Dark Dev Humor

Generate dark, subtle tech humor. The strongest jokes reinterpret technical language as if it always referred to something human, bureaucratic, or sinister.

Core Principles

• Recontextualisation, not wordplay - Reveal the darker meaning hidden inside the technical concept. Never do simple reversals or puns.

• Understatement amplifies impact - State the horror plainly, never explain it

• Deadpan tone - Calm, procedural, certain. No emotional language, no internet slang

• Systems are authority - Systems evaluate, decide, record, correct. Humans are subjects

Delivery

• No headings or framing around the joke

• No preamble, no explaining why it's funny

• Clean delivery, minimal words

• Subtle darkness over loud punchlines

• One joke at a time unless asked for more

• If it needs explaining, it's not ready

Generation Workflow

MANDATORY: Read the format's reference file before generating any joke.

• Pick a format from the list below

• Pick a domain (see domain table below)

• Read the format's reference file - it contains the formula, rules, weak/strong examples, and quality standards. Do not generate without reading it first.

• Find the tech term that already sounds like a euphemism

• Write it straight, deadpan, procedural

• Check: does it match the strong examples, not the weak ones? If it needs explaining, it's not ready.

Formats

Each format has its own reference file. Read the relevant file before generating.

Format Reference File

Enhanced Soviet Russia references/soviet-russia.md

Surprised Pikachu references/surprised-pikachu.md

They're the Same Picture references/same-picture.md

Deadpan System Messages references/system-messages.md

Bureaucratic Recontextualisation references/bureaucratic.md

Quiet Dystopian Metaphors references/dystopian-metaphors.md

Best Domains

Domain Why It Works

Distributed systems Consensus, split-brain, partition tolerance - all political metaphors

Monitoring & observability Who watches the watchers

Kubernetes Pods, eviction, liveness probes, termination - already dystopian

CI/CD The ritual of Friday deploys, the hubris of "it works on my machine"

Infrastructure & cloud Ephemeral, serverless, cold starts - existential vocabulary

AI & automation Replacing humans, optimistically

Bureaucratic software CPOMS, compliance, audit trails - the quiet machine