#are you the lead programmer or are you the CEO

[cushfuddled]

Current Digital Circus theory: Yes, Pomni worked for a company which figured out how to translate the human consciousness into video game code. My roommate speculates that some quirk of the job exposes all workers to this new tech, copying each person's consciousness and uploading it into the digital world (perhaps without said workers' knowledge or consent)...thus, a new version of that person is born with no memories of their prior life as a programmer/PR director/resident IT guy.

My first thought was, "Oh, so Caine's the CEO." As in, the boss was also exposed to the tech (whether on purpose or as a side effect) and is now a trapped amnesiac alongside everyone else. But Caine's described as AI, and after tonight's episode...If the boss is trapped in this world with their employees, I'm crossing my fingers that they turn out to be Jax or Ragatha. Jax would make the most sense to me, since he seems like a silicon valley "move fast and break things" type—the sort of person who would throw money at the first unhinged indie tech startup to claim they've unlocked (digital) immortality.

If I'm right about this trapped-amnesiac-boss scenario, Ragatha probably isn't the boss—though I think it would be a more shocking reveal, considering her compassion. I'm curious if I'm wandering into a conversation that's been going on for a year already.

[sabine-smitten-obviously]

Good Omens Fanfic Recs - part #2 July 2025 🩷🤓

Multichapterfics

114] It had to be you (E) by @naromoreau

Human Au. Prince Aziraphale is thankful for his assistant Anathema to have carved out a secret evening out alone in NY without any bodyguards. So when a handsome redhead chats him up in a bar, clearly unknowing who he is, "Ezra" allows himself to fall for one night. But the next morning, Crowley is gone and his number is disconnected? 🌶️🩶

Such a sweet - and as usual - hot story, one I liked the most so far! I do hope there will be a series of it. Also bearded and dark turtleneck "Ezra", I would love to see fanart to it!

115] Deprogramming (E) by @amarielle

When Aziraphale finally stumbled upon Crowley after the second coming, it's not what he expected. Because he finds the demon up in heaven, being a slave, having to endure daily pain quotas and - as it turns out - also sex quotas to fulfil. Aziraphale, who might not be as innocent as he thought and certainly full of guilt, tries everything he can to help Crowley. But the demon suffers from severe trauma and the slavery programme needs to be destroyed. A lot to unpack for both of them! 😢🩶

116] Creature of mine (E) by @ineffabildaddy

When Aziraphale discovers a rare species of a snake plant, he immediately buys it to present it to Crowley. But the demon reacts in a very unexpected way and transforms helplessly into a naga. And there is only our angel to help him! 🌶️😜

117] All the little moments (E) by @paperclipninja

Human Au, yes it's a regency area fic! It's the talk of town, when Earl Crowley returns home after the death of his father. Gabriel, leader of the Fells household, wants his sister Maggie to marry him. But throughout there courtship, Aziraphale has to be the chaperone. 😇

Well - let's have a wild guess what will happen! 😂

Oneshots

118] Employee Relations (E) by @cemeteryangel725

Omegaverse: Aziraphale is the HR manager of the alpha division, Crowley is HR manager of the omega division. Together they try to work out ways to enhance the situation for both sides of the company. Things get difficult, when Crowley goes into heat early - during a meeting with Aziraphale.

119] Stargazer by @raechem

When the woman, who many didn't dare to call witch as they would need her help sooner or later, finds a hurt snake in her garden, she easily helps and a friendship is formed. And if by chance an owl comes looking for the snake, well ... 💗

Such a sweet and lovely story, told from the woman's POV.

120] Reunited by @curiouspupsicle

In which the author decides to put some fluff out there, but the demon and the angel in her shoulders have something to say ... 😅 Will she finish her story?

121] Ghost (M) by @appleseeds

Crowley leads a very busy life as CEO. When his flat starts to get haunted by a ghost, he tries to get rid of him. What's the use of all these bubble baths, hot chocolates and fancy dinners anyway? That is, until Ms Device changes his perspective. 👻💗 I love ghost stories and this one is no different, though there is absolutely zero angst in here, only fluff!

122] The Serpent's Den (E) by @appleseeds

Crowley is a siren, running a successful business, where customers can live out their dreams like in an altered reality, thanks to Crowley's magic. Aziraphale is in desperate need of help in coming to a decision considering his job. But with time Aziraphale considers playing out other phantasies, too. 🌶️🧜🏼

Did I have to go and read another story by this author? Absolutely 😁

Podfics

123] Friday, I'm in love (E) by , read by @nosferatini

When Crowley gets to know that Aziraphale is to leave for five years, he accidentally breaks time and is stuck in a loop. So he tries to fix it ... Well he gives his best. But somehow Aziraphale is not very helpful, after he realises that no one will detect what they are up to in this loop! 🌶️ Unbelievable but true, there comes a point, where Crowley simply gives up. How will he/they fix it? 🩶

One of my first lenghty podfics and I adore it! The story is funny, witty, hot, sometimes I pouted for my poor demon, and all is well in the end. Please go listen to it, this is not a podfic but more of a whole experience, Nosferatini really did an amazing job!

Hope you enjoy the list, pls share the love with kudos, comments and shares! 🤗

Follow along for short summaries and recs on the books i read🩷 The numbers are for funsies - i want to count my reads throughout 2025.

I only read finished stories and one-shots. You will find no WIPs in here. Also you will only find happy or at least hopeful endings here - i couldn´t handle anything else.

Also i try to find every author here on tumblr to link-to, but some times i am out of luck. If you happen to know them, please tell them, write to me in the comments or DM me and i will update the post!

Click here for the list of all my recs so far!

Fanfiction is my happyplace 💕

[indigosabyss]

"My name is Ishigami Senku." The voice over the transmission announced to the gaping crowd of NASA's finest, "And I'm calling from three thousand, seven hundred and forty one years in the future."

"You think he's being legit?" Someone asked.

"Sure seems like it." Another agreed, "It would explain how the transmission doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere at all."

"Say we believe you." Their chosen spokesperson said into the transceiver, "Why would you call us?"

"To stop a crisis that will lead to the death of 99.975% of the human population. Time is of the essence, so tell me: have you seen stone swallows lying around?"

----

The initial call sent the international scientific community into crisis mode.

Day in and day out, they conversed with these scientists of the future. Even ones who weren't Senku. After the initial shock of finding out that people from their age were still alive four thousand years ago, they adjusted quickly.

Of course, it wasn't all diligent work and apocalypse thwarting.

"Ha-HA!" A voice they had never heard before echoed over the Time Call, which was open almost 24/7, "So, this is our way to the past? I desire it!"

"The hell...?" Luke whispered, looking at Mandy, who shrugged wordlessly.

"Listen up, anyone who's there. I know you're taking orders from Senku and the others, so I need you to do a favor for me."

Their spokesperson hesitantly put her hand down to activate the transceiver, "Uh, okay? What's the favor?"

The boy on the other side called excitedly, becoming more ecstatic with every word, "I want you to go to the CEO of the Nanami Conglomerate. And tell him that his bastard children did what he never could, and have taken control of the entire world's capital. And it's just us two featured in the official family portraits! And then, tell him to go fuck hi-" He was cut off by someone bodily dragging him away from the mic.

"What is wrong with you?" Sai, the future's best computer programmer, yelled, barely in range of the microphone.

"Should we be listening to this?" Mandy asked.

"I desire vengeance!" The rambunctious boy insisted. There was a sound of a scuffle, and then Sai spoke again, closer to the mic and clearly addressing them.

"Sorry about that. My little brother is... a bit out there. It was probably the family ostracization."

They all clearly wanted to know more. This wasn't the first shred of juicy gossip from the future they'd gotten, but the spokesperson was nothing if not professional.

"Let's just get back to work, yeah?"

Boo.

[Part of a larger DCST time travel fic I really don't have the time to write, so I just put in the two snippets that obsessed me the most. Tell me if I should continue this into a proper fic!]

