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jurassic-falls · 23 days ago

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FINALLY A MORE IN-DEPTH CHARACTER INTRO POST

This AU will take inspiration from the Jurassic Park and World movies. Potentially the Camp Cretaceous and Chaos Theory shows as well (I haven’t read the books yet unfortunately)

Stanford Pines- Head geneticist and came up with the original idea for Jurassic Park and the InGen cloning technology. His plans and research expeditions were originally funded by the Northwest Family while he was in college, and they helped him acquire Isla Sorna and Nublar (with the promise of getting a share of the money the park makes. He does not fully trust the family and does not want them involved as much as possible)

He’s also in charge of documentation, finding new blood samples, employee hiring, animal welfare, and dealing with potential investors. He’s a very curious person who cares deeply about the dinosaurs and sharing his knowledge of the creatures with the world. However, he can get frustrated easily when dealing with difficult visitors/investors.

His favorite dinosaur is the Velociraptor.

Fiddleford McGucket- Head Engineer and co-founder of InGen and the park. He created the egg incubators and developed the plans for the various paddocks around the island. He’ll also help out with filling in any incomplete gaps in the dinosaur DNA and does routine inspections of the fences around the island. He isn’t a big fan of dealing with the business side of the park, so he mostly stays in the lab and supervises any construction.

Fun fact, any scientists who work in the labs where the embryos and eggs develop are called nursery attendants by the other employees. Fiddleford is not the biggest fan of this nickname. Since he grew up on a farm, he isn’t as affectionate towards the dinosaurs compared to Ford, similar to how he is in canon with the specimens in the bunker. He will help Ford with welfare though since he has experience dealing with “livestock”

Similar to Ian Malcolm in the movies, he was not exactly on board with the park idea, and still holds many reservations about cloning the more dangerous species, but he stays (mostly) silent out of a desire to support Ford and his plans.

His favorite dinosaur is the Maiasaura

Stanley Pines- Head of Park Security. In the story, he and Ford make up much sooner than in canon, and he decides to stay and help with the project after Ford offers him a job.

Stan enjoys the position a lot, and is hoping to one day "punch a dinosaur in the face" (though Ford does not allow any harm to come to the dinosaurs unless absolutely necessary)

In addition to park security, Stan also helps with merchandise ideas and will sometimes help run some of the gift shops in the main visitors section of the park. He's also in charge of search and rescue missions, any potential animal escapes, and transporting any sick dinosaurs back to the laboratory areas for treatment.

His favorite dinosaur is the Ankylosaurus (mainly due to the massive club tails)

William "Bill" Cipher- Head Programmer who is in charge of designing any computer and cyber-security programs the park requires. He also has a fair bit of engineering knowledge and will often help Fiddleford with any inspections of the gates and electric fences all around the island (though they tend to not get along very well)

Not much is known about him other than the fact that he graduated from West Coast Tech. The other employees tend to think he's a bit creepy, but if Stanford hired him then he must be good at what he does, and nobody can deny the fact he's quite intelligent. For unknown reasons, he seems to know a strange amount of information about Ford and his personal life.

His least favorite dinosaur is the Dilophosarus

#gravity falls #jurassic park #jurassic falls au #bill cipher #fiddleford mcgucket #stanford pines #stanley pines

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himbohunnicutt · 3 months ago

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A Very Serious Academic Article Regarding The New Production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing At The Theatre Royal Drury Lane By The Jamie Lloyd Company; or, Much Ado About Tom Hiddleston

WARNING: CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THIS PRODUCTION (I mean and the plot but that’s 400 years old)

To begin with, one must consider how ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ - I do not subscribe to the Love’s Labour's Won idea much myself - would have been perceived back in the day. Funny, sexy, uncouth, outrageous. In light of this, much of the Jamie Lloyd Co’s production makes sense.

Upon our arrival at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane - a suitably historic and grand venue for such an iconic work by the Bard - we perused the selection of merchandise, instantly purchasing programmes and tote bags (we went back for pins later). Everything is pink. Our seats were the cheap ones, up in the gods (to which my mother said “well of course, you’re a goddess”), and we stopped in the loos as we made our way up. Music began to play in every part of the theatre, starting with Sophie Ellis Bextor’s ‘If This Ain’t Love (Groovejet)’. That’s when we knew it was going to be a damn good time.

The second we stepped into the auditorium, we were confronted with banging bass, pink lighting, and disco balls. We could see the edge of the stage, covered in pink confetti. The house music continued to play as we found our seats, and we were pleasantly surprised to find we could actually see 90% of the stage.

