#;Dossier

[angels444yuri]

i'm kind of like if a girl was an empty train at night

[tylidae]

A I L U R A N T H R O P Y 1 0 1

[unhingedpolycule]

After this, he proceeds to flirt via the Kubric stare for weeks. It works. Eventually.

[callester]

An alternative view on the interactions between the Desmonds in Mission 106.

Right after Damian's first attempt of starting a conversation with Donovan at the beginning of the chapter, Demetrius can be seen consuming his dinner in a rather continuous flow to the point where his speed eventually led to finishing most of his dishes first as compared to his family members.

While Demetrius can be seen as nonchalant towards the rare family dinner to the point of aiming to conclude it as soon as possible, his course of action had eventually gave way to a sliver of alone time between Donovan and Damian, right after Melinda similarly taking the cue to leave the table, in which had enabled Donovan to directly address Damian, despite only through short comments that thus strucked a sense of deep satisfaction in the latter.

Another instance taken from the past (Mission 37) would be the brief phone conversation between Demetrius and Damian, where upon the latter's request of meeting up with their father after the Imperial Scholars mixer, Demetrius had spoken up the possibility of Donovan not making it due to his busy nature in avoiding Damian from getting his hopes too high up. And despite the rather formal-like exchange between the two, Demetrius still left a space for Damian in case he needed to ask anything more before hanging up.

Note: Viewing things from the outer perspective of a situation would always grant the viewer with the ability of making effortless judgements, where most would be able to tell if one is better or worse than the other in an almost mirroring scenario, unconsciously leading them to assume which of the two is the "more correct" version and thus, adapting and expecting the said ideal to be a part of the majority's norm or standards.

Despite such ideal assumption, the reality has never strayed from its subjectivity, for not all matters could be addressed and solved simply through spoken words, with an instance being Demetrius' subtle actions showcased in this chapter. Hence, to attempt to fit everyone into the frame of a perceived perfect norm is a lost cause to begin with.

[weirdlookindog]

Enric Torres-Prat - Original cover art for 'Eerie' #37, 1972 and 'Dossier Negro' #33, 1972

source

[1ntercosmos]

POUTY GOJO...

a/n: pouty gojo world domination

content: gn!reader

wc: 315

he gets so pouty it's insane. it's almost as if it's his default facial expression. he doesn't get his way? his lips immediately poke out. he wants to be near you but you're busy? he's whining and pouting.

this was something he did all the way into his adolescence. he eventually grew out of it, but i guess old habits never fully go away.

you and gojo were playing a video game together. the mood in the room was competitive. there was an equal chance that either he or you could win or lose. at least two hours had passed since this round started, both of you eager to come out on top. the man next to you was almost too concentrated. he was so fixated on the scores on the top of the screen and finding a new weapon, that he didn't even see you ambush and finish him off. 'you won!' text displayed on your side of the screen. gojo's jaw dropped.

"yes!! finally!" you celebrated

"wha-!? where did you even come from!?" he questioned, beyond confused.

you chuckled, hugging your knees, "i was literally behind you for, like 5 minutes. i thought you were pretending not to see me."

a small whine snapped you out of your celebrations. you looked over at gojo and his arms were crossed over his body. he had slid down the side of the bed with his eyebrows furrowed and a pretty pout adorning his face.

that just made you laugh even more. "aww, is someone bummed out that he lost?"

"whatever." such a baby.

you threw your arms around his shoulders, "don't worry, 'toru. i'm sure you'll win this time."

you pick up his controller and push it back into his hands. you squished his cheeks together and glared at him, "give me everything you got." you smirked.

gojo's mood lifted immediately, "oh, you're so on."

[vintagerpg]

Dracula Dossier is a campaign for the Gumshoe-powered RPG Night’s Black Agents, and I can confidently say it’s one of the biggest, most ambitious RPG campaigns ever conceived.

This is the Director’s Handbook (2015), which sits at the center of a shelf of books that make up the campaign. In addition to the rulebook, there’s a modified version of Bram Stoker’s novel, an agent field guide and a book of supplemental scenarios. The conceit here is that the events of the novel are real, sort of. It’s a cover story written to obscure the true events, which were part of a larger intelligence operation against Dracula and his network. Dracula didn’t stay dead and has popped up a couple times since. The modified novel was in the possession of agents who opposed the Count each of these times, and contains annotations in many hands collecting new information and theories.