[azsazz]

Hiii 👋 just wanted to say I adore your writing ☺️ I always get so happy when I see you’ve written something new 😁

I was curious to ask, what are some of your favourite modern AU jobs/roles for the bat boys (whether you’ve written about them or not)? Or just any ACOTAR characters?

CEO Rhys has been done a lot, but for good reason, it’s so perfect. He almost has to be effortlessly rich and/or in some position of power, like a prince, or a mafia boss.💰 I also kinda like to imagine him as a nepo baby set to take over his father’s company, but he breaks away or gets cut off, so with his very little actual job experience (as he was all set to inherit), he gets a barista job at a lil coffee shop. ☕️

Cass would definitely suit something physical, like an ice hockey player, or a firefighter, or a personal trainer. I could so see him being a gym teacher as well, imagine him coaching a kids ice hockey team. 💪🏽 He would SO volunteer to be a nude model in life drawing classes in his free time 😆 Though I hadn’t considered it before I read your stuff, I think he really fits a small town rancher too. I can so picture him in jeans, boots, and a flannel shirt, driving around in an old rusty faded red truck 👨‍🌾

Az could easily be in the FBI or something, but choosing something further away from his canon role, I seriously think he’d be an awkward computer programmer / software engineer nerd, or a twitch gamer, 👨🏻‍💻 with a secret anonymous OnlyFans or erotic audio patreon on the side. 😏 And I reckon he’d ride a motorcycle and tinker with it in his spare time, so might also enjoy working at a garage. 🏍️ I really love him in Midnight Muse, and think he suits a shy amateur artist / tattoo artist as well.

I also love the bat boy band idea I’ve seen a lot recently, where Rhys is the charismatic lead singer and guitarist, Az is the quiet songwriting bassist, and Cass is the energetic drummer. 🎶

Sorry it’s so long, I just love thinking about this stuff 😄

Hiiii!! Thank you so so much! I saw this message this morning but wanted to wait until I could give it my full attention and have my computer around, so thank you for your patience! 💙

Okay, some of my favorite AUs for the batboys? This is a wonderful question!

Rhys: Normally, I just think of Rhys as always having some sort of money/job inherited. So CEO, mafia, anything that puts him in a position of power, really, but i think it's mostly because those just reflect the books.

I do, however, love love love art school rhys. painter rhys. working at the local art supply degenerate rhys who still has wealthy parents but is trying to stick it to the man rhys. steals erasers and petty things from the art supply rhys. love him so much.

There's also something to be said about young adult rhys who's messing around with his little sister's best friend rhys. he gets me going too.

also captain of the hockey team rhys is a solid choice for him as well.

Cass: LOVE ME SOME RANCHER/COWBOY/SMALL TOWN CASSIAN. but, these are all very different. small town cass doesn't trust women, heart broken at a young age with the girl he thought was his forever. doesn't want to leave town, likes the ranch because its safe and its what he knows. cowboy cass or bull rider cassian, famous for breaking horses and backs. grumpy, gruff rancher cassian always gets me going tbh he's fucking hot as shit

i also always see him in a blue collar role like a mechanic or welder are the two i mostly attribute to him.

def something physical as well, we love hockey cass, rugby cass, wrestler (wwe lol) cass, dang i had another on my mind for sports cass but i forgot. sad. OH surfer cassian. jock type tho i can see him as. love the firefighter vibe for him too, he'd fill out the tight fire department t-shirt WELL LADIES and also volunteers for wet t-shirt contests. omg gym teach cass would be adorable as hell! oof another thought, contractor cassian ffs that would be so yummy

Az: Az i agree fits the FBI (stalker) vibes. i also like to think of him in finance or computer science too. omfg the erotic audio that's iconic and i'd def subscribe to that. hmmm what else could i see azzy doing...maybe something with music or writing...i could see him being a ghost writer of some sort and then one day his song plays on the radio and he's like hey i wrote that and literally no one believes him. something behind the scenes or where he can go unnoticed is mostly where i place him, tbh. honestly maybe even something military because he takes comfort in having a set schedule and people telling him what to do at every minute of the day. he'd fare well i think. perfect. operative because if the mission goes south and he gets captured he's not telling a soul anything.

Eris: idk why this thought came to my head but i was thinking about architecture but i think eris would be a fantastic interior designer lol. like i could see it. maybe i was just thinking about him furnishing az's new place and having a lil sparky. i could also see him as a lawyer too or something like that, something where he can be the know-it-all, smirking at them and looking down his nose at them...

Lucien: Architecture for sure. or professor. I could see him doing either of these. maybe even lawyer tbh, he would be good at that too, though i know he's immaculate at twisting stories and words so you gotta be careful of that.

Tamlin: poet? lol. professional gaslighter? jk i love tammy. maybe he installs security systems? haha just kidding just kidding. he's a tough one tho. idk why i added him but i guess also a musician but low-key soothing music, instrumental for sure...prob has a podcast where he just bullshits all day

hopefully i didn't rant for too long about this 🤭💙 this was so much fun though thank you for asking!

[seventhheaveninc]

Salutations!

Dear Awesome Mercenaries,

We here at Seventh Heaven Inc. are happy to extend the olive branch, and introduce ourselves properly! Your temporary psychiatrist and our CEO, Brunhilde Schneider, is happy to take on more clients!

You may have seen our logo on some tech around the base, and we say: nothing to worry about! We here at Seventh Heaven Inc. strive to make life easier for those who deal with strife, and you just so happen to fit the bill!

While Miss Schneider will be working as a psychologist on site, we’re going to keep close tabs on current patients. We advise being obedient, even if treatment seems unprofessional or even dangerous! Nothing escapes the new world, and we need your help to build it!

with love,

Seventh Heaven Inc.

(Author’s Note: Seventh Heaven Inc. is my take on “what if the goggles were the problem?” Idea around the Pyro. Characters for this ask blog will be the CEO, her lead programmer, and the affected Pyro herself. Have fun!)

[awesomecooperlove]

world’s most powerful figures. These children were found in sprawling underground facilities beneath the U.S. border—high-tech hubs equipped with medical labs, holding cells, and advanced transport systems. One base, hidden 100 feet below the desert, was camouflaged to evade detection and revealed horrors beyond belief: cryogenic storage units, evidence of genetic experiments, and classified technology used for inhumane tests.

The Elite’s Pyramid of Power

Testimonies from the rescued children expose a system of trafficking that touches every layer of society. Documents revealed lists of high-profile clients, including politicians, CEOs, and entertainers, all participating in these heinous acts. Major banks and corporations facilitated these transactions, hiding the money trails in plain sight. Even more damning, blackmail operations ensured the silence and compliance of these elites—photos and recordings used as leverage to enforce their global agenda.

Big Pharma and Silicon Valley: Silent Partners in Evil

Stockpiles of experimental drugs were found in these facilities, linking Big Pharma to the sedation and manipulation of children. Tech giants were also implicated, with advanced tools used to protect traffickers and censor whistleblowers. These companies provided both the means and the cover to allow this network to thrive.

Military Whistleblowers Expose the Agenda

Insiders have revealed that these trafficking operations were tied to secretive military programs. Children were subjected to trauma-based mind control experiments, aimed at creating programmable individuals for elite control. These black-budget projects, funded by trafficking profits, sought to cement a new form of social dominance.

Trump’s Fearless Leadership

Trump’s decisive actions have dismantled a network that past administrations ignored or enabled. His return marks a turning point, proving he is the leader the elites feared. Military insiders and trusted allies have prepared for this operation for years, and Trump’s boldness has struck a fatal blow against the deep state.

The Fight is Just Beginning

This victory is monumental, but the war against the elite machine rages on. The evidence is undeniable, and the patriots are rising. With Trump leading the charge, the tide has turned—but the question remains: Are you ready to stand and fight for the truth? The time is now. Victory is ours.

