#Corporate Horror

[whereserpentswalk]

My dad just send me this image from his office. I did not receive an explanation other than "I'm sitting next to the pillar of mystery". He is living in the Stanley Parable.

[raconabhorrent]

capitalist-centric horror/corporate horror is such an interesting concept to me. like, the idea of taking something that is so (unfortunately) mundane in many people's lives in our current societal landscape and either perverting it or amplifying all aspects of it to create a horror experience is just so beautiful to me.

games like night in the woods (which technically isn't horror but is still relevant as a game creating a psychologically horrific atmosphere for the point of commenting on capitalism's effects), lethal company, night of the consumers, employee of the month (great game i rlly recommend), mouthwashing, happy's humble burger farm, yuppie psycho and MANY more games that don't fit neatly under a specific category outside of a general conception of what "horror games" are.

those kinds of things are fascinating because of the way they combine traditional "horror" (scary monsters, jumpscares, blood and gore) with the stress caused by something like a normal 9-5 at a corporate office, or the concept of working conditions at a packing plant.

it makes you think about how normalized the conditions we as humans exist in, and how despite that people are calling out that normalcy, whether simply through setting and plot or specifically through intention and subtext. it's definitely a genre of game that i'm excited to see more from and something i really want to think more about

(this was inspired by the jacob geller video essay discussing labor in both NITW and Tacoma)

[froginamoodboard]

Mr Davidson lords in black devotee moodboard

For: @the-interidiot

x x x x x x x x x

[softiedog]

Hey all! We launched a patreon for the development of our new game [in]Human Resources!

If you like any of the following, come give us your support or follow me for additional updates!

-Transformation

-Pizza Parties

-Body horror

-Furries

-Scathing critiques on capitalism and corporate exploitation

-Mad Science

-Skunk ass

Thank you for your support! If you can't donate don't despair, give me a follow for further updates and a share for reach if possible.

[scp-admissions]

The horror of iceberg's situation should be explored more. To work at a dead end job where you have no support system, but being unable to leave. Gears and Iceberg's story is sweet and tragic, but also has great potential for corporate horror.

[scribbled-dream]

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Human Domestication Guide - GlitchyRobo Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Affini Character(s) Additional Tags: Nonbinary Character, Gender Dysphoria, Body Dysphoria, Transphobia, Hurt/Comfort, Bodyswap, Consciousness Transfer, Dom Plant | Affini (HDG), Gentle Romance, Slow Burn, Comfort/Angst, Psychological Trauma, Science Fiction, Utopian Fiction, Cyborgs, Trans Character, Tall Plant Lady Summary:

The lead Analyst of the Terran Accord’s Irian Sub-Orbital Station has their life thrown into chaos with the emergence of an Affini Compact warship. With their mechanical body and corporate implants slowly failing, they are given a choice during a chance encounter with an Affini.

[carica-ficus]

Review: Bye-Bye Babaroga

Author: Ivana Geček

Date: 18/10/2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

_________________________________________________

For the first time ever, I decided to skip a few books in my "to-review" pile, and jump to the book I think needs to be brought forwards. First of, it's a horror novella that's perfect for this time of year. Second, it came out very recently, so I'm obligated to hype it up because it deserves some more recognition.

The story follows Kaja, a young esthetician that works at a plastic surgery clinic, who is set off for a team building weekend in a remote cottage, which turns into her own personal hell. Socializing with annoying and potentially dangerous colleagues is bad enough, but the thing she is worried about most is her vicious tormentor that keeps her up at night - Babaroga. Kaja will have to navigate the stressful environment by day, and make sure nobody finds out about her horrible secret by night.

A big theme of this book is the difficulty of conforming to the standards of a heteronormative society. Kaja's queerness is her lifelong struggle, and she has been lead to believe it is somehow making her wrong. This opinion leads to fear, which manifests itself in the form of Babaroga, and Geček uses this character to explore Kaja's internal conflicts, like her opinions about herself and her sexuality.

While Babaroga haunts her during the night, her condescending colleagues terrorize her during the day. Their patronizing remarks and crude comments can't really be considered dangerous, but the obviously tilted power structure puts Kaja in a position where she must be very careful of how she behaves and what she lets on about herself. When she confirms that one of her colleagues, called Butcher, already managed to cover up a botched operation, she knows that her failure to fit in might result with potentially violent consequences.

Furthermore, as an employee in a plastic surgery clinic, Kaja is forced to scrutinize her physical appearance throughout every second of the day. While there are instances when she looks in the mirror and scrutinizes her flaws, she does so in comparison to others and consequently highlights what she would potentially need to change in order to fit in. Her unhappiness stems primarily from the understanding that she's different. Such scenes act as a great commentary on the current beauty trends and the popularization of invasive products and services that primarily cater to a misogynistic, idealistic and skewed perception of beauty. Moreover, it also adds onto the exploration of queerness and its tendency to appreciate physical diversity and celebrate bodies as they are.

Tension and anxiety are riddled through the story, and Geček manages to masterfully convey it to the reader. It all culminates when Kaja finally decides to take the matter into her own hands and face her fear, and then shifts from internal turmoil to external threat. The experience of the story is very rewarding, and the tipping point satisfactory, with the ending being the cherry on top.