A school group came and sat in front of us, aged no more than fifteen. The teachers would go on to regret their decision as the show went on.

The music stopped suddenly.

The lights went out.

The show started.

The whole stage was revealed, also covered in pink confetti - which proved to be more than an aesthetic choice. Beatrice, Margaret (a non-binary icon), Hero, Leonato, and Borachio appear sat on plain plastic chairs, and Hayley Atwell began with Beatrice’s scathing description of Benedick. She perfected the exasperated talk of Benedick and Claudio - “God help the noble Claudio” - and I was pleased to see that they stuck to the original text, only removing or adding lines where absolutely necessary.

“Don Pedro is approached” - cue ‘Fight for your Right’ by Beastie Boys. The men appear, including the one we have all been waiting for. They dance, they pose, they set the chaotic and playful tone for the rest of the show.

Claudio (James Phoon) is the perfect himbo dimepiece in a matching shiny jacket and trousers, accompanied by Tom Hiddleston in some impeccably tailored blue dress trousers and a flimsy-looking shirt. There is hugging and kissing and all manner of flirting. Hayley Atwell’s apathetic Beatrice sits and watches. One thing I particularly enjoyed was how much the production leans into Shakespeare’s hints of a previous relationship between Beatrice and Benedick, in that they are explicitly exes.

They fight. It’s sexy and sarcastic and ridiculous. When Benedick says “It is certain I am loved of all ladies”, Tom Hiddleston turns to the audience and every woman with a pulse screams and cheers. This is the first time I have ever seen ‘Much Ado’ in a theatre, I have only ever watched recorded productions before, and I laughed out loud and harder more than I thought I would. I must say the line “scratching could not make it worse an ‘twere such a face as yours were” is hysterical when aimed at someone as genuinely beautiful as Hiddleston.

“I know you of old” is the moment when I realised they were really going for the exes thing and I loved it. I think it actually makes it all make more sense if they’re old flames.

The ten chairs for the ten cast members are placed in a line on the stage, and Claudio walks forward, Benedick lounging in a chair with everyone else. The friendship and brotherhood between the pair of them was so believable, the himboic Claudio and the smarmy-but-in-a-hot-way Benedick. I also liked that Hero is still on the stage at this point, so Claudio can stare wistfully at her and Benedick can look with disdain at his friend and the object of said friend’s affection.

Don Pedro is dressed all in pink, is explicitly bisexual, and is hotter than any Don Pedro has the right to be.

Tom Hiddleston delivers the line “If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot at me” completely deadpan and it is perfect. He delivers it in the way I have been known to deliver the line “If I say I’m going to do a PhD, shoot me in the head”.

Don John starts his plotting. He is camp and ridiculous and it works so well - “Oh no I’ve scratched my loafer” - and the plot is brought into action. The loafer line is brought about by the brothers being the last two left in a round of musical chairs, and Don Pedro pushes his brother to the floor. It is childish and chaotic and works so well.

All the while, there are little scenes between this where they dance and cause chaos, occasionally ‘scooby-doo’ running across the stage to some loud and bright brass music.

When Beatrice is describing the man for her - beard or no beard - she picks people out of the audience to point at.

“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man - sorry” She says, turning to the man in the audience without a beard that she had picked out.

The party scene begins, with big animal and creature heads fitted to each cast member to disguise their identity so chaos can occur. Beatrice has a cat head, Benedick a dog. Margaret flirts outrageously with Benedick and it is wonderful. Don Pedro seduces Hero for Claudio, which leads to Hero grinding on Don Pedro in the background whilst Beatrice and Benedick have their conversation, Tom Hiddleston doing an impeccable Scottish accent to disguise his identity.

Claudio’s got the wrong end of the stick - himbo that he is - and he is about as good at processing his emotions as any man in his early 20s with a penchant for partying. He has been convinced by the villains that Don Pedro has seduced Hero for himself - and to be fair after seeing their dancing you can understand it - and Benedick tries to understand why he has been nicknamed the Prince’s Jester.

Beatrice appears, and seems to be a little wistful for times gone by - “he lent it me a while, and I gave him use of it”. Again, they lean on the fact that Beatrice and Benedick were exes and it adds a depth to the scene that one could have argued would not have been there without it.

Don John and Borachio organise their plan to make Hero unsuitable for Claudio.