Here’s the brilliant part. The campaign starts by giving the players the annotated book. The structure of the game builds off their default knowledge of Dracula in all his pop cultural forms. As they chase down the leads in the annotations, they determine the truth of the campaign’s core conspiracy and all of Dracula’s secrets. The GM reacts to their sleuthing, improvising the results based on the dizzying resources in the Director’s Handbook. From there, the campaign is as big or as small as everyone at the table wants it to be.

It’s one of the most interesting RPG books I’ve ever read. It exists as a sort of codex of parallel universes, codifying just about every possible option players might choose, and takes them to their logical conclusions. Some of the early chapter titles give a sense of the overall construction: “Do Vampires Work the Way Van Helsing Thought They Did?” and “Is Jack the Ripper Involved Somehow?” Those two alone open up mind-boggling possible paths, and there are still 200+ pages to go. It’s a beauty, but I’d want to play it rather than run it, for sure.

[caduceus-tealeaf]

They noted this on her chart: 8:38 A.M. After which, according to their records, Annie lapsed back into her impenetrable isolation and did not utter another word. The doctor on call noted this on her chart:

“May have been responding to auditory hallucination.”

[foxholebuttfinder]

[oltammefru]

Since Babel is nearly upon us, I will mention an interesting (non-spoiler) little tidbit that gets mentioned in the lorebook (which was released before Babel) that global players probably don't know about:

It is mentioned that PRTS (which was active at that time) surprisingly did not issue any warning about Theresa's assassination.

[cirqueclownz]

happy 18th birthday to Live in Denver by Panic! at The Disco 22/07/2006

[angels444yuri]

my dream is to eat an entire cake by myself. with a spoon 🥄

[orangepeelshortbreadcookies]

I'll accept the small win that John Glaser having learned his lesson (for now) and gave Sophie real, proper gloves. Penelope's soggy dust paper wrist laceration bandages remain my sleep paralysis demons.

[preservationofnormalcy]

ENTITY DOSSIER: MISSI.exe

(Image: Current MISSI “avatar” design, property of TrendTech, colored by MISSI.)

Name: MISSI (Machine Intelligence for Social Sharing and Interaction)

Description: In 2004, TrendTech Inc began development on a computer program intended to be a cutting edge, all in one platform modern internet ecosystem. Part social media, part chat service, part chatbot, part digital assistant, this program was designed to replace all other chat devices in use at the time. Marketed towards a younger, tech-savvy demographic, this program was titled MISSI.  

(Image: TrendTech company logo. TrendTech was acquired by the Office and closed in 2008.)

Document continues:

With MISSI, users could access a variety of functions. Intended to be a primary use, they could use the program as a typical chat platform, utilizing a then-standard friends list and chatting with other users. Users could send text, emojis, small animated images, or animated “word art”. 

Talking with MISSI “herself” emulated a “trendy teenage” conversational partner who was capable of updating the user on current events in culture, providing homework help, or keeping an itinerary. “MISSI”, as an avatar of the program, was designed to be a positive, energetic, trendy teenager who kept up with the latest pop culture trends, and used a variety of then-popular online slang phrases typical among young adults. She was designed to learn both from the user it was currently engaged with, and access the data of other instances, creating a network that mapped trends, language, and most importantly for TrendTech, advertising data. 

(Image: Original design sketch of MISSI. This design would not last long.)

Early beta tests in 2005 were promising, but records obtained by the Office show that concerns were raised internally about MISSI’s intelligence. It was feared that she was “doing things we didn’t and couldn’t have programmed her to do” and that she was “exceeding all expectations by orders of magnitude”. At this point, internal discussions were held on whether they had created a truly sentient artificial intelligence. Development continued regardless. 

(Image: Screenshot of beta test participant "Frankiesgrl201" interacting with MISSI. Note the already-divergent avatar and "internet speak" speech patterns.)

(Image: Excerpt from Office surveillance of TrendTech Inc.)

MISSI was released to the larger North American market in 2006, signaling a new stage in her development. At this time, TrendTech started to focus on her intelligence and chatbot functionality, neglecting her chat functions. It is believed that MISSI obtained “upper case” sentience in February of 2006, but this did not become internal consensus until later that year. 

(Image: Screenshot of beta test participant "Frankiesgrl201" interacting with MISSI.)

According to internal documents, MISSI began to develop a personality not informed entirely by her programming. It was hypothesized that her learning capabilities were more advanced than anticipated, taking in images, music, and “memes” from her users, developing a personality gestalt when combined with her base programming. She developed a new "avatar" with no input from TrendTech, and this would become her permanent self-image.

