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scene 79: it's all the same forever
🕑 Added 2024-05-30 05:37:47 +0000 UTC[NOTE: scene will be described in a loose panel-to-panel manner. Some sequences which will undoubtedly be more than one panel will still be described as a singular panel. The amount of panels in the sequence is not set in stone, and can vary in the final product. These sequence-panels will be marked with a *.]
[Panel 1]
[Jessie exits Shiloh's apartment. Shiloh is at the door, seeing her out.]
[Panel 2]*
[Before Shiloh can shut their door, Jessie turns around. Her expression is sentimental, attached. There may be one extra beat panel where they seem to share the intent to kiss in a subtle motion of the eyes and heads.]
[Panel 3]*
[They kiss. The kiss is held for an abnormally long time. Whatever amount of panels communicates this. Ideally, it should be implied that Jessie is the one not ending the kiss. Perhaps she doesn't want to go. Perhaps she simply wants to assert her dominance by forcing them to endure discomfort.]
[Panel 4]
[Jessie pulls away from the kiss.]
[Panel 5]
[Jessie gazes at Shiloh for another beat.]
[Panel 6]*
Jessie (disingenuous smile): see ya later.
Shiloh: love you.
Jessie: yeah. Love you.
[Panel 7]*
[Once Shiloh has closed their apartment door, Jessie's smile drops the facade and returns to a bored, neutral frown. She turns around.]
"I could've stayed if I was just gonna be bored outside."
[Jessie tilts her head noncommittally, considering the idea, but quickly dismissing it. She departs from Shiloh's doorstep.]
"She's been boring me, too, though. // it doesn't end well for her when she bores me."
[Panel 8]*
[Jessie trots down the sidewalk in no particular direction.]
Jessie (out loud, to herself, as she walks along): it can't ALL be boring, right? Millions of people and they're all as boring as the stars in the sky?? [like a Cool Guy anime character acting put out on purpose] How are you all here for my entertainment if none of you are entertaining??
[Beside herself, Jessie crosses her arms as a car drives by on the street in front of her.]
Jessie (voice mocking Shiloh, head following the path of the car): ...~statistically~, it's IMPOSSIBLE. I just gotta find the fun ones.
[Jessie follows the car and lands on its roof. She may or may not indicate that she isn't visible to the other characters with a visual effect of some kind, whether temporary or permanent.]
Jessie (bending neck over the front windshield, looking into the car upside down): wouldn't be the first time I've played 'fly-on-the-wall'...
[Panel 9]*
[Inside the car are two girls — one may be more of a woman than a girl, but it isn't obvious. She could be in high school or in college. She will be referred to as "protagonist 1." She's driving the car.
The other girl in the car is around middle school age. She's sticking a smartphone out the window, trying to record a specific cloud (the cloud may indeed have a very absurd, specific shape, such as spelling out an entire word). In the backseat of the car, there are two backpacks, indicating that they're headed to school.]
Protagonist 1: STOP holding it out of the WINDOW.
Little sister: okay, stop driving behind trees and I'll—
Protagonist 1: I am NOT replacing it if you drop it.
[Panel 10]
[Same shot as last panel.]
Protagonist 1: YOU can deal with Mom— [interrupted by panel 11]
[Panel 11]*
[First panel, same shot. Protagonist 1 slams on her brakes, causing her sister and herself to lurch forward. Their seat belts lock. The little sister drops her phone (may be shown in its own separate panel).
In front of their car, another vehicle zips by them, blowing a stop sign. Importantly, note that the car is traveling from the left of the driver's side to stage right. The sign is folded in half at the pole. The "STOP" part of the sign faces traffic heading in the opposite direction.]
Protagonist 1: Jesus.
Little sister (mocking voice, as car begins moving again): ~if you break the car, I'm not replacing it.~
Protagonist 1: so if I break your face—
Little sister (interrupting): shit! No!!
Protagonist 1: it's not that serious.
Little sister (interrupting again): we need to go back. I dropped it.
Jessie (looking back in the direction of the phone): owned.
[Panel 12]*
[Protagonist 1 glances back through the car's side mirror and twists her face. There are too many cars to make turning around easy. Everyone, like her, is driving to school or work.]
Protagonist 1: I literally told you...