Then is Benedick alone on the stage, talking about the woman for him. Hiddleston picks out women in the audience the way Hayley Atwell did, finding a ‘fair’ woman, a ‘wise’ woman, and a ‘virtuous’ woman (he pointed to the balcony at this point and I am choosing to believe he was pointing at me, but lets not unpack that).

Benedick hides himself incredibly stupidly in any production of ‘Much Ado’, but the pink confetti quickly became less of a decoration and more of a prop as Hiddleston dropped to the floor and covered himself in confetti as best he could, spitting confetti in shock at what they say, appearing to cover his dignity with confetti whilst hiding. It was hysterical, especially as he attempted to move about the stage, rolling around and hiding behind the giant inflatable heart. The best moment was when he jumped down a trapdoor in the stage to hide, climbing back out later in the scene. This is Benedick’s moment to be a himbo and it is incredible, the tone perfect. The whole production plays on the ridiculousness and chaotic nature of Shakespeare’s text and this is a perfect scene to demonstrate that.

Beatrice appears to bid Benedick come in for dinner. He pops a button on his shirt, affects a deeper ‘sexier’ voice, and lunges, showing off his excellent legs. When she says “you have no stomach, sir”, he rips his shirt open and again every woman with a pulse screams. Beatrice runs, flustered.

It’s Beatrice’s turn to hide ridiculously and it again is chaotic and the giant inflatable heart is used to great effect. There is a hilarious moment when ‘pictures’ of Beatrice and Benedick are fetched as in the text, but they are cardboard cutouts of Atwell as Captain Carter and Hiddleston as Loki. They know they have superstars in their cast and they are not afraid to exploit that at every opportunity.

The friendships between Don Pedro, Benedick, and Claudio work so well, the good natured needling and bullying that comes with every friendship is totally believable. You do forget that they’re castmates, not best friends. This scene between them is also set up as Claudio’s stag do, to great effect - stupid beer hats and all.

They do cut the Dogberry and Verges scenes from the play and honestly I think it’s better for it. I have found with other productions that they do take you out of it, but I’m sure they made much more sense when the play was written. They adapt the lines so Borachio explains what is going to happen between himself and Margaret and that’s all that’s needed. It keeps the chaos flowing.

Borachio and Margaret then proceed to have sex on the table, and the school teachers begin to regret their decision to bring a group of teenagers to see this. Clearly they hadn’t done their research into this particular production, though the website does say suitable for 12+.

Margaret really comes into their own - I have so far forgotten to mention that they have the most incredible singing voice - and the pre-wedding scenes are sweet and fun but deep too. They turn some of the scenes into a hen do and it is glorious.

And so, the wedding. Claudio is very, very angry - perhaps slightly too angry but considering how much of a himbo they’re playing him as, it works - and Hero does manage to hold her own. Leonato similarly is fuming and unrelenting and again, it works. He has already proved earlier to be an emotional man and the decisions all make sense.

Benedick clears up the chaos, and Beatrice cries. I really liked that they gave Beatrice time to cry, to be emotional. This scene is my favourite in the whole play and arguably my favourite scene ever written by Shakespeare. The whole theatre is silent as Beatrice and Benedick declare their love for each other.

“I do love nothing in the world so well as you”

Then, Hayley Atwell gives a powerhouse performance, kickstarted by the simple line - “Kill Claudio”. A brief “huh?” from Benedick is the last bit of comic relief for a few minutes as Beatrice has her moment. This scene is always powerful, Beatrice repeating the phrase “God, that I were a man”. She screams “I would eat his heart in the marketplace”, which is always the line that I think makes or breaks a Beatrice, and she does it perfectly. Anger reverberates off her and Benedick cannot help but be caught in her blast radius.

I really liked the decision they made with the next scenes, discussion around Claudio’s marrying Leonato’s ‘niece’ - with Hero herself under the table watching everything, the rest of the cast sitting at the side of the stage. I appreciate that she is there, as her ‘death’ hangs over the characters and she is present in spirit if not physically, and so to have her there watching everything really works.

The funeral scene is cut, also for the better. Margaret and Benedick have a moment, Margaret taking their chance to get their hands all over Tom Hiddleston to great comedic effect.

Benedick begins to try and write his poem for her, but they make the most of this by having him sing the first verse of ‘I Want It That Way’ by Backstreet Boys. He is almost too good of a singer to pull off the comedy of the moment but it works. They also linger on the word “horn” as Benedick is reading out what he has attempted to write, with smirks and giggles from the audience confirming that the emphasis on dirty jokes is paying off (they also emphasise the word “come” quite a lot later on, to the same effect).

