#ch/rist alive guys.

[springtrappd]

marta svetek -- voice of gregory, vanny, roxanne wolf in fnaf: sb and its dlc, ruin -- has joined kellen goff in voicing her thoughts on ai reproductions of her voice. again: if you want voice actors to maintain a living wage (and their own mental health), please respect her wishes and ensure that this kind of behaviour is heavily discouraged in the future.

full text of thread below the cut for brevity:

Been getting tagged in all kinds of posts and popular TikToks of people using AI voice clones of my FNAF characters to have them sing or say all kinds of random stuff. You might think it's fun. But really it's contributing to the problem all VAs are facing in the wake of AI. The more these AI voice clones get used, the more they're normalized, and the more businesses see it as a viable alternative to real VAs when making content for you. Slowly but surely, most of your favourite VAs will be out of work. Not to mention what this will cost in terms of future generations of VAs. Incredible performances we'll never get to experience because most businesses will more often than not go for the cheapest, quickest option as soon as the technology is up to scratch. This is made even worse by the fact that we currently have very few legal protections against the unauthorized use of our voices using AI. And we're being pressured to waive those too, for a fraction of their worth. This is one of the big reasons the current strikes are a thing. If you enjoyed my work in FNAF and have any respect for the amount of time and effort VAs put into bringing characters to life, don't use AI voice clones in your fanart. I can't express how violated I feel every time I hear my voice say words that aren't my own. And just in case it wasn't clear - I have never consented to having my voice, likeness or any of my performances synthesized into AI voices/avatars etc.

[cranberrytaboo]

A New Old Face

"What are we looking at here?"

Crow tapped a nail against the thick bars of the cage. Inside, the captive remained still, an eerie smile permanently plastered across its face.

Bright clicked his pen, then jotted something down on his clipboard. "Not certain. Most of the preliminary tests were inconclusive. This... this object, it used to be a man, but that's about all the field researchers could make of it."

"That makes two in this room." Grumbled a disgruntled junior researcher from the corner of the room. Clearly, he was loathe to abandon any credit he might earn for studying the new subject, and the arrival of Crow and Bright set him on edge.

A calm glare from Bright gave the researcher pause. "Tell me, then, since you're so clever. Where did this guy come from?"

The researcher cleared his throat, suddenly a bit nervous. Bright had a reputation, after all. "Well, the Foundation received a distress signal that the subject was loose, displaying hostile and aggressive behavior and attacking on sight."

"So?"

"So Squad Fairly was sent to neutralize and capture the subject."

At the mention of Kodak's team, Bright cackled, tossing his head to the side. "We're lucky to have the subject in one piece, if that's the case!"

"Is there any recording of the event?" Crow interjected, grateful to move the subject from the junior researcher's previous gaffe.

"Bits and pieces, yes." The researcher admitted. "A few blurry phone captures- we scrubbed them quickly from the web-- as well as some overhead footage from one of our helicopters."

"Civilian video and a grainy-ass chopper feed are both next to useless. Better to hear it from the man himself, then." Bright stepped to an intercom console.

"The subject has been completely non-verbal, but-- Oh. God. You mean you want to talk to..."

"My buddy Captain Fairly, that's right." A glimmer of sadism. "And if you're lucky, his husband will come testify, too."

Captain Fairly. Please come to Holding Area A15. And bring Larry along, while you're at it.

The trio sat in silence for some time, the junior researcher's gaze flicking between the anomalous doctors before him, and occasionally towards the dead-eyed gaze of the creature in containment.

Before long, a dark patch of rust began to form on the outer edge of the wall. Slow at first, it rapidly expanded before opening a wide hole, through which stepped Kodak, Lawrence trailing nonchalantly behind.

"Afternoon, Bright." The quality of Lawrence's voice was resonant, as if it had a natural echo. Added to gravel from over one hundred years of decay, alongside a pleasant, friendly tone that contrasted sharply with the behavior described in his files, the result left the junior researcher pulling at his own tie, suddenly feeling an oppressive weight.

Bright seemed completely oblivious, lifting his arms to his sides like a frat bro greeting his cohort. "Fairlys! Just the men I wanted to see."

Kodak shoved his hands in his pockets, looking only slightly put out. "We were trying to take it easy, Doctor Bright." The word doctor dripped with sarcasm.

"My apologies, but I'll try to make this worth your while. See, Doctor..."

The junior researcher bristled a bit with indignation. "Brand. Doctor Hoff Brand."

"Yeah, yeah. Doctor Thunder over here, he says we don't have any decent video of what happened on the ground when you found this ugly son of a bitch."

Lawrence peered through the bars of the cage. "I don't think he's that bad-looking. Though, that may be personal bias." The anomaly gazed back at Lawrence unblinkingly, teeth stained with blood.

Finally, Crow spoke again, tail waving from side to side curiously. "Well, then. Captain Fairly, could we ask you for an overview?"

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Squad Fairly stalked cautiously down the empty streets. General panic and cooperation from local law enforcement had cordoned off the area to civilians, and no stragglers remained. As the nature of what they were hunting had not yet been determined, the platoon remained relatively close together.

One of them, a younger man named Maxie, murmured into his earpiece with a thick southern drawl. "Anyone got visual on the target yet?"

"Nothing." "Not yet, no." "That's a negative, hoss."

"Shh! I see something." Dimitri held up a hand, then gestured down an alley between two brick buildings.

Kodak leaned into his own communicator. "Lieutenant Silver, take ten men and flank the back of these buildings. Keep distance and do not engage unless necessary." He paused. "The rest of you, behind me."