Little sister (partially interrupting): shut UP!! I only dropped it because YOU slammed the brakes. [on a shot of protagonist 1] I'm so screwed— you should be the one getting in trouble. You were the one who—
Protagonist 1: listen, the phone's probably okay. I'll turn around and go get it. But Mom will be even more pissed if you're late, too.
Little sister (indignant): she should be pissed at YOU!! I was
Jessie: eehhh. This is pretty boring. 'T's just like the fights me and Emily used to have. Let's just...... skip past this...
[Jessie snaps. An overlay indicating that time is passing faster appears: ▶▶. Time begins to skip forward in a choppy, disparate fashion, as when one fast-forwards a youtube video.
Several wordless panels show fleeting instances of the remaining trip: the two continuing to bicker (perhaps with the little sister biting the older sister); driving in a less dense area surrounded by cornfields; waiting for several other middle-school-age kids to finish crossing a crosswalk as they walk to school on foot; pulling into the parking lot of the school.
Jessie puts her hand up and closes it into a fist, as one might do to tell a crowd to be silent. Time resumes its normal speed (▶).]
Jessie: oh. Dialogue?
[The little sister pulls on her own hair with anxiety. The car pulls up to the middle school with neither of them saying anything else. She gets out of the car and opens the back door to retrieve her backpack.]
Protagonist 1: Hey. It'll be okay.
[The little sister frowns.]
Protagonist 1: ...if it's cracked, we can get just the screen fixed. It's not super expensive. [new panel] okay?
Little sister (a little less stressed, defeated): ..okay.
[Panel 13]
[The little sister shuts the back door.]
[Panel 14]
[Same shot as panel 13, but panned up to show Jessie on the roof of the car. Her face isn't visible, as she observes the girl enter the school. She's resting her cheek on her fist.]
[Panel 15]
[A shot of Jessie's face to show her expression. She looks unimpressed, but mildly interested in watching the drama resolve. She's hoping that the phone broke, but she will allow it to play out naturally.]
[Panel 16]*
[The car pulls away from the curb. Jessie snaps to fast-forward again (▶▶). A few panels show protagonist 1 backtracking the path they took before. One panel should comically show her waiting a ridiculously long time to turn left due to traffic — possibly best rendered by just drawing 2 panels of her waiting to turn.
As described in the outline: the older sister in the car alone with her face in her hands, looking very exasperated; the older sister driving again, looking very focused; stopped at a red light, checking the time on her phone.
The sequence terminates in a panel of a truck T-boning protagonist 1's car, at the same intersection where she was almost hit before. It is the moment of impact, so soon after the cars touch that the metal has only dented slightly.
Jessie notices the car — it's hard not to notice the car — and hesitates enough that reality begins to "play" at normal speed again (▶). Jessie should probably get two panels here.]
[Panel 17]
[The side of the car that's struck crumples like paper. The front of the truck starts to give to a lesser degree. The force of the truck starts to push the car onto its side. The driver of the truck (to be referred to as "protagonist 2") isn't wearing a seat belt; he's thrown through his windshield, over the car. With him, dozens of pizza boxes are thrown out of the truck as well.]
[Panel 18]
[The car flips onto its side and rolls over, smashing the roof of the car against the road, killing protagonist 1 instantly and squishing Jessie underneath like a mass of dough. The truck slides onto its side.]
[Panel 19]
[The car's momentum doesn't stop. It rolls back onto its side until it's right-side-up. Jessie releases the car to avoid continuing to roll with it, rather than stopping the second rollover altogether. She looks mildly annoyed at being crushed for a moment, like a cat who had its fur pet backwards.
The car rolls back onto its side as its momentum slows. The truck finishes skidding and comes to a halt (still on its side).
Protagonist 2 hits the road and skids. Half of the flesh on his face decides it would rather hang out with the asphalt; the skin on one of his arms and a portion of his back is pulled away by friction.
The pizzas also hit the road. Many of them create a comical replication of a gruesome scene with many casualties. Cheese and toppings paint the street like blood and viscera.]
[Panel 20]*
[Protagonist 1's car stops sliding. It comes to rest on its roof with one final thud.
Protagonist 2 stops skidding, though he is not lucky enough to stop breathing as well. He is still alive, for now, which he makes apparent with some pathetic groans and gurgles.
A third vehicle behind the truck stops short of the crash site, skidding sideways slightly as it tries to stop quickly.]