As Benedick asks Beatrice, who has appeared, which of his ‘bad parts’ did she first fall in love with, he again pops a button on his shirt. Hayley Atwell makes Tom Hiddleston get on his knees and it not only works for the scene and their dynamic but also worked for the audience. You could hear hearts beat a little faster.

They sit on the floor together, entangled, necking like teenagers, with Margaret appearing to usher them inside. They are exasperated with their pair, gesturing for them to come inside a few times.

The costume heads are back for the wedding to disguise the three women, this time Beatrice with an octopus on her head. Margaret briefly tries to replace Beatrice at the wedding - they have spent the whole play being chaotically horny for Benedick - but is yanked back.

They play the comedic nature perfectly, balancing it with the emotion of the scene. The line “come, I will have thee, but by this light I will take thee for pity” elicits hoots of laughter from the audience once again.

All the dancing throughout the show pays off at the end, as Benedick says “Let’s have a dance ere we are married, that we may lighten our own hearts and our wives’ heels”.

Margaret belts out ‘When Love Takes Over’ as everyone dances ridiculously and brilliantly and sexily. They get the audience up on their feet to dance too, the glitter balls covering the theatre in light. It briefly feels like being in a nightclub and it’s the perfect closing to a show full of joy and fun and sex and chaos.

To me, it feels like they have managed to replicate in a very modern way how ‘Much Ado’ would have been received by the original Elizabethan audiences, updating the level of sex and dirty jokes to a comparable level.

Everyone in the cast is amazing, but the standouts really are Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston - and not just because of their fame. They are perfectly cast and they play it so well, convincing as sparring partners and as lovers and as friends to the other characters. The simple nature of the staging also works, it allows the words and the performances to shine through in a huge theatre. It could have been easy for it to get lost in such a venue, but the simplicity works. Aesthetically the show is glorious, the soundtrack is a banger (there is a playlist on spotify of songs featured), and every single cast member is perfect for their part.

Could this be one of the best ‘Much Ado’ productions ever? I think so. I can’t see it being bettered any time soon.

#tom hiddleston #hayley atwell #much ado about nothing #william shakespeare #much ado about nothing 2025 #theatre royal drury lane #benedick #beatrice #much ado #tom hiddleston much ado #theatre review #london theatre review #london #theatre #west end theatre #west end review #maad

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chocolate-gore · 6 months ago

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Here’s a thought:

"The Mother Gooseberry Hour" is very probably lost media and an urban legend in the Outlast universe, with many people actively debating whether or not it actually existed, or if it is merely creepy pasta bait.

[this is a long one]

Because "The Mother Gooseberry Hour" ran locally and only during the early 50’s [1951 until 1955] there are probably only a select few people remembering it who are also - as of the main series time setting of 2013 - OLD and maybe even dementia ridden. That not only counts for the adults of the time, but the children too, if you consider that the last time it aired was in 1955. Assuming the oldest child watching would be 12 at MOST, the audience members would approximately be between 60 and 70 in 2013. And they certainly would not discuss their hazy memories of a strange TV show they watched on the internet, but instead relay these memories to their own children and grandchildren, who would at first dismiss it because…they never heard of it. Maybe the interest of SOME is peaked, but it’s so obscure that they can’t find anything about it. But then some come to discuss the topic online, only to find that they meet other descendants of people who have ALSO been told about "That strange Dental Goose Show".

Why would I assume the show is lost media though? Phyllis crimes were well documented in contemporary media after all? Well, her crimes may have been, but not THE SHOW.

I do not think that actual tapings would have been preserved because of 1, the reputation of Phyllis herself and the late show’s tone, and 2, not even the moon landing’s broadcast was entirely preserved due to a practice where TV broadcasters would repurpose old tape and record over them to save money. Storage of film was also not ideal with the materials being highly flammable. I’d even go as far as to assume that the earliest broadcasts of "The Mother Gooseberry Hour" didn’t even exist anymore, while the show was still on the air, because of that practice. If you’ve stuck your nose into the lost media rabbit hole, you may know about the whole Doctor Who debacle, which is very similar. There would have been no interest in preserving a niche, localised tv programme for children back in the day. The ONLY way that ANY tapings could still survive until 2013 would be through Murkoff. I would bet that they would have been the only ones with an interest to acquire tapings of such a show, you know, for archival and research purposes on Phyllis’ life and psyche. MAYBE the Philadelphia PD would have them in their archives but like…that’s a stretch. Who knows.