Beneath his feet, Kodak's shadow darkened considerably, then shifted sideways. Lawrence emerged from the ground, eyes focused forward.

"Can you see it?" Kodak murmured to his anomaly.

"I see the outline, yeah. Looks like a person, or at least humanoid. It's got hands and feet, anyway."

After a few long moments, Silver's voice crackled in Kodak's ear. "We're in position. Ready for the approach."

Kodak motioned forwards with his hand and carefully stepped into the alleyway, soundlessly, as if gliding. (He could have glided if he wanted to, but this operation required more finesse.) Lawrence stalked right by his side, paying no heed to the pooling blood that lapped his bare soles, nor to the mangled remains of civilians who had no doubt been at ground zero when the anomaly emerged.

He stopped a good 5 meters away from the target, now able to get a good look at it through his infrared goggles. A few members of the platoon tensed up around him, looking almost sick.

As Lawrence had pointed out, it was humanoid, yes. It had arms, legs, a body, and a head, and was bipedal. That was about where the similarities stopped. Based on the distortion of the infrared, Kodak guessed that the body was a sickly plaster, the color of spoiled milk. The creature's eyes reflected the scant light of bare-bulb streetlamps in the distance. It had no nose to speak of, and if it had once had lips, it didn't anymore, leaving behind a permanent, twisted grin.

"Jesus fucking Christ..." Maxie breathed as softly as he could muster.

Kodak fell silent, nearly motionless. The sunken eyes and bare-toothed grimace reminded him so much of a face he had tried so hard to put in the back of his head.

Beside him, Lawrence bristled, then licked over his own teeth. The movement seemed to snap Kodak back to the present, and he addressed his communications device again. "Silver, I want all of your guns trained on this fucking thing." 

The "thing" remained motionless, save for the appearance that it was so slightly rocking back and forth, subtle enough to be missed entirely by untrained eyes. Fortunately for Kodak, he was very well trained.

"It's rocking. Barely. Antsy. Ready to spring. Be cautious." He continued to approach now, taking even more careful steps towards the anomaly. Once he was close enough, he could hear it breathe. It was a horrible rattling sound, guttural and throaty, hissing through clenched teeth. It remained still, but its eyes stayed fixed on Kodak as he approached.

The ground underneath Kodak darkened as Lawrence prepared to drop him the moment anything went wrong. 

Creeping slowly, Kodak moved past the entity, reaching for his tool belt and preparing to capture it.

In a moment, it had dashed past him, leaping towards Maxie and attempting to expose his throat with fingers curled like claws.

"Oh, son of a bitch! Get this damn thing off me!" Maxie staggered back, trying to beat at the creature with the butt of his gun.

Kodak pointed his own weapon, then hesitated. Maxie was struggling too hard for Kodak to be certain he could make the shot without hurting him. Instead, he rushed forward, grabbing the anomaly by the skull and trying to yank it away. The creature, however, was intent, and almost seemed utterly immovable. Kodak attempted to punch at it, with little response.

"Why do I keep getting stuck with the fuckers that don't register pain?!" The captain growled.

Frustrated, Kodak attempted to grapple the creature's arms. Its skin was strangely loose against the flesh, so maintaining his grasp was difficult. However, he managed to pull one arm back, then the other. Unfazed, it continued to lunge its neck forward, snapping at Maxie's neck. Maxie leaned his head back as far as it could go, then managed to wrench himself from the creature's vise-like legs.

Dimitri rushed forward and took over for Kodak, holding the arms steady as Kodak cuffed the creature before binding it with belts for good measure. Once again, he leaned into his communicator, this time reaching out to the helicopter hovering overhead. "Get us a fucking container for this thing, now! I doubt it's going to be held down for long like this."

However, Kodak's concerns proved unfounded. The creature, once subdued, remained still, and was ushered into containment with little incident.

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Bright whistled. "That's quite the story, Captain. Congratulations on apprehending it. Now, if only we knew where it came from." He glanced over to the cage again, looking at the anomaly. It's glassy eyes were still locked to Lawrence's.

Just as quickly as before, it struck, dashing at the bars and reaching between them as much as it could, clawing at the air just before Lawrence with wild-eyed determination. Lawrence took a step back and wrinkled his nose.

Before Kodak could react violently, Bright held up a hand. "I get it, Kodak, but unfortunately, we need this sample alive. Testing it will be difficult, but we've managed with far deadlier."

Kodak's hand slowly slipped away from the handle of his rifle. "Any reports of other instances of it?"

"Not so far. I'm with you on that point, though-- I don't think this is a one-off entity like the Lawrence or the lizard. It lacks direction or purpose... I think it's just one of many, and its source is elsewhere."

"So, rather than being an object itself, it's an instance of manifestation caused by an independent object." Crow paused. "That's your current theory?"

Bright nodded. "I'm willing to bet that's the case. There's a sort of pattern that it's following, but its a little hard to explain. I'd like to run some more thorough tests. Are the blood results back yet?" He looked to the junior researcher expectantly.

"Not yet."

"Alright. Then for now, how about you do me a favor, and get close enough to the containment cell that it reaches out again? I want a closer look at those hands."

Brand grit his teeth, then snapped. "I don't answer to a talking fucking necklace."

Bright's expression didn't falter, it simply seemed to darken. With a casual smile, he glanced over at Kodak. Kodak, for his part, was starting to see what Bright meant by this visit being worth his while.

He cut Bright an inquisitive gaze. Does it matter to you whether this guy survives? His expression read.

Bright's eyes crinkled and sparkled with joy. Not in the slightest.

The silent exchange was the last thing Junior Researcher Hoff Brand saw before being pulled under.