snoot autism
A Snoot Game Derivative: Volcadera Nights (SGD:VN) / Snoot Runner 201M2025
I will also warn you that most of this is stream of consciousness, so there may be parts that repeat themselves or are a little incoherent. It is NOT a complete outline.
It's just a rather fluffed up outline of the main story beats. The in between slice of life scenes and humor are skipped over for the most part. I hope that what is there is at least worth the read
part 2: https://rentry.org/ncaxd6f5
Part 3: https://rentry.org/m5nw8dr7
Part 4: https://rentry.org/9i3qsnps
Part 5: https://rentry.org/zyc7rbxc
honestly, the next Anon should just be the Driver (Pvt. Wynn Doe)
Arc of the game would be finding a girl to make you into a real human being (and a real hero)
Maybe he starts out as a thief or something, and his E4 is becoming like The Saint character (Or like the guy from the short story "A Retrieved Reformation")
inspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zgm_l-YhAk
Timeline is 201M2025. Intro is New Year's Eve 2024. Ends at Summer 2025
Main characters
Anon - Pvt. Wynn Doe (Age 25(?), alias, true history is unknown, purple driver's jacket, inner monologues like a champ, but speaks 5-10 words at a time)
Dino GF - Claudia Grant (Age 24, Parasaurolophus, pink coloration, another blonde, mom hair, name is a reference to Unforgiven (Will Munney's wife))
Antagonist - Alphonse "Al" Mangiatore Di Umani (Age 54, Allosaurus, dark grey coloration with red stripes, man-eater)
Side characters that affect endings
Malcolm Grant (Age 5, Claudia's son, same species, dark pink coloration, 4-5 years old)
Det. Patch Winslow (Age 64, Pachycephalosaurus, brown coloration, grey mustache, too old for this shit, take cues from Pendergast from Falling Down)
Det. Terry Connors (Age 27, Pterodactyl, tan coloration, mullet, young hotshot, featherless wings)
Dierdra Amante Degli Umani (Age 26, Al's daughter, pale red coloration with silver stripes, hot, redeemable bad girl trope, other kind of man-eater)
Director Donovian (Age 42, Dark red coloration, Parasaurolophus, narcissist, Malcolm's biological father, Patrick Bateman of dinosaurs)
Minnie (Age 39, Tricerotops, black coloration, head plate resembles Minnie Mouse ears, Claudia's best friend, tall)
Father Xander (Age 87, Ankylosaur, dull blue coloration, old, boring, half blind, excellent listener, supportive)
Tiffany (Age 14, Raptor, teenager, orange coloration, babysits Malcolm, blabbermouth)
Pvt. Wynn Doe (our Anon) has no history, he's made sure of it. He is a professional thief. His recent heist stole money from Alphonse. Got hurt in the escape, wound up being found and nursed back to health by Claudia.
Claudia is good, honest, loving, and charitable. However, she is devoting so much time to helping others that it's starting to cost her own ability to support herself and Malcolm. She's an ex-nurse, that was fired by the corrupt Hospital Director. Currently works as a waitress at a local diner (or at Moe's)
Donovian seduced a naive Claudia into an illicit relationship which resulted in her pregnancy. When she wouldn't abort, he fired her and threatened to harm her or Malcolm if she revealed the truth. She really thought he loved her. Consummate liar that only cares about his prestige and public image.
Alphonse is a gangster that, above everything else (including family), loves money. Saurian supremacists that makes casual racists uncomfortable. Infamous for eating humans. Devoid of anything resembling love, and is a shade of what Anon will become in E1.
Dierdra wants to take over the family because she thinks her father has gone mad, but her chances are slim. Doesn't trust others at all. Presumes money can solve her problems. Is incorrect. Detests her father's depravity. Has a weakness for men with moral integrity, as she meets so few.
Detective Patch Winslow follows the trail left by anon as he searches for the stolen money. Wants to keep shit from hitting the fan, but also serve out some much overdue justice. Segments take place at the end of chapter and follows up on the consequences of Anon's actions. Ripley's old beat cop partner.
Detective Terry Connors is Winslow's new partner. He's young, knowledgeable about procedure and analysis, but his lack of experience usually requires Det. Winslow to put together the clues Terry finds. Does most of the running around because he's young and wants some action.
Malcolm is the key to Claudia's heart. She loves him to bits, but recently is finding it hard to make time for him. He attaches to Wynn as the father figure he never had. He's a nice kid, but as with most kids desperate for attention, can be intrusively clingy
Minnie is Claudia's best friend, and is a fellow waitress. Fills the role of an aunt to Malcolm. Very protective of Claudia and will lie to protect her and Malcolm. Will help Anon cover up crimes if it is for the benefit of Claudia. Very impulsive. Advice leads to E2
Father Xander is the old priest that gives dull sermons. Is the moral compass of the VN and good at getting people to realize they usually already know what the right thing to do is, they just need a little encouragement to do it. Will guide towards E4
Tiffany is the usual babysitter Claudia has for Malcolm. She's really a nice young lady, but cannot be trusted to keep a secret. If put under any pressure, she will reveal anything she knows. She sets the climax of the story into motion as she reveals everything to the cops
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING THIS STORY: THE APPEAL OF SNOOT AND WANI IS THE RELATIONSHIP. THE DRAMA OF ROMANCE. IT'S A LOVE STORY WITH A BIT OF SELF REFLECTION
IF SNOOT WAS THE STORY OF FANG'S SELF ACTUALIZATION THROUGH LOVE AND WANI WAS ABOUT BOTH OLIVIA AND INCO'S GROWTH, THEN THIS WILL BE ABOUT CHOOSING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
FOUR CHARACTERS EMBODY THE FOUR ENDINGS
ENDING 1: NO ATTACHMENTS, TREAT PEOPLE AS TOOLS TO GET WHAT YOU WANT (DONOVIAN) / ENDING 2: USING VIOLENCE TO HOLD ONTO WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT (ALPHONSE)
ENDING 3: HAVE THE ATTACHMENTS BUT CAN'T BE HONEST WITH THEM SO YOU CAN ONLY GET BUT SO CLOSE (DIERDRA) / ENDING 4: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF IS THE FIRST STEP IN TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHERS (WINSLOW)
CLAUDIA CAN BE SUMMARIZED AS E3 FANG ON THE VERGE OF A BREAKDOWN. HER WHOLE WORLD IS ABOUT HER SON AND HELPING OTHERS, BUT NOT HERSELF. THAT'S WHERE YOU COME IN AND EITHER SAVE HER, OR DOOM HER
bit parts
Ripley Aaron is the police comissioner, so he can interect with Det. Winslow. Acts grumpy that his daughter married "a certain skinnie" but he is quite happy. Plans on retiring soon.
Moe. If the mob is a factor, then Moe can offer some advice. His restaurant can be a place you take Claudia and Malcolm, or meet Dierdra for more clandestine meetings.
e1, "A Man Without Love"
betrays any and all friendships for greed (or spite) and everything spirals out of control, leaving everyone but you worse off (i.e. dead).
e2 "Hotline Volcadera Bluff"
you wanted out, but your criminal act catches up with you, making sure you don't get a happy ending. But at least you get revenge, however hollow it may be
those you love think you're a monster, so you leave them behind, because it's for the best
e3, "The Made Man"
You get out of the game with you and your relationships intact, possibly after serving some time. However, the specter of your past will always have you looking over your shoulder, or you may owe somebody a favor you hope you never have to pay
e4 "The Saint"
You not only leave your criminal life behind, you make sure it can never do anyone any harm again. End up as a special detective, a protector of the innocent.
Main concern is that Claudia, despite being the main girl, is just boring. Maybe a 2nd Act breakdown where the emotional dam breaks.
Probably tie it in to how you deal with Donovian. Or it leads into finally dealing with him. Suffering builds character after all, and Claudia is "I'm Fine, how are you doing?." the character
e1
To reach this ending, Wynn must deny any attempts to form attachments, and resolve certain storylines with only manipulation of Claudia and Malcolm, and theft or violence for all others
Anon kills everyone, including Claudia and Malcolm, to erase his presence and once more be a "Nobody" as he escapes with the money. Anon becomes the villain
e2
To reach this ending, Wynn must form attachments with Claudia and Malcolm, and resolve storylines with only violence, but never against Claudia or Malcolm.
Anon falls in love with Claudia, but fails to make sufficient plans to avoid Alphonse's reprisal, thinking he can fight him. Al kidnaps Claudia and Malcolm.
Anon tries to rescue them, but Malcolm is executed before he can be saved infront of both Claudia and Anon. Anon takes brutal revenge. Claudia's mind snaps and is reduced to a screaming and whimpering mess.
Claudia survives, but wants nothing to do with Anon, calling him a monster. He leaves her the money and drives off into the night. She develops Anthropophobia (Fear of people) after Anon's rescue/rampage/revenge.
He is hollowed out by guilt and for the rest of his days tries to take his revenge on those who "Deserve it," becoming a pitiless monster.
Hunted by the police. Haunted by the child he failed to save. Heartbroken by the despair of the woman he loved.
e3
To reach this ending, Wynn must form attachments with Claudia, Malcolm, and Dierdra. He must resolve certain storylines with manipulation or theft, but never violence
Anon teams up with Dierdra to supplant her father and avoid blame by the police. He has to leave Claudia and Malcolm to work for Dierdra, but they're safe and happy, and he gets to see them on occasion. It's not perfect, but it is a happier resolution. More or less.
e4
To reach this ending, Wynn must form attachments with Claudia, Malcolm, and Dierdra, confess his crimes to the police, and resolve certain storylines with manipulation and other certain storylines with theft
Anon teams up with the Patch Winslow. Uses his skills as a thief to collect evidence and takes down both Alphonse and Donovian. Anon's crimes are forgiven for his service, and he gets a job as a special Detective.
Marries Claudia, and start their own family with a child on the way. Claudia becomes the school nurse at Volcano High. Convinces Dierdra to leave the criminal life behind and live a more moral life (working for Moe? Maybe she inherits the franchise)
E4 is canon, as always
The points required for Good Endings are Attachment and Honesty
E1 = No attachment No honesty Killed Donovian
E2 = High attachment Low Honesty Killed Donovian
E3 = Mid Attachment Mid Honesty
E4 = All Attachment All Honesty
Character Bios with some additional depth
Pvt. Wynn Doe:
100% inspired by Ryan Gosling's character in Drive. The character himself begins with no attachments to anyone, and has completely cut ties with his past.
Why? He just doesn't care to, and they get in his way. Why be a thief? Partly by impulse, but mostly because it keeps him from settling down, which feeds his antisocial desires.
OR
Why does Wynn Doe want the money? That's a decent question, and I suppose the answer is that cold hard cash is how he's able to survive without an identity.
Why doesn't he have an identity, or is trying to remove it? The less said the better, as you don't want to know EVERY thing about your protag because the mystique (and it will diminish the "Anonymous" status.)
However, even in Snoot Game, Anon and Inco both had histories. Everyone comes from somewhere.
SO, keeping it vague I think it would be best, if a bit dark, that Wynn Doe comes from a very poor family and that family sold him for a measely sum.
Could insert a line where Wynn is asked how much a person is worth and he responds with the amount his parents sold him for. Sounds like an E1 Wynn thing to say.
Whatever occurred between that very young age and early teens he actively represses or tries to forget. It was not good. Don't know if making him trafficked is too much, but it cannot be something a person wants to remember.
Whatever happened that allowed him to escape involved some violence. He doesn't remember specifics, only that he escaped from somewhere and bloodshed was involved. He doesn't even remember his original name, or it's buried really deep.
Which could be one explaination for his autistic like behavior. It's not autism, it's trauma! Yeah. FUN. Just a few flashes here and there, but nothing gets resolved outside E4.
Although having such a crime committed against him in his past would make E4 have another layer where now he is in a position to help prevent other such crimes from happening. A true attachment to his past that helps others.
His interaction with Claudia's complete and unconditional love gives him the opportunity to actually develop from what is essentially an automaton into a real human being, or double down and become something completely inhuman.
His design is based off of the private window icon and color scheme. His clothes are based off of The Driver, with a bit of your classic greaser jacket thrown in. Maybe a little of Kamen Rider Black as well.
The hair tuft is to give him a more unique silhouette, and keeping the top half of his head in shadow retains the Anonymous 'faceless' trend, while allowing any easy way to emote with just eyes.
If he has a gun, Wynn Doe uses a 475 Wildey Magnum. Uses a shorter version of the African Big Game cartridge. Makes a real mess. And possibly only handgun with the stopping power to just drop saurians
How's he different from Anon and Inco, the only two protagonists that I can actually use as comparison?
Anon: somewhat verbose collection of 4chan tropes that just wants to be left alone. Relationship with Fang requires being supportive. Generally knows what he's doing.
Inco: a friendly blank slate of a human being that wants attention. Relationship with Olivia requires mutual growth. Generally doesn't know what he's doing.
Wynn: Secretive, quiet, and refuses to or can't acknowledge his past. Just wants to get in, get what he needs, and leaves. Relationship with Claudia requires allowing a bond to form and telling the truth. Generally knows what he's doing.
All three are about the same age, it's just that Wynn's story is begining years after Snoot Game. So Anon is like 19ish years old in Snoot, which is in 2020, and this takes place at the start of 2025. So they're all like, 26.
Claudia Grant:
She is designed to be as genuinely kind, sweet, and loving as possible. A true blue innocent that is, unfortunately, easy prey for those that can take advantage of her or abuse her without fear of reprisal.
Claudia has been through a lot before the start of the game, and the anxiety of raising Malcolm, the looming threats of Donovian, and her inherent desire to help others over her own needs has pushed her close to a breaking point.
As stated above, she was a nurse under Director Donovian at St, Hammond's General Hospital. She was participating in a work/study/apprenticeship program. She was seduced into an illicit relationship with Donovian, and became pregnant soon after.
The moment she did not immediately obey his command to abort her child, Donovian flipped from suave to sociopathic. His demands conflicted with her love for her child, and her faith, which for the moment gave her the willpower to deny his order.
This resulted in her being cast out by not only the hospital, but also her family. They were the unforgiving sort of worshippers, especially when Donovian sent them an anonymous letter describing her as completely debauched, thus he succeeded in having her family her off as well.
Fortunately for Claudia, Father Xander offered her sanctuary as her life was falling apart, and she lived at a local mission for some time, before finding work as a waitress.
-X- Bosnianon's design of Minnie has made me completely reconsider Minnie's character, so I will temporarily put this aside
While living at the mission, Claudia met Minnie, who was a junkie prostitute. Their first interaction involved Claudia saving Minnie's life after she had OD'd.
Claudia helped Minnie get her life cleaned up, and became like sisters in the process. Working together, they both left the mission and into an actual house. Minnie moved out as Malcolm started getting older and needed his own room and into a nearby apartment. Fortunately, they were both able to live comfortably for the time being.
-X-
Then Wynn Doe drops into her life, wounded and in need of yet more of her help. Her struggle is not the same as Fang's or Olivia's, as many of her issues come from external sources, but these issues have been wearing her down.
That being said, Donovian's treatment of her left a deep mental scar that she's just been distracting herself from adressing by running herself into the ground either working or helping others with their issues.
I'm certain there will be a complaint about her not being "pure" from someone, or some anon will complain about the romance being cuckold fetish or something. It's inevitable, but it is very much not that. More of an adoption allegory.
The Wynn and Claudia romance is about forming an attachment to someone despite their history (or lack thereof in Wynn's case), and like the other games, requires empathy.
If there's any fetish shit going on, it's Claudia being desperate for some physical intimacy, as she hasn't been with anyone since becomming pregnant. Wynn Doe living under her roof provides her a chance to satisfy this yearning, which may overrule some of the warning signs about him.
However, she is conflicted with herself, as she has internalized many of the ugly things Donovian has tormented her with. While these thoughts remain, she won't defend herself or push back on anything. She'll just sort of take things lying down. She's in need of some tender love and affection to drive those thoughts away.
SO! Her design is a lot of round, soft edges, is 24-25 during the game. Still retains her youthful appearance, albiet with an obvious look of stress and exhaustion. She needs that "I want to help her" vibe.
I figured pink, blonde, and blue eyes work for Princess Peach, so why not make Claudia the princess you have to save from a world that seems determined to break her? Really it's just one guy being a complete asshole, but you know.
Malcolm Grant:
He's a little kid. 5 years old, and like his mom, an innocent soul. Though his innocense is from youth, and not a saint like morality. He's getting to that age where he is starting to look for role models in his life.
Then Wynn appears, and Malcolm latches on instantly. He thinks Wynn is the coolest, and wants to do everything together. Sort of like a kid and a new toy he is always disappointed when Wynn has to leave.
His and his mother's situation is very Hollywood, but this is a romance story, so having the love interest and her kid be idealized versions of the single mother trope is fine.
Malcolm's name is a reference to Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. His color scheme is a dark pink. It took me longer than it should have to decide that.
Very curious kid, like most are, but also loves to tell Wynn about everything he knows or thinks about. Wynn is receptive to all this on all routes but E1.
Donovian:
Given the narrative of the story, Donovian definitely feels like more of the primary antagonist to Alphonse, and that's probably true. Claudia's personal demon that is the embodiment of all her issues.
He's a sociopath. Cruel, sadistic, manipulative, egomaniac, and completely selfish. Unlike Alphonse, who is completely devoid of humanity (sauranity?), Donovian is the worst kind of person. One that anons from every walk of life may have met.
They are out for number 1, and everyone else is just there to serve their needs alone. If other people don't do what they're told, then people like Donovian cannot let it go. He's a bully at heart.
Killing him has to be a major temptation, and not only that, feel really good to do. Even in E1 when Wynn Doe kills him for entire selfish reasons and is utterly passionless, it has to still feel good.
Ruining his reputation and having him get locked up will need to feel as equally as satisfying. Honestly, him suffering his own mental breakdown after being sentenced would be a good ironic punishment.
His design is entirely based off of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, with his coloration being a blood red that gets speckeled around the color line, in reference to the blood stains covering his face you usually see on the poster
He's often seen in a very nice suit and pants combo underneath a doctor's coat. His directorship of St. Hammond's General Hospital has got him a comfortable life, but it's his connection to Alphonse that has made him wealthy.
When Alphonse wants to be subtle when getting rid of someone, which is becomming a rarer occurance these days, he would rely on Donovian to alter medical records, lose autopsy evidence, and make bodies disappear. Not only that, while Donovian is hesitant to murder a patient for Alphonse, he will if properly motivated and has adequate protections in place.
It's this kind of thing that terrifies Claudia the most. She doesn't know anything about his illegal activities let alone how far they go, but what she does know is that a hole exists. Fortunately, Donovian can't make any requests of Alphonse. Alphonse makes the demands and others obey or they die, and Claudia being killed doesn't interest Alphonse.
Other than that, he's another hue of red Parasaur asshole. They do seem to like their positions of power, don't they?
Will have to clean up motivations and what not in the second pass.
Alphonse:
If Donovian is Claudia's demon, then Alphonse is Wynn Doe's. He currently is just some storm that lurks in the back ground, narrative wise, and the tough part will be making what little interaction the player has with him satisfying.
Another problem is how he pulls the tone of the whole thing into a more action orientated direction, which having a bit of action in a story isn't a bad thing, but it might cause some whiplash that cuts the emotional impact of the story.
I suppose if Claudia needs to ask for help to deal with Donovian, then it would be thematically appropriate for Wynn Doe to ask for help in dealing with Alphonse, with E2 being the proof he can't stop him alone.
Helping with that thematic arc, Claudia is the one that pulls Wynn Doe out of his socially detached personality, opening up the selfless choice of owning up to his own crimes to put a stop to an unapologetic monster. One he brought on himself.
Alphonse is a brute. In much the same way Wynn Doe doesn't speak much, neither does Alphonse. When he does though, good things rarely follow.
He's a genetic throwback, so he's big, hairless, much more beastial than other snoots anthros (a bit like Primal Fang), and has a predatory sort of cunning. Like Wynn, his eyes are always in shadow, with a pin-prick glint to them. He's more reptillain than other dinos.
