#through with playing by the rules . . . [ EDITS & GRAPHICS ]*

[frosthidden]

PICTURE YOU - CHAPPELL ROAN

mutuals may interact, do not reblog without permission (personals gtfo)

Iisa frankenstein cap cred goes to @byroncapped

[ask-postcrash-curly]

❤️‍🩹the blog in chronological order❤️‍🩹

[hi! blog mod here. all in-character posts are tagged #curlyposting. all out of character posts are tagged #modposting.

this blog operates on a queue. the queue changes speeds based on how many asks i’m getting. currently, it’s maxed out at 50 posts a day. your ask will probably take nearly two days to publish.

replies are not canon, but i’ll sometimes jokingly rp in them. curly will sometimes respond to reblogs.

rules, curly’s optional boundaries, and FAQ are under the cut.]

RULES:

you cannot directly affect the world outside curly’s mind. that means you can’t manifest yourself into a physical form, physically interact with curly, physically alter the environment, or change fate outside of encouraging curly to act.

you can send curly audial and visual material through links, description, embeds, etc. you cannot manifest physical sensations, taste, or smell (although you can briefly give him a headache through enough caps usage). you cannot affect curly’s real world senses.

curly can tell the difference between what you send him and what’s physically going on around him.

curly typically cannot interact with what you send him. if you send him a video, it will play until the end or until another video starts; he can’t pause it or rewind, can’t click website links, can’t scroll, etc.

curly is not allowed to have definitive proof that he is fictional. if you simply tell him “you’re a video game character” he’ll still respond but he won’t believe you. EDIT: someone found a loophole. curly is now allowed to know that we perceive him as a video game character provided you present it as “we’re from an alternate dimension and in our dimension there’s a game about you” and not as “we’re real and you’re not.”

sex jokes are fine, but i won’t respond in character to anything that i find too explicit, graphic, or otherwise uncomfortable.

try not to send asks concerning historical events that are happening Right Now.

if i think of anything else i’ll add that!

now onto CURLY’S BOUNDARIES. you do not have to abide by these. EDIT: curly is now standing up for his boundaries again :) be proud of him

don’t compare him to food, especially meat, or talk about wanting to eat him.

don’t show him anything depicting meat.

don’t ask him whether he and jimmy were/would ever have been in a relationship.

you can lightly flirt with him, but he will not reciprocate. if you flirt with him in a more overt or sexual manner, or compliment his current appearance, he will not respond well.

don’t send him things depicting fire or explosions, especially without warning him first.

you can bring it up, but he doesn’t like to think too much about the crash or about the pills.

don’t describe ways that the pain could be worse or call his attention to the pain, as this causes him to fixate on these scenarios / struggle to ignore the existing pain.

if you say you are going to touch him in an aggressive or romantic/sexual way he will react badly. at this point he’s so desperate for a hug / any platonic affection that he won’t mind that at all, even if realistically he knows it will hurt.

don’t use all caps at him. it hurts.

if curly thinks of anything else, which will probably happen since many of you enjoy upsetting him, it will be added.

—

FAQ:

Does Curly have a favorite color?

No, but he used to pretend it was green so people wouldn’t think he was weird. He stole it from Jimmy.

Does Curly like Chappell Roan?

Maybe a little too much.

How is Curly typing?

He isn’t. He’s thinking. You’re voices in his head.

What are Curly’s favorite books / movies / shows / songs?

Favorite books are the Oz, Tom Sawyer, and Narnia books. Favorite movies are the Back to the Future movies and Brokeback Mountain. He doesn’t watch a lot of shows because it’s hard to keep up with them when he’s in space so often. His favorite songs are inconsistent.

Will Curly feed the Curlings?

No.

i hope this hurts ❤️‍🩹

[spell-bloom]

im sorry for asking and wasting ur time...how can i get ts2 w ur upload...sorry if im not clear kinda nervous...

edit 3/8/25: one word. magipack. google it and that's way easier than this.

First of all, you're not wasting my time. Treat yourself as kindly as you treat others. /gen /pos

(I'm assuming you are a Windows user. I'm unsure with the state of downloading the game on Linux via Lutris.) With this upload, you will want to download all of them and choose either the x32 or x64 bit Touchup installer. If you have a computer made within the last... 15 years(?) you are using a x64 bit system so just use that.

Pixeldrain has a 6GB download limit daily, which is annoying and I didn't know that until AFTER I uploaded all of it. So you will have to finish downloading it a day later. Yeah It's annoying but the convenient way of doing it was nuked by EA.

Now, navigate to C:\Program Files (x86) and make a folder called The Sims 2 Starter Pack. (This is what I'm used to, so I'll be doing it like this.) You should now have a filepath called [C:\Program Files (x86)\The Sims 2 Starter Pack] and extract all of the expansions in there. You can keep the touchup installer in your downloads. I believe the touchup installer includes RPC, so make sure to play the game through that. Don't forget to run graphics rules maker.

[lilmisssammy]

The Path Iceberg

This is an Iceberg for The Path- created by myself with editing help from my good friends Samhain, Torr and Gloria. If you don’t know what an iceberg is, it’s a chart to discuss different levels of knowledge for a specific topic, the farther you go down, the more obscure or dark the topics become.

Before you read, I need to state that there are discussions of Rape related to people aged 9 to 19, Death, Potential Triggering content within links, and Spoilers for The Path. 

Thank you! And Enjoy!

This is an Iceberg for The Path- created by myself with editing help from my good friends Samhain, Torr and Gloria. If you don’t know what an iceberg is, it’s a chart to discuss different levels of knowledge for a specific topic, the farther you go down, the more obscure or dark the topics become.

Before you read, I need to state that there are discussions of Rape related to people aged 9 to 19, Death, Potential Triggering content within links, and Spoilers for The Path. 

Thank you! And Enjoy!

Tier 1 - The Sky

The Path is a psychological horror art game created by Tale of Tales, now Song of Songs, in 2009. It follows a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood as it's experienced between six sisters, the wolf-loving 9-year-old Robin, the precocious 11-year-old Rose, the tomboy 13-year-old Ginger, the brooding 15-year-old Ruby, the confident 17-year-old Carmen and the responsible 19-year-old Scarlet. Each sister takes turns walking to their grandmother's house, with the only rule being to stay on the path. And the only way to win is by dying. The Path is a walking simulator and is seen as one of the best representations of the fact gaming can be art. 

Tale of Tales was a Belgian game development company that ran from 2003 to 2015. It was founded by artists Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn in an effort to bring art to an interactive medium. They're known for games like The Endless Forest, Graveyard, Fatale, Sunset, and especially their cult classic The Path. In 2015 they ceased making commercial video games after the release of Sunset, and now work on art projects together under the name Song of Songs. Currently, they’re working on a remake of The Endless Forest, which is currently in its beta stage open for patreons!

Little Red Riding Hood is a fairy tale about a young girl with a red cape who meets a wolf on the way to her grandmother's house. The basic story has Little Red walking through the woods to bring food for her sickly grandmother, where she meets the wolf who wants to eat the food and her. The wolf tricks her into telling him where she's going while she stops to get her grandmother flowers. When she finally gets there, the wolf has eaten her grandmother and tricks her into getting into bed so he can eat her as well. Depending on the version, a hunter may come in and slay the wolf saving the granddaughter and grandmother from his stomach, or the grandmother could be unharmed in the wardrobe. 

Auriea Harvey is a digital artist and sculptor currently living and working in Rome. She’s one half of Tale of Tales and is specifically credited for Design, Direction and Character Design on The Path. She was also the author of the post-mortem on The Path which you can see I’ve heavily referenced throughout this whole post. She currently has an art exhibit at the Museum of Moving Image called My Veins are the Wires, My Body is Your Keyboard which features images, models and the ability to play the path! 

Michaël Samyn is a graphic designer and digital artist specialising in VR from Belgium, currently living and working in Rome. He’s the other half of Tale of Tales and is specifically credited for Design, Direction and Programming for The Path. His most recent work, apart from actively working on The Endless Forest, is The Viriditas Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, an utterly stunning VR experience you can get on Steam.

Tier 2 - Tip of the Iceberg

The Path as a game is about building your own interpretations of the character's struggles via item reactions and rooms in Grandmother's House. There are generally two main interpretations believed by most who play the game. One is that the game shows each girl's death, Robin being mauled to death by a wolf, Rose drowning after she falls off the boat, Ginger being strangled/electrocuted on the flower fields wires, Ruby getting into a car accident, Carmen being killed and chopped up, and Scarlet being hung by the string seen on her wolf’s claws. However, these are also usually viewed as metaphorical examples of the sisters feeling like they died after extreme traumas. Using the items and images as clues, there is a common consensus of what each sister went through that made her feel like this. Robin's is learning about death and the consequences of actions, Ginger's is getting her first period and being forced to grow up, Ruby's is falling in with the wrong crowd and getting into harmful behaviours, Carmen's is getting taken advantage of while drunk, and Scarlet's is falling under the weight of responsibility placed upon her to look after her family.

Some places reported that the game would be about rape or pedophilia, like this spread in a Dutch gaming magazine. Something that gives credence to the rape interpretation is the basis of Perrault's version of the tale where the wolf tricks the sister to take off her clothes and get into bed together, as well as the uncomfortable positions the sisters appear in after their encounter. Though, this is how Auriea addressed it in the post-mortem- 'Some say blindly that the game is "about rape." And while that could be one of the interpretations -- and I understand it -- for me, those black-out moments after meeting her wolf are the moments of realization. Those are the times when a girl grows. And what happens in Grandmother's House is not a murder but a shedding of childhood and an initiation to womanhood. Each girl is one step closer to her fate.'

The Path may have intended answers that are mostly agreed on, but the format of the game is purposefully set up so there is no wrong or right answer, allowing for more personal or specific interpretations. You may notice I didn't mention Rose in the last section- and that's because there isn't an accepted answer. The most popular ideas are either her blooming spirituality, or dealing with illness, though those are both contested. There are other popular interpretations for each character- Robin having a family member pass, Ginger being a lesbian or trans man in love with her wolf, Ruby's experience with ableism or addiction, Carmen experiencing society's sexualization of teenagers, Scarlet having extreme psychological issues, with Rose's ranging anywhere from the struggle of a gifted child, actually dying or even the creators not having an actual set intention! 

Each sister you can play as has their own Live Journal- Robin's is named Kid Red, Rose's Innocent Red, Ginger's Tomboy Red, Ruby's Goth Red, Carmen's Sexy Red, and Scarlets Stern Red. Here the sisters post about their lives and talk to one another and sometimes other people, there seems to be a group of people who didn't know these were fictional characters, and one person talking about the Rio World Cup. Nowadays, this blog project could be seen as an early form of an ARG, considering its interactive nature.

The Company of Wolves is a 1984 gothic horror film about a grandmother warning her granddaughter about straying from the path and never trusting charming men. Multiple stories are told about girls falling for people who are secretly wolves and how it became their downfall. There are similar themes of femininity and sexual awakening, as well as the usage of Charles Perrault's Le Petit Chaperon Rouge at the end of the movie and in the trailers for the game. 

If you've played The Path in recent times you may notice that there are various bugs that range from bearable, game-breaking, beautiful or simply funny. The creators have an image folder of beautiful glitches from developing the game and the VK fanclub has compiled some glitches found themselves.

The game is turning 15 this year- and as time goes on the web aspects that hosted information about it are slowly going out of date. There's been an effort to archive images, the character models for the sisters, and object textures. 

Jarboe Devereaux is an experimental rock musician probably best known for being an early member of the group Swans, who co-composed the soundtrack for The Path with Kris Force along with lending her voice to some narration in the soundtrack and trailers. A lot of her music is experimental and I honestly recommend listening to it if you want! At the moment she’s working on her next solo album to come out in late 2024, as well as considering a tour in Europe after the album is released!

The Path of Needles or The Path of Pins is a line from one of the earliest versions of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf asking which path she will travel down, the needles representing maturity while the pins represent childhood. It's said to be based on a French village in which a girl was sent off to become a seamstress for a year, as a sense of sexual maturation. This features heavily in the trailers as well as being part of The Grandmother’s Tale read by Jarboe, with it being referenced to by Ruby in her reaction to the needle. 

The Prologue is a short free version of The Path you can find on their website where you play as the mysterious Girl in White. You're unable to interact with items or go to grandmother's house in this version- but you are much more able to explore and find your way back to the path on your own, something you cannot do in the full game.

Izzzyzzz is a YouTuber who makes commentary videos who posts deep dives on things like famous fandom stories, old media and internet legends. In late 2021 they posted a video covering The Path which now sits at 1.4 million views, introducing a good chunk of the modern fan base to the game, as well as causing a surge in new content for the game, with a follow-up video in 2023! Their most recent video is about the game Palworld and it’s plagiarism, as well as having a new line of merch out.