Anyways, so some may argue that "But there is Doctor Futterman merch in the Trial environments though?" Well yes, but I think that this was simply done to immerse Phyllis into the idea that she is still a successful TV show host. The merch [and all the Dr Futterman brand sex toys btw] is not real merch from the outside world, it’s just props like everything else in Sinyala. Yes, the show was popular, but it was also - again - localised to Philadelphia. If there WAS merchandise, it would have been limited in number, and limited in distribution because…why would you want a plushie of a character from a show you’ve never heard of? In that case, merch would have been obscure too, and dismissed as bootleg Disney plushies.

Anyways, SO:

Early 2010’s in the OL universe. Creepypasta culture is alive and well, and Miles, Lynn, Blake, Waylon & Lisa being media literate adults because of their professions have at least heard of the story of "That strange Dental Goose Show". Neither of them is from Pensilvania though, so they only know of if through online accounts. For shits & giggles [assuming the all of them were friends pre canon, a headcanon which I fuck with HARD] they one evening get together and - with the power of god and journalism on their side - they come across an obituary of a Dentist, one Dr. A. Futterman, through which they come across old articles reporting on Phyllis’ Futterman’s arrest that mention her being the host of a show that seems rather a lot like "That strange Dental Goose Show". What is weird though, is that after her commitment to Holmesburg…the paper trail on Phyllis Futterman just…stops: No Obituary, no patient files mention her after 1956, the only hint of what has become of her is when she is being mentioned offhandedly in a correspondence document about patient transfer in 1956. It’s never mentioned where she got transferred. Who is the man who visited her in December of that year, shortly before her alleged transfer? Why is that man’s name redacted? What did they talk about?

Instant Intrigue.

Miles and Lynn are SO tempted to look more into the Holmesburg lead, while Blake and Waylon are hung up about that show. Because Blake found something…strange. Most people who remember "That strange Dental Goose Show" are from the Pensilvania area. That’s what connects all accounts and is consistent accords the board. Maybe the descendants of those who remember moved to a different state, but the "rememberers" themselves were ALL Philadelphia residents…except…there are accounts from people that sound fabricated at first glance, but then Blake and Waylon find more that are eerily similar, and feel entirely earnest:

Accounts of relatives or friends from people who all died under strange circumstances. People who lived distinctly OUTSIDE Philadelphia. People who don’t remember the show, but the "Mother Gooseberry" character. Except in these versions she is a nightmarish murderer who hunted them down with a drill inside her hand puppet. Her face mangled and decaying, her breathing laboured and heavy with each heavy step. Engaged in strange conversation with her goose puppet, as if it was a real person. An effigy of someone. They described their incredibly hazy memories of her like…a dream, a distant memory. But it’s consistent every time.

Waylon thinks they’re totally fake, and Lynn agrees but…Blake disagrees. See, the "rememberers" relayed accounts almost PERFECTLY describe how she looked after the Holmesburg experiments, instead of how the "rememberers" of the show described what she looked like on air. And the former group - again - were never in Philadelphia, not to mention anywhere near Holmesburg prison.

And…all the "rememberers" who recalled that monstrous version…are dead now. Having passed on in a year that is weirdly consistent every time: 1973. Miles has a suspicion. It’s something he researched just recently. He scrolls through pages and pages of links until he finds the article he remembers containing exactly that year too: In an article about the closure of Mount Massive Hospital he rediscovers it: It’s the year of the official discontinuation of MKUltra.

Either this is a STUPIDLY elaborate ARG…or something is wrong here…VERY wrong…

#outlast #the outlast trials #outlast 2 #murkoff corporation #outlast whistleblower #outlast trials #red barrels #mother gooseberry #phyllis futterman #miles upshur #waylon park #blake langermann #hi I wrote this instead of working on my thesis have fun

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galdra-studios · 6 months ago

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Happy New Year Everyone!

Time has once again, like a gust of wind impossible to grasp, rushed by and left us breathless. Between family gatherings, cookie baking and a bad cold to top it all off, December went by in a flash and here we stand at the start of a brand new year, out of breath, with runny noses, but smiling, because despite all the tumult, 2024 holds many great memories for us to look back on. So let’s take a moment to do just that!