I could go on about all the aspects of "Bye-Bye Babaroga" that I adored, but I would need to get into spoilers. I will, however, say that this novella is composed of two parts, and the second one focuses on Babaroga's origin story, which turned out to be a real treat. I highly recommend this novella if you're into (or want to explore) corporate horror, like a pinch of Slavic fantasy, and if you've enjoyed the Substance.

[darksunradiance]

The universe was not meant to be observed.

Observation is dangerous. Observation creates thought; thought shapes reality. Small distortions in reality caused by its observation are called Anomalies. The Agency exists to identify, apprehend, and, if necessary, eliminate these Anomalies.

Welcome to your first day at the Triangle Agency! Together we will stabilize reality.

🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺🔺

Absolutely THRILLED to share the artwork I got to do with Haunted Table Games for their fabulous new ttrpg, Triangle Agency! The Delta Test kit is available now for pay what you can, grab some friends and try it out I promise it's a blast!

[strangerpeace]

You see a full binder clip of paper on the desk. There is a note attached. It reads, “Hi, I couldn’t get a chance to go through all of this mail—can you scan it into the network drive and then e-mail it to the Help Desk? After you’ve done that, can you forward it on to me personally at my e-mail? Thanks!”

You scan the mail easily. It takes less than five minutes.

You put the document on the. network drive. You name it appropriately (Dental Claims November) and put it in the right folder.

You attach it to the Help Desk e-mail and CC it to the person who requested this entire thing.

You press send on the e-mail.

Ten minutes passes.

There is a reply: “Hi, thanks for this. in the future, you don’t have to CC it to the person who requested this.”

You stare at the e-mail. You stare at the note.

The note now says something else. You can’t read it. It’s not language anymore, just scribbles and doodles of rectangles within rectangles.

You look at the e-mail. It just says “Hi, thanks for this. In no future is there a person who requested this.”

You take a drink of coffee to steady yourself. The phone clock reads 8:29 a.m.

You look at the note. The rectangles are now block lettered worlds in bold.

“HI, I COULDN’T. CAN YOU? AFTER THAT, YOU BLEED.”

You fling the note off your desk. You look again at your Outlook. Message after message comes in, a relentless chorus of the same subject line:

Help Desk: no future confirmed

You take a sip of your coffee and close your eyes.

[hyperazraphael]

A Disney executive scrolling through his Tumblr dash sees this post and chuckles sensibly. Adjusting his tie he double-checks the current listed price of the United States which he currently has wishlisted, followed by the other major countries. He smiles and takes a sip of his coffee before liking the post and scrolling on with another chuckle saying softly, "Not yet, Tumblr user kumboochies... not just yet..."

i think we're ALL disney's first openly gay character

[virihh]

One thing recruiters will always have is ✨️the audacity✨️

I went to a job interview downtown (after this man insisted on us having a meeting) and when the interview was nearly over this man held his hands together and said to me with a smile on his face

You won't get a n y benefits

No health insurance, no days off, n o t h i n g

And I just stared at him, I even tilted my head to the sidea little bit and went:

"How so?"

And he said:

You'll get unpaid vacations though

I thanked him and left

And he said:

I'll let you know if I choose you

I didn't laugh in his face because I'm the politest woman that office has ever seen, but ???

[qyootip]

If you have never worked in corporate America, I was in a zoom meeting where an executive was blasting eye of the tiger over his speaker right before announcing a ton of people were getting fired

[exilley]

I do sort of wish western anime fans would analyze anime and manga from a framework of japanese historical and cultural context. Specifically a lot of works from the 90s being influenced by the general aimlessness and ennui that a lot of people were experiencing due to the burst in the bubble economy and the national trauma caused by the sarin terrorist attack. I think in interacting with media that’s not local to our sociocultural/sociopolitical sphere it’s easy to forget that it’s influenced and shaped by the same kinds of factors that influence media within our own cultural dome and there ends up being this baseline misalignment of perception between the causative elements of a narrative and viewer interpretation of those elements. It’s a form of death of the author that i think, in some measure, hinders our ability to fully understand/come to terms with creator intent and the full scope of a work’s merits

[bluemoonperegrine]

"Turn Smile Shift Repeat" by Phantom Planet is pretty much about corporate horror. It's about sleepwalking through modern life being disconnected.

off of my last post: i feel like corporate horror has such a rich seam of possibilities that are just begging to be mined. the helpless, nightmarish feeling of watching your life get chewed up by the implacable machinery of faceless corporations in which you are nothing but an easily-replaceable cog and knowing the whole time that you chose to be here. that you can, theoretically, leave any time you want. mindless, pointless busywork that you're expected to take pride in even when it has no measurable impact. feeling like you're running on a treadmill - always busy, never achieving anything. upper managers who only communicate with you by email. CEOs who never communicate with you at all, and may not actually exist for all you know. you can leave any time you want. but you can't, can you? not really. you still have to pay the bills.

[jaradraws]

DISCLAIMER: the blood is a feature, not a bug 🩸☎️

[literarywizard]

My Unplanned Break From Heart: The City Beneath Has Ended

Most of the session might have been getting back into the swing of things and a combat encounter, but we've finally gotten another session of Heart: The City Beneath under our belts and we'll hopefully have a few more without another skip! Hopefully!

Six weeks after our last session, my game of Heart: The City Beneath has finally come back around again. We even got through a full session, even if our metaphorical table wasn’t entirely full. One of the players couldn’t make it, since they have been firmly knocked out by a pair of sicknesses that have left them unfortunately unable to do much without needing to take a nap to rest up. We didn’t…