Despite being released in English and Dutch only, The Path very quickly grew a fanbase in Japan and even more so in Russia. Screenshots from Auriea's post-mortem showed Russia was the second biggest purchaser of the game. The European social networking site VK has a fan club of 5.4k members as of writing this- as well as having produced 251 fanfictions on ficbook (for context, Rule of Rose, a game with similar themes and an overlapping fan base has 5 fanfictions on it) Japan's is a lot less archived, but on niconico you can find a lot of fan videos for The Path that is simply not there on the English net.

Though not like how it's used in other games- The Path has an inventory system in which you can collect, store and view items found in the forest. These are deemed "Distractions", and you're able to use these to unlock parts of grandmother's house. There are 30 items you can collect, the bread and wine are already collected which unlock the house and gate respectively, but there is also: A Knife (Unlocking a knife on the kitchen table), a Bullet (Unlocking a deer head), a Feather (Unlocking a Cage with a bird), a Mask (Unlocking the curtains in the kitchen), a Dead Bird (Unlocking a tv), Treasure (Unlocking a stack of money), a Needle (Unlocking pills), a Two-Headed Teddy Bear (Unlocking the bear in grandmother's house), a Boot (Unlocking a table), a Record (Unlocking a stereo), Flowers (unlocking hanging flowers), a Balloon (Unlocking Balloons on the ceiling), a Piano (Unlocking a Cobweb), the Playground Tower (Unlocking a picture frame), a Bunker (Unlocking beer in a fridge), and a Grave (Unlocking a Vase). Each sister then has three special items that unlock secret rooms. For Robin, an Open Grave, Swing and Shopping Cart unlock a crib with a birds-nest, a side staircase and a birthday party. For Rose, a Living Crow, a Skull and a Well, unlocking a long corridor of bathroom stalls, a flooding hallway of doors and a greenhouse. For Ginger, a Twisted Fence, a Climbable Tree and a Shed unlock a hallway, a bedroom and toys under the bed. For Ruby, a Scarecrow, a Wheelchair and a Car unlock a hallway, gymnasium and giant cage. For Carmen, beer, campfire and bath unlock a bush corridor, a basement and a row of fire. And for Scarlet, a cobweb, a clothing line, and a tv unlock a music room, a library and a hall of books.

Tier 3 - Beneath the Surface

Kris Force is an electroacoustic composer, performer and visual artist you'd probably best know from her work as Amber Asylum and with Neurosis. She’s an extremely talented multi-media artist, including such skills as painting, sound and photography. At the moment her most recent release was The Embrace, with Jarboe whom she collaborated with on The Path!

1001 Video Games To Play Before You Die is a spinoff book from 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, featuring games from 1970 to 2013, with The Path being listed right between Punch-Out for the Wii and EyePet the pet simulator. Listed as being so effective due to its interactivity.

The Girl in White, the mysterious forest girl who brings the sisters back to the path, seems to be tied with two of the sister’s Wolves. Ginger’s, The Girl in Red, and Carmen’s, The Woodsman. The Girl in White has a small tent next to the Woodsman’s area, as well as sharing the same skin colour, hair colour, eye colour and similar-looking boots. With the Girl in Red it’s much the same, the only things being different are the colour of their dresses, and the directions their pigtails point, and is directly named as the Girl in White’s twin. There’s even art of all three together named “The Woodsman’s Daughter” but not saying which one is his daughter. 

Fey Wolf, if you aren't familiar, is the name in the files for Scarlet's Wolf, the white-haired pianist found in the theatre. You'd not be faulted for seeing them as either an older woman or a long-haired man, or even a genderless ethereal being. The Fey Wolf was never specifically gendered by the creators, but insights about The Girl In Red Wolf reveal that she is intended to be the only female wolf.

Laura Raines Smith is an extremely prolific animator specialising in modelling and textures and was the main animator in a lot of Tale of Tales games. Some of her Tale of Tales animations can be found here, but she's also worked on games like Borderlands 3, Rage of the Gladiator and NHL 95. Her most recent work from what I can find was the animation and rigging on Saturnalia in 2022! 

If you’ve been in the community or if you’ve seen people discuss theories for The Path, you have probably seen the interpretation that Ginger is a lesbian, or transgender. This goes beyond just a shared headcanon, there’s a mountain of evidence for both camps that seems potentially intended. Starting with Ginger being transgender, just out of respect, in this section Ginger will be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns. Their appearance is particularly androgynous compared to their sisters, with a short bob cut and a black shirt and shorts- along with having the gender-neutral name Ginger that doesn’t quite fit the family naming theme that could be seen as a chosen name. Ginger also is associated with things that are seen as more masculine, their favourite video game is an action-adventure called Ico, they enjoy exploring the forest and trying to blow things up or fake crop circles, as well as having “boy” toys under the bed, little army men and dinosaurs. Ginger also notoriously dislikes things that are more “girly” like dressing up pretty, going as far as to make their entire family forget their birthday to avoid it. Their wolf can be seen as a manifestation of that, of all things girly and feminine, literally being only known as a Girl in Red- and the GIR’s obsession with barbed wire could be how they feel their feminity is trapping them. Ginger getting their first period is near-universally considered to be the “proper” interpretation of their route, but people who believe in Ginger being transgender use their overwhelming reaction to their first period being a sign of gender dysphoria, and fear of now believing they will be stuck to becoming a woman. This can be summed up in this image, of Ginger clutching their legs together with what's supposed to be in the middle being completely absent, instead with a drawing of flowers in place and barbed wire across, a clear sign of how they see their period as trapping them into womanhood. For the lesbian side, Ginger never specifically states that she doesn’t like men like Scarlet, but more shows her complete disinterest in them and romance in general. She mentions how she hates that “kissing stuff” and describes Carmen as “Hot, if you’re into that kinda thing.” While that does seem to show Ginger isn’t into romance at all, there are some things. The recurring image of two girls holding hands as a doodle can be found all over the game, and her general identity as a tomboy is sometimes seen in young lesbians yet to have come out, but most of the evidence lies within her wolf and their relationship. They’re clearly close, they have a handshake, and Ginger is more comfortable with affection with her than compared to her own grandmother, with the two girls hugging deeply and the GIR even lifting her into the air. The Wolf Encounter is comparably tamer and almost sweet compared to every other wolf encounter, ending with the Girl in Red grabbing Ginger’s hand and pulling her down to lie together in the sun. The final flashes show an image of the GIR leaning in, almost looking like she’s kissing something. On the GIR’s development blog, their relationship is described as “They are what is missing from each other's lives” as well as describing why Ginger was chosen to have a female wolf as “And the girl most likely to be attracted would be Ginger.” These development notes as well as the general tone of the wolf encounter seem to apply that Ginger and her wolf’s interactions weren’t as antagonistic as the others, almost as if her goal was not to hurt, but to trap her, seemingly to stay in the relationship.

If you’ve lurked on forums about the game for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard the question of “Getting an A” in the game's grading system, and speculation on how it’s possible. Well, I’m sadly here to tell you it’s impossible. Even if you get all of the items, all 144 flowers, successfully succumb to the wolf, and become Grandmother's favourite grandchild, you are unable to get an A. It honestly should not be a surprise- The Path is not supposed to be a normal game that rewards you for your completion, it’s… The Path.

Lisa Falzon is an Illustrator turned tattooer and multimedia artist from Malta. She was originally approached early on in the production to design the box art, though I don’t know if this was ever made or shared, and went on to inspire multiple other aspects of the game, being described as "Awkward Realism." She even drew Ginger when Tale of Tales interviewed her! At the moment she’s working in her own Tattoo shop called Upward Spiral Ink- her tattoos involve amazing detail and beautiful shading, I highly recommend checking it out!

Emriss, Redsbane and Bonedevill are three accounts found commenting and interacting with the sisters' live journals in the comments between 2008 and 2009. Most of Emriss' comments come from 2008, while all of Redsbane and Bonevill's are from 2009. The common through line is interaction with the accounts by the sisters and deactivation. Emriss plays a more neutral role, while Redsbane and Bonedevill lean more antagonistic with them referencing something bad happening to the sisters, Redsbane also seemingly implies the 'Bane' of the 'Red' sisters. With these accounts not archived on the Wayback Machine it's not clear if these were accounts used by the creators to provide interaction, or if they are actual fans playing along.

Ruby’s Leg Brace is probably the most iconic thing about her, with the rarity of video game characters using disability aids, her open usage of one is a welcome sight- but from the beginning of her development it’s not clear if she needs it. In her original plan sheet it’s noted that she may just be using it for show and later her description on the website saying “When asked about her leg brace, Ruby says she’s in pain, but she doesn’t specify where it hurts,” implying she doesn’t need it. Conversely, one of Ruby’s secret items needed is a wheelchair, and the final flashes put an emphasis on her legs and how they’re bent out of shape, seemingly saying she needed the leg brace due to a car crash, or an alternative reading is that Ruby was already disabled before the accident, as she gets violently thrown through a high school gym, as well as being the quickest character in the game, maybe signalling she used to be a school athlete before the onset of a condition or an accident.

Kirin San may be a kind of mysterious figure for non-Japanese fans of The Path, especially if you’ve gone through fanart, seeing a random man or giraffe in a little suit with the red sisters. The truth is, Kirin-San could probably be best described as the Japanese Izzzyzzz, being a big part of how the game became popular over there, with his playthroughs inspiring animatics and leading to a Japanese translation coming in 2010 from Zoo Corporation! This is a weird side note I didn’t know where else to put, but while I was researching this topic I found out that apart from translating games like GTA and Left 4 Dead into English, they also create hentai card games like Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire as well as developing medical prescription systems, so that’s hilarious. 

144 is described as the essence of the game by the creators, that it represents “a girl's restlessness, the sound of footsteps on dry leaves, the smell of pine trees, dim sunlight through filtering clouds.” The original working title of it was 144, with the original intent to have 144 red riding hoods. This was quickly abandoned due to the scale, but its importance remains, the 144 collectable flowers in the forest are the most obvious example of this, but it's all over the rest of the game. There are 36 items (144 divided by 4 being 36), 18 secret rooms (144 divided by 8 being 18), 3 secret rooms per sister (144 divided by 48 being 3) as well as six sisters (144 divided by 24 being six).

Something talked about in the postmortem but was not mentioned by name in the game is that The Girl in White is quite literally an older version of one of Tale of Tales past characters, The Deaf Mute Girl in The Pretty White Dress from 8. Her models were created based on making them look like the Deaf Mute Girl but at the age of 13. With 8 never coming out; the Girl in White is both the first occurrence of this character and the second time she was in a game.

Tier 4 - Middle of the Iceberg

An interesting detail that 1c changed when they translated the game into Russian is them choosing different names for the main six girls, unlike every other translation which keeps their original. The names are: Robin as Алина/Alina, Rose as Алиса/Alice, Ginger as Ада/Ada, Ruby as Агния/Agnia, Carmen as Алла/Alla and Scarlet as Аврора/Aurora. The translated names are no longer themed around red things, but around the alliterative A’s, probably due to their name puns being lost in translation.

This is an entry that’s probably more well known to people NOT into The Path, in that The Path is featured and shouted out by name in Hetalia. Yeah, Hetalia, that Hetalia the anime about personified countries that once was the second most popular Anime/Manga fandom on Fanfiction dot net, features The Path in both the anime and manga, with Belgium showing off the game as something from their homeland.

Something never mentioned in the games is that each of the sisters was given birthdays. On their livejournals, you can see posts of them celebrating Robin’s, Carmen’s and forgetting Ginger’s, but they aren’t the only ones with birthdays. On their live journal profile descriptions, their birthdays are listed as the 13th of October 2000 for Robin, the 13th of March for Rose, the 13th of September 1996 for Ginger, the 13th of May 1994 for Ruby, the 13th of November 1992 for Carmen, and the 13th of April 1990 for Scarlet. Rose doesn’t have her birth year listed but it’s probably just 1998, due to all of the sisters being spaced by two years. Something interesting is that all of the sisters were born on Friday the 13th, but only Rose would be her actual age as of the game release. Since the game came out on the 18th of March 2009, the actual character ages would be 8 for Robin, 11 for Rose, 12 for Ginger, 14 for Ruby, 16 for Carmen and 18 for Scarlet. Part of me thinks that this is why Rose’s birth year goes unmentioned on live journal, though if she wasn’t born in 1998 she would not fit the profile of being born on Friday the 13th, but it’s possible it was either a mistake or related to another entry on this iceberg.

Only mentioned in one development image and the development blog for Ginger’s Wolf, is the idea that Ginger and Rose were at one point supposed to be twin sisters, both being 13 similar to the Girl in White and her twin The Girl in Red being 13. In the accompanying image found on Flickr, you’re able to see above Rose her age is listed as 11, or as 13 if she was a twin. The thing is- the sister that has age 13 listed above her is very clearly NOT Ginger, it’s Ruby, and it’s Ginger who’s listed as 15. Well, they’re not listed by name, but Tomboy Red and Goth Red are the names used for Ginger and Ruby as seen on Livejournal, and their appearances are nearly identical to those from the final product. Especially weird considering that Ruby was the first character ever made for this game, and she was listed as 15 in that as well!

