Cavemanon/SnootGame
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SnootGame/game/script.rpy

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#TODO
#add chadshark
#The game needs something like a CG gallery, if only to track your progress.
#remove sex
#troll /adgd/
#idk debug lol
#just like make game
#??????
#Profit&Export
#To whoever decides to look at the script file of this, woe be upon ye, because this is an absolute clusterfuck. The actual script for the game starts on line 346. The rest is just boilerplate code for characters, scenes, transitions, and whatnot.
#Why yes all my code is in one massive file called "script" thats 28k lines long, how could you tell?
#Licensed under the GNU AGPL v3, for more information check snootgame.xyz or the LICENSE file that should have came with this work.
init python:
import random
import webbrowser
#function for insult layers
def showCG():
files = ["text0", "text1", "text2", "text3", "text4", "text5", "text6", "text7", "text8", "text9"]
length = len(files)
picked = random.randint(0,length - 1)
fileName = files[picked]
renpy.show(fileName, at_list=[randPosition])
transform randPosition:
alpha 0.0
xalign random.uniform(0.2,0.8)
yalign random.uniform(0.2,0.8)
linear 0.6 alpha 1.0
linear 1.0 alpha 0.0
#python:
# def Walking( name ):
# show name:
# xalign 0.2 yalign 0.25
# ease 1.0 yalign 0.0
# ease 1.0 yalign 0.25
# repeat
#layeredimage aquariumexhibit:
#group animals:
# attribute babyTurtle:
# attribute octo:
# attribute
# attribute
# attribute
# attribute
#layeredimage aquarium
#group kids:
# attribute wkids:
# "smolpatrol.webp"
#layeredimage anon:
# group face:
# attribute neutralFace default:
# "anonb1f1.webp"
# attribute happyFace:
# "anonhappyface.webp"
# attribute flipNeutralFace:
# "flipanonb1f1.webp"
# attribute flipHappyFace:
# "flipanonhappyface.webp"
# group body:
# attribute neutralBody default:
# "anonspriteneutral.webp"
# attribute thumbsUp:
# "anonspritethumbsup.webp"
# attribute flipThumbsUp:
# "flipanonspritethumbsup.webp"
# attribute:
# "flipanonspriteneutral.webp"
# attribute monkey:
# "monkeyanon.webp"
# group holding:
# attribute guitar:
# "guitar.webp"
#Characters
define A = Character ('Anon',color="#36E12D",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-120,who_ypos=110) #Light Green
define F = Character ('Fang',color="#7E2DE1",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Purple
define Lucy = Character ('Lucy',color="#7E2DE1",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Purple
define Ro = Character ('Rosa',color="#E12D36",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Red
define St = Character ('Stella',color="#E17E2D",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #orang
define N = Character ('Naomi',color="#2D36E1",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Blue
define Nas = Character ('Naser',color="#501D5E",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Dark Purple
define T = Character ('Trish',color="#8A0036",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Maroon
define Attendant = Character ('Attendant',color="#8A0036",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-155,who_ypos=111) #Maroon
define Sp = Character ('Spears',color="#7B8A00",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Dark Yellow
define Re = Character ('Reed',color="#368A00",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Dark Green
define D = Character ('Driver',color="#098A00",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111)
define FM = Character ('Fangs Mom',color="#EA1A84",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=108)
define FD = Character ('Fangs Dad',color="#1A1CEA",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=108)
define Tsuki = Character ('Mr. Tsuki',color="#CEAF23",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-150,who_ypos=111)
define unknown = Character (' (???)',color="#000000",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
define jingo = Character ('Mr. Jingo',color="#42C053",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
define MaitD = Character ('Maitre D',color="#42C053",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
define Moe = Character(' Moe',color="#42C053",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
define Vince = Character ('Vince',color="#3C770D",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-125,who_ypos=111) #Dark Green
define Waitress = Character ('Waitress',color="#C89B19",window_background="gui/textbox.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-140,who_ypos=111) #Gold
#long TB chars
define AnonAndFang = Character(' Anon and Fang',color="34F313",window_background="gui/textbox_long.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
define SV = Character ('Street Vendor',color="#420046",window_background="gui/textbox_long.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-145,who_ypos=110)
define carl = Character ('Mr. Carldewskii',color="#4963A5",window_background="gui/textbox_long.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
define Drf = Character (' Dr. Fernsworth',color="#4963A5",window_background="gui/textbox_long.png",window_xoffset=120,window_yoffset=-79,what_xpos=245,what_ypos=125,who_xpos=-170,who_ypos=110)
#Extra image translations
#siloettes
image stellaSilo = im.Flip(im.MatrixColor("stella/stella neutral.png",im.matrix.brightness(-1)), horizontal=True)
image rosaSilo = im.MatrixColor("rosa/rosa neutral.png",im.matrix.brightness(-1))
image naomiSilo = im.MatrixColor("naomi/naomi neutral.png",im.matrix.brightness(-1))
image naserSilo = im.Flip(im.MatrixColor("naser/naser neutral.png",im.matrix.brightness(-1)), horizontal=True)
image fangSilo = im.MatrixColor("fang/fang neutral.png",im.matrix.brightness(-1))
image fangAngrySilo = im.MatrixColor("fang/fang angry.png",im.matrix.brightness(-1))
#violence flips
image fang kicking flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang kicking.png", horizontal=True)
#neutral flips
image anon neutral flip = im.Flip("anon/base set/anon neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image anond neutral flip = im.Flip("anon/ending sets/anond neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image anon prom neutral flip = im.Flip("anon/prom set/anon prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image anon prom blacklight neutral flip = im.Flip("anon/Other/anon prom blacklight neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fang neutral flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fang a prom neutral flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang a prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fang d prom neutral flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang d prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fang d neutral flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang d neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c prom neutral flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang c prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image naser neutral flip = im.Flip("naser/naser neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image naser prom neutral flip = im.Flip("naser/naser prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image trish neutral flip = im.Flip("trish/trish neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image trish future neutral flip = im.Flip("trish/trish future neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image trish prom neutral flip = im.Flip("trish/trish prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi neutral flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi prom neutral flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fangmom neutral flip = im.Flip("fangparents/fangmom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image fangdad neutral flip = im.Flip("fangparents/fangdad neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image spears neutral flip = im.Flip("spears/spears neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image stella neutral flip = im.Flip("stella/stella neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image stella neutral alt flip = im.Flip("stella/stella neutral alt.png", horizontal=True)
image stella prom neutral flip = im.Flip("stella/stella prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image moe neutral flip = im.Flip("moe/moe neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image rosa neutral flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image rosa prom neutral flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa prom neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image reed neutral flip = im.Flip("reed/reed neutral.png", horizontal=True)
image reed king rex flip = im.Flip("reed/reed king rex.png", horizontal=True)
image reed future neutral flip = im.Flip("reed/reed future neutral.png", horizontal=True)
#angry flips
image spears angry flip = im.Flip("spears/spears angry.png", horizontal=True)
image fang angry flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang angry.png", horizontal=True)
image fang very angry flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang very angry.png", horizontal=True)
image fang ultra angry flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang ultra angry.png", horizontal=True)
image fang a prom angry flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang a prom angry.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi angry flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi angry.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi prom angry flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi prom angry.png", horizontal=True)
image rosa angry flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa angry.png", horizontal=True)
image naser angry flip = im.Flip("naser/naser angry.png", horizontal=True)
image trish angry flip = im.Flip("trish/trish angry.png", horizontal=True)
image trish prom angry flip = im.Flip("trish/trish prom angry.png", horizontal=True)
image trish fury flip = im.Flip("trish/trish fury.png", horizontal=True)
image reed angry flip = im.Flip("reed/reed angry.png", horizontal=True)
#very angry flips
image anon angry flip = im.Flip("anon/emotive set/anon angry.png", horizontal=True)
#sad flips
image anon sad flip = im.Flip("anon/emotive set/anon sad.png", horizontal=True)
image fang very sad flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang very sad.png", horizontal=True)
image fang sad flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang sad.png", horizontal=True)
image fang pendant sad flip = im.Flip("fang/christmas/fang pendant sad.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c prom sad flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang c prom sad.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c sad flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang c sad.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c sad2 flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang c sad2.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c sad3 flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang c sad3.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c sad4 flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang c sad4.png", horizontal=True)
image anon sad flip = im.Flip("anon/emotive set/anon sad.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi sad flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi sad.png", horizontal=True)
image naser sad flip = im.Flip("naser/naser sad.png", horizontal=True)
image trish sad flip = im.Flip("trish/trish sad.png", horizontal=True)
image trish prom sad flip = im.Flip("trish/trish prom sad.png", horizontal=True)
image stella sad flip = im.Flip("stella/stella sad.png", horizontal=True)
image stella prom sad flip = im.Flip("stella/stella prom sad.png", horizontal=True)
image reed sad flip = im.Flip("reed/reed sad.png", horizontal=True)
#shocked flips
image anon shocked flip = im.Flip("anon/emotive set/anon shocked.png", horizontal=True)
image fang shocked flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang shocked.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c shocked flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang c shocked.png", horizontal=True)
image reed shocked flip = im.Flip("reed/reed shocked.png", horizontal=True)
image naser shocked flip = im.Flip("naser/naser shocked.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi shocked flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi shocked.png", horizontal=True)
image stella shock alt flip = im.Flip("stella/stella shocked alt.png", horizontal=True)
#considering flips
image fang considering flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang considering.png", horizontal=True)
image reed considering flip = im.Flip("reed/reed considering.png", horizontal=True)
image naser considering flip = im.Flip("naser/naser considering.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi considering flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi considering.png", horizontal=True)
image rosa considering flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa considering.png", horizontal=True)
#happy flips
image fang happy flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang happy.png", horizontal=True)
image fang a prom happy flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang a prom happy.png", horizontal=True)
image fang d prom happy flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang d prom happy.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c prom happy flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang c prom happy.png", horizontal=True)
image fang c happy flip = im.Flip("fang/future sets/fang c happy.png", horizontal=True)
image naser happy flip = im.Flip("naser/naser happy.png", horizontal=True)
image naser prom happy flip = im.Flip("naser/naser prom happy.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi happy flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi happy.png", horizontal=True)
image trish happy flip = im.Flip("trish/trish happy.png", horizontal=True)
image trish very happy flip = im.Flip("trish/trish very happy.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi prom happy flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi prom happy.png", horizontal=True)
image reed happy flip = im.Flip("reed/reed happy.png", horizontal=True)
image reed happy sunglasses flip = im.Flip("reed/reed happy sunglasses.png", horizontal=True)
image anon face happy flip = im.Flip("anon/base set/anon face happy.png", horizontal=True)
image trish future smug flip = im.Flip("trish/trish future smug.png", horizontal=True)
image trish prom happy flip = im.Flip("trish/trish prom happy.png", horizontal=True)
image stella happy flip = im.Flip("stella/stella happy.png", horizontal=True)
image stella happy alt flip = im.Flip("stella/stella happy alt.png", horizontal=True)
#fear flips
image anon fear flip = im.Flip("anon/emotive set/anon fear.png", horizontal=True)
#bossy flips
image rosa bossy flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa bossy.png", horizontal=True)
#explanatory flip
image reed explanatory flip = im.Flip("reed/reed explanatory.png", horizontal=True)
image trish explanatory flip = im.Flip("trish/trish explanatory.png", horizontal=True)
image reed future explanatory flip = im.Flip("reed/reed future explanatory.png", horizontal=True)
image stella explanatory flip = im.Flip("stella/stella explanatory.png", horizontal=True)
image naser explanatory flip = im.Flip("naser/naser explanatory.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi explanatory flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi explanatory.png", horizontal=True)
#unimpressed flip
image fang unimpressed flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image fang d prom unimpressed flip = im.Flip("fang/prom sets/fang d prom unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image reed unimpressed flip = im.Flip("reed/reed unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image anon unimpressed flip = im.Flip("anon/base set/anon unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image naser unimpressed flip = im.Flip("naser/naser unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image trish unimpressed flip = im.Flip("trish/trish unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image naomi unimpressed flip = im.Flip("naomi/naomi unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image stella unimpressed flip = im.Flip("stella/stella unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image trish future unimpressed flip = im.Flip("trish/trish future unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image fangdad unimpressed flip = im.Flip("fangparents/fangdad unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image fangmom unimpressed flip = im.Flip("fangparents/fangmom unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
#annoyed flip
image naser annoyed flip = im.Flip("naser/naser annoyed.png", horizontal=True)
image trish annoyed flip = im.Flip("trish/trish annoyed.png", horizontal=True)
#embarrass flip
image fang embarrass flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang embarrass.png", horizontal=True)
#hiding flip
image fang hiding flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang hiding.png", horizontal=True)
#indignant flip
image trish prom indignant flip = im.Flip("trish/trish prom indignant.png", horizontal=True)
#surprised flip
image fang surprised flip = im.Flip("fang/basic set/fang surprised.png", horizontal=True)
#other flips
image spears happy flip = im.Flip("spears/spears happy.png", horizontal=True)
image fang flip off happy flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang flip off happy.png", horizontal=True)
image fang ear cover flip = im.Flip("fang/emotive set/fang ear cover.png", horizontal=True)
image anon monkey flip = im.Flip("anon/Other/anon monkey.png", horizontal=True)
image rosa prom closed flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa prom closed.png", horizontal=True)
image reed sunglasses flip = im.Flip("reed/reed sunglasses.png", horizontal=True)
image trish prom bass flip = im.Flip("trish/trish prom bass.png", horizontal=True)
image trish smug flip = im.Flip("trish/trish smug.png", horizontal=True)
image rosa future flip = im.Flip("rosa/rosa future.png", horizontal=True)
image jinflip = im.Flip("other/jin.png", horizontal=True)
image farnsworth flip = im.Flip("other/farnsworth.png", horizontal=True)
image carldelewski flip = im.Flip("other/carldelewski.png", horizontal=True)
image fangdad unimpressed flip = im.Flip("fangparents/fangdad unimpressed.png", horizontal=True)
image black = "#000"
#WAOH ITS THE TITLE SCREEN!!!!
label splashscreen:
$ persistent.splashtype = random.randint(0,2000 - 1)
$ renpy.movie_cutscene("images/intros/CaveManonProductions.webm")
stop sound
return
#Custom Vars for positions
transform scenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.0
transform sleft:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.0
transform sright:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.0
#Stella
transform stcenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.1
transform stleft:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
transform stright:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.1
#Anon
transform acenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.1
transform aleft:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
transform aright:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.1
#Naser
transform ncenter:
xalign 0.6 yalign 0.1
transform nleft:
xalign -0.2 yalign 0.1
transform nright:
xalign 1.9 yalign 0.1
#Fangs mom
transform fmcenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.1
transform fmleft:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
transform fmright:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.1
#Trish
transform tcenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.1
transform tleft:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
transform tright:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.1
#Reed and other long tailed dinos
transform rcenter:
xalign 1.2 yalign 0.1
transform rleft:
xalign -0.2 yalign 0.1
transform rright:
xalign 1.7 yalign 0.1
label start:
$ fangscore = 0
$ anonscore = 0
$ tradwife = False
pause 1.0
#First Day of School
"January sixth."
"Year 201M2020 BC."
"Volcaldera Bluffs."
"Weather conditions; cold as balls."
"It’s my first time living close to water."
"The idea of ‘marine layer’ is new to me, but I do understand morning mist."
"This was like it, except infinitely more shitty."
"The heavy fog makes navigating to my new school more difficult as I fail to see anything five feet in front of me."
"Like a runt of a tree planted in the sidewalk that I swerve to avoid."
"It’s my first time having to walk to school too."
"My new apartment is in an awkward spot. Opposite side of town, yet no school or public bus to take me from there."
"It’s my first day at a new school."
"It’s the second half of the first semester of senior year."
"I had six months left at my old school."
"I can’t even imagine the kind of hell those six months would have been."
"But this…"
"I should take my mind off of it."
"I whip out my phone, and consider the best way to make people upset online."
menu:
"Reply to the obvious shill thread":
"I replied to the obvious shill thread"
"Bait the obvious underaged poster":
"I baited as underage B&"
"The thread goes 404 right as I'm ready to post my well thought-out reply."
"Better hide my phone before someone sees fit to take it from me, the only human around town. I think."
play music 'audio/effects/chatter loop.ogg' fadein 1.0
"It’s the sounds that reach me first. The chatter of people milling about."
show rosaSilo at scenter
show stellaSilo at sright
unknown "Bro"
unknown "It’s been too long!"
unknown "It was only three weeks *Giggle*"
"I can make out the building now."
"The fog shrouding gives the school an ominous vibe to it."
"I look at the name written on the arch over the entrance."
"Volcano High."
scene outside school fog with fade
A "Perfect setting for a horror game. Or maybe a shitty WAD."
"The attempt at humouring myself just made me feel more alone."
show anonphone
"A check of my phone says I’m 30 minutes early."
"Wonderful."
hide anonphone
"I move to the entrance, only to see all of the steps occupied by students."
scene stairs with fade
scene stairs at Pan((6000, 1200),(553, 169), 30.0)
"Their eyes turn to me. Expressions of confusion and contemplation. I can feel their judging stares, the same that had haunted me for four months previous."
"I can already picture what they’re thinking."
unknown "{i}Dude, check it out!{/i}"
unknown "{i}Is that a skinnie?{/i}"
unknown "{i}Where’s his spear? Aren’t they all like, spear chuckers or something?{/i}"
unknown "{i}Bet he eats his own kind.{/i}"
"They probably see me as some kind of circus attraction and nothing more."
"Ha, I’m the freakshow among this cereal box mascot crowd."
#(Scrolling Staircase CG here)
"Taking acid is not nearly as colorful as going to Volcano High, I should write that down."
"As I write '’write that down'' on my phone’s note app, I noticed the surrounding students stopped looking at me, which is good."
"I can peep around the friend circles without a problem now."
"Not like I'll ever be a part of one anyway."
"?"
stop music fadeout 1.0
play music "audio/OST/That Monochromatic Weirdo.ogg" fadein 0.5
scene fanglookback at Pan((0, 1080), (0, 0), 10.0)
"Talk about wanting to stand out, I never thought it was possible to look like you were from a black and white twenties cartoon."
"She does differ from the other technicolor students though..."
"...in the worst way possible."
"O-oh yeah. She's staring at me..."
"...with that look. Fucking hell."
"Has she never seen a human in her life?"
"I fucking hate that look."
"Contempt. Judging."
"Everyone that has looked at me like that never proved to be anything more than an asshole."
"Like I'M the anomaly here. She's just as dumb and insufferable as the rest of them."
"She’s probably no better than me, miss ''my snout is so big I can land a plane on it''."
"Go back to your friends."
scene fangtalkingwithtrish with dissolve
stop music fadeout 1.0
pause 1
play music "audio/OST/Beach Chill Out.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Huh. She did. I feel like I should say something."
"I notice that all this time my knees were weak and my arms were heavy."
"My feet carry me over the soggy grass as I look for somewhere else to be."
stop music
stop sound
stop audio
"On the side of the building is where I find sanctuary"
scene garden with fade
show anon neutral flip at scenter
"It’s a small alcove of sorts."
"The pavement is cracked to bits and the shrubs surrounding it are overgrown."
"Even the bench, cracked paint on rotted wood held between two concrete legs, matched the ‘abandoned’ vibe of the place."
"It was perfect."
"I flop down on the wet bench and the violent crack from it makes my heart drop."
"Almost perfect but good enough."
"I feel a tightness in my chest, and my lungs fight to draw air in."
"Head in my hands I can fully understand what I’ve done now."
"Six months in a new school."
"A year on my own in some rundown apartment in a town I know nothing about."
"All on my own."
"Three weeks."
"It took a day for me to want to change schools, and three weeks to make it happen."
"And this is my life now for the next year. I think back to my old man’s ultimatum."
"{i}Once the lease is done, Anon, either college or the service.{/i}"
"{i}I don’t care which.{/i}"
show naomiSilo at sleft
show naserSilo at sright
unknown "Would you happen to be Anon?" #Naomi
play sound "audio/effects/WoodSnap.wav"
hide anon
"I look up. The bench broke down."
"I lay on the ground, ass hurt from hitting jagged concrete and splintered wood."
"Thank god for jeans."
scene pathetic at Pan((0, 1031), (0, 0), 10.0)
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg'
unknown "Oh my goodness! Are you okay?"
"I groan"
A "Never better"
"I instinctively apply my ‘chill guy’ facade in the presence of strangers to hide how uneasy I am today."
"A hand is held over my face. In my pain addled confusion I shake it."
unknown "Naser!"
Nas "Right, right"
scene garden with fade
show naser neutral flip at nright
show naomiSilo at sleft
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
"The hand tightens around my own and pulls roughly."
"The force is enough for my feet to get under me, stumbling back up to stand before the pair of strangers."
"It also felt like enough force to pull my arm out of its socket."
show anon neutral at acenter
A "Uh... 'Sup?"
Nas "You're Anon, yeah?"
unknown "I'm glad we found you!"
A "...Who are you guys? Why do you know my name?"
show anon neutral flip at acenter with dissolve
unknown "Where are my manners! My name is Naomi, student council president and your guide. It’s my sincere pleasure to make your acquaintance Anon!"
show naomi neutral at sleft with dissolve
hide naomiSilo
Nas "We’re your welcoming committee"
A "O-kay then."
"Is that really necessary?"
N "I had this prepared just for you!"
"The orange one, Naomi hands me a brochure."
"Volcano High and You. A new beginning to adulthood."
"The title alone makes me gag. The pink one, Naomi, looks at me expectantly."
"The brochure is full of the typical trivialities."
"College prep, financial assistance, after school programs."
"None of it matters."
Nas "Babe, I’ve got some things to take care of."
show naser neutral flip:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.0
show naomi sad
with dissolve
"Naser looks back to the school entrance. I follow his eyes and see some people trying to lift a large speaker up the stairs of the school. "
N "O-oh."
N "I’ll see you at lunch, right Naser?"
"She looks dejected."
Nas "*chuckles* Of course."
show anon at aright
show naser neutral flip at ncenter
with move
"Naser pulls her into a hug and nudges his muzzle against hers. Is that how dinos kiss?"
"He leaves, running quickly to assist with the heavy sound equipment."
hide naser neutral flip with dissolve
N "ahem"
show naomi neutral with dissolve
"I turn back to Naomi. She smiles again, though there is a plasticity to it."
N "How about I show you the campus, Anon? We wouldn’t want you getting lost on your first day, now would we?"
A "Mm, sounds good."
scene hallway
show naomi neutral at sleft
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
show hallway
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg'
"Instead of using the main entrance Naomi led me to a side entrance. Inside, the school looked like your stereotypical school hallway."
"Lockers and posters along the walls. Doors interspersed equally all the way down. More students milling about before class."
N "Anon, may I see your class schedule?"
"I pull the folded up sheet from my pocket and hand it to her. She unfolds it delicately and scans the page thoroughly."
N "Oh my gosh! We share a home room Anon!"
"Oh wonderful."
N "Speaking of, class will be starting shortly. Follow me. Mr. Tsuki’s classroom is this way."
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg'
"I follow after her to a classroom on the 2nd floor. The seats were being filled with students. I take one near the front, knowing I’ll have to introduce myself. I’ll probably be doing that for all my classes."
scene classroom with fade
"Fuck my life."
show anon neutral flip at aright
"The artificial ring of a bell blares from a speaker on the wall. With it everyone waits as the teacher finally enters the room and shuts the door."
show jinflip at sleft with dissolve
Tsuki "Ohayo gozaimasu curassu. Tudei yu habu e niu curassu-meito tsu Borukeino Hai"
"What"
Tsuki "Anon-kun puriizu camu appu zen intorudiusu yooru serfu"
stop sound
"Naomi coughs and makes a subtle nod up."
"OH!"
stop sound
stop audio
stop music
"I stood from my seat and faced the class. Once again all eyes on me and the tightness in my chest returns. I inhale deep, willing my erratic heart to slow."
show anon neutral flip at acenter with move
show jinflip with move:
xalign -0.2 yalign 0.0
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
A "Hey…"
"Again those eyes, just like three weeks ago."
A "My name is Anon. I uh…"
"Just like every day for the past four months."
A "I don’t really have any hobbies."
"I wanted to flee. Hide away. Anything to avoid those judging eyes."
N "Why did you transfer here?"
"My throat clenches. It’s an innocent question. But I think back again to it all."
A "uh… I…"
"There’s whispers now. The hushed tones, silenced snickers, blending with the everpresent stares. My heart hammers at my chest and I am sure that they all can hear it. See the cold chill racing over me."
Tsuki "Anon-kun, yuu du natto habu tsu ansaa zattu"
"His words snap me out of my trance. Only Naomi was looking at me. The rest were preoccupied."
"Either talking about their winter break. Or catching up on sleep."
"They’ve all been ignoring me the entire time."
Tsuki "Puriizu retaano tsu yo shiito, Anon-kun. Hai, nao curassu-"
"That was nothing like my Japanese animes."
hide anon neutral with dissolve
"Mr. Tsuki continued on, drawing what little attention there was to himself. I sat down, finally feeling the blood that had caught in my legs rush up, leaving me lightheaded."
hide jinflip with dissolve
"And I probably have to do this for each class today?"
"Double fuck my life."
scene black with fade
"Awkward introduction after awkward introduction to classmates that couldn’t care less kept me anxious the whole morning."
scene cafeteria
show anon neutral at aleft
with dissolve
"And there’s still the rest of the day to go."
"Eventually, lunch comes around."
"I don’t have the lunch card yet, so I settle for a pseudopizza."
"The kind that becomes a viable weapon if you leave it alone for ten minutes."
"No time to waste after exiting the line, I scan the lunchroom for an open seat."
"I thought I had found a decent spot in the corner when disaster struck."
show naser neutral with moveinleft:
xalign -0.1 yalign 0.0
show anon neutral flip at scenter with move
"Said disaster was a hand grabbing my shoulder and turning me about."
"My plate of pizza shaped cardboard threatened to smear across my shirt."
"I fought the momentum of the tray until the hand that had spun me stabilized it and me."
show naser explanatory
Nas "Whoa there! Nearly dropped your food Anon."
A "Yeah, whose fault is that?"
show naser considering with dissolve
pause 2
show naser explanatory with dissolve
Nas "...Yours?"
"I swear to all that is good and holy."
show naser happy with dissolve
Nas "Wanna sit with us?"
"What?"
Nas "Wanna sit with Naomi and me? Since you’re new and all."
"He points to a table where the living pink sugar rush is waving."
"God damn it."
"I don’t want to make a scene."
A "Suuuure…"
scene cafeteria
show anon neutral at aleft
show naomi neutral flip at sright
show naser neutral flip:
xalign 0.4 yalign 0.0
with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg'
"Before I even sit down the barrage of questions begins."
show naomi explanatory flip with dissolve
N "SO! How’d it go! Did you like Spears? Were you able to get what you need?"
"I just nod along, starting to not pay attention."
Nas "You looking forward to the rest of the day?"
A "Not really."
A "All these introductions, you know?"
Nas "I get you, hard to talk to people you don’t know, right?"
A "Something like that, yeah."
A "Hell, last period I tripped in front of everyone. Talk about a first impression."
Nas "I don’t think they’d care too much."
N "Have you had any trouble since then? Do you have enough money for food today?"
Nas "Oh, you’re short on food money man?"
show naser flip unimpressed
show naomi flip sad
with dissolve
"I perk up at Naser’s interjection. Naomi looks disappointed for a second."
show naomi neutral flip with dissolve
A "Not really, just had to sign up for some handouts."
"Naomi is starting to look disappointed I’m only picking up on Naser’s interjections"
Nas "If you need a bit more extra chow, there’s going to be free refreshments at my si-- uh…"
show naser considering flip with dissolve
pause 0.3
show naser neutral flip with dissolve
Nas "At Fang’s concert after school today"
A "Your what?"
Nas "Fang"
A "Your brother or….?"
pause 0.1
Nas "...Sibling."
"What."
Nas "Fang’s gonna have some extra pizzas for the show. You could take some home."
A "I uh... dunno about concerts. Not really one for public events like that."
Nas "Alright man, just thought you could use a few opportunities to make friends."
"What was that?"
"I’ll pretend that wasn’t meant to be malicious."
A "I’ll consider it."
show naomi sad flip with dissolve
N "Hey! Don’t leave me out of the conversation!"
show naomi happy flip with dissolve
N "How about I help you pick out some cheap food after school?"
N "I know some great vegan shops in the area!"
"My stomach roils at the V-word."
A "Maaaaybe another time, sorry. So about that concert Naser?"
show naomi sad flip with dissolve
"Dinner and a show? Sign me the fuck up."
A "So what do they play?"
Nas "Music."
A "Music?"
Nas "Yes."
show naomi neutral flip
A "What kind?"
Nas "The kind you listen to."
A "Wh- Well what genre?"
Nas "The good kind?"
A "You don’t know, do you."
Nas "Nope."
"Well, free food is free food. Sign me the fuck up"
"I look at my pizza, noticing something is wrong."
"I test it with my plastic spork and watch the cheap utensil shatter to bits."
"I curse life for a third time today."
"The dreaded ten-minute mark has passed, rendering my ‘pizza’ only useful as building material."
show naomi happy flip with dissolve
N "Oh dear. Naser why don’t you split your sandwich with him?"
show naser annoyed flip with dissolve
Nas "But it’s my sandwich!"
N "It’s fine, we can split my vegan TLT!"
show naser sad flip with dissolve
"Naser shudders and looks at his own footlong philly sub longingly."
Nas "S-sure thing, babe."
"He tears the sandwich in two and hands me the larger half."
Nas "Here, Anon."
"I will never forget your brave sacrifice."
"With that we all dig into our meal."
"..."
scene black with fade
"--After school--"
"My classes after lunch were the same as before it."
"By now I had a rehearsed introduction that only the teacher cared about."
"My classmates were disinterested and I would sit down to be forgotten."
"I hope the rest of the year is just like that."
"I just want to skate through it all."
"All that’s left for today is the concert. And dinner."
scene door auditorium
show naser neutral at sleft
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
"I wait outside the auditorium entrance with Naser, who was checking his phone for messages."
Nas "Right, Fang says the show is starting in a bit. See?"
show fuckedwingretard with dissolve
"Naser turns the screen to me."
"Fang: Piss off."
"Fang: Is the pizza here?"
"Fang: You can have a slice"
"Fang: But after that you GTFO FWR"
hide fuckedwingretard with dissolve
A "FWR? Like, Franklin W. Roosevelt?"
Nas "Nah. Fucked wing retard. Fang’s words, not mine."
A "Is your uh… sibling always like this?"
Nas "Fang’s...."
show naser considering with dissolve
"I wait for him to continue."
Nas "Well um…"
Nas "I mean, kinda?"
A "Glad I’m an only child."
show naser angry with dissolve
"Naser glares at me."
Nas "Fang’s still family."
A "Ah, sorry. Just saying is all."
show naser sad with dissolve
"Naser deflates."
Nas "You’re good, Anon. And yeah, they’re family but Fang’s just so… so…"
A "Difficult?"
show naser explanatory with dissolve
Nas "YES! Difficult! And I don’t know why."
A "Sounds rough."
show naser considering with dissolve
Nas "It is. Like, I know sh- THEY care but Fang doesn’t even wanna be around me."
A "Hmmm."
"Finally the doors open and I smell the cheesy, heart clogging goodness within."
show naser happy with dissolve
Nas "Sweet. Come on, Anon."
hide naser with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/we just turned on the microphone in our programmers_ house.ogg'
"A caveman of a man holds open the door for everyone."
unknown "Wait."
"His massive hand stops me."
A "A-ah. Y-yes?"
"I’m guided to the side, away from the crowd that’s filtering into the auditorium."
show spears neutral at sleft with dissolve
unknown "So how are you feeling about our lovely school, Anon?"
A "Uh…"
"It’s the spear-shaped pin on his lapel that reads ‘principal’ that informs me of who this giant is."
A "O-oh! It’s uh… nice? Cleaner than my old school."
"He guffaws and slaps his chest."
Sp "You can thank your classmates for that."
"What?"
Sp "Now, go enjoy the show."
A "Yes sir."
Sp "Oh, I do need you to come by my office tomorrow for some paperwork."
hide spears with dissolve
scene auditorium with dissolve
show anon neutral flip at aright
show naser neutral at sleft
with fade
"I nod and go back to the door where Naser is standing, holding it open for the last of the audience to go inside."
"Naser leads me and the large crowd into the shitty school theater."
"The foyer has tables with boxes of pizzas stacked taller than me."
Nas "You can take a couple boxes after, Anon. That should help ya out."
A "Who the hell got all these anyway?"
Nas "I did."
"I take a box down from the stack. Others have already started stacking their plates."
"I check the logo on the box."
A "And to get so many larges from… \"Dino-moe’s Pizza\"?"
A "That’s a couple hundred bucks though."
Nas "Meh, ‘bout a month’s allowance."
"A month? That explains that disaster of a jacket."
A "So about the actual show-"
Nas "I’ll check on them. Be right back."
hide naser with dissolve
"Left on my own I stack my plate up with some quality grease topped delight."
show anon neutral flip at sleft with move
show anon neutral at aleft with dissolve
"I lean against the wall, chewing bits of supreme and observing the rest of the crowd."
unknown "-nother shitshow-"
unknown "She’s so stupid-"
unknown "-they even bother?"
unknown "Bunch of losers-"
"Everyone seems to share the same sentiment."
"So why the hell did they even show up for this?"
"Naser finally comes back and opens the door to the main hall."
"The crowd moves in, though I hang back so I can talk with Naser."
show naser neutral flip at ncenter with moveinright
A "What’s with them, Naser?"
Nas "What do you mean?"
A "The crowd. They were talking mad shit."
show naser angry flip
Nas "What?!"
show anon neutral at acenter with move
show anon neutral flip at aright with move
show naser angry flip at ncenter with dissolve
show naser angry flip at sleft with move
"Naser grasps at the air unsure what to think or do at the moment. I think he’s angry"
show naser table hit at sleft with dissolve
#(Naser bangs the table, there is no text or indication on screen, only a loud banging noise and a screen shake)
play sound "audio/effects/Slam.ogg"
A "Whoa whoa."
show naser angry flip at sleft
Nas "Ugh, I should’ve known."
show naser angry at sleft
A "I don’t, what are you talking about man?"
Nas "I brought them here so Fang has an audience."
stop music
A "Oh."
show naser considering at sleft
play sound 'audio/OST/ringtone.ogg'
"Naser’s phone rings. He moves aside to answer it."
show naser flip neutral with dissolve
hide naser with moveoutleft
Nas "Fa-"
"The voice on the other end is loud and shrill."
Nas "Yeah I-"
"He holds the phone away from his ear to save his eardrum."
Nas "Okay okay I-"
"The call ends and Naser sags."
show naser sad at sleft with moveinleft
Nas "I’ve gotta leave."
A "Seriously?"
Nas "Yeah, Fang doesn’t want me here. Said I’ll ruin the show."
"Harsh."
Nas "Look, whatever happens promise you won’t hold this against them."
Nas "They're actually a really a nice person once you get to know them"
A "Naser why did you just murder the english language in cold blood?"
"Within I see the rest of the audience, huddled in groups around tiny snack tables."
Nas "Even went to the trouble of switching out the seats for them. Naomi said it’d help."
"With a huff Naser turns away, begrudgingly leaving the auditorium.:"
hide naser with moveoutright
"I enter the hall and take a seat in the back, away from the rest of the crowd."
scene black with fade
"The lights dim and the curtains are drawn open."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene fang band playing with fade
"Onstage is a trio of people my age."
"I think Fang is the drummer? He doesn’t look related to Naser, maybe it is the main front-woman?"
"That must be Naser’s sister."
A "Wh-"
"Then why the whole confusion over her sex? For fuck’s sake."
"I’m just getting thrown around today. I don’t know."
"She looks familiar."
"The band doesn’t bother introducing themselves."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg'
"Instead the purple one begins plucking her bass."
"It all went tumbling down from there."
"What I thought was a guitar sounded horrifically wrong, far too heavy."
"The lead guitarist was using a fucking bass."
"And then the vocals kicked in."
"It’s horrific screeching, combined with the amelodious shredding on a bass created a cacophony equal to hundreds of cats ritualistically sacrificed."
"I fight the urge to cover my ears."
"I don’t know too much about music, but even I know that you don’t use two basses in one band unless you know exactly what you’re doing."
"Ooooooh nooooooo."
"Ooooooooh God."
"What were they thinking?!"
"I looked back to the crowd to gauge their interest."
"Surely I’m not alone in thinking this is an absolute travesty."
unknown "PFFFT AHAHAHA THEY STILL FUCKING SUCK!!"
#(In-CG insult layers)
window hide
$ i = 0
while i < 20:
$ showCG()
pause 1
$ i = i + 1
#(In-CG insult layers)
"The crowd was standing, jeering and laughing with whoever said that."
"More words were said but the laughter eclipsed them and the music."
"Wait, what happened to the music?"
"On-stage, the trio looked panicked."
"The drummer was inching off stage, while the purple bassist was about to break down into tears."
"But the frontwoman stood there. Stood her ground."
#(In-CG insult layers)
window hide
$ showCG()
#(In-CG insult layers)
scene fang band screaming
unknown "FUCK YOU!"
"She tossed her bass aside, raising both hands and proudly displaying a finger on each of them."
unknown "FUCK ALL OF YOU!"
unknown "NO ONE WOULD WANT TO FUCK YOU, BITCH!"
"Pffft… That struck a chord with her."
#(In-CG insult layers)
window hide
$ i = 0
while i < 5:
$ showCG()
pause 1
$ i = i + 1
#(In-CG insult layers)
"I watch as she grabs her bass and takes the arm of the purple one, rushing off stage with the pink drummer."
scene black with fade
scene black with fade
window hide
$ i = 0
while i < 3:
$ showCG()
pause 1
$ i = i + 1
"Oh God I can’t take this, I’m gonna grow a 6 pack from laughing so much, I’m just gonna grab my pizza and leave"
scene auditorium
show anon neutral flip at aright
show spears neutral at sleft
with fade
"I turn towards the door and see Principal Spears, a fierce glare freezing me in place."
Sp "Anon."
"Oh fuck"
"His voice is even more stern than this morning."
A "Yes sir?"
"He looks to the crowd and then to me."
Sp "I don’t want to hear about any of this come tomorrow."
Sp "I expect some goddamned maturity from you, Anon."
Sp "You’ll be an adult once you graduate."
A "Uh… Why me though?"
Sp "I’ve taught many students, and I can tell these things."
"His hand lands on my shoulder."
"It’s grip was firm as it weighed on me."
Sp "Listen here, Anon. You are not the only person in the world."
Sp "Everyone’s fighting their own battles."
"The hand squeezes before pushing me towards the door."
show anon neutral at aright
Sp "I want to see you in my office first thing tomorrow."
Sp "Now get out of here, this is the only warning that you’ll get from me."
Sp "Next time it will be campus clean-up."
stop audio
stop sound
stop music
"Behind me the principal’s voice shakes the room."
show spears angry with dissolve
Sp "WHOSE SORRY ASS AM I GOING TO HAVE TO SUPLEX!"
scene hallway with dissolve
show anon neutral at aleft
"Back in the foyer I see some boxes of partially finished pizza left."
"I consolidate them all into a pair of boxes and make my exit."
scene outside school
show anon neutral at aleft
with fade
"The sun is starting to set now as I make my way home."
play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg' fadein 1.0
Sp "{i}You are not the only person in the world.{/i}"
"Pfft. Like I don’t already know that. There’s like…"
"The classmates that all ignored me today."
"Naomi’s annoying ass."
"That fucking caveman of a principal."
"Naser, whose been a bro."
"Naser’s Sis-"
"Oh."
"Shit."
"..."
scene black with fade
#Meeting the Band
"-The Next Day-"
play sound "audio/effects/Alarm.ogg"
"*BLEEP* *BLEEP* *BLEEP* *BLEEP* *BLEEP* *BLEEP* "
stop sound
scene room anon dark with fade
"The bane of all sleep echoes violently by my head, swiftly erasing any traces of slumber."
"Still without the energy to turn the alarm off, I stare at the ceiling for a bit, recalling the events of the last few days as an exercise."
"The school, if you could call it one."
"My new friends, if you could call them that."
"That band, if you could call it such."
"Great idea Anon, start the day by dissing everything you've done so far in your new life."
"No wonder you're so damn popular."
"Finally, I lean out of bed and turn the alarm clock off."
"I have a good forty-five minutes before I need to be at school, and it takes twenty to walk."
"That leaves twenty-five minutes to get ready."
"With practiced movements I execute a proper combat roll from bed, tackling the floor and headbutt it into submission. My foe defeated, I groan in victory."
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
"My new bed is half the size of what I’m used to."
"The hardwood (or is it vinyl?) floor is cold as hell."
"From the purview of the floor, I look around my room again."
"A tiny one room apartment with only a computer, bed, television, and fridge."
"A whole year in this shithole."
"... Guess I gotta take it one day at a time."
"Picking myself up, I slide into todays’ (and everydays’) clothes and pour myself a bowl" #of off-brand cereal I picked up the day before.
"My eyes scan over my phone while I shovel my sugary breakfast into my mouth."
"*Scroll*"
"*Crunch*"
"*Scroll*"
"*Crunch*"
"Like a poorly oiled machine until it runs out of fuel with a noisy slurp."
"Soon enough it's time to leave for school. I grab my backpack and slide it over my shoulders. I take my jacket off the hanger and"
"…"
"I take off the backpack and put the jacket on."
"Opening the door blows the cool morning air in my face, and I stop to take a deep breath."
scene skinrow
show anon neutral at aleft
"Day four out of however many days are left in the year. So far so good."
scene outside school
show anon neutral at aleft
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
show outside school fog
"I approach the grand building, looking to find a place in line between the other students trundling into the front doors."
"The halls before class are as crowded as always, hundreds of students filing in unison towards their homerooms."
"By now I was starting to be able to make my way around on autopilot, I've walked the same path twice already after all."
"Even after the longest sleep of my life, I still feel miserably tired and ready to crash once again."
"I found another entrance at the side of the school that has less students on it. The less the merrier."
"I check my clock once again - I’m early. Fucking hell. Should have shitposted a bit more."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg'
"Why am I here so early again?"
"Think I had to do something."
"Oh yeah."
"I should talk to Naser. Give him my version of events."
"That way he won’t kick {i}my{/i} ass."
"Wait."
"Oh goddamn it."
"The principal also wanted to see me. Shit, probably gonna get some demerit or whatever rich schools do as punishment."
"I had almost forgotten."
"Please Raptor Jesus just let this be the last time I need to deal with stuff like this."
"Get it over with so I can finally just slip my way through this year."
menu:
"Naser's a bro":
jump naserBro
"I don't wanna piss off the caveman.":
jump pissOffCaveman
label naserBro:
"Principal caveman can wait. I want to apologize to Naser about yesterday…"
"I hope I can be nice to him this time."
"Great job, Anon!"
"He saves you from soy poisoning by sacrificing his footlong, and how do you repay him? By laughing at his sister."
"There he is, I hope he’s not too busy."
"..."
"I just realized I don’t know what to say to him"
"\"I wasn’t laughing AT your sister, I was laughing WITH the crowd\""
"No, that sounds bad"
"\"Weird sisters, amirite?\""
"I might be retarded. I just told him I’m an only son yesterday."
"\"Can’t help it, dude. Some people just won’t amount to anything in life. Sorry.\""
"This isn’t time to be edgy, Anon."
"As I try and fail to find some way to explain myself to Naser I also fail at actually finding Naser."
"How the fuck did I even end up in the tard yard?"
play music 'audio/OST/That Monochromatic Weirdo.ogg'
"What feels like a space decade of walking, or really just half an hour I find the crippled pteradon being accosted by a VERY pissed off purple midget."
unknown "-SAID YOU INVITED ALL THOSE ASSHOLES!" #trish
Nas "Wait, Trish, you don’t understand-!"
T "DON’T CUT ME OFF YOU GRAY PIECE OF SHIT!"
"Students are clearing out of the way, just trying to get to their classes."
scene hallway with fade
show trish angry at tleft
show naser neutral flip at nright
"This must be a common occurrence."
"The diminutive triceratops, Trish, bows her head and charges Naser."
"He just holds a hand out to her forehead."
show naser shocked flip at nright behind trish with dissolve
show trish fury:
xalign 0.0 yalign 10.0
show trish fury with move:
xalign 0.75 yalign 10.0
T "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!"
Nas "Trish, I’m not going to fight you again."
Nas "The principal’s already gotten onto me about the lockers from last time."
Nas "Believe me, I had no idea the concert would have turned out like that."
T "LIAR!!"
Nas "I just wanted to make sure you guys had an actual audience-"
T "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!?"
Nas "You know what I mean, come on..."
T "Argh!"
show trish angry at ncenter with dissolve
"She stops trying to gore Naser and throws her arms to her sides."
show naser unimpressed flip with dissolve
T "Screw you!"
T "Even if you weren’t trying to mess with Fang!"
T "Screw! You!"
"She stomps off."
hide trish with moveoutright
show naser annoyed flip with dissolve
Nas "{i}*Sigh.*{/i}"
show anon neutral at aleft with dissolve
A "What was that all about?"
show naomi neutral flip with moveinright:
xalign 0.6
N "Oh, Anon."
N "Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing."
Nas "Y’know, girl issues, right? Haha..."
show naser sad flip with dissolve
A "Sure…"
A "Sounds like she was grilling you about the concert."
Nas "..."
N "Some concert, right?"
A "Actually, about that…"
A "I, uhh…"
#play sound "audio/PANoise.ogg"
pause 1
Sp "ANON MOUS, IF YOU ARE NOT IN MY OFFICE WITHIN TEN MINUTES I SWEAR ON MY DEAR FAMILY I WILL PERSONALLY MOUNT YOU ON MY WALL."
#play sound "audio/PANoise.ogg"
pause 1
A "..."
"A layer of cold sweat makes its presence known."
show naser neutral with dissolve
Nas "It can wait, the office is down this hall on the right."
A "I know the way, but thanks."
"Naser waves and heads off."
hide naomi with moveoutleft
"Guess it’s to the principal’s office with me. Again."
"And thinking about him makes me think about last night."
Sp "{i}You are not the only person in the world.{/i}"
"Poor Naser, man. Just wanted to help his sister."
"But it’s not like he did anything wrong."
scene hallway
show naomi angry at scenter
show reed explanatory flip at rright
with fade
"Just as I reach the office the sound of clinking glass draws my attention to the apricot asspain and some pink raptor."
N "Is that contraband, Reed?"
Re "Bro, you’ve known I’m in a band for like, a year now."
N "No! Contraband! In your backpack!"
Re "Hmmm… nah, I left my games at home."
"Naomi facepalms, or whatever counts as a facepalm with a snout."
N "Reed! You have a bong in your backpack!"
Re "...But we aren’t in Britain?"
N "Ugh, you’re impossible…"
hide naomi with moveoutright
"Naomi huffs and returns her focus to a stack of papers on the desk, leaving a satisfied raptor in her wake."
show reed happy flip with dissolve
Re "Heh, works every time…"
"I need to learn how to do that."
Re "S’all ‘bout misdirection…"
"What."
Re "Deuces."
hide reed with moveoutright
"The fuck just happened?"
show naomi neutral flip at scenter with dissolve
N "Oh! Anon, I didn’t see you there!"
N "Just in time to finish your paperwork!"
A "Paperwhatsit now?"
N "Go inside, Principal Spears will finalize it with you now."
"Paperwork? What fucking paperwork? I’m pretty sure all that stuff was finished before I even came here."
"Whatever. Probably a detention slip or whatever the principal has planned."
scene office spears with dissolve
"I open the door to the cramped office, expecting to see a gruff cave of a workspace."
"Instead, it was a fairly well furnished space complete with armchairs and cabinets of old photos."
show spears neutral flip at sright with dissolve
Sp "You going to stand there forever? What are you waiting for? Sit."
show anon neutral at aleft with moveinleft
"I plant myself in one of the armchairs and sink a bit lower into the cushion than expected."
"Perks of being a human, I guess."
Sp "I believe I told you last night to be here first thing this morning."
"Shit!"
Sp "Tell me, do I have a stutter?"
A "..."
Sp "Speak."
A "N-no, sir."
Sp "{i}*sigh…*{/i}"
Sp "Take this as a learning experience, Anon."
Sp "Punctuality gets you far in life."
A "Yes, sir."
Sp "I let you off the hook last night because you’re a new student."
Sp "I meant what I said last night."
"Hopefully not about the whole pile driving thing."
Sp "Still, I didn’t bring you in here to lecture you."
"He didn’t?"
Sp "Not many people have to use the school’s financial services."
A "What?"
A "Financial services?"
Sp "All the paperwork’s done to get you a special lunch card for the semester."
Sp "You don’t have to worry about paying until after graduation. No interest, no down payments, none of that."
A "I uh… What’s happening, sir?"
Sp "You signed up for the financial services, correct?"
Sp "Naomi told me you needed help with food and even had the papers filed out."
"Naomi?!"
Sp "Allow me to double-check real fast."
Sp "NAOMI!!"
show naomi neutral at rleft behind spears with dissolve
play music 'audio/effects/Alarm.ogg'
"Hello tinnitus my old friend…"
N "...."
Sp "....."
"Oh god am I stuck like this?"
Sp "-dismissed Naomi. And just to be absolutely clear, Anon did ask you for this, correct?"
N "Well, he {i}is{/i} in need of assistance, right?"
N "Otherwise he’s stuck with the budget meals."
Sp "Anon?"
"I glance between the two."
"It probably wasn’t malicious, but still…"
"I’m not getting involved in office politics today."
A "... Yes."
N "Oh, lovely!"
N "Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any other prob-"
Sp "You may leave now, Naomi."
N "Oh! Yes sir!"
hide naomi with dissolve
"She leaves the office and Spears clicks the papers on his desk into a stack."
Sp "Hate to do that, but she goes on for ages."
Sp "Anyways, go ahead and sign here. Here. Here. Initial here. Date here. Print your name here."