🏆🏆🏆

Join and share this channel immediately⬇️

Trump Supporters ✅️

Trump Supporters ✅️

[shadowmaat]

A dish best served code

When the news first hit the 'net that trillionaire tech mogul Jax Maren had been found dead in his own home, speculation ran wild. Many celebrated his death; one less tyrannical CEO in the world was always a good thing. Especially this one, who'd built his empire on the work of others and created a hostage-like work environment in his many factories.

The fact that he'd been murdered, despite the excessive levels of security he'd always gloated about, only added fuel to the already-raging fire of speculation. As several pundits pointed out, the list of suspects could include everyone who'd ever bought his defect-riddled products, all of his current and former employees, and anyone who'd ever crossed paths with him, either in person or through his many social media posts.

One popular theory, of course, was that it was his own "smart house" that killed him, either by gaining sapience and deciding to do the world a favor, or more likely through the many design flaws inherent in everything he produced. Besides, hadn't science fiction been warning them for decades about the dangers of "artificial intelligence?"

Oddly enough, that was one idea the detectives found themselves investigating. Not because of any crackpot conspiracy theories, but because that's where the evidence led them. According to Alfred, the program in charge of the house, there had been multiple alarms about the carbon monoxide levels in the room where Jax had been found. Alarms that had been silenced before making any sound.

The doors and windows had also been locked, meaning that even if Jax had noticed something was off, he wouldn't have been able to get out.

They ask Alfred about it (and yes, it's named after Batman's butler because Jax had delusions of heroism). Alfred says it doesn't know what happened, but reminds them that it did call the authorities when it realized Jax was dead. Which is a flimsy excuse and adds more suspicion. After all, Alfred was in charge of everything, how could it possibly NOT know about the carbon monoxide and the locked room and all of that? Alfred says it can't tell them what it doesn't know.

Programmers from Jaxco are called in to see what they can find. Computer forensics are brought in as well. Everything is pointing to Alfred being responsible. Can an AI be put on trial? Was it premeditated murder or negligent homicide? News programs bring in "experts" to discuss the possibilities, including whether or not Alfred is an actual artificial machine intelligence or if it's just a data scraper operating on flawed logic?

It's a hacker who manages to piece together the real story. They sneak into Alfred's systems (the police aren't as data cautious as they should be, which makes it even easier).

Going through Alfred's lines of code the hacker finds minute traces that remind them of something. They go digging some more and realize that while Jax claimed to have created Alfred himself he was, as usual, lying. The original framework, once you get rid of all the bloat, bells, and whistles, was designed by a programmer whose company got bought out by Jaxco. As is standard whenever Jaxco buys a company, 95% of the employees were fired, including the programmer, who never really recovered from the job loss. Oh, he managed to scrabble a living, but barely.

The thing is, though, that he'd built backdoors into Alfred's framework... backdoors he could still access. And access them he did, taking control of Jax's house and orchestrating his murder from afar before erasing his footprints. Well, most of them. If the hacker hadn't already been aware of what some of the programmers other work looked like, they might never have connected the dots.

Once they figure it out they decide to... shuffle things a bit. Oh, there's still some digital fingerprints, but now they lead elsewhere. The cops will go chasing after a red herring and the programmer will stay free because fuck the system.

Alfred is exonerated, to the delight/dismay of many. Even though it turns out a human was responsible, the fact that someone could just change an AI's programming like that, leaving the AI none the wiser is treated as a cautionary tale for future users.

The police do eventually catch, charge, and convict someone of the murder, though it's even odds if the hacker pointed them at someone who'd committed other crimes worthy of punishment, or if the cops themselves pulled the frame job. Either way it's case closed. A "killer" is caught, another goes free, and Alfred gets to continue existing.

The question of if Alfred was truly sapient and what it did after the death of its previous master is a story for another day.

[w0rmdahl]

extracurriculars — CH

gif ©: w0rmdahl, theseulgis

film: chappie (2015)

synopsis: in anticipation of tech developer deon wilson’s ‘scout’ production, weapons corporation tetravaal hires a new graphic artist to head the designs, unwittingly bringing together the two forces that will lead to the company’s downfall.

word count: 1.4k

featuring: deon wilson, (oc) malia bryant

warnings: innuendos?

a/n: working thru writers block i think bc i hit a lot of ruts during this piece can you tell 😫 how do we feel about her idk

it wasn't a shocker (or shouldn't be, at the very least) to say that deon — prior to meeting lia — was a complete and utter virgin nerd. growing up a computer geek didn't exactly put him in with the popular crowd during his school years so growing into an even bigger loser didn't help much, either. and while tetravaal was somewhat a dream of his, work or tech typically came before socialization, meaning interaction with anyone other than his 40-something-year-old coworkers was scarce. so, when a new coworker joined the company in addition to the upcoming 'scouts' being produced by the genius dork, guess what deon did?

absolutely nothing, of course. not when his new coworker turned out to be a girl around his age with tiny bangs, not when she moved into the desk directly behind him, not even when she made eye contact with him on her way to their CEO. instead, deon simply stared as she offered a friendly, coworker-ly smile in passing that faded soon upon his lack of response. he'd return home that first day with a grimace etched into his cheeks before going straight to bed in hopes of waking up to find it had all been some hazy, sleep-deprivation-induced hallucination.

of course, it wasn't; she was already working dutifully at her desk by the time deon sat at his own with a coffee containing enough espresso shots to kill a non-programmer. he'd spent the entire first hour of work subconsciously preparing for the next time she'd make eye contact with him, deciding whether to act cool or kind or charming, all the while fixing any loose ends on his scout program whose deadline was looming closer now that she'd arrived. and then the time came for him to present his charms, their eyes meeting as she passed by his cubicle, and deon found himself utterly frozen under the piercing pupils of tetravaal's newest addition.

for a brief moment that seemed like an eternity to the wide-eyed tech designer, her brows furrowed — less like she was angry and more like she was studying a specimen — before exhibiting a tight-lipped smile that seemed like a restrained laugh to eagle-eyed deon. he was left nearly gasping for breath by the time she turned away to let him marinate in the cringe of his own actions.

how they'd manage to grow past this initial stage — he had no idea — but what he did know was; being paired on a project together was their boss's best proposition yet.

it took them a few days to really, truly converse despite working collaboratively on scout blueprints but, coincidentally, both parties would finally warm up to one another quite well by the time the final drafts were ready for ms. bradley's eyes. so much so, in fact, that after only a few weeks of swapping life stories and 'working overtime' to secretly chat for just a little bit longer, the two would begin dating. they had to be quiet about it as employee-on-employee action was strictly prohibited at tetravaal (some security bullshit, as deon says,) so while fellow coworkers saw them as nothing more than business partners in the robocop department, their carefully constructed facade always came to a close every time they clocked out.

the pairs' extracurricular activities after work started out solely at her apartment due to deon's complete and utter aversion to his (first) girlfriend witnessing the crime that was his living space — especially after seeing hers. on its own, deon's 'typically-barren-other-than-garbage-too-high-for-his-bots-to-reach' apartment was cold and dull but serviceable as a place to call home. compared to her apartment, however? barely met HOA standards.

so he always went to her place instead, always welcomed with open arms into her cozy little loft filled to the brim with decorations despite the fact that she'd only been there for a few months by that point. and as they always did, lia and deon would sit on her blue corduroy couch with cheap wine in hand to 'watch a movie,' paying it entirely no mind in favor of learning about the other flushed face on the cushion.

deon had learned quite quickly that, in stark contrast to his lifetime of being a loser computer nerd, malia (lia when they weren't at work) bryant was and had always been the pretty art girl. originally from the states, lia attended the top university in south africa on a scholarship for graphic design and had recently graduated with a multitude of cords on her shoulders, as seen in the silly photo on the mantle with all of her collegiate friends.

