but the reaction to Betazoid pheromes make it a hard case to make.

Funnily enough, when I bought a cheap VR headset, ca. 2020, I did try out the usual things like Google Earth, and, of course, at some point got curious about the, uh, adult contents. Who wouldn't? Y'know, just to take a look...

But somehow, it is... much less erotic. People doing it in 3D is somehow much less cool and much more weird than regular old smut. I blame it on being too realistic for fantasy, yet clearly being not realistic enough for the real thing. The uncanny valley of porn.

I imagine a holodeck would be the same, maybe even worse. Just not working.

Lamia gf you say?

Go full Miles and go whitewater rafting one week, play with minis another.

Could even have dinosaur races!

I'd probably go the Mariner route: "I'm gonna work some shit out..."

Well, probably less "murder all my coworkers because therapy is scary" and more "morning workout routine Cardassian prison break" because I don't hate my coworkers THAT much but I could totally see myself doing some "defend yourself/rescue the hostage" type stuff.

I won't be Barclay. I'll be like Riker with Minuet in "11001001".

Computer, 20% bigger.

Maybe a holosuite, but if I'm on a starship, the wonders of the cosmos are definitely getting me outside every once in a while, at least when the crew gets shore leave if I'm not allowed on away missions

I gained access to Minecraft, was bored by the lack of direction, and left after maybe half an hour.

Other people make CPUs in that game.