[Panel 21]*
[Jessie looks unmoved by the entire scene; however, her expression also communicates an awareness that she SHOULD feel pity, at the very least. It should be visibly different from the expressions of apathy that she makes later in the story, where she is entirely numb to such events, possibly even disagrees with and looks down on the idea that it is worth sadness or pity. She is not emoting pity or performing it, but she is currently aware that she should feel it, and agrees with the basic premise of feeling it.]
Jessie: hm.
[Jessie doesn't feel so much hypothetical pity for protagonist 2. She hovers over the car to investigate his sorry state, if for no other reason, to enjoy his suffering. She feels that he got what he deserved. If he had been driving carefully, he wouldn't have gotten into a wreck in the first place. If he had been wearing his seat belt, his body would still be in one piece.]
Jessie (muttering, aware he can't hear her): fuckin' idiot.
[Panel 22]*
[EMS arrives on the scene comically quickly — with some sort of smear frame effect to emphasize that it isn't a time lapse, but an ambulance arriving within seconds without being called.
Two EMTs step out of the front compartment of the ambulance: the driver (to be called "protagonist 3") is a coywolf. She is the same coywolf seen in the sketch comic where Jessie bites her classmate, but about 20 years older now. Jessie doesn't seem to recognize her at all.
The EMT who was sitting in the passenger seat (to be called "protagonist 4") is Scleromochlus taylori (tentative species; more jerboa-like interpretation, such as by Gabriel Ugueto). They are much younger than the coywolf.]
Coywolf: set up the cones. See if you can get something out of the guy in that sedan.
[Protagonist 4 complies without resistance. Protagonist 3 investigates the truck, but sees no one is in it. The large hole in the windshield indicates to her that the driver was ejected; she looks in the direction that the truck is facing (most likely, out into a field), but sees no body.
Protagonist 3 notices the graveyard of pizzas and looks a little weirded out. She checks the other car for occupants. Jessie is curious if protagonist 1 may still be alive. She also approaches the car and sticks her head through the back window like a ghost.
Inside, protagonist 1's head and upper torso are crushed between the collapsed roof and the steering wheel — possibly the dashboard as well. It should be readily apparent that there is no way she's alive just by looking at her. Protagonist 3 makes a subtle cringing face.]
Jessie: oh, so she's DEAD-dead.
Coywolf: ...hello? Can you hear me?
[Jessie shakes her head smugly, then pulls it out of the car. How foolish it is to even try.
Protagonist 3's ears curl back. She detects the moaning from protagonist 2 in response to her. She stands back up and notices his location immediately. She strafes the car and approaches him, noticing his flesh dragged along the road, mixed with pizza.]
Coywolf (while pressing a switch on radio to change frequencies, leaning face towards it): ..you? Sir? You can hear me? What's your name?
Protagonist 2: hhurts. .... it hurts
Coywolf (to radio): Buddy, I need the scoop behind this hatchback. With some hustle.
[Protagonist 3 kneels down by protagonist 2.]
Coywolf: hey, it's gonna be okay. We have medicine for you. Do you know where you are?
[Jessie's mouth forms a long, bored line — most likely, her expression interrupting the bubbles of what protagonist 3 is saying to protagonist 2. She snaps. Time begins to fast-forward (▶▶).]
[Panel 23 (▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 and protagonist 4 maneuver a scoop stretcher or combicarrier under protagonist 2's body.]
[Panel 24 (▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 and protagonist 4 struggle the stretcher onto the gurney in the back of the ambulance. Jessie's head follows them.]
[Panel 25 (▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 is giving protagonist 4 some final instructions as she shuts the doors to the back; protagonist 4 will be driving.]
[Panel 26 (▶▶)]*
[Jessie considers her options. She decides to see if they really do have medicine that will fix this man. She doubts it, but it does not occur to her that someone might lie to make a stranger feel better. She Manifests in the back of the ambulance. Time continues to skip to disparate pieces of time.]
[Panel 27 (▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 hooking up the electrodes to a small ECG machine onto protagonist 2. There are large swathes of gauze on his wounds. A little blood is staining the fabric red, but the wounds are oozing more than gushing. The bandages are far from drenched.]
[Panel 28 (▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 administers CPR to protagonist 2.]