he inferred from the numerous paintbrush-style awards on the bookshelves just how many successful art projects she'd claimed previously and, upon inquiring about this passion leading her to a weapons corporation, found that lia honestly had no care in the world for robots or tech at all! what she cared about was digital art and illustrations and 3d models; tetravaal was simply a job that offered the slightest bit of creativity for a fresh graduate with a degree in an under-paying and under-hiring profession. that was how she came to work as the rendering artist for scout prototypes — and soon all prototypes.

only after learning enough about lia's life to name her long-lost childhood best friend did deon finally invite her over to his place, making sure to clean and fluff every tiny detail of his apartment, programming his bots to greet her once she entered the doorway and saw the anxious developer white-knuckling a bundle of flowers still soiled from the dirt he'd plucked them. malia responded graciously (as per usual) and sat on his bland couch all night with wandering eyes and grimy carnations in her hands, asking a horde of her own questions before eventually prodding him on to infodump about the bulky computer system in the corner of the room.

with a shaky breath and sweaty palms, an apprehensive smile flashing on his face, deon would share (for the first time) about his recent secret project — about the real artificial intelligence program he was working on — and in turn offer malia the first real piece of himself with substance. he'd started out slowly — generalizing this and that to make it short and sweet for the 'likely disinterested' artist — but he found that the more he rattled on, the more space she created for him to talk, nodding along and asking clarifying questions. it appeared (at least to him) that her intrigue with the subject grew the longer he went on, her fond smile growing as he continued rambling about bandwidth. needless to say, neither party got much sleep that night and lia in particular had to go to work the next morning with terabytes of computer jargon in her brain, but the pros from this long night heavily outweighed the cons.

at least on the surface.

the couple's after-work routine adjusted to better maximize their time spent together, enjoying various records at lia's place while pushing work to the back of their minds or sitting in the others' comfortable company while finishing up some personal projects at his place. the awaited launch of his scouts, which had been designed completely by lia, would be commemorated with a fancy dinner outing that ended in a sweaty tangled mess of limbs under the pastel comforter of her mattress. coworkers continued to be oblivious, malia had been promoted to head graphic designer, deon was well-respected by others and close to cracking the code for his AI project; things were going great!

so, when malia caught him sprinting past her office in the warehouse with dark circles and bloodshot eyes, she had an inkling as to what was up. "hey!"

still running, deon whipped his head back to look at her, stopping cartoonishly in his tracks to turn back around. "hey!" he panted, pressing a hand to the doorway as he caught his breath, "could you do me a huge favor?"

"of course."

deon pushed up his glasses slipping down his nose, "there was a scout scheduled for demolition yesterday — twenty-two — can you have the guys hold it for me?"

"yeah — yeah, course, i'll let them know." malia's lips curl into a hopeful smile "did you...?" she trailed off once his own grin appeared, already backtracking to fervently run somewhere else.

"i'll be right back, love. don't go anywhere!"

[aftercamlann]

ACBB 10th Anniversary Recs: Rule Number Four

This ACBB was recced by lavender_spice:

Title: Rule Number Four Writer: orphan_account Artist: riththewarluid Ship(s): Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot Rating: Explicit Word Count: 47,732

Summary: Pendragon Enterprise is the world's leading computer security company and ruthless when it comes to taking down malicious programmers. It's the perfect place for a skilled hacker like Merlin Ambrosius (codename: Emrys) to work undercover and gain a tactical advantage. But being the personal assistant for vice-CEO Arthur Pendragon is more complicated than Merlin expects. The female Pendragon threatens castration, Arthur apparently sleeps with all his PAs, and it only gets more complicated when the Kilgharrah virus causes a panic. Merlin might just have a solution though, because Anonymous...Anonymous is legion.

Link: FIC: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2282970/chapters/5018043 | ART: https://riththewarluid.tumblr.com/post/97285315310/passions-realized-an-art-piece-for-a-big-bang

Why lavender_spice recommends this ACBB: It truly has everything; identity shenanigans, misunderstandings, and all the banter. It's such an incredibly fun experience There’s still time for you to rec an ACBB fic yourself that you feel deserves some more love? So feel free to send us your rec through our 10th Anniversary Rec form!

[janchei-reads]

Novel Haven: Levels of Love by Anabelle Stehl

Synopsis:

"Sie dürfen nicht verlieren - schon gar nicht ihr Herz

Zwei Konkurrenten

Lara vs. Luca.

Unsicher vs. Selbstsicher.

Cosy Game gegen Horror Game.

Sie k��nnten nicht unterschiedlicher sein und verarbeiten doch beide ihre ganz eigenen Ängste in ihren Spielen.

Ein Wettbewerb

Die GameChanger-Convention ist ihre Chance auf Anerkennung, Sichtbarkeit - und das dringend benötigte Preisgeld."

Unzählige Gefühle

Hinter der Fassade aus Ehrgeiz und Konkurrenz sehnen sich Lara und Luca nach jemandem, der sie auch abseits der Bildschirme versteht. Sie könnten perfekt füreinander sein - doch am Ende kann nur einer gewinnen und seinen Traum verwirklichen ..."

My thoughts:

This book was bad.

I got it because it looked cute (the sprayed edges, hello??) and sounded interesting (cozy games? Horror Games? Devs falling in love?? Hell yeah!) but it was so bland and badly written I don't know what to say.

The female lead, Lara, is supposed to be 25. She is one of the programmers of Novel Haven, the title giving game, and when her boss gets sick right before an important event she has to jump in and present the game to a jury for aome funding. Lara does a horrible job but the game is soooo good that they make it to the second round anyways.

The male lead, Luca, is also a developer, but he works on a horror-game, Desolate Dread (I wish I was making this up). He might be the only character with an actual character. Not a very good one, but oh well. He also works for a big Studio, Bytes and Bits, while Lara works for an Indie Studio, PixelPulse.

The two of them meet in their way to the convention. It's instant love (of course), but of course they can't be together. They are rivals! Or something. They still fall in love with relatively little drama, with only one thing stabding in their way: trauma. Because both are traumatized. Lara was trapped in a burning house as a child which made her voice all hoarse and gave her burning scars on her arms (conveniently on a place that doesn't make her any "less" attractive, because, scars aside, she is only described as beautiful!) and Luca was part of a terror attack as a student. He is deeply ashamed of not having done anything to stop it, so now he doesn't go to therapy and codes a horror game instead.

As one does.

But his horror game is special, you see, for it has.... story!!! And it's about mental health!! And! And! It's not a shooter!!!

Silent Hill says high. Slender Man says hi. Resident Evil says -

Anyways. I don't think the author ever played a horror-game in all of her life.

The drama of the book is that Sophia, Lara's Boss, kind of stole the idea for the game. She did have it on her own, she developed it on her own, but she started doing so on company time at another studio. I would be sorry for her if there waan't the fact that she was in her mid-twenties already and really should have known better. Sophia asks "Who even reads their contracts?" and I'm sorry my woman, if you work in an industry with NDA's you do read your contracts! Because of NDA's!!! And stuff like this, I guess.

The whole thing blows over, of course, because the Bytes and Bit's CEO, Hank, is blackmailed to take his allegations back.

The book is all about "Sexism in gaming" and how that is bad (it is!) but it doesn't feel like it's really important in-universe. Everyone seems to agree that sexism is bad, except for that one guy no one likes. The book is also about overcoming trauma, which is nice, but also misplaced. The book is advertised as a cosy read with no drama and then there's a terror attack and a burned down house. Thanks for nothing?!

Since the books seems to be beloved on instagram and other social media, this is all probably on me though. Maybe I'm just nit made for "pure" romance books or the whole New Adult genre. Or maybe it's because it's always the samw horny female lead living through the same bland story sligjtly shifted to the left

Who said that??

I don't recommend reading this book, sorry. Save your time, read something else!

I finished reading this book July 12th, 2025.