Him being a saurian supremacist is just the natural order for him. As is his habit of eating humans that fall into his grasp.
He runs one of the few organized criminal gangs in Volcadera Bluffs, entirely by force and fear. Police have trouble taking him down because any crimes he commits usually end up being pinned on one of his subordinates, and they are more afraid of Alphonse than jail.
Minnie:
-X- Considering a complete backstory overhaul, so this is currently under debate
Minnie is an inverse of Trish to an extent. She's tall, slim (still has curves of course), and her protectiveness over Claudia is because Claudia saved her life. Not just literally, but put her on a much better path.
Her design is definitely a take on Minnie Mouse to a degree, especially in terms of coloratrion and head crest design. Her outfit is straight up Ada Wong's turtle neck sweater outfit.
Her role in the story is to try and feed into the desire to kill Donovian. Sort of a pit fall, but one that isn't entirely malicious. If written right, most players would agree with Minnie, that Donovian really does deserve getting his skull caved in.
It's a very real feeling to just want to kill the person you hate. And Minnie's backstory explains that she isn't shy about getting her hands dirty, especially if it's to help someone she cares about.
Beyond helping Wynn to cover up the murder by providing an alibi, she also gives the player information about Claudia that she won't divulge herself. IF Minnie trusts Wynn.
That's another thing, if Wynn is going the E1 route, then Minnie is going to have to be far more of a bulwark against him, as he is not improving Claudia's situation at all. Perhaps in E1, Wynn pins Donovian's murder on her.
-X-
Minnie could be one of those nice old church ladies that Claudia leans on. Will give her a gulf of separation that explains why she isn't always present, or able to help.
I suppose it's possible to have both designs, and have the original be Minnie's daughter (Maggie, Mitzie, something like that?). That way I might be able to reuse some plot aspects.
However that would just make another character and over complicate things more than just altering the story.
Do I even need to do this? Maybe not, but that redesign put an idea into my head that just sound better to me at the moment.
Tiffany:
Tiffany is the weakest character so far. She's just sort of the gossiping neighbor girl that occassionally blabs about stuff the player would need to know. Also a way to explain "Where's Malcolm?" for certain scenes.
She's supposed to be like the classic 90's Teenage Tomboy that just that right blend of bro you can hang with and girl you have a crush on. (It's been 20 years since that time. FUCK) Malcolm will look back fondly on his years with her when he starts posting on SnootChan
Her design is pretty generic, not going to lie. Her role in the story needs the most work. Could be converted into a Stella type situation, but I already have a few ways of telling the player what route they're on, so maybe she's just one of 2, or 3 points where it comes up.
She's a friendly young lady. Thinks humans are cool. In the best endings, she enrolls in Volcano High and has Fang/Lucy as her music teacher. Starts making remixes or covers for her favorite video game OSTs afterwards, and possibly starting a career as a musician or singer.
Father Xander:
Very much a background character that exists to facilitate certain parts of the plot. Doesn't do much throughout the story, but does give Wynn and the player the hint on how to reach E4.
He and his church is also the vehicle by which a lot of the characters know eachother. Claudia, Malcolm, Tiffany, and Minnie all go to his church, and I can pull in cameos like Rosa or Samantha if I felt I could get away with it.
At first I was thinking he'd just be an old blue Rosa, but then I decided on a turtle like Ankylosaur. I think something about the back plates/shell motif makes good symbolism as someone who can give you shelter if you need it. Plus they make good old people.
The church van, which becomes Wynn's main mode of conveyance, will also be one of the "What ending am I getting?" markers. It'll have a bible quote stenciled onto it. Hopefully I've picked appropriate ones.
Operates out of St. Sattler's Bayside Church (there's your Jurassic Park reference for you)
Detective Patch Winslow:
I was thinking of the detective from Falling Down, and then I had the idea for this character. He's an old timer and seasoned veteran that is still sharp as ever.
It may be bold of me to do so, but I've lashed his backstory to Ripley in a way I think isn't intrusive. Back when he and Ripley were beat cops, they were partners and came up together in the force. Rip made commissioner, while Patch stuck with being a detective. He likes where he is.
They talk during their coffee breaks or when Rip is handing out assignments, but Patch is usually too busy to meet outside of work. When they do though, it's usually at their mutual friend, Moe's behest.
Patch is the other side of the same narrative coin as Alphonse. He's the consequences of your actions looming on the horizon. If Alphonse is a malevolent storm cloud on the horizon, then Patch is the sunlight past the storm. He's an agent of justice, and in the best endings, rewards the player and Wynn for being a better person.
Him appearing at the end of chapters is something I'm still debating. On one hand, it lets the player chart the story's progress, and gets them aquainted with Patch and Terry. However, it breaks point of view.
Traditionally with these games, the point of view is always on Anon, save for some bonus chapters. There's nothing, I presume, wrong with changing the point of view every so often, but it could pull the reader out of a particularly emotional moment if not done right, and spoil things. OR they'll just want to skip these parts.
It's, like all things, a balancing act.
Detective Terry Connors:
Patch's current partner and recently promoted detective. He's a bit of a hot shot, but he knows his stuff. Definitely embodies that cowboy attitude of, "let's just go get 'em." Rip gave him to Patch hoping his old buddy could reign him in.
Design wise he is very 80's, Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills cop. Also, his name, Terry = Pterydactyl. Ya know.
His main role in the story is to essentially be the Watson to Patch's Sherlock. Presents the evidence, maybe make a guess, and either have Patch agree or correct him. Terry also handles a lot of the leg work of the two, so if someone is sent out to get coffee, it's him.
Makes a fine match for Dierdra, if he can be sufficiently heroic in front of her. If they get together, it's going to end up like Ripley and Sam. She'd have him whipped.
Dierdra:
The far more reasonable daughter of Alphonse. Her position of being Alphonse's daughter doesn't actually earn her much in ways of benefits. She never knew her mother, and it could be hinted at that her birth was not exactly planned, or indeed wanted, and Alphonse only keeps her around because as some remnant of paternal instinct.
She does have some allowance, but lacks any sort of actual power. Her father's minions could be convinced to follow her, but they need to be convinced. Alphonse scares the shit out of all of them, including Dierdra, but he's also getting more erratic and deranged. His habits of eating humans disgusts her, and she sees it as a sign of insanity.
She's the designated Sexy Dino Woman waifu character and she definitely has a human fetish. Partly to stick it to her father, but she also has a very girly love of soft squishy things. She's also the "Bad girl that falls for the good guy" trope, because we're just putting all the best waifu-isms on her. Big dino titties, and wide birthing hips
I wager that even with all this hand crafted "THIS IS YOUR SEXY CHARACTER" she won't be as popular as one of the other less intentionally sexy characters. That's the way it always seems to go.
ANYWAY, character wise, she guides the player and Wynn towards E3, encouraging "getting away" with your crimes instead of owning up to them. Relying on keeping secrets and guile.
She isn't heartless. Far from it in fact. But she's a realist and pragmatist. E3 has always been the "imperfect good" ending, and she reflects this. Without Wynn going full Uncompromising Goody Two Shoes, she'd resolve that compromising your morals is the only way to get anything done.
To further show her as the opposite of Alphonse, her coloration is reversed, and lightened.
I won't do this for every character, but I heard this song and felt it sets the tone I'm going for with Dierdra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM3ytRtFKWw
First pass
Intro chapter that sets things up, who knows how many chapters, and one finale chapter that resolves choices, a smattering of ponts to get per chapter. Like 2. Maybe.
Intro - introduces Pvt. Wynn Doe, Claudia, Malcolm and Claudia's friend/work group. Our Anon is hurt badly after stealing money from Al. Claudia finds him and nurses him back to health.
Scene 1 - Wynn breaks into a party held by Alphonse and steal multiple millions of dino-dollars from him. Part 2 of the plan was to disappear to parts unknown. Escape goes wrong (car crash?), but remains unknown to mob. Hides money, hobbles away, blacks out.
The scene itself takes place in a art gallery (Perhaps the same gallery from Wani? Nah) or museum of some variety. Alphonse's group is hosting a private party there in celebration of a major acquisition of money and real estate.
Wynn meanwhile appears to the player skulking his way in through one of the skylights. He lurks in dark shadows as he avoids the partygoers and the guards until he reaches a position that sees everything.
Alphonse displays a big pile of money to impress his guests. Alphonse is boasting about how the Skinnie gangs have been utterly crushed and scattered, opening up their territory for the pickings.
After displaying the spoils, the the party moves into an adjoining hall where dinner has been prepared, leaving a couple of guards to cart the money to a secure room.
Wynn shadows them and swipes the key to the room. While in the process of this, Wynn sees the dinner Alphonse is throwing.
Alphonse serves the human leader of one of the Skinnie gangs from the recent conquest to his guests. He demands that they eat a portion of him. Partly because he's an unstable sadist, and partly because he wants to see who's loyal in the most tyranical way possible
Wynn sees this, and sees the guests eat one by one. Hesitantly. Even they consider eating humans fucked up. The last one to do so is Dierdra, who does not look happy at all.
This grotesque display is doing wonders to distract the guards, which Wynn takes advantage of and swipes the key.
He makes his way back to the money room, grabs the cash and starts making his way back to his escape route. On the way there, he hides from an approaching Dierdra and another guest.
Dierdra is vomiting into a nearby garbage can and openly disgusted at the consumption of human flesh.
Wynn overhears her conspiring against Alphonse with the other party guest, calling her father insane, and that things need to change. The guest agrees, but no one will go against him. They're all fucking terrified of him.
Eventually they conclude that they need to show the others a sign that he's slipping, before they go to rejoin the party.
Wynn makes his way to his escape route. Despite a few close calls, and an alarm being raised that the money is gone, he makes it to the final stretch of the escape before being spotted by Dierdra.
He DOES NOT notice her noticing him, but she doesn't make any move to alert anyone, so Wynn books it and makes it too his waiting escape vehicle and speeds off.
It looks like he'll be able to make a clean getaway, but like in so many well laid plans, something he couldn't have planned on goes wrong.
While driving through a wooded back road that leads out of Volcadera Bluffs, a prehistoric moose comes out of the darkness and just wallops his car right off the road.
Car is wrecked, and Wynn is in a good enough condition that he can continue on foot. He grabs the cash and hobbles into the night.
It quickly becomes apparent that he's running entirely on adrenaline, and that he's about to collapse. He stumbles into a church parking lot, finds a memorable hiding spot to store the cash in, and then tries to find one for himself
He doesn't get far before he collapses.
This will require some more thought put into it, but it's a start at least.
Scene 2 - Wynn wakes up on a couch being tended to by Claudia. She's dodgey about answering why no hospital, and as a result doesn't press too hard when Wynn says no police. Meet Malcolm and establish characters. Montage a week of recovery. Establish money is well hidden, or unreachable currently, and Wynn has to stay with Claudia for 6 or so months.
As stated above, Wynn wakes up on a couch, bleary eyed and in a terrible amount of pain. His body is sore as hell. He can't really move too well, but he knows he's being tended to. Can't quite see Claudia yet
Claudia notices he's waking up and tells him to relax, not to worry and that he's safe. Wynn asks if he's in a hospital, and she says no, to which he replies good. He then asks about police, she says not yet, and he asks her to not inform them
She then asks a series of questions to check his memory. Who he is, how he got hurt, where he lives, that sort of thing. He is cognisent enough to give her his alias Pvt. Wynn Doe, he remembers the moose, and he explains he's not tied down anywhere.
This satisfies her for the time being, and she explains that Wynn is pretty beat up, and some of his ribs are broken, but most of the damage seems to just be bruising from impact.
At this point Wynn sees Claudia for the first time, and asks a few questions about who she is. He's a bit groggy, so all he really gets is her name, and that he's safe.
Malcolm peeks in, and Claudia introduces him. After a few words spoken, Wynn falls back into unconsciousness
A series of brief steps into the waking world introduce a few side characters in immediate proximity to Claudia (Minnie, Father Xander, Tiffany). Sort of drift in and out of conciousness deal.
Minnie presumes Claudia is helping another lost soul and agrres to cover her shifts at work for the time being
Xander drops by to give advice to Claudia about what to do. He says that she should help Wynn.
Tiffany is called over to take care of Malcolm while Claudia tends to Wynn some more.
End Scene - Det. Winslow and Det. Connors are at the station and get the case from Ripley. Set up dynamic of these sections being like a "Status Report" for the story, which and they'll be telling you what ending you're heading towards.
Patch and Terry are called into Commissioner Ripley's office, and are given the details about what happened.
Someone stole a lot of money from Alphonse, and word is he is getting ready to go on the warpath to find out who did.
This person or persons is currently unknown, but a wrecked car was found in the woods. No money or body was found, but it might be a lead.
Rip wants the two of them to find the person who took this money and get them under police custody as soon as possible.
They may be able to use this whole situation to finally take down Alphonse and his gang.
1st chapter - Baby steps. Our Wynn works to cover the tracks left by his last crime, while deciding whether to get involved with Claudia and her son.
Scene 1 - Breakfast: the next week Wynn has recovered enough to move around and is acclimating to living with Claudia and Malcolm. Claudia is going to work and Malcolm is going to pre-school, leaving Wynn alone.
Claudia asks Wynn if he feels up to doing some chores as a part of his recovery. Nothing heavy of course, essentially just folding laundry. He agrees.
During his clean up he ends up rooting through Claudia's personal items and finds some personal info on Claudia that mentions Donovian (his first "love" letter).
Also have the option to search her panty drawer and get a Lewd Image.
Scene 2 - Post cleaning: Having some time to think, Wynn decides to find some way to make some pocket money to get by until it's safe to collect the stolen loot.
Inevitably decide to it should be something low key and something that he can use to get around, while still allowing general anonimity and plenty of free time.
Luckily Xander mentioned that the church requires someone to drive the church's van/shuttle bus. It doesn't pay much of anytihng, but it can buy some essentials if spent wisely.
Wynn hobbles his way to the church, much to Xander's surprise but agrees to give the job. As well as some advice that will lead toward E4. Wynn thinks to himself that once he is able to, he's going to make a copy of the keys for himself.
Scene 3 - Claudia and Malcolm return: Dinner time. Chance to bond with Claudia and Malcolm.
Each of them talk about their days. Claudia wished Wynn had waited to go to see Xander, but is happy, if somewhat worrisome, he seems to be getting stronger. Malcom talks about learning math, but is more interested in anything about Wynn.
important choice: Sit and talk with them more after dinner (+attachment level) / Go to your room and turn in early (-)
They spend a good portion of the evening listening to Malcolm tell Wynn about all his favorite toys and videogames, until the kid tuckers himself out.
important choice 2: After Malcolm falls asleep and is put to bed, you can engange Claudia in one more conversation. Ask her why she helped him (+honesty) / Thank her and go to bed (-)
asking Claudia why she helped him will push her to reveal that when she was pregnant with Malcolm she had nobody to help her. Not her parents, and not the people who she thought loved her. Only Father Xander helped her.
So ever since, she has been trying to be the kind of person that could be worthy of that act of kindness. Malcolm was the first person she decided to help, then Minnie, and now Wynn
Wynn replies with some honesty of his own. Telling Claudia that he has never had anyone. He has no history, and that Claudia is the first person he has ever really spoken to, and that he probably doesn't deserve her kindness.
She says that most people usually don't, but she'll give it all the same. After that they sit for a time, before they say goodnight to eachother and go to sleep.
Wynn wonders how someone like Claudia can even exist, but is glad she does.
End scene - Patch and Terry are asking some elderly church goers if they've seen anything out of the ordinary in the area. They don't get much, but the old folks do gossip about that man that moved in with Claudia.
If Wynn made an attachment and was honest, they old folks have nothing but nice things to say about Wynn being one of the Good Ones.
If attachment but no honesty, they complain that they don't know what Claudia sees in him and he seems like another charity case.
If neither, they mention that they don't like the looks of Wynn. Terry doesn't think it means anything, but Patch thinks follows up by asking when Wynn showed up, and concludes it's around the time of the theft.
Patch also determines that he needs some more info before checking, but concludes to memo the local beat cops to keep their eyes open.
2nd chapter - Wynn learns about Claudia's troubles. He either shares his own problems with her or keep her in the dark.
Scene 1 - Two weeks have passed. Wynn has settled into a nice routine with Claudia and Malcolm, and is just about 100% again
News is reporting anti-human sentiments are on the rise and things might be getting dangerous. It's the result of Alphonse running amok looking for his stolen money.
Claudia is concernded about it and doesn't want Malcolm watching that kind of news, but he has seen enough to ask Wynn about it when his mom isn't around.
important choice: Wynn tells him not to worry, because he'll keep Malcolm and his mom safe (+Attachment) / Tell him to just ignore it (-)
Later when Claudia is getting Malcolm ready for school, the kid will mention Wynn's promise to keep them safe, if he did so. If not the scene concludes.
Claudia is surprised Wynn would make such a declaration, but appreciates it. Admits she does like having a decent man around. Wynn asks about Malcolm's father. She says he wasn't a good man, and he nearly destroyed her.
She asks Wynn to leave it there for now. He obliges.
Scene 2 - The next day is the weekend, but both Wynn and Claudia are working, so Wynn drops Malcolm off at Tiffany's.
Wynn has some time before he's needed, so when Tiffany invites him to hang out for a bit, he can: Oblige (+Attachment) / or Leave early and skip the scene
It's a light and fun conversation. This Wynn knows nothing about anything the kids are into, so they enjoy teaching things to him.
Tiffany and Wynn's conversation takes a turn when she lets slip that Claudia sometimes drops Malcolm off with her because she gets threatening phone calls from someone
These calls really upset her, and she doesn't want Malcolm to see her being that upset.
Wynn connects the dots that it must be the Donovian guy he found a letter from.
Wynn notices the time and is late for his job, earning him many angry looks from elderly church goers, and a playful admonishment from Father Xander, who asks if he learned anything from the kids.
Tells him he learned what Kingdom Hearts is
Scene 3 - Long scene After driving some old people around, Wynn goes to Claudia's job and strikes up a conversation with Minnie while Claudia goes to the restroom to change.
The tv in the diner shows a commercial featuring Donovian, which prompts Minnie to hiss and go on a rant about him being a monster.
Inevitably turns about Donovian and the strange calls. Minnie is furious about how Claudia just puts up with it. Gives Wynn the basic rundown of what happened.
Minnie says that scum like Donovian deserve to die, and the world would be better off without them.
Minnie is ride or die for Claudia and Malcolm. She tells Wynn that Claudia pretty much saved her life. When they first met, Minnie was a junkie and was spiriling towards an early grave.
Claudia was the only one to give a shit about her, and not only literally saved her life after she OD'd, she stuck with Minnie after and pulled her onto the straight and narrow, all while also raising Malcolm by herself.
Now she feels like she's family, and will do anything to protect them. Makes it clear she doesn't hold much faith in police. People get away with murder every day, like Alphonse.
It's at this point Claudia returns from the restroom and is ready to go. On the car ride back, she asks what Wynn and Minnie were talking about.
Choice: Tell her the truth (+Honesty) / Tell he it was just small talk and what the kids are showing Wynn
Telling her the truth makes her upset that you're nosing into her business, but she can't deny it is also causing her a great deal of stress.
His calls are threats where he claims he can ruin her and take Malcolm away. She's pretty sure he knows she just wants to move on, but he's obsessed with making sure no one tarnishes his image, that her and Malcolm's mere existence scares him.
She's scared he'll go through with it. When she got pregnant with Malcolm and wanted to keep him, Donovian completely changed from the suave romantic and into a complete sociopath.
She laments how she really thought he loved her back then, and doesn't know what to do. He allegedly has some connection with the gangster Alphonse. Muses that maybe that's who he's really afraid of.
That if his image is tarnished, people will take a closer look and find a trail back to Alphonse.
As Wynn listens, he concludes that Donovian has to got to be dealt with.