[Panel 29 (▶▶)]
[A small group of medical professionals, including protagonist 4, transfer protagonist 2 from the ambulance gurney to a hospital gurney with a sheet draw. Protagonist 3 stands back looking fatigued.]
[Panel 30 (▶▶)]
[Excluding protagonist 4, the team of medical professionals who transferred protagonist 2 between stretchers moves him down the hallway. They're already pretty far away. One of them is still attempting to resuscitate him.]
[Panel 31 (▶▶)]*
[Jessie observes protagonist 2 leaving her line of sight, but decides not to follow his story anymore; she feels it has ended, in a pathetically quick way, no less. Time resumes playing at its normal speed as Jessie makes her decision (▶).]
Coywolf: -etting too old for this. Ough.
Taylori: you feeling alright?
Coywolf: just tired. I've got those chest cramps again.
Taylori: want some nitro?
Coywolf: sure, sure, I guess. I don't wanna spend all night like this.
[Protagonist 3 sits down in the back of the ambulance. Protagonist 4 scrounges around briefly before handing her a small spray bottle. She spritzes it in her mouth.]
Coywolf: you grab me a report and I can fill it out.
Taylori: sounds good. [as they're rounding the back] you shouldn't have given him compressions. [in the front] we both knew he wasn't gonna make it. [with a sheet of paper and a pen] I mean, he was missing half his face.
Coywolf: it's protocol.
[Panel 32]*
[Protagonist 4 makes a face as they peak back into the back of the ambulance.]
Coywolf: —one day, you'll have a call you really think's going straight to the morgue. And then they pull through. [taking the paper] Things don't go the way you expect them to. Give it a few years and you'll give even the deadest, limpest fish mouth-to-mouth.
Taylori (removing sheets from gurney): I dunno, I was hoping to find a different job after this semester... How are you feeling.
Coywolf (surprised): much better. [leaning forward] It's really not a bad career. you know, I used to work in education. But when—
[Jessie is irritated by the drivel these two are exchanging. Her face interrupts the last of the dialogue. She snaps, and time begins to move forward faster (▶▶).]
[Panel 33 (▶▶)]
[The EMTs head out, with protagonist 3 driving again.]
[Panel 34 (▶▶)]
[The EMTs are posted in a parking lot, waiting for a call.]
[Panel 35 (▶▶)]*
[Annoyed, Jessie fast-forwards more aggressively by snapping again — perhaps even several times — but only one arrow is added to the fast-forward symbol (▶▶▶).]
[Panel 36 (▶▶▶)]
[Same shot. The EMTs remain posted in this parking lot. You can see protagonist 3 smoking a cigarette at the side of the ambulance.]
[Panel 37 (▶▶▶)]
[The EMTs are responding to a call about a character who took benadryl knowing that they are deathly allergic to shellfish, having an anaphylactic reaction after eating shellfish. There should be a bottle of nondescript allergy pills and half-eaten shellfish both visible. The EMTs should look like they have dealt with this person before.]
[Panel 37 (▶▶▶)]
[An astonishingly drunk woman vomits on protagonist 3 in the back of the ambulance.]
[Panel 38 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 prepares a bandage on a call for a papercut. The character with the papercut (on their finger) cries profusely. Protagonist 3 is in different scrubs.]
[Panel 39 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 gets in her car to go home. She looks worn out.]
[Panel 40 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 looks on at an out-of-order elevator in an apartment building's lobby.]
[Panel 41 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 on her toilet. Her head is on one hand as it wipes away sweat from her forehead. She seems extremely tired — unwell and breathless. Jessie processes that she is in the bathroom with a stranger.]
[Panel 42 (▶▶▶)]
[Same shot. Jessie looks in a direction where the camera is not. She may thumb behind her to point at what she's referring to.]
Jessie: It's not weird for me to watch somebody in their bathroom 'cuz I'm God. It's not weird when God does it.
[It isn't obvious whether she's being sarcastic or not.
Behind her, in the background, protagonist 3 is showering behind a shower curtain. Today was a long shift. She just wants to wash the blood, vomit, and sweat off of herself and rest.]
[Panel 43 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 lies in bed. It is dawn.]
[Panel 44 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 lies in bed. It is midday.]
[Panel 45 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 lies in bed. It is nighttime.]
[Panel 46 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 lies in bed. It is midday.]