"I didn’t catch any of that."
A "W-what?"
Sp "Just kidding. You’re good to go, Anon, and don’t forget this."
"He holds out the poorly laminated lunch card for me to take."
Sp "Just keep in mind,"
Sp "As a senior, this semester is your last, your biggest chance to figure your future out."
Sp "Even if you’re new to all of us here at Volcano High, we’re here to help you make the most of it."
"Huh…"
A "Thank you, Mister Spears."
"Mr. Spears nods and gives a small smile."
Sp "You can come in anytime. I’m always here to listen. Except for topics relating to estrus season."
"I sense great exhaustion in that last bit."
"I thank Mr. Spears one last time and head to homeroom."
"..."
scene black with fade
jump postCavemanConference
label pissOffCaveman:
"Probably best I try and not make the principal pissed at me."
"Campus beautification sounds like slave labor. And my arms are strictly for shitposting and gaming."
"I try to recall the way that the pomelo primadonna showed me to the office."
"I somehow found myself in the potato ranch at the back of the school."
"Fuck am I tired already."
scene hallway
show reed neutral at rleft with dissolve
A "How the fuck did I end up here?"
play music 'audio/OST/That Monochromatic Weirdo.ogg'
unknown "Don’t worry man, it happens to new students all the time…"
A "Wha-?"
"Some pink raptor smelling of very heavily burnt grass surprises me."
unknown "If you’re looking for the office you’re gonna wanna go thataway."
A "Oh- thanks."
unknown "Yeah, no problem, man…"
unknown "I’m about to go myself, but I forgot something in my locker."
unknown "See ya."
hide reed with moveoutright
"He walks off down another hallway."
"I should follow the directions he gave me."
"Oh wait..."
"Was that the drummer from last night?"
"Huh."
"As I near the office I can feel a heavy tension suffusing the air."
"In front of the principals’ office is Naomi and some other chick, engaged in a heated conversation."
show naomi angry at scenter with dissolve
show trish angry flip at sright with dissolve
unknown "Come on, Naomi, there’s no reason at all for you to keep us from selling merchandise at school!"
N "Very sorry, Trish, but we’ve already told you before that due to your friends’… record… we can’t allow you to sell on school grounds."
N "Seven times, in fact."
"The purple one, Trish, throws up her hands in frustration."
T "Six! This is the seventh!"
N "Go ahead and fill out a form if you really want to try again."
T "I saw last time you just threw it in the trash without reading it!"
N "It was illegible, Trish. You should work on your handwriting a bit."
T "ARGH!"
T "I don’t have time for this, I need to go track someone down."
hide trish with moveoutleft
"She stomps away, leaving Naomi to deflate a bit."
show naomi flip at scenter with move
A "That anything important?"
N "Sorry you had to see that, Anon."
N "Oh, I didn’t notice we were blocking the door from you, my apologies."
A "The principal asked to see me early, I’m not really in any rush."
N "Very commendable of you, though!"
N "Go right ahead on in."
A "Sure, thanks."
scene office spears with fade
play music 'audio/OST/we just turned on the microphone in our programmers_ house.ogg'
"I open the door to the cramped office, expecting to see a gruff cave of a workspace."
"Instead, it was a fairly well furnished space complete with armchairs and cabinets of old photos."
show spears neutral flip at sright with dissolve
Sp "You going to stand there forever? What are you waiting for? Sit."
"I plant myself in one of the armchairs and sink a bit lower into the cushion than expected."
"Perks of being a human, I guess."
Sp "Punctual like I asked. I like that, Anon."
Sp "I trust that what happened last night won’t become a recurring problem with you?"
A "No, sir."
Sp "Good. I meant what I said last night."
"Hopefully not about the whole pile driving thing."
Sp "Still, I didn’t bring you in here to lecture you."
"He didn’t?"
Sp "Not many people have to use the school’s financial services."
A "What?"
A "Financial services?"
Sp "All the paperwork’s done to get you a special lunch card for the semester."
Sp "You don’t have to worry about paying until after graduation. No interest, no down payments, none of that."
A "I uh… What’s happening, sir?"
Sp "You signed up for the financial services, correct?"
Sp "Naomi told me you needed help with food and even had the papers filed out."
"Naomi?!"
Sp "Allow me to double-check real fast."
Sp "NAOMI!!"
show naomi neutral at rleft behind spears with dissolve
"Hello tinnitus my old friend…"
N "...."
Sp "....."
"Oh god am I stuck like this?"
Sp "-dismissed Naomi. And just to be absolutely clear, Anon did ask you for this, correct?"
N "Well, he {i}is{/i} in need of assistance, right?"
N "Otherwise he’s stuck with the budget meals."
Sp "Anon?"
"I glance between the two."
"It probably wasn’t malicious, but still…"
"I’m not getting involved in office politics today."
A "... Yes."
N "Oh, lovely!"
N "Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any other prob-"
Sp "You may leave now, Naomi."
N "Oh! Yes sir!"
hide naomi with dissolve
"She leaves the office and Spears clicks the papers on his desk into a stack."
Sp "Hate to do that, but she goes on for ages."
Sp "Anyways, go ahead and sign here. Here. Here. Initial here. Date here. Print your name here."
"I didn’t catch any of that."
A "W-what?"
Sp "Just kidding. You’re good to go, Anon, and don’t forget this."
"He holds out the poorly laminated lunch card for me to take."
Sp "Just keep in mind,"
Sp "As a senior, this semester is your last, your biggest chance to figure your future out."
Sp "Even if you’re new to all of us here at Volcano High, we’re here to help you make the most of it."
"Huh…"
A "Thank you, Mister Spears."
"Mr. Spears nods and gives a small smile."
Sp "You can come in anytime. I’m always here to listen. Except for topics relating to estrus season."
"I sense great exhaustion in that last bit."
stop music
scene hallway
"I thank Mr. Spears one last time and head out."
"Naser should be around here somewhere, I wanted to talk to him before class."
"There’s still a bit of time before the bell."
"But where would Naser be hanging out about now?"
scene hallway
"Maybe near the cafeteria? This place serves breakfa-"
unknown "WAOOOH!!"
"With the screech of a banshee, a blur of purple launches itself onto an unsuspecting student."
"Everyone in the hallway pauses to watch as a midget of a triceratops attempts to bring down the taller raptor student."
unknown "IMMAKILLYOUTRIGGA!"
"The student body collectively rolls their eyes and continues on, choosing to ignore the pissed off trigga as she finally forces the helpless guy to the floor and sits triumphantly on his chest."
"I’m pretty sure some would pay good money for this treatment."
"The ineffectual pummel-slapping included as she flails at the raptor’s face."
T "You were there last night weren’t you?!"
unknown "YES, ALRIGHT, I WAS! GET OFF ME YOU PSYCHO BITCH!"
T "You owe my band an apology!"
unknown "WILL IT GET YOU OFF OF ME?!"
T "If it’s good enough."
unknown "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I’M SORRY, JUST GET OFF!!"
"Wait, she’s in the band that played yesterday?"
stop music
"I… Should get out of here."
"Last thing I need is whatever’s going on here."
"I discreetly slip away, down the nearest hall."
scene black with fade
scene hallway
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
A "That happen often…?"
show naser neutral flip at ncenter
show reed neutral at sleft
Nas "Does what happen often?"
show naser neutral at ncenter with dissolve
A "WAH!"
"Naser’s leaning against a set of lockers, along with that guy from before."
"The other one’s making a throat-slashing gesture, waving a palm across his neck."
A "Uhh… nothing important."
show naser neutral flip at ncenter with dissolve
show reed explanatory with dissolve
unknown "So as I was saying, bro…"
unknown "BXR, best tactic in the game, y’know?"
show reed neutral with dissolve
show naser considering flip with dissolve
Nas "Erm, yeah... Makes sense, I guess?"
Nas "Anyways, Reed. I’m sorry for how things went last night, I didn’t think those assholes would laugh at you."
"Oh."
show reed unimpressed with dissolve
Re "Nah man, s’cool."
Re "They called me because they wanted me to kill bugs crawling on the drums with a couple sticks, I don't know why a bunch of people came there to watch it"
Nas "Right... And you’re absolutely sure Trish is taking it okay?"
show reed explanatory with dissolve
Re "Hell yeah, man. Nothin’ goin’ on in the Trish department at all."
"Reed suddenly reaches into his pocket and retrieves his phone, tapping away at a shockingly long password."
show reed shocked with dissolve
Re "Oh, sick! Right, gotta go. Catch you later, amigo."
hide reed with moveoutright
"The raptor bolts before Naser can respond, undoubtedly related to the triceratops."
Nas "Weird guy."
A "Uh, Naser, I actually wanted to talk to-"
"{i}DING-DONG BING-BONG{/i}"
Nas "Crap, can’t miss my homeroom today."
Nas "Sorry, it’ll have to wait a bit."
A "It… no, that’s fine."
A "See you later."
hide naser with moveoutleft
stop music
"Naser heads off down the hall and I go to my own homeroom."
"..."
scene black with fade
jump postCavemanConference
label postCavemanConference:
"The periods pass and eventually it’s lunchtime again."
"I’ve been focusing a bit less on class, and more on getting a routine down to avoid unwanted confrontation."
"It’s like it’s only me and the teacher in class, phasing out everyone else."
scene hallway
show anon neutral at acenter
with fade
"I follow the flow of students towards the lunchroom, mindlessly looking about the halls."
"Passing by the athletic awards case, a decent amount of group photos have Naser front and center."
"Apparently this school is pretty well known for their track team."
"In a similar vein, Naomi is present in a good deal of the photos in the academic achievement case."
"The last case was reserved for general awards, I guess trophies that don’t belong anywhere else."
"The school has a few commendation awards for their efforts to stop bullying."
"Feh, they pass those around to every school."
"Looking around, there’s several posters on the walls here."
"All simple slogans to stop the evil bully menace."
"A fat lot of good those did me at my old school…"
"They always went all in with those efforts."
"One time they even got the whole student body into the auditorium to watch a short movie."
"Some frail, pasty kid gets pestered by a chubby, buff bully."
"The kid ended up trying to run away and got hit by a car, with the credits scrolling over a scene in the hospital."
"Everyone in class just said things like ‘man, good thing I’m not like that bully.’, ‘yeah, if I ever see a bully like that I’ll help the kid!’"
"Then they went right back to talking about me."
stop music
"... No use feeling bad about the past."
scene cafeteria
show anon neutral at acenter
with fade
"I’m here now."
"With the lunch card in my possession I’m able to snag something actually edible."
"I should run the math on how much I’ll end up owing, but I feel more like indulging myself."
menu:
"Grab the cookies you fatass":
"Why not both?"
"That sandwich looks good":
"Why not both?"
"Hence my tray stacked high with desserts and the tastiest looking sandwich from the lunchline."
"Looking around for a place to sit I see the aggravating creamsicle waving at me."
play music 'audio/OST/Summertime Synth.ogg'
"Next to her is Naser with a complicated expression."
Nas "{i}I just wanted to make sure you guys had an actual audience-{/i}"
"Shit. I go and sit across from Naser and Naomi."
scene cafeteria
show anon neutral at aleft
show naomi neutral flip at sright
show naser sad flip:
xalign 0.4 yalign 0.0
with fade
N "I see you’re making use of the lunch card."
A "Yyyyeeeaaaaah…"
N "But all those sugars! All that is bad for your health, Anon. This school’s vegan options-"
"I tune her out with the help of a crunchy sugar cookie."
"A glance at Naser and I notice that he’s just poking at his pasta."
N "Naser sweetie, you shouldn’t play with your food."
show naser neutral with dissolve
Nas "Huhwha- OH! Anon, what’s up?"
A "Not much. And you?"
Nas "Yeah no, totally good!"
"His following laugh sounds hollow."
N "Naser…"
show naomi sad flip
show naser sad flip
with dissolve
Nas "Yeah yeah. It’s just…"
show naser angry flip with dissolve
Nas "Fang stayed home today. The concert was a shitshow and wanted to avoid everyone. I knew I shouldn’t have invited all those guys."
show naser sad flip with dissolve
"Naomi places a comforting hand on his shoulder."
A "I uh… Yeah… That crowd was harsh."
Nas "What happened after I left?"
"Naser looks at me pitifully."
Nas "Trish gave me a general idea, but I have to know…"
Sp "{i}You are not the only person in the world.{/i}"
"Ah, shit."
A "The band never made it past the first song. Someone said they ‘still’ sucked. "
show naser angry flip with dissolve
show naomi shocked flip with dissolve
"Naser grits his teeth."
A "Whoa whoa, calm down man."
Nas "What else? Did they say anything about Fang?!"
unknown "{i}NO ONE WOULD WANT TO FUCK YOU, BITCH!{/i}"
A "...Yeah… I don’t think you’d want to hear it though…"
Nas "And? What happened after! I’m gonna kick all their asses!"
N "Naser! Please calm yourself!"
"{i}I realize now that I had been laughing with them.{/i}"
A "I left after that. Principal Spears was fucking pissed. Even threatened to suplex them."
show naser sad flip
show naomi unimpressed flip
with dissolve
"Naser sags, emotionally spent."
Nas "Haaaaah.... Fuck… So that’s why she stayed home…"
N "If Fang wishes to stay home then that is her prerogative. You just need to give her some time, Naser."
show naomi considering flip with dissolve
"While she said that I noticed a strange expression cross over Naomi’s face."
Nas "I know babe. I just wish I could help them more."
A "Yeah. If you need any help Naser, I owe ya for the pizza."
#Chapter 2
scene black with fade
"We finish eating and make small talk until the bell signals us to go to our sixth period."
"Day two out of however many left is now out of my way."
"I’m fairly certain that if Naser found out I laughed too I’d need to avoid him."
"Those cheeto covered claws look like they’d freakin’ hurt, man."
"With that drama now past me I can just disappear and cheese through the rest of the year like I’m invisible."
"Oh when June hits it’s gonna be so sweet."
"Amen to that."
"..."
pause 1
scene room anon dark with fade
"-Two Days Later-"
"Alarm is off"
"You know the drill."
"Combat roll, head butt, victory screech."
"Breakfast, shitposting, clothes."
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
"I’m pretty good at this."
"I think I’ve finally found a pretty good routine for the rest of the year."
"I might have to go easy on the shitposting though, yesterday I might have over indulged…"
"But…"
"I’ve succeeded in turning invisible, not completely but so far I’m happy."
"Even the stupid stuff with Naser seems settled, I can just cruise through schooling and shitpost in the evening."
"Perfection."
"Day four out of however many days are left in the year. So far so good."
scene skinrow with fade
show anonphone at center with moveinbottom
"It’s a bit of a walk, so I get my phone out and start posting on a shitty imageboard."
"Baiting people into replying to my posts isn’t the most rewarding of hobbies, but it passes the time."
A ">Meteor dodgers"
A ">having jobs"
A "pick one and only one."
"That oughtta get a few."
"Just before I hit the reply button, I sense the air behind me turn warmer. A few wildflowers growing in the cracks of the sidewalk bloom in seconds."
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
scene black with fade
pause 3
scene outside school
show anon neutral at acenter
with fade
"She’s here."
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg'
N "Good morning Anon!"
A "It could have been."
show naomi neutral at rleft with moveinleft
"Naomi catches up to me."
N "You say something?"
A "Good morning."
A "Don’t you walk with Naser to school? Where is he?"
show naomi sad with dissolve
N "... He went early today to help set up another student event."
A "Oh. He’s certainly someone you can count on for that."
show naomi happy with dissolve
N "He really is! I’m so proud of him!"
A "Yeah…"
show naomi neutral with dissolve
N "Umm… Anon, have you seen our lovely award-winning school gardens yet?"
A "Gardens win awards?"
N "They do! Come on, I’ll show you."
A "Actually, wait, I don’t really wan-"
"Naomi grabs my hand again and when I come to, we’re already there."
scene flower garden
show anon neutral at aright
show naomi neutral at sleft
with dissolve
N "And here they are, our school’s flowerbeds!"
N "Aren’t they just magnificent?"
A "Please stop dragging me by the hand."
"She is right though, the gardens here are absolutely stunning."
"I can’t tell what’s more colorful, the bushes of flowers, or the students that tend to them."
A "Yeah, the gardeners here do a great job."
N "Hm? Oh, yeah, you can thank the gardening club for that."
"Naomi guides me through the gardens, occasionally giving tour trivia."
"I can’t shake the feeling something’s on her mind, though."
N "And here’s where the freshmen planted flower seeds at the start of the school year, by the end they’ll bloom wonderfully…"
N "..."
N "And then the… Uh…"
show naomi sad with dissolve
"What’s going on here?"
"Is she coming onto me?"
"I want to ask if she’s upset about something, but is that even right of me to do?"
menu:
"Ask what’s up":
jump naomiWhatsUp
"Not my place to pry":
jump naomiNotMyPlace
label naomiWhatsUp:
A "You alright?"
N "Hm?"
A "Something’s bothering you, right?"
N "Not really… A bit, I guess…"
jump naomiStressMerge
label naomiNotMyPlace:
"Nah, I don’t know her that well."
"If it’s something personal Naser can help her with it."
N "I’m sorry, I’ve been a bit stressed lately, Anon...:"
jump naomiStressMerge
label naomiStressMerge:
N "I’ve just been worried about Naser recently…"
A "Something wrong with him?"
N "No, nothing’s wrong…"
N "It’s more that he worries a bit too much for that… sister of his."
N "Oftentimes when I’m with him, he’s anxious about something she’s done."
N "I’d just like him to relax about it a bit more, I suppose."
N "Is that selfish of me to say?"
A "I mean…"
A "I’ve never had a girlfriend, but I imagine that it’d be a bit inconsiderate to constantly be worried in front of her."
A "I dunno."
"Naomi nods her head a bit, staring at her shoes."
N "Sorry, I just wanted to share with someone."
N "Guess I ended up doing the same thing I’m complaining about here, huh?"
A "Don’t sweat it."
show naomi shocked with dissolve
"She checksher phone and jumps a bit."
N "Oh! I’m going to be late!"
N "I still need to check in at the front desk…"
N "Really sorry, Anon, but the tour will have to end here."
A "It was fine, hopefully it just doesn’t make my allergies flare."
hide naomi with moveoutright
stop music fadeout 1.0
"She waves and runs off to a side door."
"I should be getting to homeroom soon, too."
scene hallway
show anon neutral flip at aright
with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
"I push open the usual side entrance I take and enter the hallway that’s starting to become familiar now."
play music "audio/OST/That Monochromatic Weirdo.ogg" fadein 1.0
show fang considering with dissolve:
xalign -0.4 yalign 0.0
"Still occasionally glancing at the room numbers just to make absolute sure, I noticed someone in the countercurrent walking past."
"It was one of the bass players from the concert two days ago."
"Naser said she was his sister, right?"
"Glancing at her for a moment, the expression on her face sort of reminds me of something."
"It was probably just leftover embarrassment from the concert, but she seemed to have a lost look on her face."
"Or maybe it was confusion."
"Or a mix of the two...?"
"Either way there's something on her mind."
"I can't help but think that that must be how I looked on my first day."
"But it was my first day of school, she had been going here all year."
"What's her excuse then?"
"Either way, doesn’t look like she recognizes me."
"Objective one out of whatever of the current year is accomplished then, next one is memorizing the class schedule."
"And that says it’s home room in fifteen minutes."
"Home room which I share with Naomi."
"{i}*shudder*{/i}"
"She’s just too… too {i}sweet{/i}... and like… Obnoxious... "
"Ugh, I can’t find the right way to put it, but she feels so… movie-like…"
"Like an act."
"Day four, Anon. day four."
"What the hell?"
"Why is she scratching herself?"
"Is she a junkie?"
show fang neutral at scenter with move
"OH GOD DON’T COME ANY CLOSER."
"I DON’T WANNA GET SHANKED BY A JUNKIE PTERODACTYL."
F "You...uh...SKINNIE."
A "Y-yeah?"
F "Did you see where they went?"
A "..."
F "The group with the uh..."
F "uhhh…"
A "Dinosaurs?"
F "No! Yellow hoodie, red hair, pink tail, hair buns…"
A "Are you describing one person?"
F "What? No!"
F "it’s multiple!"
A "They’re dinosaurs though, right?"
F "WHAT?"
A "I don’t know where they went!"
F "uuuuuuughhhhhh"
hide fang hiding with moveoutright
stop music fadeout 1.0
"And just like that, she’s gone."
play music "audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg" fadein 1.0
"I seem to have this effect on women."
"I call them poison pheromones."
"But it is relieving that she didn’t recognize me. Guess Naser didn’t tell her."
"The staccato of the bell signals my tardiness for class."
"My class with Naomi."
"If there is a Jurassic God, please make Naomi miss home room today."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"I’ll even offer a goat sacrifice!"
scene black with fade
"..."
scene science class
show anon neutral at aleft
with fade
"The day passes uneventfully until fourth period, Science Class."
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
"I find a seat near the back of the room and watch the clock hands tick down the remaining few seconds to the bell."
"Right before the tone, one last student rushes in, out of breath."
"Oh, it's that girl again. I guess we shared a period or two on the first day and I just didn't notice."
"She strides across the room, taking her seat without a word."
"Strangely, nobody seems to acknowledge her. Not even a sneer or chuckle."
"That’s odd. Given how many people were there that night, you’d expect at least a couple of snickers."
"But there she was, being completely left alone… Or ignored."
"Seems almost worse than getting laughed at."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"The lingering chatter in the room dies out as the teacher stands from his desk, moving to the front of the room."
show farnsworth at sright with dissolve
Drf "Good news everyone!"
Drf "Today we'll be having a lab on magnetic fields."
Drf "Find a partner and get prepared."
hide farnsworth with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/Many Such Cases of Being So True.ogg'
"My heart sunk as those dreaded words passed my ears."
"'Find a partner.'"
"I know it’s pointless, but I at least have to try. Maybe someone was out sick."
"With my luck though, I’ll probably just end up with that fossil of a teacher."
"With everyone else already starting on the assignment I resign myself to working twice as hard."
show farnsworth at sright with dissolve
Drf "Hurry up Mr. Anon, your partner is waiting for you"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"...What"
Drf "Very well. Fang"
Drf "If you would be so kind to sit next to your new partner."
"I sat in momentary confusion as someone took the seat next to mine."
show fang neutral with dissolve:
xalign -1.0 yalign 0.0
#--not brazil, Forced text speedup through the following 4 lines
play sound "audio/effects/Alarm.ogg"
"SPAGHETTI ALERT!! SPAGHETTI ALERT!!"
"DEFCON LEVEL TWO"
"THERE IS A FEMOID WITHIN ARMS DISTANCE LOOKING AT ME"
"DEPLOY ALL SPAGHETTI LOCKDOWN MEASURES"
F "‘Sup."
A "Thanks, you too."
"SHIT! RECOVERY MANEUVERS NOW!"
A "I mean, hey. Not much. You?"
"CHAD RECOVERY SUCCESSFUL"
stop sound fadeout 1.0
F "None of your business. Just do the damn assignment and don’t bother me."
A "O-oh. You upset right now or something?"
F "What was your first fuckin’ clue. Last time I’ll say it, just do the assignment and don’t. Bother. Me."
"Okay! Got to keep coolheaded."
A "So this assignment, then."
scene black with fade
"With that we open our books and start on trying to decipher who Lorentz is and why his force is magnetic."
"Things are going well for the first few questions, I remember a bit of it from that one time I tried to make a railgun."
scene science class
show anon neutral at aleft
show fang neutral:
xalign -1.0 yalign 0.0
with fade
pause 1
show farnsworth at sright with moveinright
Drf "How are you two doing so far?"
F "We are… Fine, Dr. Fernsworth."
Drf "I see, and you Anon?"
A "Yeah what she said."
show fang angry
"Why is Dr. Fernsworth making that face?"
"I turn to Fang to ask her what the deal is and-"
show anon neutral flip at acenter with dissolve
"Oh."
Drf "Oh dear"
"Mistakes have been made."
F "She?"
A "...Yes?"
"Oh Raptor Jesus almighty this is the absolute worst case scenario."
F "I. Am. Non. Binary."
"How was I supposed to know something so trivial would set something like this off?!"
F "Well?!"
A "..."
"I can’t bring myself to say anything!!"
F "Oh, OH, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?!"
Drf "Fang…"
show fang very angry with dissolve
F "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST SPIT IN MY FACE AND THEN- AND THEN GIVE ME THE COLD SHOULDER?!"
F "I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW-"
Drf "{b}FANG{/b}."
show fang shocked with dissolve
stop music
"It feels like the world just stopped."
"All eyes are on Fang."
"And in Fangs’ eyes I see something flash briefly."
"Judging by those exaggerated movements and the eloquent speech, this is something Fang had been practicing."
"This was supposed to be a big moment where she stopped an evil bigot and the whole class would clap."
"In all her planning and practice Fang had made one crucial error."
"Nobody cared."
Drf "Please consider stepping into the hall for a moment."
show fang angry
"Sh- Fang is quick to exit the room. Dr. Fernsworth turns a sympathetic look towards me."
hide fang neutral with moveoutright
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
Drf "Forgive them, Anon, you must understand that Fang is… Experiencing issues."
hide farnsworth with moveoutleft
"What the fuck just happened…?"
"Well, she blew up at me when I called her a she…"
"She was already upset about something before…"
"She was upset before because of the concert the other day?"
"Looks like I just pushed her over the edge."
scene black with fade
pause 1
scene science class
show anon neutral at aleft
with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
"After a few moments Fang comes back in and sits down without a word."
show fang sad flip at sright with moveinright
F "...Sorry."
A "Uh, don’t worry about it."
show fang sad flip with move:
xalign -1.0 yalign 0.0
show fang sad with dissolve
"."
".."
"..."
show anon neutral flip with dissolve
"Now that I think about it, something’s off."
"Fang claims to not be male or female, but the clothes she’s wearing are clearly provocative."
"It’s almost like she’s showing off her femininity."
"Then why?"
"Why would someone be wearing revealing clothes in contradiction to their identity…?"
"It’s almost like they’re just looking for attent-"
"Then suddenly, it hits me. I recall memories of a slightly younger Anon, running around school with a cape, pilot goggles…"
"… And three plastic katanas."
show fang angry
"That was a quick way to get sent to the principal's office."
F "Are you even listening to me?!"
A "Dowhatnow? Wasn’t paying attention."
F "Yeah, I could tell."
"She mutters as she turns back to the assignment."
F "Uh.... You’ve been staring at me for the past 5 minutes. Freak."
"Judging by the looks of the class, and both of our current social standing, we’ll probably be working together a lot more."
menu:
"Sorry for calling you a girl...":
F "Non-binary people don't owe you androgyny"
"Sorry Fang I should have known from your feminine appearance and dress that you are, in fact, non-binary...":
F "Non-binary people don't owe you androgyny"
"Doesn’t seem like it’s something she wants to hear right now."
A "So um, your Naser’s sister, right?"
F "SIB-ling."
A "R-right. Sorry."
F "…"
show fang neutral
"There’s a brief pause until Fang speaks up again."
F "Yes. Naser’s my baby brother, why do you ask?"
A "I was just curious, Naser has been helping me settle into the school."
F "Of course he did. Just wish he’d keep out of my fuckin’ business for two seconds."
A "Uhh… Sure."
"Actually, thinking about Naser…"
N "{i}It’s more that he worries a bit too much for that… sister of his.{/i}"
N "{i}Oftentimes when I’m with him, he’s anxious about something she’s done.{/i}"
A "...He told me about what happened the other day."
A "Sorry to hear something like that happened to you and your band."
show fang considering with dissolve
F "..."
show fang neutral with dissolve
F "What do you care?"
A "I… Dunno."
"Suddenly my shoes seem more interesting than the conversation at hand."
A "Just think it’s messed up people would go to a show just to laugh at you."
F "Feh."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Guess you aren’t that awful…"
F "Unlike every other guy in this school."
A "..."
"The rest of the period passed between continued small talk with Fang."
"She seemed to be controlling the conversation though."
"When the bell rang, Fang whips out her phone and immediately starts tapping away."
A "You going to your next class?"
F "Who cares about being late?"
A "Fair. See you then."
hide fang neutral with moveoutright
"She lazily waves a hand at me and I make my way to my next class."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"Unfortunately, fifth period is mathematics."
scene black with fade
pause 1
scene classroom with fade
show carldelewski at sleft
"I’m barely keeping myself awake while Mr. Carlesiidewski is giving a lecture on the inverse of tangents."
carl "ANON!"
"I sit ramrod straight at the direct address."
carl "Are you frickin’ listening? Come finish this frickin’ problem on the frickin’ board."
"Just one social disaster after another today."
show anon neutral flip at acenter with dissolve
"Hesitantly, I slide out of my chair and trundle my way to the whiteboard, trying to decipher the runes I'm expected to make sense of."
"Only I never made it to the whiteboard."
"Three rows down and my foot catches on a loose backpack strap in the isle."
"Luckily I fell sideways and there was a cold hard desk in the way to catch my fall."
play music 'audio/OST/Those Other Two Weirdos.ogg'
"To the chuckles of the rest of the class, I look up from my final resting place to see a massive pink and white muzzle."
Re "Dude."
"Like a deer caught in headlights, I can only stare and wait for him to continue."
Re "You’re on my desk man..."
"My senses return to me, and I quickly get up, picking up and returning the pencil that flew to the floor in a flurry of apologies."
"Then I recognise just whose desk I fell on."
"It’s that drummer in Fang’s band."
"Don’t I just have the luck of the devil?"
"Giving one last apology, I head to the front of the room to solve the whiteboard problem."
"I tried solving the problem to the best of my ability."
"Still took a solid two minutes."
"After circling my answer, I look expectantly at Mr. Carlesiidewski who gives a nod."
"Finally turning around to return to my seat, I freeze."
"Right there in the front row is the last member of the band, Trish."
hide carldelewski with fade
"I stumble back to my desk."
"Mr. Carlesiidewski gives each row a stack of papers to pass back."
carl "Alright, here’s the frickin’ homework covering today’s lesson. Use page two-seventy-nine. I’ll give you the last…"
carl "Fifteen frickin’ minutes of class to work with your frickin’ peers."
"Mr. Carlesiidewski returns to his desk and pulls out a math book with a monthly romance novel crudely stuffed inside it. With very detailed centerfold with the way he turned it sideways."
"Looking ahead to Reed’s desk, he’s been joined by Trish who is trying to get him to get started."
"I think I can feel their eyes following me…"
"Back at my desk, I glance over the math sheet."
"Page two-seventy-nine, right?"
"Looks like I finally get to use that phonebook of a math textbook."
"...Where is it?"
"I open my backpack, and instead of my math textbook…"
"Is the Saturnia Collectors Edition Art-book I splurged on yesterday."
"I’m frozen. Can’t move an inch."
"Did I grab the wrong book this morning? Is someone playing a sick joke?"
"How could I bring this to school?!?"
"Something bounces off my head and lands on my desk."
"It’s enough to snap me back to reality and I shove my backpack under my desk, furiously zipping it."
"On my desk is a balled-up wad of paper."
"Oh great. I was hoping to avoid these chain notes."
"I unfurl the ball to read the note."
"{i}Look up.{/i}"
"I look up and see the purple one waving me over."
"Fuck."
"Grabbing my stuff I shuffle over slowly to the duo."
show trish neutral flip at tright with dissolve
show reed neutral at rleft with dissolve
Re "Sup compadre."
A "Uh… Sup?"
T "See? He’s my class partner so I look out for him."
T "How are YOU looking out for your class partner, Anon?"
T "Enforcing the social contract, having good conduct and mutual respect so you can leave class and go on with your life?"
A "Uh....What’s this about?"
T "A certain friend of mine is partnered with you in Science, right?"
"Wait. Oh!"
A "You mean Fang?"
T "They just messaged me before class, said they had to be partnered with a skinnie bigot - then proceeded to show them."
T "I had a feeling you’d be him."
"Am I gonna have to tolerate humiliation from these meteor dodgers too?"
"My head is starting to hurt. Hopefully we can just get started on these math exercises."
A "Yeah, that was me. I apologized, though."
T "I know and I appreciate it."
T "I’m Trish and this is Reed. We’re Fang’s best friends."
A "Uh-huh."
T "What about you? Now you tell us about yourself."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"RED ALERT."
"There is no way I’m telling anyone, especially {i}these{/i} people."
"And if they find out where I was a few days ago…"
A "Uhh... I’m Anon and I’m a human. I got here Monday."
A "That’s all."
play music 'audio/OST/Those Other Two Weirdos.ogg' fadein 1.0
T "We know that. We want to know where you’re from, what have you been doing since you got here, if you have any friends…"
A "I-I’ve been doing nothing. I don’t really care about friends."
"She doesn’t look very convinced by that answer."
T "Right."
Re "You know that Naser dude, right...?"
T "Hey… Yeah, I saw you with that slut Naomi earlier, too…"
"Trish squints her eyes at me."
A "T-they were my welcoming committee, they helped me with getting settled, nothing besides that."
T "Riiiiight. Didn’t Naser or Naomi invite you to anything...or…?"
A "No. I don’t remember. I’ve been trying to get them off my back. But w-why you ask?"
T "We had a concert last week, Naser and Naomi invited a whole bunch of assholes to ruin it. Suppose if we had seen a human in that crowd we would remember, right?"
A "Y-yeah. Haha."
A "I-I mean, concert?"
"I don’t think they invited me here to solve math problems."
T "We have a band. I’m the lead bassist, Fang’s the vocalist and secondary bass, and Reed is the drummer."
Re "...And the songwriter."
T "He just comes up with the funny song titles."
A "Uhhh...that’s very neat! Would love to listen to your band someday."
"I drag my chair backwards and clumsily rise from my seat"
A "It was great meeting you guys, I’ll be going back to my desk, though…"
T "Wait, I’m not done with you yet."
A "What? I really should get started on the homework...?"
T "It’s important. Look at me."
"She has a very serious look on her face."
"She’s not saying anything, her glaring through the back of my skull makes me think she means business."
T "Fang is happy. They found something about themself they finally like, and I helped them through a dark time. They made up their mind."
"They? Themself? No wonder Naser seemed so confused by this."
T "They don’t need people in their life that might hurt or confuse them. They have us, and the band. We’re trying to make it for ourselves."
A "O...kay?"
T "I look out for them because I care for them. They’ve been hurting because of those dicks, I’m doing my part in assuring them."
"Was that what I saw her doing earlier?"
"Looked more like a one trigga trig-out."
A "I don’t understand."
T "My point is, don’t upset Fang."
"I just wanted to solve math problems."
A "I, er... yes, ma’am."
"Once again she’s just glaring at me."
"Fucking hell my stupid legs, stop shaking."
"I’ll take this opportunity."
A "Uh… thank you for the lesson, Trish. I’ll keep that in mind. See ya."
Re "Wait man- you want this?"
"Reed holds out a sheet of paper."
"Wait, it’s a copy of the homework assignment-"
"And it’s complete?!"
A "Wait, I thought you were the one needing help?"
Re "Shhhh, the friend of my friend who’s the friend that helps me is also my friend too."
A "I don’t think that’s how the saying goes...?"
Re "You’re sharp, Anon. Razor sharp. Friends?"
"The bell announces lunchtime, and the rest of the students collectively rise and start shuffling out the door."
A "Lunch hour, been a blast talking to you guys."
hide anon neutral with moveoutleft
"I swiftly snatch up the backpack by my leg, flashing an earnest sympathetic smile at them - or at least I thought it was one."
scene hallway with fade
show anon neutral at acenter
"As I power walk out of the classroom I swear I caught a glimpse of Reed waving goodbye."
"A shame I have other places to be. Namely away from the pissed off midget."
"Sorry man, you seem like a good guy. But with that tiny tyrant?"
"Not in this lifetime."
"That was the worst fucking experience in a long while. Almost as bad as actually dealing with Fang in class."
"Here I was thinking I could be invisible for the rest of the year,"
"...And now I have classmates talking about me behind my back on their phones, probably for the rest of the school year."
"At least it’s the best period of the day now."
"Wonder what to get for lunch today…"
"Wait."
A "What’s that smell?"
"Oh no."
"I duck into a corner and rip the backpack open."
"What should have been my lunch card, binders, and horrendously embarrassing art book…"
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Ignore Problems.ogg'
"Was instead a half dozen glass flasks, bags full of… something, and all sorts of machinery I didn’t recognize."
"Someone… someone else has my backpack… and that book."
"If they see..."
A "..."
"This backpack…"
"It's from the Reed guy, I’ll bet."
"When I rushed out of class…"
"Fuck me."
"On the other hand…"
"I could get a medal of honor for turning all this stuff in..."
"Think you can even get a bit of cash for reporting stuff like this."
"...What am I thinking?"
"Any amount of money is NOT worth my power level being revealed."
"I can't ruin my life. Not again"
"Especially not with these losers."
"A half-hour until lunch period ends. Good."
"I need to find Reed."
"I double back to the classroom I just left and find it empty."
"Fuck."
"Maybe he’s getting his lunch now. Cafeteria then."
scene cafeteria with fade
show anon neutral at acenter
"I sprint through the school hallways, already familiar with the layout, looking for the drug dealer."
"The colorful crowd in the lunch line makes it difficult to pick Reed out, so I have to carefully scan the room."
"I finally spot the pink raptor at the end of the queue, tray in hand and incriminating evidence on his back."
"The world must be fucking with me since {b}I’m{/b} the one currently carrying a mini-cartel in a backpack."
show reed neutral at sleft with dissolve
A "REED!"
"The stoner drummer turns my way as I try as calmly as possible to approach him."
Re "What up, my guy?"
A "I uh…"
"I give the backpack a bump, causing all the dubious glassware within to clink."
A "Think you got my backpack, Reed."
Re "Huh… Was wonderin’ why this felt lighter."
"He holds out my backpack to me."
Re "‘Ere ya go, man."
"We trade backpacks, I’m careful to hand his over while simultaneously examining mine still within his grip."
"It doesn’t look like he opened it at all but…"
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Shitpost.ogg'
A "Thank fuck…"
Re "Why’re you so worried bout the bag, man?"
"Shitfuckfuckfuckfuck."
A "Becaaaauuuuuse…"
"Don’tbringuptheartbook."
"Think you dumbfuck, there’s gotta be something you can say-"
"Naomi I owe you a fruit basket!"
A "My lunch card!"
A "I wouldn’t have been able to get my lunch without it."
show reed shocked
Re "Oh. Oh! Oh fuck, dude I’m sorry to hear that."
"What."
show reed explanatory
Re "New kid in school AND you need the lunch card?"
Re "Do you like, wanna hang with us? You look like the lonely type."
"FUCK no."
A "Naaaaah, I’ll be good. I just needed my-"
Re "Come on bro, I’ll introduce you to the whole band."
A "You don’t have to-"
Re "Y’know... reward your good deed with a good deed."
A "What."
Re "I’ll like, be your first friend, Anon."
A "What."
Re "Yeeaah, man."
A "I appreciate it, but… Y’know…"
Re "You worried about Trish, bro?"
A "..."
Re "Yeaah, she can be a bit rough, but she’s great."
A "Isn’t she on a crusade to assault everyone that laughed at your concert?"
Re "Oh yeah, she does that sometimes, don’t worry about it."
A "Hrmmm…"
Re "‘s fine for you to be worried."
Re "You’ll see, she’s plenty nice."
"Maybe I was a bit quick to judge..."
"See, there’s Trish now."
show trish neutral flip at tright with dissolve
T "Hey, Reed."
T "Sorry, gonna have to return that crowbar a bit later than I promised."
T "Also, I got vengeance on another one of those jerks."
A "Those aren’t… related, right?"
T "Who’s asking?"
"I need to get out of here."
A "Well Reed, thank you for talking, I’ll just be on my wa-"
Re "Hoolld on man, Trish just got here."
T "Reed, what’s all this about?"
Re "Anon here and I had a little… mix-up?"
Re "Anyways, he was a total bro about it…"
Re "And he’s like, super poor and stuff."
T "How poor?"
Re "Y’know that lunch card thing they advertise on the school brochures?"
T "Bull."
Re "Show her, Anon."
A "I’d rather not…"
T "Oh my goodness you poor soul."
Re "Literally, even."
Re "So I figured, why not be a bro back to him?"
Re "Like uhhh…"
Re "Be his legit welcome committee."
A "I appreciate the thought, but uhh...I should really be going right about… now, bye."
T "Oh, Fang, what took you so long today?"
show fang sad flip:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.0
"Why meeee…"
show fang shocked flip at sright
F "Yo. Wait, is that Anon? what’s {i}he{/i} doing here?"
"No, it’s the other new human transfer student with the dress sense of Rex Luthor."
show fang neutral
A "Heeeey Fang. Good to see ya again. Well lunch is almost over so I’ll-"
Re "He’s poor."
T "Like, super poor!"
F "How poor?"
T "Y’know those lunch cards they have on posters near the principals’ office?"
F "Wow. That is hilariously depressing."
"I hate everyone here."
F "Anyways, that doesn’t answer my question of why the skinny loser here."
Re "Man, Anon’s like a total bro an’ I’m his {i}first{/i} friend an’ we’re gonna be Rock Ring buddies for the rest of the school year!"
Re "Then like… he’ll be my business partner an’ we’ll sell enough goods to get half the country high an’ like, fuck narcs and fuck the IRS too."
A "..."
F "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhh. Trish?"
T "The morons swapped backpacks and now they’re best friends or something."
A "Yeah. That. And now I’m gonna go grab my lunch so-"
Re "We can all grab some together."
T "...Well, Reed {i}is{/i} a good judge of character…"
F "Is he?"
A "...Didn’t you already grab your lunch, Reed?"
Re "Yeah. I want seconds, man."
"What."
"I look at Reed’s tray and see that it’s completely empty."
A "When did you- How?!"
Re "Come on, man, I’ve got a mean case of munchies."
"I end up walking to get food with Trish, Reed and Fang."
"Every time I consider ditching them, Reed says or does something to keep me with the band."
"Fuck my life."
"I’m able to hold the makings of a conversation with Reed, but it feels like I’m talking to space."
"Trish was listening in while we made our way to the lunch room, but was more focused on her talk with Fang."
F "What do you mean my halter top is ‘out’ right now? I haven’t noticed a difference."
T "I’m telling you, the next thing is going to be leotards."
F "No, fuck that. I would never wear something that retarded."
"As for Reed…"
Re "...So… You play videogames, right?"
A "Yeah, I got a couple consoles and a toaster of a PC."
Re "Only Xrox… Battle Saurs is sick…"
A "Pachystation has a better lineup overall."
Re "But like… Stony-games are all lame… like, just movies lame..."
A "You can’t prove that."
Re "I can."
A "Huh?"
Re "Get your phone out man… Look up {color=#66cc33}'LW_S9znpklI'{/color}.."
A "How did you say that out loud?"
Re "Just look it up man…"
"What’s the harm?"
A "..."
menu:
"Look the link up":
$ webbrowser.open('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW_S9znpklI')
pause 5
"What on earth…?"
Re "Pretty hilarious right?"
"What is this, a shitty Netstix cartoon knock off?"
A "It’s funny in a way, yeah."
jump PostCheckLinkOut
"Save it for later":
"I'll save this one for when I get home."
jump PostCheckLinkOut
label PostCheckLinkOut:
Re "Xrox is better anyways, you see the whole lineup they had prepared for..."
"Reed delves into his rant about console differences."
"I thought he was just an airhead, but…"
"I totally can’t get a read on this guy."
F "Well, anyways."
F "The lunch lines aren’t going to get any shorter."
F "We should hurry and pick one."
scene cafeteria
show anon neutral at aleft:
xalign 0.3 yalign 0.1
show reed neutral at rleft:
xalign -0.1 yalign 0.1
show fang neutral flip at sright:
xalign 0.8 yalign 0.0
show trish neutral flip at tright:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.1
"Once we all got our food, we all stand around chatting a bit more outside the line."
"Trish and Fang babble to each other about their daily activities all through the lunch line."
"Reed on the other hand has pulled out a tablet from his backpack to show me something."
Re "So like, y’know we got a band, yeah?"
A "Er, yeah. Trish brought it up earlier and all."
Re "Check it. I’ve been recording our practices."
"Fang and Trish both look at me expectantly."
"Fuckshitfuckokay you can do this."
A "Cool, lemme see."
"Even through the poor recording quality I can see and hear just how atrocious the band is."
play music 'audio/OST/The (audiophile edition).ogg'
"I bite back the grimace threatening to come out as I give the video my full attention."
stop music
F "W-well?"
T "We’re great, right Anon?"
A "It’s uh… certainly original."
T "I know, right?"
A "But like, why two basses?"
"Fang glances at me from the side. Weird."
T "It’s our style!"
A "I-I see."
"What do I say here? I can only give feedback on games I haven’t played, not music!"
menu:
"I like the double tension on the G strings.":
"The three stop moving in line and look back at me."
"The synchronization between the melody and the submelody compliments the reverb well!":
"The three stop moving in line and look back at me."
"Very nice ironic reference to Beethoven’s Für Elise.":
"The three stop moving in line and look back at me."
"Think I messed up."
F "How could you tell?"
play music 'audio/OST/Bayside Bumming it.ogg' fadein 1.0
Re "Jeez man, you got the ears of a bat?"
A "Uhh, just something I picked up."
F "I didn’t know you knew about that sort of thing, Anon…"
Re "Yo, next time we have a concert… You gotta come along."
F "...Maybe…"
"Trish glowers at me warily."
T "I dunno, maybe if he actually talked about himself for once."
"Nope, nah uh, no way, abort!"
Re "Yeah, man, go ahead. None of us are judgin’. I’m not at least."
A "Well…"
"Fang Reed and Trish" "Ohfuck. Sorry Anon, we gotta bail."
show fang neutral flip
show trish neutral flip
hide trish with moveoutright
hide fang neutral with moveoutright
hide reed with moveoutright
A "Huh? Where-"
"They’re already gone."
"Pretty impressive how fast they can move even with their hands full."
"But what could’ve made them run like that?"
N "ANON!"
show anon neutral flip at acenter with move
show naomi neutral at sleft with moveinleft
show naser neutral with moveinleft:
xalign -0.6 yalign 0.0
"Oh."
"I turn around to see Naser and Naomi approaching, food in hand."
N "I knew I’d find you here with the others, Anon!"
N "Shame they ran off, why do they do that?"
"Her shrill goody goody sugary voice is piercing through the chatter of the lunchroom, I don’t wanna reply if it means hearing more of her voice…"
N "Tell me, Anon! What were you and Fang talking about? I didn’t know you were friends!"
N "I wanna know about everything!"
"Oh help me, God. I just can’t catch a break."
"I just want to go home…"
"But there's still half a day to go…"
Nas "Hey Anon… you uh...seem kinda low energy, are you alright?"
"The Anon you are trying to reach is currently having an existential meltdown."
"Please leave your message after the scream."
N "Aaaww, he's just thrilled to make new friends!"
Nas "Yeah man, good on you. You’re quite the extrovert!"
"I’m mentally screaming, I swear I just want to get out and never come back."
Nas "Was that really my sibling you were hanging with?"
A "Fang and her friends, yeah. Strange group, I know."
N "I’ll say."
Nas "Sh-they’re not that bad once you get to know them."
A "Colorful folk, I know."
Nas "Uh...no...I mean -THEY-..."
A "Hm?"
Nas "Fang!"
A "Uh-huh… sure hope so. Seems I’m going to be her lab partner for the rest of the year."
Nas "Whoa."
"Naomi pauses for a second."
Nas "Honestly. They’re just going through a phase man."
A "That phase include rants about non-binarism?"
Nas "*sigh* Fang hit you with that too?"
N "What a great opportunity for real friendship Anon! I’m so happy for you!"
Nas "...?"
A "...?"
N "If there’s anything Fang needs in these trying times, it’s a new friend to talk to!"
A "Uuuuuh, I don’t know about that, you know how they is, right?"
N "I would love it if you tried! Naser would appreciate it!"
"Would he?"
Nas "Whoa, calm down, boo. That’s not how it works...and I don’t think…"
"The bell’s loud sound rings on our ears"
"A rush of relief and dopamine overcome me."
"I’m free."
Nas "Uhhh...we’ll talk later, Anon. I’ll have to keep my eye on you, though."
N "don’t worry, Naser. I know Anon is of good character!"
"What is she talking about?"
"You know what, it don’t matter. Nonathiss matters."
"Only useful thing I learned all day."
A "Uhhhh...I guess I’ll have to go now, see you around."
"Be a little nicer, Anon"
A "Ask if you need anything, I’ll help you out."
N "Oh I’ll hold you on that one! Just you wait, hahahahahah!"
"Nice. Now you’ll never get them off your back, now. Congratulations."
Nas "Hey, take it easy, man!"
N "Come Naser! We have a busy day today!"
N "Oh, sure."
scene black with fade
stop music
A "See ya."
"..."
scene black with fade
jump StartOfChap3
#Band Practice
label StartOfChap3:
scene black
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
"-One Week Later-"
scene classroom with fade
"It's math. Bane of retards and lazy intellectuals alike."
"And teachers too, judging by the lack of a certain coomer teacher."
"Substitute today, which means busywork. Group problems busywork specifically."
"Of course, I can't escape this any more than I could have escaped the lab partner assignment."
"At least here I have the opportunity to just keep to myself for an hour."
"I don't even bother attempting the assignment, instead pretending my phone is a calculator and spending the first half shitposting about video games I haven’t played online."
"The second half, interrupted by something pointy to the back of the dome."
"*sshk*"
"I can feel something stuck between my chair and my back."
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Shitpost.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I fish around and pull out a crumpled paper airplane, a completed set of problems."
"...this is Reed's. And it's..."
"...done? Even the extra problems that I don't even bother with because they take another ten minutes each."
"I turn around to see that technicolor burnout waving me over. He's sitting next to Trish."
"She's giving me the evil eye."
"At least I think it's the evil eye. Whatever that expression is, it clashes with her smile."
"Might as well see what they want."
"As I weave through the maze of desks squished together with partners more interested in their phones than the worksheet, I catch a hint of whatever Reed and Trish are talking about."
show reed unimpressed at scenter
show trish neutral flip at tright
with dissolve
show anon neutral at aleft with dissolve
Re "...Honesty is the best policy, eh?"