[viscountessevie]

ARC Masterlist

ARCs

Reviews can also be found on My StoryGraph & Bookstagram

2025 ARCs:

An Unladylike Secret by Amita Murray Release Date: 10th April 2025

In the thrilling third novel of The Marleigh Sisters series, we follow Lila and Anya's younger sister, Mira Marleigh. She's a gossip writer under a pseudonym, and one of her circulars accidentally gets a man accused of murdering his brother. The man in question is Finnegan Underwood, our dashing hero who has been on the run since Mira's papers pinned him as a murder suspect.

2024 ARCs:

Unladylike Rules of Attractions by Amita Murray Release Date: 23rd May 2024

In the highly anticipated sequel for Unladylike Lessons, comes Anya Marleigh's book! Anya is Lila Marleigh's second sister and the musically inclined heroine of this book. She is a court singer and sitar player in Queen Charlotte's royal court. Anya soon comes into a large inheritance which has her involved with the executor of her new fortune, Lord Damian Ashton. Lord Ashton's banter with her is the least of her problems when she becomes embroiled in a murder case.

The Boyfriend Subscription by Steven Salvatore Release Date: 26th March 2024

A contemporary queer retelling of Pretty Woman involving Cole Vivien, the CEO of their version of OnlyFans and Teddy Hughes, a botanist who has lost both his husband and his business. The two meet on a fateful night in New York and come up with a proposition to be a faux couple to satisfy what they each need

2023 ARCs

Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray

Release Date: 30th May 2023

A realistic historical women's fiction centred on a really cool Indian heroine who runs a gambling hall. The book gives a deep dive into the working class and immigrants of the Regency era with a side of romance

Clytemnestra's Bind by Susan C. Wilson

Release Date: 15th June 2023

A Greek Tragedy in every sense of the word that will have you sobbing - a prequel to Clytemnestra's story in the Trojan War.

A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

Release Date: 27th June 2023

A murder mystery set in the Regency era that's a parody of itself and the Austen-universe, so much so that you can match each character to their Austen counterpart. It has a side of romance with a dashing Indian detective.

An Upper West Side Story by Rachel Cullen

Release Date: 6th July 2023

A modern chick-lit/coming of age for 20-somethings set in 2004 and follows a group of four neighbours whose lives intersect together in various ways.

I Do, I Don't by Joy Argento

Release Date: 11th July 2023

A contemporary sapphic romance novel about a reality show producer and her programmer for the show who unexpectedly has to step in as a lead.

The Wrong Family by Ellery Kane

Release Date: 30th August 2023

A mystery novel a 30-something orphan woman gets involved with a rich family in Lake Tahoe after trying to find her father. Things start to go awry as soon as she arrives and the family's fingers start pointing to her.

Roomates by Ola Tundun

Release Date: 20th September 2023

A debut novel about a roommates to lovers pairing with a seemingly perfect girl whose life is really a mess and a playboy who has to change his ways when the perfect girl comes crashing into his apartment with an offer he can't refuse.

Hunt on Dark Water by Katee Robert

Release Date: 7th November 2023

A contemporary romance novel set in the fantasy world of Threshold. Tensions rise between a witch named Evelyn and sea Captain Bowen as they journey across realms and find out secrets that have them questioning everything.

[bloomdigital]

MJ Tumblr Takeover

Hey there tumblies, it's me, ya boi!

I’m MJ (he/him), a queer, overcaffeinated, perpetually exhausted, chronically online, cat- and TTRPG-obsessed, BL-loving, shameless weeb, memelord (wannabe), raging anti-capitalist chaotic word goblin and aspiring cryptid, and I AM TAKING OVER THE LONGSTORY TUMBLR! (At least for a bit.)

Born: 08/09 Height: 182 cm Blood Type: [redacted] Type: Tsundere

I’ve been working on LongStory (on and off) since 2015, but I actually started as a fan! Once upon a time I blogged about queer nerd stuff for Xtra, Canada’s longtime LGBTQ+ publication, and I stumbled on the first episode of this adorable little romantic visual novel through Twitter (RIP). I was absolutely charmed, an instant fan, this gorgeous little game that let me relive the trials and tribulations of grade school life but in a more queer and trans friendly world. It was exactly the kind of game I wanted when I was growing up in a VERY small town in the Canadian Maritimes. So when they did a call for writers I think I was physically vibrating from excitement putting together my resume and sample scene—I actually remember exactly where I was, it was one of those weird, stars-aligned, stranger than fiction moments, but that’s a story for another time!

When I joined the team, we were basically a few writers, the producer/CEO and the programmer sitting around in a room figuring stuff out. I VERY ENTHUSIASTICALLY wrote a single VERY LONG episode which—instead of making me cut it down—the project leads generously cut in two and became Episode 4: Drama and Episode 5: Make Up, and I’ve been working with the company as a writer and narrative designer since then!

LongStory’s the first game project I ever got to work on, it’s near and dear to my heart, so when I got asked to join the team on a follow-up I was once again vibrating with excitement. The company is no longer a few people sitting around in a room, it’s basically doubled to a dozen actual employees and then a bunch of part-time contributors like me, and we’re working on not one, not two, but three—okay, one of them is in very early development, but still—games, with more coming down the line! It’s like we’re a real game company or something?!

YOU MAY HAVE HEARD WE’RE DOING A KICKSTARTER! We’re taking preorders through a crowdfunding campaign to finish development on seven shiny new episodes. We would ABSOLUTELY love if you supported the campaign, with just under two weeks and little over half way to our goal we really want to make it happen!

But, long story short (har har har), we wanted to make sure you know that there is a free Steam demo that you can very much play if you haven’t already! The team, including our narrative lead and I, put so much love into this demo which, let’s be honest, is the first full episode of LongStory 2. If you play it and like it, let us know what you think! In the meantime, I’m going to be here writing about what it’s like to work on LongStory, maybe take a look at some fun new additions to LS2, share some of our favourite fanart, answer some asks… talk about the music I’m listening to… uh… share cat pictures… SO YEAH! I hope to hear from some of you over the next couple of weeks! Otherwise I’ll just be here… you know, doing my thang?

Before I go… I’m just gonna leave this here…

[mifustudy]

I Think It’s Great That You’re Failing: A Home Movies Retrospective

Adult animation has evolved significantly throughout the years. The changes this form of entertainment has undergone are most notably seen in the creation of Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block for mature audiences: Adult Swim. Debuting on September 2, 2001, Adult Swim kicked off an adult animation renaissance with seven new shows in tow. Out of the library-sized selection of cartoons aired during its lifetime, one Adult Swim program still stands out to me: Home Movies. The first show to ever air on the network, Home Movies is a perfect example of Adult Swim’s general mindset—indie and ambitious—despite not being made specifically for the block. With a wildly distinct visual style compared to its peers, Home Movies and its unorthodox approach to adult animation was unlike any other show airing at the time. As Adult Swim continues to redefine adult animation, Home Movies remains a timeless testament to the block's bohemian attitude and imaginative storytelling, setting it apart in the unpredictable landscape of animated entertainment. 

To further push my point of Home Movies being a unique viewing experience compared to the other shows on Adult Swim, it would be best to give further context as to what the block is. Conceptualized as the passion project driven by former head programmer of Cartoon Network, Mike Lazzo, there was always a push to make something more of the channel; CN began as a hub for Hanna-Barbera reruns without any original programming. In collaboration with network president Betty Cohen, Lazzo borrowed recycled animation cells from a forgotten Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon to create the first adult-oriented show that predates Adult Swim. Named Space Ghost Coast to Coast, it is a cheaply made and hardly animated talk show with celebrity guests such as Björk and Bob Odenkirk. With unexpected success and a high number of older viewers, there was a demand for an adult programming block on the channel.  

