"Sticking with Taylor. Okay. I get it. It's a good name. We got it on the first try, right? Hey. You did a big thing, telling all of us at once like that. Takes a lot of guts. I'm proud of you, Taylor. I'm not making excuses for your father. I'm happy he got up and didn't say anything. He's getting smarter in his old age and learning to keep his mouth shut. I am going to remind you that he loves you to pieces, Taylor. You being his daughter won't change that. I promise. He just doesn't understand it. He *will*. I promise he will. Your father is an idiot but he's not *hateful*. If he didn't love you, you wouldn't be his favorite kid. Don't tell the others we have favorites. Well it's not *you*, honey, you're *his* favorite, we can't double up and create a love monopoly. [laughs] Come here, come here. You're not so big as to not give me a hug. I love you, kiddo. Always have, always will. I'm proud of you. Plus. I'm cool. I used to share a two-bedroom with bunch of girls. I'd help them with their shots or let them crash on my bed. We have to stick together or else we're all not going to make it. Promise." https://thecoffin.club

Happy holidays! Jess, Lavender, Sophie and Bastion played Hypermall: Unlimited Violence by Rat Bastard Games. Massive, massive content warnings for violence and sexuality applicable to the game itself and Jess letting her id run free. https://thecoffin.club

What are they dressed as? I mean it's. Obvious, isn't it? Y'know, he's the leader, she's the lieutenant, there's the big strong one... Look, ma'am, my kids worked hard on these costumes, and for you to start throwing words like those around- I do, yes, we're in district, they go to the school at Twelfth, those two are in sixth grade- Oh I'm sorry I thought we lived in America? Since when is there a cut-off for Halloween? They're eleven! I don't give a sh-damn if fifteen-year-olds can go get a job working at Shake-It-Fast, they're still kids! Your lights are on, th- Y'know what? Fine. Fine! I hope you like getting a bad review on BlockParty! Last time we go trick-or-treating in this neighborhood! C'mon, we're leaving- I said we're leaving, you don't have to yell- Morgan, try to look a little more upset? There we go. Perfect. Where the hell are Becks and Taylor. Don't answer that. The less we know the better. Sh-damn. Sorry. I know they had those big bars. I didn't expect her to be such a shi-stick in the mud, heh. Where did you get those. ...I'm not saying don't put those in her mailbox but if you do, do not tell me. I'm gonna move to the next block. See you two there. https://thecoffin.club

Take another tissue. Take as many as you need. Misa's going to be okay. Shit like this happens all the time, Nancy, it's part of field hockey. It was an accident. Everyone saw what happened. They're going to reset her nose, run some tests, she'll be fine. I promise it'll be fine. Because it happened in such a safe place, is why. I mean. Yeah. You all tend to get the blood up on the field, but. It's just sports, honey. I mean, god knows I got in all sorts of fights in less safe places and came out of it okay myself. I did too. Ask your father about that night we saw Broken Socket at the grindcore show. I have a reliable eye witness to some shit I don't remember. Heh. Do I miss it? No. Not at all. Maybe a little. Ha! Got you smiling. Look, it's...shit like this just happens sometimes, okay? Someone gets knocked down, they need to get picked back up. They need teammates or doctors or moms or whoever. I mean, how many times did you cut your knees learning to ride? You just get back up and keep going. Do I feel bad about it? I mean. Do you feel bad about hitting Misa? Alright. And that's okay. It's all a matter of perspective and intent, honey. Shit happens. It's what we do next that matters. I think if you go see her in the hospital and say you're sorry, she'll believe you. Plus it's not like you won the match anyway, her team did win. Fine, no more jokes. I can be the serious mom. So. What's the biggest sundae I can go get you that'll get me off the hook for those swear jar donations? https://thecoffin.club

Jesus Becky, I dunno why I gotta be the one doing this. I told your mother and she wanted to give you a high five. I think that'd undermine the point of this talk we're having. God how the hell do I even approach this. Fuck. Don't. Don't tell your mother I said that. Ha. Sorry. Look. I understand, Dennis Hanson's a little shit. Don't tell your mother I said that. And I understand he was giving you shit. Again, don't...fuck it. This is serious, Becks. You put him in the hospital. You really are your mother's daughter sometimes. You broke your violin and you put that boy in the hospital. I know you're not, sorry. And I get why you're not sorry, I do. It's gonna be hell to replace that and find you a new tutor. If. If we let you keep, playing it. God, kid. Fuck. Fuck! We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out! I don't have an answer for you, honey, I don't have an...answer to this. You're probably going to have to apologize to that kid though. I know you won't want to. That's just. Part of how it's all done. Part of the ritual. Polite society. It sucks. I know, and I get it. A lot just, happened today. And it doesn't get to go away. We have to figure out what happens next. No you, don't have to go to your room. We've said what we have to about it, what is sending you to your room going to do? It'll be okay. We'll figure it out. https://thecoffin.club