You probably noticed this if you looked at the image where Rose and Ginger are listed as twins, but they aren’t the only ones with stark differences that go unexplained. The Girl in White is listed as LDMGIAPWD, an acronym for the Little Deaf Mute Girl in a Pretty White Dress, simplified in print as the Girl in White and in fan discussions as the GIW. Another thing you’ll notice is that Scarlet has… A different design. With a long buttoned dress reminiscent of something straight out of a period piece set in an asylum, and a hat with things that look like antennas with flowers. And then it comes to… Rose and Carmen’s original names. Virgin Red and Sexpot Red. We’ll start with Carmen. Sexpot is a more crude way of describing someone who’s sexy, which is what Carmen’s nickname was then changed to. It’s still kind of a touchy issue with fans that Carmen, a minor, uses the name Sexy- but it’s still far more appropriate compared to Sexpot. Sexy gives more of a feeling that it’s self-appointed when compared to Sexpot which is more voyeuristic. And Virgin Red. Virgin has two contexts that are relevant here. Virgin within the context of purity and innocence, related to the Virgin Mary as an example of goodness not seeing bad. And Virgin within the context of never having sexual contact with anyone. Given the fact her name was then changed to Innocent Red and the fact she is ELEVEN- it’s likely that it’s related to that first interpretation, further giving evidence towards the view of Rose’s story being about her relationship to her spirituality. 

If you’ve read Rose or Ruby’s live journal you’d find out that on the 2nd of May 2008, Ruby dyed her hair black. That’s not surprising to begin with, you can see her with her hair as black throughout the game (Though sometimes it has a blueish look with some lighting)- a bit weird that it had to be pointed out as dyed due to all of her sister’s also having black hair (You can see Ginger’s black roots), but their live journals give a reason for why. In Ruby’s comment section, she’s asked about her original hair colour, which she replies was Green. It’s not clear if she means her hair was last dyed green, or if she has natural green hair. This seems like a reference to one of her final flashes that’s the same as another but with a green colouring. Anyway- this isn’t what we’re talking about. In the reply of that comment, someone calls her a liar, and says if it really was green, why did she get her sister to lie? What they’re referring to is Rose’s post about it- in which she says that Ruby had made her promise not to tell what her old hair is. There’s still a debate as to what her original hair colour is, and I don’t think we will ever actually get to know.

In 2022 @wammy4 on Twitter began multiple Twitter bots based on the sisters in The Path, posting various things sourced from lines in the game, live journal posts, quotes from grandmother's house and links to the game. It posted multiple times per day, now with so many posts it’s hard to keep track, but as of the fourth of April 2023, none of the accounts other than the creator has posted, due to Musk’s shutdown of free API bots and $100 per month bot subscription.

A staple of fandoms on the internet are Askblogs, where fans can ask characters questions and get a reply, usually with illustrated companions. The Path is no outlier, having a dedicated askblog on VK- with over 800 followers. It’s been active for years and has over 2 thousand different images, and has asks for all of the characters in the game, as well as gender-bent versions. If you can speak Russian I highly recommend checking it out, and even if you can’t, the art is stunning!

The Red sisters aren’t the only ones who have live journals, within the comments you can find Grandmother Red interacting with her grandkids, asking when they’ll next come down to see her. However this livejournal is different from the others given that hers is deactivated, even with the wayback machine- and her livejournal was never linked on the official website next to the others.

Fuco Euda is a Japanese-based surrealist painter focusing on the horrific, sensual and innocent, with girls nearly looking identical as if they were family, or the same girl. She was first referenced all the way back when Ruby was being designed as an artist to look into for inspiration. Her artbook LUCID DREAM is out, with a special bound edition if that’s something you’d be interested in!

Alice Knows Karate is an alt-pop band that takes inspiration from fairytales and J-pop, creating a unique nostalgic sound that feels straight out of a video game. They’ve got various albums you should definitely check out, but what we’re specifically talking about today is their 2018 album Fablewave, with their song ‘The Path’. It was originally posted on the head of the band Keiko’s YouTube channel in 2009, with an updated version coming ten years later. It’s outrageously good, it captures the essence of the game perfectly with amazing lyrics, and I got a bit too attached and it ended up as my number-one song on Spotify in 2023. The rest of Fablewave is also based on other fairytales and fairytale-inspired games, particularly ‘Alice, What Have You Done?’ based on American McGee’s Alice. Their most recent work is Grounded, and they’ve also been featured as the theme song for Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain! 

The Path was supposed to be Tale of Tales' first commercial project, and as so it included advertising, but being Tale of Tales, they did this the most extra way they could. Around where they lived, they made a Tear Off poster, with what I believe is Martha Samyan’s art of Robin. The poster asks the reader to choose the path of pins or the path of needles, while linking to the website. On their blog they provide a blank download of the tear-off poster so you can print it off, to draw on it and place it around you!

The Path was Tale of Tales' first foray into creating commercial games, and because of that, there are various different selections of merch, such as: Signed Posters, USB drives, CDs of the soundtrack, Polaroids, Shirts (via Redbubble) and a sticker. Nearly all of this, save the shirts on Redbubble, are no longer purchasable, being limited items when they came out, and then finally being sold in 2015 as Tale of Tales moved. I am still so mad I never got those Polaroids and am still madly searching for auctions of them.

The Rose Problem is a catch-all term I am using to describe basically ‘What the hell is up with Rose’. It’s no secret that Rose is divisive when it comes to interpretations- so much so that I couldn’t include her in the first interpretation section. So, what is it that makes Rose so difficult? Well, you can barely see her wolf, her house is almost all flooded and she speaks with flowery prose. The reason people seem to view her route as spirituality or disability is because of her continued mention of disconnect from herself. But there have been oceans of other disagreeing ideas, related to her perhaps going through puberty early, her experiencing guilt related to her family, her being potentially molested, or even her literally dying. It’s been put forward by some that Tale of Tales went into Rose not even having an intention in mind, or it shifted from one idea during development and becoming aimless during that period.

Scarlet is known to be the last created sister, Tale of Tales describe the making of her as being the first to be born and last to be made, and because of that, her wolf was the last to be made. The final wolf is named the Fey Wolf- related to the Fae Court. As an Irish person who’s in full belief of the Fae, I don’t see the resemblance. But that wasn’t his final name- maybe it wasn’t his final appearance. His original name, according to a rough floor plan of what Grandmother’s house would look like with the secret rooms was Boy Toy Wolf. That’s… A name change. Especially considering the fact Boy Toy refers to a young man in a sexual relationship, usually with an older woman, and the Fey Wolf is a sort of elderly-looking androgynous thing with a 19-year-old Scarlet who is not into relationships. But because the Fey Wolf’s making has no text, it’s not clear if his appearance or purpose even changed between the name change.

Quest3d was a tool used for making 3D applications, with an intuitive way of programming by using graphs and seeing it in real-time without the need for a compiler. On Mobygames only 8 games were ever listed as created by Quest3d, 6 if you don’t count The Path and The Prologue- with three of them being a Ship Simulator. I say was because it’s pretty much gone. You can’t open their unique file in anything so you’re kinda screwed if you want to do anything with the game files.

The Shrine and the Playground Sign are two interesting objects that you really can’t see in the rest of the game. They both appear along the path but not in the forest, and unlike the crow, you can’t interact with them. Though not immediately clear- the reason why those appear is to signal to the player that the Graveyard and Playground are accessible. That’s probably self-explanatory for the Playground Sign, but for quite a few people the Shrine may come as a surprise, including me before I researched it.

The Path, like everything, has speedrunners. There are two categories- All Girls and Failure%. There have been seven runs altogether, one in all girls and six in failure%. Failure% is reaching grandmother's house without interacting with any wolf, beginning when you gain control and ending when you leave first person in Grandmother's house. Though there are no guides available, the strategy is clear, using Ruby as she’s the quickest. The world record holder as of now is from Krayzar with a one-minute 35 seconds. There's only one speedrun for All Girls, and I’m going to be honest, I don’t think there’s a strategy, at least not one clear from the world record holder Multiwinner who admits that the run they sent in was their first and only attempt. If you want to try this out, go ahead! You’ll have the chance to make history!

In 2020 a zine by the VK fan club for The Path was released- featuring illustrations, comics and stickers, a full collection of all included is linked here. As far as I can tell, this is the only one of its kind! It really is a marvel, and I have said this for like the third time, but if you have a copy of this I would love to buy it from you. I do have to warn you- there is nudity in here of Ruby.

Tier 5 - Bottom of the Iceberg

Tale of Tales references three artists and illustrators that inspired the feeling they were going for The Path, naming them as Lisa Falzon, Fuco Ueda and Ray Caesar. For its first anniversary, three sets of interviews of those artists by the six red sisters. You can find the interviews here, but some highlights are: Carmen asking Lisa if she has a boyfriend followed by Scarlet asking if Lisa is a feminist, Robin asking if Fuco Euda's paintings showed "Good girls or naughty girls", and Ginger just asking if Ray Caesar would ever make a video game.

One of the more confusing things mentioned in the Post Mortem is the fact that Tale of Tales at one time considered creating a mechanic where you would have to dance battle your wolf. No, I am not joking. I just have one question. In a game about exploring your deepest trauma in a wolf-infested forest. Why did you make them dance?

The Path Tribute Project was a group of Vocaloid songs created based on characters in The Path on niconico. The project is from 2014, and due to this and a lack of updating links, I’m unable to find the original organiser of the project and one of the songs, but what I do have, is a Paste Bin of all the found links, the Tumblr blog it was advertised on, and a short compilation of all of the songs reposted on VK!

The canonicity of the grandmother house pages is up to discussion, with Rose, Ginger, Ruby and Carmen all seeming aware they’re in a video game created by these people with Scarlet not making mention of Kris’ involvement with the game. The outlier is Robin, who says not only is Jarboe real in their universe, but that she lives in a black house in their forest- and that she was the one who taught the family the Safe Song. There clearly is not a black house in the forest- the only house is Grandmother’s which is white. Maybe she’s referring to the tent in the Campsite, we never exactly do see the Woodsman go into it, or it could even be the Bunker, as it seemingly has a panel over the door, but neither of those are housey.

Given The Path’s limited characters and interactions, the game’s fanbase has never really been prime with shipping, the most you would see is Ruby and her Wolf along with Ginger and her Wolf. But one pairing stands among them all as the most. Ship to exist. The Woodsman, and the Fey Wolf. There’s a weirdly large amount of fanart for this, despite their status of never interacting or existing near each other, but I suppose what fandoms do best is see two men and decide they should kiss. Should I show examples of this? Yes. Am I going to? No. Just… Take my word for it and understand why I am not showing you a sweaty bald man making out with whatever the Fey Wolf is.

Shamus Young was a game critic and blogger who was an early modder in the Doom Community, and held some infamous views related to parts of The Path. I want to preface this by saying- Shamus Young passed away in 2022 at the age of 50, and out of respect for him and his family, I will be only relaying what he wrote instead of including my opinions. The reason Shamus gained a particular status in the fan community is for his interpretations of Rose and Carmen. Starting with Carmen- he states that he knew girls like Carmen in high school, that would “Find the biggest, strongest, best-looking complete-jerk they could get their hands on, and then endlessly whine about how ‘men are such pigs.’” He then goes on to explain that he believes Carmen was not raped, because despite being drunk she had taken the alcohol without asking, and that it was not rape because “She came on to him.” He does say that it “does not excuse the forester for sharing his beer and hooking up with an (in some states) underage girl-” and then proceeds to say “But I don’t think he’s a rapist.” At the end of the aftermath saying that “Maybe this one bad experience will make her more careful.” Rose’s analysis begins with him prefacing that “I don’t actually want to talk about this one, because it involves stuff I wouldn’t even bring up on my blog.” and then again stating “And I really hope you’ll keep a clinical head on when I bring this up and try to be polite even if you disagree, and furthermore I hope we can keep this discussion civil and remember that this is all open to interpretation.” Before he goes on to explain how Rose’s water motifs are a representation of discovering masturbation- that the reason why her wolf is a Cloudy Male figure is that “She knows she’s attracted to men but she doesn’t know what men look like yet, or how sex works”. As stated at the beginning of this entry and by Shamus himself, I’m keeping this civil and I am not shaming him for his personal interpretations.

There’s quite a bit of Micheal’s Daughter Martha present in the game at various points. Martha made the original pictograms, I believe the poster art was also by her- but the most clear inspiration is Robin herself. As mentioned in her Making of post, Robin’s outfit is based on her, specifically her outfit of her blue hooded cloak and stripey boots. Martha’s actually an artist now too! Martha Samyn is a textile artist and interior architect, with her last exhibit being at Texture Kortrvijk in January! You can actually see the start of her textile art related to The Path, showing off her Ruby-inspired outfit for her doll!