Choice: the Reason is because Claudia and Malcolm deserve to live in peace (+Attachment) / If Donovian is connected to Alphonse, he could be a threat
With that, Wynn and Claudia pick up Malcolm from Tiffany's, and he begins yammering a mile a minute about how his day went, which is a relieving change of pace from the previous conversation.
Scene 4 - Later that night Wynn is thinking about his options when Claudia comes into his room to talk with him.
She is mostly asking how he's doing, if he likes it there with her and Malcolm, or if there's anything he'd just like to talk to her about.
Choice: Open up to her (+Honesty) / Make general statements that don't really answer things and end the conversation.
Chosing to open up has Wynn inform Claudia that he isn't really Pvt. Wynn Doe. He isn't really anybody. He has lived his life making sure he leaves no trace of himself behind. He liked it that way.
He says that he likes Claudia and Malcolm. He likes it here more than anywhere else. He likes being Wynn Doe.
If Wynn has been getting attachment points, then Claudia will sit next to him and takes hold his hand, admitting that she wants him to stay.
She gets very close to him, admitting that she feels safer with him around, and that Malcolm has never been so happy.
There's a long look into each other's eyes after that. Emotions welling up but remaining unsaid. She gives Wynn a hug, and asks him to talk to her whenever he feels comfortable, and then bids him goodnight.
If attachment is low or non existent, then opening up to her will smiply result in her listening and accepting Wynn's confession of not being who he said he is, but Wynn can tell it weighs on her.
She says he can stay as long as he likes, gives short hug, and then says goodnight.
End Scene - Patch and Terry are cruising are getting lunch at the diner and going over the problems they're facing. Terry says it's not going to be long before Alphonse is going to start making a move.
Patch agrees, but the money is still missing, and Alphonse must have an idea of where it is, because he's not looking outside of the city.
Minnie arrives to refresh their coffee and they hit her up for some conversation. She is initially cold, but Terry warms up her mood and gets her gossiping.
Minnie will mention her friend Claudia finding some nice human boy if you're on route 3 or 4, and then flirt with Terry
If you're on route 1 or 2 she will ask if the rumors of Alphonse and his gang making moves true. Patch admits that it looks like it
She expresses worry for Claudia and Malcolm, and that the cops should do more.
3rd chapter - Meeting Dierdra, the Detectives, and the Director.
Scene 1 - 1 month later. Wynn has been planning on how best to deal with Donovian. The news has been downplaying it, but gossip on the church shuttle bus has it that Alphonse's thugs are roaming Skin Row and causing problems
It's only a matter of time before these thugs come to this part of town, so Wynn decides he has to do something to buy time.
Before that though, he is on his way to church with Claudia and Malcolm. When they arrive Wynn is conscripted into helping move some boxes or some such thing by Xander which takes him outside.
On his way back in he is approached by Dierdra, who strikes up a pleasant enough conversation, but very soon it dawns on Wynn that her choice of topics is becomming more and more of an interrogation
Wynn's saving grace is that he still isn't used to speaking in any prolonged fashion, so the interrogation is more of a trial for Dierdra than him. She was not expecting Wynn to be such a turbo autist and it's throwing her off
This will eventually give way to Dierdra making an open threat and telling Wynn exactly who she is and that she know who he is. Only her for now, but if he wants things to stay that way he'd best hand over the money.
If Attachment and Honesty are high, Wynn will ask why the daughter of Alphonse would come alone and attempt a peaceful solution when her father would kill everyone here and likely eat Wynn for dinner for the transgression.
He rather astutely puts together that Dierdra doesn't agree with how her father is doing things, so this is a way for her to get some power away from him and maybe take things over.
He then admits that the money is quickly losing its appeal, and that he'd return it if he could, although it is currently out of reach, but secure.
Naturally she is taken aback by this, but recovers enough to be amused by his apparent standing on some moral pricipals. She does hesitantly admit that her father has become more deranged with age, and that's bad business.
She agrees to provide some cover for Wynn and his "foster family," but the sooner she gets it the better. Alphonse will find Wynn eventually, and everybody he knows will suffer unless she can wrestle control of the gang away from her father.
Wynn thanks her for the warning, and offers her a closing remark. "Perhaps we are in the wrong business." Her response is to say she wouldn't look as nice dressed as a waitress, to which Wynn says she'd would.
IF Attachment is high but Honesty is low, Wynn will very bluntly threaten her to stay away from Claudia and Malcolm. She will of course respond that as long as she gets the money, and Wynn works with her, they will be left alone.
Wynn seethes in silence for a bit, but tells her that he'll think about it. Dierdra warns him not to think too long. It's only a matter of time before someone less friendly finds them.
She tells him she'll be in touch and leaves. Letting Wynn consider his situation.
IF No Attachment and No Honesty, then Wynn will remain silent and consider his options while she grows more frustrated. Before long Father Xander will come to collect Wynn, cutting the conversation short.
She will leave disappointed, and tell Wynn to think about her offer, or else. Xander will ask what that was about, but Wynn will remain silent and return inside with Xander
Scene 2 - After church Claudia will notice that Wynn is quieter than usual and suggest taking everyone to a restaurant for lunch. Malcolm clamours for Moe's Pizza, and Claudia decides that is a swell idea.
So they all go to Moe's Pizza restaurant and grab a table. They get menus, with Malcolm getting a placemat and some crayons. He instantly starts in on all the little activities while Claudia and Wynn chit chat about what to order.
Time for a Moe cameo. He's gotten a little grayer, and maybe a bit more wrinkled, but he's as vibrant as ever. After commenting that he's happy to see another human and saurian getting along, and off handedly gabs on about a lil' girl he knows getting hitched to a human. One that's a real good egg.
IF Attachment is high, then Malcolm will suddenly and loudly ask if humans and dinosaurs can make babies. When told yes, he looks at Wynn before going back to his crayons and placemat and says he hopes his dad was a human.
There's an awkwardness in the air after that, but Moe being the consummate professional says, "EEY HOW ABOUT SOME FRICKEN' PIZZA?" and takes their order.
This leads to Claudia sheepishly trying to find something else to talk about. However, her demeanor implies that she is gauging Wynn's reaction with a certain level a bit of anticipation.
Wynn replies that he wouldn't mind having a kid like Malcolm, which resonates well with Claudia.
IF Attachment is low, then Claudia responds that Wynn is just a friend, to which Moe says, "EEY, NUTHIN' WRONG WITH DAT!" and proceeds to talk a bit more on all the anti-skinnie stuff being a bunch of bunk before going to get their pizza.
In either case, the rest of the meal is pleasant and filled with the satisfying consumption of pizza. However, Wynn does detect that he's being watched. Glancing around, he notices Moe across the restaurant talking to Patch Winslow.
His conversation occurs after the meal as Wynn, Claudia and Malcolm are leaving. One of those situation where Moe is talking to him, sees the others passing by and feels the need to introduce everyone to eachother.
Informs them that he knows Patch from way back in the day as the snot nosed punk beat cop partner of his buddy Ripley. Unlike with Dierdra, Patch's conversation is with Claudia and Malcolm present. He also keeps things entirely pleasant, and encourages everyone to be careful.
Wynn is starting to understand that he doesn't have as much time as he thought, and that he needs to do something sooner rather than later.
Scene 3 - The next few days are stressful for Wynn as he considers what he needs to do. His ruminations are interrupted when he gets a call from Claudia who got a call from Tiffany that Malcolm has gotten hurt (broken arm/leg?).
Hurt enough that he needs to go to the hospital and Claudia NEEDS Wynn to go with her. She's terrified of doing it by herself for fear that Donovian will find out. Wynn agrees.
Drives to hospital and meets Claudia there. She's freaking out and jumping at every white coat she sees. She rushes to Wynn and holds onto him for support.
Unfortunately Donovian does show up and is revels in the opportunity to lord his power of Claudia. He even uses the oportunity as a bit of a photo op to further rub it in.
After the "fun" part is out of the way, Donovian wants some words alone with the child's legal guardian. Wynn is asked to leave.
Choice: Wynn refuses, stating that he IS one of Malcolm's guardians (+Attachment) / Leave
IF Wynn stays put Donovian's expression will immediately sour and will inform him that unless he can provide some proof of that he has to leave, or else he can have security remove him.
Wynn, with a glance to Claudia, responds that it is the parent who decides who can stay or go when it's just a matter of being told information. Donovian doesn't have that kind authority over the Malcolm...right?
This gets a psycho glare from Donovian, some nashing of teeth, and finally a bit of a sociopathic chuckle as he readjusts himself. With a smirk, he says that it's just matter about the payment, and then lists a ridiculous number.
If she can't pay it, he'll sue her for everything she owns, get the CPA to remove Malcolm from her care (hell maybe even adopt him himself to rub it in), and let Wynn stand by and watch as her whole world is destroyed.
With that he leaves with a mocking smile on his face. Claudia breaks down and desperately hold's Malcolm's sedated hand, which causes him to stir somewhat.
Soon after Minnie arrives to offer her support. While they wait for Malcolm to stir, Wynn will fill Minnie in on what happened and she will advocate killing the son of a bitch. Claudia will sit in silence for a time.
After a brief time, Claudia thanks Wynn for staying with her. It appears she desires to say more, but Malcolm wakes up which in turn brings in a nurse, so they conversation is cut short.
He's a bit drowsy but he's good to go home. It's just a small break in the arm/leg that should heal in no time. With that, Wynn, Claudia, Malcolm, and Minnie all leave together.
Hospital scene will have to be edited or changed out completely to actually make it necessary to go. A small break would not have required a hospital visit with Claudia's training.
IF Wynn leaves, he watches through the window as Donovian seems to take great pleasure in speaking what must be quite cruel words to Claudia. He's still going when Minnie arrives.
When she does, she asks what the hell Wynn is doing leaving Claudia alone with that Donovian and barges in. He's wrapping up his little tirade when Minnie tells him to fuck off, which he does.
Minnie will tell Wynn to also fuck off if he's not going to help, which he inevitably decides to do.
Scene 4 - Later that night, Malcolm is once more asleep. Tiffany had called worried sick about how he was doing and begging Claudia to forgive her. She does of course.
IF Attachment is low, Wynn will hear Claudia crying in her room, but do nothing to comfort her. He will instead try to think of some way to screw over Donovian. Settling on his skills of breaking and entering.
He will have to know more about him though, and maybe asking Dierdra for a favor will help in that. Or maybe, he can just pay him with the stolen money?
IF Attachment is high, Claudia will once more come to Wynn tired and appearing at the end of her rope. She will ask how Wynn is doing, to which Wynn will repeat the question at her.
She says she's fine as her emotions boil over and she begins weeping uncontrollably. Wynn gets up and embraces her, holding her up as she cries into him. She then begins a long, self hating tirade.
She is at an extremely low point, and begins to have a depressive spiral where all the negative things that Donovian torments her with, that have been eating away at her, start spilling out.
She begins with saying things like Donovian is right, she is just a naive idiot, a terrible mother, a whore, all sorts of nasty things. She will cap off this breakdown with saying maybe she should have aborted Malcolm.
Choice: Wynn will be given the choice to interrupt (+Honesty) or stay silent
This is a bit of a inverse of the roof scene with Fang, where the correct choice IS to interrupt, and tell her that she is not any of those things.
The difference here is that Claudia isn't working through her issues, she's drowning in them. She is caught in a downward spiral of despair that is being fueled by someone who loathes her, and she's trapped by that sort of thinking.
Wynn needs to become the lifeline here, and that means not letting her verbally abuse herself on behalf of her tormentor.
Upon interrupting at a key point in the breakdown, Wynn will counter each put down she levied against herself. He will also promise to stay with her, no matter what.
Upon saying this, Claudia goes in for the kiss, which he accepts readily. In fact, as it goes on, Claudia gets very into it. She has been yearning for this sort of physical intimacy for a while now and it shows.
Claudia will be mere moments away from shoving Wynn onto the bed and having an intense round of hardcore cuddling action, but Malcolm will groggily call out for her, which will snap them out of the moment.
She flashes a look of disappointment, but Wynn consoles her, and they both go to Malcolm, who is at the end of the hallway looking sleepy, but concerned
He got scared when her heard his mother crying, but both Wynn and Claudia put his fears to rest. At this point, Malcolm registers Wynn as "Dad" and is returned to bed.
This is also where Wynn and Claudia can be said to be officially, romantically involved.
IF Wynn stays silent and lets Claudia go on, she just collapses into his arms and weeps, while Wynn silently seethes in anger at Donovian.
Then Malcolm interrupts, and Claudia composes herself enough to go check on him alone. Wynn stays behind and fumes about needing to do something.
End scene - Patch and Terry staking out the Claudia's house and discuss Wynn as a suspect.
Terry questions why they don't take him in. It's not illegal to take a guy in and ask a few questions
Patch says that he's pretty sure the cops aren't the only people watching Wynn, and that he thinks that making a move now might put Claudia or the kid in danger
So the best thing to do right now is keep back and observe.
If currently on a E1 or E2 trajectory, Terry will ask "What if Wynn is the danger?" Patch will grimace at that and say they have to be extra careful then.
If currently on E3 or E4 tracjectory, then Patch will say that he'll try talking to Wynn again, and that he seemed like a good sort.
4th Chapter - Pvt. Wynn Doe decides whether he opens up while out and about with Claudia, Malcolm, and Minnie
Claudia and Minnie have the day off, so they take Wynn and Malcolm to the park. It's a nice scene where Claudia can decompress a little while Minnie keeps an eye on Malcolm.
IF Wynn has high attachment, then Claudia lets Minnie watch Malcolm while they spend time together. Their conversation covers topics about what their plans are and whether Wynn intends to, or is willing to stay with Claudia
Wynn does want to put down roots, but is offered a choice of how much he wants to reveal about himself, specifically what happened the night Claudia found him.
Choice: Tell her about the theft, hoping she understands (+Honesty) / Continue to deflect and lie
Telling her the truth will shock her, and she will become noticeably concerned. A variety of emotions will cross her face as she processes this. Eventually, she will ask Wynn what he expects will happen next
She expressly addresses that he has put Malcolm, her, and everyone around them in danger.
Wynn admits that all this is true, and that because of how much he has come to care for Claudia and Malcolm, he cannot continue to burden them with that. So while he would love to be with Claudia, he tells her he will turn himself in, and in that way protect her and Malcolm.
She is still upset, but his honesty and his willingness to take responsibility win out before too long. She confesses through strained laughter that she had finally found a good man, and now he's going to leave her alone.
This ends the conversation, but Claudia ultimately understands, and says she would have liked it if Wynn could have stayed with her.
IF Attachment is low Claudia and Malcolm will go off by themselves while Wynn and Minnie get some hotdogs from a nearby stand (Tracy cameo why not). Hot dog vendor has uneasy feeling about Wynn.
In either case, after te groups rejoin, the day starts to crawl on and Malcolm falls asleep, signalling Claudia and Minnie to depart. Wynn however catches sight of Dierdra watching them. Saying he'll catch up with the others in a bit.
He then approaches Dierdra and asks what she wants. Instead of answering immediately, she asks about Claudia, Malcolm and all, commenting that they're cute. About what Wynn's attachment to them is specifically.
IF Attachment is high, he responds that he cares about them, and that their safety is worth more than the money.
IF Attachment is low, Wynn tells her to get to the point.
She asks about if he has decided to take her up on her offer.
IF Honesty is high, then Wynn tells her he is going to go to the police. There's a detective he trusts, and he will turn himself in, WITH the money. Dierdra says that is stupid, and won't solve anything.
Wynn counters that it will keep the people he cares about safe, and that's enough. Dierdra threatens that she could do things the hard way and take the family hostage to force Wynn to give her the money.
The threat is shakey and has a tinge of disbelieving desperation to it however, which Wynn picks up on. He theorizes that Dierdra doesn't want to, and may never have, ever hurt anyone.
Wynn once again counters that if she could have done that, she would have already. Points out his theory about her, and asks her to let him do the right thing.
She has herself an internal conflict, and in a bout of frustration, she relents, knowing he is right about her not sharing her father's penchant for cruelty. She tells him that once it hits the news, Alphonse will come for him. Police protection or not.
Wynn says that's fine, so long as the others are safe. Dierdra promises to do what she can to keep them out Alphonse's sights, but she is pretty low on t again, he totem pole of her father's organization. Wynn thanks her and tells her he knows of places that are hiring if she wants to change her line of work.
She laughs, and tells him maybe, and then leaves. Wynn starts heading for home as well, and is surprised to see the others waited for him. They walk back together.
He is asked if everything is alright. Says he doesn't know, but he hopes so.
IF Attachment is High but Honesty is low, Wynn is conflicted about what to do. Dierdra once again suggests he work with her, and together they can both come out on top of all this. Wynn is responsive to this, and agrees that it may be for the best.
He'll do whatever it takes for Claudia and Malcolm to be safe. Dierdra is quite pleased with this, assuring him he's making the right call, and that once she has the money, she can put her plan into motion. Wynn agrees again and says he must collect it, but will work with Dierdra once it is time.
IF Attachment and Honesty are both low, Wynn listens to Dierdra's offer, but is very noncommittal. However, he starts asking Dierdra about specifics about her plans. She says she'll tell him if he agrees to her terms, and she has the money. Wynn says that he doesn't trust her.
She similarly doesn't trust Wynn. but that they need eachother. Wynn eventually agrees, though coldly and robotically. He says he'll be in touch and leaves.
5th Chapter - Pvt. Wynn Doe has a chat with the detectives, either because he sought them out or because they confront him.
IF Attachement and Honesty are both high, then Wynn gets in contact with Patch via a tip hotline, Moe, or being aware the police are watching him.
He tells patch the story, and specifically states that he'll go along with anything so long they give him some time to help Claudia with a problem of hers before he turns himself in. He tells them about Donovian, and that he wants to leave Claudia in a good place before he leaves her.
Patch, understands but Donovian has got a clean record. There would also have to be some damning evidence to dig Donovian out of his position as hospital director and have the punishment be permanent. At which point, Wynn tells them that Dierdra mentioned Donovian has connections to her father.
They're skeptical, but if she can provide proof and testifies, then Donovian would probably be done for.
Note: I am positive that narratively, Claudia needs to be the driving force in removing Donovian in the E4 ending, I am just having trouble thinking of a way to do that at the moment.
IF Attachment is high but Honesty is low, Wynn doesn't contact the detectives, they simply approach him to ask questions, which Wynn deftly avoids in answering to a degree that they can do anytihng with.
His apparent affection for Claudia and Malcolm go a long way to convince the detectives that, while he isn't being completely honest, he isn't out to hurt anyone. Patch thinks that given time he'll open up
IF Attachment and Honesty are low, then Wynn does a very good job of playing the innocent citizen, but the detectives can smell the bullshit. However, Wynn's alibis and excuses are too water tight, so they can't do anything.
6th Chapter - Pvt. Wynn Doe takes Claudia on a date out of love, or to use as cover. Maybe put in some oppourtunities for last minute points? Not sure.
Well the other games had 4 date locations, might as well copy their homework.
BUT, in what way will the locations reflect the relationship?
IF our boy Wynn is on E1, then he is essentially en route to being a souless, hearltess automaton that feels no attachment to anyone or anything, and is using Claudia and this date as cover to pretend he's human.
So what would be a good destination that reflects this? Something artificial, an illusion, a hollow empty thing. Maybe something that reflects how disconnected he and Claudia are.
I think for E1 Claudia should choose the destination, as Wynn doesn't have strong feelings for anything or any place. He may actually force Claudia to decide
A carnival seems like a decent choice. They can participate in some game of balance or skill. Claudia is panicky, apologetic, and scores next to nothing. Wynn gets a perfect score, but feels nothing from it, not receiving the prize.
He can be virtually silent the entire time too. Claudia would be the one attempting to reach out to Wynn here. Possibly give a chance to get a last minute Attachment point even.
It's a whole carnival, so they should do, probably 3 activities, or have 3 encounters. The skill challenge should be the 3rd, that way Wynn can give Claudia the prize at the end of the night and pretend he's doing it for her sake.
So if that's the last encounter, then the first should be a performer of some kind. Like a clown or magician or something. A mime perhpas, that begins his routine imitating Wynn. Could be funny, a mime imitating the silent, soon to be sociopath.