You two are old enough for this talk. I love your father but he's not qualified to give it. Things aren't fair. It's not that we're lucky; we are. God, are we lucky. I've got four kids I wouldn't trade for the world. I've got a husband I love, a house I call my own, a job that doesn't break my back, some savings. We're trying to play our cards right to ensure the two of you get to go somewhere like my Aunt Elsie did. We have all of this and it's still not...safe. It's not stable. God this is a hell of a thing to tell you two. I'm sorry. But I don't want you to be blind-sided if it all changes. Because it could. The world moves in big ways we can't ever anticipate. You saw what happened with...with Mama. None of us saw it coming. We keep going, and we remember her and what we had. Sorry. Please give me a second, heh. I'm going to miss her so much. As much as you two will. God. Sorry. I'm okay. Things, uh. Things aren't fair. Your father and I want you to understand the two most important rules. We came up with them when I got pregnant, and we had to go from a couple to parents. They're simple and I hope they help you too. First, the world's not fair. That's not an excuse to not try to be kind and make it better. Second, if you have to be unkind or break the rules, you don't do it in the house. Don't bring it home. I can never be mad at that man because he follows that rule, and I do too. Okay? I love you both so much. Whatever you do, I'll be proud of you. https://thecoffin.club

First of all there's a reason I'm the one giving this talk and not your mother. We're not mad at you, we're not even disappointed. It's. It's unfortunate this is how it all is, y'know? Shit I kinda figured one of you might be a chip off my block. Didn't expect *you*, heh. Anyway, uh, here goes. It's okay to steal stuff, Taylor. Yeah you didn't really see that coming, huh? There's a part two to that sentence, but. Here. Man to man. Cheers. A small celebration for your accomplishments. Alright. Serious dad time now. I don't have a problem with you stealing stuff. Neither does your mother, even if she says otherwise. The problem is getting caught and rocking the boat, okay? The way I see it is, we have what we have, and we get all this advertising online and offline talking about what we *could* have. What *others* have and we *don't.* And they try to make us angry about it so we work hard, y'know? "Fuck you, that's mine, I'm gonna work and save and it's gonna be my house, my car, my girlfriend!" They value property over people or try to make people *into* property. Always will. Nothing wrong with not wanting to dance along. The problem is when you get caught and who you steal from. I've done a *lot* of stealing for you, for me, for all of us. You gotta pick the right people. Grocery stores, for example, have acceptable losses. Jewelry stores don't. Pawn shops? That depends. It's all negotiable and its all risky. A grocery store is safer but certain products aren't safe to steal. Never thought I'd talking about one of you kids about this. Jesus. I'm not prepared for this. Ugh. My point is. Actions have consequences. The best thing I can do for you, as your father, and as a man who has lived through his consequences, is to teach you how to do it safely. The *second* best thing is to warn you about those consequences. Okay? If you ever have a question, ask me. I don't talk about it much, but I get it. And don't forget I love you. https://thecoffin.club

Hi again from the monkey house. I hope the POLICE don't redact this one this time. The kids are doing okay. Rebecca's big now, she's started walking around. Almost ready to start talking. The twins...well the twins are testing my patience, honey. They keep getting in fights with the other kids. It's always some stupid thing, and they don't cause it, but it doesn't help because they're children. Wish I could grab them and shake them and tell them to knock it off. But they're kids and we don't need to both go to jail, haha. It's one of two things. Either Morgan is arguing with another kid and starts getting in over his head so Nancy runs over and starts throwing fists. Or, Nancy is getting picked on because she's quiet and Morgan comes over and starts saying shit to them until they cry or scatter. I don't know where he's learned those words. Maybe we should've cleaned up our act a bit. He's cutting when he wants to be. And she's rough when she wants to be. God bless them both for watching out for each other but I wish they wouldn't piss people off doing it, haha. The school thinks splitting them up in class is a good idea. I'm not so sure. They also say sports might help. I'm not putting my daughter into softball, that's not gonna do anything to help her. Probably see how she likes junior field hockey, though. Should help her burn off energy. As for Morgan, I dunno. He keeps taking shit apart because you're not around to hide the tools. I'll see what programs are around for him to get his fun in. They need an outlet that's not their weird little games. I miss you a lot. I'll send more commissary credits in a week. The POLICE put a limit on how often I can do that, some stupid new regulation. Respond when you can. Love you a bunch, monkey man. Lou https://thecoffin.club