Jessie: ...come on, what the hell. Get out of bed! Go do something interesting, go save some stupid ass lives!!
[Panel 47 (▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 3 lies in bed. It is nighttime.]
[Panel 48 (▶▶▶)]*
[Protagonist 3 lies in bed. It is morning. A group of people abruptly appear in the room, surprising Jessie. The group is composed of protagonist 4, two police officers, and a medical examiner. Time returns to normal speed as she is distracted (▶).
Jessie investigates, peering over the medical examiner's shoulder. The examiner is marking certain checkboxes on a form. Protagonist 3 just looks like she's sleeping, though the blanket she was under is pulled back with no reaction, and there is no rise and fall of breath. Her nose looks a little dusty and grey; her limbs look a little unnaturally stiff.]
Jessie: yyyeeeaaahhh, that makes sense. I guess.
[Jessie looks around the room. She squints at protagonist 4.]
Jessie: well, I hate pigs, sooo... let's follow you.
[Jessie snaps multiple times.]
[Panel 49 (▶▶▶▶)]*
[Weeks pass in an instant. Jessie ends up in an entirely different location with protagonist 4, who now sits on a bed crying into their paws. Another character (Dromomeron romeri) sits next to them, comforting them — their partner, though they may or may not be together yet.
Jessie tilts her head with tentative interest and allows the scene to return to a normal speed (▶).]
Taylori: -wish I'd taken it more seriously. I mean we were in a hospital.
Romeri: it's okay.
Taylori (sort of interrupting, not done with sentence): surrounded by EKGs!
Romeri (as protagonist 4 chokes back a sob): you couldn't have known. [patting their back] she said she felt better.
Taylori: but it would've been so easy to-
Jessie (rolling eyes): ugh. Just stop. Suck it the fuck up and ignore your feelings like the rest of us.
[Jessie snaps twice. Time skips faster. Snapshots become months apart.]
[Panel 50 (▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 picks strawberries in a field with family members visibly related to them by blood. Their partner is also there with the family, though the partner's family seems to be absent.]
[Panel 51 (▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 works with a different EMT, who seems to be newer than them, listening to orders from them for guidance on what to do. They may be cleaning the ambulance or working on a casual call, such as one for low blood sugar.]
[Panel 52 (▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 sits in front of a desk with their partner; behind the desk is a medical professional of some sort. They are in an office which isn't used for medical examination, but may have medical diagrams or diplomas on the walls — a consultation room in a fertility clinic.]
[Panel 53 (▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 on a cruise with their partner, leaning on the edge's guard rail and enjoying the breeze.]
[Panel 54 (▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 on the floor with a puppy, encouraging it to explore; there is an open carrier nearby implying that it is fairly new when paired with its cautious, confused expression.]
[Panel 55 (▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 4 excitedly shows their partner a positive pregnancy test.]
[Panel 56 (▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[Protagonist 4 seems to have bled to death during a complication while giving birth; they're currently flatlining with their abdomen still cut open, though there are medical professionals attempting to replace the blood and restart their heart. The infant (protagonist 5) removed from their midsection should also be visible, held by a medical professional while it cries.
Jessie squints at the monitor showing the flatline, but time jumps again to a headstone. Time returns to a normal speed (▶).]
Jessie (annoyed): aw, what? That's stupid. Mortal lives end so abruptly.
[Jessie ponders.]
Jessie: well. the dumb baby probably won't die too fast. Unless super SIDS gets it. Let's check out how he's doing, I guess...
[The background around Jessie contorts in a boxed, glitchy sort of effect as the setting with the headstone phases out, and the setting where protagonist 5 resides phases in.
Protagonist 5 is being held in a standing position by one of protagonist 4's family members, who was seen picking strawberries — probably protagonist 5's grandmother.
In front of the two is protagonist 5's father and protagonist 4's partner. The character holding protagonist 5 is helping him walk towards his father. Protagonist 5 tries to walk faster than the pace he's being helped at and falls forward, where his father catches him. Even though he could not have done it much worse than he did, both adults cheer for him and coo.
Jessie shakes her head impatiently and snaps multiple times. Time speeds up.]
[Panel 57 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Years pass by. The next shot is of protagonist 5 learning in kindergarten.]
[Panel 58 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 learning in grade school. His pose and the composition of the panel are very similar to the previous. It should mirror it as much as possible.]
