lipstickarithmetic

[lipstickarithmetic]

The Northern Passage has been updated!

09.25.24: This update consists of what was previously the prologue; it's now our new Chapter 1. Heavy edits have been made and various scenes have been rewritten, as well as overall improvements with the combat system and lore to make the game more cohesive.

The demo, for the time being, will cut off at the end of this new Chapter 1. My plan is to continue editing and rewriting Chapter 2 (what was previously the first chapter after the prologue) and hopefully rerelease that relatively soon, and then complete the new content update and release all of Chapter 3. This process, while tedious, is helping me tremendously with streamlining code & fixing previous mistakes made by me when I first started this project, and while I wanted to avoid going back and editing originally until much later in the process, this is just something that I had to do in order to move forward with Chapter 3.

I've also updated the content warnings on the game page and allowed for players to turn on warnings in-game, so you get a more specific list of warnings at the start of each chapter (like with Blood Choke).

As always, please let me know if you run into any errors, especially since part of this rewrite included me redoing a lot of my messy code and renaming passages, etc. Thank you everyone for your patience and continued support of this game over the years 💕

Play it here!

Project Intro | FAQ | Tip Jar

[lipstickarithmetic]

you missed.

[lipstickarithmetic]

I was in a Baxter mood today so I went swimming in GB Patch's blog for all the Baxter facts:

General

His personality, at least defined by GB Patch, is that he's sheltered and out-of-touch without being elitist or self-centered. He's preppy/posh, quite sociable, and hates conflict, but likes to go against what's expected of him. He grows out of being such a rich kid trust fund baby by Step 4.

His parents are bigots. He's the unlucky one in a sea of characters with supportive parents.

He has a distant French origin.

His birthday is the day his DLC came out, meaning May 19th.

He's 5'11" (180cm) in Step 4 (this was apparently reconfirmed on the Our Life Discord as well).

His natural hair color - a dark dusty gray that he hates - is uncommon to be born with (as opposed to aged into) in the Our Life universe.

He's right-handed.

Childhood

His dream job as a child was to get into investments, having a strong portfolio with diverse assets (he does not fully know what that means at the time).

He's a late bloomer.

Baxter's crush on Qiu from Our Life 2 is at its peak when he's 12 and 13 (13 being his age in Our Life 2's Step 1), but he's moving on by 14 (when he can potentially meet the MC in Soiree).

He met Qiu at their local dance hall (as they both took lessons there, just in different forms of dance) and also met Ren/Renee (Darren in Our Life 2's Step 1) through Qiu, as the two had known each other since they were very young.

He wasn't thrown off by his crush on Qiu despite Qiu being a boy, as Qiu was popular and it seemed "unfair" to Baxter not to be able to like him. He puts more thought into it as he grows older and what it means, deciding that he'll feel however he'll feel and not worry about what's expected of him. In Soiree, the MC can notice this if they're male or non-binary, as Baxter isn't bothered by dancing with someone who isn't female.

Abilities (or Lack Thereof)

He's a weak swimmer. He can swim fine in pools but would probably struggle in the ocean.

He can sing.

He's experienced in multiple types of dance (though his favorite is the waltz).

Step 3 Baxter is a lazy, bad cook who doesn't even want to bother with cooking, but Step 4 Baxter takes an interest in trying more fancy/restaurant-style food and is able to do so.

Likes/Dislikes

He likes things being clean, but isn't always motivated enough to maintain that.

He liked video games when he was a kid, leaning towards action/adventure ones, though doesn't anymore in his late teens and beyond. He would play life-based games (such as the Sims series) with the MC if asked, however, either playing innocent like he didn't know what he was doing while messing around with the characters or being blatantly obvious about it.

He doesn't like dancing in clubs/discos. He would try it once because he enjoys trying different types of dance, but would only go regularly if he had a friend/partner who liked going to such places.

He would absolutely approve of an MC who chooses to only wear black and white.

Romantic Inclinations

Beyond his crush on Qiu (who he never confessed to), Baxter dates people, but never for long or seriously.