We got lucky getting this house. First thing your big brother ever helped us with. I used to think I was slick but Morgan's got my charms and your mother's sense even before he was born. Got your mother's temper too but y'know don't tell him I said that, Becks. Your mother and I were, to be blunt, using contraception. We wanted kids, but we wanted them on our own timetable. I was working in construction, she was managing stores, we were making ends meet. This company put out this new birth control drug and they were looking for early adopters. It was not a medical test. That's important. Because if it was, we wouldn't have gotten the money for the house, heh. I don't know if they forced it through the FDA or if it was flawed, but the drug didn't do what it was supposed to, and a few months later she was pregnant with the twins. First thing I did was hustle her over to a doctor, get blood work, all that stuff. It cost us, but it was a smart gamble. See we weren't the only people having kids who shouldn't. And, cynical as it is, we wanted kids and we didn't have the money to. Under other circumstances, we'd've taken care of it. This was our shot *to* have kids *and* have someone else foot the bill about it. Took another risk, called a buddy of mine who was a lawyer, got us into a class action suit against them. Lots of them took the immediate payout. Not us. We got a structured settlement, a check every two weeks. Squirreled that away for a rainy day. Found this place on a police auction, actually. Hole in the ground but I'd had enough experience fixing bad houses. When the twins were born we had three rooms we could live in, and I kept working at it. You're lucky, Becks. Whole house was done when you showed up. https://thecoffin.club

Happy Halloween 2025! After we played The Isabel months ago, we knew we wanted to play Dead House at some point, so here we are! The people of Neola are in for a long, bad winter in 1888. How many of them survive is up to fate. https://thecoffin.club

He told you about Mike and Elsie, huh? I love your father but he can be a little judgmental sometimes. You think he wouldn't be considering his family. Well no honey they're. Mmm. I'm sorry. I get a little heated sometimes, thinking about my siblings. Imagine how you'd feel if someone started saying stuff about Becky or how the twins would feel if someone started picking on you. They're my brother and sister. I have a lot of good memories. Sometimes I wish they were better. Your Nana and Papa, I can talk to them fine, but they don't like your dad. Not since the arrest. It's a shame, you think folks like them would be able to hold grace in their hearts for their only surviving son. I tried to get it through their skulls, I promise I did. You should ask Morgan about them, he may remember more than Nancy. They were on good terms with me after your dad went inside for a while. They'd visit and help me with Becky when I was getting the others into school for the first time. Then your dad got out...and they stopped wanting to come around and see him. They'd see their grandkids, sure. Not him. Then I got pregnant with you. And they started getting opinionated about it. At the end of the day I'm not picking my husband's parents over him. Your father is a good man. Sometimes a good man makes mistakes. What's important is where you go from there, not if you have to throw out all those years together. You talk about it, maybe you separate for a while, and you see where life goes. They do send you kids money on your birthday and Christmas, and that's nice of them. But they could do more if they want to be worth being in your lives. Plus, c'mon. You got Mama and Mom still. Trust me, they bake cookies for you all much better than Nana ever could. https://thecoffin.club