Claudia would probably giggle at that, saying it's a very good impression. The fun would drain soon after I'm sure, as Wynn looks neither amused nor upset.
Thinking he isn't having fun, Claudia would try taking him on a ride, or rides. Merry Go Round, Swinging boat, Some spinning contraption. After all of these, Claudia continues with increasing desperation to get Wynn to have some fun, but he continues stone faced through it all.
After the 3rd encounter, the skill booth, and Wynn gives her the big stuffed animal prize, he calms her suspicions by saying he had fun. That of course is a lie. But it's one that Claudia wants to believe, so she swallows it. They return back to her home and Malcolm is excited to see the stuffed animal.
Wynn goes to bed alone and falls asleep.
E2 Date night. Well in E2, Wynn does love Claudia and care about Malcolm, he's just lying about his past or hiding it completely. So he's got a secret identity, or double life going.
Ergo, why not have them go to the movies? Action? Romance? Superhero? Horror? What's something they'd go see without Malcolm? Or do they bring him along as a family outing? I think Malcolm can hang out with Tiffany for the night.
A crime thriller movie where a man is undone by his past life or a movie where a dishonest man hurts an honest woman is a bit on the nose. Maybe a Western? A horror movie where a man turns into a monster?
E2 revolves around using violence to try and solve the problem. Wynn thinking that just killing the bad guys will make it all stop. He'll get the girl, keep the money, and everything will be fine. A very simplistic and destructive view to have in real life, but a tantalizing fantasy none the less.
An action movie sounds like the ideal candidate then. Commando is the biggest power fantasy action movie I can think of, so maybe that one to really hammer home how this isn't going to go well.
So they go to the movies, balk at the prices for a bit, but they eventually spot a movie they think is a winner, an action movie that doesn't need to be named, but can be described in a few lines as they watch.
They emerge from the movie and have a bit of a discussion on the way back to the car. Wynn asks if Claudia had a fun, and she admits that it wasn't really her thing. She didn't like all the excessive violence, as she'd treated a fair number of bullet and burn wounds in her brief stint as a nurse.
Wynn hadn't considered that, and admits that from a completely neutral point of view, the protagonist did way more damage than the villains. They laugh about it and continue to chit chat as they walk back, with Claudia mentioning she always preferred swashbuckling movies. They were more romantic.
As they make their way back to the car, we could have a purse snatcher make off with Claudia's handbag and give the player an opportunity to get some points. The Attachment point could be to stay with Claudia and call the police, and the opposite is to chase the theif down.
Alternatively, it's not a snatch and grab type, but a big "What are you gonna do about it?" type thug that starts things off by tossing Wynn over the car.
The reason would be to give Wynn a taste for the "Violence DOES solve problems!" mentality. So in some fashion, Wynn does catch up with the purse snatcher or fights back against the thug. So the latter can't be too fast, and the former will require Wynn to get his hands on a pipe or something.
In both possibilities, the theif would be a saurian. So the purse snatcher runs into a dead end, or Wynn beans them with a rock or brick. The thug, Wynn bounces back with some kind of improvised weapon, or he has been carrying a knife this whole time.
In either case, a fight ensues, but Wynn gets the upperhand and gets very close to killing the guy. Probably via curb stomp. Stops shy of finishing them off when either Claudia or the police arrive and stop him. However, he can shoot whoever intervenes the look of a man high on bloodlust.
He calms down and backs away before returning home with Claudia. Which would probably exnay any police intervention, as they would not let that go.
So they drive home and stand on the doorstep before Claudia stops him. She asks Wynn what happened back there and Wynn apologizes to Claudia for the violent outburst. He admits that he thought Claudia was going to get hurt, so he just wanted to protect her. But it seems he took it too far.
After a few moments of gauging his response, she puts a tender hand on his shoulder, and eventually brings him into a hug. She tells him that she appreciates the heroics, but she never wants to see Wynn do anything like that again. It scared her seeing him like that, and she doesn't want Malcolm to ever see Wynn like that.
Wynn feels ashamed and guilty, and here we can grant a chance for a last minute Honesty point. He can promise Claudia he won't get like that again (+Honesty) / OR he can say he'd never hurt her or Malcolm. The former is a promise, the latter is not what she said.
In either case she'll thank him for the gallantry and say they'd both do well getting some sleep. They go inside, say their hellos to Tiffany and Malcolm, exchange plesantries about the movie, send Tiffany home, and go to bed.
E3 Date night. This is the not quite perfect route. The route is defined by the compromise of, the people you care about most are safe but you can't be with them.
So this may be the kind of date that goes perfectly. A shining golden memory to hold onto in the times ahead. An ideal to strive for and maybe, one day, reach again. You know, something you'd pine for when it's gone.
The dates don't neccessarily have to foretell the ending, or mirror it. It just has to reflect the personalities of the characters. In E3, Wynn is trying connect with and open up to Claudia, but he's also looking for some easy way out of the trouble he's caught up in so he doesn't have to face punishment. That punishment now taking the form of being separated from Claudia.
So he's willing to compromise. Claudia is a bit more of a static character. Her big changes are her mostly confronting the emotional scars left by Donovian, and in E4 overcoming the fear he put in her to testify against him. In E3, she's at a point that the internalized emotional abuse is resolved, but she is still not brave enough to do anything about Donovian.
SO maybe a fancy restaurant where they get pushed around? Wynn compromises, and Claudia just puts up with it. Each of them agreeing it's for the best? Maybe it's just an obnoxious customer, or maybe Donovian appears and makes Claudia extremely uncomfortable, so Wynn and her just leave instead of putting up with him. They're out some money, but they enjoy the night anyway.
Maybe they get hot dogs from Tracy's like every other couple seems to do. It's not perfect, but they end the night happily enough. Just like E3.
OR, Here's a thought, Dierdra invited Wynn here and to bring a date. She wants to talk business, and since E3 results in Wynn ending up working for Dierdra this will give her a bit more screen time to flesh her out more.
Also, it will give Dierdra and Claudia a chance to interact a bit more. Which they should do more anyway, outside of a single scene that will only appear in a particular playthrough. Only really wants to see if Wynn is on board with her plans, which at this point he probably is. Especially if she lays it all out for him.
Of course that may be a bit too overt if Dierdra is planning a coup against her father. Especially if the conspirators are meeting at a restaurant that is known to Alphonse. Maybe Dino Moes?
I've decided that in E4 Wynn talks himself out of getting laid due to Honesty and Honor and all that. He is not so burdened by these things in E3. Which means at the end of the night, when Claudia gets all romantical, he's going to go for it.
Okay. So, fancy dinner. Maybe a place with an outdoor patio, dance floor thing. Illuminated by string lights. Claudia and Wynn dance, have a good dinner, and take a walk around the area. Find a secluded spot, have a talk, and things take off from there. Loving by lamplight next to a lake perhaps.
Fade to black when things get steamy. When we fade back to them, they've gotten their clothes back on and are sitting against eachother as the night drags on. Eventually they make their way back home.
Wynn notes a definite change in Claudia, as if all the stress she's been dealing with for the last 5 years has just evaporated off of her. He's happy she's happy, and as she clings to him all the way home he hopes that this lasts forever. (It won't)
Wynn performed pretty well for himself. Also, just to add to the drama of E3, how about this night of passion results in a new baby on the way.
I've hit a wall and I'll come back to this later
E4 Date night. The Golden Route date. Doesn't always start on the right foot, but ends with all parties happy. This one can be the whole family of Wynn, Claudia and Malcolm.
It's the culmination of Wynn and Claudia's developing relationship. Wynn is completely honest with Claudia with what led him to her, and thanks to him being a reliable pillar in her life, Claudia has finally had time enough to deal with her own sense of self worth.
Wynn is more talkative and is interactive to talk to. Claudia meanwhile appears less tired and has an air of happiness around her. Malcolm, for his part, is overjoyed at the prospect of Wynn's continued presence and him slowly becoming the "dad" of the family.
How about a trip to a museum? We can cram some worldbuilding in, and have some good old wholesome scenes. How will it support the characters though?
Wynn needs to be shown to have become open and honest, Claudia needs to be shown as more assertive/confident, and Malcolm is 5 years old so he can be making all sorts of ruckus that needs to be reigned in.
Hmm...maybe the date should be some kind of church function? Church picnic perhaps? To show Wynn has really integrated himself with Claudia and her life and now the community. Claudia can be the belle of the ball so to speak. Everyone she's helped or supported comes out of the woodwork to support her right back.
Wynn is accepted by everyone as a good man, and more than one person says comments on him and Claudia should be together. It's what he wants. By this time in the story the thought of Claudia or Malcolm being out of his life puts a pit in his stomach.
So during the function he spends a lot of time helping out, mingling, and genuinely having fun playing with Malcolm and the other church kids that are running around. As the day winds down, everybody is a bit tuckered out. Everyone says their goodbyes and goes home.
Minnie, Father Xander and some other volunteers all say they'll handle clean up and send Claudia and Wynn home with Malcolm. Claudia puts Malcolm to bed while Wynn takes a tired sitdown on the couch, where he is joined shortly after by Claudia.
She gets real close to him, going so far as to rest her body on his as she breathes out her weariness from the day. She then begins to talk about how wonderful the day was, how happy Wynn staying by her side has made her, and that it has all left her wondering something.
Now things start getting intimate. She lets her hair down and repositions so she effectively lays on top of Wynn, facing him, and she asks him a question: whether he loves her. He says yes, obviously, and Claudia wastes no time going in for a deep kiss.
When she breaks away she asks Wynn to if he thinks she's beautiful. Again, he says yes and gets another passionate kiss. Once more she breaks away and asks the big question: would he marry her, and stay with her and Malcolm forever.
Now, Wynn maybe a bit of an autist, but he can recognize Claudia is READY for some loving. He says the word and he's getting laid.
BUT, and Wynn's probably gonna get called gay for this, all those HONESTY points rear their ugly heads and he hesitates. By this point, Claudia knows the events surrounding him entering her life, and while she's been cautious, she hasn't pushed him to resolve these issues with the police.
His pause does not go unnoticed, and Claudia's expression pleads with him to just say yes. However, Wynn instead cups her head with his hands and says that, although he would spend the rest of his life with her, he can't do it while he's being hunted by the police and certainly not by Alphonse.
He can't bring all that down on Claudia and Malcolm, and if he is going to marry Claudia, he has to do it knowing he isn't putting either of them in danger, or that he'll be taken from them.
The words stab her into and tears fall from her eyes. She isn't mad, or heartbroken, but that was not the answer she was hoping for. All those emotions that have been building up have got to come out. So she sinks into his embrace and cries.
For hours they just lay there until she's emotionally spent and has gotten all her tears out. Afterwards they drift into sleep. Eventually, in the wee small hours of the morning , she will rouse herself and Wynn and say they should go into their rooms before Malcolm gets up.
Wynn agrees, but makes sure to tell Claudia he's sorry that he couldn't tell her yes. She gives him one last gentle kiss and says she understands. That when he's ready, he can ask her.
7th Chapter - Donovian crosses the line, Pvt. Wynn Doe determines now is the time to remove him. After this chapter the ending becomes locked in, and no more choices are made.
One of the things that will need to be addressed in the second pass is sprinkling in Donovian tormenting Claudia every now and then.
The most memorable antagonists are ones that fulfill either one (or both) of two criteria: 1) They're an active force in the story that force the protagonists to change. 2) If they're a looming threat the protagonists prepare for, the payoff has to warrant the hype and the preparation.
So Donovian. He's blatantly a Patrick Bateman ripoff, the director of St. Hammond's General Hospital, and enjoys tormenting Claudia and Malcolm, because he knows he can get away with it. He's too well connected (giving public officials discounts and special treatment), his public image is too clean, and you know, being rich always helps.
For a while now, he would entertain himself with rubbing it in Claudia's face that he got away with ruining her career and life by sending her hateful letters, threatening phonecalls, and other intimidating actions that makes sure she understands that she can't touch him.
However, he is cautious enough to not physically harm her or be around her. So ultimately, his plan is essentially to bully her into depression and possibly suicide. It's possible he would have succeeded, if not for Wynn's appearance.
Wynn's arrivial spells doom for Donovian one way or another. In E1 and E2, it's death (though for different reasons) and in E3 and E4, it's justice finally catching up with him.
One could assume E1 Wynn would work with Donovian, either to fully torment Claudia into suicide or further manipulate her into crawling back to Donovian, but that would be counter to what E1 Wynn wants. Wynn wants a nice and placid cover to hide under during his time with Claudia.
So he doesn't want Donovian ruining that, and instead decides to get rid of him. If Wynn helps Donovian at all, it's to use him to get what he wants and then kills him because he's no longer useful.
Either way, Donovian dies.
But what does he do through out the game? Well, he pretty much makes using the hospital a non option because Claudia is deathly afraid of ever putting herself or Malcolm anywhere near him. He has ruined her professional reputation and, because he's the one everyone believed, her reputation with her family as well.
If he can make her life harder, he does. She's his personal punching bag for life for defying him.
So early on in the story, the first instance of this abuse will probably be Wynn sitting in Claudia's home and, not being comfortable answering the phone, lets an incomming phone call go to the machine. What plays is a threatening message that surprises Wynn.
Around the middle portions of the story, he'd likely make an appearance. Either a forced hospital visit by Wynn and Claudia as written above, or some other public appearance.
This is probably too edgy, but if we're going for maximum douchebaggery, then this is pretty up there:
The act that crosses the line from "We'll deal with him later" to "HE'S GOTTA GO NOW" is Wynn's presence has caused him to step up his game. He has decided to finally go forward with his threat of siccing the CPS on her.
UNLESS, of couse, she sleeps with him. He'll give her a day to think about it.
Now, a braver writer might actually have an E1 route where she goes through with this bargain. I however an not that brave. IF another writer takes up this whole exercise in autism, they can write that.
I'm not saying it can't be done. I just don't know if I can write it. It would certainly mark a Point of No Return for Claudia, and be a VERY dark turn for her and the story. Especially as we enter the end game.
That, and it'd make killing Donovian that much more tempting, which make E1 and E2's solutions to this conundrum very simple. Just kill the fucker and the problem is solved.
It's in E3 and E4 where you don't kill him, Wynn has to get creative.
Crossroads Options - The Murder of Donovian in route 1 and 2
Wynn finds out where the director lives, either through Dierdra or stalking him.
Wynn chooses the murder him option. He breaks in one night with a knife and crowbar.
The murder itself has to feel cathartic. Donovian is a massive piece of shit, and his death has to FEEL like it's the right thing to do. In a simpler world, it might be.
Wynn does his best slasher villain impression, and ambushes Donovian in the dark. Parasaurs don't have good night vision.
IF Wynn is on the E1 route, it's a methodical, analytical murder. No emotion. Just a chore. Donovian whimpers and begs for his life as all his percieved power bleeds out of him but gets no reaction from Wynn. Just silent apathy.
After the deed is done, Wynn will call Dierdra and tell her that by helping cover this up, she'll have his backing and the money. She agrees. Body is cleaned up in the next few hours.
IF Wynn is on the E2 route, Wynn's expression is filled with righteous fury. Donovian deserves what he's getting and Wynn is making sure he suffers for what he's done to Claudia and Malcolm. He regards Donovian with pure contempt as he kills him.
After calming down a bit, Wynn calls Minnie, and asks her for a favor. He says he's taken care of Donovian, but needs someone to provide an alibi. She agrees. Body is left to rot as Wynn goes to Minnie's to get cleaned up.
Crossroads Options - Dealing with Donovian in route 3 and 4
IF Wynn is on the E3 route, then he goes to Dierdra and tells her she can have the money if she helps get Donovian off of Claudia's back.
She agrees, as Donovian is indeed involved with her father, and a little blackmail goes a long way. She also may need Donovian for her own ends down the line, so she doesn't want him jailed.
Wynn agrees to the compromise. Dierdra and Wynn (as her "enforcer") have a meeting with Donovian and he gets put in his place. Wynn doesn't like letting him essentially get away scott free.
Dierdra doesn't either, but the information Donovian has can lead to her father's arrest. Both take some satisfaction in seeing Donovian become a spineless worm when Dierdra makes it clear who's in charge.
However, Wynn is now also firmly in Dierdra's service, as this whole plan is built on threats, blackmail, and lies that everyone agrees upon.
IF Wynn is on the E4 route, he still contacts Dierdra, but this time rejects her compromise, saying that Donovian has to pay for what he's done to Claudia.
She says that's too bad, and that sort of white knight mentality doesn't survive long. Wynn agrees, but it's still the right thing to do, because he loves Claudia and by God he's gonna try.
This undiluted morality is Dierdra's fetish, so after a heavy sigh, she tells him that she'll help. She also hopes she knows a cop that can be trusted to do the right thing.
At this, Wynn calls Det. Patch Winslow, and tells him he'd like to meet. Wynn then goes to Claudia and says that he's got a confession to make
Wynn and Claudia have a heart to heart, where Wynn lays out everything
After that the two detectives show up and Wynn asks them for their help as well. In return he'll give them the money and face judgement.
Winslow says that if Dierdra can testify against her father and Donovian, then everybody's problems can be solved, and Wynn might earn himself a pardon for public service.
The plan starts with Donovian being arrested and his dirty laundry being aired out, ruining him.
There should be one or two chapters before the finale that act as the prelude to whatever consequences your actions hold. No more choices to be made. After Donovian, you are locked in.
This chapter, or chapters, will exist to flesh out Alphonse a bit more and to showcase what sort of character Wynn has become before the end
The herald of what ending you get will be inscribed upon the side of the church van at the begining of the pentultimate chapter. Father Xander will mention that Wynn is what inspired the quote.
Ending 1 Van quote
Psalm 141:4
"Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds of wickedness
With men who do iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies."
Ending 2 Van quote
Romans 12:17-19
"Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord."
Ending 3 Van Quote
2 Peter 2:19
"They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved."
Ending 4 Van quote
John 8:32
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Also in the penultimate chapter, Tiffany plays a key role in being the bearer of good or bad news to everybody. As well as calling the police to whichever location the finale will be taking place in
So, in what way can we involve Alphonse post Donovian? There wouldn't be much time between this and the end of the game.
In E1, and E3, Wynn will be spending his time with Dierdra making plans for her coup against Alphonse. The only real difference is that in E1, Wynn will also be setting up his inevitable betrayal of all parties involved.
In E2, Wynn, Claudia, and Malcolm can be having a wonderful time that's reminiscent of the opening of Commando or Death Wish. Everything is fine! And then a dark windowed car drives slowly past them. And then shit goes south.
In E4, it would be Wynn dealing with the fallout of all the Donovian business. The police will likely keep a lid on him being taken in until they can snag Alphonse. This will require Dierdra to also go into hiding while they prepare to take down her father
Might as well have her stay at Claudia's, because why not. That way we can have some heartwarming scenes where she's brought into Claudia, and now Wynn's little circle of relations. She can complains a little, but she likes it.
Minnie is particularly happy about the news Donovian is out of Claudia's life. She's planning a party for when this is all over. Everyone is pretty much expecting a wedding.
Wynn and Claudia will break it to them that Wynn confessed to his false identity and life spent as a thief to the police. He tells everybody that after all this is over, he will likely be going to prison.
This certainly upsets some people who've gotten to know him, and ask why he isn't being given immunity like Dierdra. He explains Dierdra is getting immunity in exchange for testifying. Wynn's has nothing to exchange, plus, he has it in his head he needs to be judged for everything he's ever done.
It's about here that people say goodbye to Wynn. It would be a very weighty scene if there are more scenes of Wynn interacting with everybody throughout the story.
Long story short, while everyone is shocked about his revelations, when they ask him say he's doing all this for Claudia's sake, they pretty much all just accept him as Wynn and say they'll each be a character witness for him during his trial
Finale - The consequences of your choices play out, and you're just along for the ride.
E1 - Wynn gets the various players in the drama to kill eachother so he can become a ghost and escape with the money. Leaving no history of himself.
