Gamer Mom to Egirl

In a roomy apartment in San Bernardino California. Lizzy Temple was finishing up her latest game review of "Frog Jumper 2: Hop to Drop" for her article for Gamer Moms Monthly. It was an up and coming blog slash vlog that catered to women's perspective into gaming. Lizzy cracked her knuckles, rotated her sore wrists, and sighed hard.

"Fuck my life." She said under her breath.

Lizzy grew up loving to play videogames, even back in the dark ages were girls were shunned from gaming. Her brothers teased her relentlessly about finding a more girly hobby. Like learning to sew, reading fashion magazines, or baking. A conversation that regularly got her into fights or disdain from her peers. It wasn't until she was in high school that the basic common sense that women also liked interactive entertainment, was finally accepted. She studied hard to work toward her game design degree and dreamed, of one day opening a studio. She would hire other talented female game developers.

Unfortunately, life never turns out the way you expect. After graduating from college, Lizzy tried for years to get into the industry but found nothing but roadblocks. Turns out the same misogynist assholes that belittled her back in school ran most of these companies. The handful of gigs she got, she was delegated to coding busywork. No one can get psyched making background trees, bushes, and buildings for 50 hours a week for months. Barely building a resume let alone making connections.

Another major blow to Lizzy's life was when she got drunk at a wrap-up party and accidentally got pregnant by a guy in the legal department. Though Adam took responsibility and married Lizzy, their relationship was lukewarm and tenuous. Adam was able to provide financial stability and loved their daughter. But he was more interested in furthering his career than supporting his spouse. This put her dream on the backburner indefinitely.

While raising her baby, Lizzy found an outlet in videogame journalism and realized there were other women like her out there. These women wanted a female viewpoint of the industry. Over several years the site grew into a team of three, building a brand that was starting to get noticed. She was commended for calling out the sexist practices that went on behind the scenes in this industry. This year was supposed to be their breakout. Getting real press passes to E3. But due to a global pandemic, all conventions and events were canceled to the following year. Once again dashing her dreams of moving up in the industry.

Leaving her home office she headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Lizzy washed her face and took a look at her face into her green eyes. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was tied back with a rainbow scrunchie. Her face though still a youthful 29 years old. It was starting to see some wear from years of overwork and exhaustion. Her once slightly athletic body had more curves than before getting pregnant. She was never able to completely get rid of the baby weight. Thankfully, some of that weight enhanced her C-cup breasts. Which were currently hidden under her blue mom cardigan with a gamer t-shirt beneath and jean shorts.

Lizzy had contemplated on whether or not she should try and have some breakfast. Or clean up the living room full of toys before her weekly meeting with the girls. When her iPhone announced a notification for an email. Quickly scrolling through it, she scoffed before jamming it back in her pocket. Considering it irrelevant. She'd rather spend time eating some yogurt with granola and blueberries.

About half an hour later, Lizzy was having a three-way video conference with her writing partners, Phoebe and Milena. Phoebe Cho was a short Korean girl with long black hair with hints of blue and purple dye. She had doe brown eyes, soft pink, pouty lips, and wore trendy black-framed glasses. Her main attire was often various hoodies promoting videogames, anime, and other pieces of nerd culture. Milena Hofferson was half Armenian, half German. She had an athletic build, dirty blond hair, and distinct Kardashian facial features that somehow went well together. She wore what one would call nerdy but fashionable. A white dress shirt that cut off at the elbows, a pleated skirt and a colorful vest. The vest was adorned with a geometric pattern only gamers would understand. It was held together by petite buttons. Overall, she probably had the best fashion sense among these three.

They gathered together to discuss the articles, games, and interviews for the next few weeks and things were looking bleak. Due to the pandemic, every triple-A and mid-sized game company was working from home or running on minimal staff. The gaming conferences, where they were expecting to get information for content, dried up. Most companies refused to speak with such a small magazine. Leaving just reviewing games, which had become an extremely bloated field in the last few years. Competing against vloggers half their age with three times the viewers and sponsors. This left table scraps such as small indie games that didn't generate much buzz.