Re "...Bad juju to keep somethin’ bottled up..."
show reed neutral with dissolve
"Reed grabs hold of another chair and sets it on Trish's other side, nodding in my direction before taking a big pull from whatever he's got in that thermos on his desk."
"The widening of his pupils suggest its more than just Roarbucks cold brew in it."
show trish happy flip with dissolve
T "Hey, Anon!"
A "You guys need something?"
T "Nah, just wanted to chat a bit since we got the time"
show trish neutral flip with dissolve
"There’s something in her tone of voice…"
" It’s like she's getting ready to gore me with those nubs she calls horns."
A "...Sure"
show reed explanatory with dissolve
Re "Imma let you two get to whatever… gonna go for a refill..."
"He shakes his thermos and heads for the door."
"What's in that anyway?"
Re "Don't ask..."
hide reed with dissolve
"Fair enough."
"...Wait..."
"Fuck it."
show trish neutral flip at tcenter with move
T "So… Anon… You and Fang?"
A "...You and Fang what?"
T "They’ve been talkin’ about you."
A "They?"
show trish unimpressed flip with dissolve
"The tiny triceratops rolled her eyes dramatically."
T "Fang. Fang’s been talkin’ bout you."
A "All good things, I’m sure."
"Fang’s been talking about me? That’s dumb."
"Oh yeah. The phones."
"All we’ve been doing is more labwork in science."
#[CG of mad scientist Anon with a railgun aimed at Dr. Fernsworth]
#God I wish we had time for this CG
"Last Thursday I tried to remember how to make a railgun."
"To show I could, of course."
F "{i}Pfft, I could make one too.{/i}"
"She seemed unimpressed at the time, but…"
A "Was it about making a railgun?"
T "Er… Yeah, it was."
T "What exactly are you talking about with them?"
A "Just science stuff."
A "The railgun is just something I happen to know though, picked it up from an old game."
show trish neutral flip with dissolve
"Trish raises an eyebrow."
T "...Right."
A "Why do you ask?"
T "You learned to make a deadly weapon from a video game?"
show trish unimpressed flip with dissolve
"Her tone is flat. Unlike her chest."
A "I wouldn’t say deadl-"
T "Don’t interrupt."
show trish explanatory flip with dissolve
T "Why would you think that it’s a good idea to make a weapon in class?"
T "How did you not get in trouble?"
A "Spears actually did talk to me, said something about the ‘great equaliser’."
show trish annoyed flip with dissolve
"Trish grabs the bridge of her snout."
T "This is why men are useless."
"She continues to mutter to herself. All of it incoherent."
show trish unimpressed flip with dissolve
A "Is there a point?"
"She rounds back on me, anger painted clearly on her face."
show trish angry flip with dissolve
T "Look, Anon, YOU may be into that stuff, but leave Fang out of it."
T "They have better things to do than… than…"
T "Than play with some man-child’s lethal toys!"
show reed shocked flip at rright with dissolve
Re "Whoa… Harsh…"
show reed neutral flip with move:
xalign 1.1
"Reed slumps into the seat next to Trish, sipping on his thermos of…"
Re "Just agua, bro…"
"Thermos of water…"
"What the-"
Re "What’d I miss?"
show trish explanatory with dissolve
T "I’m just trying to tell Anon here that he shouldn’t be telling Fang how to make a fuckin’ gun in school."
show reed explanatory flip with dissolve
Re "Why not?"
T "We’ve been over this."
Re "We have? When?"
T "Less than five minutes ago."
Re "Thought we were talkin’ about Anon?"
T "Yes!"
T "And specifically!"
T "We were talking about Anon’s gun!"
show trish neutral
show reed shocked flip
with dissolve
"Heads start to turn."
show reed happy with dissolve
"Reed grins at them all"
Re "Then how bout these guns?"
"Reed places his hands on the back of his head and flexes his biceps."
show trish unimpressed with dissolve
show trish angry with dissolve
show trish considering with dissolve
show trish angry with dissolve
"Trish’s face is a blur of emotions. At first confused, then fucking pissed, then aroused, then back to fucking pissed, all in the space of an attosecond."
T "Not those! The one he made with magnets!"
show reed neutral flip
Re "But like… how do magnets work?"
"*DING-DONG BING-BONG.*"
"All at once all the students giving the clock a blank stare stand to attention and file out the door."
T "I-I… Damn it, Reed!"
"Trish punches Reed in the shoulder, gives me another evil stare, and saunters out the room."
hide trish neutral flip with moveoutright
Re "Hey."
"Reed’s pats me on the shoulder."
show reed neutral flip at scenter with moveoutleft
Re "Bruh."
show reed happy flip
"He gives me a thumbs up and exits as well."
hide reed neutral flip with moveoutright
"Leaving only the substitute teacher, looking at me from her desk impatiently for me to leave."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Guess it’s her lunch period, too."
show anon neutral flip
hide anon neutral with moveoutleft
scene black with fade
"..."
scene cafeteria
show anon neutral at aleft
show naomi neutral flip at scenter
show naser neutral flip at nright
show cafeteria
play music 'audio/OST/The Top of the Social Ladder.ogg'
"Naser ended up dragging me to sit with him and the magenta motormouth again."
"Naomi hovers over Naser, who currently has Gucci under his eyes."
Nas "So, I uh… Talked to the soccer team earlier."
Nas "They’re going to make the first game after all."
N "Isn’t that great, Anon?"
A "..."
Nas "I also… Got the L&L Club to finally take down their christmas decorations…"
Nas "So… The library’s clean again…"
"Naser’s head lands in his chicken salad, then he jerks wide awake."
show naomi shocked flip
N "NASER!"
show naser shocked flip
Nas "OH GOOD LORD NOT THE WATER-"
A "..."
show naser sad flip
Nas "Ugh… Sorry."
Nas "...Did you say something, Anon?"
show naomi unimpressed flip
A "Naser, you look like you fell into another blender."
A "What’s going on, big guy?"
Nas "Don’t worry about it…"
Nas "Just some… Family problems last night…"
A "Like what?"
Nas "Ugh…"
N "You don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to, dear."
show naomi happy flip with dissolve
N "Why don’t you wipe that alfredo sauce off your cute little face."
"She’s so saccharine she’d give a third world country diabetes"
Nas "It’s my sister again…"
"Why is it always his sister with him?"
show naomi unimpressed flip
N "Aww…"
Nas "I was going to sleep last night, when I heard something downstairs."
"...When did this turn into an interrogation?"
Nas "It was about one or two in the morning. I checked what it was, and…"
Nas "Fang was just, standing in front of the microwave."
Nas "Staring at the dino nuggets rotate inside."
"At one in the morning?"
Nas "At one in the morning."
show naomi neutral flip
N "This is a personal issue, isn’t it?"
N "Wouldn’t you rather just be enjoying lunch with us?"
Nas "I just need advice from someone at this point, Naomi."
N "But from Anon?"
A "But from me?"
show naomi considering flip
"Naser continues."
Nas "I asked her what she was doing, and she just…"
Nas "Just says ‘fuck off…’, so I think ‘maybe dad will help’."
Nas "...He didn’t."
Nas "...They just got into a shouting match."
Nas "Screamin’ bout her lack of control an’ dad was pissed an’-"
show naomi sad flip
N "Poor baby."
"Naomi wraps her arms around Naser’s head, cradling the tired pterosaur in her bosom."
hide naser with dissolve
"There’s a rumbling snore and it’s clear that Naser has checked out."
A "...Riiiiiiiight…"
"Naomi looks distraught."
N "He’s always like this…"
N "But it’s been getting worse recently..."
A "Going unconscious?"
N "Trying to help. Wearing himself ragged."
N "That Fang…"
N "We should help Naser."
A "What, by talking to Fang?"
N "By taking him to the nurses office."
"Ah fuck."
"Naomi looks at me with the biggest, wettest doe eyes possible."
A "Alright alright. He doesn’t look that heavy anyway."
N "Only a hundred and sixty pounds."
A "How do you- nevermind."
scene black with fade
"Naomi puts herself under Naser’s left arm, motioning me to take the other one."
"I sling his arm around my back and-"
"GOOD LORD HE’S HEAVY."
N "Alright, the Nurses’ Office is down the main hall on the left side, near the front desk."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"I’m clenching my face too much to be able to speak, I can only get a slight nod out."
"..."
scene hallway with fade
"After dropping Naser at the nurse and leaving before Naomi could argue with her about staying, the lunch bell rings."
"With music at the ass end of the campus I have to sprint through the halls."
"Fuck today, I avoided gym class for a reason."
play music 'audio/OST/Dino Destiny Reader.ogg'
"Halfway to Music class, I slam into somebody and tumble to the floor."
scene black
A "Augh..."
scene hallway with fade
show stella neutral at stleft with dissolve
unknown "You…"
A "AH!"
"Sorry, sorry sorry!"
show anon neutral flip at aright with dissolve
"I get up from the floor and look at the stego who bumped into me. The plates on her back twitch as she looks me up and down."
unknown "Judgement…"
"A chill rolls over me."
show stella considering
unknown "Karma? No. No, maybe second chance?"
"She draws closer, a contemplative expression on her face."
show stella explanatory
unknown "Ah, I see now."
A "What?"
unknown "You’ve important choices to come."
A "I do? Wait back up what the fuck are you talking about?"
unknown "This."
"She reaches toward my chest, plucking something off of it. She holds it up for me to see it’s some oversized playing card."
A "Still lost."
unknown "It’s you. Your card. You are on the precipice of a great ordeal. Many difficult points of divergence and contention are coming your way. Reflect on them."
"I think about asking the green weirdo to make sense, but the bell is about to ring."
A "Yeah, thanks, sure. Sorry, gotta dash."
show classroom at scenter with dissolve
stop music fadeout 1.0
show bandroom
"I slam into the band room door just as the late bell trills, panting and sweaty."
show jingo at sleft with dissolve
jingo "Good timing, Mr. Mous. Just in time for free period."
"What…"
jingo "Take up anything you like and have fun."
"The teacher then took to his extremely lavish loveseat, threw on a pair of headphones and blacked out."
hide jingo with fade
"I looked at the scattered instruments, left alone for whatever reason."
"Dent looking brass and cracked woodwinds. Even a bass with a missing string."
"Wow. I feel like that right about now."
"I reach for one at random, taking a wooden… thing…"
"It looks like an oak tree made love to an eggplant and this is the aborted monstrosity in Mexico."
"Whatever, I melt into my chair and pull out my phone. Seems a majority of my classmates have a similar idea."
"I’ve some shitposting to do."
"Let’s see…"
show anonphone with moveintop
#phone overlay with Elliot Raptor, and the text ‘he made some valid points :^)’
"Ah yes, perfect. Click post aaaand now to wait."
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
"Nefarious deed for the day done, I look around the room out of boredom."
"Oh fuck no."
"Fang has a weapon of mass hearing loss."
"I’m covering my ears in preparation when the ptero-rist starts strumming and…"
play music 'audio/OST/Beach Chill Out.ogg'
"Oh wow."
"I still have my hearing."
"In fact she’s actually playing something pleasant."
"It’s mellow. Relaxed. A slow rhythm that carries a strange nostalgic hint to it."
"The difference between this and the performance is night and day."
"What gives?"
"Looking a bit closer, she’s swinging her tail a bit to the rhythm."
"She uses her tail as a metronome?"
"Suddenly, the phone slips from my hand onto the floor."
stop music
A "SHIT!"
"The sound it makes as it clatters on the ground is a klaxon of pants-shitting terror."
"It lies face down on the isle."
"Do I really want to pick it up and potentially face a harsh reality?"
"Schrodingers’ crack."
"...I can’t just leave it there."
"I pick up the phone and slowly turn it over."
"It’s the moment of truth."
"...No cracks?"
"Thank the Lord."
show fang considering at scenter with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like This Chick.ogg'
F "Yeah, you got lucky."
show fang happy with dissolve
"Fang has stopped playing and is throwing a small smirk my way."
"I should probably say something…"
"Her playing is pretty good, I'll compliment that."
A "That sounded way better than in the video Reed took."
hide fang shocked
show fang angry at scenter
"..."
"Wrong choice of words."
F "You’re still not off my shit list, watch it."
"Quick Anon, think"
A "Why didn’t you play guitar back then, you’re obviously a lot better with it."
hide fang angry
show fang neutral at scenter
F "Would’ve if I could’ve."
A "What do you mean?"
"There’s an empty seat next to Fang."
"Finders’ keepers, I guess."
F "The band is just Reed, Trish, and I."
F "So we all have to decide by majority what happens."
F "Reed says using a bass is more unique, and Trish always says how it’s a ‘promising business model’."
A "But it sounds like you play the guitar much easier than a bass."
F "I play the bass just fine."
F "I think the problem is more that if you want to make an unconventional band layout, you damn well better know what you’re doing."
F "If you’re anything short of masterful it won’t sound good."
F "And when it comes to music, it either sounds good or it doesn’t."
F "Simple as."
"She continues strumming."
A "But it’s just a high school band, right?"
A "Shouldn’t it just be fun?"
F "It is, yeah."
A "Even though you’re just doing what they want without getting a say in it?"
"Fang flinches and misses a note."
F "..."
F "It’s not like that…"
F "It’s just… Trish says… I mean… God damn it."
F "Look, we’re better with two basses. Trish and Reed say so."
stop music
A "The au--"
"Uhp"
"Fuck"
"I almost said 'the audience at the concert' to her outloud."
F "What was that?"
play music 'audio/OST/fighter.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "Nuthin’"
"Fang growls at that."
F "You know what, we’re having band practice after school today."
F "Just show up and see for yourself."
A "And what if I don’t?"
F "You’ll be a little bitch that’s wrong."
"Oh."
"In that case."
A "Fuck you, I’m right, your band sucks with two basses, and you shoulda been on guitar!"
"I lock eyes with her."
F "Fuck you!"
A "Fuck you!"
F "Fuck! You!"
A "FUCK YOU!"
show jingo at sleft with dissolve
stop music fadeout 1.0
jingo "Aaaaand we’re caaaaaalm now."
"Fuck me."
"..."
hide jingo with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
show hallway
F "Hurry up, dweeb. If I can keep ahead of you while carrying two instruments, you can speedwalk."
A "You sure you don’t want me to carry one?"
F "Pfeh."
"Fang is leading me back to the auditorium with both the acoustic guitar ‘borrowed’ from the music room and her bass in hand, one over each shoulder."
"When we eventually get to the auditorium, Fang stops."
"Is something wrong?"
A "Uh, is everything-"
F "The doors, moron."
"She swings the guitar cases on her shoulders around a bit."
"Oh."
"I step around her and grab the hanlde, pulling the door wide open."
A "Ladies first."
"Fang growls and stomps on my foot as she walks past."
"..."
A "FUCK!"
F "Hurry up already."
scene bandroom
show reed neutral flip at rright
show trish neutral at tcenter
"Inside, Reed and Trish already have everything set up onstage."
show fang neutral with moveinleft:
xalign 0.2 yalign 0.1
show anon neutral with moveinleft:
xalign -0.1 yalign 0.0
"Where does Reed keep that huge drumset during the day?"
show trish very happy flip with dissolve
"Trish waves her arms from the stage."
T "HEY, FANG! WHAT TOOK SO LONG?"
F "HAD TO GRAB SOMETHING."
show trish unimpressed
"Trish squints in the spotlight, then finally notices me."
show trish indignant
T "What-"
T "What’s he doing here?!"
"Fang slings both cases onto the stage, then climbs on herself."
F "Proving a dumbass bigot wrong."
A "So you admit there’s smart ones?"
show fang angry
show jewlcase at truecenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 zoom 0.3
rotate 0.6
linear 0.3 xalign 0.05 yalign 0.12
linear 1.5 yalign 5.0
"Fang then ripped something from Trish’s hands and threw it at me."
show trish angry
T "What the fuck?!"
"It strikes against my head with a dull *tonk* and lands on the ground in front of me."
show jewlcase at truecenter:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.5 zoom 1.0
"Looking down at the makeshift shuriken, it was a copy of 'VVORM DRAMA’s new hit single Indragon Onslaught'"
hide jewlcase
show trish indignant
T "Fang! I just made that in art class!"
A "It looks like picasso had a seizure."
show fang considering
F "He was being an ass!"
A "I was."
show reed explanatory flip
Re "Like… are we on break now?"
T "We haven’t even started!"
show reed neutral flip
T "Fang! Why is Anon here?!"
show fang neutral
F "Like I said, proving him wrong."
A "More like proving me right."
T "Proving him wrong how?"
Re "Like… Playing guitar, right? Ya wanted to play your guitar…"
T "What?"
F "Yes! I mean-"
A "Ha!"
F "No, I mean Anon thinks that if I used a guitar instead of bass the music would sound better."
show trish neutral
T "What? No wayyyy."
F "I know, right?"
Re "Woooow… Way to try throwing everything off, Anon..."
F "Mm. Let’s just go through ‘I Need Meth Money By Tuesday Night And If I Don’t Get It I Will Stomp On Your Child’."
"Don’t say ayy lmao."
F "Three… Two... One.."
#half life flash bang
scene black
pause 5
"My mind went blank."
"I don’t know what happened during the time when it was blank"
scene bandroom
show trish neutral at tleft
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg'
"I look to the stage and see Fang, panting, looking distressed."
F "S-see? Totally awesome, r-right?"
"Not the word I would use."
show trish explanatory with moveinright:
xalign -0.2 yalign 0.1
show anon neutral with dissolve:
xalign 0.3 yalign 0.1
show reed neutral flip with dissolve:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.1
show fang neutral flip with dissolve:
xalign 1.6 yalign 0.1
A "...I think you should give the guitar a try."
show trish angry
T "Oh shut up, you don’t know anything about music."
F "Might as well. That’s what I brought him for, after all."
T "You’re really siding with him on this?"
T "We already decided VVURM DRAMA is better with only drum and bass, remember?"
show reed explanatory flip
Re "Yeah man… WAY more unique that way."
A "Aren’t there like two bands in existence that pulled it off?"
Re "That means there’s a chance then, yeah…?"
A "It can’t hurt to try, right?"
show reed neutral flip
show trish angry
T "You don’t get a say in this, it’s a band decision and we already made our choice."
F "Maybe he’s right, Trish. What’s the big deal?"
T "The ‘deal’ is we’re wasting enough time as it is when we should be practicing!"
T "Especially wasting time on playing guitar when it doesn’t match any of our stuff."
show fang angry flip
"That clearly struck a nerve."
F "‘Wasting time’ playing guitar? What’s THAT supposed to mean?"
"Fang rounds on Trish, jabbing an accusing finger into the little triceratop’s surprisingly voluminous chest."
F "Every time I want to make changes you guys always overrule me!"
F "Even when it’s something like playing my favorite instrument in my own band!"
"Yikes."
show trish indignant
T "Come on Fang, you know I didn’t mean it that way!"
T "We decided that democratically, right Reed?"
Re "Yeah, but… like, there are only three of us, y’know?"
"I’ll hate myself for this…"
"...this is already getting too intimate for me..."
"...but maybe I should say something."
"It’s only going to get worse if I don’t"
"But this seems like a personal argument between them."
menu:
"Speak Up":
jump GuitarQuestionSpeakUp
"Stay Silent":
jump GuitarQuestionStaySilent
label GuitarQuestionSpeakUp:
$ fangscore += 1
"Fang does seem very passionate about playing guitar."
"It could only help their music, right?"
show trish unimpressed
show fang surprised
A "Just give Fang a chance, have you ever even let them play guitar with the band?"
"That seemed to stop Trish in her presidential yeezys."
show trish neutral
T "I- uh, well… not really. We voted on it in our first jam session together."
"Fang made a weird face, like she couldn’t believe I was standing up for her."
"Honestly I couldn’t believe I stood up for her either."
"But god dammit I’m winning this challenge!"
A "If you’re really Fang’s friend, you should at least let them try."
"..."
"Trish’s mouth opened and closed, as if she was trying to find the right words."
"She threw up her hands and let out a frustrated sigh."
show trish unimpressed
T "Fine, I guess we can try it with the guitar…"
jump postguitarscene
label GuitarQuestionStaySilent:
"Can’t guarantee their style won’t be better than dogshit if I lose this challenge."
"Certainly can’t get worse."
"This is between the members of the band."
T "In the end, majority still rules."
T "I’m sorry, Fang, but we can’t get into creative squabbles like this all the time."
T "And you already agreed to it, right?"
"How controlling."
show fang sad flip with dissolve
"Fang hangs her head in defeat."
F "I guess so…"
Re "Hey man, Fang… Don’t let it get to you so hard…"
show reed explanatory:
xalign 0.7 yalign 0.1
Re "We just gotta get it out of your system’s all, right...?"
Re "Like, y’know, get it all out now so you don’t have to later, yeah…?"
Re "Like Trish said…"
T "I never said that."
Re "Cuz’, that’s how these things work, right? You know until you don’t, and then all the rest is wack."
T "I… Guess?"
T "What?"
Re "It’s like the bigger picture, you got Fang playin’ bass with all us…"
Re "And they’re all ‘ohh yeah good thing I’m not thinking about playing other instruments, yeah yeah,’"
Re "And you’re all like ‘see, I told you so’..."
T "Yeah, so we should let them play now to get it all out for later!"
T "Wait…"
"If there were any cameras rolling, they’d be zooming in on Trish’s face."
F "Thanks, Reed."
show trish unimpressed
T "Yeah, thanks a lot."
jump postguitarscene
label postguitarscene:
F "Alright, this time we’re doing I Gave The Special Kids The Jonestown Special And Now I’m Going To Jail!"
"...I’m gonna need Raptor Jesus after this one..."
F "And a three, two, and…"
play music 'audio/OST/That Almost Sounded Good.ogg'
"Opposed to the nostalgic tune earlier, Fang rapidly strums on her borrowed guitar."
"It’s fast and rough but the tone carried doesn’t melt my eardrums."
"Watching and listening now I can see and hear the difference clear as day."
"They’re actually not bad."
"Not good, not by any metric worth it’s weight."
"But at least I don’t cringe so hard my spleen erupts from my side and creates a splash zone."
"I find myself bobbing to the song, in fact."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"And just as I consider the song ‘gittin’ gud’ it ends."
"I feel a little disappointed that the show ended so soon."
"Then I remember it’s not a show at all."
play music 'audio/OST/Bayside Bumming it.ogg'
"And that I definitely won."
"There’s sweat dripping from Fang’s brow, and her black clothes are clinging to her a bit more tightly."
"The grin on her face stands out the most though."
F "See! Totally better with a guitar Trish!"
A "Ha! I win!"
"Trish, Reed, and Fang turn to look at me."
F "Oh… OH! OH GOD DAMN IT!"
A "So you’re now a normal band?"
F "I mean…"
"Trish scowls."
T "A vote then. Who votes if we stick to drum and bass?"
"She’s the only one to raise her hand."
T "fff… And against?"
"Even I raise my hands along with Reed and Fang."
T "You stay out of this Skinnie!"
A "Skinnie?"
F "Yessss!"
Re "So like… do we gotta redo all the songs?"
F "It’s only one instrument line."
F "Shouldn’t take too long."
T "Ugh…"
T "There goes our main marketing strategy."
"Marketing strategy? I thought she was a triceratops, not a rhinorex."
"I’m abusing my good luck here so I probably should leave."
A "That was very fun you guys, I hope I can see you all play more...again...better now than it was before...uuuhhhh…."
A "We’re cool right? Bye!"
A "So uh… I guess I should go now?"
"As I move to the door Fang calls out."
F "Wait!"
F "We uh…"
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
"I look to see her fidgeting onstage."
F "We couuuld uh… OH! Feedback! We could use your feedback!"
T "We what?! Fang, from him!"
Re "Like... He’s alright but… like, for real?"
A "Wha-"
F "He’s been helpful! So why not? Reed, back me up here."
Re "mmmm… Kay… Anon should stay…"
show trish indignant
T "REALLY?! BUT-"
show trish unimpressed
show fang happy flip
F "Anon, you’ll stick around a while, right?"
A "If you guys’ll order some Dino-moe’s, sure."
"The three of them just stare blankly."
"Wait. Auditorium. Pizza."
"Fuck."
"Ohfuckohshitfortheloveofallthatisholywhynow."
A "I-I mean, uhh…"
A "Actually, I have to go. Like, right now. So... Bye."
F "Why? I can spring for pizza if you’re too broke."
A "Nah nah nah, no need."
A "Plus I just remembered, I have to do uh...important things."
F "More important than our music?"
A "Err, yeah. See I have to go return a blu- a book!"
"Fucking hell mouth, don’t go slipping weebtalk now!"
A "See it’s WAAAAY overdue and I can NOT afford the late fee."
Re "Wait a minute…"
"?"
"I almost didn’t recognize Reed’s voice, he said that way too sharply"
Re "...the late date is like...two weeks...Are you up to something, Anon?"
"He sounds completely lucid and didn’t slur any words…"
"Oh no."
"SHUT IT DOWN"
"SHUT IT DOWN"
"THE PINK CUBONE KNOWS"
A "It’s from the library near my place. Suuuper strict. Y’know how public libraries are like."
Re "riiiiiight."
T "WILL YOU JUST FUCKING LEAVE ALREADY?"
"I love you, Trish."
A "sure, bye."
"I scramble away to the exit. I turn to make my way out of there, on the stage I hear…"
T "THANK YOU."
"I uh….hear them chattering…"
F "Okay now how about ‘I’m Not Sure Why But The Burglar Joined My Threesome."
"Don’t think about a Threesome with Trish and Fang, Don’t think about a threesome with Trish and Fang, they’re meteor dodgers for crying out loud!"
"..."
"Ok, just for one second"
if persistent.lewd == True:
scene lesbo with fade
pause 20.00
scene black with fade
"Fuck."
"..."
#Music class
scene black with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg'
show outside school fog
"-The Following Monday Morning-"
"I haven’t been able to focus much lately."
"My original plan is in absolute tatters."
"As opposed to staying silent and not facing any conflict, I’m now all buddy-buddy with the school reject club."
"And then there’s Naser and Naomi as well, and all their issues…"
"At any moment I feel I’m going to get found out."
"Trish would certainly beat me senseless."
"Fang might as well…"
"Definitely Naser."
"All this shit happening, I can’t even get into my favorite hobby."
"I don’t think I’ve made a single forum post in three days."
"I stare down at my phone screen and see a sea of threads to post in."
"And yet, I have nothing to say."
"Wait, it’s already seven?!"
"Fuck me, I dragged my feet too much!"
"I sprint the rest of the way to school."
scene classroom with fade
"Luckily, I’m able to slink into homeroom without the teacher molesting me for a tardy pass."
"Classes tick by in the daily slog, and like all things, lunch eventually comes to pass."
scene cafeteria with dissolve
show anon neutral flip at sright
"I grab a packaged lunch from the omnivore line and begin looking for a place to sit."
"By now it’s a foregone conclusion, I already know what happens next."
N "Anon!"
"Right on cue."
show naomi neutral at sleft with moveinleft
show naser neutral behind nanomi with moveinleft:
xalign 0.25 yalign -0.0
"Naomi rushes over, followed by Naser. I’d really rather not deal with her anymore today."
N "Come on, Anon, let's continue our conversation from earlier!"
"I need to think of something, and fast."
A "Err, sorry. I already promised Fang I’d be eating with her."
"Smooth."
N "Oh..."
"Oh!"
"I’m glad to hear you’re trying to be better friends with Fang!"
Nas "Well hey, this is a welcome surprise!"
A "Right. Actually, she doesn’t eat in the cafeteria, does she?"
Nas "Didn’t she tell you? She hangs out with her band in the auditorium."
A "She’s allowed to do that?"
N "I’ve asked Principal Spears before, he sees no issue with it."
A "Huh. Anyways, I uh… Don’t want to keep them waiting!"
Nas "See you."
N "Have fun!"
A "Right. Bye!"
hide naser with moveoutleft
hide naomi with moveoutleft
"I turn away from the two and leave them behind in the cafeteria."
scene bandroom
"Now that i’m in front of the auditorium when it isn’t crowded for once, I can get a decent look around the foyer."
"The walls are as vine-covered as anywhere else in the building, but the ones here have small magenta flowers blooming on them here and there."
"I suppose there’s different kinds of vines, wouldn’t make much sense otherwise. Never really thought about it until now."
"I peer into the small window in the door to see Fang’s gang lazing about within. Reed is messing with some box on a table, and Fang and Trish are sitting on the first row of seats chattering to each other."
"I put my hand on the doorhandle and hesitate a bit. Then I pull it open."
"The squeak of the door echoes through the near empty auditorium, and immediately all three turn their heads and stare."
"There’s an awkward pause that goes on for just a bit too long. Eventually Fang calls out from her seat."
show fang shocked at scenter with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like This Chick.ogg'
F "What the hell are you doing here, dweeb?"
hide fang shocked
show fang neutral at scenter
show anon neutral flip at sright
A "Hiding from Naomi."
"Fang throws her head back and goes limp on the shitty wooden chair."
F "UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGHHHHHH, THAT BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH."
show fang considering
"..."
A "..."
F "..."
A "..."
"Fang lifts her head back up."
show fang unimpressed with dissolve
F "Ffffffffine, you can stay."
"I go sit a few yards away from Fang and Trish on the theater seat. Reed turns back to that device he was messing with before."
"Looks like a projector?"
A "You don’t like Naomi?"
show fang angry with dissolve
F "What was your first fuckin’ clue? That stupid bitch, acting all high and mighty all the time."
T "Hey, Fang."
F "Oh look at me I’m super smart and nice to everyone and everyone likes me so if you disagree with me I get the moral high ground no matter what!"
"Fang lets out some combination of a snort and a sigh."
F "No different than Naser. What a couple."
F "Ugh, whatever. What was she doing to bother you?"
A "She’s been pestering me about every little thing since school started. Granted, she’s been a big help in some cases, but jeez she’s overbearing sometimes."
show trish neutral at tleft with dissolve
T "Fang?"
F "I’ll say. Sometime in the first semester she ended up helping me with a major science project. We only had a day to do the whole thing."
A "You waited until the last day for a major grade?"
F "It… That doesn’t matter. Shut up."
F "Anyways, Naomi insisted on helping me, and I just went along with it. She ended up just bossing me around for eight hours."
show trish indignant
T "HEY GUYS DID YOU FORGET I’M HERE TOO?!"
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
F "Oh, right. What were you talking about Trish?"
show trish neutral
"Trish pulls a cardboard tube out of her backpack. She pops the top of the tube open and pulls a rolled up poster out and unfurls it."
T "This! Tada! Our first poster!"
A "VVURM DRAMA? That’s an… interesting name… and what’s with the date on it?"
F "Trish wants-"
T "We need to have an actual show! Not some dumb school show. We need actual people who matter to show our genius to!"
"Genius? More like retardation."
show fang sad with dissolve
F "I don’t know Trish."
A "Yeeeaaaaahhhh I’m with Fang on this one."
show fang neutral
show trish unimpressed
"The glare Trish levels at me was akin to a very dull knife."
T "You don’t even know how good we are!"
T "That was simply a practice session!"
T "Since you’re Naser’s friend too, just know HE ruined our first concert. Right Fang?"
F "Ugh, yeah. If he hadn’t invited all those cocksuckers…"
A "Still I think-"
show trish angry with dissolve
T "It doesn’t matter what YOU think!"
"Whoa, where did that come from."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Let’s drop it for now. My tuna sandwich is getting cold."
show trish smug
"Trish grins in victory."
Re "Dude… ya got told…"
"What the fuck am I doing? I’m dead if I out myself here outnumbered"
"Trish tore at me like she knew I was there."
"Had to happen EVENTUALLY."
"I hope that’s not the case."
show trish neutral
"I finally get to opening my omnivore lunch. A BLT, some chicken nuggets, and an orange."
"I take my first bite of the sandwich and-"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"*DING-DONG BING-BONG*"
"Are you kidding me."
"I cram as much of the sandwich into my mouth as I can and close the box."
"Reed puts the projector in the corner of the room, and Trish makes for the exit with Fang. I follow after, cheeks still filled with food"
scene hallway with fade
show fang happy flip at scenter with dissolve
show anon neutral at aleft with dissolve
"Next class is… Music, that’s right. I’ll be walking with Fang then."
show hallway
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Moment.ogg'
"The three all wave each other goodbye and Fang turns towards our shared class."
"May as well make some small talk."
A "So, uh… What’s your favorite band, Fang?"
F "My favorite band, huh…"
F "Guess it’d be something like The Skinks… Maybe the Fossillies?"
A "‘Oi, tha’ ‘ere’s sum pre’ey bri’ish tayste, yeah?"
F "Pffft."
"She turns away to hide her snickers."
F "Shut it."
F "I’m sure your favorite is much better."
A "I’m into…"
#>>Boomer rock
#>>Obscure hipster shit
#>>Anime openings and video game OSTs
menu:
"Boomer rock":
jump regardlessofselect
"Obscure hipster shit":
jump regardlessofselect
"Anime openings and video game OSTs":
jump regardlessofselect
label regardlessofselect:
"Fang holds a hand up to her beak."
F "AHAHAHAHAHAHHA. God you are such a dweeb"
"I flash her my biggest shit-eating grin."
A "Least I don’t need a ‘loisence’ to listen to it."
F "Oi luv, didn’ share me taystes to get rallied on, bit rewd, innit?"
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"The two of us banter with each other with increasingly strong british accents all the way to class."
scene classroom with fade
"..."
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg'
show bandroom
"ARGH!! This stupid-"
"Define a Treble clef? I don’t know what a Treble clef is! I don’t care about this shit, it won’t ever be useful."
"Fuck this, who can I cheat off of?"
"I lean back in my uncomfortable chair hoping to pop my spine back in place."
N "{i}Oh! What if you asked Fang for help?{/i}"
"I crane my head, looking for Fang. At her own desk she’s filling out her assignment page easily, drumming her fingers on her desk. Almost looks like she’s strumming honestly."
"Agh, and that’s another thing. Who the fuck made guitars?! Fuck trying to memorize frets or whatever the fuck."
"Oh shit, she’s looking at me now."
"She tilts her head and taps her sheet."
"OH!"
"I respond with an eyeroll and finger gun at my temple. My thumb hammer drops and I fake die in my seat."
"Fang shakes her head, returning to her assignment with a tiny smile gracing her beak."
"I look at the papers we need to finish. Fuck me, how the hell are we suppose to finish these by the end of class?!"
N "It can’t hurt to ask, though, right?"
"Maybe the neon Nero had a good point."
"Still, interrupting her now might piss her off."
"FFFFFfuck. I’ll flip a coin."
#>>> Heads, ask Fang for help
#>>> Tails, leave Fang alone
menu:
"Heads, ask Fang for help":
jump Heads
"Tails, leave Fang alone":
jump Tails
#>> Heads, ask Fang for help
label Heads:
$ fangscore += 1
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Atmosphere.ogg'
"Guess that’s that."
"May as well get it over with."
"I slink out of my chair and go around to Fang’s desk."
show anon neutral at aleft with dissolve
A "Uh...."
show fang shocked flip at sright with dissolve
"She jumps in her chair"
F "How’d you get- don’t scare me like that!"
A "Sorry…"
hide fang shocked flip with dissolve
show fang neutral flip at sright
"I look at her work and see she’s only a quarter done. Fuck, I hope we have enough time."
A "sooo… You seem to be capable of deciphering dead languages."
F "Wha-"
A "canyouhelpmewiththis?!"
F "Help you with the assignment?"
A "....Yes. I don’t get any of this. It’s all moon runes to me."
F "How’d you even join this class?"
A "Only elective that had an open spot. Even though it’s mid semester and I’m expected to be at the level of everyone that’s been here all year."
"Fang leans her head down and holds her hand on top of her muzzle."
"I’m guessing that’s supposed to be like pinching the bridge of your nose."
F "Whatever, it’s fine if the teacher gives the greenlight."
show reed king rex with moveinleft:
xalign -0.35 yalign 0.0
Re "It’ll be fine."
"Fang and I jump several inches."
F "What are you doing here?!"
A "And what’s with the costume?"
"Reed is in an overly large inflatable T-rex costume."
Re "Gotta get a signature for this absent note, man…"
Re "Anyways... Mr. Jingo doesn’t care about if you use, like, partners and stuff… He just wants the work done…"
A "I… I see. I didn’t know you were also the school mascot, Reed."
Re "There’s, like, pockets in here man… You get to bring a lot of cool stuff… As long as you clean it after…"
"I’m not even going to bother at this point."
F "Thanks, Reed."
Re "s’all good, man…"
"Reed gets up and goes to the teachers’ desk in the corner of the room."
hide reed king rex with moveoutleft
"I turn back to Fang expectantly."
F "I’m not getting up. Get your crap and sit down already."
A "Thanks."
"..."
jump PostFlip
#>>Tails, leave Fang alone.
label Tails:
"Guess that settles it."
"Fang wouldn’t want to be bothered right now anyways."
"Looking back to my paper, I try once again to make sense of the questions and music notes."
"Write the following notes in both Treble and Bass clef."
"...What?"
show reed king rex flip at rcenter
Re "Yo, you should have like... asked Fang for help, man…"
"I have to grab the desk to keep myself from falling out of my chair."
A "Reed, what the fuck are you doing here?!"
Re "Just getting an absent note signed by teach, man…"
A "And what’s with the outfit?!"
"Reed is in an overly large inflatable T-rex costume."
Re "School mascots are pretty cool… You wouldn’t believe the things they let you do with these…"
"I’m not going to ask for clarification."
Re "But, uhh… You should get some help or something…"
Re "I’ll ask the teacher for you…"
A "No, Reed, you don’t have to-"
Re "YO, TEACH! THIS GUY NEEDS SOME EXTRA HELP!"
"All eyes turn to us. The desk makes a nice ‘conk’ sound when my head hits it."
show jingo at sleft
jingo "Does he really?"
jingo "Err… Someone… Fang! You help him with the packet."
"Fang glares daggers at the two of us."
A "Thanks, Reed."
Re "Hey, no problem man! I gotta go…"
hide reed
"Reed shuffles over to the teachers’ desk in the corner to get his signature."
"Fang calls out from her chair."
F "I’m not getting up. If you need help grab your stuff and get over here."
"The damage is done. May as well at this point."
"..."
scene classroom with fade
show fang angry flip at sright
show anon neutral at aleft
jump PostFlip
label PostFlip:
F "Jesus... you suck at this"
A "No shit, I don’t know what half this shit is!"
F "God, they tell you about treble notes in Elementary, it’s E, G, B, D, F for treble and G, B, D, F, A for bass!"
A "How the hell do you know any of this"
"Anon then realized, he is horrendously fucking stupid."
F "I’ve been into playing music since pre-k"
"... Roll with it"
A "So does it take that long to learn that horrid thing?"
"I point at the class’ electric guitar"
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
F "Nah, I started with piano. I didn’t get my first guitar ‘til freshman year."
A "The piano? Isn’t that the hardest one?"
"I have no clue what i'm talking about"
F "Maybe for some, but I started early and got ahead. My grandma had an old piano she would let me mess around with."
F "She would try to get me to play all kinds of songs, mostly church stuff because she wanted me to be a little goodie two shoes like she was. It... was fun."
F "Then I started taking piano lessons privately because my mom saw that I was interested in it, and in middle school I joined the band for awhile!"
show fang happy flip
F "Only quit because of marching season, I was not wearing a dumb uniform."
show fang unimpressed flip
"Fang gets a strange expression, a mix between a blush and a scowl as she returns back to her snappy attitude."
F "You done with that yet? It's taking you way too long, rather have you out of my way."
"Cute."
"I show her the half-finished worksheet."
A "I still don’t get this fucking part."
F "It’s literally three classifications, it’s really easy"
A "It doesn’t list them!"
F "Did you even read the page?"
"Fang then grabs the paper and points at the top right. In a small box is a list of three types, woodwind, brass, and percussion."
A "Oh..."
F "You need me to still help you with this or do you have it from here?"
"Of course I have it, I know this shit, it's just 3 catagories"
"Percussion is simple enough. Getting the differences between woodwind and brass is a bit harder."
A "Right. You know your stuff. Band stuff."
play music 'audio/OST/Summertime Synth.ogg'
"I heard a sigh from Fang"
F "I can’t believe this."
A "What is it?"
F "Why did you leave your old school?"
A "Wh-"
A "Where did that come from?"
F "Just wondering, though I think I know the answer."
A "Why do you care?"
F "You’re here for just two weeks and already you’ve wedged yourself in with my friends."
A "I didn’t really have a choice there, Fang."
A "I just...wanted to cruise through this year. I’m not good with friends."
F "Sorry, just had a feeling. I myself haven’t gotten many new friends in a few years..."
F "It’s like I make people avoid me... I don’t like new people…"
A "That's weird."
F "Fuck em', you know?"
A "Sure."
F "You act like you have a hard time socializing, I’m not seeing it."
F "Makes me think you didn’t leave your school out of necessity, but because you really must have fucked up royally."
F "I know your kind."
"I-I, what did Fang mean by that? It all just came out of nowhere - I mean jeez-"
"We’re talking about how she can’t get friends and now she wants to know about THAT…"
"Oh God. I’m getting hot."
"It’s Trish. She told Fang and she knows everything."
"Play dumb? Hopefully that will work."
A "I have no clue what you’re talking about."
F "Honestly? Me neither."
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
F "You’re just some loser that knows NOTHING about music."
F "And yet you come in from your cave where even their parents must’ve wanted you gone."
F "But still you’re now BOTH my science and music partner, on top of worming your way in with MY band and with MY friends-"
F "Anon, what is there TO understand?"
show fang happy flip with dissolve
"She’s laughing."
A "..."
F "Hey, you ok?"
A "..."
F "That’s funny, come on."
A "..."
A "Haha."
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
F "I'll almost miss you when you leave and start finding your own friends."
A "Whatever you say, Fang."
"With a roll of her eyes she returns to scrolling through her phone again. I seriously wonder now what she meant."
F "I gotta go."
A "Y-you’re leaving so soon?"
F "I’m going to the bathroom, stupid."
hide fang neutral flip
show fang neutral at sright
hide fang neutral with moveoutleft
"..."
play music 'audio/OST/you can_t sage here.ogg'
"She knows."
"But how?!"
"She left her phone on the desk."
"I can see the imprint of the password being illuminated by the room’s lamps"
"It… It wouldn’t be right."
"...I have to know."
"I reach over to pick up the phone."
"Some movement in the corner of my eye solidifies me."
"Why’s Reed still here?!"
Re "..."
A "..."
Re "... {i}*snrrrk*{/i}"
"Oh thank Raptor Jesus. He’s asleep."
"Fang’s password is…"
"Wait, only the ‘one’ key is smudged?"
"I guess it’s worked until now…"
"Ah, the messenger app."
#TODO: IMPLEMENT MESSAGING GUI
#do we even have time for this?
#maybe this will be a post release update
#lmao as if
#--refer to Writer1 for the entirety of the texting part as he wants it to be more interactive.
"... There’s surprisingly not a lot."
"Seems they interact mostly in person."
"...What did I even just accomplish?"
"I shouldn’t have looked."
"All because of my paranoia… I just violated someone’s privacy."
"I can feel a pit open in my stomach."
"I shouldn't have done it."
"Trish is Fang’s friend. Not me."
"God damn it, Anon. The fuck is wrong with you."
"I set the phone back where it was."
"A glance back at Reed and I confirm that he’s still unconscious."
play music 'audio/OST/Bayside Bumming it.ogg'
"What’s another secret to keep?"
"Each one just building on the last, the growing maw in my gut threatens to make me violently ill."
show fang unimpressed flip at sright with moveinright
F "Oi!"
"I’m startled as Fang retakes her seat."
F "Did you manage to do {i}anything{/i} on the sheet?"
"I simply shake my head as I show her the incomplete worksheet."
show fang angry flip with dissolve
"Fang sighs frustratedly."
A "Look if I’m being a bother-"
F "It’s simple you dweeb."
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
"Fang began breaking down the questions, her tone less condescending than when we initially started."
"The way she explained it was infinitely better than how Mr. Jingo did at the start of class."
"Over time the sheet was slowly filled in, things finally starting to click now."
F "Looks like you got the hang of this bit. Good job, dork."
"Fang smirks a bit."
"I see a chance to strike."
A "Helps to have an actual decent teacher."
show fang surprised flip with dissolve
"The slight red tint tells me I was right on the mark."
"There’s also the steady *thump thump thump* of her tail on the back of her seat to clue me in. I can’t help thinking of tugging on the appendage."
"Wait, the thumping."
"*Thump thump… thump thump thump… thump thump… thump thump thump*"
A "Hey uh… Is… Is your tail drumming right now?"
F "Hm? Oh, that. Kinda."
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
A "Kinda?"
F "I’m feeling out a rhythm. Thinking of a new song."
A "Is that normally part of the creative process?"
F "Maybe, maybe not. Are you done with the packet yet?"
"I groan."
A "Still got half a page left."
F "That’s just a crossword puzzle. I’m not helping if you can’t do even that."
A "I know, I know."
"I have to resort to good ol’ logic to solve the crossword. The longest and shortest words are easy enough to figure out."
A "But, uhh…"
F "Hm?"
A "Thanks for helping me. With the assignment I mean."
show fang considering flip with dissolve
F "Uhh… Yeah. Sure."
"There’s that red tint again."
F "I’ll help again… I mean, if you need it."
A "Really? Thanks."
F "Yeah, just-"
show fang neutral flip
"*DING-DONG BING-BONG*"
"That’s the bell telling us to piss off to the last period. Crap, I still got a few words left."
scene black with fade
"I guess the last few words and rush over to the teachers’ desk to turn it in. When I turn back I catch sight of Fang leaving the room in a hurry, tail between her legs."
Nas "{i}She’s not that bad once you get to know her.{/i}"
"Guess he was right after all."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"God, I feel like a jerk now."
"..."
#Gardening Club
scene skinrow
show anon neutral at aleft
play music 'audio/OST/The Top of the Social Ladder.ogg'
"It’s been a couple of days since I snooped on Fang’s phone."
"The guilt still weighs on me, but I’ve found a way to cope with it."
"Even more aggressive shitposting on a Hungarian steak sampling vlogsite."
"And I would be enjoying my day by myself in my apartment playing games and shitposting."
"It’s Saturday after all."
"Except I’m walking to school."
"Fuck my life."
"As it turns out the school keeps a log of what the wifi bandwidth goes to."
"And the IT guy probably wasn’t too thrilled to see I’d been using it to download the entire Saturnia collection."
"Spears sentenced me to one week ‘Campus Beautification’ for using taxpayer money on a few dozen gigs of videos."
"Well, now I know to space the torrenting out a bit more."
"As I get closer to the dreaded building, the more the thought of ditching crosses my mind."
"But then the thought of Principal Spears pops up and violently pile drives it into a prius. Weird thought but enough to discourage me from ditching."
"So here I am now walking to the side and where the gardens of the school are."
scene flower garden
show anon neutral at acenter
with fade
"I can see others are here as well, probably all for detention too."
"Wait a sec. Isn’t that Fang? Why is she talking to that green weirdo from before?"
"Wait another sec. Are they getting closer?"
"No, I am."
"Why did I walk up to them?!"
show fang neutral at sleft
show stella neutral at stleft
"Seeing Fang only makes the guilt more intense."
"I cast my gaze aside instead."
"The flower bulbs are still closed for the winter, but a few are peeking out."
show rosa neutral flip at sright with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Ramo de Rosas.ogg' fadein 1.0
Ro "I see you are admiring our work! The gardening club takes much pride in our flowers!"
"BWAHSHIT!"
"For such a… large girl she’s surprisingly stealthy."
St "Good morning, Rosa! Ready for today?"
Ro "¡Sí! It is a beautiful day for gardening, isn’t it?"
A "Err… you WANT to be here?"
show fang considering
F "Rosa’s the head of the gardening club."
"Judging by Fang’s tone, she’s been through this kind of detention multiple times already."
show fang neutral
Ro "Oh! Does he wish to join our club? Is that why he is here? Stella! Stella, we have a new member!"
St "Oh, wonderful!"
"My eyes are drawn to the green stego, who I immediately recognize from that encounter with the cards."
A "Hey, you’re that weird stego from the other day."
show stella sad
"Her smile falters ever so slightly. Did I get the wrong person?"
St "My name is Stella… And I’m not weird…"
A "Right. So what was with the Pocket Raptor cards?"
St "I was just saying what my tarot guidebook told me…"
show stella explanatory
St "The, uh… work of an astrologer is to show people what fate has in store for them."
St "And that’s what I do!"
A "Astrologer? Really?"
St "But there will always be those who aren’t able to accept what their fortune tells."
A "A, that’s retarded. two, astrology is retarded. And thirdly, that sounds like something from a bad video game."
show stella sad
St "N-no! I uh… awwwww…"
"The sulky stego is pulled into a hug by the happy hispanic girl."
Ro "There there, Stella. You’re still my friend no matter how much of the black arts you believe."
show fang happy
F "Pfft, you’re one to talk about ‘believing black arts’, Rosa."
F "You and your magic dino in the sky."
Ro "Ay pinche pagana… you’re lucky I don’t-"
show fang neutral
play music 'audio/OST/we just turned on the microphone in our programmers_ house.ogg' fadein 1.0
Sp "GET ALL YOUR ASSES OUT FRONT RIGHT NOW!"
"The caveman’s bellow reverberates throughout the entire school, even though I’m pretty sure he wasn’t using the PA system."
hide rosa
show rosa neutral at sright
hide rosa neutral with moveoutright
"Not wanting to piss him off even more, I follow the others to where Principal Spears has a few other students gathered in front of him."
hide stella with moveoutright
"The only one I recognize is the guy Trish had in a headlock that one day."
F "Didn’t expect you of all people to get detention."
"It takes me a moment to realize Fang is talking to me."
A "I, er... used too much of the school bandwidth."
show fang happy
F "What, Spears catch you downloading porn in the library or something?"
A "No! Just torrenting, like, TV shows that I can’t get on cable."
"She raises an eyebrow like she doesn’t believe me but doesn’t follow it up."
"She must never find out about Saturnia."
scene black with fade
scene garden with fade
show spears neutral flip:
xalign 1.2 yalign 0.0
show anon neutral:
xalign -0.4 yalign 0.1
show fang neutral:
xalign -0.1 yalign 0.1
show rosa neutral:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.1
Sp "I’m glad you could make it, Anon. I think that’s just about everyone."