A last-minute change mentioned in the post-mortem was the fact that The Path did not contain any text until the playtest. And when I mean any text, I don’t just mean instructions- until they had people play the games they hadn’t thought to include text for the items, to show what the characters were thinking, because they saw that “Some players had difficulty to let their imagination work.” That’s a wise lesson for you all. Involve Beta testers.

The Path Fangame, titled The Path Fan Project, is a game by Kinder and Doll, a spiritual follow-up to The Path with less of a focus on horror and more on open-world explanation and interaction with the sisters. The graphics are astonishingly pretty, with quite a few new locations like a train, a cave, and a treehouse. The game also involves slight voices, giving the characters voices for the first time! I again urge you to play it, especially since I am unable to because of the age of my computer. 

The-Red-Path is a LiveJournal community never officially linked on the website like all the other LiveJournal profiles, with only six members- the six sisters. This account has only three posts, all posted in 2008, between April and August, only one of which I will be bringing up. On the 16th of April Robin asks whose turn it is to visit their grandmother, with Rose mentioning that they’ve all gone down the path already. There's a weird sadness in this post, with the normally boisterous Carmen asking why she couldn’t just go with anyone else.   

You have probably heard of the first urban legend about The Path, the ability to get an A, but this one you likely haven’t heard of. There’s a phone present on the road on the other side of the path, calling it will allow you to transport the sister back to the apartment without needing to go to grandmother’s house. The general idea is then, if you go through the wolf encounter, but turn around on the path and walk back to the phone- would you be able to call it and actually return back home without the sister disappearing? There have been testimonies of being able to do it, as well as fanfictions about the concept, and not a lot of checks due to the fact you can’t run after the wolf encounter and your speed is already extremely low. But I am going to come out and say, no, I don’t believe it’s possible. I don’t think the creators would have overlooked that idea, especially since they had a large number of beta testers, but I do really like the idea and I wish it was true.

That’s the end! I have quite a few things I left out, due to it maybe not being interesting or my losing of sources, but I’m glad I could finally do this. In all honesty, The Path changed my life. It’s helped me through a lot in my own journey of healing and accepting trauma, and I will forever be grateful. Happy 15th anniversary!

[simgaroop]

It's been... quite an ordeal, getting this game to run properly with mods and CC.

I caved in a bought the Legacy Edition on Steam because of the promise of it "just working" on my Mac (through Parallel Desktop) and my Steam Deck without going through hoops and patches and graphic rules and all that jazz. It's been a long, long, long, month (but that is a story for another time) and I desperatedly needed the distraction.

I am going to be fair to EA this time. The game worked properly out of the box. I am still impressed, and I am aware that lots of players have had troubles. The issues, obviously, began when I started to mod it. It's taken me two days (but once again, I appreciate the distraction), but I have finally managed to figure out the reason why the game wouldn't show any hoods when I added my ancient backup of Maxis Recolors and why Brandi Broke wouldn't stop reseting: My Parallel Desktop setup was synched with Icloud so the files were not stable and one of my mods was not compatible with Legacy edition.

Now I'm in the process of adding back my hair and clothing default backup and praying that it works because I do not want to build it again.

But if it goes all right, I am playing my Legacy again for fun. Maybe I will share some pictures of the funniest stuff that happens (I tend to let my Sims' free will run wild). I will be starting over, and I am excited about it!

[nwarrior777]

"MainSpring Rays: The Power" Little game which play Big. Dev Team Open Call announce!

Can't believe i am saying this, but, it's actually happening! I am looking for people who would like to join to the dev team of my game!

What's even this game?

MainSpring Rays: The Power based on life of a russian immigrant [the author], wrapped in surreal metaphors on a fantasy-like word building base. Little melancholic story about everyday life horrors, with hopeful message

MSRTP is a little indie visual novel. However, it has not popular core solutions, which I, as author, wish game industry and media in general a very Right Now

The game has 3 main principles:

Accessibility Focus Disabled players are included in audience and every aspect of the game is treated with "is this accessible? yes - go, no - fix" mindset. The goal is to create the game which will be accessible by default to all known disability types - vision, hearing, motoric, with no need of extra menu options slapped on already made gameplay. To make this goal come true a lot of techniques used: not using epilepsy triggering video effects, default big fount size of game interface, Special Balance Rule, and many more (more details about it in next promo posts) I assume that there will be mistakes on that, cause i am new at coding but if to make games - only like this, so that's why one of Open Call roles is Accessibility Consultant/Tester, who needs to be of course, disabled

Representation focus Characters with various appearance features, medical conditions, all fat - all shown gorgeous and respectful even if i draw representative art for about a decade, there is Open Call role for Representation Writing Consultant because i am white and don't want to write black character badly, don't have face burn, etc it's not surprise for my audience to see these designs, but apparently the thing that characters needs to have more body types and appearance than one model for million character in one game is discovery to be made in game industry

The game is free I want to give all people chance to play no matter of their income, including income of people who can't buy even one cofee cup by month

Ok, some more important info about the game?

A little about the plot: In the game you - player (the main hero), lead small group of refugees to Light, through world which falls to darkness. You go through hells of life guiding by Light Dots on Sky, keeping warmth inside and helping each other in hard times. The ending is the only one. The Good one

It's little visual novel. It's already has working rough prototype with full written story, most of graphic is ready, text written but not edited.

So this is why we here - Open Call!

People Needed:

Voice actors (details - on castingcall.club project page, link below)

Accessibility consultants and testers (if you know coding - cool, but you can be just disabled person)

Testers (coding, bugs)

Representation Consultants

Grammar editor (my eng is my second, help)

may add more in dev process

! Unfortunatelly, it's volunteer (unpaid) work. But, if you have enough free time and passion for project of such values, it can be interesting

Contacts, if you interested:

Email: krisvolyk777@gmail.com Write with the theme "The Game"

Also, i created the page on CASTINGCALL.CLUB - you can apply there, especially on voice actors roles

So excited to post this announce! Will wait for your letters

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Quinque gazump linkdump

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

It's Saturday and any fule kno that this is the day for a linkdump, in which the links that couldn't be squeezed into the week's newsletter editions get their own showcase. Here's the previous 23 linkdumps:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Start your weekend with some child's play! Ada & Zangemann is a picture book by Matthias Kirschner and Sandra Brandstätter of Free Software Foundation Europe, telling the story of a greedy inventor who ensnares a town with his proprietary, remote-brickable gadgets, and Ada, his nemesis, a young girl who reverse engineers them and lets their users seize the means of computation:

https://fsfe.org/activities/ada-zangemann/index.en.html

Ada & Zangemann is open access – you can share it, adapt it, and sell it as you see fit – and has been translated into several languages. Now, there's a cartoon version, an animated adaptation that is likewise open access, with digital assets for your remixing pleasure:

https://fsfe.org/activities/ada-zangemann//movie

Figuring out how to talk to kids about important subjects is a clarifying exercise. Back in the glory days of SNL, Eddie Murphy lampooned Fred "Mr" Rogers style of talking to kids, and it was indeed very funny:

https://snl.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Robinson

But Mr Rogers' rhetorical style wasn't as simple as "talk slowly and use small words" – the "Fredish" dialect that Mr Rogers created was thoughtful, empathic, inclusive, and very effective:

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/07/09/the-nine-rules-of-freddish-the-positive-inclusive-empathic-language-of-mr-rogers/

Lots of writers have used the sing-songy fairytale style of children's stories to make serious political points (see, e.g. Animal Farm). My own attempt at this was my 2011 short story "The Brave Little Toaster," for MIT Tech Review's annual sf series. If the title sounds familiar, that's because I nicked it from Tom Disch's tale of the same name, as part of my series of stolen title stories:

https://locusmag.com/2012/05/cory-doctorow-a-prose-by-any-other-name/

My Toaster story is a tale of IoT gone wild, in which the nightmare of a world of "smart" devices that exert control over their owners is shown to be a nightmare. A work colleague sent me this adaptation of the story as part of an English textbook, with lots of worksheet-style exercises. I'd never seen this before, and it's very fun:

http://ourenglishclass.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/09/bravetoaster.pdf

If you like my "Brave Little Toaster," you'll likely enjoy my novella "Unauthorized Bread," which appears in my 2019 collection Radicalized and is currently being adapted as a middle-grades graphic novel by Blue Delliquanti for Firstsecond:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Childlike parables have their place, but just because something fits in a "just so" story, that doesn't make it true. Cryptocurrency weirdos desperately need to learn this lesson. The foundation of cryptocurrency is a fairytale about the origin of money, a mythological marketplace in which freely trading individuals who struggled to find a "confluence of needs." If you wanted to trade one third of your cow for two and a half of my chickens, how could we complete the transaction?

In the "money story" fairy tale, we spontaneously decided that we would use gold, for a bunch of nonsensical reasons that don't bear even cursory scrutiny. And so coin money sprang into existence, and we all merrily traded our gold with one another until a wicked government came and stole our gold with (cue scary voice) taaaaaaxes.

There is zero evidence for this. It's literally a fairy tale. There is a rich history of where money came from, and the answer, in short is, governments created it through taxes, and money doesn't exist without taxation:

https://locusmag.com/2022/09/cory-doctorow-moneylike/

The money story is a lie, and it's a consequential one. The belief that money arises spontaneously out of the needs of freely trading people who voluntarily accept an arbitrary token as a store of value, unit of account, and unit of exchange (coupled with a childish, reactionary aversion to taxation) inspired cryptocurrency, and with it, the scams that allowed unscrupulous huxters to steal billions from everyday people who trusted Matt Damon, Spike Lee and Larry David when they told them that cryptocurrency was a sure path to financial security:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/15/your-new-first-name/#that-dagger-tho

It turns out that private money, far from being a tool of liberation, is rather just a dismal tool for ripping off the unsuspecting, and that goes double for crypto, where complexity can be weaponized by swindlers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/13/the-byzantine-premium/

We don't hear nearly as much about crypto these days – many of the pump-and-dump set have moved on to pitching AI stock – but there's still billions tied up in the scam, and new shitcoins are still being minted at speed. The FBI actually created a sting operation to expose the dirtiness of the crypto "ecosystem":

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/10/24267098/fbi-coin-crypto-token-nexgenai-sec-doj-fraud-investigation

They found that the exchanges, "market makers" and other seemingly rock-ribbed institutions where suckers are enticed to buy, sell, track and price cryptos are classic Big Store cons:

http://www.amyreading.com/the-9-stages-of-the-big-con.html

When you, the unsuspecting retail investor, enter one of these mirror-palaces, you are the only audience member in a play that everyone else is in on. Those vigorous trades that see the shitcoin you're being hustled with skyrocketing in value? They're "wash trades," where insiders buy and sell the same asset to one another, without real money ever changing hands, just to create the appearance of a rapidly appreciating asset that you had best get in on before you are priced out of the market.

This scam is as old as con games themselves and, as with other scams- S&Ls, Enron, subprime – the con artists have parlayed their winnings into social respectability and are now flushing them into the political system, to punish lawmakers who threaten their ability to rip off you and your neighbors. A massive, terrifying investigative story in The New Yorker shows how crypto billionaires stole the Democratic nomination from Katie Porter, one of the most effective anti-scam lawmakers in recent history:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/10/14/silicon-valley-the-new-lobbying-monster

Big Tech – like every corrupt cartel in history – is desperate to conjure a kleptocracy into existence, whose officials they can corrupt in order to keep the machine going until they've maximized their gains and achieved escape velocity from consequences.

No surprise, then, that tech companies have adopted the same spin tactics that sowed doubt about the tobacco-cancer link, in order to keep the US from updating its anemic privacy laws. The last time Congress gave us a new consumer privacy law was 1988, when they banned video store clerks from disclosing our VHS rental history to newspapers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act

By preventing confining privacy law to the VCR era, Big Tech has been able to plunder our data with impunity – aided by cops and spies who love the fact that there's a source of cheap, off-the-books, warrantless surveillance data that would be illegal for them to collect.

Writing for Tech Policy Press, the Norcal ACLU's Jake Snow connects the tobacco industry fight over "pre-emption" to the modern fight over privacy laws:

https://www.techpolicy.press/big-tech-is-trying-to-burn-privacy-to-the-ground-and-theyre-using-big-tobaccos-strategy-to-do-it/

In the 1990s, Big Tobacco went to war against state anti-smoking laws, arguing that the federal government had the right – nay, the duty – to create a "harmonized" national system of smoking laws that would preempt state laws. Strangely, politicians who love "states' rights" when it comes to banning abortion, tax-base erosion and "right to work" anti-union laws suddenly discovered federal religion when their campaign donors from the Cancer-Industrial Complex decided that states shouldn't use those rights to limit smoking.

This is exactly the tack that Big Tech has taken on privacy, arguing that any update to federal privacy law should abolish muscular state-level laws, like Illinois's best-in-class biometric privacy rules, or California's CPPA.

