Firstly, I find it strange that this progress report is not on the main Steam page (maybe this is just a glitch on my end, but I'm not sure). It's also interesting that yesterday the cover image of the previous devlog was changed to this:

Today, it was set back to Ashley blushing, as it seems like this is the cover image for the new devlog. Looks like a sad pink bunny in a cage close to a purple and red (?) bunny. The usual Leyley doodles.

Anyway, it's been confirmed that the new episode will be Burial, as was previously teased. We've also seen a lot of confusing teaser content on this devlog, so I'll put on my tinfoil hat to try and make heads and tails of everything. Of course, we have the new trailer showing baby Wren:

As well as other teaser images that I imagine are closely related to this timeline of events:

And I say timeline of events, because it's clear that this "Wren" bit is more of an alternate storyline. If you've seen the video, you would've noticed Renee and Douglas are still alive despite this clearly taking place after quarantine (given Andrew and Ashley mention being "legally dead"). I think the only way this is possible is that, perhaps, this is an alternate timeline where they go back in time through demon shenanigans before sacrificing their parents, and choose to head out of the house without causing much trouble. This is what makes most sense to me, because otherwise this is completely nonsensical.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit weirded out by these teasers, because this feels like something out of a fanfic, not up to par with the quality of the main game. Not to sound mean, but it reminds me of when shows introduce a new character in later seasons to draw more attention (and it often doesn't work out well). But oh well, it's too early for me to say whether I like this or not, for now I'm on the fence about it.

I'm thinking it might also be a separate branch from the main route of Burial (kinda like the separation between the choices of "Andy" and "Andrew" in Decay). This could be a shorter route that is being teased right now to avoid spoilers of the main route (because otherwise I find it crazy to announce a canon kid between them this way).

There's also other teasers. Not much to say about them other than I theorize this is Burial:

(Note that the position and size of the bed is the same as the questionable Burial vision).

And this one I think is cliffhanger given the background:

Anyway, onto the main topic of the devlog: legal issues! Very disappointing that no release date was actually announced. I think promises like that shouldn't be thrown around if there's no real guarantee of it, but oh well. I'm not super caught up with the bootleg issues, though I have seen some of it being mentioned before. Of course, it's also very disappointing that people in the fandom are actively hindering the development of the game with this, but hopefully it can be solved quickly.

What I find odd is that, while the author is making it clear that her priority is to protect the IP from bootlegs, the developers are putting forward the idea of making a game jam of "coffin-like" games... a.k.a. softcore bootlegs. As much as I love fan-made content, if such content is hindering the development of the game, maybe don't encourage the creation of it? This feels like mixed signals. Of course, their intention is to have people come up with games that aren't direct copies, rather inspired by TCOAAL. Though I'm not sure how well that's going to turn out in practice, as it might lead to more troubles with securing the IP.

My main worry is that this is likely an indication we'll have a long hiatus despite what was implied in the previous progress report. So this could be an attempt to make fans create content to fill the void in the meantime. Again, not a huge fan of this idea, but we'll see...

Also, I did in fact give the entity a propeller hat. And a lollipop.

Not much to analyze on this devlog this month, it's pretty straightforward but very welcome.

I'm surprised that the 302 lady is treated more like an afterthought by Nemlei. Then again, it's doubtful that Ashley will ever get the truth of the matter, which yeah, sometimes that just happens.

The explicit confirmation Andrew has a big dick is very funny, especially when that was already implied in Burial. And the fact Ashley's tits are not as big as she likes to hype them up to be. I also am surprised that people actually asked if Ashley's disinterested in sex when the Burial route and November devlog has her clearly open to trying it out. I guess it's good to have that cleared up.

I'm sad that (as far as we know), TCOAAL and Nemlei's other games are not in the same universe, they just share similar looking motifs, but oh well, fan fiction and mods exist. A part of me thinks it may be Nemlei not being sure yet on what the connection is, but I'll just treat it as non-canon until then.

I'm not sure if Nemlei saying "Don't look into the characters' names too much" is actually true or not, especially since Renee is very on the nose. I'll just stick to my probably-conspiracy-theory headcanon in the mean time.

I wonder how Burial will be different now it's confirmed it won't have the same flashbacks as Decay. Maybe it will be related whatever event's in the present.

The fact that Renee and Andrew want to discuss about them leaving quietly and pretending that neither of them committed a crime is interesting. I guess Renee didn't want to do a paper trail if she has them get killed off without the ritual, but will because she can't trust that Andrew would pull off that same shit even if he rescues her. Which man, that is tragic for Andrew, even as stupid as he was in that video.

But really what got me the most excited is that Mr. Graves is going to have a sprite!!!! And we get to maybe see what Renee was actually doing with the insurance!!!

Hell, the joke answers were even informative! Such as this one here:

So, it looks like that Andrew and Ashley are going to be living in the Demon Realm. This is a really cool development on what the tower we keep seeing is. It's essentially their house. I hope the demon doesn't charge them rent.

Also, this next thing is pretty obvious that this was the answer given the fact he loves poetry.

Next, 2 random screenshots. It looks like Mr Graves is getting a CG and apparently that's a spoiler worth covering. That's pretty funny.

Next, some information I think was interesting and informative

And of course, in good Nemlei fashion, they reversed the Q&A to us:

Of course, I was always a gotta have it person, but seeing the fact that they saw the fact people were changing their minds, this is such a kind offer. I'm just really hoping they aren't feeling pressured to do this by the assholes who've been yelling at them in the discussion threads the past few months.

I love how this is how Andrew sees his sister. Just a weirdo cannibal.

Just as I thought, Ashley did in fact know that she was leading Andrew through the places she saw in her vision. And from the looks of things, she seems confident that she "fixed" Andrew to not try to attack her like in the vision. (We'll see about that now that she's called him "Andy")

Obviously Andrew is throwing up, but the real question is WHEN does this take place? Is it before quarantine or did the siblings decide to go see if friends of theirs would help out? If it's the latter, that's ballsy as fuck, considering they're supposed to be dead.

And Jesus Christ, we're eating great today, we're finally seeing so many more things about Andrew's friends. Of course the video where we see more of Friend B. Guess what, this devlog isn't the first time we've seen him! We saw him in this screenshot back in Devlog 07

So it's really cool to see that he's stayed in Andrew's life for at least 10 years. I hope we get a name for him since he seems important.

Anyway that's pretty much all besides a release date from Nemlei: FEBRUARY 30th!