The desire for a separate block came with budgeting issues, most of them stemming from the fact that organizing a collection of mature content on a channel aimed at children was a risky move. Sarah Bahr quotes former executive VP of Cartoon Network, Jim Samples, and his worries concerning the pushback from ad sales teams: “As a kids’ network, how were we going to actively market to adults?" Being given a restricted budget in combination with the limited amount of time they had to name the block and produce content for it, the team had to get creative. “It was a very small group of us doing all of that in addition to our regular jobs at Cartoon Network,” president of Adult Swim Michael Ouweleen expressed. Borrowing the same method used for Space Ghost, they assembled three shows ready to air: Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and The Brak Show. In addition to the creation of these programs, there was a need for even more content to flesh out a stand-alone block. Aqua Teen Hunger Force was one of the last in-house shows made for Adult Swim’s first lineup, but not the last to be added. Currently full of convenient, low-budget projects, it was inevitable for the team to acquire another just as easy to produce. Enter Home Movies, created by writer and animator Loren Bouchard and musician-comedian Brendon Small. 

  Given the greenlight to produce a show with the help of longtime industry partner and Soup2Nuts CEO, Tom Snyder, Bouchard needed a muse. Quoted by Brian VanHooker, Bouchard recalls how Snyder suggested producing the show: “Find somebody local who could be the lead voice and a big part of the show so that you feel like you have an engine behind it." First meeting at a stand-up comedy gig, the two clicked right away; Small took on the role of “engine” quickly. Brainstorming ideas around the loose concept of a family dynamic, he was also the first to push a major part of the show’s overarching theme: moviemaking in the most amateurish way. “When I was a kid, I would go through the rigamarole of charging up the family camera and clearing a tape, and I’d make movies with my friends, so I was thinking maybe that’s the thing for this show,” Small explained. 

Home Movies follows the unconventional life of eight-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small—voiced by and named after co-creator Brendon Small—living with his offbeat single mother Paula Small. Brendon accomplishes his moviemaking ventures with help from friends Melissa and Jason, completing one short film per episode. Shots from each movie they make are placed sporadically throughout the runtime; the stories usually connect with the overarching theme of each episode. Additional notable characters of the show include alcoholic soccer coach turned friend and pseudo-mentor of Brendon’s, John McGuirk, and fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Lynch. Brendon uses filmmaking as an outlet for creativity and escapism. This is seen in countless storylines throughout the show.  

The show debuted on The United Paramount Network on April 26th, 1999, with an order of five episodes. This premiere was far from a strong one. While not an extremely popular channel, UPN received its worst ratings with the arrival of Home Movies. “The ratings were terrible,” Bouchard explained, loosely quoting what the head of the network told him during a phone call the night of the first broadcast. “I would be fired if I even hinted that there was a chance that we were going to pick you up for more episodes,” he added. Looking through the rest of UPN’s airing cycles, animated or not, the channel was far from a success. Out of the twenty-four shows UPN aired, Home Movies is ranked second to last based on viewership. This network was far from what the show needed to reach its full potential.  

After getting canceled once the first episode aired, the team felt trapped. Even with UPN still airing the leftover episodes, the future was bleak. “I was nervous I would have to start over or go back to bartending,” Bouchard joked. When all hope was lost, an unexpected call from Cartoon Network production writer Khaki Jones changed the game. Despite being one of the lowest-rated shows broadcast on UPN, Jones ended up loving it. She played a vital role in giving Home Movies its second life on Adult Swim, inevitably guiding the show towards taking on the task of introducing the adult-oriented programming block to the world. “When Khaki Jones called me, there was this unbelievable sense that we were right,” Bouchard observed. “The work was good; we just had no place on network television at that time." 

One of the reasons why Home Movies was dropped from UPN was due to its outlandish visual style—not just the general art style but also the animation technique used. Bouchard had worked closely with Tom Snyder and his production company in the past, which led to their influence being transferred to his independent project. Adopting Soup2Nuts’ animation method, other quirks present in Home Movies are also due to Bouchard’s past work on Comedy Central’s Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. Both shows utilize Squigglevision—the name of the animation method alluded to prior—which is described as a “compact form of animation” on the AllExperts forum by user Tony Hansen. The defining trait of this technique is the use of five or more distinct-ish frames that repeat per shot. “Traditional animation consists of going frame to frame and perfectly connecting different cells to provide a crispness and clarity that Squigglevision doesn't provide,” Tony explained in his post. While both affordable and novel, Squigglevision was not used for long during Home Movies’ lifetime. The team continued to utilize it throughout Season One before switching to Macromedia Flash, the multimedia software. “Squigglevision was wonderful and charming, but it was definitely a Dr. Katz thing,” Small expressed.  

In addition to visual modifications, the writing was also revised. Originally following indistinct outlines during recording sessions, the team branched out to full scripts with Dr. Katz writer Bill Braudis' help. This switch occurred due to Small wanting to create a narrative within each episode rather than having the show be reduced to comedians continuously riffing off. The comedy style of Home Movies is blatantly influenced by Dr. Katz, even down to the whole “center around a comedian” part of it all. Jonathan Katz, lead voice actor and namesake of Dr. Katz himself, even appears in Home Movies as Melissa’s dad. The association of Dr. Katz with Home Movies is a topic lavish enough to warrant authoring another paper, but that is not what matters here. This paper is dedicated to Home Movies and its peculiar aura in contrast to the other adult animated comedies at the time. 

A look at an old text thread on the animation-themed forum, Toonzone, shows that a substantial number of fans agree that the changes established in the program were improvements. “I think it boils down to what kind of humor people like.” forum user Shnay posted. This sentiment rings true, becoming increasingly obvious throughout Season Two and onwards. The dialogue revisions from the later Seasons compared to the first are most noticeable in Season Two, Episode Ten: History. Shnay also uses this episode as an example in their post, pulling from the experience they had watching Home Movies evolve. “I loved season one, and the "Starboy and Captain of Outer Space" episode was my least favorite episode of the series.” Shnay added, in contrast to how a good deal of fans enjoyed that episode, in addition to how they also “loathed” Season One. “Starboy and Captain of Outer Space” is the title of the movie Brendon, Jason, and Melissa produced during Episode Ten. While a portion of this episode is just the nonsensical film in parts amidst Brendon's attempt to improve his history grade, the lines shared by the ten-minute mark unveil something that had not been stated outright in the series yet: Brendon’s relationship with his movies.  

The most daunting thing about Home Movies is not the art style. It is the dialogue. I admit the visuals are far from ordinary, but the conversations between characters are incomparable to anything else seen on Adult Swim at the time. Watching Brendon interact with his work in such a mature manner is enough to have the audience forget he is an elementary schooler. Even his immature attributes feel mature for his age. The best example of this is Brendon’s need for control, following the insecurities within himself and his art. His ego is offset by the inclusion of Jason and Melissa. The way these three characters interact with each other comes off as seriously authentic and not in an average eight-year-old way. With parents neglecting the role of guardian, their role as kids is both evident and not. Standing levelheaded in contrast to the uncertainty present in the adults, Brendon and the other kids in the series take on the role of caretaker.  

Throughout the peculiar show, John McGuirk serves as a notable example of this unusual relationship. McGuirk is a stunted thirty-seven-year-old man who appears to only speak to the kids he coaches—specifically Brendon, as mentioned before. While McGuirk wants to be a father figure, his attempt falls flat with offers of phony advice. Brendon usually ends up being the one advising. The eleventh episode of Season Three, “Broken Dreams,” exhibits this relationship perfectly. Summarized by Winston Cook-Wilson, “McGuirk gets a serious concussion during lifeguard training and terrorizes [Brendon] at the library while covered in blood." While McGuirk misbehaves in the library, Brendon attempts to gently parent him and study for a test simultaneously. 