Like Big Tobacco, Big Tech has "funded front groups, hired an armada of lobbyists, donated millions to campaigns, and opened a firehose of lobbying money," with the goal of replacing "real privacy laws with fake industry alternatives as ineffective as non-smoking sections."

Whether it's understanding the origin of money or the Big Tobacco playbook, knowing history can protect you from all kinds of predatory behavior. But history isn't merely a sword and shield, it's also just a delight. Internet pioneer Ethan Zuckerman is road-tripping around America, and in August, he got to Columbus, IN, home to some of the country's most beautiful and important architectural treasures:

https://ethanzuckerman.com/2024/08/29/road-trip-the-company-town-and-the-corn-fields/

The buildings – clustered in within a few, walkable blocks – are the legacy of the diesel engine manufacturing titan Cummins, whose postwar president J Irwin Miller used the company's wartime profits to commission a string of gorgeous structures from starchitects like the Saarinens, IM Pei, Kevin Roche, Richard Meier, Harry Weese, César Pelli, Gunnar Birkerts, and Skidmore. I had no idea about any of this, and now I want to visit Columbus!

I'm planning a book tour right now (for my next novel, Picks and Shovels, which is out in February) and there's a little wiggle-room in the midwestern part of the tour. There's a possibility that I'll end up in the vicinity, and if that happens, I'm definitely gonna find time for a little detour!

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

[lavender-creame]

Odds Are (Ryan Magee X Reader)

| Minors DNI | 18+ only | 5.4k words Summary: What starts as a typical day filming with your boyfriend Ryan and his best friend Matt takes a sharp turn when an innocent game of “Odds Are” pushes boundaries neither of you expected. With pride on the line and a dare that blurs the rules, you find yourself caught between competition and desire. Warnings: smut, nsfw, cursing, oral (afab receiving), penetration, teasing, praise, rough sex, degradation, light choking, voyeurism (implied), exhibitionism (audio recording), possessiveness, mention of blackmail (non-graphic), mild jealousy, alcohol consumption, consensual power dynamics

a/n: It's been a while but do not fear, I'm here now :)). You can also find my stuff on a03 at lavender_creame

Matt and Ryan tended to be quite competitive with one another. Whether it was who could drink the most before puking, or who could beat the other in Super Monkey Ball, they always found a way to one-up each other. Early into their friendship, as a result of that competition, they started playing a game Ryan—your boyfriend—titled Odds Are.

 It was simple enough, but it kept them entertained. Ryan once described it to you as nothing more than a game of chance: one person says, “Odds are you ___”, proposing some stupid or daring task, and the other responds with a number that reflects how willing they are to do it. The higher the number, the less they want to go through with it—the higher the odds. Simple. Dangerous. And, apparently, endlessly entertaining.

This day, recording a video for SuperMega, was just like any other. Matt and Ryan lounged on the couch making casual conversation with Tucker, who was setting up the camera and tweaking the lighting one last time.

 “I think these are the last ones! ” Justin shouted from the hallway right outside the recording room. By the time he strolled in—packages stacked in his arms, leaning precariously against his shoulder—Matt was already complaining.

 “Shit! More? Really? Look at how fucking many we already have, ” Matt groaned dramatically as Justin placed the boxes carefully atop the pile already set before them.

 “Whoever edits this is going to have to do a lot of condensing, ” Matt muttered, scratching the back of his neck.

 Justin knew he’d be stuck with the editing. There was no way Matt was dealing with that—obvious enough. He opened his mouth to call Matt out, maybe give him shit for complaining, but before he could, Luke strolled in with a six-pack in hand.

 As the rest of the boys cheered in delight, Ryan stayed seated, absorbed in his phone as he texted you. You and Ryan had been dating for two, maybe three years now—long enough that he wasn’t exactly sure. While the honeymoon phase had come and gone, Ryan still texted you daily, sent photos, checked in.

 He aimed the camera and snapped a shaky panorama of the mailroom, showing the extent of boxes laid out across the floor and table.

 You were always thankful for Ryan’s thoughtfulness, even a couple of years in, and were always just as quick to reply:

 “That’s a lot of packages. When can you deliver me yours? ”

 Ryan smiled at your flirty message, then smirked to himself as he fired back:

“ If you’re good, then maybe tonight. But I don’t know if packages this large have same-day shipping. ”

 He was still grinning when Matt stood up to grab a beer from Luke, deliberately leaning over Ryan’s shoulder and sneaking a glance at his screen.

 “Damn, Ryan! Texting Y/N during recording time? You must be down bad, ” Matt teased, nudging him with an unopened beer.

 Ryan furrowed his brow slightly, but his smirk didn’t fade as he cracked open the can. “You wanna play this game, Matthew? ”

 Matt was already grinning wider. “You’d think after this long, you would have gotten out of the puppy love phase. But even now, your tail’s wagging. Keep sexting Y/N during recording and the audience is gonna see your big red rocket poking through your shorts. ”

 Ryan barked out a laugh. “You wanna talk about sexting? You were texting that chick from Tinder for weeks at the Plex, until she turned out to be a catfish and tried to blackmail you. Didn’t she leak your dick pics? ”

 The room erupted. Luke snorted his beer through his nose. Justin nearly dropped a box.

 “Low blow, man, ” Matt pouted, but he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

 Tucker, already moving toward the camera, took the opportunity to corral them. “Alright, alright, ladies. We’re all pretty here, ” he rolled his eyes. “Let’s get going. I think we all have shit to do after this. ”

 The boys settled into the couch, ready to record yet another video.

 As they sliced open boxes, Matt and Ryan cracked jokes, roasting the stuff viewers had sent in for their latest fan mail episode. A few drinks in, Matt made a joke controversial enough to warrant censoring—and their laughter stuttered to a halt.

 “Justin! Censor that with a funny sound effect, ” Matt called out. “Like a sexy moan or something. ”

 Ryan turned to Matt, his voice suddenly low and serious, but with a glint of mischief in his eye. “Matt, shut up. Remember? Justin’s a virgin. He has no clue what you mean by that. ”

 Matt snickered, his classic lopsided grin on full display. “Shit. You’re right. That’s my bad. It’s best if we don’t remind him. ” He paused, then smirked again. “I suppose you’ll just have to handle it instead. ” He winked.

 All five of them cracked up, but something about Matt’s tone made Ryan pause. His smile faltered for a second.

 “What’s that supposed to mean, bro? ” Ryan said, trying for playful but feeling a flicker of something more serious.

 Matt leaned in, placing his hand on Ryan’s cheek in a mockingly gentle gesture, stroking once. “Whatever you want it to mean, big boy. ”

 Ryan chuckled and swatted him away, but the weird vibe lingered. He shoved it out of his head and unfolded an ironic t-shirt a viewer had sent in, showing it off to the camera as Luke giggled next to him.

Not long after, they finished recording. Tucker turned off the camera with an apologetic smile, already packing up his gear.

 “Sorry to be rushing out, guys. Got another shoot soon. ”

 “No worries, man. We’ll clean up, ” Matt replied casually, waving him off without looking up from a fan letter.

 Tucker left, shutting the door behind him. Justin and Luke had already vanished halfway through the video, holed up in the editing room.

 Ryan realized they were alone. And Matt’s earlier comment—it was still nagging him.

 “Hey, Matt, ” Ryan said, trying to keep his tone light, “what did you mean when you said I could handle the sound effect? ”

 Matt smiled, smug as hell, still reading the letter in his hands. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. ”

 Ryan sighed. That look told him everything. Matt was being an asshole on purpose, which meant he did mean something by it.

 “Come on, man. Don’t play dumb, ” Ryan nudged him lightly. “You’re gonna tell me anyway, so just do it now. ”

 Matt chuckled, folding the letter carefully before finally meeting Ryan’s gaze. “Okay, okay. Hear me out. ”

 Ryan raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening. ”

 Matt grinned. “Odds are you record yourself fucking Y/N to get the soundbite for the video. ”

 Ryan snorted so hard he almost choked. He couldn’t believe how casually Matt said it. “You cannot be serious. ”

 “Dead serious, ” Matt smirked.

 Ryan laughed again but didn’t skip a beat. “Hundred. ”

 “Come on, man. Hundred? ” Matt whined.

 “Bro, ” Ryan said flatly, but he was still smiling.

 Matt gave him a look—the look—the one Ryan knew meant he wasn’t going to drop it. Ryan sighed.

 “Fine. Fifty. Take it or leave it. ”

 Matt’s grin widened. “Deal. ”

 Ryan shook his head, wondering for the millionth time why he always let Matt drag him into this shit.

 Matt started the count. “One… two… three—”

 “Thirty-seven! ” they both said in unison.

 Matt screamed. Ryan froze.

 Matt collapsed backwards onto the couch, howling with laughter. Ryan just sat there, mouth open, processing the fact that they had both picked thirty-seven.

 “There’s no way, ” Ryan mumbled. “No fucking way. ”

 “There is a way, ” Matt grinned, sitting back up and slapping Ryan on the back. “You better start thinking about what mic you’re gonna use, bro. ”

 “There’s no way Y/N is going to believe this, ” Ryan muttered, stunned. “She’s gonna think I’m insane. ”

 Matt’s grin didn’t fade. “No, she’ll believe you. You’d never make up something this absurd. ” He stood and stretched. “She gets back from work soon, doesn’t she? You better not be late delivering your package. ”

 Ryan groaned as Matt laughed even harder at his own innuendo.

 Ryan knew Matt had a crush on you. It wasn’t a secret—not to Ryan, anyway. Matt’s dry spell had dragged on long enough that Ryan figured his friend was living vicariously through him more than anything.

 But there was something sharper behind Matt’s grin now. Ryan couldn’t shake the feeling that Matt was testing him.

 On the drive home, Ryan kept replaying the number in his head. Thirty-seven. Both of them. Out of fifty.

 He glanced at his phone at a red light. Your contact was pinned at the top.

 “She’s gonna think I’m an idiot, ” Ryan muttered.

 And maybe she would.

 But deep down, under the disbelief and annoyance, Ryan couldn’t deny the part of him that was curious.

 Maybe even a little excited.

Ryan sat in his car, parked in front of your apartment, engine idling. The sun had dipped low enough that everything outside was tinted in that orange-gold glow that made L. A. almost look romantic. Almost. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, staring at the message he'd typed out and deleted three separate times already.

“Hey babe? Can we talk about something weird lol, like odds are weird? ”

He sighed and deleted it again.

This was so stupid.

But a bet was a bet. And Ryan wasn’t about to take an L from Matt without at least trying to cash it in. Even if this was probably going to end with you roasting him until the day he died.

Finally, he pocketed his phone and climbed out of the car.

Inside, you were already home—flopped sideways across the couch in one of Ryan’s old hoodies, scrolling on your phone. You glanced up as the door clicked open.

“Hey, you, ” you greeted, smiling lazily. “You’re late. ”

Ryan kicked his shoes off with a grunt and crossed the room to press a quick kiss to your temple. “Yeah. Mailroom hell. Plus Matt’s a dumbass. ”

You snorted. “So… Tuesday? ”

“Exactly. ”

He sat down beside you, leaning back, arms crossed over his chest. You studied him for a moment before setting your phone aside. “Alright. What is it? ”

“What do you mean? ” Ryan asked, all fake innocence.

You gave him the look. “Ryan. You’re making the face. ”

“What face? ”

“The face where you did something dumb but you’re hoping you can charm your way out of it. ” You arched a brow. “It’s adorable. And very transparent. ”

Ryan sighed. “Okay, yeah, maybe I did something dumb. ”

“Okay, ” you said, drawing out the syllables. “Let’s hear it. ”

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. “So… you know how Matt and I play Odds Are, right? ”

“Yeah, ” you said, already grinning. “It’s the reason I have a video of you puking while doing the worm in a Waffle House parking lot. ”

He chuckled. “Good times. ”

“Great times. I almost left you that night, honestly. ”

“Fair, ” he said, smiling despite himself.

There was a beat of silence. Ryan’s foot tapped restlessly on the carpet.

“So, ” he started again, “we were playing earlier. And, uh, Matt dared me to do something. ”

You tilted your head. “How bad? ”

Ryan groaned. “Pretty bad. ”

You, once again, unfazed and unworried by whatever Matt’s dare was, spoke again, “Like, eat-a-dead-bug bad, or get-another-tattoo-you-regret bad? ”

He winced. “Neither. ”

You waited.

“He… told me to record us. Y'know. ” He stood up, pacing a few steps away from you and waved a hand vaguely. “During. ”

You blinked at him.

“For a sound effect, ” he added quickly. “For the video. ”

There was a beat of silence. Then you laughed. A bright, sharp bark of disbelief.