The big event of the year, of course, was the Arcadia Fallen II Kickstarter! So much work went into planning it, from designing merchandise and promotional material, to building and releasing our very first playable demo. We’ve tried running Kickstarters a couple of times now, and we’ve learned a lot from each of them, but things online change so quickly these days, there was really no way to know how it would do. Thankfully, we were blown away by the result! We’re so grateful to all of you who supported us and we’re looking forward to using that generosity to make the game the best it can be^^

What else…? Oh! We continued working on the game! xD We’ve been writing so many new scenes, character sprites have been drawn, music composed, and weird sound effects recorded! Backgrounds have been drawn, GUI updated and it’s just a satisfying feeling to see all these different parts of the game coming together. We’re looking forward to continuing production-mode in the new year.

One of the things we’re looking forward to in the new year is getting more mini-games into the game. Daniel has been swamped by other tasks for months now so it’s gonna be great having him back into programmer mode again. We’re gonna continue producing assets like music and art and we’re gonna be working on hooking scenes up, putting all the pieces together. One big milestone we’re looking towards is wrapping up all the content for the extended demo so we can share it with you all. We hope you’ll look forward to that^^

Thank you so much for your support this year! We’re looking forward to making 2025 a year to remember!

Cheers!

- The Galdra Team

#arcadia fallen #galdra studios #indiedev #visual novel #vndev #vn development #indiegame #arcadia fallen ii

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ottopilot-wrote-this · 12 days ago

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Backend Support

Something new for you tonight, True Believers: a story set in @subliminalbo's Literary Universe! Featuring an image manipulation graciously provided by the man himself!

This story references characters from the Obedience by Fleur series. While not required, the main stories are suggested reading.

Thanks to my friend @subliminalbo (also at @subliminalboarchive) for the collabo.

Bailey's Huawai flagship, customized with added security and privacy features, rang and buzzed on her workbench. Her brow furrowed, temporarily wrinkling her flawless golden skin. "Support," Bailey muttered with caution as she answered. Very weird. If someone's calling this number… something is wrong.

"Uh," a timid male voice stuttered in response, followed by a long pause. "Um, I think I fucked up."

Bailey closed her eyes, sighing. "Go on."

"Well, I…," the man continued, but his cadence suggested he was distracted. "Hey, um, honey, don't touch that," he interjected, before refocusing his attention on Bailey. "I think she's broken. I broke her."

"You. Broke. Her," Bailey repeated slowly, each word more incredulous than the last. "And how… how did you break her, sir?"

Bailey thought she heard the man swallow hard through the tinny speakerphone. "OK. Well. I know that she has some, um, default abilities."

"Yes. Her menu. This was explained when you requested her services."

Loud noises. The sound of glass breaking. "Shit," the man said in irritation. "that was a gift!" He continued, talking faster, Bailey could practically hear him sweating. "Well, I wanted to know if she had, like, a secret menu. So I asked her, and she said no, but that there was…"

"An API," Bailey muttered. Fuck. She tilted her head back, eyes closed, and sighed again. She would have to work on hardening that endpoint. The last thing she needed was incel dipshits like Johnny Mnemonic here fucking with the product. She was a damn good engineer, but you don't exactly get to beta test mind control technology before you put it into production.

She should know. She was not only the president, she was also a client.

"What did you do, sir? Exactly?" Bailey's words were polite, but her tone dripped with frustration. Condescension also, but she really wasn't concerned about the customer's feelings right now.

Another pause, then an admission. "Well, she started telling me about her API, and I'm not a programmer, so I asked ChatLLM. And it gave me some things to try. Baby, take that out of your mouth."

"You fucking vibe coded her. You vibe coded a sex drone escort, running assembly code firmware, with some commands you got from a consumer AI. She's a human being, not a kit you bought at Radio Shack." Bailey could barely contain her rising anger. She mentally adjusted her hormone levels. Her pupils faded completely into solid white spheres. This wasn't the time to lose her cool.

There was hemming and hawing, then finally a guilty, "yes."

Bailey spoke again, the edge out of her voice as the fury subsided and her pupils returned. "Well, seeing as this would violate the terms and conditions of your agreement, if there were such a thing, I'm here to tell you: you break it, you buy it. Five mil ought to cover it. Have a good one."

"Five mil…five million dollars?!" the man exclaimed. Bailey could hear his voice quivering. "I don't have that kind of money! I work retail!"

"I'm sorry," Bailey said. And to her credit, she did pity this man. She knew enough to know his death would not be quick or painless. Triads don't fuck around. "The people I work with, they don't…" She chose her words carefully for effect. "take damaged merchandise lightly."