"Not that he gave me much of a choice."
Sp "Alright, I’m sure you’re all familiar with Rosa, she’ll be supervising you for campus beautification today."
Sp "If I hear a bad word from her about any of you…"
"I think I can fill in the rest."
"Spears nods to Rosa, who reminds me of Naomi with how overly happy she looks."
hide spears with moveoutleft
show rosa with move:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.0
show rosa flip with dissolve
Ro "Thank you all so much for coming out to help with campus beautification today!"
Ro "If we all work hard and have a good time we can get done before you know it!"
"How can anyone be so enthusiastic about coming to school on the weekend?"
Ro "So by the end of the day we need to get weeding done in the gardens, as well as replanting older flowers, and some of the vines are ready to be trimmed back!"
show fang unimpressed
F "{i}*groan*{/i}"
St "Make sure you all get a pair of gloves, and to return them before you leave!"
"Fang raises her hand."
Ro "Fingerless don’t count."
"Fang lowers her hand."
St "You should all pair off now to split the work evenly, decide amongst yourselves."
"Even in detention, the partner curse haunts me."
show rosa neutral with dissolve
hide rosa neutral with moveoutright
"Everyone else almost immediately groups off."
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Moment.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Leaving just me and take a wild guess who else."
show fang neutral flip with dissolve
F "I don’t like how often this is happening."
A "Can’t say I’m a big fan either."
F "Whatever, let’s just take vine trimming and get this over with."
"Fang starts heading to one of the ladders already set up near the wall."
A "Wait, don’t you need gloves?"
show fang happy flip
F "What? I’m not a wuss."
F "You get some if you’re so concerned about getting a few cuts."
"I just don’t get this chick sometimes."
"I get a pair of gloves and some loppers and rejoin Fang at the ladder."
F "Alright cool, gimme the snippy thing."
A "I don’t like the idea of you with a weapon very much."
"She flashes an evil grin."
F "Hold the ladder steady while I do this."
F "I’ve been here a few times, this is the easiest job of the three."
A "If you say so…"
"Fang is quick to scale the ladder, leaving me to hold it in place."
"I wish I could shitpost on my phone right now to distract myself but my hands are occupied."
"Fang’s disregard of me is made extremely clear as she carelessly lets the remnants of dead vines rain down on my head."
"Kind of glad I don’t have hair because I can’t imagine how bad it would be to have these sticky plant bits tangled in it."
show fang angry with dissolve
F "Oi! Shift the ladder over!"
A "But you’re still on it."
F "Don’t feel like getting down. Come on, you can’t be that weak."
"Whatever. I shimmy the ladder to the side, Fang’s weight making the process more difficult."
"Damn my scrawny arms."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Alright this is good."
"She goes back to clipping vines and dropping them on my head."
"It’s started building up on my shoulders and neck now."
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Shitpost.ogg' fadein 1.0
"And now the spots the vines have touched start to itch."
A "Hey."
"She remains focused on the vines, dropping the largest clump directly on my face."
A "HEY!"
"Nevermind. The follow up clump was even bigger and lands right in my mouth."
"After I finish spitting the wad of dead vegetation from my mouth I try one last time to get her attention."
label movie:
A "FANG!"
stop music fadeout 1.0
image fang tail = Movie(play="animations/fangtail.webm",loop=True)
scene fang tail with fade
"Through my blurred vision I can make out Fang’s tail, slowly shifting side to side."
"And an evil idea comes to mind to get her attention."
"There’s a less evil one, too, something that’d just shock her."
menu:
"Tug Her Tail":
"I reach out to her when she drops another clump into my eyes, blinding me."
"Tug Her Ankle":
"I reach out to her when she drops another clump into my eyes, blinding me."
"I blindly grasp at her until my fingers brush against something covered in scales."
"I give the appendage a sharp tug."
scene black with fade
"There’s a shrill cry above me. That got her attention."
A "Stop dropping shi-"
"Suddenly stars explode in my sight impaired eyes and I fall backwards."
"There’s a ringing in my ears and I try to blink the vines and stars away."
scene garden
show fang very angry at sleft
show anon sad flip at sright
with fade
play music "audio/OST/Many Such Cases of Being So True.ogg"
F "NEVER. DO THAT. AGAIN."
"Do what? The fuck did I do?"
F "Fucking pervert."
show anon angry flip at sright
A "What the fuck did I DO?!"
"When I can finally see again Fang has her wings drawn together behind her and her hands clasped on something also behind her."
scene black
"I think I fell in the flowerbed behind us. It’s actually sort of soft."
F "You pulled my TAIL!"
scene garden with fade
show fang very angry at sleft
show anon sad flip at sright
A "I thought that was your ankle!"
F "Why the fuck would you think my TAIL was my ANKLE?!"
A "Because I couldn’t see because YOU kept dropping fucking vines in my eyes!"
F "So you pull my fucking tail you perverted fuck!"
A "You weren’t listening to me when I was trying to tell you to stop!"
show anon unimpressed flip at sright
"We’re both out of breath and staring daggers at each other."
"My eyes are still bleary and starting to itch now because of the plants."
"Fang is still protectively holding her tail as if I’ll pull it again."
show fang unimpressed with dissolve
F "Wha-why is your face all red?"
A "I was {i}trying{/i} to tell you!"
A "These vines fuckin’ hurt!"
F "That makes no sense at all."
F "Oh wait. Yeah. Humans."
"She tosses another discarded vine on my face."
A "Cut that out!"
F "Hah!"
show fang happy
A "I could report you for allergy abuse."
F "That’s the weakest threat I’ve ever heard."
F "Actually, in general you seem a bit milquetoast around people."
F "What gives?"
show anon neutral with dissolve
"I start prying off some of the vines stuck to my clothes."
A "It’s like, why waste time on certain people, you know?"
show anon neutral flip with dissolve
A "It wouldn’t be worth my time to do something crazy."
"Fang leans forward on the ladder, pretending to be hurt."
F "Aww, I’m not worth your time?"
A "Some people certainly aren’t."
A "Just never meant to amount to anything or do anything important."
"She drops the smug expression for a second."
F "Anyways, you should get up."
F "Rosa will kill you if she sees you crumpled in her stupid flowers."
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Ignore Problems.ogg' fadein 1.0
"A yell echoes from somewhere across the schoolgrounds."
Ro "He {i}WHAT{/i}."
F "Shit, hurry up!"
A "Hang on…!"
"I try leaning up. The bush has intertwined with my clothes."
A "I’m stuck!"
F "You actual…!"
"Rosa scrambles over and starts pulling at her hair when she sees me stuck in the bush."
show fang surprised with move:
xalign -0.5 yalign 0.0
show rosa angry at scenter with moveinleft
show anon fear flip with move:
xalign 1.5 yalign 0.0
Ro "Wh-yo-why- ARGH!"
Ro "¡ESTÚPIDO! ¡¿QUÉ CLASE DE RIDÍCULA Y PATÉTICA EXCUSA DE HOMBRE ERES?!"
Ro "Wait… Your position…"
"She points a burning finger up at Fang."
show rosa angry flip with dissolve
Ro "Did {i}you{/i} push him!"
show fang surprised with move:
xalign -0.8 yalign 0.0
"Fang’s skin goes a shade paler."
show anon neutral flip
A "Uh... no, I fell on my own."
A "Sorry…"
show rosa angry at scenter with dissolve
Ro "SORRY? What kind of pendejo manages to fall that hard into my Middlemist Red Camelias that hard on his own?!?"
"I shrug apologetically."
Ro "I just… URGH! Do you have {i}any{/i} idea how long it takes for those to bloom!"
Ro "Name! What is your name?!"
A "Er, Anon…"
Ro "An-on! Why are you still in there? Get up niño, get up!"
"She grabs one of my hands and wHOA-"
A "You trying to rip my arm off?"
"She grabs a bicep proudly."
Ro "I say all the time. Outside work is good for your health!"
F "Think I’ll stick to stealing the occasional protein bar from Nasers’ stock."
Ro "Wait, An-on, why is your face so red?"
A "The uh, vines. Guess I have an allergy."
show rosa bossy at scenter with dissolve
Ro "Oh, no, no no! You must stop working vines then!"
"She points back up to Fang."
show rosa bossy flip at scenter with dissolve
Ro "You! Get down from there, you are both switching to weeds!"
F "{i}Uuuuughhhhh…{/i}"
F "...Allright, whatever."
Ro "Go, go now! And no more tripping!"
scene black with fade
"We go exchange our equipment for weeding trowels."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Once we get directed to a place in the dirt to start, Fang and I diligently continue in silence for a bit."
scene garden with fade
show anon neutral flip at sright
show fang neutral at sleft
F "... Why did you lie earlier?"
A "Hm?"
F "About how I kicked you."
A "Uhh…"
A "Spur of the moment, I guess?"
A "Seemed like the easiest way out of getting in more trouble?"
F "... Sure."
A "What do you mean sure?"
F "Sure it was the easiest way to get out of trouble?"
A "Uh… "
F "Why did you {i}really{/i} do it?"
A "What do you mean?"
F "You know, your reasons, real reasons? Your recta ratio."
A "Recta ratio? Fancy words outta you."
A "But I don’t understand..."
F "You fucking moron what was your motives? Why would you care?"
A "Uhh… "
"I had to think about that for a moment. Why {i}did{/i} I do that..."
F "... You said something before."
F "About how some people won’t ever amount to anything."
A "Oh, uh, yeah. That was, uh…"
F "What did you mean by that?"
"Why the fuck is she so curious?"
A "I dunno, you’d probably think I’m some creep for saying this…"
F "I already think you’re a creep."
A "Fair but fuck you regardless."
show fang flip off hostile with dissolve
"Her retort is a prominent flipping of the bird."
show fang neutral with dissolve
A "I dunno, It’s like, the world is too full."
A "And there’s only gonna be more people as time goes on."
A "Eventually we’ll run out of food and resources, but culture will be too far gone to really fix anything."
"Fang stops digging for a moment and gives an attentive stare out of the corner of her eye."
A "Midwits and morons have kids like crazy. The number of smart people in the world remains stagnant."
A "Or even goes down over time."
A "Nobody is immune to propaganda, and useful people can be indoctrinated right into the crowds."
A "Y’know?"
F "..."
A "Told you it’d sound weird."
F "No, actually, that’s… Wow."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "That’s actually exactly how I feel about things!"
"She what?"
"Fang is acting strangely enthusiastic all of a sudden."
F "Right like, in all of history, if you {i}really{/i} look at it, the smart people have never even once had to answer to the excess."
F "Back in the day, innovation was propelled by smart people working with other smart people."
F "Trying all sorts of new things the masses would have hated."
F "Like rock music, right?"
F "People hated that at first."
F "When {i}my{/i} band takes off, I’ll get to rub it in everyone’s faces."
F "All those cock goblins. It’s like everywhere you go, there’s a hundred dumb people for one person worth anything."
A "What’d you call it before? Excess?"
F "Yeah, like Naomi."
A "Right."
F "Most people in the school, even."
A "I can see it."
F "... Maybe Reed? Not sure."
"...?"
F "Rosa and Stella, definitely."
"What the-"
F "Naser, too, unfortunately. Oh, well."
F "All of them, sheep."
"Too casually brush everyone aside like that…"
"What does she think of me, then?"
A "If you think so little of Rosa and Stella and everyone, why hang out with them?"
show fang neutral with dissolve
F "... I don’t like being alone. You don’t need to know any more."
F "As long as they aren’t the sort of people that showed up that day at our concert…"
F "Those lazy, talentless, inconsiderate, self-righteous, condescending excuses for peers."
F "Thinking they can just make fun of our music."
A "Haha, yeah, those guys sucked. Their insults weren’t even that creative."
"Fang’s arm jerks back violently, pulling a bundle of weeds and topsoil out and onto my jacket."
A "Hey-"
play music 'audio/OST/you can_t sage here.ogg' fadein 1.0
F "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Her eyes scrutinize me thoroughly."
"But why-"
"Oh."
"Oh shit."
"My foot tastes a bit salad-like today. Damn gardening."
A "Er, just… gossip I heard from classmates afterwards?"
"We both know that’s a lie."
"I feel anxious as Fang continues watching me."
"I watch it happen, as if in slow motion, as comprehension dawns on Fang."
"Her voice is low."
"Accusatory."
show fang very angry
F "...you were at the show?"
"My heart stops."
"There it is."
"I couldn’t have hoped to hide it forever."
"Fang stands over me, her wings spread wide and her shoulders shaking."
"I… how do I explain this?"
"We’re close enough friends now, right?"
"I could probably even joke about it a bit."
menu:
"Explain it to her honestly, she should understand by now":
jump beHonest
"Joking is a good way to move past mistakes.":
jump jokeAround
label beHonest:
$ anonscore += 1
play music 'audio/OST/Summertime Synth.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I guess honesty is the best policy."
A "Well, Naser did invite me to your concert... and I did end up going."
show fang angry
"Fang’s expression hardens and she crosses her arms."
A "He told me there’d be free food so I figured why not? It’s not like I knew it was going to end up the way it did."
F "So why did you tell us you didn’t go?"
A "Because I kept seeing your psycho friend hunting down everyone else who went, why would I make myself a target?"
F "Trish was only looking for the dicks who…"
F "Did you laugh at us too?"
"She jabs an accusatory finger at me."
A "Fang, I-"
F "Did. You. Laugh?"
"I open my mouth to answer but the words aren’t coming to me."
"Fang seems to pick up on my inability to answer."
show fang very angry
F "I fucking knew it."
A "Look Fang, I’m sorry, right? I didn’t know-"
F "I can’t believe you right now!"
"Fang begins to storm off and I try to chase after her."
A "Fang, wait!"
"But my self-defeating clumsiness seems to have a different plan and my foot catches on the pile of discarded gardening tools."
"The world spins and I land on my ass where we were weeding."
scene black
"At least something broke my fall…"
"Wait. Isn’t this the flowerbed?"
"Suddenly an orange terror descends upon me like I set off some sort of alarm."
Ro "¡MALDITO CABRÓN PELÓN! ¡QUÍTATE DE AHÍ PORQUE ESTÁS APLASTANDO LAS FLORES!!!"
scene garden with fade
show rosa angry at sleft
A "Err… Sorry?"
Ro "Ay Dios mío...do you have any idea how long it takes those to bloom!"
Ro "And for you to just tumble onto them AGAIN!"
jump postAnonLaughReveal
label jokeAround:
play music 'audio/OST/Summertime Synth.ogg' fadein 1.0
"We’re good enough friends now, right? This’ll be fiiiine."
A "I know that you guys sounded so bad you never made it past your intro."
"Her eyes narrow. Eh, maybe if I…"
A "I was expecting dinner and a show, not a comedy skit."
show fang ultra angry
"I know I’m not the best comedian but still nothing?"
"No, wait, I think I hear some cracking."
"Oh, that’d be her knuckles popping."
"Fang’s face twists into a sneer and her hand slowly comes up into a fist."
"I may have overestimated my comedic talents. Or our friendship."
scene black
"My head snaps to the side, a burning sting radiating from my cheek."
"My foot catches on the pile of discarded gardening tools."
"The world spins and I land on my ass where we were weeding."
"At least something broke my fall…"
"Wait. Isn’t this the flowerbed?"
F "You fucking asshole…"
"Fang storms off, shouldering past Rosa, who is stunned silent."
"Rosa isn’t stunned for long though, and suddenly an orange terror descends upon me like I set off some sort of alarm."
Ro "¡MALDITO CABRÓN PELÓN! ¡QUÍTATE DE AHÍ PORQUE ESTÁS APLASTANDO LAS FLORES!!!"
scene garden with fade
show rosa angry at sleft
A "Err… Sorry?"
Ro "Dios mío...do you have any idea how long it takes those to bloom!"
jump postAnonLaughReveal
label postAnonLaughReveal:
show anon neutral flip at sright
"I jump to my feet and quickly inspect the damage. The entire section of flowerbed where I had landed was imprinted with my outline like a snow-angel."
"Just my luck."
A "Rosa, I didn’t mean-"
Ro "It doesn’t matter what you meant!"
Ro "Once is forgivable, but twice! TWICE!"
Ro "¡¡QUÉDATE QUIETO QUE TE JURO POR RAPTOR JESÚS QUE TE GOLPEARÉ CON LA CHANCLA!!"
St "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!"
show stella unimpressed at stleft with moveinleft
"I am saved by a green stegosaur grabbing the mighty arm of judgement out of the air mid-swing."
St "Rosa, remember what we talked about!"
"Steam erupts from Rosa’s nostrils like a bull."
show rosa considering with dissolve
Ro "..."
St "Don’t use physical force to make people hurt, alright?"
A "Th-thank you St-"
St "That’s what manual labor is for, right?"
A "..."
Ro "...Yes… Yes, of course."
show rosa bossy with dissolve
Ro "You! An-on, you will help extra two hours after everyone else! Two!!"
A "For flowers?!"
Ro "For flowers!"
A "... Are you sure you wouldn’t rather just beat me?"
Ro "I can do both!"
St "Where did Fang go?"
show stella
A "I uh… Did something I shouldn’t have."
A "She ran off…"
Ro "You ruin the flowers of friendship like you do of my labor!!"
St "You should go find Fang and apologize. And bring her back."
St "If you don’t share someone’s pain, you can never understand them."
"Did this bitch just quote Naruto of all things?"
"If I weren’t being directed to leave I would have bailed anyways."
A "I saw her going towards the parking lot, I’ll be right back."
Ro "You better!"
hide anon neutral with moveoutleft
scene outside school with fade
show anon neutral at acenter with moveinleft
"There aren’t many cars in the parking lot, so finding Fang shouldn’t be too hard to find."
play music 'audio/OST/Beach Chill Out.ogg' fadein 1.0
"That pair of wings rustling in-between two parked cars is probably a hint, not sure."
"I silently approach, hiding behind the other cars in the lot."
"She’s huddled around the passenger door of a garishly yellow minivan."
"Wait, is she…?"
"Shit, I gotta stop her."
A "Fang, what are you doing?!"
show fang very angry flip with dissolve:
xalign 1.4 yalign 0.0
F "Fuck off, fuck-knuckle."
A "..."
A "Fang, don’t break into a teachers’ car, we’ll get-"
F "Shut the fuck up cunt smuggler I’m focusing on this."
A "..."
"I’m over it."
A "Why are you doing this?"
show fang angry flip
F "... It’ll be fun."
F "Hehehehe…"
F "Why, you want to join in on a joyride?"
"She looks at me like it’s a genuine question."
A "No, I don’t."
show fang kicking with dissolve:
xalign 1.6 yalign 0.0
show anon fear at sleft with move
A "Fang, what are you doing?!"
A "Stop kicking the car!!"
A "Damn it Fang!"
A "I don’t know what more to say,"
A "except I’m sorry."
A "I messed up and that was a dick move,"
A "But if you keep this up we’ll both be going-"
F "What do you care?!"
F "We’re already in detention, what’s a FEW MORE DAYS?!"
show anon angry with dissolve
A "... TO JAIL, FANG."
F "GO."
F "AWAY."
A "YOU WANT TO GET OUR PARENTS INVOLVED?!"
"Fang stops kicking the glass, drained of energy and out of breath."
show fang sad at sright
show anon neutral
with dissolve
"Thankfully, the glass isn’t even scratched."
A "... You’re right for being angry at me, you’re talented and skilled, and I got nothing to show for myself, and what I did was wrong.."
A "But you’re better than this, come on."
F "..."
"Fang won’t look my direction."
"At least she hasn’t started kicking the car again."
"... Might be a good idea to give her some space."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"All of a sudden I feel like I shouldn’t be here."
play music 'audio/OST/you need gopher chucks.ogg' fadein 1.0
unknown "HEY!!"
unknown "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING TO MY CAR?!"
"We freeze."
menu:
"Get out of there.":
scene black with fade
"GET OUT OF THERE.":
scene black with fade
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF DODGE.":
scene black with fade
"Fang immediately bolts towards the front of the school."
"I follow after, legs pumping furiously in an attempt to both catch up to Fang and avoid the teacher screeching at us from behind."
"I see Fang veer into the school, the door closing slowly after."
"By the jacket on my back I’m able to slip in just before the door shuts completely."
"Fang is panting in the stairwell near the door. And I’m sure I’m redder than I was earlier with the vines."
scene garden with fade
show fang angry at sleft
show anon neutral at aright
F "Why… hah hah… did you… follow me?"
"Why?"
A "Be haaaaah… because… I’m sorry…"
"Her snear returns and she makes to turn away."
A "I fucked up. Yes, I was at that concert. And yes, I laughed. I never expected to actually become your friend."
"Her wings block my view of her."
"But she hasn’t left yet. Maybe I can fix this after all."
A "I just wanted to coast through school. I was happy being a loner."
A "I’ve always been one, after all."
show anon neutral at acenter with move
hide fang neutral with dissolve
"Without a word Fang climbs the stairs."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Fuck."
"I consider following but her silence was evidence enough she wants nothing to do with me."
"And standing here by myself I have time to think of my own admission."
"If Fang leaves me alone, I’ll get exactly what I want. Right?"
"She could probably talk Trish and Reed into leaving me alone too."
"I’ll get the easy life I wanted."
"So why the fuck do I feel absolutely empty right now?"
"I sigh and slump over on the stairs."
A "Can today get any worse?"
show stella neutral at stleft
St "Karma would suggest yes."
"Oh."
"You know, I always thought that tempting fate thing was just a dumb cliche."
"It still is. But maybe Stella has a good point about astrology."
show stella explanatory
St "Rosa! I found our errant runaway!"
"I hear the shrill screech of a latina banshee approach."
show rosa angry at sright with dissolve
Ro "Where did you go?!"
Ro "You were supposed to get Fang and return! RETURN!!"
A "Oh… Right. Yeah, uh… Sorry."
Ro "You will be sorry!"
St "There’s two hours left for the rest of the students, but that makes four for you."
show rosa neutral
Ro "Do not worry An-on! We stay as well!"
A "... Greaaat."
scene black with fade
"The next few hours were grueling hell."
"Carrying bags of the most rancid smelling fertilizer back and forth…"
"Clearing entire sections of flowerbed of weeds using only a trowel…"
"Tilling the same flowerbeds by hand..."
"I don’t think the phrase ‘backbreaking labor’ was supposed to be literal."
scene garden with fade
show rosa neutral at sleft
show anon neutral flip at acenter
Ro "As is expected of hombres!"
"I could already tell that by the end of the day I would have crippling arthritis."
"Fang returns eventually, but still won’t talk to me and just sticks nearby cutting vines."
"Only an hour has passed, but I’m about ready to sleep for days."
Ro "An-on! We will now be replanting the flowers you destroyed!"
"‘Destroyed’ is a harsh word…"
A "But I don’t know anything about planting-"
Ro "You speak nonsense! Come here, now, I’ll teach you!"
"She motions me to get on my knees next to her and hands me a clump of dirt with a juvenile daisy in it."
Ro "I will dig the hole, you will place it in. Very simple!"
"I somehow almost drop the flower."
A "Y-yeah…"
"I don’t even {i}want{/i} to think what would happen if I mess up a third time."
"Rosa points up at Fang, who is still aggressively trimming back the vines."
Ro "Fang, do you want to plant some, too?"
F "I’ll… pass."
"With a practiced hand Rosa clears out a cylindrical hole deep enough for the clump to go in."
Ro "Okay, it’s ready."
"My arms are practically rubber from today’s work and are faltering to the point pieces of dirt are being shaken off."
"A little bit from the hole, I have to catch the whole thing when it slips from my grip."
"Rosa puts her hands around mine to steady them before I drop it for real."
Ro "Veeery easy, like this…"
"The bulb is placed in the hole and we let go."
"Rosa quickly fills up the patch of dirt with the trowel, leaving only the stem and flower visible."
Ro "You did it!"
A "Doesn’t seem like I did much at all…"
Ro "Hush now. We still have dozens left to plant."
"A keening whine rumbles from my mouth."
A "Can’t I just take the beating instead? Please?"
F "I’ll do that if you really want."
Ro "Do you want to borrow my slipper?"
A "I’d prefer the shovel. Aim right here, and do {i}not{/i} resuscitate me after."
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating her Company.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Fang’s chuckle helps to lighten my mood immensely."
"Maybe…"
"I continue replanting flowers under Rosa’s caring yet Orwellian supervision."
"At noon the bellowing of our principal calls us back up to the front of the school."
Sp "Thank you all again for showing up today."
Sp "I hope that through your hard work all of you learned a valuable lesson."
"I catch Fang rolling her eyes from the corner of my vision."
Sp "Please do stay safe on your way home, and try to keep out of trouble in the future."
Sp "Dismissed."
show rosa bossy with dissolve
Ro "Not you, An-on! You stay!"
Ro "Right! And before everyone goes…!"
show stella explanatory at sleft with moveinright
"Stella approaches holding a covered pot and paper plates."
show rosa neutral with dissolve
Ro "I made lunch for everyone!!"
"The small crowd gets a bit more energetic."
Ro "Home cooked Mole Poblano! Enough for seconds and thirds!"
"I graciously accept a plate and stack it high with salty-sweet goodness."
"The hot food is absolutely heavenly, reinvigorating me as I bite into the mexican meal."
F "mmmm… so filling…"
A "Yeah… Wish I could cook like that…"
"Wait."
"I look around and see that the only ones left are Rosa, Stella, Fang and I."
"Even Spears has gone home."
A "Fang, ab-"
Ro "Alright An-on, back to work! You still owe me two hours of heavy lifting!"
Ro "Oh don't be sad. You are a natural greenthumb!"
Ro "When you are not laying on my flowers, that is."
"I don’t really… Get compliments."
"It’s just circumstance, it’s not like I'm actually any less lazy or unskilled."
F "Hold on, I’m not done yet."
play music 'audio/OST/Dino Destiny Reader.ogg' fadein 1.0
St "We can wait a bit while you two finish. You need all your energy after all."
"These guys aren’t half bad."
"I thought they were slave drivers, but then again I did ruin their hard work."
A "Stella, I’ve been meaning to ask…"
A "Why {i}are{/i} you like this?"
St "Like what?"
A "You know, the whole thing with astrology and quoting…"
A "..."
A "...video games."
St "Oh, I dunno, I guess it’s just the stuff I like."
A "Right…"
St "Why do you ask? Ooh, are you interested in it, too?!"
A "I, err… maybe some other time, Stella."
scene black with fade
"The rest of lunch passes by without incident, and I’m left savoring Rosa’s delicious cooking."
"Like they say, the first rule of Mexican food: the more it looks like raw sewage, the better it tastes."
"The next two hours of work fly by relatively quickly without Rosa and Stella breathing down my neck."
"Replant the rest of the flowers I had crushed, all done by me."
"Collect all of the discarded vines and clippings into compost bins, all done by me."
"Carry all of the tools back into the maintenance shed."
"Take a guess who did it."
play music 'audio/OST/west_coast_kicking.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Fang stuck around for some reason, even though I don’t think she had any other work to do."
"But now my prison sentence is finally over and I’m free to go."
"My feet hurt, my arms hurt, my back hurts."
scene garden
show rosa neutral at sleft
show stella neutral at stcenter
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
Ro "Anon, you did such a good job today! You should sign up for the gardening club!"
St "Yeah! You could come and help out with {i}all{/i} of our meetings!"
"I just want to go home."
A "That’s… I’ll just… think about it."
hide rosa neutral with dissolve
hide stella with dissolve
"I walk away before either of them can push joining their club further. I’m too tired to argue."
"Fang seems to have disappeared, guess she didn’t want to stick around longer than she had to."
"As I pass by some of the gardens I take a moment to admire my handiwork."
"As much as I didn’t want to be here, I have to admit they look a lot cleaner than before."
show fang neutral at sleft
F "See? That’s what doing some actual hard work for once can do."
"Fang’s sudden appearance from behind me makes me flinch. I guess she stuck around after all."
show fang happy
F "A wimp like you could use it, too."
"So now Fang is suddenly talking to me, again?"
A "Yeah, sure…"
show fang angry
F "Now all the important and beautiful plants can thrive without any of the useless weeds choking them up and holding them back."
"Oh right, I almost forgot Fang thinks people like me are barely worth the oxygen."
"Not that I really blame her after earlier."
A "Yeah, well, don’t let the weeds like me get in your way…"
"I sigh and turn away from Fang, beginning my very achy walk home."
"Time to go and sleep for twenty hours."
show fang neutral
F "Anon, wait."
"I stop in my tracks. Now what does she want?"
A "Look, I said I was sorry, okay? I laughed at you guys and ruined your concert."
A "I don’t care if you never want to talk to me again, I just don’t know what else you want me to say."
F "Anon... It…"
show fang sad
F "It’s not the concert I’m upset about."
"What?"
A "It’s not?"
F "I mean, maybe a little bit, but..."
F "I’m mad because you kept it from me, okay?"
F "It’s just… I haven’t made many friends in, well… a while."
F "I don’t want to lose an actual friend over stupid bullshit like that."
F "I just thought you would have trusted me more to tell me the truth…"
A "I… is this why you stuck around earlier?"
"She hesitates before nodding, like she needed to convince herself."
F "Not that it matters but… I’m sorry too."
A "You… for what? Kicking me in the face?"
show fang happy
F "I {i}might{/i} have overreacted a bit earlier but you did deserve that."
F "I’m sorry for calling you one of the weeds. You’re not a weed, you’re… I dunno, a mushroom or some shit."
A "A mushroom? Not like a cool tree or a cactus or something?"
F "Hell no, you’re not {i}that{/i} cool. Mushrooms take all the bad shit and turn it into nutrients for all of the good plants, y’know?"
F "Plus you kinda look like one, too."
"Fucking rude."
A "That’s like the nicest thing I think I’ve ever heard you say."
F "Now you’re pushing it."
"I let out a sigh of relief. Can’t say that’s how I expected this conversation to go."
A "I guess we’re both assholes, then…"
F "Heh, yeah… friends?"
A "Friends."
A "So, uh… why do you know so much about mushrooms, exactly? Reed?"
show fang considering
"Fang gives me a sideways glance and smiles a bit."
show fang neutral
F "Spend enough time around Stella and Rosa and you pick up a few gardening facts."
A "Yeah, first impressions aside they’re pretty alright I guess. Stella’s a bit weird and Rosa is a walking stereotype."
show fang happy
F "BWAHAHA!! A dork like {i}you{/i} calling Stella weird?"
A "A dork like me has every right to call out Stella."
F "Sure, sure. Anyway, I’ll be seeing ya, Anon."
A "Yeah… See you…"
hide fang with moveoutright
"Fang strolls away, humming some tune I’ve never heard."
"Left alone now with just my thoughts I find myself feeling a great weight lift from me."
"Friends, huh… I can’t recall the last time I had a legitimate friend…"
A "{i}Some people certainly aren’t.{/i}"
A "{i}Just never meant to amount to anything or do anything important.{/i}"
A "..."
A "I just don’t know anymore."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"I set off for my apartment, body sore but spirit soaring."
"..."
#Heart to Heart
play music 'audio/OST/punk_revamp.ogg' fadein 1.0
"One month now. Five to go and I’ve found myself in a predicament."
"I’m enjoying my time with Fang."
"Most of the time just talking about stupid shit."
"Like our mutual love for wire-fu and comedy movies."
"{alpha=*0.5}{i}We are both ventriloquist, ventriloquist, ventriloquist. We are both ventriloquists and we practice every day.{/i}{/alpha}"
F "{alpha=*0.5}{i}He carries a basket{/i}{/alpha}"
A "{alpha=*0.5}{i}He carries a paper roll{/i}{/alpha}"
"{alpha=*0.5}{i}and we don’t have cysts. But there is one thing that’s for sure friends, we are ventriloquists.{/i}{/alpha}"
"Almost every day now I’m either at her desk helping her in Science or working on a lab with her."
"Or she’s sat next to me decrypting the mystical arts of Not Sucking at Music."
"I’m talking more with her than anyone I’ve ever talked with."
"Not to mention lunch and after school. It’s less hiding from the tangerine tyrant and Naser these days and more spending time with Fang and Reed."
"Even if he’s constantly checked out."
"And smells of burnt skunk."
"The fuck is he on, anyway?!"
scene bandroom
show anon neutral at acenter
show reed neutral at sright
Re "It’s carfe, bro…"
"...what?"
Re "Carfentanyl."
"..."
"Whatever."
"Fang and the gang (heh) are pretty alright."
"Trish though…"
"Every day she gives me the same look of distrust and a put-upon sigh."
"As if I’m some kind of chore to deal with."
"Whatever. S’not like she matters in the long run."
"But I find myself having these weird thoughts lately."
"Like, is any of this real or not?"
"I tumble backwards."
"Off of the stage."
show anon neutral at aleft:
xalign 0.5 yalign -0.1
linear 1 rotate -90
hide anon neutral with dissolve
"Woah"
A "ow…"
Re "bro….. That sucks….."
"It’s lunch time now, and I guess I dozed off."
"Too many late night ‘study’ sessions."
Re "You like… need help?"
A "ffff…. Just fix the projector Reed."
Re "‘Kay… Almost done…"
show anon neutral at aleft:
xalign -0.8 yalign 0.0
linear 1 rotate 0
ease 1.0 xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
"I hobble to my feet, feeling out the bruise blossoming on my shoulder."
A "Hrrrrg… Stupid fuckin’ stage."
"I consider jumping back up, but find the stairs up more appealing."
scene hallway
show anon neutral flip at acenter
show trish unimpressed at tleft
play music 'audio/OST/i_have_no_clue_what_im_doing.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Going up the stairs, Trish suddenly grabs my shoulder, pinning it to the wall."
"She leans in close, looking me dead in the eyes."
A "Uhh…"
A "Can I help you?"
T "Don’t play dumb."
T "Something’s up with Fang today."
"She gestures to where Fang is sitting."
"Fang’s picking at her lunch with a fork, not eating a bite."
"Now that I think about it, she has been a bit distant today."
T "They’ve been like this since band practice yesterday."
"Wait, what?"
show trish angry with dissolve
T "Did you do something to them?"
"Do something? What does she mean?"
"Does she think that Fang and I…"
#if persistent.lewd == True:
# show howlewd at truecenter with dissolve
# pause 3
# hide howlewd with dissolve
T "OI!"
A "What? No! I don’t think at least."
A "Why are you so concerned?"
A "Everyone has a bad day every now and then, right?"
T "Fang and I have been friends for ten years now."
T "Not once have I seen them this upset."
T "You’re the only new thing around here."
T "It can’t be anyone else."
T "So. What did you do?"
A "I swear I haven’t done anything with Fang."
A "Look, we’ve got music next. I’ll ask Fang what’s up then."
"Trish glowers. We both glance at Fang to see her still sitting there with her untouched food."
T "You’ll talk to Fang? You’ll probably make it worse. I should be the one to talk with them."
A "So why haven’t you?"
show trish unimpressed with dissolve
"Trish’s mouth shuts with a click."
"I stare her down."
"Her eyes harden and she finally speaks."
show trish annoyed at tleft with dissolve
T "...Fine… but you better not fuck up."
"She lets go of my shoulder, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets with a huff."
hide trish with moveoutright
"I finally return to where I was sitting on the stage to continue finishing my lunch."
scene bandroom
"Right when I plant myself on the ground Reed speaks up."
show anon neutral at aleft
show reed neutral at scenter
show trish neutral flip at sright
Re "Aaaaand… Done!"
A "Done? With the projector?"
Re "That’s right, man… Now we can watch movies… Shows… Pornos… All that."
T "We’re not watching porn in school."
A "Not with that attitude…"
"Trish throws an orange slice at me."
Re "So what do you guys wanna watch…?"
"I can’t think of anything that would be appropriate around normal highschoolers."
"Trish raises her hand and jumps in place."
T "How about the Count of Monte Cristo?"
Re "Oh, I know that one! The actors in that one are pretty great…"
A "Oh yeah. I love the VA work."
"Trish and Reed stop and stare at me."
play music 'audio/OST/The.ogg' fadein 1.0
T "..."
Re "..."
"Crap, was it something I said?"
T "What-"
"*DING-DONG BING-BONG*"
"Saved by the bell!"
"I look to Fang and-"
"Oh."
"When did she leave?"
A "Oh, Fang left already. I’ll go catch up with her."
A "BYE!"
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"I make record time out of the auditorium, leaving a still confused Trish and Reed."
"..."
scene classroom with fade
"Fang isn’t in music class when I get there."
"I tap out a quick message to her on my phone. I take a spot next to her seat and wait."
"Maybe she just needed to use the bathroom."
"..."
"It’s been about twenty minutes."
"I’m starting to get worried."
T "{i}{alpha=0.5}Something’s up with Fang today.{/alpha}{/i}"
"Hmmm..."
"I looked at my phone, and the message I sent her way just before class started."
show anonphone at scenter
A "Hey. Wanna talk?"
"Still unseen?"
"..."
T "{alpha=0.5}{i}you better not fuck up.{/i}{/alpha}"
"God damn it."
A "Mr. Jingo! I need to use the bathroom!"
"..."
"One guitar-shaped bathroom pass later I’m scrambling through the halls."
scene hallway with dissolve
"If I were a non-binary teenage pterodon having a crisis, where would I hide?"
"Someplace only Fang would go..."
"The family bathrooms!"
"There are only two in the building."
"I sprint to the first bathroom, closer to the back of the school and nestled away in the special needs area."
"My knuckles rap against the door, locked and preoccupied."
A "Fang? You’re missing class and I seriously need help with this sheet music."
play music 'audio/OST/Dino Destiny Reader.ogg' fadein 1.0
unknown "The one you seek is elsewhere."
"Who the fuck… Wait…"
A "You’re that weird stego chick…Stella?"
St "That’s very rude… And I’m not weird…"
A "Whatever, do you know where Fang is?"
St "...Not here… Can you please leave? I have a nervous bladder."
"I turn away from the door and sprint to the front of the school where the other bathroom is."
"It’s while I’m moving briskly through the empty corridors of the school with un-tuned guitar in hand that I find divine providence."
"Or rather."
"The feathers floating by the window provide me with the clue I need."
"I look out the window, and while I can’t look up to see for sure, the shadow that she is casting on the ground below is enough verification required."
"My feet climb the steps easily, but my mind is ill at-ease."
"The hell is wrong with me right now."
"Why do I feel anxious right now?"
T "{alpha=0.5}{i}What did you do?{/i}{/alpha}"
"What if I did do something?"
T "{alpha=0.5}{i}Fang and I have been friends for ten years now.{/i}{/alpha}"
"I’ve known her for barely a month. And why is it my problem to fix?"
T "{alpha=0.5}{i}Not once have I seen them this upset.{/i}{/alpha}"
"I can’t stop the gnawing feeling in my chest."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene roof day
show fang neutral:
xalign -0.2
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
"I’m at the door to the roof now. It’s shut, but by the handle I notice a piece of cardboard tucked between the door and frame, keeping the latch open."
F "Good job, dork."
show fang happy
"Fang smirks a bit."
"Damn it all. Fang’s problems first, then I can figure out my chest."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"I open the door and am immediately blinded by the sun."
"I shade my eyes."
"The door clicks shut behind me."
A "Oh… shit…"
show fang neutral
F "Whose the- Anon?... What’s with the guitar?"
"Fang is sitting atop the stair enclosure looking down at me."
A "Mr. Jingo’s hall pass. I uh… Kinda need help with sheet music again."
F "Wow. You really suck at music."
A "Yeah. I really do."
"I find the ladder easily enough and climb on top of the tiny hut."
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating her Company.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Around Fang are scattered feathers."
A "You alright? The feath-"
F "Preening."
"What."
"Fang sighs. She holds one of her wings and gently brushes her fingers through the feathers."
F "I’m preening my wing."
"She winces. A feather drifts to the floor."
A "That looks painful."
show anon neutral flip at acenter behind fang with move
"I move closer."
F "A little."
"I sit down next to her and look out at Volcaldera Bluff. It’s a beautiful view."
"It’s a distraction."
F "You ever…"
menu:
"stay quiet...":
jump quiet4b
"Interrupt":
jump interrupt4b
label quiet4b:
"There’s a time to speak and a time to listen."
show fang sad
F "... You ever feel like you just don’t matter?"
"Fang stares at the vista of Volcaldera but her eyes are vacant."
F "I feel like no matter what I do, I’ll never be able to make something."
F "I try and try but nobody likes the ways I express myself."
show fang angry
"She growls."
F "Not once after all the work I’ve put into VVURM DRAMA has anyone ever told me it was good,"
"Her eyes wetten. Her voice roughens. Her shoulders quake."
F "nobodies ever said ‘Good job, Fang! Can I get a copy of that last song on CD’ ."
F "I’ve been playing music since I was basically in diapers and all I have to show for it is a shit reputation."
show fang very angry
"Her hand curls into a fist. Her nails bite into her palm, and I can clearly see the minute trickle of blood."
F "How much harder do I have to try to get people to notice me!"
"Her fist crashes down on the floor."
show fang ultra angry
F "Even my own parents!"
F "When dad looks at me it’s like he just sees a lost cause!"
F "\"Oh, Fang is the scene teen, better focus on the one that ISN’T broken so we don’t screw up again!\""
"She punctuated her shouts with her fist, striking the roof beneath her."
"Her fist lands softly one final time, uncurling to reveal the bleeding grooves her sharp nails have left."
F "..."
show fang ear cover
"Watching her break apart, it’s causing the dull pain in my chest to intensify."
F "Why can’t I be popular like him?"
show fang very sad
"Fang deflates completely. All her anger gone, replaced with melancholy."
F "Naser doesn’t have to try at all!"
F "Even crippled, he just breezes through life!"
F "Why does he get straight A’s?"
F "Why does he get my parents’ attention?"
F "Why do I have to be the burden on everyone?!"
show fang hiding
"She grabs her knees and buries her face in her lap."
A "..."
menu:
"stay quiet...":
jump quiet4c
"Interrupt":
jump interrupt4c
label quiet4c:
F "And the worst part is he can’t even hate me."
show fang sad
"She picks her head up."
"Rivulets of tears and orange eyeliner run down her cheeks and leave bright stains on her knees."
F "I can tell him to fuck off every day and he’ll still be there the next."
F "As if nothing fucking happened."
F "He’s a constant reminder of everything I can’t be."
F "He’s a goddamned boy scout!"
F "Lil’ Mr. Perfect!"
F "And I’ll always be in his fucking shadow!"
F "I can’t just change, just magically get better at everything even if someone like Naser tries to help."
F "And it’s clear he wants to."
F "But the sheer difference between us…"
F "It won’t ever happen."
F "But my brother tries."
F "He’s always trying. He just FUCKS UP!"
F "Every. Fucking. Time."
show fang anguish
"She wipes a tear with one of her hands, but leaves a bloody smudge instead."
F "Naser knows who he is."
F "I don’t even know what I am."
A "..."
"Do I step in now…?"
menu:
"stay quiet...":
jump quiet4d
"Interrupt":
jump interrupt4d
label quiet4d:
show fang ultra angry
F "WHO AM I, DAMN IT?!"
show fang very sad
F "I can only define myself by the thing’s I’m not."
F "I’m not a good band player."
F "I’m not a good sibling."
F "I’m not a good friend."
F "I’m not a good person."
F "My mind is a fucking mess. In my head it’s all…"
F "My thoughts… they’re all fucking foggy. Half the time I’m hating myself."
show fang hiding
F "‘Am I who I say I am?’ Maybe? Not really…"
show fang anguish
F "The other half I’m daydreaming of being something special."
F "That I’m different from everyone. Above them… I know more than them."
F "They’re both lies. I’m fuckin’ lying to myself but…"
F "It’s like I’m just here to be a drain on myself and others."
F "I’m stuck with myself, I can’t just drop everything and try other things now."
F "It’s just too late for that."
F "There’s too many ways to fuck up."
F "Music is the only thing I’ve ever been decent at, and even then…"
"She looks to me desperately, at a loss for words."
"..."
menu:
"stay quiet...":
jump quiet4e
"Interrupt":
jump interrupt4e
label quiet4e:
$ fangscore += 1
$ anonscore += 1
A "..."
F "..."
show fang very angry
F "Why won’t you say anything?"
F "Here I am begging for help and you haven’t said a word!"
F "You’re always so sure of yourself, yet here you are listening to me in a crisis and you can’t say anything?!"
"Fang grips my jacket with both hands, digging in."
scene fangroofcry with fade
F "What is it you have that I don’t?!"
F "What is it you want from me?!"
F "What is it I want from you?!"
F "When you got here a few weeks ago you were just some nobody kid without friends who lives alone on financial assistance!"
"She’s shaking my arm around."
F "And now everyone I know is friends with you!"
F "You have no talents, no specific knowledge anywhere, no real personality…"
F "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU THAT YOU CAN LACK AN IDENTITY BUT KNOW EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE?!"
"Honestly I…"
A "dunno"
F "...What…"
A "I dunno how to say it. All I know is I’m me…"
F "You’re… You?"
"I struggle to find the right words."
"Fang stares pleadingly. Eventually she buries her eyes in my jacket arm."
A "It's like.. I don’t know..."
A "You’re trying to be something you’re not."
A "It needs to happen naturally."
"Fang looks up from my arm."
F "Naturally…?"
A "If you are forcing this… whatever... then it's like some misplaced idea or like, a refusal to leave the comfort zone..."
A "Argh, what I’m trying to say is…"
A "I ended up trying to be someone else too."
A "To the point that I rejected who I really was and started to fuck myself up."
A "I’m not about making others' notice me, or about being great at something."
A "I just do what makes me, well, me."
A "I'm the only me here, and I think it's safe to assume that there's several of you. Like, you don’t know, you said it yourself."
"Her fingers tighten around my arm."
"I’m not certain she’s breathing right now."
A "And there’s tons of different people going through what you are right now, trying to force their egos, only to reject who they really are."
A "Not to undermine your feelings or anything."
A "And at the end of it all, I’ve accepted that ‘I’ am, and will always be, ‘me’."
A "Ya see?"
F "I have to… Figure it out myself…?"
"Fang’s grip loosens."
scene roof day
show fang ear cover at sleft
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
"She puts her hands around her knees and lowers her head."
"Her expression is one of complete resignation."
F "I don’t… I can’t do anything on my own."
F "How am I supposed to do something like this?"
A "You aren’t alone."
A "I’m here. Reed and Trish are here. You already know Naser wants to help."
F "..."
show fang very sad
A "It doesn’t need to be all at once."
"Fang looks back to me and gives a sad smile."
F "... Alright…"
show fang sad
"She tries to dry her tears again, only to smudge her face with blood and makeup again."
"I remove my jacket and offer the sleeve to her."
"She sniffles, then grabs it to wipe her eyes."
"...It’s laundry day anyways."
show fang happy with dissolve
"After returning my jacket, Fang looks to me again with a somber smile."
A "Why did you come up here?"
F "It’s nice up here. Quiet."
A "But why? And why alone?"
F "To think. Maybe to throw myself a pity party. I do this every year."
A "Up here?"
F "Nah… Just somewhere I can be alone."
A "Every year though?"
F "... Since I was 11…"
A "Jeez. What happened?"
show fang sad with dissolve
F "I broke Naser’s wing."
"Ah. My foot tastes extra salty today."
F "We used to be really close. He looked up to me."
F "I was supposed to watch him. I’m his big sister after all."
F "He had asked me if we could really fly."
"Fang stretched her wings to highlight that."
F "I said ‘of course’... I looked away for a second and then it happened…"
F "He jumped off the bluff."
"Her eyes become distant, and I can only guess just how vividly she’s reliving this moment of her past."
F "I watched as he jumped. As he bounced off the cliff and into the water."
F "I climbed down as fast as I could, hoping to God he wasn’t dead."
F "But the current… Dad and the lifeguard had to go in because the current was too strong."
"Her voice quakes as she’s engulfed in her memory."
F "When mom came with the medic-"
show fang hiding
"Fang chokes back a sob and continues."
F "Naser was… I thought he was dead…"
F "...Covered in blood…"
F "...Limbs mangled…"
F "My baby brother, just 9 years old, had jumped off the bluff, thinking he could fly!"
hide fang
hide anon
show fanganonhug
with dissolve
"Fang’s eyes grow wet again. Without a second thought I draw her into a hug, comforting her."
"Her voice is muffled by my jacket but she continues."
F "I’m why his wing is a fucking mess. I did it…"
F "So why…"
F "Why doesn’t he hate me…"
Nas "{i}{alpha=0.5}She’s still family.{/i}{/alpha}"
A "Because you’re his sister."
"Fang flinches in my arms, but doesn’t pull away."
A "You’re the one that’s hurting, Fang. Not Naser."
"I surprised myself there. I honestly don’t know how I managed this conversation."
"I let go of Fang and lean back, giving her some space. Her breathing is evening out, and she looks far more composed now."
hide fanganonhug
show fang sad at sleft
show anon neutral flip at sright
F "... I’m sorry for what I said earlier."
A "Huh?"
F "About how you’re a nobody."
A "You’re pretty much right."
F "Maybe, but I shouldn’t have put it so harshly."
F "All this time I thought people like you were…"
F "Useless? Something like that."
F "But here you are, proving me wrong time and time again."
A "I get what you mean."
A "I could say the same to you as well."
A "I’ve been breaking your rules like you’ve been breaking mine."
F "Maybe we’re both just useless nobodies."
show fang happy with dissolve
"She chuckles to herself."
jump postFangAndAnonTalk
label interrupt4b:
"She seems at a loss for words."
"I should say something."
A "You’re feeling helpless, right?"
A "Like you don’t matter?"
show fang sad
"Fang looks at me with desperation."
F "Y...Yes…"
A "Here’s what I think…"
jump postinterruption
label interrupt4c:
"Here’s a good place to butt in."
A "You aren’t a burden to me."
show fang sad
"Fang removes her head from her knees and looks to me with pleading eyes."
F "What?"
A "I’m your friend too, right?"
A "I don’t think you’re a burden."
"Fang sniffles a bit."
A "Here’s what I think…"
jump postinterruption
label interrupt4d:
"Now’s a good time."
A "You’re Fang."
show fang sad
"She looks to me with tears streaming down her cheek."
A "Even if you don’t see it, you’re still you."