“He dared you to record us fucking so he could use it as…? ” you waited

“A censor beep for a slur he said on camera... ”

 “A censor beep for a slur he said on camera. ” you repeated, grinning so wide it almost hurt. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. ”

Part of your laughing was because you found the situation undeniably funny, but the other part of you was starting to warm. Heat was festuring in your cheeks and between your legs at the thought. You knew Matt had a crush on you, so did Ryan and everyone else, but this? And Ryan was going along with it? Sure Ryan had issues backing down from a challenge, but you could sense something else- a deeper excitement.

Ryan groaned, burying his face in his hands, a slight blush reaching his face as well. “I know! But I said fifty! And we both said thirty-seven! What were the odds? ! ”

You laughed harder. “Fifty to one. ”

He groaned, glaring at you through his fingers.

You stretched, sitting up straighter, folding your hands into your lap, subtly squeezing your tits together despite them being covered by Ryan’s oversized hoodie. “So. Are you doing it? ”

Ryan stared at you. “Wait, what? ”

“Are you gonna do it? ” you repeated, calm as anything. “A bet’s a bet, right? ”

Ryan blinked. “You’re seriously okay with this? ”

You shrugged. “I mean… we’ve done worse things for fun. And it’s not like the actual video would get out. You trust Matt to just use the audio, right? ”

Ryan hesitated.

You snorted. “Okay, maybe not trust. But we both know he wouldn’t risk the fallout if he fucked this up. ”

Ryan exhaled slowly. “You’re too chill about this. ”

You smirked. “I think it’s funny. And kinda hot. ”

That made his stomach twist in a good way. He let out a breath, trying not to grin too much. “You’re insane. ”

“Takes one to date one, ” you shot back, standing up and meeting him at the edge of the living room. Placing your hands on his chest, you kissed him lightly, just grazing yours over his. “So? We doing this? ”

When Ryan hesitated, you looked at him with big doe eyes, lustful and pleading, subconsciously squeezing your legs together. Feeling your slick begin to drip, soaking your panties only hidden by the length of Ryan’s oversized hoodie, you stood on your tip toes, leaning into Ryan’s chest. As your breath hit his collarbone, and your hand drifted from his shirt to the bulge forming in his pants, Ryan’s attempt at an answer came out as a hushed, breathy groan instead. 

You and him both knew that he wanted this just as much as you, just as much as Matt.

Ryan let out a slow breath, his hands settling on your waist, pulling you down from the nape of his neck in an attempt to compose himself. “Yeah, ” he finally said, “we’re doing this. ”

You gave him a sly grin and stepped back, leaving him momentarily stunned before you headed toward the bedroom. “Alright, then, ” you called over your shoulder, casual as anything. “Better get set up. ”

It took Ryan a second to shake off the feeling that he was in way over his head, but then he was moving—grabbing his backpack from beside the couch and fishing out the portable mic he usually used for podcasts when they weren’t in the studio. Not fancy, but clear enough audio- probably too clear.

He glanced toward the bedroom door, half-expecting you to pop your head out and laugh at him for taking it so seriously or tell him you had changed your mind. But you didn’t. So he kept fiddling.

If Ryan was going to do this, he was going to do it right, and after a few minutes of adjusting levels and running test clips (that you would absolutely make fun of him for later), he knocked on the bedroom door like he was about to walk into a job interview.

When there was no answer, he cracked it open, to meet your gaze as you raised a brow. “You’re knocking now? ”

When Ryan peaked his head in, he saw your nude figure lounging on the bed, bored from the wait and scrolling on your phone.

The messenger app was open, although Ryan couldn’t see it from where he stood, but with your glistening curves? He wouldn’t have noticed, regardless. 

Shaking himself from the nervous excitement, he spoke, attempting to break the awkward air he was creating by his own volition with a joke, “I don’t know the etiquette for… this, ” Ryan said, gesturing vaguely to the mic dangling from his hand. “Should I have brought a clipboard? A waiver? ”

You snorted, sending one final text: “haha guess I owe you, ” before crawling across the bed and grabbing the mic from him. “Nah. We’re professionals. Plus, ” You looked at him slyly, “You know that I’ve been waiting for this large package of yours all day. ” You hesitated, “or was it too large for same-day shipping? ”

 Ryan didn’t answer right away.

Your teasing snapped him out of his nerves—reminded him exactly how bad he’d been wanting you all day.

The shift in him was obvious.

He let the question hang in the air.

Heavy.

Deliberate.

He set the mic on the nightstand with careful precision.

You had controlled things up until now, and Ryan didn’t like giving up the upper hand—not in games with Matt, not with you.

But by holding the silence, by drawing out the moment, he reclaimed something.

His fingers lingered on the dials longer than necessary, adjusting levels he knew were fine.

Not buying time anymore.

Testing you.

Waiting.

And you gave him a reaction.

Subtle.

But it was there.

Propped on your elbows, head tilted, you watched him like he was a puzzle you were about to figure out.

There was amusement in your eyes.

But something else too.

A heat that had been building since the moment he told you about the bet.

That look made Ryan’s pulse thrum in his ears.

But he kept his face neutral.

No tells.

You weren’t fooled.

You never were.

You were waiting him out.

Letting him think he was calling the shots.

But Ryan was starting to realize the decision had been made long before either of you stepped into this room.

Maybe it was the second Matt smirked at him in the mailroom.

Maybe it was the moment you laughed at the dare.

Maybe it didn’t matter.

Because now?

It was happening.

He exhaled slowly and straightened up, rolling his shoulders.

The mic was live.

The red light glowed faintly.

Recording.

Picking up every breath.

Every shift of the sheets.

And soon, it would pick up you.

“You know Matt’s gonna be listening to this, right? ” you said, your voice light. Teasing. But your gaze flicked toward the mic.

Ryan followed your line of sight, jaw flexing.

“He’s waiting, ” you added, stretching your arms over your head, arching your back just enough to make it impossible to ignore.

Ryan’s fingers tightened slightly where they rested on the nightstand.

“He’s probably already hard thinking about it, ” you continued, tone almost absent, like you were talking about the weather.

Ryan’s jaw clenched.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it? ” you asked, more curious than anything. “For him to hear me like this. To know it’s you making me sound that way. ”

His gaze snapped back to you. Dark. Focused.

You were still smiling. Still calm. But your eyes gave you away.

You were baiting him.

And he was taking it.

Ryan climbed onto the bed, one knee sinking into the mattress as he leaned over you. His hand found your ankle, fingers wrapping around it like it was second nature. Like he’d done it a hundred times before.

He stroked along the curve, thumb dragging slow, deliberate circles over your skin as he moved higher.

Then, without looking at you—

“Spread. ”

The word came low. Rough. Not a question.

And you obeyed.

You shifted, legs parting, knees bending as you opened yourself up for him.

Ryan’s breath hitched for half a second.

But he didn’t falter.

Didn’t rush.

He settled between your legs, palms bracing on your thighs as he stared down at you. His thumbs swept slow paths over your skin, tracing invisible lines.

Testing.

Measuring.

“You’re already wet, ” he murmured, more to himself than you. But you heard it.

Your lips parted, breath catching. No words. Just air.

He watched you for a long moment. Dark eyes dragging over every inch of you like he was memorizing it. Taking stock before tearing it apart.

“Good girl, ” he said quietly, under his breath.

Your breathing hitched audibly.

And Ryan smirked.

“That’s gonna sound real nice on playback, ” he added, glancing toward the mic on the nightstand.

You let out a quiet laugh, but it broke halfway through.

“Hope Matt likes what he hears, ” you said, recovering quickly.

Ryan’s gaze snapped back to you. His smirk widened, but there was something sharper behind it now.

“Oh, he will, ” he said, voice low and steady.

His hands slid from your thighs to your hips, gripping tight enough that you knew you’d feel it tomorrow.

And then he dragged you down toward him.

The shift was sudden, enough that you gasped and grabbed at his shoulders.

Ryan wasn’t gentle.

He wasn’t hesitant.

His mouth was on yours before you could say another word—rough, claiming, his lips demanding yours. He kissed you like he wanted you to feel it in your spine.

Like he wanted it to echo through the mic.

And maybe he did.

Your hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer. Ryan growled low in his throat, the sound vibrating against your mouth.

He wasn’t nervous anymore.

He was starving.

His lips broke from yours, trailing rough down your neck, teeth scraping lightly. You shivered, arching into him as your fingers tugged at his sleeves, impatient, wanting more—skin, heat, him.

You wanted him stripped down as bare as you were, but he was still fully clothed, and it was driving you insane.

But before you could push his shirt up, his hand shot out—wrapping around your wrist in a firm, sudden grip.

It wasn’t painful.

But it stopped you cold.

Commanding. Deliberate.

Your breath caught, a startled squeak slipping out before you could stop it.

Ryan’s eyes darkened immediately, zeroing in on you like he’d been waiting for that sound.

And then you heard it.

The faint, almost imperceptible click from the mic on the nightstand.

It picked up everything now—the soft slap of skin, the catch in your breath, the helpless sound you’d just made.

You flushed, glancing at the device.

Ryan was faster.

His grip on your wrist tightened just enough to bring your attention back to him.

He leaned in, lips brushing your ear.

His voice was low and rough.

“Tonight’s all about you, baby, ” he murmured, dragging out every word. “You and Matt wanted this, right? ”

You shivered.

“Then let’s see how much noise I can get you to make. ”

His lips ghosted along your jaw. “Nothing about me. ”

His free hand slid between your thighs again, fingers dragging through your slick folds like he was testing just how ready you were.

Judging by his low exhale, he was more than satisfied.

“Let’s see if you can make him proud. ”

You barely had time to process it before Ryan’s mouth was on you.

Desperate. Hungry.

Like he’d been starved and just found water in the desert.

And he wasn’t planning to come up for air.

The sound that tore from your throat wasn’t pretty; it was raw and sudden, an uncontrolled cry that echoed in the room before breaking into a moan.

You barely caught your breath before another followed, sharper this time, as Ryan’s fingers found your clit.

His touch was careful—cruel in its precision. Pinching lightly, then rolling, applying just enough pressure to make you gasp.

Not enough to tip you over.

Not even close.

Just enough to punish you.

Punish you for teasing him.

For testing him.

For making him earn this.

You knew this side of Ryan.

This was what he did when you pushed him too far.

But this time, he wasn’t letting up like usual.

He kept going.

Kept pinching and rolling that sensitive bundle while his mouth worked you relentlessly—licking, sucking, dragging sounds from your throat like he was collecting them.

And you gave him plenty.

Pretty noises spilled out of you, slipping between helpless moans and shaky whines, giving Matt a full catalog to sift through later.

But none of them were the ones you knew he was waiting for.

Ryan was making you both wait.

Your moans softened into pleading whines.

“Please…” you whispered, your voice breaking.

Ryan hummed against you, the vibration sharp and deliberate.

He wasn’t done.

Not even close.

His fingers curled inside you, finding your sweet spot with infuriating ease. His thumb circled your clit, slow and tight, keeping you teetering on the edge but never letting you fall.

His mouth pressed hot, open kisses to the inside of your thigh, teeth scraping just enough to make you flinch.

Pain, pleasure—both wrapped in the same tight coil.

You moaned his name, thick with frustration and need.

Ryan smirked against your skin.

Calm.

Too calm.

Like he was enjoying this way too much.

And he was.

You squirmed, chasing his fingers.

He only tsked under his breath, tightening his grip on your thigh.

“I said I’d make you beg, ” he murmured. “I meant it. ”

And then your phone buzzed.

The sound was faint, muffled against the sheets.

But Ryan heard it.

He stilled, dark gaze flicking toward the nightstand.

Your phone was lit up.

From the last message you sent:

haha guess I owe you

But it wasn’t that message that caught his attention.

It was the new one.

The one that popped up on the screen as he watched.

Matt: You better. If you think Ryan has a package worth your pretty face and sexy body, you have no idea what Matt-izon Prime will get you.

For a moment, everything stopped.

Ryan’s breath hitched.

His fingers still buried inside you.

His jaw clenched, that calm confidence slipping into something darker.

And then he moved.

Fast.

His hand slipped from your body, leaving you empty and aching.

Before you could whimper, he was on you.

Rough hands gripping your hips, dragging you down the bed until your ass was flush with the edge.

Controlled.

But there was an urgency now.

A fury.

“Mine, ” Ryan growled, the word vibrating through his chest.

You barely had time to process it before he was there—lined up—and then he thrust inside you.

One hard, claiming stroke.

You screamed.

Your body arched, overwhelmed by the sudden fullness.

And you shattered.

Your orgasm ripped through you, lightning fast, your body clenching hard around him as he filled you completely.

“I bet you wish you were me right now, Matt. ”

His grip on your thighs tightened, holding you open.

“But guess what? ”

His smirk twisted into something dangerous.

“Y/N is mine. ”

But Ryan didn’t slow.

He wasn’t gentle.

He was relentless.

He gripped your waist hard enough to bruise, holding you in place as he drove into you again.

Harder.