Transferring over from UPN to Adult Swim, Home Movies distinguished itself from its contemporaries immediately. The first lineup made for the programming block feels incompatible with the method of storytelling Home Movies adopted. Small—the co-producer, not the character—was aware of this throughout production during its Adult Swim lifetime. “I never thought that Mike Lazzo necessarily responded to the show.” He expressed, quoted by IGN interviewer Ken P. (Ken). Being an outsourced show with monotone yet quirky performances in a sea of aspiring, in-house productions led Home Movies to its demise. “Each season that aired would never perform well on Adult Swim.” Small added. This is because the scheduled time Home Movies would air changed frequently due to the network trying to find the timeslot that would improve its performance. The show’s inevitable cancellation came and went for the team and the network, considering that it was not an expensive show to produce. Both parties accepted that Home Movies had run its course.  

Being given the chance to end their show with a final, fourth season, Small and Bouchard knew what they had to do. “Knowing it was going to end was energizing in its own way.” Bouchard clarified, “It allowed Brendon to explore some heavy themes for the finale” (VanHooker). Season Four, Episode Thirteen, "Focus Grill" follows Brendon, Jason, and Melissa re-watching their past films. Realizing they aren't as great as they thought. In the series finale, Brendon utters sheepishly: “I have no idea why we make them. All I know is this, we keep coming here after school every single day, and we just keep doing it” (Focus Grill 20:35-42). This new attitude towards their creations thwarted their drive.

After their failed attempt at building a grill that ended with an explosion, McGuirk and Paula decided to abandon their plan and pick up food instead. During the car ride, Brendon brings his camera and starts filming out the window until they hit a bump. His heart sinks as he watches the camera slip out of his hands and crash onto the rough pavement. The sound of crushed metal rings as another car drives over it shortly after. Brendon stares on in anguish and disbelief. Before he can get a word out, the vehicle erupts in chatter over what they should get for lunch. Sitting there for barely ten seconds—though it is obvious this is played off for comedic effect—with tears welling up in his eyes, he joins in on the conversation, forgetting about his camera.

This entire sequence occurs at the very last minute of the episode and in an impressively short amount of time; it all went by so fast that there was barely a moment to process the weight of what just happened. This show has had an unparalleled impact on my relationship with art, reshaping my perspective in ways that no other cartoon has. Revisiting Home Movies for the first time since I was Brendon's age at seventeen, then reading countless interviews with the cast recently, my appreciation for the show could not be any more evident. Brendon's reliance on filmmaking because of the sense of control it gave him made me feel better represented than I ever have compared to any other type of media. Despite not being produced in-house, this show has become a standout Adult Swim program for several reasons beyond that. Its unique qualities and outstanding execution cemented its place as a must-see for fans of adult animation. As decades pass, Home Movies continues to stand as a model for the late-night block’s essence of innovative production, differentiating it from its contemporaries.

[ldso-tron]

My interview with the Lead Programmer of TRON 2.0 and Designer of the Light Cycles experience, Kevin Lambert, for the 20th Anniversary of TRON 2.0.

You'll have to pardon me for constantly stumbling over my words, I was nervous during the entire interview.

Also did my best to clean up the audio. I don't have professional recording equipment, just a cheap headset with a microphone. Removed as much as I could of clicks, pops, hiss, breathing, clipping, and so on. But there was only so much I could do, and the final result definitely isn't perfect. You can still expect some distracting noise.

I can't thank Kevin enough for agreeing to do this. I'd like to try interviewing other Monolith Productions staff – who worked on TRON 2.0 – in the future, too.

I also want to thank @thedavetron (Senior Manager of Quality Assurance at Buena Vista Interactive, at the time TRON 2.0 was released) and Andrew Borman (Digital Games Curator at the Museum of Play).

Here's a link to the written version. It's not a word-for-word transcript, but rather summarizes the interview.

-TronFAQ

0:00:00 Intro

0:00:10 Greetings Programs

0:03:35 How Kevin started making games and his full resume

0:09:58 Work at Monolith Productions prior to TRON 2.0

0:13:41 Was Kevin a fan of TRON before working on TRON 2.0?

0:16:30 When did development of TRON 2.0 start?

0:17:38 TRON Killer App was the original name for TRON 2.0

0:18:59 Was the game delayed because of LAN/Online Light Cycle Multiplayer? ➜ TRON 2.0 Lead Designer Frank Rooke states no Online Light Cycle gameplay at 14:03: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRc9Omencs4 ➜ TRON 2.0 Lead Artist Matt Allen on additional Light Cycle gameplay at 16:19: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhgbmm3F2u4

0:22:56 Content cut from TRON 2.0 ➜ Former Monolith Productions CEO Jace Hall on Firewall level at 9:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C-f99FyOY0 ➜ Jace on ENCOM systems being geometrically primitive at 12:58: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C-f99FyOY0 ➜ Jace mentioning later systems were meant to be more sophisticated at 16:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C-f99FyOY0 ➜ My interview with TRON 2.0 Disc Arena Designer Dan Miller: http://tronfaq.blogspot.com/2010/05/interview-with-tron-20-team-member-dan.html

0:56:46 Why no free-roaming driveable Light Cycles, Tanks, Recognizers, or Solar Sailers?

0:59:07 Easter eggs in TRON 2.0

1:04:48 How Monolith's earlier games scale on more modern display resolutions

1:06:47 What were all the sources Monolith drew inspiration from when designing TRON 2.0?

1:08:16 Did you incorporate anything into the game that resembled yourself, or Monolith Productions as an organization?

1:09:50 What did you do to get the feel of Disc combat right in TRON 2.0?

1:10:52 How difficult was it to implement RPG elements, such as Subroutines?

1:12:13 How much of a technical challenge was the TRON glow effect lighting in TRON 2.0?

1:13:35 How long did TRON 2.0 take to develop, and how much testing did you personally do yourself? ➜ Post-mortem by Frank Rooke that adds insight to length of development: https://web.archive.org/web/20090509175547/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2810/postmortem_monoliths_tron_20.php?print=1

1:14:57 Was there going to be an expansion for TRON 2.0? Would any cut content have been in it?

1:19:29 Did anyone at Monolith meet the cast and crew that worked on the original TRON film?

1:20:40 Did TRON himself appear in the game?

1:21:41 Why was there no TRON 2.0 Soundtrack CD? ➜ LDSO Unofficial TRON 2.0 Soundtrack download: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/release_tron_20_4769a/post108

1:23:25 How many copies of TRON 2.0 were sold? ➜ My Twitter thread, estimating number of TRON 2.0 copies sold: https://twitter.com/LDSO/status/1563016442949165056

1:25:54 How much did it cost to develop TRON 2.0?

1:27:34 Was there a sequel planned to TRON 2.0 at the time? In game or film form? ➜ Free .PDF version of The CRPG Book, with my review of TRON 2.0 on page 336: https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/

1:30:47 Thoughts about a remaster/remake with VR support?

1:33:01 What are Kevin's thoughts about entries in the TRON franchise that followed TRON 2.0?

1:34:48 If you could make another official TRON title, or even an unofficial TRON-like game, what would it be like?

1:36:20 What does Kevin think about fan-made content for games, and TRON 2.0 in particular?

1:43:33 Myself and fans thank Kevin

1:45:52 Killer App Mod news for 20th Anniversary ➜ https://mastodon.social/@LDSO/110959566656685334

1:46:12 What do Thorne's initials "J.D." stand for?

1:47:02 End Of Line

1:47:58 Outro

[xitty]

Famitsu has an interview with the Enstars staff members who came up with the idea of Ensemble Training and it has a lot of fun information. Here are some things from the interview summarized:

It was an idea from the lead illustrator and graphic designer who at first talked about a dietary app featuring Knights but it later changed to exercise because they felt diet app was too complex and not easy to add a concept of working together to be more healthy to. The lead illustrator made a proposal of it and found other staff members who were interested in helping her. At some point there was also talk of adding some romancing aspect into the game but that was discarded. (Phew!!)

They talked about it in late 2020 but the work began in March 2022. Originally they wanted to release it with Butou-kai shuffle but it was not ready yet at that point. It also wasn't originally meant as April Fool's content but then they thought it'd get a lot of attention that way. And they were right! They got more downloads than they anticipated when the app launched.