[Panel 59 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 learning in grade school. Again, his pose should match the previous panel's in a different setting, larger than before.]
[Panel 60 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[Protagonist 5 learning in middle school. Like before, his pose matches the previous panels'. Jessie sighs with boredom.]
Jessie (putting fists on hips): yeah, I guess most of your kid years ARE just going to school... [straightening up] and they still consider it the best years of their lives.
[Panel 61 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 is a teenager now, possibly a freshman in high school, arguing with a girlfriend.]
[Panel 62 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 and his father mourn in a calm room at the back of a veterinarian's office as their dog is euthanized. It is the same dog as the puppy in panel 53.]
[Panel 63 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 sulks in a corner at a family reunion. Notably, the parents of protagonist 4 — protagonist 5's grandparents — aren't there, as they grew old and passed away. The other characters who were present at the strawberry picking look older.]
[Panel 64 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 argues with a different girlfriend about a positive pregnancy test.]
[Panel 65 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[Protagonist 5 moving into a dorm room.]
Jessie: uch. I'm not watching this wafer butt chug at frat parties for four years.
[Jessie snaps. Time advances even faster.]
[Panel 66 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 works a retail job, miserably.]
[Panel 67 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 helps an infant walk to another man — his partner. They are of drastically different species, and the infant resembles neither of them. The shot mirrors the shot at the end of panel 55.]
[Panel 68 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 works with a physical therapist for an injury to his knee. He is around 40 now.]
[Panel 69 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 shows his son (the infant from panel 66) how to change a tire.]
[Panel 70 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist sobs over his husband in a hospital bed after some sort of stroke that has, most likely, rendered him brain-dead. He is in his 60s now.]
[Panel 71 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 waves goodbye to his son while holding the hand of a child. The child (to be called "protagonist 6") resembles his son, but not him. His son is in a car, driving away. He seems to have dropped off his son to spend time with his grandfather.]
[Panel 72 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 5 speaks to a nurse in his bedroom. He looks frail, old, tired. His child is also there, speaking as well.]
[Panel 73 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[The camera focuses on an urn. It rests on a nightstand next to a different bed, which protagonist 5's son sits on. Though much younger than his father, he looks frail as well. He takes a few pills out of a pill organizer.]
Jessie (unimpressed): hm. Boring all the way through.
[Her expression communicates that once again, even when she has seen the full breadth of a life — to some degree — she doesn't feel sadness at its end, but she knows that she ought to.
Jessie: Even with— what, 80 years? To do something interesting?
[Jessie looks down contemplatively for a moment. Protagonist 5's son catches her attention.]
Jessie: well. This loser looks like he's already circling the drain. I guess I can check what that cute widdle joey from before gets up to. —but, skip the school this time. Let's go straight to the twerpy twenties.
[Jessie snaps.]
[Panel 74 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[The scene immediately cuts to protagonist 6 in the middle of being stabbed in the abdomen multiple times by another spry 20-something (to be called "protagonist 7").]
Jessie: wouh.
[Protagonist 7 looks horrified, as if she didn't actually plan on stabbing this stranger. Jessie's head instinctively turns to follow protagonist 7 as she flees. Jessie glances back at protagonist 7, but quickly decides that the stabber is of more interest.]
Jessie: you GOTTA be interesting. [she starts to follow protagonist 7, glances back at protagonist 6] sucks to suck, dude.
[Panel 75 (▶)]*
[Protagonist 7 sprints under a porch, clumsily, almost tripping on nothing. She crawls to a deep corner of the underbelly and curls up into a ball, crying and whimpering. Jessie huffs.]
Jessie: gimme a break. You just stabbed somebody, live a little.
[Jessie snaps to fast-forward time again and again. She wants speed, she wants to just get to the interesting part.]
[Panel 76 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[A woman tries to strike up a conversation with protagonist 7, who lurks in a corner at a party, unable to overcome shyness or anxiety.]
[Panel 77 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 7 seems to live with this woman now. While sitting in a patio, she watches the woman chop wood near their home. There are 5 cats also on the patio, one of them resting on protagonist 7.]
[Panel 78 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[Protagonist 7 at a veterinary office with one of their cats in a carrier. The cat doesn't seem to be sick; it has a cone around its neck, and was probably recently neutered, with protagonist 7 picking it up.]