His free hand slid to your throat, pressing lightly—just enough to tilt your head back and keep your eyes on him.

“You’re not thinking about him now, are you? ” he demanded, voice dark but steady.

You shook your head, breathless.

“Say it. ”

Your breath hitched, tears pricking your eyes from the intensity.

But you found your voice.

“Ryan makes me feel better than you ever could, ” you gasped. “That’s why I’m with him. That’s why you’re a fucking loser. ”

Ryan’s eyes burned hotter. His pace didn’t falter.

He leaned in, his lips brushing your ear.

“Louder. ”

You whimpered as he thrust harder, dragging another broken sound from you.

“Louder, ” he growled again, his teeth scraping your jaw.

You cried out, voice cracking as you repeated it—louder, harsher.

“Ryan makes me feel better than you ever could! That’s why I’m with him, Matt! That’s why you’re a loser! ”

And Ryan smiled.

Dark.

Satisfied.

You weren’t just saying it.

You were living it.

The room was thick with heat.

Your labored breathing.

The slick sounds of Ryan moving inside you.

He hadn’t slowed. Not once.

And somehow, even with how rough he was, Ryan never lost that control. That precision—the kind of focus he brought to editing or mastering a track—he was applying it to you.

Deliberate. Exact.

Like he had something to prove.

Maybe to himself.

Maybe to Matt.

Maybe both.

Every thrust dragged another sound out of you, pulling orgasm after orgasm from your trembling body.

You were too sensitive.

Too raw.

But Ryan didn’t care.

He was relentless.

His hand slid from your throat to your jaw, forcing your gaze back to his when you tried to look away. His dark eyes locked on yours, burning with something you couldn’t quite name.

When he thrusted harder—deeper—you felt it.

The shift.

A little desperate now.

A little needy.

And then, with one final stroke, he pushed his mouth onto yours as he came deep inside you.

The moment he spilled inside you, something in you snapped.

You screamed, tearing away from the kiss, your body shaking apart in his arms.

When he let go, breath ragged, his expression dark but calmer now, his thumb brushed your cheek in a slow, almost… gentle way.

And then he said it.

“There’s the sound I was looking for. ”

His voice was rough. Satisfied.

And the second the words left his mouth, you realized what he meant.

The mic.

Still recording.

Still capturing everything.

That ragged cry—the one that had ripped from your throat when he finished—that was the sound Matt had been waiting for.

Ryan slowed, hips pressing deep and staying there, grinding slowly, making you tremble all over again.

He kissed you then. Soft. Deep. Like he hadn’t just wrecked you. Like you weren’t still shaking apart underneath him.

When he pulled back, his forehead rested against yours, his breathing slowly evening out.

“There it is, ” he murmured, voice lower now. “That’s the one. ”

You nodded, dazed.

Ryan chuckled, then kissed you again—lingering this time.

His hand stroked gently over your thigh while the other reached for the mic, carefully stopping the recording.

He glanced at the audio file briefly, his expression flickering with something you couldn’t quite place.

“Perfect, ” he said, after a beat.

Epilogue:

The next day, Ryan was back at the Plex.

 Editing.

 Laughing with Tucker.

 Things felt normal.

 Like nothing had happened.

Until Matt found him in the kitchen.

Ryan didn’t hear him at first. He was digging through the fridge, cracking open a LaCroix when Matt leaned against the counter, beer in hand, that familiar smug grin on his face.

“File was good, ” Matt said casually.

Ryan’s head snapped up.

 He schooled his expression fast.

 “Yeah? ” he asked, keeping his voice even.

“Yeah. ”

 Matt took a slow sip. His eyes gleamed.

 “Y/N sounded… amazing. ”

Ryan’s jaw tightened, but he forced a short laugh.

 “Guess we’re even then. ”

Matt chuckled. “For now. ”

There was a beat of silence.

 Heavy.

 Thick between them.

Matt took another drink, then tilted his head just slightly.

 “But you know…” he started, voice low, lazy in that way that always made Ryan’s stomach twist.

 “You and Y/N kind of put me in a weird position, man. ”

Ryan didn’t move.

 Didn’t blink.

 “Yeah? ”

Matt smiled wider.

 “Yeah. You got to prove yourself. ”

 He leaned in a little closer.

 “But what was it she said again? ” he asked, feigning thoughtfulness.

 His eyes were sharp when they met Ryan’s.

 “‘Ryan makes me feel better than you ever could. ’”

 He said it slowly, like he was tasting the words.

 Then he chuckled under his breath.

 “Loser, huh? ”

Ryan exhaled through his nose, steady.

 But his grip tightened on the can in his hand.

Matt grinned, teeth flashing.

 “Well, ” he said, stepping back with a shrug, “sounds like you don’t think I could make her feel good. ”

 A pause.

 “That either of you don’t. ”

Ryan’s pulse kicked up.

 He knew where this was going.

Matt finished his beer, setting the empty bottle on the counter with a soft clink.

 “But I was thinking…”

 His tone was lighter now, but no less dangerous.

 “…odds are, I could do better. ”

Ryan’s throat felt dry.

 He shouldn’t.

 He knew he shouldn’t.

 But he couldn’t help it.

“Yeah? ” Ryan asked, voice rougher than he wanted.

Matt’s grin stretched wider.

 “Yeah. ”

And just like that, another game had started.

“Out of 50? ”

[tabbyphobos]

I don't want to put this on anyone else's post because they are right: you can get sims 1 and 2 for free and get them to work.

Some people do not want to climb up the ass of their computers to get a game to work.

My husband sees when I have to make changes to the game, and he says it seems like a lot of work. And it can be! SimPE, Hoodchecker, WhatCausedThis, Graphics Rules Checker, spreadsheets and randomizers and all that! Just to make sure a game I love works the way I want it to.

And we are lucky! We have an active community for a game that is literally 20 years old. We get new toys to play with and new fixes all the time. Not a lot of games have that.

But. I need you to listen.

Going through all the hoops to get a game to work should not be the cost of entry.

We are not better people than others because we have put in that work. We should not be sticking our noses up in the air when EA makes our favorite game available for modern OSes, to a new generation of people who may love our game.

Sure, it'll have a cost associated. EA is a company. "But they gave UC away for years!" But didn't support it or provide any modernization fixes. The community did that.

And now both 1 and 2 will be available and updated to work on Windows 10/11. With all expansions. And assumptively, without having to edit files and use third-party tools to get them to work.

People who have only played 3 or 4 will be able to experience the original and the first sequel, maybe even for the first time! We may have new people coming into the community with their own ideas and cc and mods. This is a good thing!

And this is behavior we want to encourage from EA! For so long they barely acknowledged that the first two games existed, let alone let anyone play them. They were even claiming that they were vastly inferior to say, 4 but that's just like your opinion, man. Now they are making them available! This should be something we're happy about!

I don't get why the elitism is so prevalent. You don't have to get their updated version if yours works. That product is clearly not for you. But it can be for lots of people who have not had the chance.

Personally, I'm going to wait and see. I have hopes. I'll likely pick up 1 no matter what, but I'm crossing my fingers for an increased resolution. As for 2, I am begging and dying for 64-bit. If it is, you bet your ass I'm going to get it. If not, ah well.

TL;DR: Quit being so stuck-up about the older games being back on sale in a few days.

[homoquartz]

ok here is my theory

apparently one of the writers said in a reddit ama that everything happening in severance is real and existing in physical space. but if he's being truthful, then there's some pretty wacky coincidences happening because it's really seeming like not only is the severed floor a simulation powered by dream states, it is a simulation several layers deep

this post was gonna be more in depth but i gave up

PART 1: the severed floor is virtual

1. they don’t enter the severed floor physically - they get there by dreaming

there are a ton of themes about sleep throughout this show.

season 1's opening credits have mark falling into bed at the end. season 2's opening credits have him waking up to multiple versions of himself, and then sitting at the foot of the bed (more alert!)

here's mark in the season 1 opening credits walking into work in his pajamas (asleep), carrying a work amalgamation of himself (dreams) and passing his exiting work self

the song playing at petey's funeral is ���enter sandman.”

2. messages can’t pass through the doors and elevators because they are mental barriers, not physical ones

messages are unable to pass between consciousnesses, even if swallowed, because the mind KNOWS they are there.

3. the layout of the severed floor makes no physical sense, and petey’s map SAYS it’s all in the chip

check this out. petey’s map of the severed floor BEGINS with the mind chip

this includes their homes one floor up - the houses on the right side of the map

gemma’s tree in the wellness room disappears when she does. it could be a manifestation in the space generated by her consciousness

when mark and helly are walking down the hallway and the lights are only coming on in the exact section they're standing in, as if motion-activated - is the floor procedurally generating? we don't see anywhere else on the severed floor (that i can remember) where lumon is using energy-saving lights

thinking about irving disappearing from the group photos. was he edited out in photoshop, or literally deleted from the image?

just had a funny thought. what if they only ever feed the innies melon because that's the only food item they have code for right now? and the waffles were a big deal because they were new?

4. the innies and the outies experience time differently

when explaining the reintegration of memories, petey says that the innie's memories slowly catch up to the outie's time, and that the beginning of his work at lumon coincides with his memories of his fifth birthday

for the innies, time is actively slower. that's why petey's outie can live through 40 years or so in his memory while his innie’s memory is only a few months/years.

it could be that this is for the same reason that dream time seems so long compared to waking time.

just realized this is “inception” rules

if time for gemma on the experimentation floor is even slower than on the severed floor, that could explain how milchick managed to make it to the door of the hallway before gemma did when she tried to escape (aside from being super speedy)

5. the ortbo was not actually outside.

it was a dream room like the ones on the experimentation floor. each room has a place name, suggesting a recreation of a physical space. we don’t get a clear idea of how big each room is on the inside.

gemma, for example, enters a room that graphically simulates violent turbulence. this is basically not achievable indoors if you’re also including the feeling of gravity. unless it’s not a real place.

holding the ortbo in a dream space prevents innies from being able to flee, make messages, or do anything unscheduled.

this is how they were able to present physical copies of the innies to themselves

6. additional evidence: the break room

the break room contains a machine that is implied to be able to tell if someone is being truthful. there's mixed evidence if they really can do that, or if they just claim to. however, in the brief moments we get in milchick's POV, it DOES seem like he is receiving some kind of audio feedback.

in the break room, they must repeat over and over "forgive me for the harm i have caused THIS WORLD." i just found it to be interesting phrasing. what if the threat is that, if they discover they're dreaming, it damages the virtual space? what if they are literally damaging their "world" when they break rules?

PART 2: the innies are actually at least two layers deep

1. hints in the intro animations: multiple marks going through multiple doors

this gestures to the situation gemma is in, in which there are a dozen versions of her, spread between a dozen doors. how many versions of mark are there?

notice that only one mark is in pajamas - the sleeper

2. the map

petey’s map indicates that the houses are located within the mind chip. mark’s house is in a neighborhood that “never really filled up” - his only neighbor a lumon employee.

hallways disappear into each other on this map, and the layout is physically impossible - unless operating by dream logic

3. perpetual winter

although this could just be due to the timeline of the show, it is always winter in the outies’ world. is that because that’s how it was designed?

4. mark identified gemma's body after the crash

although reghabi explains this as lumon faking her corpse, it could just as easily be that the body was real - inasmuch anything is real in the virtual space

(either faked or virtual, this would explain how lumon was also able to make clones of the innies during the ortbo)

5. additional evidence: the innies are ALSO being data refined

we now know that the innies are being watched as they refine the tempers, and it seems possible that THEIR emotional reactions to those tempers are ALSO being categorized and refined by another set of employees

Bonus: Mark’s head cube

Mark says he got this random cube of his head for being really good at refining a specific file. i have an unsubstantiated suspicion that another version of him is stored in there

(I know there is some evidence against my dream theory - mainly that the innies can physically harm their outies - but hey. pobody’s nerfect.)

[jabberwockymoreau]

Chapter 10: The World's Most Awkward War Council Convenes

The chapter I had the most displeasure of writing/editing is finally done, so I hope you enjoy it a little more than me! The party forms an uneasy alliance with El's sister, Lucas does some lying, and Mike considers some hypotheticals.

Tags: M, Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Fantasy AU, Canon Typical Violence, Canon Typical Horror, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn

Summary:

Mike Wheeler hates High School, so when he almost dies and falls through a portal to another world, he’s not going to complain. Especially not when that world does not only have swords and magic but seems to work exactly according to the rules of his favorite tabletop role-playing game. But his euphoria might be short lived because the party of adventurers he falls in with turns out to be the target of an evil god and the fate of the world might rest on their shoulders. So, exactly like his games of D&D. Except the wanna-be Paladin soon realizes that being a hero is much harder in real life than it is in-game. - Or, Mike gets isekai’d into a world where D&D is real.