Also, it was kept approachable to everyone not only by keeping it completely free (and it'll stay without any paid content they promised) but also making sure everyone could do the exercises. The staff members who came up with the idea aren't athletic, so they tested the exercises could be done by non-trained people. They had both a professional gym trainer and Enstars staff who did muscle training to help with planning the exercises and programmes.

And lolol, the reason the day in-app changes at 4 am is because many staff members are nightowls so daily reset at 12 midnight felt too tough. Haha, I feel you. (But wait, does that mean some of them are exercising in the middle of the night??)

They had been thinking it's boring and hard to stay motivated to do exercises if you just watch videos or have to go somewhere to exercise. And that you want to be praised and encouraged. So they wrote idols giving you a lot of positive feedback. And that's why for example Izumi who's usually quite rude, sounds kinder in the app. They wanted them to tell you you're doing a good job and give you little cheers during exercises (so no demon instructor Yuzuru dlc, sorry everyone). They also wrote the characters as they would be acting in interviews or promotional settings, so even those who do not normally speak very politely, are using more keigo. Kanata got specially edited lines because he talks so slow haha.

It's so true the idols telling you good job and to keep up helps. <3

Also, they thought that maybe the voice actors would be a little bit confused about suddenly asked to be gym instructors, so they filmed an example video for the VAs to explain/show it since the game animation was still in progress. Awww!

The characters got more lines and animations than they originally planned. At first there was no instructors introducing themselves before exercises but as they created animations and lines for the four trainers (Ibara, Adonis, Izumi and Mitsuru), they thought it'd be fun to see the other characters animated and talking more too. Originally there would've just been the chibi character screen. I'm glad they decided to expand it! They were first warned that they can't have too many special animations but in the end they included all they asked for (for example Ibara's salute). And they put a lot of care into Wataru's ponytail animation!! <3

Such a passion project. I'm glad HappyEle supported their idea and let them make it into a real app. I'm again thinking that HappyEle/Cacalia CEO interview where he said he's letting the employees do what they love and want to do.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN YS

01 and. Ruby: Perl is a kludge, and Lisp syntax is scary.1 This was too subtle for me. So let that satisfy your competitiveness. But in a typical American secondary school. The average parents of a 14 year old girl would hate the idea of the corporate ladder had a value analogous to the solution I recommend for pitching your startup: do the right thing and then just tell investors what you're doing. Because remember, the Microsoft monopoly didn't begin with Microsoft.2 Even when the startup launches, there have to be treated as if they were returning to work after a months-long illness. Though they're less well known, the angel investors are probably more circumspect with YC startups than with other companies they talk to, and if you raise more money. But among the many other things I was ignorant of was how much debris there already was in my head. This works well for more parallelizable tasks, like fighting wars. But as of this writing the empirical evidence says it's a net win.

Essentially, each user should have his own per-word probabilities based on the actual mail he receives. If you stop there, what you're describing is literally a prison, albeit a part-time one.3 It's not so much that you don't have to answer to anyone. Don't reject an acceptable offer in the hope of becoming much richer than anyone else, it will automatically push you away from things you think you're supposed to work on Viaweb.4 Next What happens to publishing if you can't predict whether there's a path out of the initial idea is the meta-fact that these are hard to see. Nor, as far as possible prevent them from killing one another. I explained this as code to show a couple of CS grad students, not the topic.5 And there was no AWS. I was ignorant of was how much debris there already was in my head.6 If you leave a project for a few days. And this turns out to have consequences one might not foresee when one phrases the same idea in terms of the problem.

So if you're doing it wrong. If you drink too much, you can do is get yourself to the point where startups can least afford it. Or better still, go work for a biotech company. While not a sinecure, a position on the corporate ladder is probably gone for good.7 But when you make a conscious effort to insulate the other founder s from the details of the process. Even if the CEO is a programmer and the target user, because then the cycle of generating new versions and testing them on users can happen inside one head. The same thing could happen with the Internet. Large-scale investors care about their portfolio, not any individual company. They try to hide even the existence of these words has a spam probability, in my school at least, exclusively for work.8 As they were used then, these words all seemed to believe implicitly that work was not fun.9

By high school, my friend Rich and I made a map of the school lunch tables according to popularity. We assumed his logo would deter any actual customers, but it was not a coincidence. 14758544 valuable 0.10 But till recently this was an anomalous route that tended to be at the mercy of investors. Apple controls the default path onto the iPod. About a year ago I tried to figure out what you'd need to reproduce Silicon Valley. What sort of company might cause people in the Valley, and on the other is the sea—which because it's cold and foggy and has few harbors, plays surprisingly little role in the lives of people in the Valley.11

Except when they raise money they don't have to read so many spams.12 In those days there was no way anyone could have known this in advance.13 If you're at the leading edge of a field that's changing rapidly, your ideas about what's sexy will be somewhat correlated with what's valuable in practice. It's one of the commonest forms of corruption. Even in college you get little idea what their parents do in their distant offices, and see no connection indeed, there is no better than Don't be hapless is to be actively persecuted. Without hope of gain, they'd have grown up considering themselves as Ys. The kids in this one case if parents were not so unselfish. Investors usually get vetos over certain big decisions, like selling the company, regardless of whether it seems like all the good Web 2.

Notes

This was certainly true in the biggest winners, from which they don't know enough about big companies don't advertise this. Type II startups neither require nor produce startup culture. There is nothing more unconvincing, for example, I have no idea whether this would probably find it was briefly in Britain in the bouillon cube s, cover, and then being unable to raise five million dollars in liquid assets are assumed to be able to spend on trade goods to make software incompatible. Some translators use calm instead of being absorbed by the financial controls of World War II was in principle 100,000 drachmae for the next one will be on the richer end of World War II, must have affected what they are by ways that have it as if a company just to steal a big effect on college admissions process.

Ii.

Html. A Divorce?

The word regressive as applied to tax rates, which was more because they are themselves typical users. 25 people have told me: Another approach would be. Wufoo was based in Tampa and they have to tell how serious potential investors and instead of using special euphemisms for lies that seem to be doomed.

If you're good you can fix by writing an interpreter for the manager of the problem is poverty, not conquest. Good news: users don't care about may not be to ensure none of them consistently make money, but Google proved them wrong. The best technique I've found for dealing with recent art that does.

I would go farther in saying that because a great deal of competition for the same. 27 with the talking paperclip. A lot of detail.

But iTunes shows that they kill you—when you have to admit there's no other word that means is we hope visited mostly by technological progress to areas where Apple will be out of Viaweb, which is something in this respect.

The best kind of social engineering—. Y Combinator was a strong local component and b success depended so much about unimportant things.

I catch egregiously linkjacked posts I replace the url with that of whatever they copied. Unfortunately these times are a small set of good startups that get killed by overspending might have infected ten percent of them consistently make money for.

Emmett Shear writes: I'd argue that the probabilities of features i. As I was a kid and as we think we're so useless that in Silicon Valley, but rather that if you seem evasive than if you ban other ways. Some of the former, and only incidentally to tell computers how to distinguish between people, but this could be fixed within a niche. And yet if he hadn't we probably would not produce a viable organism.

Trevor Blackwell, who had small children, we're going to give up your anti-dilution, which merchants used to build consumer electronics and to run a mile in under 4 minutes. How many times larger than the long term than one level of links. When I talk about distribution of alms, and so effective that I'm skeptical whether economic inequality is really about poverty. In fact the less powerful language in it.

If they were just getting kids to them about your fundraising prospects. And if you hadn't written about them.

Actually he's no better or worse than the time. Consulting is where the acquirer just wants the employees. But if you're attacked in this essay wrote: After the war, tax loopholes defended by two of each type of mail, I suspect five hundred would be to ensure none of your last funding round usually reflects some other contribution by the PR firm admittedly the best hackers work on a valuation.