Lizzy started, "We need to come up with some new ideas, think outside the box until we get past this hump. I will scream if I have to play and write about another $3 mobile flash game that was made by a high school kid. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Milena chimes in "What about tabletop gaming? Or cosplay? Or quarantine games?"

"We really can't do much," said Phoebe. "The board game industry is hurting just as bad. Almost no new games hitting the market and tournaments are canceled indefinitely. None of us knows anyone that close in the cosplay circles and most of the big cosplayers self promote. Also, we can't run another mental health isolation game article. We've already had them three months in a row!" said Phoebe. "We need something with original content or GMM is going to be lost in obscurity."

Melina in a quiet voice started, "Well my cousin dose some of that Egirl stuff on her social media. I could ask ... " but was cut off by Lizzy, who snapped,

"No way in hell! We have worked too hard to build a respectable news platform. To be reduced to interviewing barely legal teens playing videogames with their tits out. I would rather fold the site than put up 'What are the top five E-girl tits on the net.'"

Melina spits back, "I know she is a tramp, but she is still family Lizzy. I don't see either of you contributing anything to the table, so go fuck yourself!"

After a long awkward silence, Lizzy made a frustrated noise and said, "I think I may have a lead, but it is not great. Have either of you heard of a company called Twisted Taco Games?"

Phoebe in a confused tone said "TTG, that indie porn game company? What about them?"

Embarrassed Lizzy continued. "So earlier today I got an email from them, apparently they want to interview us."

Phoebe interfered, "Explain to me how this is any better than interviewing Milena's softcore porn star cousin and friends?"

Lizzy took a deep breath and tried to do the best bullshit dance she could think of. "Well, because they are an indie group and have focused on adult-themed media. No other news outlet will give them the time of day. But they did state in the email they were in the process of diversifying. They even have a majority of female staff. As they have less than 12 staff members they can still congregate. Meaning we can interview and take some pictures for the site. I am sure we can spin shit into gold if we try."

Not having any better ideas, Phoebe and Melina both agreed that this was just one interview until things improved. Lizzy wrote back with the input to schedule a date a week later. TTG's head of marketing thanked them for their reply. They asked if they can bring their VR headsets to try out some upcoming products.

The drive from San Bernardino to Santa Fernando only took an hour and some. Thanks to tourism being completely decimated. The three of them were not stuck in L.A.'s notorious gridlock traffic for once, so they had some time to kill. They stopped for gas before heading to the address of the office building they were given. While pumping gas into Lizzy's three-year-old silver Honda Civic. Phoebe and Melina stretched their legs. The three then huddled up for a game plan.

"Alright, I know this is not ideal, but we are journalists and professionals." said Lizzy trying to take charge and motivate. "Did both of you do your research and come up with some questions?"

Phoebe said grumpily "Liz, not one person present went to school for journalism or English. But yes we did dig up as much information as possible on TTG and their founders. Got to love LinkedIn and social media."

Clearing her throat she continued. "Apparently TTG was founded four years ago by three graduates of Caltech. Which is strange because they do not offer humanities or art courses. I would have figured that at least one would be a Cal arts Pixar wannabe dropout. All three graduated with degrees in computer science or electrical engineering. Which are very promising and lucrative careers, yet they choose to do this."

Lizzy turned to Melina and asked, "So what about their product line, what are we looking at?"

Melina took the last sip of her coffee and tossed the cup in a nearby trashcan. Melina said, "Well as far as I can tell most of their games follow a similar model as Japanese visual novels, with a digital card game based on their properties, a few 2D side strollers, and some mentions of VR games as well. Their games have lots of text and voice acting with small bits of flashy art and animation. Their stuff defiantly has a hybrid of American and Japanese sensibilities."

Lizzy shrugged, "It makes sense. Anime, JRPG's, and import games have gained popularity over the last ten years. Further, games designed for older and more mature audiences have also been on the rise. It tracks."

Phoebe cut in "Yeah, but have you read any of these titles or the synopsis? They all sound like they were written by a bunch of sexually frustrated, misogynist, incels!"