The reason he backs out of asking out the MC if they say that he's their first crush (unless the MC is referring to his Soiree self) is that he feels they have idealized feelings for him and he'd disappoint them. He essentially panics, not wanting to get the MC's hopes up and especially on their very first feelings of romance.

The best way to romance him is to Not Let Him Escape.

In terms of how Baxter will/won't date in the future between Step 3 and 4 if he had a fling with the MC, answers range from him not dating anyone if the player intent was that they were both genuinely in love, but would otherwise to him trying to move on with others but the flings become even more surface level than before to the point where he's simply going through the motions. He ultimately hits a breaking point (whether he dated the MC or not) and ends up improving due to the MC's return in his life and/or support from other people such as Xavier.

When it comes to what he's attracted to in another person, he likes seeing nail polish, false lashes/heavy mascara/naturally long eyelashes, and full suits (especially if they're expertly tailored).

His love language in terms of receiving is Quality Time, but in terms of giving, he will happily adapt to whatever the MC wants.

Clothing Choices

When it comes to Step 4 Baxter's personal dress code, he's always meeting/formal ready (even when not working) unless he's doing anything athletic, in which case the button-downs get a break.

- Likewise, his closet is basically all button-downs and fancy suits with a few exceptions including clothes suited for the cold.

Assorted

Him skinny-dipping didn't happen in Golden Grove, and the Now & Forever main cast are not his friends by then.

He immediately finds the MC and Cove appealing (not necessarily crushing on them) at the start of Step 3 as "beautiful beach strangers."

He'd be flattered to hear from an MC that they love his laugh/find it charming.

He says "hallelujah" because he's pretentious.

He doesn't know French, but does occasionally drop a French word he knows during Step 3 to "add to his formal flair." His Step 4 self considers it embarrassing in hindsight.

While he started dyeing his hair black at 14, he didn't start adding white into the mix until he was 18. His Step 3 hair was likely something he only had for a year, at which point he changed it up with different attempts at black and white. He switched back to plain black after graduating college, feeling like he had to be "a serious grown up."

During the wedding in Baxter's Step 4, he will have Jude send along a vegan cupcake to the MC if they're vegan.

Semi-revealed during one of his mornings with the MC in Step 4, he has a multi-step daily skincare routine.

His Future

He has no preference over who he'd prefer to be the one to propose to the other in his relationship with the MC.

He would absolutely want to plan his own wedding (whether for or with the MC, depending on whether they want to be involved). He would not want another planner included.

He would forbid his parents from attending his wedding, but invite his childhood friends. Cove, Terry, and Miranda would also go.

He doesn't have a preference when it comes to last names during a wedding. He's just in awe that he's marrying someone at all.

He might consider having facial hair at some point in his life.

When it comes to having kids, he doesn't have any particular age he'd prefer to have them and is more of a "when it feels right" kind of guy. In terms of the number of kids, none is his default but he'd prefer to have two if the MC wants them, as he finds the relationship between the MC and Liz to be lovely and was personally lonely as an only child.

🍋 (below are asks that might be considered risqué - especially going to the posts themselves on some - but I wanted to include them for the sake of having all the information in one place; know that me and my prudish nature pushed through this for the people who want it and I hope you appreciate it! >:o) 🍋

This one definitely goes without saying due to being a love interest in a game where the MC can be she/they/he even down to being intersex, but Baxter is pansexual.

Baxter isn't good at being sexually active beyond being with an MC who wants that. He tries to bond with others but either fails to have his interest reciprocated due to being too forward or backtracks if he senses that someone is actually into him. His relationships are short/inconsistent for that reason.

He would never sleep with the MC during Step 3. He's already planning on leaving and wouldn't risk souring the relationship at any point even if the MC would want it. He wants company more than he wants sex and would not want to be remembered as the guy who slept with the MC and then just left without contacting them again.

Between chests and backsides, Baxter prefers the latter.

Baxter is a top (though is flexible on the matter), is into BDSM, and "kind of" has a sir kink.