Alphonse is lured to an ambush by Dierdra, and the coup commences.
It's a slaughter, but Dierdra's forces barely win out. Only for Wynn to shoot them all in the back and leave before the police show up
Claudia, by this time, has become either suspicious or frightened of Wynn much like how she was with Donovian, and is too afraid to act just like before.
This Wynn however is not going to torment her. She is a loose thread and he is going to cut it. So She, Malcolm, Minnie, Tiffany, and Father Xander all have to die, as they could all positively ID him.
The rest of the curch too, as they all know him from the shuttle rides he's been giving.
-X- This aspect of the ending is too dependent on characters that are not even part of the main roster of characters
To truly ensure people know this is a separate timeline, Lucy's mom Samantha and Rosa are in attendance.
-X-
He decides he will attempt to kill them painlessly though, via poison. The one way to get them all in one go is to poison the communion wine at church.
Using his copy of the keys, he sneaks in, poisons the wine, and goes with them the next day to make sure everything goes as planned. He pretends to drink, and then waits.
After 30 minutes, the parishioners begin to fall into a coma, and die one by one. Claudia is one of the last to fall. She sees him before collapsing.
There is a brief exchange, where she asks him why. He gives her the explanaition that he cannot leave any trace of himself behind. Including people who remember him. He assures her that the poison is painless.
She dies soon after, holding Malcolm's dead body as close to her as she can.
-X- Leaving key plot elements like Wynn being wounded and Patch losing his badge cause a character that isn't really PART of this story dies is just...bleh. Rewrite needed.
He gets up to confirm all the parishioners are dead, and as he surveys the death he gets shot in the shoulder by a near death Samantha. She has a pocket pistol in her purse. She is able to get one last shot off before succumbing to the poison, but fails to kill Wynn.
Wynn is wounded and bleeding. This set back gives makes it so his only option is to hightail it before any of the police can arrive.
Ripley is surveying the carnage of Alphonse and Dierdra's conflict with Winslow and Connors when the call comes in. The drive to the church is intense. When they arrive, the big guy's heart is broken, and everyone else is left in horror.
Detective Winslow and Connors walk amongst the bodies, desperate to make sense of all this. Winslow sits down defeated. He's already noticed that Wynn isn't among the dead. Guilt is already tearing into him that he know who did it, that there were signs, and the should haves and could haves are beginning to overflow in his mind.
Eventually the blood left by Wynn is collected. Ripley is in a state of frozen fury as he stands above his dead wife. His silence is broken when he calls over Winslow. The following conversation is a short one, where Winslow admits he has an idea who did this.
Ripley goes berserk, accusing Winslow of being the cause his wife's dead, and after needing to be held back from just out right strangling winslow to death, takes winslow's badge and gun. He's in a rage, but Winslow relents. He tells Connors that it's for the best, because now it's personal, and the Wynn isn't going to escape.
Patch vows to hunt Wynn down with, or without a badge. Jurisdiction would just get in the way at this point.
-X-
Wynn did not have a plan to deal with Winslow or the cops beyond outrun them. He has a headstart, multiple millions of dollars in hard cash, and no record of him existing (that he knows of). If he felt any emotion at this point, he'd be feeling confident.
Wynn is last seen by the player driving out of Volcadera Bluffs with a big bag of money next to him. Emotionless, with and with the same pin prick "glint" in his eyes that Alphonse had. The road ahead of him is a billowing, dark thunder cloud.
E2 - Alphonse kidnaps Claudia and Malcolm. Wynn goes on a rampage to rescue them and captures Dierdra. Offers an exchange. Alphonse doesn't care abou his daughter and shoots her himself. Wynn shoots Alphonse, but not before he puts a bullet in Malcolm's head. Claudia breaks, Wynn leaves, cut to years later and he roves the night brutally killing criminals.
Wynn's idea of himself after killing Donovian is that he'll just kill anyone that threatens him or his loved ones. Alphonse included. It's the Action Hero Fallacy of, "Nah, I'd win"
Which is all well and good until you get to the part where the action hero loses everyone they care about.
As mentioned, Alphonse learns it was Wynn who stole his money and kidnaps Claudia and Malcolm as a way to force Wynn to bring the money back.
Dierdra helped in kidnapping them, telling Wynn she warned him. This is likely done via phone.
Gearing up montage. It's not a lot. It's mostly just grabbing a Wildey Magnum and a bowie knife and preparing to go all Death Wish.
Wynn drives up and his action movie moment actually goes pretty well. There's seven or so guys there, which 1 on 7 is fucking steep odds outside of fiction. Especially when they are saurians, who are just plain stronger than humans
However, Wynn does play it smart at first. He activates the sprinkler system which hides his scent and makes the saurians colder, which slows them down.
This gives him enough of an edge that he is actually rather effectively killing his way through the goons. He stops when he gets to Dierdra, who Alphonse gave a gun and essentially told her to do something useful.
She ends up being the last one left of the minions. She says it didn't have to be this way, and Wynn should have worked with her. Wynn get the drop on her and takes her hostage.
He then moves to where Alphonse is, who has a gun to trained on Wynn. Wynn threatens him that the only way he and his daughter walk away alive is is Claudia and Malcolm do too.
Alphonse says that Wynn miscalculated, and then shoots Wynn through Dierdra. She's dead, and Wynn is wounded. Alphonse then laments how worthless Dierdra turned out being, most damning being she actually liked humans.
Also states that seeing as how his kid is now dead, he might as well even the score, and executes Malcolm in front of Claudia and Wynn. Not to be shown in gratuitous detail mind you. Silhouetted at most.
As you might expect, Claudia is reduced to incoherent wailing. Alphonse picks Wynn up and is about to literally bite his head off, when Wynn whips out the bowie knife and starts desperately carving Alphonse's face and throat.
His actions during this part are described from an almost outside perspective. Adrenaline and survival instinct has completely taken over. One of those instances where one does something but doesn't remember because it happens too quickly.
The true course of events are that he stabs Alphonse in the nose, eye, and throat. Alphonse, on reflex drops Wynn. Wynn grabs his dropped pistol and then shoot Alphonse with the remaining bullets, killing the saurian.
Wynn gets lost in a berserk rage and rips Alphonse's corpse with the knife apart. His sense of time gets blurry after that. At some point he snaps out of his rage and is standing over Claudia who is cradling her dead son.
She is broken, mentally, and the last coherent thing Wynn hears her say is that he is a monster, and that she should have let him die, because it's all his fault. Wynn can do nothing but reflect on his choices, and come to the same conclusion.
Wynn gets the police after that, but he isn't there when they arrive. He vanishes. Last seen watching Malcolm's burial from a fair distance away.
Claudia is checked into a mental asylum after shuting down to a near catatonic state. Only Minnie seems to get her to murmmur something approaching words. Wynn left the money on Minnie's doorstep, but has since disappeared.
He now roams the dark corners of Volcadera Bluffs, meeting out what he considers revenge for Malcolm and Claudia. His eventual death will be his ultimate penance for his failure. He has lost his mind in a similar fashion to Claudia.
Where she has chosen "flight" from the world, Wynn has chosen "fight" and is now living in permanent Death Wish mode
E3 - Dierdra successfully coups her father, covers for Wynn, and has him become her number 1 guy. Years later he is watching over Claudia from afar when Dierdra calls him that she has another job for him. He drives away.
With Donovian in her pocket, the members of her father's organization have seen she's capable enough to lead, and they have been chafing under his increasingly deranged hatred towards humans. He's close to going off the deep end
With the gang's support, Alphonse is ambushed, and dealt with. It takes a lot of bullets to bring him down, but down he goes all the same.
Having taken part in various illegal activities, Wynn is also under Dierdra's thumb, although she promises that isn't the worst position for him to be in.
Wynn has to leave Claudia and Malcolm behind, but Dierdra does say it won't be forever, and she isn't heartless, so he can still visit. But to make no mistake, he will come when called.
So Wynn leaves. He becomes Dierdra's number one guy, and after two years, he is living a fine life. However, his heart isn't in it.
We rejoin him after these two years meeting Claudia on a park bench, catching up on how everyone is doing. Claudia is still a waitress, Malcolm is starting elementary school. Tiffany's going to Volcano High.
They're all living peaceful lives. Wynn is happy to hear all this, but he receives a message that he has got to go. So he says his goodbyes once again, and gets into a car with Dierdra.
She prods him with some questions about how his visit went, and eventually asks him how can she get him to look at her like he looks at Claudia. He doesn't respond.
She say she can order him to do it, but lets it slide when he replies she'd know it'd be fake.
I suppose it could work if Dierdra and Wynn were in a sexual but loveless relationship. Wynn yearns to be with Claudia but is unable to seperate from Dierdra. Dierdra yearns to have Wynn's love and thinks he'll come around eventually. Claudia is still alone with another fatherless child.
Kinda tragic, but a better outcome than E1 and E2.
E4 - Wynn becomes detective, Dierdra works for Moe, Claudia becomes a school nurse at Volcano High, Malcolm is entering elementary school, Tiffany is entering highschool also at Volcano High. Everything is cool.
Wynn works with Patch Winslow, Dierdra, and Claudia to bring in Donovan, who is made to confess to helping with Alphonse's illegal activities. Dierdra promises to testify in exchange for immunity. Claudia's testimony puts Donovian away for a long time.
Alphonse gets arrested in a raid led by Ripley. They have a rather impressive fight (Off screen, but presume it's quite the spectacle. Maybe news cameras pick it up). Wynn is pardoned for past crimes as thanks for his part in assisting taking down a dangerous criminal.
Eventually the time comes for Wynn to hand himself over to the police. He's with everyone at the church when Patch and Terry come in. Everyone makes it clear that Wynn's good person to Patch. He just nods and says that is good to know, but Wynn still needs to come to the station for some paperwork.
When asked "just paperwork?" Patch reveals Wynn is being pardoned. There is no evidence of any crimes that coincides with his confession, and even so, none of the crimes described were violent in nature. So he just needs to put a name on the books and start paying taxes and the VBPD will consider things square.
Cheers erupt, and Wynn says he's going to need a better job if he's going to be start being a taxpaying citizen. And if he's going to get Claudia a wedding ring.
Dierdra gets a job at Moes because she's fresh out of crime money.
Cut to two years later. Wynn and Claudia are married, have a fresh baby and another on the way.
Wynn has become a detective and Terry Connor's new partner.
Moe retired, we'll say Dierdra gets the franchise.
Minnie and Terry are an item because fuck it why not
Tiffany is taking music class from Mrs. Mous.
Yadda yadda yadda happy endings all around plus a few more cameos.
E4 wedding dance mood to go for
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCGNYJOrebA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPdtJYO0DTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYWrPTh9Ug
2nd pass
Mostly just going to write ideas or character revisions and the alterations that cause to the storyline here
Definitely need to fix the intro. Getting Wynn and Claudia together requires some work, but as of now it is mix of lazy and forced. When in doubt, steal an idea. There's no shortage of stories of kind hearted women finding and rehabilitaing wounded men.
Now if only I could think of one.
Minnie2:
An older, but not senior aged, woman that attends Father Xander's church and one of the more prominent parishoners that heads up many of the church's charity drives and activities.
Along with Father Xander, she was there to help Claudia when her life was collapsing around her. Becomming a surrogate, motherly figure for Claudia and what is essentially Aunt to Malcolm, Minnie is one of the few people Claudia opens up to.
She's very kind and well meaning. However, she has her own life to lead, and can't always be there for Claudia. Believes prayer is pretty much all you need, and her advice for some of Claudia's more dire issues is to turn to Raptor Jesus for answers
She can still work at the diner. Might run the place, even. Definitely makes it easy to explain how Claudia got her job after being ruined by Donovian.
This recharacterization would remove her relevance from E2, and alter certain scenes throughout. However, she could be duped into passing out the poisoned wine in E1 a lot easier. And her now more passive personality would answer any questions as to why she isn't more involved against Wynn in E1.
The changes would also dramatically change Claudia's story. Reversing who helped who would make Claudia's desperate need to help Wynn come less from an inherent goodness, and instead being inspired by the help she received from Minnie. One good turn deserves another and all that.
So scenes that would need revision that exist so far:
Minnie no longer guides towards E2. Perhaps Tiffany, in some naive "Just be an action hero" way can.
Minnie's introduction would be done alongside Father Xander's at the church
Minnie can be the one to give Wynn the job of Church Bus Driver
Minnie talking to Wynn at the diner is far less aggressive. She can still be upset about the situation Claudi is in, but her solution is just to pray for something good to happen
Minnie talking to the police would be far more complimentary towards the police
The park visit should be mostly unchanged. Probably just dialogue
Minnie still can still cover for Claudia in emergencies, but is less able to now. So she may not show up at the hospital, and if she does she will be much more polite if she tells Wynn to go away
Minnie does not and will not cover up any crimes whatsoever, so E2 needs to change. Quite possibly Wynn cleans up after himself, which is what gets him discovered?
E4 Epilogue, Minnie hooks up with Patch instead of Terry. Her redesign puts her at like, 40ish (maybe even 50), and Patch is pushing 60, but fuck it.
Father Xander2:
If we're using other games as a guide, then Father Xander won't need as much screen time as other characters. Moe is a decent example. Moe was in all of 2 scenes and a bonus chapter. His personality big and lovable, so that's why he's remembered so fondly.
Father Xander is not as boistrous as Moe, so his limited screen time will need to be impactful in a different way. He's essentially a replacement father figure for Claudia, since her old family cast her out. So him and Minnie would be the people Claudia would go to for advice.
The best way for Xander to be memorable or stand out is for him to be helpful to the player. He could just straight up tell the player how to get E4. It's not enough to love someone, you have to be honest with them, and yourself. A bit of a rehash of Wani's lesson there, but it's a good lesson to repeat.
Tiffany2:
Tiffany needs more to do. She's the babysitter for Malcolm, which means she's going to be the person the young lad has interacted with the most besides his mother before Wynn shows up. Her role as a gossip needs to be better utilized as well. Though that role may now better fit Minnie.
She currently exists for the plot convenience of putting Malcolm with someone for a while where he can be out of the way. Perhaps her role is reserved for the slice of life segments? She is a teenager on the periphery of all this, with only one real connection. How invested can she be?
If she gets worried or frightened, she'll probably go to her parents. Unless she's a latchkey kid. A bit better off than Inco, in that she spends her mornings with her parents, but doesn't see them again till evenings, giving her a lot of independence. Does she have other friends? Maybe she likes having Malcolm hang around her? Maybe she likes having a "baby brother" that thinks she's the coolest?
So she might be that Spielberg esque movie trope of plucky young kid that gets into intense situations and somehow comes out the other end. Or, she thinks she is. That could work as characterization. Now I just need to think of some scenes to put her in, and figure out how she affects the main story arc.
She could help Wynn in some of his more clandestine activities, should they arise. Her thinking being that he's like an action hero or spy or sometihng. Thinking about the fun as opposed to the reality. Dealing with the consequences would be a nice slice of life scene about being honest.
So what are some scenes we can use Tiffany in?
Introduction. Early on, where Wynn is still getting his bearings. Tiffany and Malcolm help him acclimate to his new normal. Tiffany likes being helpful, and pesters Wynn with questions about himself along with Malcolm. Thinks him being a "Private" means Wynn can do a bunch of action movie stuff.
Tiffany has a simpler view of the world due to her youth, so she asks the question of, "why can't you just kill the bad guys?"
Slice of life scene of Tiffany and Malcolm introducing Wynn to video games. Gives him a choice between the snoot equivalents of Mario Kart, Metal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, or Smash Bros.
During a time where Wynn is hanging around Malcolm and Tiffany, he overhears Tiffany singing, and it's revealed she's actually quite good.
Also, I need to consider if the whole money, thief, alphonse thing is really worth doing, or if I should focus entire only Donovian as the villain of the story.
If I focus entirely on Donovian, then where does that leave Wynn? E1 could be Wynn and Donovian team up, E2 is Murder, murder everywhere, E3 is Wynn makes a sacrifice play to take him down, and E4 is bad guy is tricked into destroying himself.
Could work I suppose. Would any characters be removed? Dierdra definitely. Patch and Terry would have a much reduced role. Maybe even bit parts. Might not be such a bad thing. Having an end of chapter status report is tough when You're not sure how to describe Wynn's moral development from an outsider's perspective.
Biggest question is how would Wynn get involved? I don't know.
After some consideration, Alphonse should remain as a secondary antagonist.
Donovian's plotline concludes with the "Point of No Return" for Wynn and Claudia. Alphonse will act as the "Meteor" for our characters. The inevitable hurdle that must be addressed.
E1 will remain a "Wynn is the real villain and kills everybody," ending. I've had a thought that Wynn dies in E1 as well, but I can't decide if that would be a better ending than letting him drive off.
E2 will need retooling as stated above. Wynn will likely attempt to clean things up himself. If Dierdra is going to be characterized by always making compromises, then she may kidnap Claudia and Malcolm without letting her father know only for that plan to backfire horribly when she gets ratted out by one of her supporters.
E3 needs some retooling, though not too much. Should work pretty much as is.
E4 may require further exploration on Wynn convincing Dierdra to leave her old life behind, as well as Claudia's role in Donovian's downfall. Perhaps Wynn can play a more active role in the actual arrest of Alphonse as well. Though that would take some explaining as to how and why.
Maybe instead of Alphonse being taken down in a raid off screen, he shows up at where Wynn is intent on killing everyone, but the police are there this time. Wynn's acts of bravery during the fight convince the officers that he'd be an asset to the force. Maybe.
As for the money/theft plot device: the igniting incident. The thing that kicks off the plot and spins things out of control. It's as good of a motivation as anything. Would likely need to be used more throughout the story. Like Wynn using the money as he becomes more attached to Claudia to solve her problems.
As with all stories, it's the how it's put in. First thing is to make the robbery itself make sense. How Wynn gets the money, how he gets away, what goes wrong, and how he ends up at Claudia's.
So currently Wynn steals the cash during a celebration Alphonse is holding to commemorate the recent destruction of a human gang that operated out of Skin Row, and the money is just in a big pile as a sort of boastful, "look at the rewards of our conquest" sort of thing.
That doesn't really gel with the more primal, almost feral, attitude Alphonse has been characterized with. As such, there could still be a party, but there is also a safe on the premises with the money inside.
Could also play up the idea Alphonse has started to not really care about the money as much as he does the violence he uses to get it by being completely unconcerned with security. He is more focused about intimidating his minions by eating a guy infront of them and forcing them all to partake than he is making sure a thief can't get in.
Really sells that everyone knows he's losing it but is too terrified to actually try and stop him or get out of there. Would also give Dierdra more backing for her coup, and when she spots Wynn, helps explain why she lets him get away. Of course this means Alphonse only cares about the stolen money in so far that it gives him an excuse to go on a war path.
It's currently located at an art gallery, perhaps the one from Wani, but that doesn't really work. Volcadera Bluffs is a big place. Should reserve reusing locations for the bonus chapters or unless it really makes sense for the story. So the intro should take place in a place completely new.
Fancy restaurant seems like a classic choice. Fits with the "special dinner" Alphonse has prepared. Does he cook the victim? This time, perhaps, though he may admit he usually prefers his raw. Can't seem to find a cook that wants the job, so he did this himself.
Depending on the design of the ballroom, then Wynn can witness all of this. Oh. Added benefit of having the scene take place somewhere with a kitchen, I can do an homage to the Raptor kitchen scene from Jurassic Park. That could be fun. Plus, having it take place a privately owned club would hand wave some of the hows and whys of Alphonse eating a guy there.
That sounds like a solid fix. How does Wynn know where the safe is? Maybe he was not expecting the dinner to take place, and was in the process of casing the place. Makes a judgement call to take his chances and rob the place then and there. Finds the safe just as Alphonse's party arrives. The escape will result in a complication that wounds Wynn.
Might as well keep it simple and have him leap through a window and fall a survivable but unsafe distance. He hobbles away, and as a bit of narrative fortune, stumbles into the Monarch's cab. Throws a stack of money at the guy and says drive. Goes unconscious. Cab driver gets the hell out of there and dumps him on the other side of town on the curb in front of Xander's church.