Jessie (huffing): great. 'F course you'd have a normal life.
[Panel 79 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]
[Protagonist 7 huddles together with her wife outside by a fire. It seems to just be in their backyard, but it is winter.]
[Panel 80 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[In a hospital, protagonist 7 vomits blood over a gown. There's an attending physician who seems surprised by the sudden rush of blood from their patient's mouth. Jessie frowns angrily. She jabs her finger in the doctor's direction.]
Jessie: YOU. Do something INTERESTING.
[Panel 81 (▶▶▶▶▶▶)]*
[Time jumps to protagonist 8 in a conference with other medical professionals; a surgeon is speaking in front of them all, giving some sort of presentation on heart surgery. Jessie's lip curls to show more of her fangs.]
Jessie: NO. Just go to the most, crucial— compelling, moment in your stupid life.
[Jessie snaps. Time skips straight to the end of protagonist 8's life — slipping on a banana peel and falling down several flights of stairs while holding a box of knives.]
Jessie (frustrated): rrrRRRGH!!!
[She explodes through the brick and drywall of the building she's in.]
"There has to be someone who's done something interesting in their miserable little lives."
[In no particular direction, she rockets through the air — possibly drawn as 2 panels: one lengthy single-panel row showing her path of movement, destroying buildings in her way, turning nearby animals in flight into cooked chickens (probably pigeons — the only domesticated birds that can fly?), transforming aircrafts into bombs by sending them careening to the ground; the second head-on as she flies at breakneck speeds. The next narration box would be in the second panel.]
"People die in hospitals all the time. I just keep getting stuck with doctors, who are inherently boring."
[Panel 82 (▶)]*
[Jessie zooms to the other side of the planet's one continent. She slams into the ground like a meteor striking earth. Where she ends up landing is in the middle of an airport; the panel where she lands is a shot from the perspective of others, where she is entirely invisible, untouchable, inaudible. From their point-of-view, the ceiling mysteriously exploded. A shallow crater forms under the hole in the ceiling. An unexplained earthquake knocks some people off of their feet, some structures to the ground.
The camera returns to Jessie's sensory perception. She whips to a standing position and violently points at whichever poor unfortunate soul happens to be in her line of sight first — someone (to be briefly called "protagonist 9") helping up a stranger (to be called "protagonist 10") who had fallen over in the quake.]
"There has to be someone."
[Panel 83 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[The fast forward arrows distort and elongate as smear frames, as if moving incredibly quickly. The next sequence of panels show a blur of scenes with their details running together. The presentation is similar to the sequence in scene 65 ("I'll show you bad"), where Jessie is surrounded by fragments of her own life as the word "God" repeats around her over and over. Jessie's life revolved around her in an infinite downward spiral, no clear beginning or end, but protagonist 9's life is one straight line, terminating in death. They die in a nursing home of some kind.]
[Panel 84 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Jessie returns to the airport, as though it was all a brief flashback to her, gritting her teeth in boiling frustration. She jabs her finger at protagonist 10.
Another similar sequence of blurred life experiences (taking up only one row of panels) terminates at this character's much more sudden death. She contracts the super rabies virus that Jessie introduced in scene 71 ("the evil god challenge"). Due to the shorter timespan, the details are blurred and smeared more, taking up more lateral space while paradoxically taking less time.]
[Panel 85 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Jessie points again; the shot is only of her pointing paw, and there is no panel showing just the person she points at — it cuts straight to another blur of a lifetime terminating in death. The character dies of a heart attack.]
[Panel 86 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Jessie points yet again, this time a shot of her pointing hand palm-up, tendons flexing, claw out. This character dies in a house fire.]
[Panel 87 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Note that this sequence should start on a new page from the prior beat; you should have to actually flip the page to see the start of it. The context to the lives and deaths stops being provided.
It's just lifespan after lifespan, each taking up a single row of "panels." Additionally, note that time seems to be moving into the future, as technology and fashion sensibilities change.
Someone dies in a car crash.]
[Panel 88 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of autoerotic asphyxiation.]
[Panel 89 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of starvation.]
[Panel 90 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of a birth defect as an infant.]
[Panel 91 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of aggressive super cancer.]
[Panel 92 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies by suicide.]
[Panel 93 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of a heart attack.]
[Panel 94 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies from slipping off a cliff.]