Well we don't really talk to your mom's side of the family because we don't particularly. Like them, y'know? Yeah, okay, Grandma Nina and Grandma Tess are the exception, we make time for them. It's your aunt and uncle who are the problem. Your mom's still got some positive feelings but I'm the outsider so I can bring a balance to that sort of thing. So your Uncle Mike, he joined the military. I think he wanted to be a Marine but they ended up making him a drone jockey. He got involved in the surveillance push in the Thompson administration, was involved in Operation Radiant Beacon. I'll explain that when you're older but it's not a good thing he did that. I got in a fight with him one Thanksgiving before you were born. Talking about duty to the country and, well. Never join the military, Taylor, okay? No matter what they say. There's always a better way. I had Morgan and Nancy in my arms and Mike's screaming at me and I thought to myself, "hell with this, I got two toddlers and he's gonna lay into me over this? I don't care if he's her brother." Your mom and I talked about it on the way home. She wasn't happy. But she saw how he was talking to me and the twins and. Yeah. Your Aunt Elsie...different story. Smart lady. I liked her a lot. Then one day something...shifted in her. She was educated, your grandmas got her through college. She even went Ivy League with a bunch of grants and debts. One day she calls your mom up, smiling wide, "I met the most wonderful man!". They get to talking, your mom hangs up, looks into him and immediately calls her back. See, uh. Sometimes, people hear what they want to hear and then ignore the red flags. There was a lot she shouldn't have ignored. I'll tell you when you're older. Important thing is she lives on his compound out in Montana now and even if we did invite her to holidays...she wouldn't come. Sorry kiddo. I wish you could meet them. Family's important and you care for them, mostly. Family's still made of people. https://thecoffin.club

When did I first meet your father? Ah Jesus, great question. Let's see. Johnny Banks wasn't really a fixture of the scene as much as he was a nuisance. I used to play in a band back in the day. I even dropped out of school to pursue it, had to get my GED later. Don't drop out to join a band, by the way. Odds are rigged against you. Anyway you've seen those pictures of me in those jeans. We called ourselves The Screwdrivers, we thought we were punks, we thought it was cool. Played a lot of local shows, didn't ever get a record down but we got some EPs together. We were down in the scene and so was Johnny Banks. Your father, god bless him, used to have the dumbest hair I seen on a man. It was cute. He tried to do the liberty spikes, but never really put enough product in, and had half his head shaved. He looked like a palm tree. He hung around at shows and parties, this beanpole guy in an old army jacket and stompers and chains. Everyone thought he was there to score heroin or screw high school girls, so they gave him a wide berth. He wasn't confident in himself so he'd just stand and loom all quiet. I didn't meet him properly at a party. I met him at work. I did graveyard at a convenience store. He shuffles in one day, jacket too big, hair all floppy, asks me for smokes. There was this nervous energy and then, suddenly in this shotgun blast of words, he says to me: "I really like your band. I think you've got some good songs. I have questions about your lyrics. I think you tuned your bass wrong. Can I help you tune it properly?" I told him to get lost. The next day he showed back up with a tuner. I said "where did you get this?" He smiled wide and said "don't worry about it." And that's the first present your father ever gave me. https://thecoffin.club

I met Louise Wallace when fucking Richard Lincoln tried to kick my teeth in. It was a hot summer, and they'd cancelled public summer camp again for the third year in a row. I was thirteen years old. Not old enough to get a job yet, too old to hang around home and not get told off for it. Richard and Toby and Donny and me stole some shit from the Bullseye and ran off to a nearby park to see what we got and screw around. Fireworks (the boring kind), some inflatable balls, some food. We didn't steal a pump. Ended up sitting around trying to blow the stupid things up by hand (mouth, really) as we chewed shitty candies and snapping noisemakers at each other. Normal shit. We got a soccer ball mostly inflated, kicked it around a bit. Then I slipped, fell on it and popped the stupid thing. Donny and Toby started laughing, but Richard. Richard was pissed. "What good is taking crap if you're just gonna break it, you dumb piece of shit?" was more or less his sentiment at the time. Told him the truth: wasn't my fault, wet patch of grass, and maybe it wouldn't pop if you weren't such a weak loser who couldn't inflate a damn ball. He ended up on top of me as Donny and Toby stood around chanting "go! go! go!" whipping noisemakers at us. I don't remember what happened next. I do remember this clearly: Louise Wallace standing over me as Richard lay howling on the ground. Younger kid, ten years old, wiry girl. Tomboy. Richard had to go to the hospital with the way she hit him. She didn't pay him much mind as she helped me off the ground. I mumbled thanks, because what else am I supposed to say to be saved by a girl. All she did was roll her eyes. "Don't be a fucking idiot, dude. Learn to shut your mouth." And those were the first words your mother ever said to me. https://thecoffin.club

We do session zero, character creation and enclave creation for our Red Markets 2e's beta test! Thrill at what protagonists are designed! Chill at how distracted we get looking at a map of Seattle! Spill into a chair and listen up for the stories that will be told about the enclave of Deception Pass and the Banks Family Takers. https://thecoffin.club