Bailey could her muffled crying on the other end. More broken glass, but no admonishment. Just sobs. She didn't like this. Didn't like the choices on the table. Having to calculate the least shitty outcome. Compromising her morality - her humanity - one crossed line after another.

But who was she kidding? Compromising your morality was The Romero Way.

"I don't want your dumbass blood on my hands. I'll make you a deal. Give me someone to replace her."

"I don't…what do you mean?"

"A wife, a sister, a cousin. Someone hot, or at least cute. Fixable. Someone local. A name, and an address, and you get to celebrate another birthday."

She could practically hear the man bargaining with himself. "I couldn't. I won't."

Bailey's voice was firm and callous. "No skin off my ass. Hope your will is in order." Give me a name, she pleaded internally. Take the goddamn offer.

"OK. I'll text it over." Very quietly, Bailey exhaled in relief. Her phone buzzed with a notification. She glanced at the address, and forwarded it to her liaison with some notes about tonight.

"You made the right choice. A team is on their way for extraction. For her, and for you."

"For me?"

"You know too much. Also, we have room in our inventory for all genders and sexual identities." In Romero, there are only perverts, and people who aren't perverts yet, Bailey ruminated.

When the man finally spoke, his voice was quiet, and his tone resigned. "Will she be okay? Will she be happy?"

Bailey hesitated. She thought of her mother, Rosa, her eyes glassy, wearing a low-cut red dress and her black choker, leaving a young child alone on a Saturday night. Baby, Mamá's got to go somewhere. Be a good girl and take care of yourself, okay?

She wanted to cynically deliver the uncaring truth. No, she wouldn't be okay. Ultimately, her happiness wasn't important, was it? It sure as hell hadn't been for Rosa, or for young Bailey. If you weren't part of Romero's circle of elites, you were just collateral damage.

But she didn't say that.

"Yes," Bailey lied, her voice soft and comforting. "She will." And she ended the call.

Bailey sat at her workbench for a long time, alone. Only the trees rustling outside the window permeated the silence. It could have been worse, she tried to tell herself. A lot worse. She saved a man from his own stupidity tonight.

When did she get so soft?

Ed King and Elena Maxwell had ruined her career before it got started, and they were going to pay. She only needed to set her emotions aside, and finish the job.

So why was she disgusted with herself?

These questions lacked simple answers. Tonight, isolated in her empty house, questions were the only company Bailey had.

#mind control #mind corruption #hypno fantasy #hypno story #tech control #reprogramming #brainwashing kink #hypnok1nk #hypno drone #humor #vibe coding #subliminalbo #ottopilot-wrote-this #cw: mind control #cw: corruption #cw: hypnosis #cw prostitution

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princess-puppygirl · 3 months ago

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just reminded of a post i saw yesterday about how so much of transfem culture is increasingly product-driven; i see the point and understand the sentiment behind wanting a unified community that isn't tied to spending money on corporate merchandise and whatnot, but i do not think i saw the tv glow is in the same category of oversaturated commercialization as "programmer socks" and blahaj. like god forbid a trans person enjoy a film with an explicitly queer narrative and have its message resonate with them and want to share in that experience with others. lmao

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white-cat-of-doom · 2 years ago

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In honour of me hitting 400 followers here, and after a bit of organization of my merchandise 'archives', I have grouping of CATS items to give away that one lucky kitty will win! An eclectic mix, mainly from Japan, including:

Tokyo March 2006 Programme

CATS (2019) Japanese Movie Programme

London Palladium Programme from January/February 2015

Three Shiki Secret Charms from the recent Nagoya run (you get to choose from Victoria, Jennyanydots, Jemima, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Old Deuteronomy, Rumpus Cat, and Coricopat! See what they look like below the cut)

A brand new 39th anniversary button set from Japan

A promotional handfan from Tokyo in 2007

Japanese 1989 2CD Cast Recording

(Sealed) CATS (2019) Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack CD

A smaller bonus item or two 😸

RULES (Please read these carefully and follow them):

1. Entries will open today and will close end of day (EST) August 30th - in one week. You can enter at any time between now and then, but anything after than date will not be counted.

2. Please only ONE entry per person. When you reblog THIS post, you will be assigned a random number, and the receiver will be picked by a random generator to make it fair for everyone. Likes do not count as entries. Multiple reblogs will result in disqualification. I want everything to be as fair as possible!