Lizzy was getting annoyed, "OK, I get it. This assignment sucks. Let's just put on our big girl pants, smile, check this place out, take a few pictures, and be on the road in two hours. Burgers at In-N-Out are on me."

The gang piled back into the car and drove the last few miles to the nondescript office building in the older part of town. The building appeared to be two stories tall. Stationed next to an industrial tool rental shop with a hand-painted sign over the front entrance in bright red TTG Inc. Luckily the parking lot next to the building was in a safe and accessible area.

When they opened the door, they found a small front lobby with a blond woman in a red blouse working on a laptop. The lobby was relatively plain except for a custom-made neon sign of a taco with a bright crack going down the center. The rest of the space had a few photographs from events the company held over the years. Parties, company picnics, business deals, and a few plaques. Nothing that screamed video game company.

The blond-haired buxom women stood up and greeted them. "Hello, you must be with Gamer Moms Monthly. My name is Cheryl, the guys are just finishing up a meeting but will be out in a minute. Can I get you a drink and take your bags?" Pointing to their tote bags that held their VR headsets they were asked to bring along. They reluctantly agreed, Cheryl handed them three mini bottles of water and took the totes under one arm.

Cheryl opened the door to the main office and continued "Let's see if Amy is free to give you the nickel tour. In the meantime, I will get these set up for the demonstration and give them a thorough cleaning. As Gus likes to say, "We may be dirty, but we are hygienic." Making a little inside joke.

When they walked through the lobby door they discover something that closely resembles a game studio. Small banners hanging from ceiling wire of past videogame productions. Slightly swaying from the AC. Cubicles with Christmas lights running along the sides. Desks covered in figurines, photos, paperwork, and concept artwork. In the back of the facility were two small recording booths with the audio studio adjacent.

The group approached the first cubical on the right. Where they found a petite Latina with short loose dreadlocks and a pair of large earphones. She was bobbing her head as she was mixing some music on her digital soundboard. Cheryl gave her a tap on the shoulder, which knocked her out of her funk. Amy took her earphones off, a heavy beat still sounding from them, and gave them a "What's Up" head nod. She was wearing a custom DJ Marshmello shirt with silver bangles on her left wrist. Giving off an "I do a little partying on the weekend" vibe.

Cheryl asked Amy, "Here are the woman for the blog, would you mind getting them started with the interview? I got to get this script done by 2 for review."

Cheryl smiled, nods, and left. As soon as she left the room, Cheryl pulled out her phone and text the group - Gus, Jeff, and Michael - that they have arrived. She then sat down at her desk in the lobby, donned a pair of latex gloves, and started to take the headsets out of the totes. Using a small unique tool, she popped open the plastic cap revealing an access port. Which she then hooked up to her laptop, updating the firmware in all three devices.

Upstairs on the second floor was a large, mostly empty room with a set up for Mocap at the far end. Beside the sidewall was a green screen for photos. A plastic barrel filled with various prop weapons, and set pieces. Next to that was a sewing workshop with three tailor dummies with costumes in various states of completion. Finally, on the opposite side, the space was big enough to fit a glass room with three heavy mahogany desks, leather chairs, and various knickknacks on the walls.

Sitting in these chairs was Gus Rodrigo, his twin brother Jeff Rodrigo and their fraternity brother Michael Johnson. They were the CEO's of Twisted Taco Gaming. Each of them was getting a mind-blowing blowjob by a woman crouched under their desks when their phones all vibrated.

Jeff picked up his phone and clicked his teeth. "Shit looks like the GMM posse arrived and Amy is dealing with them. We need to wrap this up, honey," looking down at the petite Asian girl.

Michael gripped the redhead's hair, while she was sucking him off. "New game, first one to make us come can have an orgasm. The other two will need to wait."

Gus grinned and replied, "Fuck you, you're on!" while working the silver grey-haired woman deep down his dick, which caused him to win. The woman moaned with his dick still in her mouth, her feet making little involuntary taps.

The Asian and the redhead finished the guys off shortly after but were pouting that they lost.

