What a lovely community.
This is Bri. She's 17, and she's vulnerable.
This is Michael. He feeds off vulnerability.
You see, Michael wanted to bring unity and help people.
And so, he was thinking and decided to make.
A cult.
This is Michael. He feeds off vulnerability.
You see, Michael wanted to bring unity and help people.
And so, he was thinking and decided to make.
A cult.
BRIGHT FUTURE is a 2023 Analog Horror web series by Stranger Danger.
A man named Michael wants to remove sin from the world. He does this by starting a cult and persuading vulnerable people to join. His plans get bigger, and they
The videos in the series are:
This series contains examples of:
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The series in general
- Crapsack World: While it's not known what the state of most of the world is like, there's some very bad and powerful people around, including a cult that preys on vulnerable people and a technology corporation that tests its products on the CEO's children. Oh, and aliens are invading.
- The Faceless: All the characters are represented by the kind of stick figures you would see on a bathroom sign, and have no identifying features.
- Synthetic Voice Actor: The majority of the dialogue in the videos is done by a text-to-speech program.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Michael ostensibly wants to stop bad things in the world from happening, like murder and robbery. He does some terrible things in the process of this happening, like poisoning his entire congregation with arsenic so they'll all go to heaven.
VULNERABLE
- Broken Record: How the narrator describes Bri praying after being raped, for God to forgive her sins and to not make her pregnant.So Bri prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed. And prayed.
- Child by Rape: Bri is raped by one of the members of her church, and is blamed by Michael for it. She prays and prays to not become pregnant, but she does.
- Corrupt Church
- Dark and Troubled Past: Bri is described as "a confused girl" who has "no hope, no family, no money, no place to stay" before she meets Michael.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Bri has no purpose in life, which makes her vulnerable to being inducted into Michael's cult.
- Karma Houdini: Nothing bad happens to Michael, the leader of the cult, or the church member who sexually assaulted Bri. In fact, in the succeeding videos, Michael just seems to get more and more powerful.
- No Ending: After Bri is implied to have eaten Richard, the narrator simply says that Bri repented for her sins, and tells the viewer to join Bright Future Church.
- No Sympathy: Michael blames Bri for being raped and tells her that it wouldn't have happened if she believed harder, and that she needs to trust God more and pray more to atone for her sins.
- Offing the Offspring: After being raped and giving birth to Richard, Bri tries to love him but she cannot, as he looks like her rapist.Narrator: Even though it was a sin, Bri...
(Bri opens her mouth, followed by a picture of a disembodied head holding a spoonful of something)- Subverted, as a comment from the creator suggests is may have been a hallucination, and Richard appears alive and older in RINGS.
COMMUNION
- As the Good Book Says...: The video begins with a quote from 1 Corinthians 11:27 — "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord."
- Deadly Euphemism: After everyone drinks the poisoned wine and dies, the narrator says, "Now everyone's dead," but instead of the word "dead" on the screen, the words "in heaven" appear instead.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: One of the church members who drinks the arsenic-poisoned wine appears to be pregnant.
- Lethally Stupid: The narrator says that Michael accidentally put arsenic in the wine meant for his entire congregation, assuming we don't have a case of Unreliable Narrator.
- Robbing the Dead: After killing his entire congregation, Michael uses their money to build a bigger church, deciding it's what they would have wanted.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: The narrator says that Michael wanted to stop violence such as bullying, murder, and kidnapping. But when a graphic appears of Bri's rape from VULNERABLE, instead of the word "rape" (or "sexual assault" or a similar word), a buzzing sound is heard.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Michael accidentally puts arsenic in the wine he gives to his church members for communion, and they all die.
RINGS
- Abusive Parents
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Miguel thinks nothing of testing the Rings on his children. Even after his daughter accidentally kills his wife with them, he still continues having all three of them test the Rings, leading to more head-exploding incidents.
- Eye Scream: The Rings are like eye contacts, but work by sewing tiny wires and connectors into the user's eyes.
- Fun with Acronyms: Bri's husband Miguel is the CEO of Black Road Industries, or BRI.
- Guinea Pig Family: Miguel, CEO of Black Road Industries, tests the Rings on his children, including his 5-year-old daughter, Jenna.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jenna is horrified and starts to cry after causing her mother's head to explode.Jenna: I'm sorry, Mama...
- Ominous Visual Glitch: When Bri picks Jenna up and starts yelling at her, the screen starts to visibly glitch and shake, seconds before Jenna accidentally blows her mother's head into a bloody paste.
- Reality Warper: The Rings feed off the user's synapses and energies, allowing them to translate their thoughts into reality.
- Self-Made Orphan
- Suddenly Voiced: A variation — nearly all the dialogue is done by text-to-speech, including Jenna's. But when Bri picks up Jenna and starts screaming at her, a real child's voice can be heard screaming.
- Superpower Lottery: Using the Rings gives Jenna the powers of invisibility, illusion, and telekinesis.
- Unstable Powered Child:
- Your Head A-Splode: When Jenna can't make the teddy fly, her mother Bri picks her up and starts yelling at her to do it. This stresses Jenna out so much that she accidentally uses her powers to make her mother's head explode.
POWER HUNGRY
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Michael's previous good deeds include donating to charity, giving food to hungry people, helping the elderly, and the arsenic poisoning incident from COMMUNION. That graphic is quickly replaced by Michael holding an umbrella over someone sitting in the rain.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Michael joins with James Crawford, governor of New Jersey, and Miguel Lohan, CEO of Black Road Industries, to initiate Project Blue Beam, which will destroy the world and create a new, sin-free one.
- Take Over the World: Running a cult isn't enough for Michael. What the really wants is to rule the world.
WATCHERS
- Time Skip: Some time has passed since the events of RINGS, as 5-year-old Jenna is now a teenager.
PROJECT BLUE BEAM
- Join us here, at Bright Future Church.