[Panel 95 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone is murdered.]
[Panel 96 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies by capital punishment.]
[Panel 97 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies in the apocalypse.]
[Panel 98 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of dehydration in the post-apocalypse world.]
[Panel 99 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of exertion.]
[Panel 100 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone drowns.]
[Panel 101 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies by suicide (again).]
[Panel 102 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone is struck by lightning.]
[Panel 103 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of a heart attack (again).]
[Panel 104 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies from being attacked by a large, now carnivorous horse.]
[Panel 105 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies of a stroke.]
[Panel 106 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies peacefully in their sleep.]
[Panel 107 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone freezes to death.]
[Panel 108 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies in a tornado.]
[Panel 109 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies from tummy hurty.]
[Panel 110 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies from an allergic reaction.]
[Panel 111 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone breaks their neck falling off of their bike the wrong way.]
[Panel 112 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[Someone dies in an explosion.]
[Panel 113 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]
[Jessie grimaces and grips her head, as if she has a bad headache. This should likely be only one panel, where she doesn't seem to be Anywhere — just occupying the empty space between panels. That isn't to say that she is small; the shot should be rather large, up-close and personal. Rather, there is no background behind her and no borders around her.]
[Panel 114 (▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶▶...)]*
[The deaths now show multiple people dying from the same cause at different times, as though their deaths are not personal and unique, but another point to a specific team's score. There are no lives; only deaths blurring into other deaths. People die of respiratory disease. People die of heart attacks. People die in accidents. People die of starvation. People die of exposure. People die from murder. People die by suicide. People die of old age. People die of cancer. People die in war. People die from drowning. People die by Jessie's snapping hand. People rot. People are forgotten. People turn to dust. Their graves turn to ashes.]
[Panel 115 (▶)]*
Jessie: IS THIS THE ONLY THING YOU ALL ARE WRITTEN FOR?!??! TO DIE?!?!?!! THAT'S THE MOST MEANINGFUL THING ABOUT YOUR LIVES?!??!? ENDING THEM!!??!?
[Jessie screams at a barren planet, ravaged by another planet colliding with it at some point. There is no more life on the earth.]
Jessie: THEN WHAT AM I WRITTEN FOR?!?? HUH!!??!
[There is, of course, nothing and no one to answer her question. There is no God to tell her what she is written for. Her anger rises at the nothingness of it all. Her jaw clenches. The muscles underneath, fighting each other for supremacy, carve taut wrinkles into her face.]
Jessie: YOU'RE ALL MEANINGLESS!!! [new panel] You would know that, if you saw it the way I do. You only think you mean something because you're finite.
[Jessie feels relieved of some of the tension in her chest. She slowly drifts to the ground like a leaf falling from a tree, until she's sitting down. She stretches her neck as she typically does when easing stress.]
Jessie (not wholly genuine, as if being snarky to someone, in a subtle way): but I'm infinite. Does that mean I'm meaningless? [new panel, less sarcastic] ...no. I have meaning. I'm the main character. I'm the whole story. Stories always have meaning.
[Jessie crosses her legs and leans forward, resting one elbow on her knee, her chin resting on her fist, sort of like a "thinker" pose. Her expression makes her look a little disinvested in her exploration of the topic, as though she's liable to decide that she's too good for it at any moment.]
Jessie: so, then, am I actually finite, orrrr. ...... [Jessie's face contorts in disgust at the idea] —OR, am I the one with the meaning?
[Jessie sits back and flexes her paw.]
Jessie (smug, admiring her own claws): that makes more sense. If they have meaning because they die,... // ...it's God giving them death. They're nothing without me. // MY meaning. Is to share my infinity and deliver them from their nothing. It's all meaningless just for me.
OMFG this was a PiTA to edit, i messed up the numbering and had to renumber it all, fix the spacing, reformat, etc. This is, intentionally, one of the longest scenes in the comic. It's very difficult to wrap up the sense of... insignificance in watching lives go in and out, memories one can say will live on past lifetimes fade away, cycles repeat over and over-- within a concise time frame.
The coywolf is from the comic where Jessie bites her classmate. In my head, the coywolf was first an EMT, quit and went into education after enough cases of children who couldn't be saved out of guilt, then went back to being an EMT when she realized education and exposure to obnoxious kids at length wasn't for her.