"Better luck next time, ladies. Now get cleaned up and make yourself presentable, we have guests." Jeff said, as he wheeled back and zipped himself up.

The other two men did the same. The women got up inspected each other for any drippage and reapplied a little bit of makeup. The three men went downstairs to meet up with their guests. Not wanting to make them wait any longer. Amy had by then wrapped up the downstairs tour and had answered a few questions.

The three women look over and see the founders of the company coming down the stairs. Gus and Jeff are both tall muscular men with brown eyes, everything else was the opposite. Gus had short hair and was clean-shaven wearing a dull green polo and blue jeans. His brother Jeff had long Fabio hair with a short beard, which had a lot of product in it. He wore a leather vest with a pastel button-down shirt and a Texas-sized belt buckle. Michael had piercing blue eyes with blonde hair. He was dressed in a form-fitting grey shirt with black pants.

After the greetings, they went back upstairs to conduct the interview. There Lizzy and her friends were greeted by three women. An Asian woman and a redhead were working on costumes. The third woman with silver-grey hair was tinkering with a Mocap set.

Lizzy was quite surprised that for a gaming company that focused on porn, things felt pretty calm. The three CEO's described how they got into Japanese hentai games back in high school. They had an interest in developing the western market in college. Originally, they wanted to import games and just translate them. But there was too much bureaucracy and red tape that didn't make them enough money. So they scouted out some local talent and that was that. Even though the answers they gave were well-formed and articulated. Phoebe on her high horse still had to ask a few questions that were underhand throws.

"So I couldn't help but notice that all of your employees are women," Phoebe said in a judgmental tone. "Is there a reason why this is the case especially in a male-dominated field of videogames?" Phoebe also could not help but stir the pot about the running themes in their games. Hoping to catch them saying some misogynist comments that she could exploit in an article later.

Michael, the more articulate one, explained that having a mostly female staff at a small company like this made sense. When everyone was hired there was an understanding that they would be wearing many hats. It was cheaper and more ergonomically to cast in-house than relying on outside help. Almost every person working at TTG had modeled, voice acted and assisted in completing projects. Also by hiring female staff, they hoped to remove the stigma attached to 18+ games. Everyone contributed to the projects in every step of development; from planning to final release. Making sure that all parties were satisfied with the final product. Pointing out there had been several times that plans needed to be rewritten or scrapped entirely.

As for the content, they experimented with a few different genres. They frequently took polls from fans and consumers on what they wanted most.

Michael looked Phoebe dead in the eye. "As much as it may shock some of our, let's just say "conservative critics" on our content. What we have been developing over the last few years is what our fans and customers want. You would be surprised at the number of women that buy and love our games too." Pointing to a poster collage of fans cosplaying lewd charters from their games. As well as shaking hands at conventions. "I can speak, for all of us that it makes us happy knowing people can enjoy their fantasies without being kink shamed."

Phoebe shrunk down a bit realizing Michael just reflected her attack on herself.

Breaking the awkward tension, Lizzy cut in. "In the e-mail, you mentioned you were trying to diversify from your original product line. Could you elaborate?"

Gus smiled and said, "We could tell you, or better yet: let's show you. Follow me so we can meet up with Alice."

They all got up and walked to the far side of the open room. Where the woman was setting up some props around a makeshift Mocap set. Colorful tape and markers were laid out around the floor. With a circular table and chairs facing a long clothed table. Around the space were also a partial staircase and some empty plastic glasses.

Gus continued, "So we have been excited to unveil a pet project, we have been wanting to do for a while. We made a semi-interactive VR Wild West bar saloon simulator. Though we will admit it's still in beta, we hope to get it to market in the next few months and improve on it based on sales."

As Gus, Jeff and Michael were showing them models on the nearby computer. Cheryl walked up carrying Lizzy's, Phoebe's, and Melina's headsets.

Jeff rubbed his hands in excitement, "Oh boy, everything is synced up now. Would you fine ladies mind giving this little game a twirl? We would be deeply honored if we could get some outside opinion." Jeff pretending to take off a cowboy hat and place it on his chest.