A "The Fang I know likes music, bad movies, and doesn’t take crap from any adults."
A "Am I right?"
"Fang nods slowly."
A "Here’s what I think…"
jump postinterruption
label interrupt4e:
"Here we go."
A "It’s never too late to try something new."
F "...I can’t."
F "I just can’t."
show fang sad
A "You have support from me and Naser, right?"
F "..."
F "...Maybe..."
A "Here’s what I think…"
jump postinterruption
label postinterruption:
"I put my arm on Fang’s shoulder."
A "You’re in a pretty bad spot right now."
A "Self-improvement is hard, but there’s nothing to be gained without sacrifice, right?"
"Fang gives a slight nod."
A "You need to step out from your comfort zone more often, even if you think there’s no time."
A "There’s no harm in diversifying, right?"
"Fang looks away from the coastline and to me."
F "... I don’t know. Maybe you’re right..."
A "You could also try harder to get along with Naser."
A "I guarantee there’s not that much in the way between you two."
F "...You’ll be there to support me, right?"
A "Sure."
F "I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do all that…"
A "I believe you can be."
A "Being weak is nothing to be ashamed of."
A "Staying weak is."
A "You don’t have to do it alone."
hide fang
hide anon
show fanganonhug
with dissolve
"Fang embraces me tight."
F "Thank you."
"We sit in silence for a few minutes."
".."
"..."
"...."
"Eventually, she lets go."
"Fang’s breathing is evening out, and she looks far more composed now."
label postFangAndAnonTalk:
scene roof day
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
F "Hey, can I see that?"
"Fang points at my oversized hall pass."
A "Yeah, sure"
hide anon
hide fang
show hallpass
with dissolve
"She takes it from my hands, our fingers brushing for a second."
"She blushes while she handles the acoustic bathroom pass."
F "I think… I think I finally got the tune, Anon."
A "Tune?"
"She finishes tuning the guitar and tests it. With a nod to herself Fang begins strumming."
"The rhythm is slow and the tone is soft, enough so that her humming blends perfectly with it."
"I lean back, bobbing my head along to the impromptu music."
"The streaks from her tears that had once marred her pretty face only help the highlight her soft smile now."
"I hum along now too, which causes Fang to giggle. The rhythm is slowing to a crawl, the song about to end."
F "With a meteor coming soon"
F "Everyone’s going to die"
F "So I’ll say to everyone"
F "Goodbye Volcano High"
"The lyrics surprise me, but I shrug it off."
A "You ready to get up?"
"Fang nods and wipes her tears one last time with her forearm."
"I stand and pop my back, looking out over the fence at the ground below."
"From here I can see the afternoon sun starting to encroach on the skyline of the small coastal town."
"Turning to Fang, I crouch a bit and extend my hand to her."
"She moves her bloody hand to take it, but hesitates."
"..."
"..."
"She softly grasps my hand."
"She winces in pain."
"You know…"
"It’s strange, I expected the alarms to go off again, but…"
"This feels different, somehow."
"More natural."
show weridkissu
hide hallpass
with dissolve
"I’m careful to hoist her to her feet. Mindful of her injured palm. But her beak accidentally bumps into my cheek on her way up."
stop music fadeout 5.0
"Ah, there they are."
"Fang’s eyes contact and she instinctively hops backwards, covering her muzzle with her hands and turning her head away in her flusteration."
"I clench my lower jaw and look at my palm, slick with sweat and her blood."
"The silence continues for an immeasurable amount of time."
A "Haha… So that’s how dinos kiss… Haha…"
hide weridkissu
show fang happy at scenter
show anon neutral flip at aright
with dissolve
#[Internal screaming sfx here]
"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFU-"
F "Haha… not really haha… haha…"
A "Ha ha… haaaa… uh…"
"I look for something, anything, to end this awkwardness."
"Like the guitar hall pass. Wait…"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"I check my phone, seeing that Mr. Jingo’s class will be ending in 10 minutes."
show anon sad flip
play music 'audio/OST/she_fucks_human_men.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "Fuck… the assignment…"
"Fang finally looks my way again, though her face is still flush."
show fang surprised
F "What?"
A "Mr. Jingo’s assignment. There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to do it at home."
F "Pfffft."
show fang happy
show anon neutral flip
"Fang’s hands try to cover her beak, failing horribly to contain her giggles."
F "Hehehehehehe. God, you really suck at music."
"I glare at her."
F "haaaaah... Why don’t you just drop it? It’s an elective anyway."
"Because I need to maintain my GPA for college."
A "Because… I kinda like it…"
"I blush and look down to the entrance of the roof below us."
F "Hmm… maaaaybe I’ll help you…"
"Fang hops down, her wings easing her landing."
F "I owe you for the fuckin’ therapy session anyway."
A "Oh thank fuck."
"I climb down the ladder. Those wings must be really convenient."
stop music fadeout 1.0
show fang surprised flip
show anon fear flip
play music 'audio/OST/we just turned on the microphone in our programmers_ house.ogg' fadein 1.0
Sp "WHO THE FUCK IS UP HERE!"
"The door flies open, off its hinges, through the suicide fence and over the side of the building, crashing loudly on the concrete below."
scene roof day broken
show fang shocked flip at sright
show anon fear flip at aright
with fade
show spears angry at sleft with moveinleft
Sp "I KNOW SOMEONE IS DITCHING UP HERE! MY HUNTING INSTINCTS CAN TELL!"
"Oh double fuck."
A "Uh…"
Sp "YOU!"
"Principal Spears looks at us, finger pointed at me as if to fire a special beam cannon through my chest."
Sp "In all my god damned years… On top of the roof! Explain. NOW!"
"Bullshit mode activate."
A "I got lost looking for the bathroom?"
"Spears incinerates me on the spot."
F "Estrus season?"
"For a brief instant I picture Fang in a bikini."
#if persistent.lewd == True:
# show howlewd at truecenter with dissolve
# pause 3
# hide howlewd with dissolve
"Hot."
"Fang gets a similar stare and withers down."
Sp "I’m not stupid. Ptero estrus season isn’t for another few months."
Sp "Empty your pockets. Now."
show anon neutral flip
show fang neutral flip
with dissolve
"I reduce myself to hoover flags. All I had on me was my phone and a ratty wallet held together with hot glue and duct tape."
"Fang does the same, dropping her own phone, a spare guitar pick, and an unopened pack of cigarettes."
"Spears looks at Fang dead in the eyes, rips the package open, and stuffs every cigarette in his mouth at once."
"To our mortified stares, he chews them until they are a brown glob and spits it over the fence, landing on a rather oriental looking car."
Sp "Anon. Go to class. Now. Fang. To the Nurse’s."
scene bloodywing with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I look to Fang one last time. She looks a mess."
"Her wings are ragged, feathers misaligned and a clear patch of them missing on one."
"Stains on her legs from her make-up, tears and blood."
"Drying blood on her hands, arms and beak."
"Eyes puffy and red from crying."
"But her smile… was…"
"I wave her goodbye and wordlessly return to class."
scene bandroom with fade
"I only have a few minutes, but I can’t focus on the assignment. I’ll have to take it home as homework."
F "{alpha=0.5}{i}Hmm… maaaaybe I’ll help you{/i}{/alpha}"
show anonphone at scenter with moveinbottom
"I take out my phone and consider messaging Fang again."
"!"
"My heart thumps roughly in my chest. Just what is with me today."
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
"All this drama… When did my life become a soap opera…"
"Heh… even included a dramatic kiss…"
"I look at my hand, her blood now dried and dusty on my palm."
"Did… That count as a kiss?"
"I mean, it was unintentional. She backed off and all."
"..."
"Jeez, my insides feel like liquid."
"Surely that’s just my disgusted reaction to Spear’s scare tactic up there."
"Nah, this isn’t fear. Unlike a bottomless pit the feeling is..."
"Pleasant…"
"Yeah, I kinda like it. Hmmmm…"
"I wonder if Fang-"
"!"
"The feeling intensifies. But why? I only thought of-"
"It’s not as if she-"
"But-"
"..."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"Do I like Fang?"
"!!!!!!"
"..."
"Fuck."
"..."
#Not A Date
scene room anon dark with fade
"-One Month Later-"
play music 'audio/OST/Bayside Bumming it.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I’m laying in bed on a saturday morning."
"It’s been raining the last few days, so I’m stuck inside."
"Not like I had any other plans anyways."
"The forecast says it should clear up later today."
"There’s no new games out, and my backlog is just the perfect size of fuck that noise."
"I don’t even feel like baiting on a certain basket weaving polynesian forum."
"The light of my phone is the only thing illuminating my hovel of a home."
"I scroll through the camera roll out of boredom."
"At least that’s what I tell myself."
"Interspersed through various memes and screenshots of homework assignments are pictures Fang has been sending."
"Over the last month I’ve been included more in Fang’s circle of friends."
#[CG of Fang having beaten Anon on a Primal Rage arcade cabinet]
"Ugh… My cred… I can feel it slipping away."
#[CG of Reed in his mascot outfit at one of Naser’s track meet]
"Hehehehe, Reed stole all the hotdogs that day."
#[CG of a selfie of Trish and Fang on the pier]
"I scroll past that one swiftly… god damn it Trish…"
"My perusal through old pictures is interrupted with a text."
"Fang: Looking for new band venue"
"Fang: Don’t feel like going alone"
"Fang: Do you want to come with?"
"...Alone…? No, shut the fuck up alarms."
"Anon: Why alone?"
"Fang: Trish has a horn appt and Reed is"
"A pause."
"Fang: Preoccupied."
#cut to Reed in bathroom cg
Re "...dude like… back to the story..."
#cut back to Anon
"Anon: Alright, where we dropping?"
"Fang: Just show up at my place in like an hour"
"Fang: Need to go now"
"Anon: k"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"This is fine."
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Shitpost.ogg' fadein 1.0
"It’s just helping a friend of mine find someplace for her band to play."
"A friend I have feelings for."
"And we’re alone."
scene room anon day
"JUST HANGING OUT CALM DOWN ANON CALM THE FUCK DOWN."
"I boot up my computer and start a gacha thread on a taiwanese rum brewing blogsite."
"The soothing replies bring my heartbeat down to an acceptable level."
"To top it off I insult the mods and then report my own post so I know they have to see it."
"I am become Anon, Collector of (You)s and Poster of Shit."
"By now the rain has subsided."
"Still feeling refreshed, I grab my jacket and start making my way across town to Fang’s house."
scene black with fade
"..."
scene home fang day with fade
play music "audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg" fadein 1.0
show anon neutral at aleft
"Passing through the snobby part of town to catch a bus, my thoughts begin intruding on me."
"Images of what’s to come pass before my eyes unwarranted."
"Looking for restaurants… because they’d be good venues of course!"
"Walking through the mall maybe? That’d be a good spot."
"The day turns to night and the temperature drops."
"I offer Fang my coat and-"
"God damn it no this isn’t a daaa-"
"Oh shit my stop!"
"I scurry off the bus right as the doors are closing."
scene sidewalk
show anon neutral at aleft
with fade
"And I don’t forget to thank the driver."
"The bus stop is luckily only a block away from Fang’s neighborhood."
"There’s a few stores open, and a street vendor is gleefully setting up shop for the first time in a few days.."
"she calls out to me as I pass."
show tracy unimpressed at scenter
play music "audio/OST/Tracy was fired from her real job.ogg" fadein 1.0
SV "Some storm, eh?"
show anon neutral at aleft
A "Oh, uh… Yeah. It was."
SV "People don’t usually take the bus here these days, where ya headed?"
A "Just… Over to the suburbs over there."
SV "Highschooler, taking the bus to the suburbs on a saturday…"
show tracy tease
SV "You’re going to see a girl, ain’tcha?"
A "How did…"
A "I mean, I am, but… I-it isn’t like that, you know?"
SV "Come onnnn, you can’t fool me."
SV "WAH-HA!! I’m certain it ain’t."
SV "At any rate, why not pick up a few ‘dogs to impress her?"
SV "We got ice cream too, if she’s an herbie."
A "Maybe later. I’ll keep it in mind."
"I turn to leave, behind me I hear the vendor mutter to herself."
show tracy neutral
SV "Ah, to be young and love again…"
scene skinrow
show anon neutral at aleft
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"... I pick up the pace."
"..."
"The difference between Fang’s neighborhood and my apartment complex is night and day."
"The smell of burnt tires doesn’t hang in the air. Instead it’s a mix of Cedar and wet pavement."
"The knife in my pocket feels excessive as an officer’s car passes by."
"I suppose to someone who's lived here it would seem normal, but to someone from bumfuck nowhere? The suburb felt decadent."
"Fang’s home is easy enough to find thanks to Gruugle maps’ images."
scene home fang outside
"It’s nice. Very nice actually. Two stories tall and with an expensive, if kinda scraped up, sports car in the drive-way."
"I approach the home, careful to hop up the spread stones that make up the walkway, in fear of trampling the well manicured yard."
"At last I’m at my destination. Fuck."
show anon neutral at aleft
"I stand frozen on the white porch now with the front door before me like the ramparts of a castle."
"Am I supposed to knock, or text her that I’m here?"
"Crap, I’ve never done anything like this before."
"Go with a friend to find a venue for a band, that is."
menu:
"Knock":
"Before my knuckles reach the door it swings open."
"Text Fang":
"Before I can hit ‘Send’ the door swings open."
"What is this killing intent?!"
show fangdad neutral flip at scenter with moveinright
play music "audio/OST/Prized Bowling Ball.ogg" fadein 1.0
FD "Hm… You Anon?"
"Shitshitshitalarms shut the fuck up right now please I need to think."
A "Y-yeah, I’m Anon. P-pleased to m-meet you uh…"
FD "Executioner."
"My pants feel heavy and sodden."
show fangmom neutral flip at fmright with moveinright
FM "Honey, who is it?"
FM "OH! You must be Anon!"
FM "Come in come in!"
scene home fang day
"The petite ptero-matriarch drags me into her abode. I could see the patriarch’s jaw clench as Fang’s mother pushed me into the comfiest couch to ever exist."
FM "Oh you must forgive my little Lucy, she’s still getting ready for your date!"
"Oh god I can feel iron-sights on my back."
"While she spoke a mile a minute I managed to catch some of the words. I ignored the latter, because this ISN’T a daaaa-"
"Isn’t THAT!"
"But-"
A "Ah, it’s uh, no trouble ma’am."
A "But uh… I thought her name was Fang."
"She titters, holding a hand over her sly smile."
FM "Oh that? My little tooth fairy always loves to re-invent herself."
"Her eyes gloss over as she’s pulled into her own memories."
FM "One moment she was the prettiest princess pirate, and now she’s some sort of rock and roll maestro! The imagination she has…"
show naser neutral flip at nright with moveinright
Nas "Sup buddy."
"I look across the coffee table to see Naser reclined in an equally plushy couch."
Nas "You good?"
"I breathe deeply, collecting my scrambled thoughts into a semi-coherent state."
A "I’m good… So uh… nice place."
"I look at the walls of the room, what little white I could see that wasn’t covered by the myriad of family photos."
"Huh… She really was a princess pirate at some point…"
show naomi neutral at scenter with moveinleft
N "Home is where the heart is, as they say."
"SWEET RAPTOR JESUS ON THE CROSS!"
"Oh… is that a sin to think that with that cross hung behind Naser’s head?"
"I look back to see the Cream Queen of the Kremlin, a tray of the smallest cups I’ve ever seen in her arms."
show naomi happy with dissolve
N "Naser! Your mother made us some tea! Oh isn’t she the most wonderful woman!"
show naomi neutral with dissolve
Nas "Bleh… She knows I’m not a fan of that hot leaf juice…"
"Naomi navigates around the couch and coffee table, setting the tray of treats and tea before us."
N "Would you like some, Anon?"
A "I’ll pass, thanks."
"Something’s not right with what just happened."
"I look back to where Naomi was standing."
"The entire opposing wall is covered in various hunting trophies."
"Two bears, a whole school of fish, a falcon, two deers…"
"And a rhinoceros."
"... I may have made a huge mistake."
"The loveseat to the right of me scrapes forward into my field of view."
"Fang’s father leans back, carefully examining and polishing a golf club."
"Maybe I can turn his trophies into a conversation piece."
"Extend an olive branch, so to speak."
A "What gun did you use to hunt these?"
show fangdad happy at sleft with moveinleft
FD "Gun?"
"My hands fold into my lap and I stare a million yards into the wall clock ahead of me."
FD "So… Anon, was it?"
FD "You a big fan of Golf?"
show naser considering flip
"Naser dons a similar pose."
A "I’ve played minigolf before…"
show fangdad neutral
FD "That’s a good start, a good start…"
FD "Nothing beats the real thing, though."
FD "You ever play golf before, boy?"
"Don't say Wii Golf don't say Wii Golf don't say Wii golf"
A "N-no, not on a proper green before."
"Nailed it."
show fangdad happy
FD "Well, this is my favorite club right here. A 9 Iron."
"He finishes polishing the head of the club and rotates it ever so slightly so I see my reflection in the metal."
FD "Now, Irons are by far the most common, and most useful out of your standard club set. Anywhere you need an extra...push, the Iron will do."
"His gaze makes its way from the club to me as he lays it across his lap. I gulp and sink back into the couch in an attempt to hide among the cushions."
FD "Of course, this is all due to the solid steel construction, and your own efforts."
FD "With the right quality club and technique, you can almost feel the ball cleaving in twain when you strike it…"
FD "And I assure you, Anon, that my equipment is of the highest quality, and my technique is impeccable."
"Fang’s father stands up, stepping on top of the sturdy coffee table. His club is lined up, and I can see my reflection in the impromptu ball."
"With well-practiced motions he demonstrates a perfect swing in the middle of a living room. I can practically feel the air slice in half as an image of the impossibly large pteradon stands over me with the club flashes momentarily."
"Fang’s father laughs heartily, setting the murder tool aside as he reclaims his throne."
show naomi flip
N "What fine form sir!"
FM "Dear!"
show fangdad unimpressed
"Fang’s father flinches."
show fangdad neutral
show fangmom unimpressed at fmleft with moveinleft
FM "How many times have I told you about intimidating suitors! This is the first boy our little Tooth Fairy has brought home!!"
FD "What about Reed?"
"The father shrunk under the patented mother’s leer."
FM "You know that boy isn’t right, dear."
"I feel a smidgen of sympathy, but keep quiet to avoid similar treatment from her."
play music "audio/OST/punk_revamp.ogg" fadein 1.0
F "Oh my god Mom! Not in front of my friends!"
show fang angry at sleft behind naser with dissolve
"Fang is at the foot of the stairway, frustration clear on her face."
show fang angry:
xalign 1.4 yalign 0.0
with move
show fang angry flip:
"I look to Fang with hands clasp together, silently pleading."
N "Oh! Are you ready for your date now?"
"I lurch in my seat at that."
A "Ah, nah nah! We’re just-"
show fang shocked flip
F "N-no! We need to find a venue!"
FM "Just you two though?"
"Oh god no. Please, Raptor Jesus, I promise I’ll sacrifice a goat if you end this."
show naomi happy
show fang unimpressed flip
with dissolve
N "Why don’t we have a double date then!"
"...God, why have you abandoned me…?"
"Buddha be a bro please!"
show fangmom neutral
FM "I agree! Naser and Naomi can accompany you!"
"I am going to personally commit mass deicide."
FD "I agree."
show fangdad unimpressed
show naomi neutral
"He looks me dead in the eyes."
FD "More people means you’re less likely to do something reckless, after all."
N "I dunno, I don’t think Fang would appreciate-"
"Fang’s father puts his arm around Nasers’ shoulder and pulls him aside."
hide naser
hide fangdad
with moveoutleft
FM "You’d love going with your brother, right Fang?"
F "Absolutely not."
F "I’m perfectly able to find somewhere to play without anyone’s help."
F "Especially his."
FM "Come now, how many opportunities in your youth will you get to spend time all together like this?"
F "Hopefully none."
FM "Aww, but you used to always spend time with little Naser…"
"Her eyes gloss over again."
FM "Like all those times you used to bathe together."
F "Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!"
"Fang’s Father gives a loud pat on Naser’s back and he returns to the conversation."
show naser explanatory at nleft behind fangmom with moveinleft
show naomi neutral flip with dissolve
Nas "Yes, I think a group date is an excellent idea."
Nas "We should all go together."
"Naser’s shaking like a leaf in a monsoon in the middle of an earthquake with a meteor hanging overhead."
F "It’s not happening."
show fangdad unimpressed behind naser with moveinleft:
xalign -0.4
FD "It is."
"Fang and her dad lock eyes."
"The tension in the room mounts as the staredown draws on."
"The moment long eternity finally ends though."
"Eventually Fang flops her head back in defeat."
show fang considering flip
F "Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffine."
F "Let’s just get out of here, Anon."
"Gladly."
show naomi happy with dissolve
"Naomi gives a little cheer and tugs the still catatonic Naser by the arm out the door."
scene black with fade
"I give a polite goodbye to Fang’s Mother."
"I extend a hand to Fang’s father and-"
"The eight bones of my palm are squeezed together, being ground into dust under the immense strength."
"The five bones joining my fingers to my palm threaten to splinter from the powerful grip."
"The rest of my bones in my hand try to separate from the vicious shake that Fang’s father ends it with."
"By the time I get outside everyone else is getting into the fancy and beat up car from before."
"Guess it was Nasers’."
play music "audio/OST/The Top of the Social Ladder.ogg" fadein 1.0
N "Come on, Naser! The day is still young!"
"Naser, still mentally fried, is being goaded by Naomi into driving to the city."
"Eventually, he robotically enters the drivers’ seat."
"Naomi ecstatically shoots into the shotgun seat."
"Fang and I take the back seats."
scene nascar day with fade
"Now that we’re getting this shitshow on the road, I should probably clarify with Fang about precisely what sort of venue she wants."
"The split second I move my hand towards Fang to ask Naser chucks his jacket between us with lightning speed."
Nas "Whups, look out back there! Haha!"
"The look of pants-shitting fear on his face betrays his jovial tone."
"Poor guy."
A "A-anyways, Fang."
"She looks over."
A "What sort of place are we supposed to be looking for?"
"Fang looks away for a minute with a finger under the end of her beak."
"Is that supposed to be a thinking pose?"
F "Some wide open space where people can stand or sit."
F "Preferably with a mosh pit."
N "Oh, I know lots of places like that!"
A "Where?"
N "They’re at the Gold Fern Galleria in the downtown shopping district!"
F "No."
N "Why ever not?"
F "I’m not going to play around the ritzy area."
F "There’s more stuck up assholes there than at school!"
"Naomi shrugs and turns back to Naser."
N "In that case, we should just park in the middle of the city and work our way around."
F "...Sure. That’s fine."
N "What do you think, Anon?"
"I look at Fang. She’s preoccupied with watching the buildings fly past us."
"I shrug."
N "Alright then, to the city we go!"
"Naomi turns the radio on, shattering my ears with the most nauseatingly upbeat love-song on max volume."
"I’m left to retch as the song violates my virgin ears with it’s too cheery tune."
scene sidewalk
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
show naser neutral:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.1
show naomi neutral:
xalign 1.0 yalign 0.0
with fade
"In the city proper now I find myself with a new dilemma."
"The group slowly makes its way down the sidewalk."
play music "audio/effects/chatter loop.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Naser walks ahead and continues to look back at me, his expression anxious and worried."
"Fang refuses to speak and gives everyone and everything a vicious sneer."
"And Naomi just."
"Won’t."
"Shut the fuck up."
show naomi happy with dissolve
N "OH OH OH HOW ABOUT HERE! IT’S SO SPACIOUS AND THE FOOD IS TO DIE FOR- OOOOH I LOVE THAT RESTAURANT MAYBE WE CAN ASK THEM- OH AND THEN THERE’S THIS NICE CAFE AND THEY EVEN HAVE A PIANO-"
"God this marmalade monster needs to die."
N "OH. MY. GOSH! It’s PERFECT!"
"Naomi stops the group before a large glass window. Past it is a large open room sparsely filled with miniscule round tables with candelabras set atop them."
Nas "Isn’t this a bit too…"
"Ostentatious."
show fang angry with dissolve
F "Gaudy."
N "No way! It’s wide open! The tables can be rearranged to provide ample room for your audience!"
show fang unimpressed with dissolve
"Fang looks unimpressed."
N "Come on, let’s go ask!"
"The saurolophus wraps her arms around Naser’s and bodily drags him to the entrance."
F "Fuck me…"
"Shutthefuckupbrain."
A "Ten dollars we get kicked out."
F "No deal. You’re stating an inevitability, not a possibility."
"We follow behind the pair to find Naomi pestering the Maitre D’ for possible arrangements, cringing as the poor man just stares off into the middle distance while Naomi prattles on obliviously."
show black with dissolve
N "-And if possible could you include maybe a dinner ticket option for-"
"The Maitre D’ looks towards us, or rather, Fang, and scowls."
MaitD "Our esteemed establishment caters exclusively to those with an appreciation for fine culture, culinary and otherwise."
show naomi angry
MaitD "Might I recommend that you vacate the premises at once, or will you be requiring an escort?"
hide black with dissolve
A "Where’s my ten bucks?"
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Up your ass, I told you no deal."
"Naser tugs a bit at Naomi’s arm, and she stomps back to the entrance in a huff with him following."
show naomi angry flip with dissolve
N "Hmph! Fang, I’ve decided this place isn’t good enough!"
"Sure."
show naser considering with dissolve
Nas "Don’t be mad Naomi, he isn’t worth getting upset about."
F "Nah, he’s worth it. If it were me and the band they’d have one less tire on all their cars."
show naser unimpressed flip with dissolve
"Naser raises an eyebrow back at Fang."
show fang flip off happy with dissolve
"She responds with a smirk and a middle finger."
scene black with fade
stop music fadeout 1.0
"..."
scene skinrow
show fang angry at sleft
show anon neutral:
xalign 0.0 yalign 0.1
show naser neutral:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.1
show naomi neutral:
xalign 0.7 yalign 0.0
with fade
play music "audio/OST/Summertime Synth.ogg" fadein 1.0
"We’ve been searching for a place for at least two hours now."
"Fang is barely holding herself together, judging from her angry muttering."
"A lot of muttering. Mostly including words like murder, knives, and particular genitals as pin cushions, with profanity taking up a good half of what escaped her beak."
"I could see a blood vessel throbbing on her temple. This didn’t look good."
"I position myself slightly behind Fang, putting her between me and Naomi."
A "Hey Naomi, I got an idea!"
"Naomi spins on her heel towards the sound of my voice, and the giant grin on her stupid snout stiffens as she sees Fang’s looming aneurysm."
show naomi happy:
xoffset 0
linear .5 xzoom -1.0
N "Maybe we should take a little break."
"..."
"Luckily there’s a small park nearby."
scene park
show fang angry flip:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.0
show anon neutral flip at sright
show naser neutral:
xalign 0.1 yalign 0.0
show naomi neutral:
xalign -0.1 yalign -0.1
with fade
"The four of us grab some drinks from a vending machine."
"Fang and I grab a knockoff brand of soda, Naomi got a bottle of water, and Naser bought a sports drink."
"We’re lucky to find an unoccupied picnic table with some shade, because the afternoon sun has turned the cool day into a sweltering hot one."
"Thank you, coastal weather."
"We sit in near silence aside from Nasers’ audible chugging of his sports drink."
"He crushes the bottle in one hand and tosses it into a trash can five yards away, then looks to us with the smuggest grin to ever be seen on a beak."
A "Showoff."
Nas "Yes."
N "Great shot, Naser!"
Nas "Of course it was, babe."
"Fang mock retches into the grass."
Nas "At any rate, I need to drain the snake."
"What."
"Naser turns and gives a brief wave back to us, and makes his way to the public restroom on the other side of the park."
hide naser with dissolve
N "Aww, his double-entendres are always so clever!"
"Fang slaps a hand over her eyes."
F "I need to go too."
N "Why? Something the matter?"
F "Monthly problems."
N "Do you have everything you need?"
N "I have some extras stocked!"
N "I have regular, plastic, scented…"
N "Oh, what diameter do-"
F "Shut up now."
"Fang stomps away to the bathroom, leaving just the apricot asspain"
hide fang neutral flip with dissolve
stop music fadeout 1.0
"...And me."
N "Do you need to use the restroom as well, Anon?"
"How tempting."
A "Well, now that you mention it, I-"
N "Since it’s just the two of us, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while."
N "How have things been going with Fang? Has she been well? Is there anything wrong?"
play music "audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg" fadein 1.0
A "Shouldn’t Naser know?"
N "Yes, Naser knows, but I figure I’d ask you as well."
N "Since the two of you spend so much time together and all."
N "I hear Naser talking all the time about how worried he is for Fang."
show naomi sad
N "He’s such a good brother, isn’t he?"
"I’m just going to start filtering her."
N "I just get so worried for her sometimes, too."
N "Fang can just be so anti-social, you know?"
N "And she’s always avoiding me, too."
N "I never can get a read on how she feels."
N "Like when she was feeling upset a month or so ago."
N "Or just after that concert she gave after winter break."
"Wait."
"Rewind a bit."
show naomi neutral
A "How’d you know about how Fang felt sad a month ago?"
N "Oh, Naser told me!"
"..."
"The fuck is up with her?"
show naomi considering
A "Then why ask me?"
N "You keep on asking that question!"
A "You keep on dodging that question."
show naomi keikaku
N "Hm? What am I dodging?"
show naomi neutral
A "Fang clearly doesn’t like you, you say so yourself."
A "Yet you keep asking me about her."
A "When you can just go to Naser."
A "Fang is his sister after all."
show naomi considering
N "O-of course! It’s just I’d like to hear from you about her!"
A "Why me though? I don’t know anything about her, Naser knows Fang better than I do."
show naomi happy
N "Because you two have been getting so close! You’re even on a date right now Anon!"
show naomi considering
"Naomi’s pupils dilate and her eyes dance away from me."
N "In fact, you two make the cutest couple. Hahaha."
"It’s the first time Naomi’s looked anything other than happy."
A "Are you up to something?"
show naomi shocked
N "Why would I ever be up to something?"
A "Because you’re not making any sense."
A "Naser knows her better than anyone else."
A "But every time we talk you bring Fang up."
A "Why?"
show naomi happy
N "I have every reason to care!"
A "Why?"
N "Because-"
show anon angry flip
A "Why?!"
show naomi unimpressed
N "Because Naser wants to make Fang happy! A-and so do I, of course! ahahahaha!"
show naomi considering
play music "audio/OST/sadist.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Naomi’s laugh is hollow. Her eyes shifting side to side."
N "I was only doing what I thought was best for both her and you, Anon."
"Wait."
show anon neutral flip
N "The first time I saw you, sitting on your own on that dirty old bench."
N "You looked like you needed someone to lean on."
"No…"
N "And with Fang..."
"I think back to all the times that the beige bitch had asked me about Fang."
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}What a great opportunity for real friendship Anon! I’m so happy for you!{/i}{/alpha}"
Nas "{alpha=0.5}{i}...?{/i}{/alpha}"
A "{alpha=0.5}{i}...?{/i}{/alpha}"
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}If there’s anything Fang needs in these trying times, it’s a new friend to talk to!"
"This entire time."
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}Oh, you’re spending time with Fang?{/i}{/alpha}"
A "{alpha=0.5}{i}She just needed me for some feedback.{/i}{/alpha}"
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}I see. I think it’s wonderful you’re making more friends here!{/i}{/alpha}"
A "{alpha=0.5}{i}Could you really say we’re friends? We’ve only met two or three times.{/i}{/alpha}"
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}I think you and Fang would make wonderful friends! She needs more friends like you!{/i}{/alpha}"
"Fuck, why didn’t I notice?"
"{alpha=0.5}{i}Naomi places a finger on her chin(?) for a moment and stares into space. Suddenly, her face lights up.{/i}{/alpha}"
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}Oh! What if you asked Fang for help? I’m sure she’d lend a hand!{/i}{/alpha}"
A "{alpha=0.5}{i}I dunno... She’s usually busy with her own work, and I don’t want to bother her more than I already do every day.{/i}{/alpha}"
N "{alpha=0.5}{i}It can’t hurt to ask, though, right? Just a thought.{/i}{/alpha}"
"That fucking bitch."
"This entire time she’s been pushing me closer to Fang."
"I must be the biggest fucking idiot."
show naomi neutral
N "‘Uh… Anon? You’ve been spacing out."
"She played me like a god damned fiddle!"
show naser neutral behind naomi with moveinleft:
xalign 0.1 yalign 0.0
Nas "Did I miss something?"
"I look to Naser, who’s completely clueless to what Naomi has been doing for the past month."
"Just like I was."
"What would he do in this situation?"
"He’s the boyscout here after all."
"Fitting that the moral compass has a literal compass for a head."
"I’m part of someone else’s plan."
"Nothing I’ve done in the last several months was a conclusion reached on my own."
"Are my feelings for Fang also just a tool for Naomi?"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"What do I even do here?"
menu:
"Excuse Myself":
jump AnonExcusesHimself
"Wait for Fang":
jump AnonWaitsForFang
label AnonExcusesHimself:
"I need to get away from here, fast."
A "Actually, I need to use the bathroom myself now."
N "Oh, sure! We’ll be here!"
"I soullessly start dragging my feet away from Naomi."
Nas "ANON. WAIT!"
"I freeze in place."
Nas "Fair warning, watch the ceiling."
"I sense great tragedy in those words…"
"Whatever. I don’t want to be here."
scene black with fade
"..."
scene bathroom1 with fade
"The public restroom looks clean enough from the outside, but I can see through the open doors that it gets cleaned maybe once a week."
"I’m not here to use the restroom anyways."
scene bathroom2
"If I’m right, I just need to look behind the building, and…"
"Jackpot."
scene bathroom3
"Fang is resting on the wall with a half finished cigarette between her fingers."
play music "audio/OST/That Monochromatic Weirdo.ogg" fadein 1.0
scene bathroom4
A "Got a spare?"
"She shrugs half-heartedly, holding out the half-smoked sin-stick to me."
"I hesitate."
"Fang tilts her head. Before she can pull her hand back I accept the smoke."
"The cherry at the end burns dimly as I tap off the ash."
"‘It’s not an indirect kiss or anything like that’ I chant as a mantra."
"The drag is smooth, with the hint of mint to it."
"The smoke exhaled is wispy, and I can feel my skin prickle."
"I don’t know whether it’s because of the nicotine or whose lips I tasted."
"Fuck."
A "Thanks."
"I hand her back the cigarette."
F "Mmm…"
"Fang’s tail drums a steady rhythm on the wall as she takes one last, long drag."
"She blows out a heavier cloud and drops the stump on the ground."
"I stamp on the stub before she can, giving it a solid twist before kicking the dead end into the grass."
F "How’d you find me?"
scene bathroom5
A "Where else would you be?"
"She gives a brief shrug."
A "Anyways, we could probably get away with ditching Naser and Naomi."
F "How’d you manage that?"
A "Secret family technique."
F "Pssh."
"Suddenly an image of Fang’s dad pops in my mind and I realize I probably shouldn’t be seen alone with her behind a public restroom, under penalty of ‘holy shit my spleen is outside my body’."
A "Let’s get out of here."
F "Alright. Let’s get a move on."
scene bathroom6
"The two of us peek from behind the building to make sure the coast is clear of any brothers or scheming persimmon piranhas."
"The coast is clear."
F "I think I know where to look."
A "Please tell me it’s not in this shitty Promenade place."
F "Nah, it’s in Lil Tru."
A "...Where?"
F "Little Troodon. It’s near enough that we can walk there."
A "Why didn’t you mention it before?"
F "Naomi."
A "Ah."
scene bathroom7
"The two of us sprint conspicuously across the park to the nearest cover in the concrete jungle."
"..."
jump troodon
label AnonWaitsForFang:
$ anonscore += 1
show naser neutral flip
play music "audio/OST/west_coast_kicking.ogg" fadein 1.0
"... No."
"It doesn’t matter if my feelings are being used."
"They’re still real to me."
"And I want to actually help her."
"Right now that means helping her find a venue."
"Even if it means being around the coral cunt."
show naser explanatory flip with dissolve
Nas "Hey, Naomi, did you know that thirteen percent of public restrooms…"
"Naser babbles with Naomi while we wait for Fang to return."
show naser neutral with dissolve
show fang neutral flip at sright with moveinright:
xalign 1.9
F "Alright, I’m done taking a dump or whatever."
F "Let’s go."
Nas "Wait… Why do you smell like smoke?"
F "Uh… I went to hong kong for a bit. Let’s go."
Nas "You know you aren’t supposed to be smoking, Fang."
F "Just drop it, dork."
F "You don’t see me bringing up that leopard mankini you have in your closet."
show naser annoyed
show naomi shocked
with dissolve
"Naser’s skin turns a noticeably lighter shade."
A "That the only thing in the closet?"
show fang happy flip
F "Oh, of fucking course not."
F "He’s also got this pink-"
show naser shocked with dissolve
Nas "I’M GOING TO STOP YOU RIGHT THERE."
N "Why don’t we continue on now!"
"Naomi is holding a handkerchief to her nose, with a prominent splotch of red that’s steadily growing."
F "Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffiiiiinally."
"..."
scene skinrow with fade
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral at aleft
show naser neutral flip:
xalign 1.2
show naomi neutral:
xalign 0.6 yalign 0.0
with dissolve
"Not even ten minutes later and we’re back where we started."
show naomi happy with dissolve
N "-isn’t this one perfect! The stage is so well lit and-"
"Fang seems seconds away from successful recreation of Jing Ke’s assassination of King Zheng."
"I know it’s wrong to poke a hornet’s nest, but…"
show naomi neutral
A "Fang, you alright?"
show fang angry with dissolve
F "I hate everyone here."
A "Ah."
"Well then."
"Fang’s about to commit homicide."
"I should ask Naser to just split off for a while…"
"Naomi would back me up if I can convince her I’m taking Fang out on a d-EVENT."
"I really don’t want Naomi’s help, though."
"I could get Fang to ask Naser to break off, but uh…"
"She’s on the verge of fratricide too right now."
Nas "Hey, Anon, you alright?"
A "Hm?"
Nas "You’ve got this intense look on you."
A "Oh, sorry."
A "Just… Trying to think of good places."
play music "audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Guess it’s now or never."
menu:
"Ask Naser":
jump AskNaser
"Ask Fang":
jump AskFang
label AskNaser:
A "Actually, Naser."
Nas "Hm?"
"Naser slows his gait so he’s walking next to me."
Nas "Something on your mind?"
"I lean in and start whispering."
A "Yeah…"
A "It may be a good idea to split into groups."
Nas "Ha, you’re funny."
show naser explanatory flip
"Naser’s brow grows slick with sweat."
"Christ what did his dad tell him?"
"This is gonna be difficult."
A "Take a look at her man."
A "You know she doesn’t get along with Naomi."
"His eyes shift back, catching sight of Fang’s poorly withheld anger."
show naser angry flip
Nas "...Ugh…"
A "It’s only a matter of time before things go nuclear."
A "And as much as I’d find a catfight amusing, neither of us want to see Fang and Naomi duke it out."
show naser considering flip
Nas "..."
Nas "... Be that as it may…"
show naser neutral flip
Nas "We still can’t split."
Nas "I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on you two right now."
show naomi happy with dissolve
N "what are we whispering about?"
"RAPTOR-JESUS FUCK."
"Naomi has circled around behind us and pokes her head between Naser and I."
Nas "Don’t worry about it, babe."
Nas "Anon just wanted to split the group for a bit."
N "..."
N "..."
N "That’s a wonderful idea!"
show naomi neutral
Nas "But babe, you know I’m supposed to-"
N "I think you should trust Anon a bit more!"
A "Do you really think I’m the frisky type?"
"Naser looks at me for a moment."
show naser unimpressed flip
Nas "Yes."
A "Wow."
Nas "It’s true."
N "I mean..."
A "A) Go fuck yourselves."
A "And B) I’m not some degenerate."
show naomi explanatory
N "Still, despite his looks, the Anon I know won’t end up doing anything weird!"
show naser neutral flip
Nas "...You really think so?"
N "Sure!"
show naomi neutral
Nas "... You promise to not make it weird or anything, right?"
A "I-I… What? Whatever, no, of course not."
N "Seems it’s settled then!"
N "Come on, Naser! We’ll go look on the east side of town!"
show naser considering flip
Nas "... Alright…"
Nas "I trust you, Anon."
show naser neutral
"Naomi grabs Naser by the arm and leads him around a corner and onto another street."
"Naser gives one last worried look back before he’s out of sight."
hide naser
hide naomi
with moveoutright
F "What were the three of you huddling about?"
"Fang was walking behind us this whole time? I didn’t notice."
A "Oh, I was just getting rid of them."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Oh, man, you’re a lifesaver."
A "Seems like it was either this or someone ends up with a black eye."
F "You think I’d stop at a black eye?"
jump postAsking
label AskFang:
$ fangscore += 1
A "Don’t worry about it."
Nas "Alright…"
show naser flip with dissolve
"He looks ahead again, paying great attention to Naomi’s spergery."
"I turn to Fang again."
A "Hey, if you don’t want to stay in a group, why don’t you ask Naser to split off for a while?"
show fang neutral with dissolve
F "Why me?"
A "He’ll listen to you."
A "Hes only doing this because your dad put him up to it."
A "I think he trusts you enough to be willing to take Naomi elsewhere for a while."
show fang considering
F "Hm…"
A "Give him a chance."
"Fang looks in contemplation at Naser walking ahead of us."
F "Ehh, might as well try."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Hey, Stephen Ha-Wing!"
A "Wait, that’s not how-"
show naser neutral flip with dissolve
Nas "Yeah?"
A "He responded to it?!"
F "Can you take your girlfriend and fuck off elsewhere?"
F "Me and her just aren’t going to get along."
F "And it’d cover more ground."
show naser explanatory flip with dissolve
"Naser slows down a bit."
Nas "I uh… Don’t think that’s a great idea."
Nas "We should stick together, right Naomi?"
show naomi sad with dissolve
N "Well…"
"Two can play this game you citrine psycho."
"I look at Naomi and give her a subtle nod."
show naomi keikaku with dissolve
N "I think it’s a wonderful idea, we can check in the Promenade! Oh I know this wonderful cafe and-"
F "Great. Now fuck off."
scene askfang1
Nas "H-hold on a second!"
Nas "Dad said he’ll do to me anything that you do to Fang!"
F "...What…"
A "...What…"
N "...What…"
Nas "Fang, you gotta promise to not let Anon do anything creepy."
scene askfang2
A "That’s fuckin’ rude."
scene askfang3
pause 1
scene askfang4
pause 1
scene askfang5
pause 1
scene askfang6
"Fang looks at me and grins wickedly."
scene askfang2
Nas "Please Fang."
#Le Sigh
scene askfang6
F "I promise."
F "Now go."
"Naser gulps and nods."
scene askfang7
Nas "You better not do anything creepy Anon!"
scene skinrow
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral at aleft
show naser neutral flip at ncenter
show naomi neutral:
xalign 0.3 yalign 0.0
pause 0.4
show naser neutral
pause 0.4
hide naomi with moveoutright
hide naser with moveoutright
show fang neutral:
linear 0.4 xalign 0.55 yalign 0.0
show fang neutral flip
"With that Naser and Naomi leave, turning the corner onto another street."
jump postAsking
label postAsking:
"..."
play music "audio/OST/That Monochromatic Weirdo.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Now it’s just the two of us."
"Alone."
"Oh and there’s the alarms again. I think I’m finally starting to tune them out though."
scene troodonconvergence1 with fade
"Fang reaches into her pocket and withdraws a crumpled back of cigarettes."
A "Got a spare?"
"She shrugs half-heartedly, holding out the pack to me."
"There’s one left."
"I hesitate."
scene troodonconvergence2
"Fang tilts her head. Before she can pull her hand back I accept the last smoke."
scene troodonconvergence3
"I bring the butt to my lips, feeling the pod within the filter."
A "Figures you smoke menthols."
F "Oh shut up. And you better share, I don’t think I’ll be getting a fresh pack any time soon."
"She hands me her lighter, a little cheap pink Bic."
"It’s quick and easy, no wind to worry about as my thumb rolls over the top and the tiny ember of a flame sears the end of the cigarette."
"I pop the pod with my incisor and pull in slowly."
"The draw is smooth, with a hint of mint to it."
"The cherry at the end burns dimly as I tap off the ash."
"The smoke exhaled is wispy, and I can feel my nerves ease."
F "Ha, pussy."
A "It’s your last one, wanna savor it."
scene troodonconvergence4
"I hand her back the cigarette."
"‘It’s not an indirect kiss or anything like that’ I chant as a mantra."
"Her drag is harsher, burning up twice the amount."
scene troodonconvergence2
"She blows out hazy rings, one after another, as if signaling an indigenous Raptor tribe."
A "Trying to show off now?"
F "Bet you can’t do it."
"Fang grins as she hands the stick back to me."
A "You trigga-lipped it."
F "It’s still good, man."
scene troodonconvergence3
"The filter feels moist between my index and middle knuckles."
"I bring the smoke back to my lips, trying to ignore the wetness of it."
"I draw in even more, burning up another quarter of it."
"I can feel my skin prickle as I exhale a thicker fog."
"I don’t know whether it’s because of the nicotine or whose lips I imagine I taste."
"Fuck."
F "Ha, called it."
A "Mmm. Yeah, I can’t."
scene troodonconvergence4
"Fang’s tail ticks a steady rhythm like a metronome as she takes one last, long drag."
scene troodonconvergence5
"She blows out a thick cloud and drops the stump on the ground."
"I stamp on the stub before she can, giving it a solid twist before kicking the dead end into the street."
scene troodonconvergence6
A "So now what?"
F "I think I know where we can look."
A "Please tell me it’s not in this shitty Promenade place."
F "Nah, it’s Lil Tru."
A "...Where?"
F "Little Troodon. It’s near enough that we can walk there."
A "Why didn’t you mention it before?"
F "Naomi."
A "Ah."
"Fang leads the way, navigating us away from this overly expensive part of town."
scene black with fade
"..."
label troodon:
scene little troodon with fade
show anon neutral at aleft
show fang neutral behind anon at scenter
"Little Troodon is completely unlike the rest of the city."
"Instead of skyscrapers and glass buildings, the whole place is a series of interconnected alleyways forming a plaza."
"Mostly booths for scamming vendors, but every now and then an actual building can be seen."
"Countless salesmen call out to Fang and I."
"Fang just strides past all of them."
F "Just don’t make eye contact."
"She must know the place."
"One child runs up and gives me a flower to mark me for pickpockets."
"I toss it in the nearest bin."
F "Good eye."
A "Living in the ass-end of this place, I’ve picked up a thing or two."
"The two of us check the sparsely located buildings one by one."
"I make sure to mark down the foreign swears in a notepad to look up later."
"Several hours pass as both the sun and the temperature drops."
F "Can’t believe we’re still looking."
F "These people are usually looking for any way possible to attract customers."
A "Maaaaybe you shouldn’t have insulted that one guy…"
F "Fuck him… callin’ me a meteor dodger… fucking prick."
A "Still, we must have checked dozens of places by now."
A "But why won’t anyone have a band?"
play music "audio/OST/she_fucks_human_men.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Passing Shopkeeper" "Her reputation precedes her."
"Fang’s pupils contract."
"Not this again."
F "HER?!?! You people are all the same! Thinking that you have to go off-"
A "Fang!"
F "WHAT!"
unknown "See what I mean."
F "Choke on a platter of cocks."
unknown "Everyone here knows her family."
F "A full platter! Stacks high!"
A "Look, buddy, you’ve gotta know a place that’ll let us play."
unknown "Weeeell, maybe I can uh… point ya in the right direction…"
unknown "...For a price…"
"Oh god damn it."
F "No way!"
show fang neutral at sleft with moveoutleft
show anon neutral at acenter with moveoutright
A "Fine, I’ll pay."
"I can hear my wallet commit sudoku in my pocket."
unknown "Buy this here Phone Roomba and I’ll tell ya."
A "...A phone roomba."
unknown "Cleans yer phone. Sorta cute lookin’."
F "... I just use my shirt though…"
A "..."
menu:
"At least it’s a novelty.":
jump buyTheRoomba
"No way am I paying forty bucks on this shit.":
jump notBuyingTheFuckingRoomba
label buyTheRoomba:
A "Fuck it, fine."
jump RoombaConvergence
label notBuyingTheFuckingRoomba:
A "Fang, we can find the place on our own."
unknown "You know, this place is well known for trafficking."
A "Fine you fucking cunt."
label RoombaConvergence:
"I slap down the money on the thieving rhinorex’s booth."
unknown "Good on ya, lad, there’s good ole’ Dino-moe’s a bit west o’ here. Ole Moe loves hostin’ you kids."
A "The pizza chain?"
unknown "Close, kid. Trust me on this."
"The shopkeeper gives one last smug wave to us."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"I motion for Fang to follow and start heading in the direction the shopkeeper showed me."
"..."
"After twisting through the endless maze of merchants and frivolities Fang finally stops in front of a building."
A "We’re here."
scene outside moes
show anon neutral at aleft
show fang neutral flip at sright
with fade
"The building is an ancient antiquated italian restaurant, with the words ‘DINO-MOE’S PIZZA & PASTA’ written on a grand sign out front."
play music "audio/effects/chatter loop.ogg" fadein 1.0
F "Pizza, huh?"
F "In the middle of Little Trudoon?"
A "Let’s see."
"I open the double doors for Fang to enter."
"There’s a plaque for the National Register of Historic Places on the window."
scene moes pizza
show anon neutral at aleft
show fang neutral behind anon at scenter
A "Historical, huh?"
"Inside is a homely italian styled pizzeria."
"The warm candle lighting against the lattice dividers of the booths casts shades of orange along the walls and floor."
"The two of us walk up to the reception desk."
"A very tired waitress puts on a plastic smile when she sees us."
Waitress "Welcome to historic Dino-Moes, table for two?"
A "Actually, we just need to ask the manager something."
"The waitress rolls her eyes and skulks off."
F "Service with a smile, huh?"
A "Working in the industry grates on you."
F "This is a historical place though, isn’t it?"