Does that make sense? Does it stretch incredulity too far? I think it works. Better than a random moose causing Wynn to car crash. That will do for the first half of the prologue. The second half can take place at the church where Claudia offers to take care of Wynn. They respect his privacy and do not look through his things. Hoping he will open up to them on his own.
Intro ends with Claudia taking Wynn home, meeting Malcolm, and falling asleep on the couch. Claudia lives in the low end of middle class suburban neighborhood.
I think this is a stronger introduction.
IntroB - Break in, search, surprise, escape, collapse
The scene opens with a rumble of thunder and the pitter patter of rain, as the opening narration begins. The date, time, and place. December 31st, 201M2024, Volcadera Bluffs. A back alley in little Troodon. Warm front came up from the south, and brought a storm with it.
Wynn gives a small description of Wynn's plan.
The plan is simple: Get in, find the breaker, kill the power to security systems, find the safe, crack it, get out. Should have all the time in the world. This Restaurant is one of the few that close for New Years Eve.
Wynn begins outside the restaurant, but like the other games, it's from his pov. The first image is the back alley that leads to the service entrance of the restaurant. The first sprite put on screen is Wynn checking his fake Id, with him explaining that this should be the last fake persona he'll need after this score.
After it drops down, the Wynn sprite is revealed, and he moves to the door.
Insert a minigame or guessing game to spice things up or show off Wynn's expertise in breaking and entering if possible. Devise some method for getting past electronic locks. Fake ID is specially made to be a skeleton key of sorts?
Cracks the lock on the service entrance and infiltrates the back rooms of the restaurant. Specifically through the kitchens. He stalks through darkened hallways and unlocks his way into the security room. To his surprise, there are very few cameras in the restaurant, but what few there are he deactivates.
While there he also locates the room with the safe as well as deactivates the alarm systems that are attached to it remotely.
Everything is coming up Milhouse. He quickly makes his way to the room and gets to work on the physical locks in on the safe.
The moment he gets it open, he hears a door shut somewhere outside the room. He has gotten the combination for the safe by this point, so reopening it won't be a problem, allowing him to close it an hide.
He pulls out the Wildey Magnum from within his jacket and readies it. His inner monologue notes that some Saurians have a keen sense of smell, and he is not wearing anything that would conceal his scent.
He overhears two people talking as they walk by. One asks "Is that what humans smell like?" The other responds, "Never wanted to know." Wynn stiffens and levels his aim at the door, but they footsteps walk past.
He lets out a breath and returns to the safe, quickly getting it open and piling the money inside. It's a lot more than he expected. Millions more. He has no idea why the owner didn't have this in a bank, but it's their loss.
Soon his duffelbag is full to bursting, and the safe is cleared out. Now Wynn has to extricate himself, however it quickly becomes clear he cannot go out the way he came in. So he makes his way to the second floor, where there is balcony seating. From there he gets a good view of things.
Fortunately this seems to be a small gathering. No more than perhaps a dozen people in total. He doesn't consider this luck to be all that good considering who these dozen people are.
He recognizes that this is not some private get together considering half of those present are obviously armed. The other half probably concealing weapons. He finds it odd that all of the guests seem anxious and not wanting to be there. Most of all is the sole female saurian, whom will be revealed to be Dierdra.
He also smells something in the room. It's the faint scent of pork wafting in from the kitchen. As he tries to find a way out, the kitchen door opens and the imposing form of Alphonse lumbers into the room pulling a covered tray behind him. Wynn recognizes Alphonse immediately. He's infamous for his size and savage demeanor.
Wynn begins thinking that now that the kitchen is vacated he might be able to sneak back out that way. He has a second thought that he could wait it out as they don't seem to be overly concerned with securing the area.
Regardless what Wynn chooses, he is forced to wait as one of the guards takes up position at the bottom of the stairs. So he attempts to keep his head down and listen to the party.
Alphonse begins to speak, although his tone never gets higher than a low, rumbling growl. He begins by congratulating the gathered individuals on conducting a successful year. A great deal of profits were brought in by Dierdra, which is all fine, but Alphonse is most pleased with the conquest of Skin Row Gangs.
He continues that without the organized resistance from those gangs, the humans that live there will be easy prey. To kill or exploit as Alphonse sees fit.
There isn't any applause to this, so Wynn peeks from his hiding spot to gauge the mood of his crowd. They all seem very uncomfortable.
Alphonse goes on saying that he is somewhat disappointed that his top men seem so upset with their recent success. He's heard some complaints that some of them don't enjoy pursuing such aggressive strategies. This has caused him to have concerns of the devotion of his top lieutenants.
So he says perhaps a nice dinner will put those concerns to rest. At which point he lifts the cover on the tray, revealing a cooked human. It is in silhouette in most scenes. Wynn doesn't reel back in terror, but his eyes do dilate in a "what the fuck" sort of glare.
The dinner guests do flinch with disgust and put hands over their mouths. Dierdra especially looks disgusted and like she's sickened. Alphonse meanwhile just takes a piece and rips it off, placing it on one of his guests' plates.
As he circles the table and places pieces of the human in front of the others, and tells them to eat. He puts it in simple terms that if they do not eat, then he will assume they do not want to be a part of the organization, and he will kill them.
One by one the plates have a piece of the cooked human placed on them, and when they've all been filled, Alphonse commands all of them to once again Eat. One by one they begin to eat. Dierdra is the last. Alphonse looms over her and mockingly asks if she would prefer her portion a bit more rare like her old man.
She hesitates, which results with Alphonse putting a massive hand on the back of her neck and asking if she is going to refuse to eat after all. She finally succumbs and takes a bite, swallowing the piece as soon as possible. Seemingly satisfied, Alphonse sits at the head of the table and rips off his own piece to eat.
He tells them the meeting is over, and that the new year is going to be a bloody one. Alphonse finishes his portion and then leaves.
They all immediately leave the table, and Wynn sinks back into his hiding spot. Disturbed by the sight, but pleased that he's not going to be sticking around for what appears will be a race war breaking out.
Unfortunately, the guests apparently don't leave as quickly as he'd hoped, and his hiding spot is apparently next to the bathrooms. Dierdra darts past his spot into the ladies room, and Wynn is treated to the sound of vomiting for the next minute or so. Soon after, one of the other guests takes position outside the door and waits for her.
When she emerges, Wynn overhears another conversation. Dierdra begins by asking if Alphonse has left, and upon hearing he has flies into a rant. She calls her father an insane monster and that this has got to stop. He's begun acting lime an animal.
Her conversation partner agrees, but also tells her that nobody is gonna stand up to him because he IS a terrifying monster. No one is convinced that a coup could work. Everyone wants to be the one to take over, so there isn't a unified front of support.
Dierdra laments that Alphonse will get them all killed if he tries to start purge Skin Row. Not even the police will ignore that. She continues that she has to be the one to take over, but she needs something to convince the others that she's the one.
Wynn, meanwhile, hasn't been able to see any of this from his spot, only listen. So when he hears footsteps walking away, he presumes that they both had left. Turns out it was just the guy talking to Dierdra, who is currently sitting alone in a booth with her head in her hands.
Attempting to dip back into his hiding spot he bumps into a chair/potted plant/ table. Something that gets in the way and gets Dierdra's attention. She stares at Wynn. Wynn stares at her. He makes a rather hasty and poorly thought out decision.
He jumps over the 2nd floor balcony railing. That's bad. There's a table there to break his fall. That's good! That table probably won't do shit. That's bad. He might be able to use the big bag of money as a cushion. That's good! He's about to impact.
To the table's credit, it is of solid construction and does enough to slow Wynn's collision with the carpeted hard wood tile floor by a few feet. As such, he doesn't break his legs and all of his ribs. With the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he rolls out of the wreckage as gracefully as a man in horrific pain can, and makes a dash towards the front bay windows.
The act did have the unintended consequence of surprising everyone present, which in a similarly unexpected turn of events turns out to be very few people. Wynn is running as well as he can and barrels through one of the bay windows of the restaurant entrance and into the rainy street. He recovers quickly and spots a cab idling on the curb across the street.
Wynn hobbles his way through traffic and after throwing open the rear doors and hurling himself into the backseat. The cab driver (the monarch of course, because he's THE cab driver) is naturally none to pleased about this and asks what the hell is going on.
Wynn pulls a big wad of cash an throws it at the cab driver with the simple command of "Drive. As fast and as far as that takes me. No hospitals." Seeing the thousands of dollars thrown at him, the cabby shrugs and puts pedal to metal.
He comments that he doesn't want any part of whatever the hell is going on with Wynn, so when he decides to dump him somewhere that'll be that, and he will deny ever meeting him. Wynn agrees that will be just fine, as the adrenaline rush abates and the concussion Wynn got from impacting the table, as well as the cracked ribs knock him out.
Eyes close
Scene ends
Part 1B - Wake up, Meet Claudia, Minnie, and Father Xander. Get brought to Claudia's home for recovery.
Eyes open. Time unknown. Pain everywhere. Body refuses to move. Laying on something that isn't exactly soft. Hard to perceive surroundings. Brain is still trying to come to terms with being conscious.
Can hear noises that sound like voices, but can't make sense of them. Blurred by headache. What mental faculties Wynn can call upon establish a few facts: He is alive, he is hurt, and he seems to be some place well lit.
However, he settles for heavy breathing as opposed to making some kind of groaning noise until he can actually make sense of sounds and shapes. He closes his eyes again.
When he opens them again he notes that things are somewhat different. Some feeling has returned to his limbs beyond stiff numbness. Now he can clearly feel the aches of his muscles and bones. He can even feel gravity pushing down on him.
His sight and hearing are also clearer. Enough so that he can discern that he's in a white room with some sort of cheap ceiling tile. Wynn does a bit of a system's check. Hands, fingers, knees, and toes.
They all hurt, and breathing wasn't fun either. His attempted movement did clue him in that he wasn't wearing his jacket or pants, and he could feel bandages wrapped tightly around the parts of his body that hurt most. Plus, he had a heavy blanket on top of him.
Someone has apparently done some first aid on him. He strained his ears, and detected no voices around him, or sounds one usually associates with a hospital.
At this point Wynn is fairly certain that he isn't in imminent danger so he risks letting loose a groan and shifting his head to look around. No response to the groan, but the shift in his head's position causes lances of pain to shoot through his head.
He gets a good look at the room he's in. It looks like a lounge of some sort. He's set up on a couch. He sees his coat and pants in a folded pile on a nearby table next to the duffelbag. His magnum is no where to be seen, and he wonders if he lost it somewhere in the restaurant.
Wynn without know the full extent of his wounds, he decides moving around would be a painful waste of time. However, he also wants to see if the money is still in the bag. A short trip to the table and back should be doable.
Empty Choice:
Choosing to stay put and go back to sleep
With a grunt, Wynn repositions his head to where it was before. The throbbing aches and pains resulting from the slight head movement only confirm that he needs more rest. He closes his eyes and drifts back to sleep.
Skips to the next scene
Choosing to check on the bag
Wynn exerts a great deal of effort as he slides his legs over the edge of his makeshift bed. His ribs and back rebel against the action, and he is forced to crawl. No part of his body is happy about this, especially when it comes to the part about reaching the bag itself.
Using a nearby chair he pushes himself up high enough to grab the strap of the bag and pull it off the table. It isn't a quiet process, but it makes it easier to reach. With another groan of effort, Wynn opens the bag, revealing the money is still there.
He sighs in relief, and closes it up. However, his exhalation takes the breath out of him completely, and he falls unconscious once more.
next scene
When Wynn next opens his eyes, he is not alone. He feels cold and wet spots over the sorest parts of his body. In addition, the presence of someone administering the first aid.
This is where he gets his first look at Claudia. She's gingerly going over the heavily bruised parts of his body and swapping out ice packs.
Wynn's first thoughts about Claudia are very analytical. He goes over her physical characteristics before zeroing in on finer details, like how she looks tired, but also how her movements are professional and well practiced.
The last comments are those those that make a judgement about how she appears to have very kind features beneath her apparent exhaustion.
Before much longer she notices Wynn is awake and looking at her. She gives a surprised and obviously pleased hello before returning to her professional demeanor.
If Wynn checked on the bag, she admonishes him for trying to move around and to not do that again without her or someone there to help.
She plies a standard checklist of how are you feeling, can you talk, follow my finger, do you remember your name etc.
Wynn introduces himself as Private Wynn Doe, to which she introduces herself. He then asks how he got here, and where Here is.
Claudia says that he is currently in the sitting room of St. Sattler's Bayside Church. It's a small parish near the shoreline. Serves one of the smaller neighborhoods on the edge of city.
She then says that it was Father Xander who found Wynn dumped on the curb in front of the parish. He had enough training from the army days to get Wynn inside, but he called Claudia for help, as she has medical training.
Together they got Wynn all patched up, but he had been laying in the rain for goodness knows how long and started running a fever.
Wynn starts hazily putting this information together and asks how long has he been unconcious. Claudia says almost three days.
She is surprised Wynn is conscious at all, and comments on how humans always surprise her from being able to bounce back from anything.
Wynn tries to process all this as his head continues to throb in pain with every subtle shift or thought he focuses on.
He then asks the all important question of "Why no hospital?"
Claudia gets a bit dodgey all of the sudden and says that it was Father Xander that made the decision to call her instead of the hospital. Afterwards she clams up, and gives Wynn the impression she's not saying everything.
Claudia takes the moment to ask Wynn if he remembers anything about how he got there. The last thing Wynn wants to do is reveal the truth, but he also doesn't really know how much Claudia knows.
He spends a long moment considering his options an chooses to simply say no, he doesn't. She seems disappointed with the answer, but doesn't push the issue.
She finishes her ministrations and tells him that he should rest, and that Father Xander wants to talk to him when he's ready. She gets up to leave but gives a quick glance back and bidding Wynn to sleep tight. She'll be back in a few hours to check in.
Empty Choice:
Say goodnight back
Wynn returns the parting phrase. Claudia pauses a moment longer, a brief expression of surprise crossing her features before giving Wynn one last tender smile as she departs.
Say nothing
Wynn tries to contemplate his next move, but his weariness overcomes him and once more falls unconscious.
Next scene
The next time Wynn awakens it is from the sound of the door opening. He is still sore all over, but he can also feel that the pain isn't AS intense as before.
An elderly man's voice creaks out a greeting, as an ancient looking ankylosaur enters Wynn's view pulling a chair up to his "bedside." The old man is wearing the traditional black garment of a priest.
Wynn understands this must be Father Xander, but lets the old man speak first. This proves to be a mistake as apparently Father Xander is offering the same courtesy. So they just end up staring at each other awhile.
After what seems to be almost ten minutes of both of them waiting for the other to speak, Wynn hears snoring coming from the elderly priest. Where other Anons may speak up and try to get the conversation over with, Wynn remains silent and retreats into his own mind and tries to wait him out.
Then the door opens and Minnie walks in.
A rather tall, kindly looking, middle aged ceratops woman enters and asks Father Xander how the patient is doing. speaks in a higher than expected pitch for someone of her height.
When Father Xander springs awake, she tut tuts him, and then notices Wynn is also awake. At which point Wynn gets a second round of questions.
The two of them say they are glad that Wynn seems to be recovering quickly, and introduce themselves. Minnie says she's been praying for his recovery, and Xander mentions that Claudia has been nearly inseparable from Wynn's bedside.
Which is good, as she wasn't as squeamish about the wounds and stripping Wynn down to clean him up.
Hearing that the pink Parasaur has likely seen his junk in such a non-official capacity doesn't make him comfortable.
While Wynn's mind wrangles with what else Claudia did to and for him while he was knocked out, Father Xander asks Minnie to go get some soup for Wynn to eat, as he's probably going to start feeling hungry now that he's waking up more often.
After she leaves, Father Xander regards Wynn again, and his tone shifts from one of a kindly old man having a casual conversation, to one that has an investigative edge to it.
He says that Claudia told him that Wynn doesn't remember how he ended up dumped on the curb in front of the church.
Father Xander pulls a bishop from Les Miserables and tells Wynn that he knows that Wynn isn't telling the truth about what brought him, that the id he found is fake, and he knows that the money is stolen.
He did some background checks on "Pvt. Wynn Doe," and found nothing. Not even a birth certificate. Wynn, internally questions what kind of background checks a priest of a small parish can make.
He also tells Wynn that, to him, he has a choice. He could call the police, turn him in, and the money shall go wherever it shall go. Such a thing doesn't matter to him.
Or, he can give Wynn a rare thing indeed. A chance to do some good with himself, and the money.
Father Xander tells him the Claudia, though she won't admit it, is in dire need of some help. She has been devotedly helping Wynn to recover, and he will repay this kindness by helping her once he recovers.
Father Xander tells Wynn to consider this as penance. It shall be good for Wynn's troubled soul if he should form a bond with Claudia, and such a thing may also teach him the value of living an honest life.
This gives Wynn time to digest the priest's words, and after a few moments, Wynn begins asking certain key questions
What if he says no? Then the police shall be called to help Wynn atone for his sins.
What if Wynn just leaves? Then he will no longer be of concern to his flock. But to be running for the rest of your days is a bad way to live. You can't outrun God, after all.
How did Father Xander know the id was fake? Father Xander replies with that before he took on the title of Father, it was that of Major in the Combat Application Group, mostly known as Delta Force. He made a phone call or two to some of his friends.
"It pays to have friends, you know. 'Private.'"
What if Wynn is dangerous? This will get Father Xander to drop his friendly demeanor and make the open threat of, "Then you'll meet God sooner than you'd expect."
Things will get quiet after that and Wynn will ask a final question, of whether a priest has an issue with using stolen money.
The money, which Father Xander will point out, was taken from a particularly evil individual, so to put it to better use would be no sin, and in fact, just might be God's will.
Having things be made rather clear by Father Xander, Wynn thinks over his options, and finds that the only way forward is to accept.
With this, Father Xander will return to his kindly old man persona and tell Wynn that he's pleased, and that to do good, to live a life of kindness and love, is no punishment at all.
He finishes by saying that evil is the simple and cruel act of not caring about other people
The old priest rises with a few creaking bones and hobbles his way to the door, saying the soup should be about ready.
Once more Wynn is left to his own thoughts. He considers what he's just agreed to. He thinks of Claudia, who has apparently been quite the nurse. Unfortunately it seems Wynn was unconscious for most of it.
He determines, if he behaves himself then he can at least lay low with these people until the heat dies down and then he can leave them all behind.
The one snag is that he considers the idea of people knowing about him to be a problem. He reminds himself that he doesn't exist, and it's better that way. He'll play along, but the moment he has a good window to escape, he's gone.
Soon after, Minnie returns with a nice bowl of soup, and sits down next to Wynn. She once more says her hellos, and asks if Wynn is feeling hungry. Wynn is mostly feeling sore, but he reckons he probably hasn't eaten much since being dumped here.
He attempts to sit up, and with much groaning, accomplishes the task. Minnie excitedly congratulates him on the effort, and that Claudia will be thrilled to see him making so much progress. Minnie asks if he'd like to try feeding himself now that he's feeling better
He doesn't really respond, but when Minnie mentions feeding himself he gives her a quizzical expression
She notes his curiosity, and explains that Claudia has been feeding him some nutritious broth over the last few day.
Wynn says he's not hungry at the moment. Minnie places the bowl of soup on the table next to his personal belongings and asks if he'd like to rest.
He replies no, he just wants to try standing up for a bit. Minnie cautions him to not strain himself. He makes a feeble attempt, but the shock of pain that riot's through his bones cuts that pretty short.
Minne says she told him so. Wynn rests with a grimace as his body attempts to recover from the endeavor. Minnie takes the reprieve to inform Wynn that Claudia would be along before too long, so maybe she can answer any questions Wynn might have.
Wynn thinks, and comes up with a short list in his head.
The first being, who is Minnie? She says that she's the leading lady around the church. She handles the day to day affairs and event planning that Father Xander doesn't.