An excerpt and taglist below the cut:

Excerpt:

El and Mike lead the way to the Sleeping Blackbear while Kali and her friends follow, grumbling. Mike feels a little exposed turning his back on them, but as they make their way towards busier side streets he keeps catching glances of Erica on the balconies and roof tops. From the way Kali keeps glancing to the sky, so does she, and it seems enough to make her think better of attacking them or running away.

It’s still a tense couple minutes, and Mike is glad when they finally catch a glance of the people still celebrating – and even more glad when they make it to their destination. Erica manifests from the shadows just as they approach the front door and steps in front of them, one hand on the door handle, the other held out towards Mike.

He hands her the dagger back and steps through the door she pulls open for them.

While the streets are loud and bright with the merriment of a spring fast approaching, the inn feels eerily deserted. In the bar on the ground floor a couple of revelers are drinking, but most patrons will only end their night there – and the evening is far from over.

Max leans over the balustrade on the first floor, watching them approach. She slides down the banister when they’re about halfway up, greeting Mike with a silent nod before she does and then falling into step beside El, who has taken up the rear with Erica.

In his hurry to make it back to the rest of his friends Mike hadn’t even noticed her slip from his side, and now the distraction of Max’s arrival and the irritation at being left alone leading their more than hostile potential allies, he stumbles over the steps. He manages to catch himself before he falls on the stairs, takes a quick step up the next one, and dusts off his hands as if nothing has happened, but Mike doesn’t need to look back at Kali to see that she’d caught him. It only makes the small hot thing in his chest flare brighter, and so he stomps up the stairs, not checking if the rest of them are following.

The door to the girls’ room is open, and as he steps onto the landing, Will appears in the door frame, pacing the length of the room. He pauses when he spots Mike, a smile splitting his face, and waves.

Unofficial Tag List (aka you interacted with my posts about this fic, please tell me if you want me to not tag you in the future (or want to be added)): @smalltownwheeler @wheelerpilled @wrong-energy @foodiewithdahoodie @doggo9 @gardenfairie @beelikesbyler @beverlysclown @yickarus @sourdough-el @hessolivagant @hesquietoday @oldfashionedmorphine @total-serene560 @bylersrise @hawkinsunderground @generalstorecashier @snixx @camel-casing @bylersbear01 @turningsoft @casatoan @maru-chu @mid13s @goldentrunks @bunnybylerfangirl @willbyersenthusiast @letterstomichelangelo @drowninginideas @fluffyfangirl @artsyna @absolutelynotyouidiot @bymarara @unknowmiau @are-you-reddie @elherself134 @longtallglasses @kennahjune @easilyentertained99 @bylerschapter @eli-being-silly @bylerina

[frosthidden]

HAPPY BYRON DAY!! (4/???)

featuring . . . alice haley & billy butcher / @devilsnare

mutuals may interact, byron may reblog

[kanasmusings]

[English Subs DL] Joker Game II

Hello~! This is an unexpected project from me, I’m sure, but it was a really great stage to have worked on! Thank you to @thiswasmadeonawhim​ for requesting me to do them! I had a blast reliving the anime and catching up with the novel, even if they did make me go through a rollercoaster of emotions in the process ^^;

The first stage’s subs were wonderfully done by @/great-blaster and their team in this post HERE. Please check them out if you want to get into the world of Joker Game stage~! (Not sure if the actual video is provided or if it’s just softsubs though ^^;) It’s not completely necessary to watch the first one to get the gist of the second one, but it would be better ifjust to get a feel for the characters, setting, and overall vibe that Joker Game offers ^^

Translations for the “Valkyrie” light novel some of the stage was based on can be found HERE as well! The novel really helped me a lot when I got lost, so a big thank you to the translator who did them, too~! 

For those who are interested in getting the Blu-ray for themselves, I’ll provide links below~ BD Purchase Links: JOKER GAME STAGE 1 | JOKER GAME STAGE 2

Notes, disclaimers, trigger warnings, and link under the cut, enjoy~!

NOTES:

※ THE FILE IS SUBTITLES ONLY, VIDEO IS NOT INCLUDED!

DISCLAIMERS:

I am not a historian in any way, and while I had the novel to guide me, I am not 100% sure whether the historical references are accurate or true to life.  I did do some further reading regarding some of the names and events, but if something is off or not accurate, please feel free to DM me so I can edit the subs!

I only translated the play, so any problematic or controversial views/idealisms/philosophies mentioned in the story do not represent my own views. Please don’t come sliding into my DMs about them.

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

Parts of the play are set in Nazi Germany, so please be warned of the presence of characters based on their real life counterparts (i.e. Joseph Goebbels, Leni Riefenstahl, etc.), as well as a lot of Nazi Germany symbolisms and references.

It is not graphic, per se, but it is a stage play based on spies, so some scenes, word choices, and sequences contain violence.

Mentions of war, war propaganda, and conspiracies are also present, so please be warned.

RULES:

[MOST IMPORTANT] Please DO NOT re-post the subs and the link outside of Tumblr! If you want to share outside, please, please DM me about it and link my blog to your post. That’s all I ask.

Please DO NOT remove my credits.

Please DO NOT re-translate without permission.

SUBS DL LINK: GOOGLE DRIVE

※ Please only DM me if there is a problem with the subtitles. I cannot help you if it’s related to the videos.

※ If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a coffee here, if you can. It’ll really help me out a lot.(o^▽^o) Thank you!!

[blacktabbygames]

For Scarlet Hollow have you made any changes to the story based on the response of your fanbase towards one character or another? Have you been surprised by any strong responses to certain characters?

We have a hard rule about not making any major changes to the story in response to the community.

The main way we interact with fan theories or community discussions of characters is to see how far interpretations drift from our initial intent, and then we'll course correct to make things more openly in-line with that intent.

We also strive to have competitive splits on important decisions in the game, and will sometimes make edits to the script if we feel a decision is too lopsided one way or another.

Spoiler examples under the cut.

When Episode 1 released, a lot of people were confused by Stella's actions and reactions towards the end of the episode, generally not realizing that she's written to be an aloof person who intensely and immediately buries her trauma. We wanted her behavior to raise questions, but there are challenges, especially with interactive media, with writing something so that people question the character rather than the portrayal. Her content in that episode's gone through quite a few revisions, with the most recent being an addition we made in January of this year that depicts the ride back to town.

In the end of Episode 3, we had Sybil shut down speculative conversation following the ghost hunt, mostly because we find that sort of exposition-heavy conversation boring both to write and play. This led to parts of the fandom having a serious bone to pick with her, and it definitely influenced parts of our approach to Episode 4, even if it didn't change the general structure of that content.

In terms of major decisions, the two most imbalanced decisions were in Episode 1 (Duke vs Gretchen, ESPECIALLY after we added Talk to Animals) and Episode 2 (Leave the mines vs go after Becka and Alexis) We did a few iterations of edits to try and balance that out, including more graphically depicting Rosalina's injury.

One of the lessons we learned from Episode 3's survey was that whatever the player is last told by an authority figure heavily influences the decision they make. So in the library, there's about 45-55 split between leaving the ghost in the library and somebody making a sacrifice (excluding Book Smart). But if you cut that data based on whether you spent the haunting with Wayne (who tells you leave the ghost) and Tabitha (Sybil tells her to make the sacrifice), it switches into a 70-30 split in both cases, favoring either what Wayne or Sybil tells the player to do.

We eventually applied that information to the Episodes 1 + 2 decisions. Originally in Episode 1, narration about Gretchen struggling against her harness was the last information you received before making the choice, and in Episode 2, it was Rosalina pleading with you to rescue her friends.

We changed those such that in Episode 1, it's now Duke begging you to get the flashlight because the creature is "getting closer" and in Episode 2, it's now in this order depending on what's available: 1. Tabitha stressing that this isn't a movie, and if you don't leave, you're going to get yourselves killed.

2. One of your traits emphasizing the danger of the coming collapse.

3. Narration emphasizing the danger of the coming collapse.

While they're still lopsided decisions, in the case of Episode 1, this small change shifted things from 20% of players saving duke and 80% saving gretchen to 30% of players saving duke and 70% saving gretchen (excluding powerful build)

In Episode 2 this shifted things from 15% leaving with Rosalina to 20% leaving with Rosalina.

[neptuniadoesstuff]

The Luther Twins, Sanchi & Sierra!

(Does contain surgical scars on Sierra's face but not too graphic)

Here is this image of the Goofy ahh twins that I put a bit too much time on bcs I wanted to make some official art of them.

I also never played Fallout before, primarily FNV's time bcs these guys are apart of FNV (Well supposed to be).

Now they may not look like twins all too much but I'll explain why: it's bcs Sierra (Nicknamed Sepia bcs her clothes) is pretty tan from being outside while Sanchi (Nicknamed Copia bcs uh... why not?) Is pretty much on the more lighter side bcs he stays inside alot (Also he has a phobia of going outside). They are however both born as wastelanders but due their forced separation (bcs of a horrible incident that happened when both of them were only 15) the 2 pretty much changed like LOTS!

(BTW here is some rules just incase you draw them: Sanchi is canonically on the chubby side. Now I don't mind if you draw him skinny but I prefer if you try to draw his Canon body shape. However if you end up being a big butt about it then I might block you bcs I do not allow hateful things bcs said about me or my OCs. Also do not draw Seirra as a softy, she's a mercenary who went through a lot of bs during her time (& DO NOT REMOVE THE SCARS ON HER). Btw plz don't ship these 2, tehy are twins, don't ship twins, that's gross, if you do then I'll block you or worse... report you... THESE ARE MY OCS!)

Now... here is them but full-body edition. (I swear to God if someone on here reports this for "Explicit Material" bcs I know that does happen to artist on heres then imma go strangle a bruh srsly I will. This is not sus this is just showing what their bodies look like man.)

(BTW TW/CWs: SH Scars, Mass amount of surgery scars, bruises, Sierra (right) is missing a EYE! & maybe some dried bl00d/rust on Sierra) (Also a lot of battle scars... & man boobs- Do i gotta just so this post hopefully wont be murked by a random? Do i really?)

Yeh them but w/o the clothes they usually wear. You can really see the scars on the 2. (Srsly these 2 have gone through some bs for the past years...)

Credits time!

Characters are mine. (Sanchi "Copia" Luthers (L) & Sierra "Sepia" Luthers (R).)

Art: Mine.

Program: IbisPaint x.

Bubs' TOS: Plz don't repost/steal, trace, or recolor my art WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! If you do, I'll take yur femur and pelvis.. SO, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! (The PNS on my blog's pinned post clearly means "Please No Steal" plz follow that rule.) If you do post my art on anything like yur blog or somewhere else (With my permission) PLEASE CREDIT ME!

[madamemimic]

Fully completed the definitive edition of LISA the Painful this afternoon. Here are my thoughts. Spoilers under the cut.

Overall I was super impressed with the changes made to Painful.

First, the sprite change for Junior and the edit to Salvation Black’s intro were nice. Lisa’s got it’s fair share of edgy humor, sure, but those felt a little overboard and mean-spirited. Bloodiest Wolf is still… not great, though. I get that he’s supposed to be covered in blood and his skin isn’t ACTUALLY supposed to be that red, but it looks really bad.

The improved graphics and border art make the game way, way nicer to look at. Glad I don’t have to deal with differently-sized pixels fucking up the visuals.

Changes to the battle system are a little mixed, but overall good (and the issues are currently getting fixed thanks to SF’s frankly absurd community feedback response). TP not refilling when taking damage sucks, the alcohol boost is neat, battles are a lot snappier, seeing what status effects actually do is nice, and the flavor text at the top of the screen is super buggy. Again, a mixed bag, but overall an improvement in my opinion. Animated battle backgrounds are also fantastic.

Missing joy addictions getting patched in is nice. Annoying, but it’s what was intended.

I wish there was more new content throughout the game. I was expecting some new enemies and NPCs, but in my experience there really weren’t any up until the superboss. Then again, I might just be misremembering what was actually in the game. It’s been years since I played the original.

Campfire scenes fucking rule. They make your party members feel like actual people. Some of Brad’s dialogue in certain scenes feels a tad stilted, but I don’t care much. Queen Roger, Geese, and Ollie - party members that I never cared about in the original - became some of my favorites thanks to these scenes. Also, fuck Garth to Hell.

The superboss was incredible. The leadup to it was nauseating, the atmosphere was thick with dread, the conversation with Joy Marty was incredibly upsetting… and GOD, that fight. Took me an hour and a half, and I was having a blast the whole way through. So many new mechanics and twists and turns (Marty permanently reducing your party’s stats was a nice surprise) that all add to the helplessness of the encounter.

And the dialogue afterwards, my God. It adds so much content to Brad and Lisa’s relationship, their home life, and the guilt that Brad feels over her death. Fucking fantastic. The music is great, too.

Haven’t done Joyful’s secret stuff yet, but I like the warlord abilities. It doesn’t fix the gameplay issues of only having one party member, but no RPG really can. At the very least, it adds options.

Rest in peace Work Harder. You will be missed.