Deep within the Sunny Suplex Mall lies the realm of the Tiny Mall Wizards, a forgotten corner of history long since gone by. Originally the world's masters of magic and mayhem, they are relegated to obscurity and their own petty squabbles.   That is not to say that the time of their stories is over. Far from it. Crack'o, Hat and Celene, three chosen Tiny Mall Wizards, embark on a grand quest to save their people and bring balance to the mall. Will they succeed? Will they fail? Only one thing is certain: there will be so much property damage.   We played Grint's game Tiny Mall Wizards and you can too! https://greenintern.itch.io/tiny-mall-wizards https://thecoffin.club

The crew talks about the experience of putting together our interpretation of Brindlewood Bay, discusses the different systems we used, and talk about the ups and downs of running mysteries and horror. https://thecoffin.club

We poisoned ourselves. I was complicit in it but we all had our part to play. Grief, anger, ego, curiosity, four ingredients we all brought into our group. Useful in small amounts. Dangerous when concentrated. Lethal when there's enough for you all to drown in it. I'm sorry for what I've done. Helping you doesn't make up for any of it, my death doesn't roll back the clock. It was never a punishment for me if I was going to instrumentalize it.I don't have an answer for the four of you. They stole my papers away when I died and even if you had them, I don't know if you have the time you need to delve into them, create another way. I don't have a solution going forward for what this world needs and what it should be like. I always agreed it should never be like this, but I'm a historian, not a philosopher or ethicist or strategist.What I do have to offer is the last word. They thought they quieted me, and I'm glad you never told them otherwise. That is, of course, assuming you get these messages or theirs. I can feel my control slipping; I hope it goes somewhere useful.The best way to offset a poison like this isn't just to purge it; that's often too late. The best solution is dilution. Broaden your horizons. Be in the world. Think, question, reason, accept when you're wrong. Grow. You're never too old to grow or change. Take it from the dead woman, hypocritical as this advice may be coming from a scholarly shut-in. Grow, learn, love. Bolster the self and it will endure until your dying breath and beyond.Good luck. I believe in you. I always believed from the start.https://thecoffin.club

Janice and Lillian are done talking with you, and Lavinia, she's dead, and they don't tend to tell tales. That just leaves me. To be honest I don't have much more to say. I think I've made it all fairly clear.We cannot abide the state of things, the cruel engine that powers the world. I am old and ready to join my sister, I have been for longer than I'd like to admit. But we can't leave the others to their own devices. The information is out and god help us all if someone decided to put it into action for their selfish desires.I have no family, I have few friends, I have no children. My legacy is my work and even then that will be forgotten in time. The other thing I would bequeath on the world is the hand of the Midwives not being able to snatch the others away from the cliff and falling into the ocean.I would feel worse if it was not for the way the world is right now. And we did try to save the world. But here we are, and the final move to make has never been more clear. https://thecoffin.club

Over the years we all went mad in our own ways. Halsey went from disbelief to anger to anguish. Forrester remained at her side, ever vigilant, repeating "this too shall pass, this too shall pass". It went from soothing words to rote recitation to a grim, resigned mantra. This too shall pass. Ingham was excited; the masks were off, the base, cruel nature of the world revealed, the game bigger than she ever realized. I slipped deeper into my studies, into alienation from the world, into cold moonlit water and the thing beneath. Things were more stark and sober, especially now that we knew who also were in on our little secret. They held a meeting. I was more of a consultant than a participant. That's when I knew how bad it all had gotten before they even broached the topic of using it (that would be another meeting, one they didn't think I knew about). This was before the pandemic. We didn't know how things would get and they were already acknowledging the elephant in the room. I made my stance clear to them: that the juice was never worth the squeeze. We buried it deep enough, and all we needed to do was ensure the information was never found by anyone. They thanked me for my input and kept talking. Why would they listen to the woman who sequestered herself away from the world, after all. It's not like I was in touch with society anymore; I had my job, my quarters, my research, my neighbor. Too young, too naive. As if they could ever have figured their plans out without me. As if the bargains I made didn't give them the material necessary to put their plans into action when they inevitably did. As if I didn't expect they might take me off the board. As if I never found whispers in the silence, companionship in the dead of night, my own compromises and sacrifices. As if one of us wouldn't have a conscience, even if it meant dying to do the right thing. More than they ever did. https://thecoffin.club