F "Wouldn’t they have higher standards for-"
show moe neutral flip at rright with moveinright
play music "audio/OST/Venetian Values.ogg" fadein 1.0
Moe "AYYYYYY IF IT ISN’T LITTLE LUCY!"
"Fang’s skin goes several shades lighter."
Moe "I HAVEN’T SEEN YA SINCE AUGUST!"
Moe "C’MERE AND GIVE UNCLE MOE A HUG!"
"An older t-rex hobbles his way to us with arms spread wide."
"Well, as wide as he could at least."
"Fang squawks in protest as she’s pressed into his apron covered belly."
F "U-uncle M-Moe? What are you doing here?"
Moe "I’m workin’, toots!"
Moe "Dis is my restaurant!"
A "Hold up. Your uncle is Moe. Moe as in the Moe that started Dino-Moe’s?"
F "No! I mean… I don’t know!"
Moe "HAHAHAHA AH MY BABY GIRL ASN’T SWUNG BY IN AGES!"
Moe "AN’ WHO BE DIS LUCKY GUY? DON’T TELL ME YA GOTS YERSELF HITCHED ALREADY!"
"I feel my own skin warm up now. The old T-Rex laughs louder and slaps his rotund belly."
Moe "Relax kids, I’m messin’ wit ya. Come on I’ll gives ya da bes’ seats in da house."
"Moe wraps an arm around each of our shoulders and drags us through the restaurant to a cozy yet dark booth sequestered away from the rest."
scene black with fade
"We’re shoved into the seats and the owner/uncle bends over the table to light the sole candle there."
"I’m having a candle-lit dinner with Fang now."
"..."
scene moes pizza
show anon neutral flip at sright
show fang neutral at sleft
with fade
"The hell is happening?!"
Moe "Now yous twos wait right there while I make my lil princess’ favrite pie. On me, o’ course."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Moe proceeds to saunter off, pushing through the double doors that probably led to the kitchen."
play music "audio/effects/chatter loop.ogg" fadein 1.0
"I look over the candle to Fang."
"She looks how I feel at the moment."
"Lost and confused."
A "...What just happened…"
F "...I don’t know…"
A "So…"
"Fuck. Come on Anon, you can do it. You were part of the team that kicked reddit’s ass in Claws of Duty: Jurassic Warfare."
A "Is that really your uncle?"
F "No, he’s just a good family friend."
F "My dad goes bowling every Thursday with him."
A "Sounds fun."
A "You ever go along?"
F "Not anymore."
F "All that sportsy stuff doesn’t appeal to me."
F "Besides, I have school and band stuff to worry about."
F "Not to mention my dad’s a bit of an asshole."
"The image of a golf club comes to mind."
A "You don’t say?"
F "Uh huh."
F "Whenever I’m listening to my music at night he always yells through the door about ‘audible bowel movements’."
A "Honestly, do you blame him?"
"Fang smirks."
F "Maybe not."
A "My dad isn’t even really there most of the time."
A "When I do interact with him, it’s just these huge orders about what to do with myself."
A "You’re going to camp, you’re going to Brazil, you’re going to some coastal town for half a year."
A "Then again, that last one was more my fault."
F "Sounds rough."
F "What about your Mom?"
A "What about her?"
A "Pretty standard mother, a bit naggy."
A "She’d always try to dress me for school, so i’d look like the biggest dork ever."
A "One time she got me into a denim jacket and jeans combo."
F "The Double-Denim Disaster! PFfffffft."
A "How’d you know- waaaaaaiiit a second."
F "Another word and you get hot wax in your face."
"I’m holding back my laughter behind my fist."
A "And she’d always try to embarrass me in front of everyone."
F "Don’t all moms do that?"
A "Why don’t you tell me, Pirate Princess?"
"You know, hot wax really only hurts for the first few seconds."
"That cute look of surprise though? Lasting for eternity."
F "Breathe a word of that to anyone and this candle is going up where the sun don’t shine while it’s still lit."
"I scrape the hardened wax on my forehead off with one hand."
A "Alright alright. Sheesh. But what about your mom?"
A "Is she like, on heroin or something?"
F "Ha, no. She’s just… Always in her own little world."
F "Nothing is ever wrong, there’s no flaws with anything…"
F "No concern is worth worrying about."
A "Ah. Yeah, that can’t be healthy."
F "Eh, I’ve made do so far."
A "Well, for what it’s worth, you’ve still got Trish, Reed, and Naser."
F "Pffft. Yeah, the one whose horn is more important than finding a place, my shitty baby brother, and Reed."
"Fang groans as she leans back in her seat."
F "The new guy is the only one I can rely on. My life sucks."
A "Hmmmm, I dunno…"
F "We haven’t found a venue and our show is in a week. Gah! Fuckin’ Naomi! Fuckin’ Dad!"
A "On the flip-side, we’re getting some of your favorite pizza at one of the pricier italian places around. For free too."
F "But the venue…"
A "We still have time. So, pizza first and then we find a place for your show."
show moe neutral flip behind fang with moveinright:
xalign 0.7
Moe "Someone say pizza?"
Moe "Someone order a fuckin’ pizza?!"
"Moe slides a large pizza onto the table in front of us."
Moe "A pizza with extra sausage, anchovies, pepperoni, and ham, also known as the Moe’s Original Meateor Pizza, Lucy’s favorite!"
F "I go by Fang now, actually."
Moe "Whoa-hoa! The youth are getting uppity with me!"
Moe "Ya try’na make ol’ Moe confused, ya punk?"
"He gives Fang a light noogie."
Moe "So what’ve you punks been up to?"
A "Actually, mister Moe, we were going to ask-"
Moe "Mister? Young punk ya don’ need ta be so formal."
"AAAAArgh fuck my head."
Moe "You younguns, I ‘eard ya talkin’ bout yer parents."
"Ah man, here comes the lecture."
Moe "You know, the best part bein’ young is-"
Waitress "Mooee!!"
Waitress "We got a code K on line 1!"
"Moe hangs his head in despair."
Moe "‘Old dat thought, kids. I’ze gots a pissed of motha ta deal wit."
"Moe stomps away to the reception desk, leaving Fang, the Pizza, and me."
hide moe neutral flip with moveoutleft
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Hey, free food."
"Fang piles three slices on a plate, catching a few of the anchovies before they slide off."
"I think I'll only take one, I’d rather not get heartburn at eighteen."
"Man, this place sure isn’t historical for no reason."
"Even something as ridiculous as this tastes phenomenal."
"Good thing it’s free, I’d be willing to pay a premium for this stuff."
"Kicks Comet Pizza’s ass any day of the week."
F "It really hooks you in, don’t it?"
"Oh, I didn’t realize I was in my own world for a bit."
A "Uh, yeah."
A "It’s real good."
"Huh, she’s already down two slices?"
F "Shame I have to limit myself around the good stuff."
"Fang picks up her last slice, tosses it in the air…"
"...and snaps it out of the air with one bite."
A "Whoa."
A "Cool trick. Do you do parties?"
"While she raises her middle finger at the remark, the grin on Fang’s face says it’s more out of humor than malice."
F "You gonna finish that?"
"I look at my half eaten slice. I guard my hoard with an arm bulwark."
A "Mine."
F "Heh. Didn’t want it anyway."
A "Mine."
"I’m quick to finish off my slice to keep it to myself while Fang goes for her second helping."
"The pizza doesn’t last, sadly, as we continue to take slices. Its’ life is ended in a matter of minutes, when otherwise I would have committed pastacide in an hour."
"By the end I’m satisfied, enjoying the feeling of the itis."
F "Aaaah… Uncle Moe knows just how to make it."
A "Yeah, your uncle is pretty cool."
"Fang gets out of her seat, legs unsteady as she fights off the need for a well needed nap."
F "I’ll see ya at the front. I’ve got a serious need. For real this time."
hide fang neutral flip with moveoutright
stop music fadeout 1.0
"I snicker and nod."
A "Sure, leave me to deal with your Uncle."
"I force myself out of the booth and casually meander to the reception area."
hide anon neutral with moveoutleft
scene moes pizza
show moe neutral at sleft
show anon neutral flip at sright with moveinright
"Moe is there placing the receiver of the desk’s phone back."
Moe "‘Ey son, youse enjoy da meal?"
A "Definitely. Feel like I’mma black out any second."
Moe "Hahaha. Dat’s what I like ta hear!"
Moe "Glad to make yas date, then."
stop music fadeout 1.0
A "A-ah, uh… we aren’t-"
play music "audio/OST/Fuck You I Like This Chick.ogg" fadein 1.0
Moe "No? Coulda fooled me wit’ dat disaster youse called flirtin’."
A "No, really!"
A "Fang’s looking for a venue."
A "Her band is planning a show for next week."
Moe "Reeeaaally now. Why not have it here den?"
"I look around at the restaurant, trying to find any real place for the band to actually play."
Moe "Ay, dun sweat the details, kid."
"Moe grins."
Moe "Me and da boys are used to makin’ room for shows."
Moe "Youse jus tell ma l’il Lucy ya got a place, then yas sure ta sweep ‘er of ‘er feet."
A "ah er wha I th huh?"
"Anon.exe has failed."
Moe "Ah ta be young and in love."
Moe "listen here, Anon."
Moe "I segreti dell’amore, the secret ta love…"
Moe "It’s not shared mis’ry. Youse can complain bout all da lil details in life."
Moe "But dat don’t fix yas problems."
Moe "Howeva!"
Moe "Yas can’t be tryna do everythang for her neitha."
Moe "Othawize she’d jus expec ya ta fix all her problems for her."
Moe "The secret is support!"
A "...Support?"
Moe "Ay, youse gots ta be her support. She gots ta fix her own problems, but youse gots ta back her up on dem."
Moe "An’ from what I hear from ma boy Nasa, you’ve already been dun dat."
"I suppose I have. Like at her band practice, or on the roof."
Moe "Like now!"
Moe "Hahahahaha BADA BING!"
unknown "BADA BOOM."
Moe "Back ta work Jerry!"
Moe "Anyway."
Moe "Be good ta her, Anon. She’ll be good ta youse, I raised her right afta all."
A "Err, thanks, Moe."
Moe "Ay, anytime."
Moe "I’ve been hangin’ around youse fools for too long, I can’t jus’ ignore the kitchen anymore, youse know?"
Moe "Give little Lucy my regards, huh?"
A "Sure."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Moe saunters back to the kitchen."
hide moe neutral flip with moveoutleft
"Now that I think about it, how does he cook with those little arms?"
"I look a bit closer, there’s several toy claws hanging on a rack just inside the kitchen door."
"Somehow I don’t think that was something I was supposed to see."
show fang neutral at scenter with dissolve
F "Alright, I’m back."
F "Let’s hit the road."
F "Maybe we’ll find somewhere to play before sundown."
A "Actually, we really don’t."
"Fang freezes in place."
hide fang neutral
show fang shocked at scenter
F "How?"
A "Your Uncle."
F "You… Asked Uncle Moe if my band could play?"
A "Yeah, he seemed pretty excited about it."
A "He’s got a stage ready and everything."
"Fang still isn’t moving…"
"Did I do something wrong?"
play music "audio/OST/Appreciating the Moment.ogg" fadein 1.0
"It’s a blur of motion."
hide fang shocked
hide anon
show fang hug at scenter
with dissolve
"One second Fang looks like she’s going to start hyperventilating."
"Next it’s like I’m wrapped in a blanket of down feathers."
"Being shaken from side to side."
"With a tinnitus inducing scream right in my ear."
F "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WE GOT A VENUE AAAAAAAAA"
"It’s so infectious."
"My arms reflexively support her, wrapping around below her wings."
"Fang’s arms are wrapped around my shoulders as she clings to me."
"I feel something warm, soft and somewhat moist press against my cheek."
F "WE GOT A VENUE WE GOT A VENUE WE GOT A VEN- AH!"
"All movement stops and reality resumes."
show fang happy at scenter
show anon neutral flip at aright
with dissolve
"Fang’s wings withdraw from around us."
"Fang pulls away until only her hands are on my shoulders."
"My hands are now at her sides and I can feel her warm scales on my palms."
"Oh."
"Wow."
"I uh…"
"...huh…"
stop music
"It’s the sound of clapping that causes us to jump apart, faces bright red and breath rapid."
"Back at the kitchen door is Moe, clapping loudly with his miniscule arms."
A "Er… I suppose we uh…"
F "Um…"
A "Call… Naser?"
F "Y-yeah, a-and tell him… right?"
A "Totally. VVURM DRAMA’s got a venue!"
play music "audio/OST/appreciating_the_scenery.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Fang smiles softly and nods."
"Good thing Naomi put Naser’s number in my phone."
"Even though I didn’t ask for it."
"The tone rings twice."
Nas "Yes?"
A "Hey, Naser."
Nas "Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker."
Nas "Go ahead."
A "Mission accomplished, we got a venue set up."
N "Oh, they did?"
N "That’s great!"
A "Yeah, we’re at Dino-Moe’s place in Little Troodon."
Nas "Cool."
Nas "I’ll bring the NasCar over in a jiffy!"
"I’m going to punch him."
N "You sure you want us to get you now?"
N "Now that you have business out of the way you and Fang could go do something fun!"
A "..."
"You know, it may not be such a bad idea."
"Even if it’s an idea from the Orchid Oppressor."
"..."
"Good lord, I’m never going to be able to play golf again."
A "I’ll pass. It’s getting pretty dark."
N "Aww…"
Nas "Alright, stay put and we’ll be there soon."
A "Alright."
A "See you."
"All’s left is to wait a few minutes for the ride to get here."
scene outside moes
show anon neutral at acenter
show fang happy flip at sright
"Fang is sitting on a bench in front of one of the restaurant windows."
"She’s humming to herself, and her tail is drumming eurobeat on the bench."
"I take a seat next to her."
"By now the plaza has cooled down, most shops have closed and the only people still out are returning home after the long day."
"The two of us sit in companionable silence save for Fang’s humming and tail drumming."
"Her mood is contagious and soon enough I’m humming with her."
"I already know the song."
"It’s from the roof."
"Except more… more…"
"Happy."
"The scene is great."
"Just Fang and I on a bench in the waning sunlight in the middle of a deserted plaza."
"Taking the moment in, I almost don’t notice Fang scooting closer to me."
scene black with fade
"..."
scene home fang day with fade
show fang neutral:
xalign 0.3 yalign 0.0
show anon neutral:
xalign 0.2 yalign 0.0
show naser neutral behind naomi:
xalign -0.3 yalign 0.0
show naomi neutral behind anon:
xalign -0.4 yalign 0.0
Nas "Mom! Dad! We’re home!"
"The ride back to Fang’s house went by uneventfully."
show fangdad neutral flip:
xalign 0.9 yalign 0.25
show fangmom neutral flip at fmright
"Fang and I didn’t talk about what happened so Naser didn’t have an aneurysm."
FM "Oh! Welcome home, Naser dear!"
FM "How did your date go?"
FM "I’m just dying to know!"
FD "I am also interested."
"I don’t know how but he’s looking into the exact center of my pupils with no margin of error."
FD "So, Ayy-non, how was your trip with my little girl?"
F "Dad!"
FM "Why don’t you go get ready for bed Lucy."
"Fang glowers."
FD "Lucy your mom-"
"I look to Fang…"
"Okay, yeah. It was a date."
A "It went well, sir."
FD "What did-"
A "We were able to find a venue, and I met Fang’s Uncle Moe."
show fangdad unimpressed flip with dissolve
"Fang’s dad sputters."
FD "I've half a mind of bringing you to the station boy!"
FD "And the other half of testing my new nightsick on ya!"
FM "Dear! Not in front-"
A "I wouldn’t mind doing this again."
show fang surprised with dissolve
"Oh wow. The look on Fang’s face is really cute."
FM "Oh I’m so happy for you two!"
"I wave as I turn to the door."
A "I’ll see you at school Fang."
F "Y-yeah. You too, Anon!"
scene home fang outside night
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
stop music fadeout 1.0
"With that I exit the door. Once it’s closed I can feel all that bravado evaporate and my legs turn to jelly."
"I think that’s enough excitement for one day. My first step forward towards the bus stop is so wobbly I worry I’ll end up in Fang’s Mom’s rose bush."
"It would probably be a good idea to sit a bit and catch my breath before going home, and take a seat on the curb just outside Fang’s house."
"The door behind me slams open and I jerk around to see Naser being shoved down the steps."
FD "-and don’t come back until you’re finished thinking!"
play music "audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg" fadein 1.0
"The door slams again and I hear a morose sigh."
show naser sad at sleft with dissolve
Nas "Aw man… Anon?"
A "...yeah…"
Nas "Why’re you sitting here?"
A "Just catching my breath. Your dad’s a bit..."
Nas "Harsh?"
A "Homicidal, but close enough."
"Naser huffs and shoves his hands back into his pockets."
Nas "You know you’re the reason dad kicked me out, right?"
A "What? I know he’s pissed I so much as looked at Fang but what did you do?"
Nas "Turns out letting you run off with Fang is just ‘encouraging your degeneracy’ or something."
"Sighing, Naser drops to sit on the curb next to me."
"He kicks a rock clean across the road and into the neighbors’ mailbox."
A "Impressive."
Nas "Hmph."
A "Getting kicked out really got you that down?"
Nas "...Sure."
A "Convincing. What’s the real answer?"
Nas "What’s it to you?"
A "Not much. Just figured I’d ask."
"He stretches his wings and lays back on the pavement."
Nas "Just figures it’d get to this."
A "Get to what?"
Nas "Me getting punished for Fang’s issues."
"Naser lays an arm over his eyes."
Nas "Why’d you need to go alone?"
A "You saw her today, she was this close to killing your girlfriend."
A "Honestly you should be thanking me for that."
"He waves me away at that."
Nas "Feh."
A "Go on."
Nas "You aren’t my therapist."
A "Humor me."
"Naser’s arm flops away from his face and onto the concrete."
Nas "Ugh. I mean, look at it from my perspective."
Nas "Fang is always up to something stupid... More often than not these days she’s arguing with either me or my parents…"
Nas "At this rate, Fang’ll end up a junkie or in a prison somewhere."
"I cringe at the mental image of junkie Fang."
Nas "Mom and dad have pretty much accepted that, so who do you think all their hopes and dreams go to?"
Nas "Me."
"With a growl Naser sits back up."
show naser angry with dissolve
Nas "It’s like I’m not allowed to have problems of my own, not allowed to mess up or do anything less than the best."
A "Judging by the trophy case at school, you aren’t doing half bad."
show naser sad with dissolve
Nas "I wish it was an option to fail, I mean."
Nas "Instead, I’m stuck with no room for error and still with a broken sister."
Nas "And she’s still my sister, you know?"
Nas "I can’t help but be worried for her."
Nas "But what can I do? She hates me, and I can’t bring up my worries with my parents."
Nas "Even Naomi notices I get stressed about it."
Nas "I just want my sister to be happy, to go back to normal."
Nas "But I don’t even remember what her normal {i}is{/i}!"
A "I don’t have siblings myself, but if I did I certainly would have trouble doing all you’re able to."
A "That selflessness by itself should help you, right?"
Nas "Selflessness? You kidding me?"
Nas "Her friends would be destroyed if Fang just… dropped all that."
Nas "Who am I to even wish she were different?"
A "So you’re getting all this worked up and you aren’t sure it’s even the right thing?"
Nas "... Yeah, I guess so."
"I try and parse everything Naser’s bitched about up to now."
"Guess it’s time for Dr. Mous’ psychological response."
A "Y’know Naser, have you ever considered just… not?"
show naser shocked with dissolve
Nas "What?!"
"Naser practically lunges at me. I hold my hands up in supplication."
show naser angry with dissolve
"I consider what to say."
"Moe’s advice drifts to the forefront of my thoughts."
A "Hear me out. Just consider this."
A "Maybe it’s not your job. I mean, you go out of your way to try and help her…"
A "Hell even Naomi has tried."
A "But… Maybe Fang’s problem is her problem to fix."
show naser sad with dissolve
Nas "But-but-but-"
A "We met your uncle today."
Nas "Uncle Moe?!"
A "Yeah, and he had some advice for me."
A "He said she needs someone to support her. Not fix her problems for her."
Nas "Isn’t that what I’ve been doing?"
A "Remember the show in the auditorium?"
"The perturbed pterosaur sags as he recalls that disaster."
Nas "Oh…"
A "Look man, you’ve got a lot of problems of your own."
A "Maybe you should handle those first before you try to fix your sister’s."
Nas "Haaaaah. Well, if Uncle Moe said so…"
Nas "But why did he tell you that?"
"...shit…"
A "Err… y’know… just advice from an old guy."
A "You know how they love to give advice."
show naser neutral with dissolve
"His head shakes side to side, dismissing my dismissal."
Nas "No way. Not Uncle Moe. He’d never give you the time of day."
"Shitshitshitshitshit."
A "Look, he just wanted to give me some advice for Fang and now I’m giving it to you."
A "So drop it."
Nas "No way."
Nas "Advice for Fang… saying it was a date…"
show naser shocked with dissolve
Nas "Do you like my sister?!"
A "I wasn’t the one to call it a-"
show naser sad with dissolve
Nas "That…"
Nas "Explains a lot, shit..."
A "But I didn’t-"
show naser considering with dissolve
Nas "Oh god, what would Dad think of the kids?"
A "What the fuck?!"
Nas "Hell, if Dad finds out at all-"
show naser shocked with dissolve
A "NASER."
"He pauses, the look of shocked disdain still stuck to his face."
show naser neutral with dissolve
A "At this point it seems like you just {i}want{/i} to be a stressed mess."
A "Maybe I do like your sister."
show naser angry
A "Sure, she’s rude, violent, and maybe a bit bipolar."
A "She’s impressionable, self-centered, stubborn, the list goes on."
Nas "Are you looking to taste some concrete?"
A "But beyond all that, there’s more to her."
A "Like… Like her passion, Naser. She adores music. Adores {i}playing{/i} music."
A "And she has theses… moments where I can see the softer side of her."
"The pop of knuckles from Naser tells me I should rephrase that."
A "I mean, it feels like I’ve gotten to see a side of Fang that she hasn’t shown anyone else."
A "A side that’s willing to give a loser like me the time of day."
Nas "And that’s enough?"
A "I don’t know man, this is all uncharted water."
A "Like, how did you and Naomi get together?"
Nas "That is… a very long story."
A "How long?"
Nas "About two school semesters, thirty track-meets, and a school election."
A "So about a paperback book then?"
Nas "Sure, why not."
show naser neutral with dissolve
"Naser hums and reclines back onto the pavement."
Nas "Sheesh, how’d we wind up talking about our love lives?"
A "Speak for yourself, man, I know fuckall about this stuff."
Nas "And you think I do?"
Nas "Naomi’s the one that makes all the plans and stuff."
A "Seems like she does that a lot."
Nas "Just the way she is."
Nas "Anyway, I think dad’s had enough time and beer to cool down now."
A "How long has it been?"
Nas "‘Bout an hour I think."
A "Wait…"
"I swiftly withdraw my phone to check the time."
A "Ah fuck, I’m gonna miss the last bus!"
Nas "I could give you a lift."
"And let you find out I live in the shittiest part of town?"
A "Nah it’s fine. If I run I think I can make it."
Nas "Well don’t let me keep you. I’ll catch ya at school, Anon."
A "Yeah, sure thing."
Nas "And for what it’s worth, you’re not like the monkeys we hear about all the time on Dino News Network."
Nas "The kind that hang around this part of town called Skin Row, y’know?"
"Just gonna ignore that."
Nas "Thanks for sticking around a bit."
Nas "It’s… nice to finally be able to tell someone all that."
"I wave Naser goodbye as I get up and start jogging for the bus stop."
"I’m mentally fatigued after everything that’s happened today."
"I check my phone for the time."
"Hmm…."
"I open up the browser and go to a familiar Sudetan Sword Swallowing IRC."
"\[Hey faggots, guess who just got back from a perfect date?\]"
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"Twelve replies from a single post, I think that’s a new record for me."
"..."
#Concert Day
"-One Week Later-"
scene moes pizza with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like To Shitpost.ogg' fadein 1.0
"The week’s been a mix of excitement and trepidation."
"More excitement from Fang and the band and trepidation on my part around Fang."
"Having come to terms with how I feel, I just can’t stop noticing all the little things she does."
"Like her cute tail wagging to a silent tune."
"Or her weird and funny way of eating."
"Or how soft and huggable her wings look."
"Raptor Jesus, if this is what love is I kind of want to sample buckshot."
"And yet I don’t want it to stop."
"Even now as Moe and Reed work on clearing the floor of tables and making a noise."
"And I’m drooling like an idiot as I watch Fang bend over a large Amp."
unknown "Ahem"
"Even now her tail wags to that mysterious beat in her head."
unknown "AHEM"
"Not to mention the way those jeans hug her hips and ass-"
unknown "AH-HEM!"
A "Hm?"
show trish neutral at sleft
show anon neutral at aright
T "Aren’t you supposed to be helping?"
"Hm? OH SHIT RIGHT!"
A "Y-yeah, right! Just moving this table ahahaha."
show trish:
linear .5 xzoom -1.0
hide trish with moveoutleft
scene moebackrooms with fade
"I pick up the last table on the floor and hurriedly move it to the suspiciously large storage room in the back of Dino-Moe’s."
"I set the table down with the rest, right next to the seemingly out of place buckets of cement mix."
"Looking out from the closet, the joint is actually pretty big."
"The area is a good one-hundred and fifty by two-hundred feet, so without the tables there’s enough space for at least a few hundred people."
show anon neutral flip at sleft with moveinleft
"Impressed, I let out a low whistle."
play music 'audio/OST/Dino Destiny Reader.ogg' fadein 1.0
show anon neutral at aleft
show stella neutral alt flip at sright
St "I’m on time, right?"
"Where did she come from?"
A "Hm? Who are you?"
St "We’ve met before..."
A "Wha- wait… Stella, right? From the school gardens."
"She gleefully nods."
St "Yes! Rosa should be coming any minute now, too!"
"I haven’t spoken to either of them since campus beautification."
"Well, other than Stella through the bathroom door, but that doesn’t really count."
"But Fang and the rest will be happy they have at least two fans, right?"
St "You know…"
St "There’s always room in the gardening club if you still want to join, Anon..."
"There’s no way I’m going back to that sort of prison labor."
"I look the pale green, spine covered thing up and down."
A "Uh.."
A "Y-you {i}do{/i} know what your shirt says, right?"
show stella shock alt flip with dissolve
"Stella gives me a quizzical look and glances down at her shirt, her face turning bright red."
St "Oh my… th-this was the only clean shirt I had…"
"If I didn’t feel the way I did about Fang, I’d think Stella’s stammering was kinda cute."
"Suddenly her face lights up and her eyes return to me."
show stella happy alt flip with dissolve
St "Wait… You like anime too, don’t you?"
"Play it cool, Anon. No need to reveal your power level."
menu:
"I used to when I was little.":
A "I saw some back in elementary school."
"I’ve seen a bit here and there.":
A "Yeah, uh… a little bit."
St "That’s amazing! I don’t have anyone else I can talk to about it!"
St "What’s your favorite anime? I loooove PreCure!"
"Raptor Jesus on his cross of rock."
"It takes all my strength not to physically cringe."
St "Oooh, we should watch it together sometime!"
St "I have the box set of every season!"
St "We could marathon it over a long weekend or something!"
A "Uh… maybe some other time..."
"I’ll just block my calendar for this… maybe for after the heat death of the universe."
A "Anyway, the show isn’t for another half-hour."
show stella neutral alt flip with dissolve
St "I wanted to ask you before... what did you think of your fortune?"
A "Uh… I kinda forgot…"
St "You got the Judgement?"
A "Doesn’t ring a bell."
St "O-oh… well… Uh… How would you like another?"
A "Eh… I got time to kill, sure."
"She pulls her deck of tarot cards from… somewhere…"
"Where the fuck does she hide these things?"
"Anyway, she fans the deck out."
St "Alright, take one."
"I take one at random and show it to her."
#Decided to take the unholy if/else approach to this, if there is a better, cleaner, or faster way to do it then do point me to it.
#Values here were decided by writers, not me
if anonscore >= 3 and fangscore >= 4:
#>>golden
St "Upright Strength"
St "OH! I don’t think you need to worry about what’s to come, Anon."
elif anonscore >= 3 and fangscore <= 2:
#>>tradwife
St "Inverted Hierophant."
St "You need to be wary of your words and actions, Anon."
elif anonscore <= 2 and fangscore >= 3:
#>>doomer
St "Inverted Hermit."
St "Anon, if you ever feel lonely you can come to me."
elif anonscore <= 2 and fangscore <= 2:
#>>shooter
St "Oh my, inverted Empress."
St "You need to be wary about future negligence, Anon."
else:
#>>ERROR HANDLING
St "uh oh..."
A "What?"
St "Some dipshit developer made broken code and this is the error handling message and you should report this as a bug"
A "What?"
St "Basically the if/else statement that handles this shit has failed at catching the score, and I cannot give you a tarot reading..."
A "The fuck does that mean?"
St "Uh… er… Gottago,naturecalls,seeyouattheshow!"
hide stella neutral alt flip
show stella neutral alt at sright
hide stella with moveoutright
"She flees in denim pissing fear."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"...Well then…"
play music 'audio/OST/Those Other Two Weirdos.ogg' fadein 1.0
"What was I doing?"
"Oh yeah."
"I step up to the stage to see the band’s point of view."
hide anon at sleft with moveoutright
scene moebackrooms
show anon neutral at aleft with moveinleft:
xalign 0.0
linear 0.5 rotate 90 yalign -0.5
"And then promptly trip."
#anon fall
"*FWAP*"
A "Argh!"
hide anon
"What the fuck was that?!"
"There’s a loose cord over my foot."
"That’s…"
"Probably not good for the show."
show anon neutral at acenter with moveinbottom
"I stand up and wipe the dust from my pants."
"Trish is the organizer…"
"Right now she’s giving Reed a lecture on why it’s probably a bad idea to put carfentanyl in the smoke machine."
A "Hey, Trish!"
show anon at aleft with move
"Trish looks over her shoulder and Reed’s face lights up."
A "Can you come here a second?"
"Trish sighs, points between her eyes and Reed’s, and stomps over to the stage."
show trish neutral flip at tcenter with moveinright
T "Whaddayawant, skinnie?"
A "I just tripped on one of the wires up here."
show trish unimpressed flip
T "Sucks to be you."
"Bitch."
A "Should I plug them all into a surge protector so you guys don’t fall during the concert?"
show trish annoyed flip
T "What?"
T "No, of course not."
T "We won’t trip, I have that on good authority."
A "Whose?"
show trish unimpressed flip
T "...Reed’s."
A "..."
T "..."
A "And you trust his word on something like this?"
show trish neutral with dissolve
T "Sure."
T "He’s the expert on this stuff and all."
"Before I can object, Trish turns away and runs after Reed who is huddled over the smoke machine, pungent fumes wafting from it’s exposed innards."
hide trish with moveoutleft
"Well, seems like he’s got that handled."
"Trish seemed pretty confident that Reed knows what he’s doing with the stage."
"But Reed obviously doesn’t understand cable management."
menu:
"Leave the stage as-is":
jump LeaveStageAsIs
"Fix the cables":
jump FixCables
label LeaveStageAsIs:
$ anonscore += 1
"Reed may not understand cable management, but then again neither did I."
"Probably better to let sleeping fossils lie."
define LeftStage = "1"
jump PostCableConundrum
label FixCables:
"It could be a serious hazard if I leave them like this."
"Like a fire hazard or something. I think."
"I’ll just put them all on one of Moe’s surge protectors."
"Aaaaaand done."
label PostCableConundrum:
"Now that that’s taken care of, I glance at the pizza-themed clock on the wall."
"Thirty minutes until the show starts."
"The band is doing one last sound test, Reed’s bass drum bearing another new logo for VVURM DRAMA that doesn’t look half bad."
"Trish has a wicked grin on her face and I can practically see the dollar signs in her eyes."
scene moebackrooms
show fang hiding at sright
with fade
"And Fang…"
"Fang looks anxious, hands wringing the strap of her hollowbody electric guitar."
"I consider what I’m about to do extremely stupid but…"
A "Hey."
show anon neutral at aleft with moveinleft
show fang surprised flip at scenter with dissolve
"She jumps a little as I step back on stage. Her knuckles are bright white as they strangle the leather strap."
F "...Hey."
Moe "{alpha=0.5}{i}The secret is support!{/i}{/alpha}"
"I offer her my most supportive smile."
A "You’ve got this, Fang."
show fang sad flip with dissolve
F "Don’t feel like I do, though."
A "You do. You’ve been practicing all month for this."
A "And you’ve improved immensely since your last gig."
A "I have complete faith in your ability to play guitar."
A "Don’t worry so much."
A "Just don't fret about it, you’ll be fine"
show fang happy flip with dissolve
"Trish rolls her eyes, Reed’s vacant stare has a bit of approval."
show fang neutral flip at sright
show trish neutral flip at tcenter
with dissolve
T "At least it wasn't a dinosaur pun this time."
A "I'm not that unfunny!"
T "You are."
A "Fuck you, I’m hilarious."
T "No one thinks that, loser."
A "Don’t you have something to be triggered about!"
show trish fury flip with dissolve:
xalign 0.5 yalign 10.0
T "YOU CAN’T USE THAT WORD, THAT’S OUR WORD!"
show trish angry flip with dissolve
A "Just did, wanna see me do it again?"
F "Ladies, Ladies, please."
F "Shut the fuck up."
stop music fadeout 1.0
F "We’ve got sweet music to play."
scene moebackrooms
if LeftStage == "1":
show trish neutral at tleft
show fang neutral at scenter
show reed neutral flip at rright
play music 'audio/OST/The.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Showtime"
F "All right! Next up we got 'The!'"
"WHAT."
"They go right into their next song with gusto."
"..."
"An hour later and the band is wrapping up their last song for the night."
"I take my eyes off the stage to get a read on the crowd."
"Easily a good hundred people showed up to see VVURM DRAMA, better than any of us expected."
"The look on Fang’s face when everyone began filtering into the restaurant was priceless."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hitler Song With The Really Long Name.ogg' fadein 1.0
"They were on the last song of the night, the bizarrely long name of which I missed."
F "I JUST GOTTA ASK:"
F "WHY IS HITLER"
F "RIDING MY BIKE"
F "PRETENDING TO BE"
F "A MONKEY"
"Oh right… Reed definitely wrote this one."
"The band really has improved, as opposed to booing and pointing at the audience is listening intently."
F "AT THREEEEEEE AAAAAAAA MMMMM"
F "IN THE MORNIIIIIING!"
F "ON A FUCKIN’ TUESDAAAAY!"
"After the song ends, VVURM DRAMA hangs onto the pose of their final note."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"It’s silent."
"I applaud the band, eventually some other patrons join in."
"The applause turns to cheers, and the cheers turn to uproar."
"The crowd was cheering."
"Actually cheering this time."
play music 'audio/OST/punk_revamp.ogg' fadein 1.0
"The bandmates’ faces light up, and they all glance at each other."
"The hard work has taken its toll on the three, giving them varying degrees of perspiration."
"The sweat is trickling down Fang’s forehead, Trish has gone from an afro to dreadlocks, and Reed is providing the restaurant with a nice ocean scent."
"Fang finishes with a furious flurry of strumming on her fretboard."
F "Woooooooo! THANK YOU LITTLE TROODON!"
"The crowd’s approval is obvious, even in the makeshift mosh pit where I see Stella getting fake curb-stomped."
"At least I think it’s fake."
"Rosa is on the other side of the room, too entranced by the music to care."
"Eh, I don’t see any blood so she’s good."
scene moebackrooms
show fang very happy at sleft
show anon neutral flip at acenter with fade
F "ANON!"
"Before I could react I was swept up in a blur of feathers."
hide anon
hide fang
show fang hug
"Fang wrapped her arms and wings around me and kept rocking back and forth."
F "OHMYGOD OHMYGOD WE DID IT WE DID IT"
F "THEY ACTUALLY LOVE VVURM DRAMA!"
"I tune out the alarms screaming in my head and hug her back."
hide fang hug
show fanganonhug
"Her wings are just as soft and huggable as they look."
"Fang’s beak settles against my cheek, the warm scales sliding smoothly up and down against it."
"This is nice."
"I become aware of my hands, planted firmly on the small of Fang’s back and pressing her closer to me."
"Beneath my splayed palms is soft, warm and drenched in sweat. I find that I don’t really mind the slickness."
T "Fang?"
"I feel like I could stay like this forever."
T "Hellooo, Fang?"
"Fang suddenly flinches, and I get a split second view of a purple hand on her shoulder."
"Her face is beet red and the warmth in my own cheeks tells me I don’t look far behind."
"Trish looks like she’s sucked on a lemon with how twisted her face is."
"The tiny triceratops pulls Fang out of my hands, and I can picture my fist twisting that horn right off her face."
hide fanganonhug
show fang neutral flip at scenter
show anon neutral flip at sright
show trish neutral at tleft
T "Hmmm... "
A "Great show, right?"
T "I guess. For our first show, anyway."
show fang happy flip with dissolve
F "What? It was great though! Everyone was cheering!"
show trish indignant with dissolve
T "But it was a small crowd."
A "Was it? The place was packed."
show trish explanatory with dissolve
T "Small venue. We gotta think bigger now."
A "Why bigger?"
show trish happy with dissolve
T "Because I still have stock!"
"She motions to the bar, where there is still some hung up shirts with the new mediocre logo lazily spray painted on."
A "Have you sold much?"
T "Three buttons, four stickers, and an Apron!"
A "An apron?"
Moe "AY, KIDS!"
#moe now has vvurm drama apron
show moealt with moveinright:
xalign 1.8 yalign 0.0
Moe "LOOKIT DIS ‘ERE AH-PRON YA LIL TRIGGA FRIEN SOL’ ME!"
show trish unimpressed with dissolve
"Trish looks split on whether to be mad about the trigga comment or happy about the successful sale."
unknown "Hey! Someone took ma apron!"
Moe "GIT BACK TA WORK JERRY YER ON DA CLOCK!"
show fang happy flip with dissolve
F "It uh… looks nice, Uncle Moe."
Moe "Anyways, youse all gonna be helpin’ wit da clean up, right?"
"I look at the absolute mess around us."
"Fuck."
stop music fadeout 1.0
else:
show trish neutral at sleft
show fang neutral at scenter
show reed neutral flip at sright
play music 'audio/OST/The.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Showtime"
"I take my eyes off the stage to get a read on the crowd."
"Easily a good hundred people showed up to see VVURM DRAMA, better than any of us expected."
"The look on Fang’s face when everyone began filtering into the restaurant was priceless."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hitler Song With The Really Long Name.ogg' fadein 1.0
"They were on the last song of the night, the bizarrely long name of which I missed."
F "I JUST GOTTA ASK:"
F "WHY IS HITLER"
F "RIDING MY BIKE"
F "PRETENDING TO BE"
F "A MONKEY"
"Oh right… Reed definitely wrote this one."
"The band really has improved, as opposed to booing and pointing at the audience is listening intently."
"And nobody has tripped so far."
F "AT THREEEEEEE AAAAAAAA MMMMM"
F "IN THE MORNIIIIIING!"
F "ON A-"
"As if right on cue, half of the lights on stage cut out."
stop music
scene black
"Trish strummed silently before giving a confused glance at the speakers."
F "T-tuesday?"
"Fang fell out of tempo with Reed’s drums, stumbling over the end of the song."
scene dimstage with fade
show anon neutral at aright with dissolve
"It’s silent."
"I began to clap, followed by several other patrons."
"Including Stella who looked seconds away from being curb-stomped."
"Rosa is on the other side of the room, too entranced by the music to care."
play music 'audio/OST/Summertime Synth.ogg' fadein 1.0
"My eyes scan the room before noticing Trish, the sheer vehement rage radiating from her visibly distorting the air around her."
"Fuck."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"My jaw aches as I picture myself in Stella’s place, courtesy of one pissed of womanlet."
"Before I have the chance to escape I hear my one saving grace."
show fang happy with moveinleft:
xalign 0.6 yalign 0.25
F "ANON!"
"Fang reaches me before Trish leaves the stage, extending her hand for a high-five."
F "We did it!"
show trish unimpressed at tcenter with moveinleft
T "No thanks to that asshole!"
"Oh no."
F "What’s wrong?"
show trish indignant with dissolve
T "Skinnie sabotaged the show!"
T "I told him not to touch the wires and look what happened!"
A "I was only trying to help."
show trish annoyed with dissolve
"Trish holds up her hand to my face, waving the other around in grand gestures."
show trish indignant with dissolve
T "You ruined the big finale! We missed our chance to make it big!"
T "Why is it that only my bass cut out anyways?!"
T "Are you actively trying to ruin us?!"
T "I told you Reed knew what he was doing!"
T "Do you not trust him and I?"
show trish sad with dissolve
"Tears trickle down her sweat-glazed face."
T "Is Fang really the only one here you care about?!"
T "You are not the only person in the world!"
"This hypocritical bitch!"
"The sharp words cut right through me."
show fang sad with dissolve
F "Jeez, Trish. The show went great! Our first good concert!"
F "The crowd actually clapped this time!"
T "No thanks to him."
A "I didn’t do it on purpose."
"Even though you deserved it."
"Before she could interrogate me further, Fang grabbed Trish on the arm."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Trish! Didn’t you say you wanted to set up our merch!"
"Trish winces, then gives a begrudging sigh, lowering her accusatory finger."
show trish unimpressed with dissolve
T "Ugh, you aren’t worth it."
hide trish with dissolve
"Trish storms off leaving Fang and I alone."
"And Reed who was listening the entire time."
Re "Anon, dude… you really should trust others, y’know?"
Re "It’s like they say… trust is the building block of our economy, or something."
"What."
Re "There are two kinds of people in this world, bro... people who believe and people who trust."
Re "And you believed in something false, your impulsiveness."
"Before I can begin to comprehend Reed’s capitalist sermon, my ears are assaulted by very Italian yelling."
Moe "AY, KIDS!"
#moe now has vvurm drama apron
Moe "LOOKIT DIS ‘ERE AH-PRON YA LIL TRIGGA FRIEN SOL’ ME!"
"Reed looks almost jealous of Moe’s new garb."
Re "Nice threads, compadre."
unknown "Hey! Someone took ma apron!"
Moe "GIT BACK TA WORK JERRY YER ON DA CLOCK!"
F "It uh… looks nice, Uncle Moe."
Moe "Anyways, youse all gonna be helpin’ wit da clean up, right?"
"I look at the absolute mess around us."
"Fuck."
scene moebackrooms
show anon neutral at acenter
play music 'audio/OST/west_coast_kicking.ogg' fadein 1.0
"An hour later and I’m stuck mopping up where the mosh pit once stood."
"As my mop head gains a tinge of red I pray to god this isn’t from Stella."
"Rosa wanted to stay and help clean buuut…"
"{i}Ro I am so sorry Stella! Come, I shall nurse you back at my home!{/i}"
"I’d feel more sorry for Stella but Rosa looked capable of helping her."
"My god that’s a lot of… Marinara… Yeah…"
"Fang and Trish are trying to divide and carry out the stage."
"...The mop really isn’t getting much from the floor."
"Am I supposed to have a bucket or something?"
show reed neutral flip at rright with moveinright
Re "Yooo, Anon!"
"Reed crosses right through the puddles, tracking grimy footprints without a care."
Re "Hey man… what’d you think of the lyrics?"
A "What were you on when you wrote that?"
"Reed rubs his forehead, struggling to remember more than ten minutes ago."
Re "I dunno man… the floor maybe? But I also distinctly remember floating…"
Re "Y’know, dude, we’ve been doing this since junior year, right?"
Re "And this is the first show that anyone’s actually liked."
Re "Wild."
A "You’ve only been playing together for a year?"
Re "You know it man, crazy how time flies."
Re "Man, back then Trish had these crazy long horns and glasses."
"Now there’s a thought. How would Trish even look with glasses?"
"Actually, how would glasses even work on any triceratops?"
Re "Fang wasn’t Fang."
A "She- what?"
Re "Er… Probably shouldn’t have mentioned that…"
A "Fang wasn’t herself?"
Re "Honestly… That’s probably something to be left for Fang and Fang alone to talk about… Sorry."
A "Er… riiiiiight."
Re "Only thing that stayed the same was like... me and my carfe, bro."
"How long has he been on that stuff?"
Re "It was almost like a totally different time, man."
show anon neutral at aleft with moveinright
show reed neutral flip with moveinright:
xalign 1.1
show trish neutral flip at tright with moveinright
"Before I even got a moment to picture what it might have been like not even a year ago, Trish appears behind Reed."
"She looks like she’s about to snap both our necks."
T "Hey, Reed, what are you two talking about?"
Re "Just talking about some memories of the band, Trish."
T "You didn’t tell him anything about me, did you?"
A "Glasses."
T "Reed, you absolute ass."
"Reed just shrugs."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"By this point the restaurant has been mostly cleaned up with only a few tables left to put back."
play music 'audio/OST/you need gopher chucks.ogg' fadein 1.0
T "So Anon, we showed you ours, now it’s your turn to show us yours."
A "What, out here in public? Didn’t peg you for the kinky type." #lol sex
"Trish inhales sharply, visibly trying to master herself."
T "I meant with your old school."
A "That’s on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know."
show anon neutral with move:
xalign 0.2
show reed neutral flip with move:
xalign 1.2
show fang neutral with moveinleft:
xalign -0.4
F "Come on Anon, don’t you have any good memories from your old school?"
"Oh god no."
A "I’d really rather not talk about it."
F "Why not? You’ve told me about your parents."
"That seems to catch Trish’s attention."
"Shit. And that look of expectancy from Fang too?"
"I guess it can’t hurt."
A "Well… I did try to get into music at one point."
F "With how much you need my help in music class?"
A "I didn’t say I was good at it. I was just clicking buttons and seeing what stuck."
A "And spoiler alert, nothing did."
"That got a giggle out of Fang and a look from Trish."
T "By the way Anon, I saw you talking to that Stella girl before the concert. You have something going on there?"
"I feel a pit in my stomach as a look of betrayal crosses Fang’s face."
"Right into Trish’s trap, hook, line, sinker and rod."
menu:
"Nyet.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"Nein.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"Non.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"Nope.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"Inai.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"Mei yo.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"None of that.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
"No.":
A "I do NOT have a thing for Incontineisha."
Re "Who?... Thought like, we were talkin’ bout whatsherface."
T "The one with the Dino Duel cards."
Re "...I thought those were Pocket Raptor cards."
F "Weren’t they handegg cards?"
A "Uh… moving on..."
T "Anyone back home you had your eye on then?"
A "Nobody at Rock Bottom was worth the time."
"Fang’s face softens, almost in a silent sigh of relief."
"Is there hope for me yet?"
T "Rock Bottom, huh? I don’t think you’ve ever told us where you’re from before."
"..."
play music 'audio/OST/you can_t sage here.ogg' fadein 1.0
"SHIT."
A "O-oh, I haven’t? Huh."
F "Who really cares where you went to last?"
Re "Yeah, man, it’s just a school."
F "Was it in the sticks?"
A "Not exactly, it was certainly lower class though."
A "I used to buy bulk soda and sell them to the stupid kids for lunch money."
Re "Yooo, my man!"
"Reed gives me a fist bump."
A "I’d usually just go places on a crappy dirt bike, leaving donuts in parking lots when I was sure nobody was looking."
F "Sounds like you were pretty cool at your last school."
"HA."
A "I dunno about that…"
Re "Sure, man… I don’t get why you left in the first place if you had it so good."
"Oh no."
A "Oh, uh, actually…"
"THINK OF SOMETHING THINK OF SOMETHING THINK OF SOMETHING"
A "I had to leave because of, uh…"
"DON’T SAY SOMETHING STUPID YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT AT THIS."
A "Family issues."
"Nailed it."
Re "Bummer man… glad you’re here instead."
A "Yeah, yeah, thanks man."
T "Sounds personal, guess we shouldn’t pry."
stop music fadeout 1.0
T "We’re all friends here, after all."
"Guess we are all friends at this point."
"To varying degrees."
"I let a content smile creep onto my face." #WHAT THE FUCK ANON CANT SMILE WHAT THEW FUCK WHAT THE FUCK
show moealt at sright with moveinright
play music 'audio/OST/Venetian Values.ogg' fadein 1.0
Moe "AY YOU STUPID KIDS!"
"The tyrannosaur stomps over to us from the kitchen."
Moe "Great job again on da show, punks."
Moe "I knew my lil Lucy could pull dis shindig off."
"He clamps one of his tiny hands down on Fang’s shoulder as she reflexively tries to hide her face with a wing."
Moe "Alas, I’m expecting a late night visita’, so I needs you punks to piss off."
Moe "Come on by for a slice sometime, yeah?"
A "Thanks, Moe."
Re "Yeah man… thanks a bunch…"
Moe "Now scram youse kids. I’ve got a different kinds a clean-up ta deal wit’."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"Aaaaaaand repressing that."
"..."
scene black with fade
#Study Session
play music 'audio/OST/Bayside Bumming it.ogg' fadein 1.0
"-A Few Weeks Later-"
scene bandroom
"Things have cooled off since the concert back in February."
"There’s no major events coming up, so the days have gotten longer."
"The weather has started to warm up as well."
"Each morning I’ve been walking through a thick blanket of fog that always dissipates by lunchtime."
"It’s a drastic shift compared to the hot/cold binary of fly-over life."
"Maybe I should ditch the jacket soon…"
"No, there’s no way I’m showing the world just how much of a lanklet I am."
"Even if it means being grilled alive."
show fang happy at sleft with dissolve
F "Geez, Anon, you look like you’re dying right now."
show anon neutral flip at aright with dissolve
A "The sun… can go… fuck itself…"
"Fang chuckles and pats my back as I lean over my desk."
"On second thought, tank tops seem cool. Reed is usually wearing one."
show jingo at sleft
jingo "Alright class, the Principal’s got something to say, then you’ll be leavin’ early."
hide jingo
"With that we were all directed to the auditorium."
scene auditorium with dissolve
"We didn’t have assigned seating, so I immediately thought of sitting with Fang."
"Knowing better than to look through the ocean of students, I follow my nose to Reed."
"The fetid raptor was sitting in the very last row with Trish."
show reed sunglasses at scenter with dissolve
Re "YOOOOO!"
