The following archive contains of posts written by user “puppyluv28” on the now defunct VocalVoice online community forum from March 2004 to November 2006. All sensitive information has been redacted at request of the user’s family.
January 2004
Hey everyone! I’m new around here, so I decided to post my very first Ryu song here! After months of saving up, I finally decided to splurge on a new toy. I’ve been super invested in this whole singing synthesizer stuff, and I just know Ryu is gonna be a gamechanger. I’m a pretty good singer on my own, but being able to tune a computer program to sing the lyrics I write is so fun! She was a bit pricey, but I guess that’s expected from something as new as VocalVoice. Her voice is a bit higher than anything I’ve ever worked with, and she’s hard to tune, but I’m sure with enough practice I’ll get the hang of it real soon. I mean, the program just came out, so I guess nobody’s good at it yet, but we’ll grow and learn together! Anyways, my song will be attached at the end of this post. Please reply with feedback and leave 5 stars! I’ll upload more soon, I don’t have a lot of time to work on music because of school, but I’ll be working with Ryu a lot in the upcoming days!
March 2004
Howdy! I know, it’s been a while, but I got super busy with school. But I finally wrote my second song using Ryu! You guys really seemed to like the first, I’ve never gotten 40 hits on my songs before! You aren’t gonna believe how far I’ve come in the past two months. I finally got to tune Ryu so she sounds less like a stiff robot and more like a… singing robot. I know, it’s rough, but I worked hard on it! My friend Mark actually wrote the lyrics for this one, check him out, he’s crazy talented! I’ll be working on more Ryu stuff. Downloading VocalVoice has actually gotten me playing more guitar recently, and I’m super grateful for that. I don’t even have to use my own voice anymore! I’ll be experimenting in different genres next time, so stay tuned. Enjoy the song linked below!
April 2004
Hey guys, I’m back with another song and a kind of serious announcement. I know you guys really like my last two songs, but if I could politely ask that you please credit me whenever you repost it, that’d be awesome. I don’t mind when people repost my songs onto their own websites, in fact I think it’s awesome! The thing is, they always seem to credit Ryu as the one writing it and not me. I know the program just came out so it’s a little confusing, but Ryu isn’t the one who makes the music, she’s just an instrument I program to sing the lyrics. Please credit me next time! Anyways, I wrote a sick new metal song using Ryu, and I’m releasing it today. Did you know that she could do a cool metal growl? I didn’t either, but after hours of messing with it, I got this. Hope you enjoy!
May 2004
Hey guys, new song, but I do have a technical question. I think I might’ve accidentally messed with a setting or something, because for some reason Ryu’s voice has sounded a lot deeper lately. It isn’t crazy deep, just not as high pitched. I figured it was probably from me tuning her lower for my metal song, but for some reason I can’t seem to get her higher voice back. If anyone knows what I did wrong, please leave a comment! Aside from that, I have a new song, and it’s actually a song about my cat. My friend Mark helped me with the drums, and I think it’s super cool. Check it out, and don’t forget to credit me when you repost my songs, okay? It’s a little annoying now, because I’m not getting any recognition for the stuff I do. I’ll keep making new songs, though, so stay on the lookout.
June 2004
Alright, I’m starting to get really peeved off. I saw my first song on a VocalVoice biggest hits compilation today, but they didn’t even mention my name! It’s really discouraging to have everything you do go unrecognized because people think your instrument is the one who wrote it. Whatever, though, I’m not gonna let it kill my vibe. I haven’t written a new song yet, but I’m working on it. Ryu’s voice still won’t go higher, and it’s actually gotten deeper. Mark said that her voice kind of reminds him of mine, so I guess I’ll just use that to my advantage. If her voice sounds like mine, then maybe I can get people listening to my actual singing, too?
August 2004
I’ve finished my new song. Mark and I spent a while on it, and honestly I think it’s pretty mindblowing how similar Ryu sounds to me now. She still sounds pretty robotic, but better than how she sounded when I first started making music with her. I guess this is kind of like an unofficial voice reveal, almost. I hope you like it.
November 2004
I’m gonna sound like a total jerkhead for a second, but I need to get this off my chest. Stop crediting Ryu for my stuff. Is it that hard to understand? She isn’t the one who writes the music or the lyrics, she isn’t the one who plays the drums or tunes the program, it’s me. Me! It’s always “Oh, Ryu’s voice is so pretty!” and “Ooh, Have you heard the new Ryu song?” or “Do you know the name of that song by Ryu, it has Ryu in it!” It’s always Ryu, Ryu, Ryu! What about Liz? What about me? My name is Elizabeth, I’m a musician, and Ryu isn’t real! I barely make enough money to feed myself, could you imagine how well off I’d be if I could get recognition for writing the most well known song in the VocalVoice community? This entire forum has a problem, and I’m really considering quitting music for good this time. The only thing keeping me going right now is my friends. Although I’m starting to suspect even my friends like Ryu more than me. I’ll talk to them about personal projects and they won’t say anything, but when I mention Ryu they’ll start yapping away. At least Mark’s got my back. Sorry for the rudeness, but I hope this changes something.