Has Father Xander mentioned anything about Wynn to anyone? Only that he's some poor soul that got on the wrong end of life. Father Xander was adamant that it doesn't matter who Wynn was, only that he needed help. He made a point of saying to respect Wynn's privacy. Also, that if Wynn causes too many problems, to let Father Xander know.
Wynn notes the hypocrisy, but also connects that if that is how Father Xander phrased things, he didn't lie.
Did Minnie help take care of Wynn? Some what. Claudia really spear headed the whole thing. Even though Minnie didn't help with the feeding and bathing and what not, she helped in the most important way there is: Asking Raptor Jesus for help.
Wynn doesn't scoff at that, but his reaction is certainly a muted one. Minnie seems to ignore this as she begins describing how the power of prayer can accomplish anything, and that God must have some plan for Wynn to have him recover so fast.
Wynn again remains silent, but listens for any bits of information he can use later. More specifically he's learning how to "read" Minnie, now that she's talking openly.
She only gets a few more lines in before the door opens and Claudia enters the room. Her gaze immediately falls onto Wynn and her face brightens immensely.
Minnie gets up to hug her and asks if she has things from here. Claudia says yes and Minnie departs. Claudia then sees the soup bowl and questions why he didn't eat
Wynn says he wasn't hungry, but unlike Minnie, Claudia does not accept that answer and says that he is, his body is just in too much pain to notice. She recovers the bowl and tells him to lie down and she'll feed him.
Wynn says he doesn't need to be fed, to which she just asks him to raise his arms. They shake and shudder and can't get but half way up to a forward pointing position before the pain in his chest force him to relent.
He accepts he'll need to be fed, but laying down like a baby still irks him a little. She sees the hesitation and threatens to shove him over with a single finger.
Still feeling throbs of pain from trying to lift his arms, he obediently returns to a laying position. While the parasaur woman spoons soup to him, she informs him that she has agreed to let him move into her house when he is strong enough to be moved, which should be soon.
She also mentions that Father Xander told her that as part of his recovery, Wynn would be helping her around the house once he's up to it. She wasn't entirely sold on that idea. She mostly wanted Wynn there to monitor his progress and not have to keep leaving her son Malcolm with a babysitter so often.
Wynn has been intently observing Claudia as she's been speaking. Much like he was trying to learn how to "read" Minnie, he's trying the same with her. He comes with the analysis that Father Xander was right that she needs help.
Despite her youthful features, she looks exhausted and anxious. She mentioned a son, but no husband. He isn't going to jump to conclusions but with what he's been told, he'd guess that she's a single mother that has a child too young to be left alone.
The meal concludes with her tipping his head up to drink the rest of the broth from the bowl. Afterards she attempts to chat him up about what to expect when he is moved. Specifically, her son Malcolm. Wynn notes her eyes light up when talking about him, and the tiredness on her face seems to abate somewhat.
She assures Wynn that Malcolm is a very well behaved and quiet child despite his age. He won't be a bother while Wynn recovers. He's actually trying to be her little helper.
Some further talk about sleeping arrangements at her home reveal she has a guest bedroom she'll get done up for him. Although she admits she has been using it as storage, so there may be few cardboard boxes of stuff in there.
She asks Wynn if there's anything he'd like her to look into getting to make things more comfortable for him. He gives very noncommital one syllable answers, which causes Claudia to prod him for something more definitive
HONESTY CHOICE 1
Wynn admits that he is always moving around, so everything he owns is in this room. He doesn't know what to ask for. (+1)
Wynn mulls it over in his head before saying anything, but decides that it will be best to just tell Claudia he has never really owned anything in his life, and he doesn't know what to ask for.
Claudia reaction does take on a look of pity for a brief moment, but she then adjusts to a more thoughtful one. She asks him about what food he likes.
Wynn analyzes the question. He's never really thought about it. He just sort of eats whatever and goes. He settles on cheap convenience store junk food. Claudia is horrified as he admits to never having a proper meal.
The broth she's been feeding him is probably the closest thing resembling such a thing he's ever had. She determines that she will change that. Either by cooking him some meals herself or bringing home leftovers from work.
Wynn continues to be evasive and gives a sort of "I'm fine" answer.
Claudi gives a bit of a huff at the lack of communication but finally drops the issue.
After the choice is made Claudia will wipe a little speck of broth from the corner of Wynn's mouth and inform him that the crutches should help him in getting around if he'd like some help giving them a try.
He nods, and with Claudia's assistance, Wynn is able to mount the crutches and for the first time in days stand up. It hurts like hell, but he pushes through. With a little handholding from Claudia he gets the hang of things pretty quick, but also gets exhausted quickly as well.
Claudia guides Wynn around the church, showing him specifically where the water fountain and bathroom is. After she's satisfied with his ability to navigate things, she takes him back to the sitting room and helps him back down to a resting position on the couch.
Once she's satisfied he's comfortable, she says that she's confident that Wynn will be able to be moved into her home in a day or two. She says she can stay and they can talk a bit more if he'd like, or she can go and he can get some rest.
ATTACHMENT CHOICE 1
Wynn asks her to stay and talk a bit more. (+1)
Claudia is quite happy to sit down and chit chat a while. It doesn't take much to get her to begin describing a few more details about her home. And when Wynn asks about her son, she begins to gush about how sweet of a boy he is, and how she is certain Malcolm and Wynn will get along.
It is made quite clear as she talks about Malcolm that she loves him to bits. She does give Wynn fair warning that Malcolm will likely talk his ear off about his toy cars.
After some more discussion, Wynn begins to doze off, and Claudia leaves him be.
Wynn says he'll be fine.
Claudia gives him a pat on the shoulder and says goodnight.
Wynn reviews all the new information he's gotten and tries to think of a course of action. He concludes that, if nothing else, he's been given a chance to lay low for awhile. He just needs to not rock the boat and then he can leave.
next scene
The next two days aren't particularly exciting, but Wynn is regaining his strength quickly. With frequent check-ins by Father Xander, Minnie, and Claudia, he is soon able to get around and het prepared for his move into Claudia's home.
Father Xander brings Wynn some donated clothes for him to try on. He tried finding some that are human specific, but actually had some difficulty finding pants that didn't have tail holes. Wynn will unfortunately have to rely on his single pair of pants for the time being
Wynn still has some issues with getting dressed with his injuries, but he manages. Otherwise he'd have to accept an offer made by Claudia to let her help him get dressed, which Wynn has so far staunchly refused. She says he has nothing to be embarassed about because she's a nurse, and she's already seen his important bits.
Such reassurances do not, in fact, make him feel better.
But, after two days the time finally comes and he joins Claudia in her car. The soreness will remain for some time, but he will be off the crutches in a week or so.
So marks the start of January 6th, 201M2025. BECAUSE REFERENCES HAHAHAHA
Part 2B - Meet Malcolm, Tiffany, and establish the "norm."
The car rolls up to a small one floor suburban house. It's in decent condition, but the grass is in its typical winter brown. The storm and the warm air that brought it are long gone, leaving a freezing chill in the air but thankfully no ice or snow.
The house and yard appear sparcely decorated, with some wear showing. It gives the impression of numerous small fixes that could be fixed easily, but they just haven't gotten around to it.
Claudia helps Wynn enter through the front door and calls for Malcolm to introduce himself to Wynn. The young parasaur boy is naturally shy and watches Wynn from around corners and doorways
With some additional prodding from his mother, the boy approaches and gives a meek greeting. Wynn responds with a similarly single word greeting. Claudia gives Malcolm a comforting little talking to and tells her son what little she knows about Wynn, and asks the young boy to help him find his way around
He says okay, and Claudia then goes to retrieve the last few items of Wynn's while the other two appraise one another. Wynn, in typical fashion stands there in silence an analyzes the young lad.
Pretty basic description. Sees a great many of his mother's features in the young boy's face. Eventually it registers with Wynn that he's just standing there silently and staring down a 5 year old and making him nervous. So he decides to be bold and break the ice by reintroducing himself.
Malcolm does likewise. The silence returns as does the tension.
Empty Choice:
Apologize for moving in
Wynn says sorry for imposing on him and his mother like this. Malcolm asks what imposing means, and Wynn defines the term for him. Malcolm absorbs the information, but says it's alright. His mom is always telling him to help people.
Malcolm returns the question with a series of his own. He asks what happened to Wynn, to which the man replies he fell down. How high? Little more than two stories. Clumsy? Wasn't thinking. Are you dumb? ...not usually.
The last confession draws a smirk across the lad's face and says Wynn is funny, and then to follow him as he proceeds with the tour.
Say the house is nice
Malcolm nods and says its alright. He mentions he had to help clean it up to get things ready for Wynn's arrival. Wynn scans the room and sees that it does look recently vaccumed and smells the faint whiff of air freshener. Wynn commends the good job.
The boy's face will brighten at the small accolade he received and go on to say he mostly picked up his toys and helped his mom move boxes. Wynn will note that he responds well to compliments, so he nods and give him another one for being so helpful.
Malcolm responds as predicted and now in a more at ease tone say's he'll show Wynn around, and begin the tour of the house.
Wynn gives his thanks, and the tour begins. First is the living room, which only seems to have a couch tv and a few side tables and floor lamps. Next is the kitchen, which doubles as the dining room. It has most of the basic commodities, but it seems to lack a dishwasher, so some dishes sit in the sink awaiting cleaning.
Next is the hallway, which has four rooms. One bathroom, Claudia's room, Malcolm's room, and the guest room. The Guest room is cramped, and barely fits the twin sized bed within and a small dresser, but it does come with a closet. The closet is stuffed with cardboard boxes containing who knows what, and allow for little else.
Malcolm informs Wynn it was tough getting everything in the closet. The boxes are apparently filled with his mom's old school and work stuff. Wynn's things have so far been laid out on his bed.
After Malcolm let's Wynn take in the small room, he asks him if he wants to see his room. After a short pause, he agrees. The young boy seems to gain a bit of a spring in his step as he toddles off to his room, and goes in.
IF Wynn had spoken with Claudia, he would tell Malcolm that the boy's mother had mentioned toy cars, which would immediately excite the lad.
Malcolm's room is much more spartan than Wynn anticipated for a 5 year old's room. It also appeared to be a full sized bedroom, albeit with little else other than a bed, a dresser, and several plastic buckets filled with toys. Most of these toys seemed to be in various states of disrepair and of a certain hand me down quality.
Malcolm quickly goes to a red bucket and starts showcasing his favorites to Wynn. Hotwheels cars. A rather large collection of them. Wynn rather thoughtfully takes each one and begins to memorize their details, as well as attempting to determine which ones he actually recognizes. Malcolm sees this interest and asks if Wynn likes them.
Wynn shrugs, and continues his analysis, occasionally telling Malcolm which ones he's driven in real life. This cause's the boy's eyes to go wide in amazement when Wynn starts telling him he's driven multiple cars, including some of the fancier ones. Wynn leaves out that he stole and abandoned most of those cars once he got where he was going with them.
Soon, Malcolm is sitting next to Wynn on the bed asking if he's a race car driver or something like that. Wynn hesitates and tries to think of some way out of this, and settles on saying he was a test driver. Malcolm thinks that's pretty cool, and again questions the man on what his favorite car is. Wynn says he doesn't have one.
An answer the boy uses to begin listing off all of his favorite cars. Being a 5 year old, he doesn't what all the cars' names are, but he gives a decently long list. Before long, Claudia is seen lingering at the doorway and is pleased to see the two of them finding something to talk about. Malcolm wastes no time telling her Wynn is a test driver.
She listens and before Malcolm goes on a tangent she says he can tell her more about it later but she's going to prepare some lunch for them all. She then tells Wynn that all his things are on his bed. He should probably take a shower and get freshened up. Malcolm meanwhile is given a kiss on the head and told to put his toys back in the bucket.
They each obey. Wynn goes to his room and checks the money. It all seems to be there. He considers Father Xander's words, and his warnings. He wonders the best approach for its use, or if he should use it at all. For the time being, he replaces the money into the bag and puts it on the top shelf in the closet, one of the few open spaces left.
He grabs some clothes and moves to the bathroom and takes his first shower since his fall. Navigating with crutches makes it difficult, but he is able to stand under his own power. The water takes a minute or two to warm up, but once he gets in, he realized just how sore he really was as the hot water began to sooth his aches and pains.
With the shower soothing the pain, his appetite returns and wraps up the shower. Dressing and hobbling to the kitchen Wynn is greeted by a vibrant looking salad awaiting him, complete with cherry tomatoes, onions, shredded cheese, and croutons. With several dressing options. A fine meal for a herbivore.
Claudia and Malcolm are already there, and once Wynn takes his seat the meal begins. Wynn neglects to put any dressing on his salad which gets a comment or two from the others. Malcolm takes it upon himself to inform Wynn that he's weird, but also which dressing is "the best," which is of course the zestiest.
During the lunch Claudia brings up Wynn's comment of him being a test driver, and what that was like. His habit of giving one to two word answers begins to frustrate Claudia, but she doesn't push for more information at the moment.
Lunch wraps up and Claudia says that Malcolm goes back to school and she goes back to work tomorrow, but the rest of the day is theirs to do whatever they want. Malcolm immediately says he wants to show Wynn his favorite video games, cartoons, and to play with his cars all at the same time.
Claudia suggests perhaps a movie that they could all have fun watching. It's been a long week for both her and Wynn, so something easy would be best. Wynn is bidden to sit on one end of the couch while Claudia takes the opposite side.
Malcolm seems to understand his mother's command, and immediately starts digging into a small bin next to the tv that has a decent collection of movies, eventually pulling forth three options.
A fantasy movie that looks like it takes place in a giant maze, starring a young girl and a very...glamorous looking man. Apparently famous for its use of puppets.
An older comic book movie that is vibrantly colored and very stylized. The main character is a detective in a bright yellow coat and fedora. Wynn gives it an nervous look.
A movie depicting a woman descending from the sky via an umbrella. Apparently the movie has segments where live action and cartoon animation is combined, which was very impressive for the time.
Empty Choice:
The Fantasy movie
Malcolm likes this movie the most, specifically the puppets.
The Comic Book movie
In spite of himself, Wynn enjoys the movie. Specifically the colorful stylishness of it all.
The Musical Movie
Claudia seems to respond well to this one. She gives a wistful sigh more than once.
As the movie starts, Malcolm sits on his mother's lap, and she wraps her arms around him. As it goes on, their position changes from sitting, to leaning on the arm rest, to a rather intimate cuddle with Malcolm resting in her arms.
Wynn analyzes the scene and it is here that it is first revealed that Wynn does not remember his family, or anything from more than a decade ago. His history has been forgotten. All that happens when he turns his mind towards that big empty space in his memories is that his mind immediately fixates on something else.
In this case, he fixates on the affection on display between Malcolm and Claudia. He reads their expressions and how at peace they both seem, and he can't quite determine the exact feeling he starts experiencing.
ATTACHMENT CHOICE 2
Is it Envy? (+1)
Wynn reflects on why he's feeling anything at all, and comes to the realization that he has never felt that kind of affection, as far as he can remember. He is filled with a sudden, but deep, feeling of yearning. He snaps himself out of it before too long, but the idea that he wants that kind of feeling remains.
This new empty feeling inside disturbs him. He attempts to continue watching the film, but his mind keeps returning to wondering what it must be like to be held so closely, and so tenderly. He ends up not being able to remember much about the movie.
Determine it's curiosity
Wynn rationalizes his analysis of them as him just trying to once again get a "read" on them. Emotion doesn't factor into his thoughts, just an analytical assessment that Claudia and Malcolm are extremely close. Claudia in particular seems the most at ease he's seen her since meeting the parasaur woman now that her son is safely in her arms.
He determines that perhaps the best way to integrate into their lives without arousing any unwanted suspicion would be to act in ways that benefit the boy. Satisfied with his determinations, he refocuses on the movie, and is able to remember it in great detail.
After the film Claudia asks what Wynn thought of it.
IF he was thinking about being envious of her and Malcolm's physical intimacy and how little contact he has in his own life, he will say he liked it, but stumble when asked what his favorite part was. Malcolm will chime in with his favorite part and Wynn will agree to that.
Otherwise he will specify one of the technical aspects of whichever one of the the movies he watched.
With the movie over with, Claudia will say she's going to go freshen up. Malcolm will clamor off the couch and activate his Nintendino console and shoot a series of questions about video games. Wynn knows nothing, so Malcolm takes it upon himself to tell Wynn all about the game he's about to play.
It's snoot version of Mario.
Malcolm begins rambling on as only a 5 year old explaining something to an adult can. Wynn, is interested and absorbs every word. Being 5 years old, Malcolm isn't playing particularly fast, but, Wynn has never played a Mario game before so it's all new to him.
Eventually, approximately an hour or hour and a half, Malcolm passes the controller over to Wynn and asks if he wants to try. Wynn takes the controller and after a minute or two of awkwardly attempting to learn the controls, inevitably starts to get the swing of things.
Inset mario minigame? probably not
Malcolm attempts coaching him at every chance he can. For all the lack of emotion or non-reaction Wynn has, Malcolm makes up for in spades. After completing a level, as the young boy is congratulating him, Wynn actually cracks a smile and notices Claudia watching the event from the hallway, looking pleased.
As the game goes on, Malcolm will mention that if Wynn likes video games, his friend Tiffany has way more than Malcolm does, and really cool ones. Malcolm usually goes over to Tiffany's after school until his mom can pick him up after work.
Claudia moves into the room and informs the two that she'll be preparing dinner soon. She asks Malcolm to go wash up. The boy seems a little hesitant to stop playing but he obeys. She asks Wynn how things are going so far and if he's feeling comfortable.
Wynn affirms that he is, and that it seems like a nice place. Claudia is happy to hear it, and mentions that it was thanks to Minnie and Father Xander that she even has the house in the first place.
She expounds a bit on how much of what she owns was a donation from one member of her church or another, and that Wynn shouldn't ever be afraid to ask for help if he needs it.
Wynn notes that while she mentioned the method she came to own all this, she very tactically left out the circumstances that brought on the need for such help.
However, he also doesn't want to press on this issue, as he's being dodgey about his own past. He also recall's Father Xander's words about Claudia needing help, but she seems to have plenty of help already, so he wonders what kind of help he meant.
She sees Wynn lost in thought, and interrupts his inner monologue by asking if he'll be alright alone tomorrow in the coming days. She's willing to prepare him some meals if he'd like, or bring back some food from the diner she works at.
Not knowing how to prepare food himself, and not knowing what food is actually available around the house, Wynn agrees. He decides he'll make an assessment of the food status when he has some time. He also states that he'll be fine on his own. He will find something to occupy his time, even if it's just sleeping.
She nods and says she hopes he likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She needs to do some shopping, so the pantry is a bit bare at the moment. Which reminds her that she needs to get dinner going. Tonight is going to be spaghetti.
Fast forwarding through dinner and into the night, Wynn lays in his new bed and evaluates his hosts, how long he intends to stay, and what he should do. He concludes that at the very least he should do house work or get some tasks to keep him busy. While he can (and has) just sat still for a while and stared off into space to kill time, it's not a very efficient use of the resource.
IF Attachment is >=1, his thoughts drift towards how friendly Claudia and Malcolm are. He had reservations about staying here, but after spending the day with them, it doesn't seem so bad.
next scene
Four days later
Wynn's recovery has been a great success. With Claudia performing occasional check ups and guiding his recuperation, the man is now almost back at 100%. The once debilitating pain has now become a faint soreness. He has since become slightly more proactive around the house. He's taken on the basic house chores of vacuuming and sweeping, as well as washing the dishes.
Claudia said he didn't need to do so for each of these, but it is obvious she enjoys the help. He has also been benefiting from actually having homemade meals and real food provided to him.
Before coming here, his diet consisted of nothing that couldn't be eaten on the go. Now he was consuming fresh fruits, vegetables, and a variety of simple but hearty herbivorous cuisine. That being said, Claudia had been thoughtful enough to provide food specifically for Wynn that was high in protein, as well as a few simple meat items. Hotdogs, peanuts, and beans mostly.