"Reed’s bellow easily eclipses everyone else."
"I wave back, hurrying past my awestruck classmates to claim my rightful throne."
Re "‘Ey guys… saved ya some seats."
"I take a glance over to see Trish pouting."
T "Fuck, he found us."
"The last students trickle in through the doors and take their seats."
scene auditorium
"Mr. Carldewskii takes the stage with an electronic mic."
show carldelewski at scenter with moveinright
carl "Alright, frickin’ settle down kids. We got a special frickin’ announcement from the frickin’ principal."
carl "We got frickin’ midterms coming up soon, and he frickin’ feels the need to give all of you a frickin’ pep talk."
"The audience collectively groans."
"Fang and Trish throw their heads back."
play music 'audio/OST/we just turned on the microphone in our programmers_ house.ogg' fadein 1.0
"On cue, Principal Spears takes the stage."
"Mr. Carldewskii holds the microphone out to him but gets ignored."
"The student body covers their ears in preparation."
hide carldelewski with dissolve
show spears neutral at scenter with moveinleft
show spears angry with dissolve
Sp "ALRIGHT YOU LITTLE PUNKS."
Sp "LIKE THE MAN SAID, WE HAVE MIDTERMS TO DEAL WITH IN JUST A FEW WEEKS."
Sp "AND I DON’T WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU SLACKING, ONLY THE BEST EFFORTS WILL BE ALLOWED."
Sp "THESE SCORES MAY NOT AFFECT YOUR OVERALL GRADE, SO MANY OF YOU MAY DECIDE TO DISREGARD THEM."
Sp "IT’S A WEAK MINDSET LIKE THAT THAT CAN AND WILL TRAP YOU!"
Sp "THESE TESTS ARE FOR YOU TO SEE IF YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK OR NOT!"
Sp "I EXPECT YOU ALL TO ACE THESE EXAMS BECAUSE VOLCANO HIGH IS THE BEST SCHOOL THERE IS!"
Sp "AND I TEACH THE BEST STUDENTS THERE ARE, HERE AT VOLCANO HIGH!"
Sp "ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?"
"Judging by the dead silence, there wasn’t any."
hide spears angry
show spears neutral at scenter with dissolve
show carldelewski at sright with moveinright
stop music fadeout 1.0
"The principal gives a single approving nod and exits stage right."
carl "Alright you kids, you’re free to frikin' go."
hide spears with dissolve
hide carldelewski with dissolve
play music 'audio/effects/chatter loop.ogg' fadein 1.0
"With that the sea of students begins to funnel out of the auditorium."
"The four of us wait until the auditorium is half empty before getting up and making our way to the door."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Our motley crew make it to the front lawn of the school and Reed falls flat on his back in the freshly mowed grass."
scene outside school with fade
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral:
xalign 0.3 yalign 1
show trish neutral at tcenter
show reed neutral at sright
Re "Later guys."
hide reed
show reed neutral flip at sright
hide reed neutral flip with moveoutleft
show trish neutral at tright with move
hide trish
show trish neutral flip at tright
show anon neutral at acenter with move
"His breathing becomes a rumbling snore."
T "So Fang, you actually gonna study?"
F "Mmmm…"
T "We can go to the library, there shouldn’t be anyone there."
A "Eh, I don’t think I’m allowed there anymore. Wasted too much bandwidth."
"Fuck using my own data to pirate all these games I’ll probably never play."
T "I wasn’t asking you, douche."
F "I kind of just wanna go home."
T "...Kay… Talk to ya later Fang."
F "Yeah… Later…"
T "Fuck you Anon."
A "I didn’t even do anything this time!"
hide trish neutral flip with moveoutleft
"Tch. Fuck her."
A "Whatever. See you monday, Fang."
show anon neutral:
linear 0.3 xalign 0.9
"Before I can turn away Fang’s hand catches the sleeve of my unnecessary sweater."
hide anon neutral
show anon neutral flip:
xalign 0.9
F "A-actually… I was thinking…"
A "Hmm?"
"Fang’s grip loosens on my arm, leaving her hand to rest on my forearm."
F "Wanna like, study at my place? I uh… kinda need help… with science."
A "Suuurrrreewaaait. Wouldn’t your dad make me into a hunting trophy?"
F "I don’t think you’re that good of a catch."
"Ow. My ego."
F "Besides, he’s working a late shift tonight and my mom should be out clothes shopping or something. Again."
"It’s okay Anon, you’re just going to Fang’s house."
"Alone."
"♪ Just the two of us. ♪"
"Bill Withers shut the fuck up holy fuck AAAAAAAA."
A "Okay then. So how are we gonna get to your place?"
F "Shit! The bus! We can make it to the last one if we run!"
"OH GO FUCK YOURSELF BILL WITHERS."
hide fang neutral
show fang neutral flip at sleft
hide fang neutral flip with moveoutleft
hide anon neutral with moveoutleft
scene black with fade
"We make a mad dash to the last bus."
"I’m sweating like hell by the time we get there, made worse by the fact I’m still wearing my jacket."
"Still must not take off."
"Must not expose skeleton arms."
scene home fang day
"After a little while of being simultaneously fried alive and bathed in sweat, we finally make it to Fang’s place."
"I obviously thank the bus driver again."
"Wait. Alone with Fang? At her place?"
"Bill Withers begins to blare inside my head again God just fuck off FUCK."
scene home fang day
F "Come on, Anon. We can study in my room."
"Fang’s room?"
"Oh, man, it’s been a while since I’ve noticed the alarms."
A "S-sure! Lead the way."
"Fang climbs the steps while I trail behind, weary of any hidden fathers laying in wait to ambush me."
scene black with fade
"She holds a door open to a pitch-black room, and I tentatively step in."
F "Aaaaah, home sweet home."
scene fangroom
"Fang flips on the lights and I’m not quite sure what I expected."
"The black walls are covered with various band posters, the spaces in between covered by what I assume are lyric ideas written in chalk."
"A few guitar stands and a keyboard in the corner below a non-binary flag hanging on the wall."
"Fang throws her bag off to the side and picks up a guitar, strumming a few chords."
"I plant my hands in my pockets nonchalantly, looking around for a chair or something."
show fang neutral at sleft with dissolve
show anon neutral flip at aright with dissolve
F "Just sit on the floor, dweeb."
A "Wow, not even a beanbag chair?"
A "What kind of lazy teenager are you?"
F "The kind that has expendable guitars in arm’s reach."
A "Fair enough."
"I use my backpack as a makeshift backrest."
A "What’s the guitar for, anyways?"
F "Playing music."
A "I mean, aren’t we supposed to be studying?"
A "Or are we doing music first?"
hide anon
hide fang
show fangguitar
with dissolve
F "Uhm… This is just how I get ready for studying."
F "Strumming along puts me at ease."
"Fang picks up a spare guitar pick from a shelf."
"She begins playing a short riff that I recognize from one of VVURM DRAMA’s songs, smiling and relaxing as she goes on."
"Like my own personal concert."
"When the song is finished, Fang gives an expectant glance my way."
"I smile and give a tasteful nod."
F "You wanna try?"
"Fang takes off the guitar strap and extends it for me to play."
"I’m not sure what she expects me to do but I could give it a shot."
"Though aren’t we supposed to be studying for midterms?"
Sp "{i}{alpha=0.5}THESE SCORES MAY NOT AFFECT YOUR OVERALL GRADE, SO MANY OF YOU MAY DECIDE TO DISREGARD THEM.{/alpha}{/i}"
Sp "{i}{alpha=0.5}IT’S A WEAK MINDSET LIKE THAT THAT CAN AND WILL TRAP YOU!{/alpha}{/i}"
Sp "{i}{alpha=0.5}THESE TESTS ARE FOR YOU TO SEE IF YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK OR NOT!{/alpha}{/i}"
"..."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Is it really alright to slack off?"
menu:
"Play The Guitar":
jump LetFangPlayGuit
"Get to Studying":
jump GetStartedOnStudy
label LetFangPlayGuit:
$ fangscore += 1
"What the hell."
play music 'audio/OST/Appreciating the Moment.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "Er… why not."
"I take the guitar from her hands and put the strap on, letting its weight hang from my shoulder."
"Fang hands me the pick and I aimlessly strum the guitar, the mess of a noise sounding a far cry from her elegant playing."
"Well I tried."
F "Here, like this."
hide fangguitar
show fanganonguitar
with dissolve
"Fang grabs another guitar and motions me to copy her hand movements."
"I try to mimic her hands on the fretboard but it feels like my fingers are twisting into pretzels."
F "Not like that, your hand’s gonna get cramped as fuck like that."
"Fang sets her guitar down on a stand and comes over to me."
F "Holy fuck no wonder you sound like a horny cougar."
A "Wait, like the cat or-"
F "Here, like this."
"Her hand covers mine as she tries to readjust the position of it."
F "No like- Gah stop fighting back!"
A "Ow hey- Quite tha- OW!"
F "Oh my fuck, Anon. Just relax your hand!"
"I would if I could but the god damned alarms weren’t freaking me out!"
F "UUUUUUUURG… Hold on."
A "Wha-"
"Fang walks behind me."
F "Don’t turn around!"
A "Why-"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"She’s standing right behind me!"
"She’s standing RIGHT THE FUCK BEHIND ME!"
"Her body presses against my back and her arms come around, each of her hands taking my own and guiding them into proper position."
"..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg' fadein 1.0
F "Anon, are you paying attention?"
A "Y-yeah! Totally!"
"I hope my voice didn’t just crack."
"Fang’s hands move mine along the neck of the guitar."
F "Alright, try these chords."
"Her fingers press mine down, holding down the strings in an awkward position."
F "Then this."
"My hands are slid down closer to the base of the neck and too close to my crotch."
F "And then finally this."
"My fingers are shifted back up to the middle of the fretboard."
F "Try that out, Anon."
"Fang let’s go of my sweaty hands. She doesn’t move from behind me though."
"I try and replicate the movements."
"The first strum sounds… not bad…"
"The second note is horrendous. I blame my pants."
"And the last chord comes out alrightish."
F "Now do it all together."
"I repeat the pattern and it comes out all sounding alrightish."
F "Again."
"Oh hey, that didn’t sound too bad now."
F "You’re getting it now."
A "Am I? I have no clue what these chords are?"
"I keep strumming, each time progressively sounding better and better."
F "Now try playing chords of your own."
A "My own..? I thought you were showing me how to play a song."
F "I’m teaching you how to play guitar you dork."
"I reposition my fingers and try something new, producing several more horrid sounds from the instrument."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"My pinky slides off the fretboard and when I strum again a strange look appears in Fang’s eyes."
label musicalchoices:
menu:
"Slap the guitar":
play sound "audio/effects/badA.mp3"
F "Pfft hahahaha, wow you suck at this."
jump musicalchoices
"Try Something Cool":
play sound "audio/effects/goodA.mp3"
F "Wow that was really pretty."
A "Really?"
F "Pretty shit."
jump musicalchoices
"Keep it simple":
play sound "audio/effects/correctA.mp3"
F "Hmm. Interesting, keep going."
menu:
"Jam out hard":
play sound "audio/effects/badB.mp3"
F "You {i}really{/i} suck at this."
jump musicalchoices
"Strum with confidence":
play sound "audio/effects/correctB.mp3"
F "That’s pretty good."
F "Don’t stop you idiot, keep going."
"Keep a soft tone":
play sound "audio/effects/goodB.mp3"
F "C’mon Anon, you can do better."
jump musicalchoices
menu:
"Press this button or else your mother dies in her sleep":
play sound "audio/effects/badC.mp3"
F "Oh come on now, impress me."
jump musicalchoices
"Try to impress":
play sound "audio/effects/goodC.mp3"
F "Nah… That’s not it, but you’re getting there."
jump musicalchoices
"Play something random":
play sound "audio/effects/correctC.mp3"
F "I like this."
F "Play that one again for me, will you?"
"I oblige, and repeat notes several times."
"Fang’s tail starts wagging along with my strumming, turning into her usual metronome."
F "...Wait..."
"She takes the guitar from me and sits on the edge of her bed, toying with the chord I was strumming."
F "I... I think I’ve figured that song out, Anon."
play music 'audio/OST/Amberlight Brilliance - Demo.wav' fadein 1.0
"Her tail slaps a simple beat on her mattress as she slowly builds up a rhythm in her strumming."
"Her head bobs along, wings relaxing as the guitar’s tone starts picking up."
"The song borne from the guitar was mesmerizing."
"It started soft, with gentle tumbling trills, a slow jam at first, but eventually it grew into something more."
"The crescendo crossing the strings reshaped the music, the transformation into a weightier rock piece was seamless."
"More than just fingers and a pick, it was as if Fang put her entire life’s effort into this."
"Thinking back, she must have made countless songs like this, most of them never heard by anyone and left forgotten."
"She soon started to hum with the song she was playing, harmony and melancholy blending with the melody,"
"As Fang poured her very being into that instrument in her hands it dawned on me what this was."
"A lyricless ballad."
"An instrumental aria."
"Musical notes that bore the weight of words she couldn’t define."
"All of which sounded beautiful, melding together into a harsh yet intoxicating piece of dissonant serenity,"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Eventually she started to diminuendo, the fading softness of strings and harshness in her humming as she slowly laid the guitar to rest."
"The music had stopped but her own emotions warred on."
"Fang sat there, looking down at her guitar realizing she showed me something she had never shown anyone before."
"Fang bit back tears, fighting the sob that threatened to spill from her."
"She sets her guitar down and slouches, rubbing her eyes and trying to repress her inner turmoil."
"Instinct pushes me to my feet, carrying me forward to the vulnerable girl sat on plush duvets."
"All that matters is her."
"The part of me that felt scared at that thought, that wanted to remain isolated in my comfort zone,"
"That wanted to pretend that no one else mattered,"
"That part was ejected. Forcibly."
hide fanganonguitar
show fanganonhug
with dissolve
"Fang gasps as I wrap my arms around her."
F "A-Anon-"
"The frailty of her voice makes my heart ache."
A "The song was amazing, Fang."
"It truly was. Because it was her. Her heart and soul were carried within it. Her very being."
"My heartfelt words reached her."
"The dam burst."
"She felt like a porcelain doll in my arms. Tears of sorrow and relief stain my shirt and wet my chest."
F "thank you...thank you...thank you..."
"Unlike the rooftop Fang’s voice was a weak mumble, broken by hiccups and uneasy breaths."
"My embrace is soft as I cradle her, soothing her with slow rocking."
"We stayed like this, my arms calming the fragile and spent girl."
"I have no clue how long it lasts, but Fang is able to compose herself with time."
"I let her move away, choosing to sit next to her on the soft mattress."
"Her eyes are puffy and red, and once again her make-up has left tracks of orange and black on her cheeks."
"And once again she shares with me that smile."
"But this time I can tell exactly what that soft expression means."
"Relief."
F "God Anon, that’s twice now..."
A "My bad. How are you feeling?"
F "...I don’t know..."
"She looks down at the guitar she set aside."
"I lean over her lap, carefully taking the instrument by its neck and bringing it to my lap."
A "Can you teach me?"
F "W-wha-"
A "The song. Can you teach it to me?"
"She looks at the guitar and then me. Her surprise slowly turns to happiness."
F "Sure I can. Hold up a second."
"She stands from the bed and goes for another one of her guitars."
"Along the way she grabs a shirt off the floor, using it to wipe her face."
"When she comes back Fang sits closer than before, our shoulders together."
F "So, for the opener-"
"After what feels like hours of back-and-forth to learn guitar, my arms feel like they’re about to fall off."
"Fang is an unexpectedly patient music teacher."
"She ends up correcting the same mistakes I make over and over with little more than ‘dweeb’."
"I ended up calling it quits halfway through the twentieth practice song."
"By that point my acoustic screeching turned into something that resembles actual music."
F "You’re no StegoSlash, buuuuut... not half bad for one lesson."
A "I’ll take it. I fuckin’ suck creatively."
F "Do you? You made that railgun way back when."
A "Ah, that, that was just something I read online."
F "Still managed to make it."
A "Yeah but that had like, instructions and shit."
A "Anything that needs imagination and it’s like I’m an epileptic with downs syndrome."
F "Pffft. What about your word play?"
"...Not telling her about my shitposting needs…"
A "That’s the best I can do I guess."
F "Hmmm…"
"Fang’s fingers trace along the strings of her waiting guitar."
F "How bout a jam session?"
A "J-jam session?"
"Not that kinda jam session. Fuck."
A "So what’s the whole pirate princess thing about?"
"She doesn’t have a candle so I’ll be fine."
"A guitar pick bounces off my eye."
A "Gah!"
F "I told you not to mention that!"
A "I know, I know, sorry, geez!"
A "But, really though. What was the deal with that?"
F "... It’s just… Something that I did sometimes."
A "What, play pretend? All kids do that."
F "Yeah, but I mean, this was a bit different."
F "When I pretended the world seemed so much better."
F "So I’d end up doing it for months at a time."
F "Years, even."
A "But that’s all over now?"
F "Yeah."
F "Just embarrassing memories."
F "Sometimes I do miss it, though."
F "Being someone new, trying to figure everything out again…"
Re "{i}Fang wasn’t Fang.{/i}"
"Hmmm…"
F "Anyways, go ahead and just try playing."
"She reaches over and plucks a string on the guitar I'm holding."
A "Just whatever comes to mind?"
F "Yeah. Just try and play whatever."
stop music
"And then… All hell broke loose."
show fangdad neutral at scenter with dissolve
hide fang happy
show fang shocked at sleft
FD "What the HELL are you doing here, Anon?"
play music 'audio/OST/you can_t sage here.ogg' fadein 1.0
show anonfacecloseup at truecenter
"Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got in this situation."
"Well you see, it all started with me here, in the girl I like’s room. "
"I was learning to play guitar, maybe even getting a little good at it!"
"Then right out of nowhere, nowhere I tell you…"
"The scariest motherfucker I have ever seen in my life shows up."
"Yep, you guessed it, it’s the lady’s dad. No warning or anything!"
"And he brought his murder weapon."
"My life flashes before my life and my first thought is: god my life sucks."
"The Fang bits were pretty cool I guess."
"I at least hope someone deleted my browser history."
"Anyways, back to the show."
show anonfacecloseup at truecenter
FD "Out. Now."
"It takes all my strength to prevent my bladder from doing its best Stella impression right about now."
"I silently head to the door with Judge Dredd to my back, catching a sympathetic glance from Fang on the way out."
"Walking out the front door, I feel my heart stop as his talon-like nails begin to dig into my shoulder."
"At that moment I learned a very important lesson."
"PTERO-CLAWS HURT LIKE CRAP, MAN."
scene home fang outside night
show anon neutral at acenter
show fangdad unimpressed flip behind anon at sright
FD "The next time I catch you alone with my daughter, I will use your head as a rubix cube."
hide fangdad unimpressed flip
show fangdad unimpressed at sright
hide fangdad unimpressed with moveoutright
"He gives me a shove off the porch and I hear the door slam behind me."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"I can hear her father’s raised voice from here."
"Sheesh… guy needs like… all the chill pills…"
"Or maybe some Carfe…"
"God dammit Reed."
"I turn away from the luxurious home and walk down the pathway to the sidewalk."
scene skinrow
show anon neutral at aleft
play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Shit. And things were getting…"
"Getting…"
"Argh, I dunno."
"But like, after Fang’s song she was…"
"Fucking hell, why are emotions so fucking difficult."
"As I wait at the bus stop I decide to break down everything that happened."
"We didn’t study at all."
"Well, maybe music I guess. Raptor Jesus, Mr. Jingo is a shit teacher compared to her."
"But really, all I can think about is how she was after that song."
"I saw something… something…"
"How do I fucking contextualize it."
"In the moment I thought I knew."
"Holding her in my arms…"
"*Bzzz bzzz*"
"A text? Shit, that’s rare."
hide anon neutral
show anonphone at scenter with moveinbottom
"Fang: Hey"
"Fang: About earlier"
"Fang: Thanks"
"Fang: For like hanging out"
"Fang: And sorry about dad"
"There was a pause, the animated ellipsis showing Fang was writing something longer."
"Fang: About that song. I wanna work on some lyrics for it."
"Fang: So like how about we hang out again and write some?"
"I consider my response thoroughly."
"Anon: Sure"
"Another session like that?"
"I think of Fang, standing behind me, guiding my hands again."
"My cheeks warm as I recall the feeling of her hands over mine."
"Fuck… I wonder… how does she feel about me?"
"I mean, she’s shown me so much of her now."
"And all the cheek nuzzling."
"Just like Naser and Naomi."
"Maybe?"
"..."
scene black with fade
"-Two weeks later-"
"I’m looking over my final grades for this semester."
"My science score is barely passing."
"I want to say it’s because of Fang and mine’s ‘study sessions’."
"Every time we would try to study it would always become jam sessions or lyric writing."
"But I wouldn’t have it any other way."
"Spending more and more time with her was fun."
"And seeing this side of her."
"It makes me feel so lightheaded, like I’m floating on clouds."
"Although the sheet-rope escapes from Fang’s dad were starting to leave serious rugburns on my palms."
"As a bonus, I aced Music class."
"The midterm was a demonstration."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"And the fact I was able to play guitar, even shittily, was enough."
"..."
if anonscore >= 3 or fangscore >= 3:
"Fang seemed proud of the fact that I was able to play well enough to get a passing grade."
"Or rather proud of herself that she was that good of a music teacher."
"Her way of ‘congratulating’ me was to hip-check me right into my locker, only to apologize while laughing her ass off."
"Actually, the whole ordeal made me remember I had this old music program installed on my computer."
"It’s incredibly outdated, but free is free."
"Several hours of decade old tutorials later I finally start cobbling together a loosely musical sounding rhythm."
"I couldn’t find a reverb option, so I just overlaid the same instruments with a lower volume where I wanted it."
"People probably won’t notice."
"I’m starting to get why Fang likes doing this sort of thing."
"It’s sorta like just the act of creating something and being able to say ‘I made this’."
"Exporting the file and uploading it to a music site, I await my audience to start amassing before me."
"See, I already have a comment!"
"{i}Never make anything again. Ever.{/i}"
"Ah, just a day in the life of an underappreciated artist."
jump ChVVURMDRAMA
label GetStartedOnStudy:
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg' fadein 1.0
"No, I should focus more on my midterms."
A "I’d rather get started with studying, actually."
"Fang lowers her arm with the guitar in rejection."
hide fangguitar
show fang neutral at scenter
show anon neutral flip at aright
with dissolve
A "Cmon, Fang. You know I can’t afford to waste my time here with all the money my family’s spent already."
F "Yeah, yeah. You only got this one shot and all."
F "Ffffffffffiiiiine. What’re we doing first?"
A "Ehh, why not science first since that’s your hardest subject."
play music 'audio/OST/Those Other Two Weirdos.ogg' fadein 1.0
F "Ugh. Got a textbook?"
A "What happened to yours?"
F "Tried throwing it at Naser and it flew over the cliff."
A "H-how? Why?"
F "I dunno, felt like it."
F "You got a textbook or not?"
A "Yeah…"
"I retrieve the tome from my backpack, science is easily the heaviest thing in there."
A "So, what? We take turns reading it?"
F "Too slow. Let’s just huddle and read it together."
A "Why not just switch it back and forth?"
F "Don’t feel like it. We reading or not?"
"Fang sits beside me on the ground, Her oversized beak obscuring a good portion of the side of the page in my peripheral vision."
"I can feel the prickle of her feathers barely brushing against my back."
F "We’re on chapter sixteen, right?"
A "Eighteen. Are you even paying attention during class?"
F "What do you think I hang out with you for?"
"We read about electric currents in silence for a few minutes."
"How do I know when she’s done so I can turn the page?"
"..."
A "..."
F "..."
A "You done?"
F "Oh, I wasn’t reading it."
A "Argh, fuck you."
F "Ha, you wish."
"Don’treadintothat."
A "If I read the first page out loud, would you read the second?"
F "Sure, sure."
"Fang leans back onto the floor, hands behind her head."
F "Get started already."
A "Ugh."
hide fang with dissolve
"In conductors, electrons are free to move around and flow easily. This is not true for insulators, in which the-"
F "*SNNNRRRRRRRRRK*"
A "...Electrons are more tightly bound to the nuclei (which we'll discuss next). When current is applied, electrons move-"
F "*SNNNRRRRRRRRRK*"
A "Dammit Fang, I’m trying to read to you here, cut that out."
F "*SNNNRRRRRRRRRK*"
"She really did pass out!"
"Hmm…"
A "Fang, seriously, get up or I’ll poke you."
F "*SNNNRRRRRRRRRK* mmmrrrrfooouurmooooreminuuuutes."
A "Don’t think I won’t Fang! These guns are cocked and loaded!"
F "*SNNNRRRRRRRRRK*"
"Target locked."
"Weapons hot!"
"Battery 1!"
show fang angry at scenter with dissolve
F "AAAAAAAAGH! THE FUCK?!"
A "Quit falling asleep during class."
F "It’s my room, I’ll do what I want."
A "Come on, I’m trying to take this ser-"
FM "I’M HOOOOOOME!"
show fang shocked with dissolve
F "Oh no."
FM "Luuuuucy? Naaaaser? Are you here?"
FM "I got your favorite, dino nuggies!"
show fang surprised with dissolve
F "Those're for Naser."
A "Suuure."
show fang neutral with dissolve
FM "Helloooo? Anyone home?"
"I hear footsteps getting progressively closer as Fang’s mother searches for any sign of life in the house."
"A door down the hall opens."
FM "Sweeeetie? Naseeeer? Oh, I guess he must be bowling with Moe again."
show fang sad with dissolve
F "Anon, you need to leave now."
FM "Lucy, are your headphones in again?"
F "I’ll open the window, just jump!"
A "This is the second floor!"
F "Broken bones are better than-"
show fangmom neutral at fmleft with moveinleft
FM "OH Lucy, there you are! I didn’t realize your boyfriend was over to visit!"
"WHAT."
show fang hiding with dissolve
"Fang’s hands cover her bright red face."
"I wasn’t aware their beaks got red too."
F "Moooooooom! He’s not- what did I say about knocking!"
FM "That you and lil’ Nassie need to knock on our door at night when it’s your parent’s ‘special’ time."
F "Not what YOU said!"
FM "Oh, sweetie, that’s no way to talk to your mother. Especially in front of a guest."
"The tiny Ptero turns to me with an apologetic smile."
FM "Since you’re here, why don’t you stay for dinner?"
"Something tells me Fang’s dad would make me the dinner."
"Beef Strog-Anon does not sound palatable to me."
F "Actually he was just leaving. Now."
FM "Oh but I wanted to show him your baby pictures!"
F "Right now in fact! He’s gonna miss his bus!"
FM "I have one with me right now!"
"She reaches elbow-deep into her purse and pulls out a small flipbook."
FM "Oh Lucy, this is my FAVORITE little picture of you and Naser!"
"She shoves the photo in my face that I immediately make out as a bathtub with an infant Fang and Naser playing in the water."
"Well it IS kinda cute…"
"Before I can open my mouth, Fang jabs me in the ribs."
F "Oh my god mom, he doesn’t have time for this!"
"Fang pulls me off the ground and begins to push me towards the door."
scene black with fade
FM "Well I hope you enjoyed spending time with my little tooth fairy, Anon!"
FM "You’re welcome back ANY time you’d like!"
"I manage a weak wave as Fang continues to rush me towards the door in embarrassment."
show fang surprised at scenter
scene home fang outside
"We reach the front door and she quickly turns back inside."
F "OkaybyeseeyouatschoolAnon."
scene home fang outside night
show anon neutral at aleft
"I hear the door slam behind me and am left alone on the porch."
"Well that was… interesting."
"Guess I’ll go wait at the bus stop."
"Does Fang’s mom really think I’m her boyfriend?"
"I know we spend a lot of time together…"
"Fang seemed REALLY quick to deny that though."
"Does it mean anything?"
"*Bzzz bzzz*"
"A text? Shit, that’s rare."
show anonphone at center with moveinbottom
"Fang: Hey"
"Fang: About earlier"
"Fang: Sorry about mom"
"Fang: Just ignore anything she says"
"Fang: Also don’t tell anyone what you saw"
"Fang: ANYONE"
"Anon: ten bucks"
"Fang: I have my dad on speed dial"
"Anon: five bucks"
"Anon: lol jk"
"Fang: gobble a knob"
"Anon: see you monday."
"Fang: see ya"
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
"The bus hasn’t gotten here yet."
show tracy neutral at scenter with dissolve
SV "Yo, you’re that kid with the date from before, ain'tcha?"
play music 'audio/OST/Tracy was fired from her real job.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "Huh?"
"I flip around to see the street vendor from a few weeks ago."
A "You remember me?"
SV "Kid, I’ve been working this corner for the better part of two years now."
SV "I know how to tell faces apart."
SV "Plus, this ain’t exactly the skinnie part of town, y'know?"
A "I guess…"
SV "You just get back from another date?"
A "What? No, it was a study session- Why am I telling you this?"
SV "Yeah, a ‘study’ session."
SV "I get ya."
A "No, it really was just studying."
A "Fang tried to get me to play the guitar, but I made sure to keep on track."
SV "You WHAT."
A "Hm?"
SV "Kids these days… She was coming onto ya, dummy!"
"Oooooooohh."
"Fuck."
A "...Oh."
SV "Still, point stands."
A "What’s that?"
SV "I was right! HA!"
SV "By the way, that wasn’t your ride, was it?"
"I look back to see the tail end of the city bus rounding the corner onto the next street."
SV "Next one comes in forty-five minutes."
A "...Shut up and gimme a Danger Dog."
SV "Well, someone knows their franks."
SV "Comin’ right up."
"..."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg' fadein 1.0
"-Two weeks later-"
"I’m looking over my final grades for this semester."
"My science score is lower than normal."
"I couldn’t study with Fang anymore since the Mother Incident."
"She doesn’t want me to be seen by her anymore."
"Instead, I’ve been studying at home."
"Got a pretty great grasp on the core subjects, too."
"In the end, Mr Jingo screwed us over by making music midterm a live demonstration."
"Horrid marks there. But I did get things pretty great with math and english."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"My GPA was secured at least for whatever the fuck I decide on."
"..."
jump ChVVURMDRAMA
label ChVVURMDRAMA:
#VVURM DRAMA
scene hallway with fade
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like This Chick.ogg' fadein 1.0
"End of midterms means the start of the new quarter."
"Halfway through the semester, and things have been going pretty good."
"I didn’t completely fuck up so far, and I think the rest of the band is starting to warm up to me."
"Especially Fang."
"In fact we’ve been hanging out more in the auditorium after school."
"Instead of band practice we’ve been making use of that repaired projector."
"Watching shitty movies and playing games on Reed’s Xrox."
N "Why are you so deep in thought, Anon?"
show naomi neutral at scenter with dissolve
"The Mandarin Manchurian rips me away from my monologue."
"During homeroom, Spears came on the announcement to declare an assembly for the senior class."
"Or in his own words,"
Sp "ASSES IN THOSE SEATS NOW!"
scene hallway
show anon neutral at aleft
show naomi neutral flip at sright
with fade
"Naomi has taken the opportunity to walk with me through the hallways."
A "What do you want?"
N "So I heard you and Fang went on another date the other day."
"Of course she did."
A "It wasn’t a date, we were just hanging out."
"Just kickin’ Reed’s ass in Rock Ring 3."
"Pls give mammoth bone armor."
A "You do anything fun with Naser lately?"
N "OH! My Naser just had another track meet!"
"That always works."
show naomi happy flip with dissolve
N "His high jump form is so perfect!"
N "And he looks so dazzling in his track and field uniform!"
N "...And his physique…"
"I tune her out as she covers her profusely red nose."
"The less I can think of Naser’s body the better."
scene auditorium with dissolve
"We get to the auditorium once again and I look to the back row to find our spot."
play music 'audio/OST/Dragging on and on....ogg' fadein 1.0
"Empty?"
F "OVER HERE, ANON!!"
"Fang and Trish are sitting in the front row."
show fang happy at scenter
show trish neutral at tleft
"Next to them is Reed huddling behind a cart with the projector he’d fixed on it, messing with the cords."
show reed neutral flip at rright with dissolve
A "What’s the deal? Why are we sitting in the front all of a sudden?"
show reed explanatory flip with dissolve
Re "Uhhhh… Spears asked me to man the projector…"
Re "First I was like ‘say whaaaaat’, but then I was like ‘yeah, man, sure’."
Re "So here I am."
show reed neutral flip with dissolve
A "I.. see..."
show anon neutral with dissolve:
xalign 0.9
"I take my seat next to Fang."
A "They say if we’re here yet?"
F "Nope."
show trish unimpressed with dissolve
T "Since we’re seniors it’s probably some other stupid pep talk about ‘Our Futures’."
show reed explanatory flip with dissolve
Re "I bet it’s a fundraiser…"
Re "I’m like, good at selling things and stuff..."
A "I’m sure."
A "Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask."
A "What exactly is ‘carfe’?"
show reed shocked flip
Re "You don’t know man?"
Re "Carfentanyl. The wildest stuff a dino can get."
A "Really now?"
show trish explanatory
T "It was used in war by skinnies a while back. It’s a deadly tranquilizing agent."
show trish neutral
show reed unimpressed flip
Re "It’s only deadly when you make it wrong, man."
show reed neutral flip
Re "But yeah, it’s great stuff if you know how to do it."
A "Fang, have you ever tried any?"
F "Once."
F "Woke up hanging upside down from a tree with Naomi’s clothes on hugging a fake skeleton."
T "See, when I do it it just makes me a bit dizzy for a few hours."
A "Huh. Can I see some?"
show reed shocked flip with dissolve
show fang neutral with dissolve
Re "Absolutely not."
F "No."
A "Why not?"
T "That stuff’s a hundred times more powerful than horse tranquilizer."
T "It’d melt your skin."
Re "Make your heart burst."
F "I heard a human tried it once and exploded."
T "I bet."
A "Yeah, yeah, sure. You just don’t want to share."
"The last of the seniors trickle in and take seats near the front."
"Eventually Spears takes the stage."
"He pauses to make sure everyone’s covering their ears before beginning."
hide reed with moveoutleft
scene auditorium with fade
show spears neutral at scenter with dissolve
Sp "ALLLRIGHT!"
Sp "AS YOU ALL KNOW, GRADUATION’S COMING UP SOON."
Sp "WE’RE GOING TO GO OVER THAT WHOLE PROCESS,"
Sp "BUT FIRST THE STUDENT COUNCIL HAS A BRIEF PRESENTATION TO GIVE ON THE SUBJECT."
Sp "FLOOR’S ALL YOURS, STUCO."
hide spears with moveoutright
show naomi neutral flip at sright with dissolve
play music 'audio/OST/The Top of the Social Ladder.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Spears gestures his hand towards Naomi and Naser, who show up from behind the stage curtains."
"The Chiffon Czarina brings a wireless microphone to her snout."
"She begins reciting a well rehearsed speech in her usual snooty (heh) manner."
"More plastic than person."
show naomi happy flip
N "Why, thank you, Principal Spears!"
"The projector comes to life, displaying a basic slideshow title card reading"
A "Reed, how do you know when to move it forward?"
Re "It’s when she crosses her fingers. Check it out."
N "Now, this is a very important turning point in your life!"
"Ah, got it, It’s one of these. I needed a nap."
"As soon as I closed my eyes I felt a malevolent force looming before me."
scene black with fade
"Somehow, I felt like opening my eyes was a bad idea."
"But keeping them closed was an even worse one."
"At least there’s cute little designs on the slides."
scene projector1
"There’s a little penguin with a graduation cap…"
scene projector2
"There’s the school mascot in a party hat… even has the fogged up window..."
scene projector3
"A lineup of various graduates with a token human at the end for diversity. Typical."
scene projector4
"There’s some scientists and engineers holding hands…"
scene projector5
"There’s a triceratops holding onto a branch with the text ‘hang in there, baby!"
scene projector6
"There’s me two years ago when I photoshopped myself with an anime girl."
stop music
scene projector7
"..."
"..."
"..."
play music 'audio/OST/you can_t sage here.ogg' fadein 1.0
"What the fuck"
"HOW!"
"WHY!"
"The world’s stopped turning. No one around me is moving and there is no sound at all."
"Why is that here? How! I deleted everything! EVERYTHING!"
"So why the fuck is it here."
"My body feels like stone as I try to turn."
"To see if anyone else is seeing this."
"In the end I can’t bring myself to move at all."
"It doesn’t matter, I already feel their endless gazes."
"I feel lightheaded."
"There’s what feels like a lump of lead in the pit of my stomach."
"There’s dark spots forming in my sight."
scene black with fade
"When I finally breathe again the world restarts."
"The laughter hits first."
"A monstrous guffaw from behind, that’s joined by every other senior in the room."
Nas "REED CHANGE THE SLIDE, CHANGE IT NOW!"
Re "I-I am!"
scene projector8
"More pictures. So many more pictures."
"Each one more and more embarrassing than the last."
scene projector9
"I… oh god…"
Nas "Shit!"
scene black
"There’s a loud crash right next to me and the entire room becomes black."
"Did I faint?"
"Is this real life? Is this just fantasy?"
F "A-anon?"
"Still awake. Fuck."
scene auditorium with fade
show anon sad at acenter
"The lights come back on and my eyes burn."
"The projector is on the floor, lens shards scattered all over the floor."
"The laughter is even louder now."
Nas "Reed how the fuck did this happen?"
Re "L-look I just used the usb Trish said-"
Nas "TRISH?! Why would Trish-"
"Trish… wasn’t in her seat."
"In the corner of my eye I notice someone running for the entrance."
"It’s Trish. She’s making a mad sprint for the door."
Nas "Stop her!"
"She continues dashing towards the exit…"
"And right into Spears’ hand."
"Literally."
"His baseball mitt of a hand covers the… the… that fucking BITCH!"
"Covers her face entirely."
"Even lifts her up. By her face. With one hand."
Sp "ALL OF YOU GET YOUR ASSES BACK TO CLASS."
"Spears motions for me to follow him but I feel paralyzed by everything that just happened."
"I bury my face in my hands and just groan."
"This is Rock Bottom all over again."
show fang sad flip at sright
"Fang tugs at my arm, trying to get me to follow."
"I just can’t find the energy to move anything right now."
"Fang frantically looks around at the hysterical crowd, trying to come up with something."
"Eventually, I feel Fang put her arm over my shoulder as she tries to get me to stand."
"She drapes her wings across my back, creating a barrier between me and everyone else."
"Without saying a word she leads me out of a side door towards the principal’s office."
"What the fuck just happened?"
scene hallway
show anon neutral flip at aright
show fang sad at sleft
F "Hey…"
"How is this happening to me?"
F "...You gonna be alright?"
"How did Trish find those dumb pictures?"
F "Look, don’t listen to those pricks Anon."
"Was Reed in on it?"
F "All of them dumbasses."
"He couldn’t be, what would he gain from something like this?"
F "Like… This’ll all blow over."
"What would Trish gain from something like this?"
F "Like, none of them talk about our shitty concert."
"I know she doesn’t like me but this…"
F "And that was like, a fuckin’ month ago."
"...This is fucked up!"
"I’m going to rip her stupid horns off and give her a couple new holes to breathe with!"
F "It’ll be all good Anon."
"Think Fang’s dad had a thing going on with the golf clubs…"
"See if he can give me a couple of pointers."
F "Just needs some time to forget it happened."
"The squeak of sneakers catches my attention and I turn to see Reed approaching us down the hall."
play music 'audio/OST/Beach Chill Out.ogg' fadein 1.0
show reed unimpressed at rleft with moveinleft
F "Reed...? I thought Spears sent everyone back to class."
Re "Can't just sit in class while all my hombres are going through some pretty heavy stuff, y'know?"
Re "Got something I need to get off my chest, anyways."
A "What? Bit busy dealing with being doxxed here!"
"Wait..."
A "Wait, get what off your chest?"
A "Were… were you in on it?"
"Fang’s questioning glare makes Reed shudder."
Re "Wait, wait, no, don’t get the wrong idea, man!"
F "Reed… How did this happen?"
show reed explanatory with dissolve
Re "No no, it went more like…"
Re "I was getting the projector set up earlier, right?"
Re "Something was wrong with the lens, and I didn’t have enough time."
Re "...So I asked Trish to go get the thing from Naomi."
Re "I guess she must’ve, like… changed the slides before giving it to me?"
A "And you didn’t think to check?!"
show reed considering with dissolve
"Reed deflates."
A "...Damn it, Reed…"
Re "Look, man... Trish isn't a bad person."
A "Bitch sure has a funny way of showing it!"
show reed angry with dissolve
Re "Dude. I know you're still hurting from what she did but like-"
A "Yeah, what could have POSSIBLY given that away?!"
Re "BRO! Let me finish!"
"Reed's raised voice takes the wind out of my lungs."
"That's the first time I think I've ever heard him raise his voice."
Re "Trish messed up pretty bad, bro. Like massively, hugely messed up."
Re "Not gonna argue with that. She abused my trust too, dude."
Re "When she gave me the presentation from Naomi I didn’t think she’d do anything like that."
Re "But did you ever consider why?"
A "...Because she's a two-bit cunt?"
show reed considering with dissolve
"Reed sighs again, with a noticeable lack of smoke surrounding him."
Re "Dude... You and Trish have always been at each others' throats. But like, why even?"
"I open my mouth to answer but can't find the words."
"Or the reason?"
show reed angry with dissolve
Re "Did'ja ever stop to consider WHY Trish always gave you a hard time?"
A "...Not really..."
"Another sigh, this time with an expectant look from Reed."
Re "Did you ever even try, bro?"
A "..."
A "...No."
show reed unimpressed with dissolve
Re "And that's the problem, dude."
"Reed has a pained expression on his face, and a quick glance shows Fang’s is even worse."
Re "Like, I know it sucks. Trish tricked me and all too, and that hurts, y’know?"
Re "But maybe try and think why Trish did this, alright bro?"
menu:
"Not exactly in the introspective sort of mood right about now.":
"Trish can still burn in hell for all I care."
"I refuse to accept that I had any part to play in this debacle other than being the victim.":
"Trish can still burn in hell for all I care."
"I guess Reed might have a point…":
"Trish can still burn in hell for all I care."
scene hallway with fade
show anon neutral flip at aright
show fang neutral at scenter
show reed neutral at rleft
stop music
stop music fadeout 3.0
Sp "Three MONTHS!"
Sp "THREE MONTHS from graduation and you PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS?!"
#play music 'audio/OST/protestra_punk.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Spears’ stern voice grilling Trish in his office rips me from my thoughts."
"Good! She deserves it!"
Sp "I’ve half a mind to have campus security escort you out of here and send you to Reef City Continuation!"
show fang angry at scenter with dissolve
show reed angry at rleft with dissolve
"Fang and Reed both hiss at that."
"What the fuck does that mean?"
show fang neutral at scenter
show reed neutral at rleft
Sp "You have five minutes to explain why I shouldn’t do that right now."
"I couldn’t hear Trish’s full response through the door but she was obviously crying."
"After what SHE did?"
"Fang leaned in, trying to listen through the door to hear what the bitch was saying."
"Because of her arms I was pulled closer too."
"I heard the trollop’s whimpering and wanted nothing more than to really make her cry."
T "-all HIS fault-"
"My fault?! I did fucking nothing to that purple pole-smoker."
T "-didn’t know what else I could do-"
"Not fucking show half the school the cringiest thing I’ve ever done and commit what amounts to character assassination?!"
T "-some asshole from the sticks-"
"I’ll show that cunt some fucking sticks."
T "-driving Fang away!"
"...What."
"What does Fang have to do with any of this?!"
"She wasn’t the one bitching about every damn thing I do!"
"I glance over to Fang whose expression seems even worse now."
F "..."
"Looking at her this way makes a part of me feel even shittier."
"Like I did cause this."
"Fuck Trish though, she’s been an ass to me from the beginning!"
Sp "Anon! Will you please step into my office!"
"Spears’ voice shocks me from my eavesdropping."
"What am I supposed to say to Trish?"
"Fang tries to give a reassuring smile but it’s so fragile."
"Like this is all her fault and not that backstabbing bitch."
"Reed gives a silent nod. No thumbs up this time."
scene office spears with dissolve
"I enter Spears’ office and my eyes are immediately drawn to Trish sitting in front of his desk surrounded by crumpled up tissues."
show trish sad at tleft
show anon neutral flip at aright
show spears neutral at scenter
Sp "Trish, is there anything you would like to tell Anon?"
"I’ve never seen her like this."
T "It’s all your fault."
T "Who are you to come here and take Fang away!"
T "You’re just some nobody from the middle of nowhere who only cares about yourself!"
T "I helped pull Fang out of their shell."
"And made her a social pariah in the process."
T "My band was doing great before you came here!"
"I set up the only successful show you ever played."
T "And then you show up and start manipulating everyone!"
T "Because you’re a selfish control freak!"
T "Everything has to revolve around you!"
T "Fang and Reed and me were going to make it to the top!"
T "But you stole everything from me because you didn’t understand us!"
T "No one understands us!"
"Trish is cut off by a horrid sob, her head falling into her hands and new tears spilling from her eyes."
"Raptor Jesus on his cross of rock that’s a lot to unpack."
"It’s like you didn’t even try to understand me either."
Sp "Anon, is there anything you want to add?"
"Like how she’s not worth the oxygen?"
"But if this really is all about Fang…"
$ TalkedWithTrish = 0
menu:
"Talk with Trish":
jump TalkWithTrish
"Ignore Trish":
jump IgnoreTrish
label TalkWithTrish:
$ TalkedWithTrish = 1
play music 'audio/OST/fighter.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I turn to the pitiable purple punk-rocker."
Sp "{alpha=0.5}{i}You are not the only person in the world.{/i}{/alpha}"
"Maybe Reed was onto something."
"I… Think I finally get it…"
A "Look, Trish. Maybe we didn’t start off right. And yeah, I can be an asshole."
"She looks up at me, surprise written on her teary eyed face."
A "I didn’t mean to drive you and Fang apart or anything. I just want to be Fang’s friend."
A "But after what you fucking did. Fucking digging up my past? Airing it to every senior?"
A "And all for Fang? She’s outside the door thinking this is all her fault!"
"That got a response from Trish."
"Her head dipped down and her fingers curled into the hem of her hoodie."
A "Maybe it’s your fault for being such a bitch."
A "Maybe it’s mine. I don’t know."
A "But it sure as shit isn’t Fang’s!"
"Another choked sob racked her body and the tears started anew."
A "...I’m sorry for being a poor friend to you. But after what you did? I don’t know if I can forgive that."
"Spears nods in approval, a fatherly grin stretching his cheeks."
Sp "That was well said, son. You’ve come a long way since your first day."
Sp "You can leave. Take the rest of the day if you need it."
"I rise from my chair and make for the door."
"But I’m stopped by what Trish just muttered."
T "s’my fault… m’sorry."
"..."
A "You should tell that to Fang."
jump PostSpearsOfficeTrish
label IgnoreTrish:
play music 'audio/OST/protestra_punk.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "No, I’ve got nothing."
"Spears sighs like he expected me to add something more."
"What was I supposed to say?"
"Forgive her and act like nothing happened?"
Sp "Well, Anon, I can’t really say I blame you after all of that."
"Trish remains silent, her eyes locked on the floor."
Sp "You can go home for the day if you need to."
jump PostSpearsOfficeTrish
label PostSpearsOfficeTrish:
"Right before I clamp my hand on the doorknob, Spears speaks up."
Sp "Oh, and Anon. Don’t think I didn’t notice."
"Uh oh."
"I slowly turn back to him."
Sp "..."
A "..."
Sp "Your waifu is trash and your taste is shit."
Sp "My door is always open so I can share some quality anime."
"What."
"I open the door to see Fang again, expression complex, leaning against the door’s frame."
play music 'audio/OST/she_fucks_human_men.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Reed has taken my place beside her with a comforting arm around her shoulder."
"If this was any other situation I might have felt a bit jealous."
scene hallway
show fang sad at sleft
show reed considering flip at rright
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
F "Hey."
"A heavy sigh escapes my lips."
A "Hey."
Re "Doing okay, bro?"
A "I’d frankly like to just disappear right now."
A "... I think I’ll just go home."
F "I uh... can ditch. If you need me to come with."
"Fang looks at the door to Spear’s room for a bit, then back to me."
"Trish is probably having to call her parents right now."
"Fang probably heard everything in the office."
if TalkedWithTrish == 1:
menu:
"Wait for Trish to exit the office":
jump WaitForTrishToExit
"Go Home Early":
jump GoHomeEarly
else:
jump GoHomeEarly
label WaitForTrishToExit:
$ anonscore += 1
play music 'audio/OST/fighter.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "You worried about her, too?"
"Fang turns her head down to her shoes."
F "..."
F "How could I not tell something like this was happening?"
A "You know it’s not your fault."
F "Doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty about it."
"She picks her head up to look me in the eye."
F "We should leave... you probably don’t want to see her when she gets out."
A "Actually, I think we should wait. Looks like you have something to say to her."
F "Well, yeah, but…"
A "There’s something else I wanted to tell her, too."
F "There is?"
Re "There is?"
F "You sure you should be talking to her when you’re still this upset?"
A "It’s nothing bad, promise."
Re "It’s a good call, dude."
F "Mmmmm…"
A "You can go first."
"Fang gives a small nod, and the three of us slide down the wall into sitting positions."
"The minutes pass."
F "What do I even say to her…?"
A "..."
"I’m not entirely sure either."
"Reed awkwardly toys with his tail in silence, suddenly a lot less contemplative than before."
"The clasped hands around my knees start to leave red marks on each other."
"I can’t find the energy to shift them."
"Aeons later, Trish emerges from the office."
show trish sad at tcenter with dissolve
"Her tears have become shiny trails reflecting the sterile light of the hallway."
"Hesitantly, Fang gets up to speak with her."
"That makes one of us."
"For a while, the two just stare at each other."
"Eventually…"
F "...Why?"
F "Why the fuck did you do this to Anon?"
F "Do you actually think I’d be okay with this?"
F "Anon is just as much my friend as you or Reed!"
F "That was something those douchebags who make fun of our band would do."
T "...I thought he was a bad influence..."
T "...On you… the band…"
T "Everything is changing, Fang, and I don’t like it."