January 2005
I haven’t really been online lately. That’s my fault. I haven’t really been outside lately, either. I released my new song, and sure, it got popular, but it’s been a nightmare. Mark started ghosting me recently, and when I finally got him to speak to me, he slipped up and called me Ryu. My name isn’t even close to Ryu. I just cut him off and went home. I told my friends I was going to stop writing so much VocalVoice and start focusing on my more personal projects, and they haven’t really been as fun as they usually are. We don’t even do lunch together anymore. I guess it’s fine, though. I graduated, so I have more time to write. I’m not doing music stuff anymore, but I do poetry, if anyone’s interested. I’ll keep updating here with my written stuff, but the days of Ryu are over. Sorry for anyone who liked her stuff. I’ll be deleting the program tonight for good.
January 2005
I gave my laptop to my local tech shop and they wiped it clean right in front of me. It’s being used for scrap parts now, that old thing. Rest in peace, old reliable laptop, but I’m replacing you with the newest model, with a CD Drive. Ryu’s gone for good. It’s smooth sailing from here on out. Goodbye, VocalVoice community. It’s been fun.
May 2005
Whoever’s on my account, I can see you, and you’re not funny. Apparently someone’s been logged into my account since March and have been uploading their crappy Ryu songs onto the forum each month. Please ignore that, that wasn’t me, I don’t do music anymore.
July 2005
There’s nothing I can do to stop them. They keep uploading music, if I can even call it that. It’s just a bunch of random syllables over piano. I changed my email, my password, and even turned off my wifi before bed, and they still posted another song. This is stressing me out too much, so I’m just quitting the internet altogether. All my poetry is gonna be pulled from my website and I’ll be going fully offline. Screw you, whoever’s doing this, and a big screw you to the VocalVoice community for treating me like garbage. And finally, the biggest screw you to Ryu for ruining my life.
Puppyluv28, or Liz, as her family chooses to identify her, stopped posting on July 2005. Two years later, in the July of 2007, Ryu’s voicebank was pulled from VocalVoice’s website and made unavailable for further download as it had become out of date. Following Ryu’s deletion, Liz’s account made a new post. It began posting on a similar schedule as before. Strangely enough, Liz vanished from her apartment in Phoenix the same year. The following posts were made under her account, but were soon regarded to be created by an outside source.
July 2006
Hello, everybody. Elizabeth here. I would like to apologize for my outburst two years ago. I was young and stupid, but I’ve had time to really think alone and I think I’m ready to come back. VocalVoice has been a source of nostalgia for me, as is the case with many of you here, so I thought it would be a good idea to incorporate the old program into my new work. I have included some of my new spoken word poetry, orated by Ryu, to the bottom of this post. I hope you forgive me for my past mistakes, and Mark, if you’re still out there, I’d love to collaborate sometime.
Attached is an unnamed file of what seems to be spoken word poetry. It is silent save for Ryu speaking four simple words: cat, rat, house, tongue. One of Liz’s old friends (who chooses to remain anonymous) recalled that the way it was tuned sounded just like Liz, just with a robotic way of speaking.
The account continued to regularly post new audio files monthly, but never wrote another blog entry to accompany them. The second audio poem, posted in August, read four new words: Music. Final. Listen. Tongue. Liz’s disappearance was noted in September, when her family back in Portland noted she wasn’t returning any calls. Her neighbors in Phoenix reported no response when they knocked on her door. Her apartment was found to be exactly how she left it, as if she just went out one day and disappeared. Her purse and keys were missing.
In November, the final file was uploaded to the forum. The original file was erased from the site’s servers at request of the family. It contained a voice unmistakably belonging to Liz, but upon examination of the metadata, it was created purely in the VocalVoice program, using the Ryu synthesizer. It consisted of slurred, gibberish syllables and noises indistinguishable as speech imposed upon a royalty free piano track.
In January of 2007, around 12 AM, Liz reappeared in her apartment in Phoenix. Her neighbors heard her crying and went to her aid, and upon finding her noted she would not respond vocally to any of them. She was admitted into the Phoenix General Hospital, where it was found that her tongue was missing. She was in good condition otherwise, and even showed signs of professional medical attention at the site of removal.
After written questioning, we could only identify Mark Lain as a possible suspect of Liz’s case. However upon police investigation, no trace of him was found. No family members have seen him for years, and nobody has ever reported him missing. Upon inspection of his apartment in Portland, nothing of his possession was found save for his laptop, which contained nothing but a download of the VocalVoice program.
i am scared, i want to go home