He often goes over the food around the house. It's a herbevore's kitchen first and foremost, so while there are sugary snacks here and there, most of the food is a very healthy array of fruits, vegetables, and grains. A lot of it too. Wynn has learned that herbevores tend to graze throughout the day on leafy greens and fruits with the tent pole meals usually being carb rich breads or pastas.
Wynn thinks Claudia must have learned how to be a cook as well as a nurse going by all the herbs and spices. He muses on whether she picked up the skills out of necessity by not being able to buy food, or if the skills were gained working at the diner via osmosis.
He enjoys the smells of the various herbs and spices the most. Being in one place for a week is already a new experience for him, but sustaining himself on prepackaged road food for as long as he can remember has left him completely astounded by the tastes and smells of actual food. Until now the extent of his knowledge on the subject began and ended at salt, pepper, and sugar packets.
During this time, Wynn has also been subject to Malcolm's attention as a new person to talk to. He wastes no time in informing Wynn all about what he's learned in school, or what games him and Tiffany played after school, and how he want Wynn to play with them sometime.
Today may be that day as it were. It seems Tiffany actually lives within walking distance, right around the block in fact. Malcolm just gets off the school bus with her and Claudia picks him up later. Claudia will be working late tonight however, so she asked Wynn if he would be willing to walk Malcolm home, and he agreed.
As said time approaches, Wynn returns to his room and takes down the money. He goes over in his head a few necessities he will need to procure in the coming weeks and days.
Firstly, he will require a type of transportation. He is willing to buy an old beater of a car, preferably via a private sale, so long as it can get from A to B. Anything that can forego leaving a paper trail.
Secondly, he lost his Wildey magnum at some point during his escape. He will need to procure a replacement, and perhaps a little extra something. Unfortunately he got his previous one in Skin Row from a human arms dealer. If what Alphonse said was true, that avenue is likely dead and buried. Or digested considering who is involved.
Thirdly, he wants to know how things stand currently in the city. Alphonse will no doubt be looking for him, but he would like to know if the police are also on his trail. Wynn believes there's a chance Alphonse is looking for him in Skin Row, postulating that his theft may be misinterpreted as an act of retaliation for Alphonse's own acts of agression.
His thoughts are interrupted by the phone ringing. He marks this as one of the few times he's actually heard it ring. Claudia having a landline phone is a bit of a novelty in this day in age, especially for one as young as she is and that she does own a cell phone. Wynn surmises that it must be so she can divide between work and personal calls.
Not really considering it appropriate to start answering her phone on her behalf, he merely stands next to the answering machine to listen to the message in case she is calling for him. He is certainly surprised by what he hears.
A man's voice hisses through the speaker, and begins to spout absolutely vile things. Debauched accusations, venemous insults, and some of the most contemptable slander Wynn has ever heard. These things address Claudia and Malcolm by name. The man on the other line ends this hateful rant by threatening to have Malcolm taken away if she ever says anything.
Wynn's expression is similar to when he saw the cooked human being served at Alphonse's dinner. He's technically outside of whatever is going on here, but the fact it is happening at all is taking him aback.
Wynn plays the message again. This time analyzing it. Memorizing the sound of the man's voice, cadance of speech, the aspects of the message that can be usesd to identify the man in the future.
If Claudia has an enemy then that may bring attention to Wynn's whereabouts that he doesn't want. Whoever it is knows her phone number, and that means he knows where she lives. Wynn goes through possibilities in his head of possible suspects. The last thing he wants is for it to be an ex-lover that could show up and cause a scene, or get the police involved.
As his eyes narrow in thought, he glances at the clock and realize that he's late to pick up Malcolm. He makes a somewhat rushed decision
Empty Choice:
Delete the message
Wynn deletes the message. Probably don't want her or Malcolm stumbling across this by accident.
Don't delete the message
It's none of Wynn's business. Plus, if someone is harassing her, Claudia will likely want to know about it.
With that, Wynn leaves to go pick up Malcolm.
Next scene
Wynn wanders the streets of the Bayside neighborhood. He was told the street address for Tiffany's and does his best to navigate. The homes here are all rather simple single floor suburban homes. The winter season has reduced the usually vibrant green yards to a slumbering brown affair as the plants sleep through the cold months.
Still no snow or ice thankfully, so the walk is not too stressfull on his still recoupurating muscles. The air has taken on a biting chill hoever. Wynn thinks about that message on his walk, and the possible implications and difficulties that may come from it.
Inevitably he arrives at his destination. It's a brightly decorated house. It appears the Christmas decorations are still up. As he approaches the front door, he can hear the happy shouts of Malcolm and another child from within. He knocks and waits...and waits...aaaaand waits. Loud cheering is heard from inside, so he reckons they just didn't hear him.
Knocking again gets a different result, with the bright orange face of a young raptor girl appearing in a nearby window for a moment with a quizzical look. In an instant it vanishes and the front door is swung open.
The young girl asks who Wynn is, and introductions are made, and Wynn explains to her that Claudia asked him to bring Malcolm home. Malcolm rushes in as Tiffany says a human is here to pick him up. Malcolm insists that Wynn should stay for a while seeing as how his mom won't be home for a while anyway, and so he can play video games with him and Tiffany.
Tiffany is unsure of this, but Malcolm once more insists that Wynn is cool and knows all about cars and is a test driver and so on and so forth. Tiffany thinks it over and asks if Wynn is interested in sticking around a bit longer. He accepts, and takes a moment to enjoy the central heating for a moment, as he has been freezing his ass off standing in the door way.
He enters and notes the layout of the home is a little different than that of Claudia and Malcolm's. For one thing, the kitchen and dining room are separate, and the living room has a great deal more decoration. The living room does have a fair amount of items that reflect the interests of the parents, but the tv and entertainment system are almost entirely devoted to a variety of video game consoles.
The television is also a good deal larger than Claudia's. The game currently on the screen appears to be some racing game. Wynn recognizes some of the racers as being Dino-Mario characters. He is offered a controller and invited to play.
Malcolm once again guides him in the basics, in his five year old sort of way, while Tiffany asks him the usual line of qusetions, with the additional question of whether he really was found beat up in front of the church. When Wynn confirms this, she asks if he got the crap kicked out of him by someone. Wynn was hoping to avoid having to talk about this again, but it seems he will have no choice.
It's actually Malcolm that comes to the rescue. He chimes in that according to his mom, Wynn doesn't remember. Had a "concushion." Tiffany looks to Wynn, who decides to roll with it and offer only a simple shrug.
She raises a questioning eyebrow, but says that he must be alright if Malcolm's mom likes him. Though she does continue to wonder what sort of thing happened, with Wynn only giving his usual silent or single syllable answers. She presumes that maybe hitting his head also made him quiet.
However, once the racing game begins, thate questioning look falls away. Wynn starts out by being terrible as is to be expected for a first timer. The coaching he gets from Malcolm doesn't improve his performance either. They conclude hitting his head must have also made him bad at video games.
Over the course of another hour, idle conversation from amongst the three of them has Tiffany and Malcolm coming to the conclusion that Wynn is going to need their help to get back to being a "normal" guy. Obviously the concussion he got has knocked all the sense out of him, so she and Malcolm will have to educate him on all the important stuff.
Malcolm is excited about all this. Wynn's lack of social abilities result in him just sort of sitting there and taking it, which to the kids means he's on board with it. Their first decision is to teach Wynn how to talk like a regular guy.
Wynn is less than enthused and looks at whatever time reading device is available. He concludes the lesson earliy by saying Claudia will be home before too long, and that he and Malcolm should get back before dark. Tiffany and Malcolm agree that Wynn will be on the hook from now on.
He lets out a rather defeated sigh. He moves to the door and watches as Tiffany helps the young boy put on his winter coat before saying goodbye and to see him next time. His parting question is whether he can watch her play Kingdom Souls again, to which she agrees.
After that, it's back out into the cold. Malcolm stays clost to Wynn. It's obvious he's not used to walking home, and the bulky winter clothing makes his stride awkwardly slow. Wynn slows his pace to not get too far ahead of the young boy. Malcolm asks Wynn what he thought of Tiffany. Wynn says she seems nice, to which the boy says she's the coolest. She has the coolest games and knows all sorts of neat stuff.
They converse a bit more, revealing Tiffany has been Malcolm's babysitter for as long as he can remember. Essentially long enough to be a big sister to him.
Eventually they get back to their home and Malcolm asks Wynn what he wants to do now. Mostly he wants to attempt one of his other goals for the day, but its a bit late for that. He concludes that will have to wait for later, that perhaps Father Xander would be the one to talk to about the goings on outside of the immediate area. For now he decides that he can grab himself and Malcolm some snacks and relax a bit.
A couple of granola bars later, he and Malcolm are set up in the living room, with the young boy putting on some cartoons. He surprises Wynn by sitting next to him, which is closer than he's used to. The cartoon itself is a the snoot version of Bluey. Claudia will be getting home past the usual dinner time, so the two of them eat bowls of cereal and go back to watching cartoons.
Wynn is mostly within his own thoughts during the cartoon, but is shook from them when, during a particular episode involving the titular character having a bonding moment with their father, Malcolm leans against him. The boy seems completely focused on the show, so Wynn cannot determine if this is a conscious or unconscious action. Without knowing how best to react, he just sits there paralyzed.
Eventually Claudia returns which gets the attention of both the boys, Malcolm leaving the couch to go give her a hug. Wynn untenses when he is free from the unexpected contact and rises off the couch. She greets them both warmly and asks how their days went, asking them if they'd eaten dinner already. When told they had cereal she give a flat look and calls them both hopeless.
Malcolm is starting to get sleepy, but dutifully retells the events of the day to her. As he does so, Claudia picks him up in her arms and sways him back and forth until he eventually gives one final yawn and falls asleep. She asks Wynn to put away the left overs from work she brought home and then tidy things up while she puts Malcolm to bed. After they both do so, she speaks again.
She asks if there was anything interesting that happened to him today. She seems to be in a rather happy mood tonight. Wynn considers if it is worth spoiling it by telling her everything.
HONESTY CHOICE 2
Tell Claudia about the hateful phone call
Wynn begins by saying his day was mostly uneventful and that he may be getting lessons on how to be "normal" from Tiffany and Malcolm now. However, something did happen that concerns him. The mere mention of something like this causes Claudia to briefly freeze up with a look of panic.
Wynn says a call came in around the time when she and Malcolm would usually come back. He let the answering machine get it. The man on the line said some very ugly things. Threatened Claudia and Malcolm by name.
Claudia looks like she she's going to be sick, as if a dirty secret of hers was just revealed. She had buried face buried in her hands while Wynn described the call. When he finishes she doesn't meet his gaze, but asks if he deleted the message.
IF he did, she nods and continues. IF not she immediately goes to the answering machine and deletes it herself.
She takes a long moment to collect herself before telling Wynn that it's nothing he needs to worry about, and to please not tell anyone. Wynn looks at her silently for a time, analyzing her words and body language while thinking over what to say.
She looks distraught to say the least. This is evidently something she did not want to address, nor a topic she appears open to talking about. Eventually he says he will abide by her wishes, but asks if the man is Malcolm's father, and whether either of them are in danger.
She flinches when he asks this, telling him his guess is right, not that it was a very long leap in logic to assume so. With tears welling up in her eyes she asserts that she and Malcolm will be fine. The calls are just being done to scare her. Nothing will come from them, but she also can't stop them. She just has to put up with them
With that she asks to be alone for a moment and bids Wynn goodnight. He returns the phrase with a solemn nod and walks to his room, where he lays in his bed for a time looking up at the ceiling.
IF Attachement is >= 1 A new sick feeling blooms in his stomach and keeps him from falling asleep. For a while he has trouble coming to grips with what it is, but inevitably he comes to the realization that he feels bad because he made Claudia upset. It's a new feeling for him, and he is having trouble rationalizing it.
It is made harder when he eventually hears Claudia enter her bedroom and the feint sound of sniffling can be heard. Wynn doesn't get much sleep that night. He does still manage to nod off for an hour or two, but it is a fitful sleep.
IF Honesty is = 2, Wynn has a dream. It is short and there isn't much to it, but it causes him to wake up as if from a nightmare. All he remembers is himself in a white space. There are two figures next to him. They are far taller than him. And then he awakens.
He doesn't know what to make of it, but he's terrified, and he doesn't know why.
Leave that part out
Wynn decides to recall the events of the day in a clinical fashion, but leaves the phone call out. Claudia retains her happy demeanor and she thanks him for his help with Malcolm today, and is quite pleased to hear that they're getting along.
He shrugs sheepishly and says that it's the least he could do. She puts a hand on his shoulder and says that she appreciates it regardless. With a small squeeze from her hand she bids Wynn goodnight. He nods and goes to his room, where he hears Claudia play the answering machine from the living room. The moment she hears the voice, she deletes it.
It's only then Wynn realizes that the answering machine has an "messages counter" on it that tells the user how many are in the machine. Not only that, but an "unread message" light that blinks, unless you've listened to it once before. His mind reels as he figures Claudia MUST have noticed not only an extra message on the machine, but that the light wasn't flashing.
He sits up in bed, waiting to see if she comes to knock on the door with an accusitory question of why he didn't tell her about the message that he obviously listened to. But, as he hears her footsteps pass by his door and go into her room, he relaxes somewhat. Apparently, she doesn't want to mention it. He lays back down and drifts into dreamless sleep, presuming it all must be fine after all.
I seem to have hit the character limit, so I will be continuing in a second renpy, linked here: https://rentry.org/ncaxd6f5
Bonus chapter ideas:
Epilogues: Donovian goes to jail, Dierdra gets a job at Moe's, Wynn Doe gets a badge,
Epilogues, 2 Years on: Claudia is the School Nurse at Volcano High (and pregnant), Det. Winslow becomes commissioner when Ripley becomes chief of police (probably won't retire for a while now that I think about it).
Moe retires, leaving the business to Dierdra. Dierdra also has a human boytoy of her own now (Insert another bald faceless anon here)
Tiffany enters high school and meets her music teacher Lucy Mous, Malcolm and his new dad (Wynn) go fishing.
First Christmas: Wynn Doe gets a sweater.
Bonsu chapter: Chapter about a bonsu tree (also known as the, "What the fuck is a bonsu tree" chapter)
Meeting the Chief: Wynn and the Riply meet for the first time in a non-official setting (possibly with Patch). In my Headcanon, Riply is the Dirty Harry of Snootverse (while at work), so this bonus episode would be to get that across.
Rose of Mercy: Wynn, Claudia, Minnie, and Father Xander team up with another church to run a soup kitchen, where Rosa and Stella are helping out.
Something worth remembering: Claudia and Wynn standing over the crib of their first child together and just basking in being happy.
The Big Event: The Policeman's ball, where Wynn, Claudia, Lucy, Anon, Inco, and Olivia all interact.
Two Steps: Before Wynn and Claudia's marriage, he needs some dancing lessons. A random act of kindness gets him the assistance of noted Troodon ballet dancer, Frikki Frekkasdottir
Mini Mysteries: A collection of short post E4 stories following Wynn, Patch, and Terry solving riddles and brain teasers wrapped up as detective work. Also a good way to work in some cameos.
Mysterty of the Missing Masterpiece
St. Hammond's Art School from Wani has had a theft of a winning art piece.
Conundrum at the Carnival
Another theft, this time from the carnival. The culprit is one of the carnival folks (one of the identical twins)
Customer Disservice
A maker of "athletic enhancment drinks" in Little Troodon has been accused of discrimination by a a customer, who has accused the the merchant of also selling illegal and dangerous steroids. (Potion Seller and the Knight. You end up arresting them both)
Mechanical Malpractice
Local Mechanic Mia has been accused of sabotaging vehicles that pass through her shop so she can guarantee return business, but she denies it. She's innocent, but is a bitch about the whole thing.
Mrs. Fang, I presume?
Ex Principal Spears and his wife Fang have reported a break in at their car dealership.
I Wani Solve a Mystery
Wynn pulls the short straw on assignments and is assigned to participate in a Murder Mystery charity fundraiser event at the local Art Gallery. Inco, Olivia, Damien, Liz, and a few other wani characters are in attendence. (Wynn and Inco pull a Sherlock and Watson routine)
Extra World building ideas
X-Rox, Pachystation (Stony), Nintendino
Snoot dinos give live births probably due to fucking humans for so many millennia.
In the Snoot Bible, Adam was human and Eve was a dinosaur (T-Rex, as determined by vote). Cain was human, Abel was saurian, and Seth was indeterminate.
Raptor Jesus saved everyone from the meteor.
Saurians are slow to adapt to changing environments or situation. Human's can on average adapt to changes around them in about 2 weeks to a month. Saurians need about 2-3 months to acclamate to a new environment or change of lifestyle. This often results in many saurians having difficulty in their teen years, when many changes occur.
A series of changes in a short time has been known to cause some saurians to suffer panic attacks, insomnia, paranoia, mood swings, confusion, and violent outburts. In serious cases and without a healthy support group to help with any adjustments, this can lead to total mental breakdowns and symptoms resembling schizophrenia or a period of psychopathy.
Saurians have denser muscles and bones than humans, making them heavier and more physically imposing. This usually meant that early history favored Saurians in warfare. Simians could compete somewhat, but not to the same extent. Humans started a slow takeover when they went full fire and spear.
Another couple advantages that humans posses that Saurians lack is being able to recover from injury and sickness about twice as fast, which has gotten them a reputation of being made of rubber by the other species. Humans also have a more developed ability to produce adrenaline. Saurians have adrenaline rushes too, but not to the same extent as humans.
So Saurians are Ivan Draigo, and humans are Rocky Balboa.
Dinosaur Breast Milk has been discussed, and it has been determined that Omnivores and Humans are the "universal donor." Carnivore milk comes from a higher protein, fat, and dairy diet so it is a heavier creamy texture and tastes like a nuttier cream. Herbivore milk has a lighter texture, and depending on the diet, can have a sweeter or more almond taste to it.
Why are you looking at me like that? These are important questions that need to be answered.
Carnivore Cereal is actually more like dog kibble. Possibly the "Healthy" option for the more sports focused carnivores.
Taco Shell is staffed by Maggie and Lunara
Might have to figure out the geography or sketch a map of Volcadera Bluffs a bit. For fun if nothing else.
Currently, there's so far 2 sectors that have been partially established and a collection of recurring locations:
Volcano High Zone (Snoot Game)
- Skin Row, which is apparently a 30minute walk to Volcano High. It's close to the shoreline apparently.
- The park where Tracy works, which is also within walking distance of Volcano High and Little Troodon.
- The Aaron McMansion which requires a car to reach.
- Little Troodon, which can be reached on foot from the park and presumably Volcano High and Skin Row.
- Dino Moes is within walking distance from Little Troodon
- St. Hammond Beach is where the E2 and E4 beach scenes happen. Next to the Bluffs that give the city its name. Needs a car to reach.
St. Hammond Zone (Wani)
- The Payne's house is within walking distance of St. Hammond's
- There is a train/metro station within walking distance of St. Hammond's and Inco's House
- Arcade must be driven to
- Little Troodon must be driven to or take a metro to
- Metro is required to get anywhere from Inco's house
Date Zones are nebulus, as they all require transportation to reach. Marked as either Snoot (S) / Wani (W)
- Aquarium (S)
- Dino Moes/Rosa's House (S)
- Underground concert (S)
- Museum (S)
- Mall (W/S)
- Art Gallery (W)
- Nature Park (W)
- Sushi Place in Little Troodon (W)
SGD:VN (this setting) Zone
- Claudia's house and Tiffany's house is just around the block
- St. Sattler's Bayside Church is a 15 minute walk from Claudia's house, but they prefer to drive
- St. Hammond's General Hospital must be driven to, located near the city center
- Little Troodon must be driven to, it's described as "Across town"
- Volcadera Bluffs First Metropolitan Police Department located in downtown and requires being driven to
Date Zones, like the previous are all nebulously placed and require a car to reach, except for the church
- Carnival (E1)
- Movie Theater (E2)
- Resteraunt in the Park (E3)
- The Church Picnic (E4)