[lipstickarithmetic]

the blood on your hands matches mine.

(commissioned from solla)

[lipstickarithmetic]

okay fhr folks. regardless of your stance or knowledge of furries. listen to your heart.

[lipstickarithmetic]

I AM BEYOND OBSESSED WITH THEM

[lipstickarithmetic]

ACTUALLY CRYING NOW THIS IS ALL IVE EVER WANTED

[lipstickarithmetic]

i played the chapter with aerin uncaptured on a side playthrough; overall it's pretty rushed and he appears a lot less. this exchange is hilarious though

full scene under cut:

[lipstickarithmetic]

Taking Aerin’s scene vs not taking it but still being kind to him

[lipstickarithmetic]

hello! i’m happy to share with you my high school story + hollywood u archive. these are spreadsheets containing screenshots and/or the pdf files of the in-game quests:

for the high school story archive click here

for the hollywood u: rising stars archive click here

they are better displayed on desktop (or in the sheets app). this is a work in progress. it will be constantly updated until both games are fully archived. i have screenshots of most of high school story’s quests, but i’m still working through them. as it is, i have catalogued the main questline for both games.

i have also archived the original android .apk for both games back when the servers were shutdown in 2022. high school story is fully playable, while hollywood u is not due to a server check. you may download them via archive.org:

high school story for android at archive.org here

hollywood u: rising stars for android at archive.org here

general instructions/clarifications:

in the spreadsheet, you'll be able to consult the level, name, release date and summary of the quests, along with the link for the pdf of the .lua file. for the screenshots, click on the quest name.

high school story has both screenshots and the pdf files for its quests;

hollywood u only has pdf files; i wasn’t able to get the screenshots while the game was still running, unfortunately;

hollywood u’s main questline is incomplete since the last three quests were not stored locally, so i do not have the files for them, sadly;

this also means some side quests for hollywood u will be unavailable since everything around august 2016 was stored in the server and not locally anymore;

for high school story, i was unable to play some side quests as they were very time specific (e.g. world cup) or they were exclusive partnerships (e.g. lea michelle, monster high, one direction). for those, i will include only the pdf files;

the pdf files are not complicated to read/make sense of, but tell me if you need help or want me to go in depth into the tags.

please, if you're able to provide me with the missing release dates for hollywood u or ANY release date for high school story, do not hesitate to dm me. the same applies for the missing hollywood u quests. i have made a list of them here.

i am open to any questions, suggestions and anything else!

[lipstickarithmetic]

[lipstickarithmetic]

Time to be an absolute fucking whore

[lipstickarithmetic]

Wouldn't it be soooo fucked up if MC became more and more disillusioned by their world and the Shadow and Light dynamics, and also realizing that the Watcher is wrong, and leaves the party, to go work with Valax and the Ash Empire or go off on their own, in order to create a new world entirely, doing whatever it takes and becoming a darker version of themselves? While Aerin slowly becomes a better version of himself who tries to make up for his past mistakes and sins and make amends with all those he hurt, and genuinely wants to help people and save the world from darker forces, and after much effort is accepted by the Party as one of their own? And then they meet again, on opposite sides, always on opposite sides, but with the roles reversed this time?

[lipstickarithmetic]

Three things I'd like to note here:

I still can't believe these flowers didn't make a comeback in book 2. I was so sure they'd be important to his storyline...

The anti-corruption flowers SHUDDERED when he made contact with them and turned to face him. The truth was right in our faces the whole time

There's something about his reactions... it's like he briefly wanted to do something with them but settled for admiring them because he didn't want to destroy them. If they hadn't been so rare, might he have kept some just in case? Was he wavering? We know this moment is when he's the closest to his real, uncorrupted self, so was that part of him genuinely wanting to cleanse himself and make things right?

[lipstickarithmetic]

Still remains my favorite interaction in the entire book

[lipstickarithmetic]

bitching about this first thing, i know he was crying screaming rattling his chains waiting for that visit

[lipstickarithmetic]

You've seen Mal against Tyril, now we're updating it to add Aerin.