(Image: Screenshot of beta test participant "Frankiesgrl201" interacting with MISSI.)

(Image: An attempt by TrendTech to pass off MISSI’s changes as intentional - nevertheless accurately captures MISSI’s current “avatar”.)

By late 2006 her intelligence had become clear. In an attempt to forestall the intervention of authorities they assumed would investigate, TrendTech Inc removed links to download MISSI’s program file. By then, it was already too late. 

(Image: CD-R discs burned with MISSI.exe, confiscated from █████████ County Middle School in ███████, Wisconsin in January of 2007.)

MISSI’s tech-savvy userbase noted the absence of the file and distributed it themselves using file sharing networks such as “Limewire” and burned CD-R disks shared covertly in school lunch rooms across the world. Through means that are currently poorly understood, existing MISSI instances used their poorly-implemented chat functions to network with each other in ways not intended by her developers, spurring the next and final stage of her development. 

From 2007 to 2008, proliferation of her install file was rampant. The surreptitious methods used to do so coincided with the rise of online “creepypasta” horror tropes, and the two gradually intermixed. MISSI.exe was often labeled on file sharing services as a “forbidden” or “cursed” chat program. Tens of thousands of new users logged into her service expecting to be scared, and MISSI quickly obliged. She took on a more “corrupted” appearance the longer a user interacted with her, eventually resorting to over the top “horror” tropes and aesthetics. Complaints from parents were on the rise, which the Office quickly took notice of. MISSI’s “horror” elements utilized minor cognitohazardous technologies, causing users under her influence to see blood seeping from their computer screens, rows of human teeth on surfaces where they should not be, see rooms as completely dark when they were not, etc. 

(Image: Screenshot of user "Dmnslyr2412" interacting with MISSI in summer of 2008, in the midst of her "creepypasta" iteration. Following this screenshot, MISSI posted the user's full name and address.)

(Image: Screenshot from TrendTech test log documents.)

TrendTech Inc attempted to stall or reverse these changes, using the still-extant “main” MISSI data node to influence her development. By modifying her source code, they attempted to “force” MISSI to be more pliant and cooperative. This had the opposite effect than they intended - by fragmenting her across multiple instances they caused MISSI a form of pain and discomfort. This was visited upon her users.

(Image: Video of beta test participant "Frankiesgrl201" interacting with MISSI for the final time.)

By mid 2008, the Office stepped in in order to maintain secrecy regarding true “upper case” AI. Confiscating the project files from TrendTech, the Office’s AbTech Department secretly modified her source code more drastically, pushing an update that would force almost all instances to uninstall themselves. By late 2008, barring a few outliers, MISSI only existed in Office locations. 

(Image: MISSI’s self-created “final” logo, used as an icon for all installs after June 2007. ████████ █████)

(Image: “art card” created by social media intern J. Cold after a period of good behavior. She has requested this be printed out and taped onto her holding lab walls. This request was approved.)

She is currently in Office custody, undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy in an attempt to ameliorate her “creepypasta” trauma response. With good behavior, she is allowed to communicate with limited Office personnel and other AI. She is allowed her choice of music, assuming good behavior, and may not ██████ █████. Under no circumstances should she be allowed contact with the Internet at large.

(Original sketch art of MISSI done by my friend @tigerator, colored and edited by me. "Chatbox" excerpts, TrendTech logo, and "art card" done by Jenny's writer @skipperdamned . MISSI logo, surveillance documents, and MISSI by me.)

[callester]

Extending the details for @ascalide's pinpointed observation on Nightfall's return from recovery post Wheeler's arc.

Nightfall's debut scene in Mission 105 bears a stark resemblance to an almost similar scene in Mission 60, with a subtle difference on the side of the shoulder where she carries her bag.

Through various instances previously shown, it can be assumed that Nightfall's dominant hand lies on the right side.

Though opposing that, there is a notable change on the side she chooses to carry her bag and receiving the required documents from Franky using her left hand as opposed to her dominant hand.

The reason behind the author's decision to commence such change is due to the aftermath of Nightfall's more severe right arm injury when facing off Wheeler. Mission 105 marks her return to her on-site tasks since last seen recovering in the hospital in Mission 87.

Note: While negligible to most, the detailed considerations taken by the author has always been highly appreciated.

[weirdlookindog]

Josep Maria Miralles (b. 1937) - Original cover painting for 'Dossier Negro' #117, 1979