#htcu

INDIE - stalking, sexual assault, grooming, self harm, suicide, incel bullshit

illinois, 2022. after a traumatizing event leaves resident alternative niceguy atticus anderson broken up with his highschool sweetheart and childhood best friend axel, he begins to take extreme measures to avoid thinking about how much he wants to kill himself. namely, stalking. both cyber and in real life. this doesnt really work though, as he is still very much always thinking about how much he wants to kill himself. the only person he interacts with on a day to day basis is a channer incel from california named eric, who, unbeknownst to him, wants to fuck him really bad. no one in this situation is normal about anything. this one is my obvious favorite.

HOMETOWN - extremely not taken seriously war, death, substance abuse, liberalism

massachusetts, 1962. based on the music of the late great tom lehrer. when former actor george humphrey is plunged into a midlife crisis following his divorce, he makes the incredibly brash decision to run for president of the united states. to the surprise (and horror) of all us citizens, he somehow wins. through sheer ineptitude, he manages to start world war iii and gets promptly impeached after only six months in office, leaving his neurotic mess of a vp, hubert murphy, as the man in charge. george is left with no choice but to head back to his wacky home town full of wacky characters with his tail between his legs. im sure hes doing fine.

UP LATE WITH SONNY CARMICHAEL (ULWSC) - unreality, paranoia, general horror, death

new jersey, 1973. in an attempt to further her husband sonnys talk show career, lilith carmichael sells her soul to the devil in exchange for fame. this does not go nearly as well as she hoped however. while the show does receive a boost in ratings, she was unable to hold up her end of the bargain and abbadon takes her life as punishment. known wifeguy sonny will not stand for this, and hes willing to do anything to bring the love of his life back, no matter what.

HOW TO COME UNDONE (HTCU) - parental abuse

california, 1995. two average teenagers at an average high school both convinced theyre suffering uniquely more than anyone else on the planet. all melissa crowell wants is to be a normal girl with a normal life and a normal boyfriend, but all her relationships keep failing! this is, of course, because she is a lesbian that is not attracted to her boyfriend even slightly. she doesnt know that yet though. peter shafir is an average insecure geek suffering from extreme maladaptive daydreaming, mostly centering around a classmate of his that he doesnt actually know anything about. also theyre based on the albums totally crushed out by that dog and blue by weezer respectively.

CLOSING INTERACTIVE - suicide, cults, substance abuse, gamers

ohio, 1985. closing interactive co-founders and best friends colin shaw and nick wescott find themselves in hot water following the video game crash of '83. when their company inevitably goes under, colin, being normal, turns to alcoholism and blaming every single one of his problems on wescott and everyone thats ever known him. hatching a plan to kill himself, and take everyone else down with him. if you know what this is based on no you dont.

VARMINT - murder, religion, negatively portrayed psychosis and delusions, suicide, self harm, true crime bullshit

louisiana, 1976/2006. after a series of misunderstandings and bouts of teenage hysteria leave marley hill having murdered his girlfriend doe in an assisted suicide, he develops a hallucination of doe telling him the only way to repent for her death is to keep killing. and he abides. he spends his adult years as a quiet serial killer, up until 1997 when he shoots his wife and his twin children call the cops on him, after which he is promptly arrested. now, in 2002, shad and shishka hill live lives muddied with grief, ptsd, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. they are what the story is actually about. also theyre all furries

NEVER WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE (NWADIYL) - substance abuse

illinois, 1995. pointless meandering wageslave cubicle office job where everyone has their own individual b plots going on, ranging wildly in tone. theyre all based on different songs by different artists, usually 90s-00s alt rock, except when theyre based on a song thats not that. same universe as indie, with two of the principal characters later going on to be the parents of mitchell. wow!