3. It will be free shipping within North America to receive your prize. This giveaway is open to individuals overseas as well, but I may ask for half of any shipping charges, as they can get expensive. This is especially true if you want to ensure delivery! Tracking is not cheap unfortunately and worldwide mail delivery can be very slow if not sent by air. Any import fees are not controlled by me, so please keep that in mind, even if marked as a gift.

4. You must be comfortable with providing me with shipping information. Rest assured you will be providing me this information in confidence and I will not share it with anyone. If you are not comfortable sharing this information, please do not enter as I will not be able to send it to you.

A winner will be selected on August 31st, and they will receive a message indicating that The Everlasting Cat blessed them with a prize. It will be publicly announced as well. I will ship them out to you within one or two days and will give an update once that happens.

I have been selling items online for more than eight years now, and I do my absolute best to have my packages arrive safely. While I would feel terrible if the package becomes lost, without tracking I cannot do anything except say sorry.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

#CATS Musical #CATS the Musical #Thank you to everyone who follows along here to see The Kitties!#It is not much but it is still fun!

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beardedmrbean · 1 month ago

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Poundland could be sold for a pound, with the UK discount retail chain reportedly struggling amid tough trading conditions.

Back in March, its owner Pepco Group said it was considering “all strategic options” to spin out the struggling 825-strong chain from the wider group as it focused on its more profitable Pepco brand.

Now, with bidders circling the business, it has been reported it could be sold for just £1. Sources told The Times it could go for “effectively a pound” due to the significant turnaround needed to arrest its declining performance.

Gordon Brothers, the former owner of Laura Ashley, is thought to be the front runner to take control of the budget chain.

Interested parties reportedly also include Modella Capital, Alteri, owner of Bensons for Beds and Hilco Capital, which owns Lakeland.

However, formal offers are not set to be tabled until Monday.

Poundland made £1.6 billion in sales last year, but it has since endured tough trading. Its like-for-like sales fell 7.3 per cent in the three months to December 31, it reported in January.

As part of the plans, Pepco said former Poundland managing director Barry Williams, who took over as managing director of Pepco in September 2023, will return to his former role at Poundland ahead of a possible sale.

Stephan Borchert, chief executive of Pepco Group, said: “The board and I are actively exploring separation options for Poundland, including a potential sale, from the group, with consideration also given to the separation of the well-performing Dealz Poland over the medium term.

“Barry Williams did a great job as managing director of Pepco, returning it to like-for-like sales growth, and I am confident he will play a pivotal role in getting Poundland back on track, given his previous success there.”

A Pepco Group spokesperson said: “As announced at the Capital Markets Day on 6 March, Pepco Group is moving away from fast-moving consumer goods to create a simpler business focused on higher margin clothing and general merchandise, and is actively exploring separation options for Poundland, including a potential sale, from the Group.

“With Barry Williams’ re-appointment as managing director, Poundland is executing a turnaround programme to get the business back on track, focusing on its core heritage strengths, and a simpler pricing proposition and customer offer.”

Gordon Brothers have been approached for a comment.

#nunyas news

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notearsnora · 8 months ago

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Universal Pictures UK has partnered with Into Film to create a career learning programme designed to help young people fly into their futures with confidence. It aim's to demystify screen industry careers by spotlighting the roles of trainees who worked to bring #WickedMovie to the big screen.

“To celebrate the release of Wicked, only in cinemas from November 22, we’ve created a careers-focused learning programme to empower young people to unlock their unique powers. Wicked Futures: Careers in Film is a free learning sequence for students aged 12-18. Activities demystify careers in the screen industries by profiling trainees who helped bring Wicked to the big screen. Supported by objectives from English/literacy, maths/STEM and PSHE, learners will be inspired by the diversity of the film production roles showcased, and the power of their own skills, experiences and qualifications. The sky’s the limit!”

Teachers and Parents from the UK can also submit their students and children to their contest before December 20th: “Enter social media maestros to our competition for a chance to win a content creation kit and Wicked screening. Screen industry careers don’t only exist on set! Our Marketing Wiz competition focuses on how films reach audiences, challenging students to apply their knowledge of social media by creating an exciting promotional post to help Wicked soar in cinemas. Enter your students ahead of the closing date of Friday 20 December. Terms and conditions apply. The creator of the most magical post will win an iPad and Apple Pencil Pro. The winner’s class will receive a cinema screening of Wicked, and two runners up will win Wicked merchandise bundles.”