T "All because of Anon."
F "Then why didn’t you just fucking talk to us?"
F "Anon isn’t some asshole trying to rip everything apart."
T "I know what you told me, Fang, but like…"
T "But you deserve better, he’s not-"
"I catch Trish throwing a glance my way as she cuts herself off."
T "Look, I’m sorry Fang. I'm just trying to look out for you."
F "Look out for me? I can make my own decisions, Trish."
"Fang sighs and rubs her temples."
F "...I’m taking a break from the band."
"I watch as Trish’s entire world shatters before her eyes."
"Reed’s lack of reaction tells me they discussed this while I was in Spears’ office."
T "W-what?"
F "I need time to think…"
T "Fang wait-"
F "Bye."
hide fang sad with moveoutright
"Fang turns away from Trish and starts walking away."
F "I’ll wait by the exit while you talk, Anon."
"Reed gets up as she passes by and begins to follow, giving me a thumbs up."
Re "Give you some privacy, amigo."
hide reed with dissolve
"..."
play music 'audio/OST/ballad_of_the_boot.ogg' fadein 1.0
"And now it’s just the two of us."
"I get up from my spot on the floor, pins and needles in my legs making it more difficult."
T "...Now what do you want?"
A "I fucked up too."
"That catches her off-guard."
A "This is my fault too, ya know? I played a stupid game with this instead of manning up and just talking about it."
"I stone the fuck up and finally admit it. To the world and myself."
A "I like Fang. I like her and I know that’s what you’re afraid of."
A "I was never out to break anything up, I just like Fang. I want to help her."
A "I never wanted to hurt anyone."
"Trish’s eyes glaze over and stare at something in the distance, as if all her worst fears came true."
"I guess in a way they did today."
A "I’m done, Trish. I’m not going to fight with you over this."
A "I won’t fuck with you, you won’t fuck with me."
A "I’m going home."
"I turn away from Trish as she buries her head in her hands again."
show anon neutral at aright
hide anon neutral with moveoutright
"Part of me wonders if she’ll use that against me, but right now it just feels good to get it out of my system."
scene hallway with fade
"As I begin looking for Fang, Reed stops me in the hallway."
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
show reed explanatory flip at rright with dissolve
Re "Made the right call talking it out, trust me dude."
"Reed shuffles his feet a bit and scratches his neck."
Re "Gonna give you a bit of space after dealing with that. Time to think things over, y’know?"
"Suddenly he leans in and lowers his voice."
Re "You should tell them, bro."
"With a cryptic wink he rushes off towards Trish, probably to give her the same kind of therapy."
"I throw a quick glance back to see him pull in Trish for a hug. His turn to deal with her now."
"What did he mean by ‘tell them’? Tell them wha-"
"..."
"Does Reed…?"
"How did he…?"
"..."
"So much for privacy."
"I shake the thoughts from my mind and head in the direction Fang went."
"That can wait."
scene black with fade
"I catch up to Fang near the front of the school as I mentally prepare myself for what’s coming."
jump WalkOfShame
jump WalkOfShame
label GoHomeEarly:
play music 'audio/OST/fighter.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "Sure, let’s get out of here."
show reed unimpressed flip with dissolve
"Reed lets out another heavy sigh."
Re "Gonna stick around. Try and talk with Trish n’all."
show reed sad flip with dissolve
F "Reed, I… I’m taking a break from the band."
"Reed’s expression shifts to one of sadness and shock."
F "I just… need time to think, alright?"
Re "Like, y’know that’ll crush Trish..."
Re "But can’t really stop you if you think it’s right, dude. Taking a breather and all..."
F "Thanks, Reed."
show reed neutral flip with dissolve
"Reed offers a weak smile as we turn away from the principal’s office."
Re "See ya, space cowboy."
"Wait, did he just...?"
"God damn it, Reed."
"We make our way to the front of the school as I mentally prepare myself for what’s coming."
jump WalkOfShame
label WalkOfShame:
play music 'audio/OST/you can_t sage here.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Time for the Walk of Shame."
scene hallway
show anon neutral at acenter
"As I make my way through the hall I do my best to ignore the passing jeers from teens I don’t even know."
"I guess it’s already spread to the lower years too."
"Fucking lightspeed capable rumor mill."
unknown "HEY DO THE NARUTO RUN."
unknown "Look at the pathetic weeb."
unknown "How’s your 2D girlfriend Anon?"
unknown "Hey Anon, need to borrow a jar?"
St "Your waifu is great and I love her!"
A "Not helping, Stella."
"I keep my head down, avoiding the looks from them all."
"Shouldering open the door I’m blinded by the morning sun’s glare."
scene outside school with fade
show anon neutral at aleft
show fang sad flip at scenter
"Within an hour I’ve fallen back to square one."
"Is it too late to transfer to another school?"
"Fang steps to the stairs, phone in hand."
F "I can call us a taxi or something, Anon."
"I nod at that, moving for the stairs."
unknown "HEY LOSER, THINK FAST!"
"I turn towards the voice, and the world slows down."
"My field of vision is filled with a soda can, and I freeze up like a deer in headlights."
menu:
"Duck.":
"The can smacks me in the forehead while I was mid-stride, and I shift my footing to try and regain balance."
"Dodge.":
"The can smacks me in the forehead while I was mid-stride, and I shift my footing to try and regain balance."
"Catch it out of the air.":
"The can smacks me in the forehead while I was mid-stride, and I shift my footing to try and regain balance."
"Except my foot catches on the edge of the stairlip and slips."
#[Falling animation and CGs here]
#scene imfreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefaaaaaaallllllliiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
scene black with fade
"..."
A "uuurg."
unknown "Oh fuck, we need to split before the Caveman gets here!"
F "ANON!"
"My lungs feel like they’re on fire."
"I think my feet touched the back of my head."
"I peel myself from around the bollard, feeling every bone in my body creak painfully."
scene outside school
show anon neutral at aleft:
xalign 0.5 yalign 0.0 rotate -90
linear 1 rotate 0
with fade
A "Argh… Fuck."
F "Holy shit! You’re alive!"
A "Am I? Ow."
"Nothing seems to be broken… I’ve been in worse."
"Honestly my ego’s more injured than I am."
F "Can you walk?"
A "Yeah, sure, sure."
A "This’s nothing compared to field day back at my old school."
"I try taking a step and my knee involuntarily twists in a direction it’s not supposed to."
"Suddenly, I’m doing the seth mcfarlane pose again."
#Have you ever tried not being ironic for once in your life
scene black
F "Oh no. Ohhh no. Let me help you up."
scene outside school
show anon neutral at acenter
show fang neutral flip at sright
with fade
"She tucks her arms around my shoulder and pulls me to my feet again."
F "Let’s just get to the bench over there."
F "The taxi will be here in like five minutes."
play music 'audio/OST/west_coast_kicking.ogg' fadein 1.0
"Using Fang as a second foot, I eventually make it to the bench."
"I still can’t bend either leg, so I just sort of splay against the sidewalk."
"Fang sits on the other end and starts digging through her pockets."
F "Uhh… I think I heard somewhere that nicotine relieves a bit of pain... "
A "Yeah… I could use a smoke… right about now."
"Fang retrieves one of the cigarettes from the crumpled pack and sparks it to life with her pink lighter."
"She takes the first draw, then hands it to me."
"I inhale slowly, my chest aching as my lungs fill with wonderfully numbing nicotine."
"The minty taste and the cool sensation settling over my skin does help to relax my painfully tense muscles."
"Before I know it the cigarette in my fingers is nothing but a smoldering filter."
F "Looks like our ride’s here."
"A grimy beater of a taxi pulls up to the curb, driven by an equally grimy velociraptor."
"Clearly one of the three left operating in the city."
"Fang helps me to my feet and over to the cab, opening the door so I can shamble in."
D "...Shit, kid, you look like you got into a fight with a steamroller and lost."
A "Mmm."
scene taxi day
D "Now where’re you kids heading on a school day? Maybe the hospital?"
A "Home."
D "Sure thing kid. Got the address."
A "...Two-thirty-seven South St. Hammond street."
"The driver sucks in a breath through his teeth."
D "Skin Row, eh? Well I can take you s’far as the edge of the neighborhood, deal?"
A "Yeah, whatever. Just take me home…"
"The cab speeds off away from the school."
F "...I still can’t believe that Trish would do something like that."
"The cab driver lets out a laugh."
D "You got your ass handed to you by a girl, didn’t you?"
"I don’t bother responding while Fang kicks the back of his seat."
D "Yeah, yeah, I didn’t want a tip much anyways…"
F "Why doesn’t the driver want to drive all the way to your place?"
F "It can’t be that bad, right?"
A "Uhhh… That reminds me."
A "Hold this… for me."
"I toss my pocket knife into Fang’s lap, she looks at me with a nervous smile like she expects a punchline."
F "..."
F "...Oh."
A "Joking… kinda…"
A "Haven’t needed to shiv someone yet..."
"Talking hurts, breathing too."
"Each breath I take feels like my ribs are gonna shatter."
"Fang must have noticed since she kept silent after that."
D "Alrighty, end of the line."
D "That’ll be fifteen bucks even."
A "There’s still a few blocks we gotta walk."
play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I manage to limp out of the car and Fang drops a few crumpled bills in her seat and slams the door behind her."
"The car peels out and disappears around the corner."
scene black with fade
scene skinrow with fade
A "Well, no place to go but home."
F "Wait, you still can’t walk, right?"
"I can probably make it a good fifty yards."
F "Hang on, give me your shoulder."
A "No, don’t worry abou-"
"Ignoring my protests, Fang wraps my arm around her back for support."
F "Where are we going?"
A "Uhh… First turn is a right up here…"
"Wait… Fang is coming over to my place?"
"Fang is coming over to my place?"
"Fang is coming over to my place?"
"I don’t want her to see how I live!"
"..."
stop music fadeout 1.0
"Crap, did I leave Saturnia on?"
"..."
scene black with fade
#Chapter 11 Confession
play music 'audio/OST/appreciating_the_scenery.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "Hang on, lemme get my key…"
"I awkwardly fish around for it in my pocket, hand weighed down by some cheap first aid stuff from the nearby liquor store."
A "This stuff wasn’t nece-"
F "Shut up."
F "Open the door."
"I finally managed to find my key wedged between my leg and wallet."
"Fang takes the key from me and opens the door before I can think to throw it out the broken window nearby."
"Welp. No turning back now."
A "Welcome to Casa Del Shithole, occupancy a miserable weeb."
scene room anon day with fade
"Raptor Jesus threw me a bone at least."
"There’s no dirty dishes stacked in the sink."
"The trash is mostly empty save for a discarded box of cereal."
"And my monitor is NOT displaying something Saturnia related."
"The entrance isn’t big enough for both Fang and I, so I leave her supporting shoulder and limp my way to the twin-sized mattress on the floor."
show anon neutral flip at aright with dissolve
"It’s so tempting to just drop face-first like usual, but I don’t think I’d survive the shock of the fall."
show fang neutral at sleft with dissolve
F "...Nice place…?"
A "You don’t have to stay. I just wanna curl up in bed and sleep my sorrows away."
F "Anon it’s ten in the morning."
A "And?"
F "And you’re fucking hurt. At least let me try and patch you up."
A "You do-"
"Fang’s glare makes my mouth click shut."
"Fang sets the bag of ice packs, icy hots, and sabre balm on my computer desk when something catches her eye."
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg' fadein 1.0
F "Is… Is that the phone roomba you bought a while back? You actually kept that thing?"
"Fang is standing over the shoebox I’ve been using to hold my ‘pet’."
"I’ve put in a few wooden blocks for it to bump around."
A "Uhh, yeah. Can you go ahead and feed him for me?"
F "...With this box of cornflakes?"
A "Yeah… Two or three will do."
F "...And you taped your railgun to the top of it."
A "If you look close I gave him angry eyebrows too."
F "Why?"
A "Mom never let me have a pet. And he’s cute."
F "He?"
A "Don’t make fun of metal gear RAYmba or else he’ll shoot you."
F "..."
A "He’s armed with tiny angry marine munitions."
F "..."
"Fang crumples up some of the flakes and pours the crumbs into RAY’s box."
"I can hear it happily ingesting breakfast from my bed."
F "You are such a dweeb, Anon."
"There’s no heat in her words."
"Fang turns to me, the small tub of disgusting green stuff in hand."
play music 'audio/OST/Fuck You I Like This Chick.ogg' fadein 1.0
F "Alright, let me see where you’re hurt Anon."
"..."
"No way in fuck."
F "Now."
"Shit. When did Fang learn the patented Mom Glare."
F "Take off your shirt."
A "Wait wha-"
F "Take it off or I’ll cut it off with your knife."
A "...Fine..."
scene wounds1 with fade
pause 2
scene black with fade
"I step into my tiny shower stall and turn on the water."
"The shower head sputters before it starts weakly spraying lukewarm water."
scene wounds2 with fade
"The temperature of the water doesn’t help the tension in my muscles or the bruises marring my skin."
"I stretch around and see massive blotches of purple and black splattered across my torso."
scene wounds3
"Each contusion is hot to the touch under my fingers and the pain is intense."
scene wounds4
"The worst is across my chest where the bollard hit me."
scene wounds5
"I eventually get finished examining my wicked wounds and step out of the bathroom. Fang is on her phone doing Raptor Jesus knows what."
scene wounds6
"Fang then pats the bed"
F "Come here"
"I walk over and lie down on my stomach"
scene wounds7
F "Jesus that's bad..."
"I then felt a cold cream and soft touch on my back, along with a massive jolt of pain"
A "FUCK!"
F "Shit, sorry! Are you okay?"
A "Yeah, just didn’t expect it to hurt that bad..."
F "Just try to relax."
"I sigh and try my hardest not to freak out when she touches me"
"She eventually finds a sweet spot of pressure to apply. It still hurts a little, but it doesn’t cause me to wince."
"Her hands are soft."
"I find myself relaxing under Fang’s ministrations."
F "Starting to feel better now?"
"I nod."
"My eyes feel heavy as the ointment begins to warm up, drawing away tension from my aching muscles."
"I can make out a steady thumping on my bed"
"My senses fade more until all I’m aware of is Fang’s fingers tracing circles over my sore back and the sound of thumping."
"I wonder what that is."
"Fang’s hands slow to a stop and eventually pull away, leaving me disappointed."
"The bed shifts."
F "Anon."
"There’s something in her voice, but I can’t discern it."
A "Hm?"
F "I need to do the front."
scene wounds8
"Oh."
"Okay then. I roll over onto my back."
scene wounds9
"And find myself face to beak with her."
"Dangerously close."
"I can feel her breath on my lips and I blush."
"It never even occurred to me that I could apply the ointment on myself."
"I want to look aside."
"Turn my face away to hide the growing blush."
"But I can’t."
"I’m entranced looking into Fang’s warm amber eyes."
"Millions of words flash through my head as I try to find something to say."
"Fang is looking right back."
"Eyes that seemed to glow with what little sunlight filling the room stared into mine."
"I wonder…"
stop music fadeout 1.0
"I hope…"
"Do you like me, Fang?"
scene wounds10
F "A-anon…"
"I’m pulled out of my thoughts by her voice."
"Fang’s blushing heavily too, now."
"And her tail is positively hammering away at my bed."
"Wait."
"Oh fuck."
"Did I?"
A "I- um… w-was that… did I say-"
F "Y-yeah…"
A "Fffffffffff-"
"My head sinks back into my pillow."
A "-fffffffffffuck."
"A snort escapes from Fang’s beak."
scene wounds11
play music 'audio/OST/west_coast_kicking.ogg' fadein 1.0
F "You’re such a fucking dweeb…"
scene wounds12
"Her fingers brush lightly across the largest bruise on my chest, without ointment."
F "You mutter from time to time. I didn’t start noticing til our… d-date…"
"I groan aloud."
"So the entire time…"
F "Yeah… It’s uh… kinda cute…"
A "Raptor Jesus on his cross of rock. So for months now-"
F "I’ve known. And…"
"Fang leans over me with her hand braced next to my head in support."
F "I… like you too…"
scene wounds10
"Fang’s hand moves back to my chest, resting just over my machine-gun beating heart."
"Her head slowly descends toward mine."
"And before we can start trying to figure out how Human-Dino tonsil hockey is played."
"Fang’s weight begins to press down behind her hand."
"Which is dead center of the most serious bruise on my chest."
scene wounds14
A "FUCK!"
F "Oh shit sorrysorrysorry-"
A "Haaaah."
scene wounds15
"I manage to catch my breath."
A "I’m okay. Just… ow…"
"My hand wraps around Fang’s."
A "M-maybe uh… something else?"
A "That won’t stress these."
"I nod at the blemishes across my chest."
F "Er… liiiiike…?"
A "Liiike…Hug? Maybe? I don-"
scene wounds16
"I’m cut off by Fang moving closer to me again."
"Her arm shifts, moving from my chest to my shoulder."
"Her wing drapes over both of us, becoming a soft and warm blanket of feathers."
"And her head lands next to mine, sinking into our now shared pillow until I’m eye to eye with her."
F "Cuddling it is."
"I smile and nod."
"Even if Fang is now laying atop my arm and I’m starting to lose feeling in it."
"The feel of her warm body pressed against my side is definitely worth it."
"And between that warmth and the plush wing-blanket, my eyes grow heavy again."
"Fang’s already started to snore, right into my ear."
"Ah, fuck it. I close my eyes and decide that sleeping with Fang is easily the best thing to happen to me."
"Ah, there… we… gooo…"
scene black with fade
"Zzz"
scene black with fade
stop music fadeout 1.0
"..."
scene room anon day
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral flip at acenter
with fade
"The next day I was about ready to get to school when Fang stopped me at the door."
play music 'audio/OST/to_swagger.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I told her I felt fine, but when I crumbled after she poked my ribcage I decided she had a compelling argument to stay."
"Fang and I ended up just watching movies and playing Xrox all day."
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fang this morose, though."
"Didn’t want to pry too much, even if we’re dating now."
"Although I have a distinct hunch it’s related to the band and Trish."
scene outside school with fade
show anon neutral at acenter
"Today though, I bit my tongue through Fang’s chest-poke test and she let me go."
"I know she’d stayed the day before to keep an eye on me, but she still didn’t want to go today."
"I made her promise not to start ‘preening’ again before I left."
"I know picking up her missed homework will cheer her right up."
"Now that I finally have some time to myself I can properly address something I’ve been meaning too."
"The alarms."
"{i}*ahem*{/i}"
"A GIRL IS STAYING IN MY HOUSE HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!"
"How did I go from never being in a relationship to having a chick sleep over in less than two days?!"
"Ohhhh fuck if anybody finds out…"
"Fang’s Father, Naser, Trish, all collectively splattering me on a wall."
"It’s not like I can ask for advice, either!"
"The only other people I can ask are all hopelessly single and probably living off government benefits!"
"My heartbeat doing Fang’s chest poke test from the inside is a good indicator I need to calm the fuck down."
"Just… get through today and check out some romance manga on the way home."
scene hallway
"The school is as rowdy as ever."
"Somehow, nobody confronts me about the events of two days ago."
"Man, the people here move on fast."
"Maybe I should take the side route, getting bumped would probably feel like getting gored."
"It’s a roundabout way to reach my locker, but I got plenty of time."
stop music fadeout 1.0
show naser angry at sleft with dissolve
show anon neutral flip at acenter with dissolve
Nas "There you are!"
play music 'audio/OST/punk_revamp.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I turn to see Naser pushing through the crowd of students towards me."
"At least I can talk to him about the whole situation."
"Or ask him for advice as well on how to handle Fang."
"Wait."
"Naser’s sister, Fang."
"The Fang who skipped school and is spending the day at my apartment."
"And never went home for the past two days."
"Suddenly I feel like a fish being circled by a very Naser-shaped shark."
"How do I even begin to explain to him?"
A "Uh, h-hey, Naser. What’s-"
scene hallway
show naser elbow at scenter
"Naser grabs me by the jacket and shoves me against the wall of lockers."
A "ARGH MY EVERYTHING!"
Nas "Where the hell is Fang?"
A "Woah, hey! I can-"
Nas "She ditched with you the other day and hasn’t come home since."
Nas "Do you know what I’ve had to put up with because of you? Everything you do with Fang is my fault for letting it happen!"
Nas "You’re lucky she texted me yesterday, Dad was about ready to file a missing person report for her."
A "Look, Naser. Let me explain."
Nas "You better, before I drag your ass home and make you tell it to my Dad instead."
"The terrifying prospect is enough to make me pause."
A "Fang is staying at my apartment, but-"
"Naser’s eyes shoot up like it’s the one answer he didn’t want to hear."
A "Let me finish! But it was her idea after I fucked up my chest during an express trip down the stairs."
A "She wanted to make sure I was alright and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"Naser sighs and releases my clothes, but the scowl stays on his face."
show naser angry at sleft
show anon neutral flip at acenter
Nas "Is that all that happened, Anon?"
A "I mean, we played some video games but-"
Nas "ALL that happened?"
A "I don’t think- Oh. OH. We, uh, didn’t DO anything, if that’s what you mean."
Nas "Mmmm..."
A "I swear! She couldn’t even kiss me because of the stupid bruise…"
Nas "What?!"
"Oh look I’m getting shoved into my locker again."
"I hiss in pain as Naser’s fists press me against the locker."
Nas "Why would Fang kiss you?! Anon I swear to Raptor Jesus-"
hide anon
show naser elbow
A "I told Fang I like her!"
"Shit, I said that out loud."
show naser shocked with dissolve
show anon neutral flip at aright
"Naser freezes, and the color drains from his face."
hide anon
show naser elbow
"Then he shoves me back into the lockers as hard as he can."
A "FUCK!"
"A few students start turning their heads."
"Naser is still frozen in place, staring at his outstretched hands with a thousand yard stare."
unknown "Hey, isn’t that the track team leader?"
unknown "He’s beating on that loser from the presentation, right? Hilarious."
"I could visibly see Naser’s thoughts process on his face as he finally comprehends our current situation."
#--[/dev/non, have Naser’s facial expression change every half-second on this line]
show anon neutral flip at acenter
show naser shocked
pause 0.5
show naser smug
pause 0.5
show naser neutral
pause 0.5
show naser shocked
pause 0.5
show naser neutral
pause 0.5
show naser smug
pause 0.5
show naser shocked
pause 0.5
Nas "No, I…"
Nas "..."
hide naser with moveoutright
"He regains control of his legs and hurriedly rushes through the crowd, pushing aside a few students."
play music 'audio/OST/intercept.ogg' fadein 1.0
"One or two classmates glance at me again, then continue on their way."
"While I’m checking for any more broken bones my phone buzzes."
show anonphone at scenter with moveinbottom
"{i}Fang: Anyone beat you up yet :V{/i}"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
"{i}Anon: No. On an unrelated matter, have you spoken with Naser recently?"
"{i}Fang: Told him i was staying here yesterday but havent checked his respones{/i}"
"{i}Fang: Why do i need to kill him or something <:V{/i}"
"{i}Anon: Not yet. Just thinking it might be a good idea to get in touch with him when you feel like it.{/i}"
"{i}Fang: I might feel like it after i stop raiding your fridge{/i}"
"{i}Anon: Die.{/i}"
"{i}Fang: >:V{/i}"
hide anonphone with moveouttop
"Glad to know she’s still holding up."
"Shit, now I’m not gonna have enough soda to last the week."
"I’ll worry about that when I get home."
scene black with fade
stop music fadeout 1.0
label naserDrama:
"..."
scene black with fade
#Naser Drama
#THIS SECTION IS SCORE DEPENDENT
if anonscore >= 4 and fangscore >= 4:
#Sorting Things
scene hallway with fade
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
"Today needs to end. Now."
"I have a backpack full of missed assignments, including Mr. Tsuki’s essay on the history of typefaces."
"Who the fuck cares about typefaces?!"
"Worst samurai english teacher ever."
"My ribs are burning as I heave a sigh."
"At least I can go home now."
"Where my hot ptero Gee Eff is waiting."
"..."
"My hot ptero girlfriend who may or may not be having a mental breakdown in my apartment."
"And I have no idea what to do with a fucking girlfriend. All those hours of dating simulators have not adequately simulated dating in the least."
"Just as I exit the main doors of Volcano High my phone buzzes against one particularly bad bruise on my leg."
show anonphone at center with moveinbottom
"Fingers crossed it’s Fang."
"{i}Naser We need to talk{/i}"
"{i}Naser Meet me in the auditorium{/i}"
"I’m going to die."
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
unknown "You’re gonna die weeb! Naser’s looking for your weeb ass!"
"... Best to get it over with now."
"I meander my way to the school’s auditorium."
play music "audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg" fadein 1.0
scene auditorium
show anon neutral at aleft
"Some of the lights are off when I get there, but I can make out Naser’s outline sitting alone in the front row."
"He doesn’t turn to look at me when I enter or walk down the aisle."
"He’s hunched over with his head resting in his hands, and glances at me from the side."
"Some of the lights are off when I get there, but I can make out Naser’s outline sitting alone in the front row."
"He doesn’t turn to look at me when I enter or walk down the aisle."
"He’s hunched over with his head resting in his hands, and glances at me from the side."
show naser neutral flip at ncenter with fade
A "You uh… wanted to talk to me?"
Nas "..."
"I fold down the seat next to his."
A "Funny, this is the same seat as the one I was in a few days ago."
Nas "Hm…"
A "... Why did you call me here?"
Nas "Just… Shut up. Let me think."
"He fixes his gaze at the stage curtains."
"I can see the gears in his head turning, but his expression is telling me he doesn’t actually know what he wants to do."
Nas "I shouldn’t have pushed you earlier."
Nas "Sorry. It was a moment of weakness."
A "Don’t worry about it, I can take a hit or two."
"He silently nods."
Nas "When you told me Fang could kiss you because you told her your feelings… I can’t really describe it."
Nas "Don’t take it the wrong way, but my mind just screamed at me ‘worst case scenario’."
A "Why’s that?"
Nas "Because it’s {i}my{/i} sister we’re talking about here."
A "So? Fang said she likes me too."
A "So we’re dating now. I think."
play music "audio/OST/intercept.ogg" fadein 1.0
"Naser clamps his hands up to his crest."
Nas "Dating, even…Sweet Raptor Jesus..."
A "Why are you so surprised, I told you months ago I liked her, didn’t I?"
Nas "Yes, you told me {i}you{/i} liked {i}her{/i}."
Nas "I never expected her to LIKE YOU BACK."
Nas "Explain yourself, now."
A "I… I don’t even really know how this happened- I-I mean, I’ve barely even had friends before, let alone something romantic!"
A "I don’t know how this happened!"
A "Why would someone, anyone want to go out with {i}me{/i}?! Me, Naser!"
A "I wouldn’t go out with me!"
A "I have no idea what I’m doing!"
"Naser leans back with a hand holding his beak."
Nas "Oh, man, you’re worse off than I thought."
Nas "Breathe, man."
A "I {i}am{/i}. It {i}hurts{/i}."
Nas "Geez, at this rate I’m going to be more concerned for you than Fang."
A "Like, thinking about being with Fang, a part of me is fucking exuberant to the point of being higher than Reed. Reed!"
A "But then I start thinking how I don’t KNOW how to date and get so worried that I feel like I’m going to vomit."
A "And then there’s my heart beating so hard and the fucking bruise and everything is fuck. Everything is fucking fuck, Naser."
Nas "BREATHE!"
"I finally notice the black spots in my vision and gasp."
"My lungs explode in pain and I falter back against my chair for support."
A "Is this a panic attack? Naser I think I’m having a panic atta-"
"My head snaps to the side and a fresh stinging pain blossoms on my cheek."
"I take the seconds of intense pain to focus and collect myself."
A "Did you just slap me?"
Nas "Yes."
A "..."
Nas "You calm now?"
A "Not really."
Nas "Would another slap help?"
A "I’m calm I’m calm."
Nas "You’ve got it bad, Anon."
A "Got what bad?"
Nas "You’re in love with Fang."
A "How is that bad?"
Nas "Fang. You {i}both{/i} need help at this point."
A "Now that’s just uncalled for."
Nas "It’s true. Last thing you need is to be romantically involved."
A "What if that’s exactly what we need?"
Nas "Just… Let me get this straight."
Nas "You have never had a girlfriend before."
A "Yes."
Nas "Ever?"
A "Yes, why?"
Nas "Aside from being sad, that just makes it really not a good idea to go for what seems like such a… poor combination."
A "That a challenge?"
Nas "Wha-are you even paying attention?"
A "I can be a great boyfriend, just you watch."
Nas "Oh my g-"
Nas "..."
Nas "You know what?"
Nas "You may be right."
A "Hm?"
Nas "Maybe just the thing Fang needs is someone to support her."
Nas "I clearly can’t do anything, and neither can our parents, or anyone we know."
Nas "But thinking back to a few days ago… she did shield you from the crowd and get you out of the auditorium."
Nas "I brushed it off but... it’s clear she cares for you."
Nas "So you know what Anon? I’ll trust you."
A "Dowha?"
"Naser gets up from his seat, motioning for me to follow."
play music "audio/OST/bayside_revamp.ogg" fadein 1.0
Nas "I’ll help you get to know Fang a bit better, and in return, you need to keep your promise of being a great boyfriend to her."
A "I- uh, yeah! Thank you, Naser. Uh, where are we going?"
Nas "You’re gonna need some supplies."
scene outside school with fade
"I follow Naser to the parking lot, where his half-beaten car awaits."
Nas "Listen up, because this is all I really know."
A "Wait, should I be taking no-"
Nas "First thing is you should always have a giant bag of dino-nuggies in your fridge, with her name written on it with a sharpie."
Nas "Be warned, she counts them. You eat any and it’s all over."
scene nascar day with fade
"I climb into the passenger seat as Naser revs up the NasCar."
Nas "You’re gonna need some barbecue sauce too. And none of the bargain bin stuff, Fang ONLY likes top shelf dipping sauce."
"The car violently peels out of the parking lot."
"Naser continued to rattle off a checklist of do’s and don’ts for Fang, even as he takes me around various stores to stock up."
Nas "If she ever says she ‘isn’t hungry’, she is lying through her teeth."
Nas "Most places know what you need if you say ‘my girlfriend isn’t hungry’."
Nas "Next, either get a good supply of earplugs or say goodbye to your sense of hearing entirely. She can and will stay up until two a.m. listening to music on full blast."
"Naser tells me more information about Fang than I probably should have known."
Nas "And lastly, she will rip your shirt at least once. Have spares ready."
A "What?!"
Nas "Oh yeah. This is actually my fifth jacket this semester."
A "I-I see…"
"So that confirms Naser is just colorblind if he keeps getting these fuckugly jackets."
A "So… I’ve got your blessing?"
Nas "IF you help my sister, Anon."
A "Of course! I’ll be the best boyfriend."
Nas "You better. Because otherwise it won’t be me next time."
A "Wha-"
Nas "Dad needs a new caddy. He’ll probably ask you and then you’ll go missing."
A "..."
"Ah. Fuck."
Nas "Now tell me where your place is so I can drop you off."
"Naser hesitates when I give him my address."
Nas "Skin Row? You know I should have figured, but still…"
"He speeds off in the direction of my apartment with all the grace of a semi truck."
"Once we reach my neighborhood, his driving gets even more erratic."
"Never stopping at stop signs and staying just above the speed limit."
"Paranoid much?"
"Naser finally comes to a stop in front of my building to let me out."
scene skinrow
show anon neutral at acenter
with fade
A "Thanks for the ride, Naser. And the, er… Fang stuff, too."
"Naser’s gaze is fixed on the building’s doors instead."
Nas "So you’re going up to see Fang now, huh…"
A "You know you can come talk to her with me, if you want."
Nas "No! I mean, can’t leave my car alone in this neighborhood. Don’t want something to happen to it, right?"
"He tops it off with a less than genuine laugh."
A "Naser, your car has more dents than most of the ones around here."
A "Also, I need help carrying all this stuff."
Nas "What? There’s like four bags, you can carry it fine."
A "Not with these crippling injuries."
A "You slamming me into the locker didn’t help either."
A "Oww, It’s a {i}miracle{/i} I’m still able to breathe."
"Naser rolls his eyes."
Nas "Fine, I’ll carry the crap up. But only for a moment, I don’t want my car getting jacked."
"He gets all the bags from the backseat and I lead him up the stairs to my place."
show naser neutral at sleft
Nas "... Has Fang been doing alright here?"
A "Probably still a bit rattled."
A "Wasn’t in the best mood this morning either."
A "Probably a good idea to not get confrontational or anything, yeah?"
"Naser nods and I unlock the door."
scene room anon day
show anon neutral flip:
xalign 0.8 yalign 0.1
show naser neutral flip at nright
show fang neutral flip at sleft
with fade
"I hold the door open for Naser. He hesitates to enter so I look in to see Fang sat on my bed mashing away on The Duke furiously."
play music "audio/OST/punk_revamp.ogg" fadein 1.0
show fang shocked with dissolve
F "Naser?!"
A "Don’t freak out, he’s just here to- wait."
A "Why are you playing rockband with a controller?"
show fang surprised
F "You mean I was doing it wrong?"
A "And my account was locked, how did you even get that to start?"
F "Dude, your password was ‘RAYmba’."
show fang angry with dissolve
F "Who cares about that, why’s {i}he{/i} here?"
"Naser waves dismissively."
show naser unimpressed flip
Nas "Well, Anon, you’re welcome for the ride, I’ll just be going now."
show naser neutral
pause 0.4
show fang neutral
F "-Wait, Naser."
"He freezes halfway out the door."
F "... How much do you know?"
show naser neutral flip
Nas "Uh… Know?"
F "About me and Anon."
Nas "Anon filled me in earlier."
show fang shocked with dissolve
F "You what?!"
A "Fang, don’t worry, he’s cool!"
F "You weren’t planning on telling Dad I’m here, were you?"
Nas "... No, I wasn’t."
F "I’m serious, you can’t tell him, he’d kill Anon!"
Nas "No, really, I wasn’t going to tell."
show naser unimpressed flip
F "Please, Naser, I need to know for absolute sure."
show naser annoyed flip
Nas "God damn it, Fang!"
Nas "Why don’t you trust me with even this?!"
show fang sad with dissolve
"Naser inhales deeply and turns towards the door."
show naser unimpressed with dissolve
Nas "Sorry. I’m going now. I won’t tell, I swear."
F "..."
F "It’s not that I don’t trust you…"
"He pauses again with his hand on the doorknob."
show anon neutral
"Like Spears’ did numerous times in the past, I take hold of Nasers’ shoulder."
show anon neutral flip
"I offer a reassuring smile and nod back towards Fang."
show anon neutral
A "..."
show naser neutral
Nas "... Then what? Why do you hate me?"
F "... I don’t hate you…"
F "Every time I see… those…"
Nas "Those…?"
F "Your scars, I mean."
F "I just remember that day back then."
Nas "What does that have to do with anything?"
show fang hiding
F "I mean, It’s my fault, isn’t it?"
F "I lied to you, and you got hurt."
Nas "..."
F "But it’s like you don’t blame me, even though you should."
show naser sad with dissolve
F "Everyone depends on you, you’re the star player at school, but it’s in spite of your family instead of because of it."
F "You can’t even bring yourself to hate me…"
Nas "All this time, that’s what this was about?"
"Fang wipes away a tear with her wing and nods."
"Naser brushes my hand off his shoulder and turns around."
show naser sad flip with dissolve
Nas "I don’t hate you because I don’t blame you for anything, Fang."
show fang sad with dissolve
Nas "Back then, we were only kids, I was eleven? Twelve?"
Nas "I was always thinking I’d done something wrong because of how you acted differently since then."
Nas "I thought you hated me."
Nas "I mean, look at all the shit I’ve ruined for you."
Nas "Band practices, shows, parties, hell, dates even."
Nas "All I ever do is ruin things for you."
Nas "And when I did I’d always get told off by Trish."
"A part of me wants to groan at just the mention of her name."
show fang very sad
show naser unimpressed flip
"Oh… I think I did since both Naser and Fang are looking at me."
play music "audio/OST/Appreciating the Moment.ogg" fadein 1.0
A "Ahaha…"
show fang neutral with dissolve
F "Urgh, way to ruin the moment Anon."
Nas "Real smooth, man. Real smooth."
show anon neutral
A "Oh come on, you two were finally making progress."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Remind me why we’re dating again?"
show anon neutral flip
Nas "Hey, he’s your boyfriend. Cut him some slack."
A "What’s that supposed to mean?!"
show naser happy flip with dissolve
"The siblings chuckle lightly at my expense."
"The things I do for people…"
"Once the laughter ends Fang looks at Naser."
F "Look, Naser, for all of Anon’s faults I do like him."
show fang sad
show naser neutral flip
with dissolve
F "Which is why I’d rather dad not arrest him and kill him."
F "I know I haven’t been a good… sibling…"
F "But I’m begging you here."
Nas "I told you before, I won’t tell."
Nas "Just be sure to come home later tonight."
show fang angry with dissolve
"Fang hisses and looks away."
show naser unimpressed flip
Nas "...You ARE coming home tonight, right?"
show fang considering with dissolve
F "Weeeeell…"
A "What-"
Nas "WHAT?!"
show fang happy with dissolve
F "I need to stay to look after my idiot boyfriend."
show anon fear with dissolve
A "I don’t need- AIIIEEE!"
"Fang withdraws her finger from the bruise on my chest."
show anon sad with dissolve
A "FUCK! God, again with the tests?"
show anon neutral with dissolve
Nas "What am I supposed to tell dad then? Hell, what have you been telling him?"
F "That I’ve been staying at Naomi’s place for a group project."
A "..."
Nas "..."
F "Well I can’t say I’m staying at Trish or Reed’s place."
Nas "But Naomi?"
F "If I told dad I was staying at Anon’s place in Skin Row what do you think would happen?"
Nas "...Okay, fair point."
A "Are you actually okay staying here though?"
"Fang shrugs and looks away."
show anon neutral
F "S’not bad. Just… boring when I’m all alone."
F "And there’s not much to eat here."
A "Well let’s fix that last part then."
"I get a questioning look from Fang as I take one of the grocery bags from Naser."
"Her eyes instantly lock onto the hefty back of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets I take out."
A "You gonna stay for dinner Naser?"
Nas "I want to but-"
show fang surprised
show naser shocked flip
with dissolve
"The loud blaring of a car alarm has Naser drop the rest of the bags onto the floor and rush out the door."
Nas "Shit! The NasCar!"
hide naser with dissolve
A "Huh… Guess he wasn’t wrong about the carjacking thing."
show anon neutral flip with dissolve
"I turn back to Fang."
"Whose currently writing her name on the bag of tenders."
F "Mine."
A "Fang you can’t hog-"
F "*hiss*"
A "Did you just hiss at me?!"
F "Mine."
"We ended up watching Top Spear until midnight while Fang hogged her bag of nuggies."
stop music fadeout 1.0
scene black with fade
"..."
scene outside school with fade
play music "audio/OST/Fuck You I Like This Chick.ogg" fadein 1.0
"I was ready for an uneventful day of school."
"In fact I’d be extremely happy if it was."
"This entire week has been the most dramatic in my life."
"Even the walk to school was dramatic, with Fang escorting me as if she was Secret Service."
"In English class I’m still trying to catch up with the rest of the class."
"In any other class I’d have been caught up, but Mr. Tsuki is an absolute slave driver."
"My phone buzzes, and I try to tell myself it’s not worth getting distracted."
"The next question is on Serif’s history, however, and I decide it’s not worth it."
show anonphone at center with moveinbottom
"Fang: Ughh"
"Fang: Pleeeease tell me your morning is going better than mine"
"Anon: could be better, why?"
"Fang: I didnt even think of Trish"
"Fang: She hasnt seen me in two days and is trying to bother me with band stuff"
"Fang: Shes reeeaaaally not taking me taking a break well"
"Anon: oh. you serious about quitting music and all that?"
"Fang: What :V"
"Fang: Why would I quit music"
"Fang: Just taking off from the band for a while"
"Anon: ah."
"Fang: Think Trish gets the memo now"
"Fang: Apparently cold shoulder works wonders on her :V"
"Anon: you think that’ll work for long?"
"Fang: No lol"
"Fang: Will have to make distance at lunch"
"Fang: Lets eat on the roof or something"
"Anon: good idea"
"She doesn’t respond further so I turn my attention back to the assignment."
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
" ‘{i}Serif fonts can be broadly classified into one of four subgroups: old style, transitional, Didone and slab serif, in order of fir-{/i}-’ Nope."
"Nope, just writing a review of BIIC: A PostPaleo RPG here."
"(I passed the assignment.)"
"After a torturous science period where Fang poked my bruises whenever she got bored lunch came around."
scene cafeteria
show fang happy at sleft
show anon neutral at aright
with fade
"Fang and I got plates of country fried steak and start heading up the stairs, chattering about possibly seeing a movie this weekend."
F "-seemed like a Kong fan."
A "Did Naser say that?"
F "Maybe… But c’mon, it looked like it’d be a great movie."
"Before I can retort I hear footsteps rushing in from behind."
show trish happy with dissolve:
xalign -0.2
show fang neutral with dissolve
T "Fang! I thought we’d be hanging out in the auditorium. Y’know, like usual?"
scene hallway
show fang neutral at sleft
show anon neutral at aright
show trish indignant:
xalign -0.2
with fade
"Fang doesn’t even bat an eye and continues up the steps."
hide fang with moveoutright
show trish indignant with move:
xalign 0.3
"Trish follows even as Fang starts taking the steps two at a time."
T "Fang! C’mon!"
"If the door was still there I’m pretty sure Fang would’ve kicked it open."
"Instead she quickly turns with a huff and starts to scale the ladder one-handed."
hide anon with moveoutright
"Before Trish can climb it I pull myself up the ladder awkwardly."
"Each step up a rung I need to pause, the rough movements causing bouts of pain across my chest."
"Trish growls as I take my time climbing up. Halfway up I’m able to hand Fang my tray of food and scale the ladder at a slightly faster snail’s pace."
"Once I’m at the top I swing my legs onto the ladder, blocking Trish from climbing up too."
show trish angry with dissolve
T "Asshole! Let me talk with Fang!"
A "Know any theaters with easily accessible fire exits?"
F "You kidding, of course I do."
A "Sweet, saves me some money."
T "Anon I swear to fuck!"
T "Fang, please! Just say something!"
"I can tell Fang is getting annoyed at Trish not taking the hint."
F "Trish, I just don’t want to see you right now, okay?"
T "But… why?! I’m your best friend!"
F "I still need some time away after what you did."
T "What about Reed? What about VVURM DRAMA? We can’t perform with just the two of us!"
F "I think you should leave, Trish."
T "I think you aren’t thinking straight!"
T "We {i}need{/i} you to come back to-"
F "Trish."
"Her voice is a calm fury, cold and collected and bitter."
F "I am trying to have lunch."
F "With my boyfriend."
F "That you just humiliated in front of everyone barely two days ago."
F "I am perfectly capable of deciding for myself if I want to take a break."
F "If and when I want to get back into the band, I will talk to you."
F "For now, all you’re doing is pissing me off and ruining our lunch together."
F "Leave."
show trish sad with dissolve
"Trish’s jaw hangs open, a barely audible squeak of protest escaping her."
"She wipes a tear away with her jacket sleeve and shimmies down the ladder."
T "... Sorry."
hide trish with dissolve
"Fang waits until her footsteps quiet before letting out a sigh."
scene roof day
show fang sad at sleft
show anon neutral flip at aright
with fade
F "... That hurt."
"Fang’s hand finds mine and grasps it."
"Her grip is feather light, and I can feel her shuddering breath as a shiver in her palm."
"I offer her silent reassurance, my fingers curling around her hand softly."
F "Anon, do you think I fucked up?"
"I consider for a moment."
"While Trish did mess up, big time, she’s still Fang’s best friend."
"It wasn’t all malicious. Just… Misguided."
"Maybe some time apart will help both Fang and Trish."
"Maybe… but y’know…"
"I know you can hear this, though."
"Fang simply rolls her eyes."
show fang happy with dissolve
F "Such a dweeb."
A "Yep."
"She held my hand the entirety of lunch."
"Which was nice."
scene black with fade
stop music fadeout 1.0
"But it made eating my mediocre steak fucking difficult."
"..."
elif anonscore >= 3 and fangscore <= 3:
#Mending Things
scene hallway with fade
show anon neutral at acenter with dissolve
"Today needs to end. Now."
stop music fadeout 1.0
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg' fadein 1.0
"I have a backpack full of missed assignments, including Mr. Tsuki’s essay on the history of typefaces."
"Who the fuck cares about typefaces?!"
"Worst samurai english teacher ever."
"My ribs are burning as I heave a sigh."
"At least I can go home now."
"Where my hot ptero Gee Eff is waiting."
"..."
"My hot ptero girlfriend who may or may not be having a mental breakdown in my apartment."
"And I have no idea what to do with a fucking girlfriend. All those hours of dating simulators have not adequately simulated dating in the least."
"Just as I exit the main doors of Volcano High my phone buzzes against one particularly bad bruise on my leg."
show anonphone at scenter with moveinbottom
"Fingers crossed it’s Fang."
"{i}Naser We need to talk{/i}"
"{i}Naser Meet me in the auditorium{/i}"
"I’m going to die."
hide anonphone with moveoutbottom
unknown "You’re gonna die weeb! Naser’s looking for your weeb ass!"
"... Best to get it over with now."
"I meander my way to the school’s auditorium."
scene auditorium
show anon neutral at aleft
"Some of the lights are off when I get there, but I can make out Naser’s outline sitting alone in the front row."
"He doesn’t turn to look at me when I enter or walk down the aisle."
"He’s hunched over with his head resting in his hands, and glances at me from the side."
"Some of the lights are off when I get there, but I can make out Naser’s outline sitting alone in the front row."
"He doesn’t turn to look at me when I enter or walk down the aisle."
"He’s hunched over with his head resting in his hands, and glances at me from the side."
show naser neutral flip at ncenter with fade
A "You uh… wanted to talk to me?"
Nas "..."
"I fold down the seat next to his."
A "Funny, this is the same seat as the one I was in a few days ago."
Nas "Hm…"
A "... Why did you call me here?"
Nas "Just… Shut up. Let me think."
"He fixes his gaze at the stage curtains."
"I can see the gears in his head turning, but his expression is telling me he doesn’t actually know what he wants to do."
Nas "I shouldn’t have pushed you earlier."
Nas "Sorry. It was a moment of weakness."
A "Don’t worry about it, I can take a hit or two."
"He silently nods."
Nas "When you told me Fang could kiss you because you told her your feelings… I can’t really describe it."
Nas "Don’t take it the wrong way, but my mind just screamed at me ‘worst case scenario’."
A "It’s because I’m human, isn’t it."
Nas "Just picture the fucked up flipper ba- hey! Anon this is serious!"
"So much for brevity."
"Naser’s looking torn up over himself."
stop music fadeout 1.0
play music 'audio/OST/The Hunt for more (You)s.ogg' fadein 1.0
A "You blaming yourself for something?"
Nas "Uh, no… Sort of, I don’t know."
Nas "I was thinking only of myself, I wasn't being understanding and I just unloaded it all on you."
Nas "If you and Fang like each other then that's not my problem, right? You're a nice guy, really."
Nas "If she’s happy then I'm happy, right?"
Nas "I just want to know if she can forgive me for being harsh on you, I feel like it's one of those things she'd hate me for, right?"
"Naser’s smile could at best be called fragile."
A "I wouldn’t worry about it too much right now, she’s under a lot of pressure."
Nas "... Did something happen to her?"
A "Because of the stunt Trish pulled she broke off with her and the band."
A "Now she’s refusing to leave my place out of fear and stress."
Nas "..."
A "I’m honestly feeling out of my depth here, there’s really nothing I can do except be there for her."
Nas "..."
A "You’re in a much better position to help her, you’re her brother and all."
Nas "It’s… complicated. You know that. I suck at helping her."
Nas "Remember earlier this year? That concert? She told me to kill myself and the next day Trish came lashing out at me."
Nas "Telling ME how my own sibling feels about me. How she'd be better off if I didn't exist."
Nas "Now you’re here telling me she’s having a mental breakdown, which {i}I{/i} didn’t know."
Nas "Hell, even Reed tells me how she’s doing sometimes."
Nas "Fucking hell, Anon, tell me: Why do I gotta hear about how Fang feels from Trish, Reed, and now YOU? What's so POISONOUS about me she can't tell me this shit ''THEMSELF''?"
Nas "WHY do I aggravate ''THEM'' so much?"
A "Dude!"
Nas "Shut up for a second, man. Oh God..."
"I can only watch as Naser breaks down in front of me, hands on his head in emotional turmoil."
Nas "..."
Nas "What did I ever do to her…?"
A "I-er…"
Nas "What, do you know?"
A "I’m thinking the two of you might be in the same boat, actually."
Nas "Wh-shut up."
A "She told me a while back… she does want to reconnect with you, but…"
Nas "She’s afraid of me?"
A "Herself. She’s been beating herself up ever since that… Thing that happened."
A "Still thinks you blame her."
Nas "What thing?"
"I gesture to one of his scars."
Nas "What?"
Nas "You're not serious, it's over THAT shit? From fucking YEARS ago?"
A "She was in tears when she told me."
Nas "Holy shit, shut up."
A "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Nas "I told you already, she won’t even glance my direction."
Nas "..."
Nas "Why would it be about that? I was just a little retarded kid then. I didn't blame her for one second."
Nas "Not for one second..."
"He turns his head aside."
Nas "You know what happened while I was at the hospital recovering?"
Nas "She never showed up. I don't know why."
Nas "Mom and Dad were always there with me but Fang never saw me in the hospital."
Nas "I wanted to see her the most."
Nas "I worryingly asked mom and dad every day where Fang was."
Nas "When I’d get restless, they had to keep telling me Fang was close by in the building, or at home, safe."
Nas "I didn't cry when I rolled down a cliff and broke every bone in my body, but every night when I was alone in that hospital room I cried like a baby thinking I had disappointed my sister by doing this to her."
A "You think it's your fault?"
Nas "Yes! It’s all I do! It’s all I’ll ever do! Ruin my sister’s life!"
Nas "..."
Nas "Man..."
Nas "where did it all go wrong?"
Nas &