Dropout is an upcoming (and a side project!) +18 slice-of-life interactive fiction game. Loosely inspired by media such as In the Heights and Night in the Woods.
Tag(s): Slice of life, Drama, Romance, YA, LGBTQ+, Text-based.
You take the train home from college after nearly four years away, knowing you will be welcomed with open arms, bright smiles, and the sincerest congratulations from your friends and family, from the entire neighborhood. Their pride has not been misplaced, for better or for worse, you are the one: the only one who made it into college.
This is your first summer home since you began studying in Stanford. That is what everyone thinks.
This is your first summer home since you dropped out of college, thus becoming the biggest disappointment in your neighborhood. That is what only you know.
Trigger Warning(s): Crude humor, Strong language, optional sex scenes, Violence, Depression and depictions of other mental illnesses, Substance use, Unwanted pregnancy (a RO's, Wanda).
A short disclaimer
Features and Characters below!
Return to your home, the fictional neighborhood of Downtown Heights, where you're treated like a local hero because of your grand achievement.
Determine how you managed to make it into college and why you decided to call it quits.
Reunite with your high school friends and acquaintances, with whom you've barely spoken in the past few years.
Romance one (or more) of the six old faces waiting for you in Downtown Heights.
Customize your Main Character! From their teenage years to their young adulthood, from physicality to personality. Be it your traits, flaws, and vices: everything shapes your return home.
Navigate the very dramatic shenanigans of young adulthood.
Queer relationships • RO Intros • ROs' Social Media • RO Facts
Jean/Jade Gray (he/him or she/her): THE EX • 23 years old
J and you were good. Until you weren't, and then they broke up with you right before you left for college. The two of you promised to stay as friends, but, like most promises between you and J, that too was meant to be broken. Your ex is often considered to be ambitious, determined, and cutthroat. You honestly expected them to be well out of the neighborhood.
Exes to lovers. It's possible to start a poly relationship (v and triad) with J and Kai.
Uma Bharat (they/them): THE OLD FRIEND • 22 years old
It has always been you and Uma, and this has been something you covetously believed to be true. But then the distance settled in, and then the many years in which you lived abroad. You can't claim to know them as well as you once did. Uma once dreamed of being a successful painter, and they have never given up on art (though they sometimes feel like art has given up on them).
Childhood best friends to lovers. It's possible to start a poly relationship (triad) with Uma and Travis.
Statler Amani (he/him or she/her): THE HEARTTHROB • 25 years old
You knew Statler back in high school, though they can't claim to have known of you until you made it out of the neighborhood. Many years ago, they were every high schooler's dream partner: kind, polite, intelligent. Their current partner must be proud. Nowadays, Statler works as hard as they can to help their family.
Unrequited crush to lovers. Statler is already in a relationship, a (more-or-less) toxic one.
Wanda Pavon (she/her): THE MODEL • 22 years old
Wanda had a future in modeling, the two of you were in the same group of friends in high school, and you never doubted she would be capable of making it out of the neighborhood. Her self-assertive and spontaneous personality surely would have made Wanda's road a little easier. You only find out why Wanda stayed in Downtown Heights when you meet her daughter.
Friends to lovers. Wanda is a single mother, her daughter's name is Gabi.
Kai Alofa (he/him or she/her): THE ROOMMATE • 24 years old
Kai's glow-up is the reason some Downtown Heights grandmothers believe in magic. The high school nerd turned fuckboy/girl has spent the past few years traveling around the state. Like you, they are back for the summer, ready to disappoint their parents. Rooming together comes as a natural result of delaying said disappointment (or so Kai claimed).
Friends with benefits to lovers (mandatory to romance Kai). It's possible start a poly relationship (v and triad) with Kai and J.
Travis Camaro (he/him): THE RIVAL • 21 years old
Uma, Travis and you were considered to be inseparable: it was the three of you against the world. That is no longer the case. A massive argument completely shattered the friendship Travis and you had. You know he resents you, you know he's jealous you managed to make it out and that he was left behind. And that's all you know. Travis has always been... a private guy.
(Past friends) to enemies/rivals to lovers. It's possible to start a poly relationship (triad) with Travis and Uma.
“Come on now try and understand The way I feel under your command Take my hand as the sun descends”
Nighttime is, in every sense, almost a sacred time— It has become the scarce hours in which you’re allowed to enjoy your home in its entirety, and not just its amenities or its warmth, but Statler too.
They always arrive tired, too tired, practically melting as the humid cold is replaced by the warmth of their home. Statler practically melts as it seeps deep in their bones, as their brown eyes meet yours, resolute despite their exhaustion.
“Missed you,” Statler says, and you know that they mean it. Even if you spend a few minutes away, Statler misses you like they can’t bear the thought of having you away for too long. They miss you every second that they can’t enjoy by your side.
Statler’s calloused hands meet yours, your fingers intertwine— your eyes adjust to the dim moonlight. You’re finally together.
Probably knew this was coming but 58 for both kai/j triad and uma/travis triad polys for the Spotify question!!!!
Hi hi✨ thanks!
“Friday night meltdowns, but buzz cuts are in now And baby, you're still so fine”
When J arrives at Kai and your apartment they find the remnants of what, to them, appears like the result of yet another one of Kai’s poor decisions—to Kai (and you) it was a very rational idea and a fun night.
Truth be told, it’s only served to mess up Kai’s hairstyle.
“What do you think?” they ask—proudly brandishing their new buzz cut. Somehow they make it seem like a challenge, as if criticism could possibly be anything other than entertaining to Kai. “It looks good doesn’t it.”
As the one who had brandished the shaver, you feel obligated to nod.
“Why do I leave you two alone?” J wonders quietly. A bit louder, they add, “You look fine. Grab a fucking broom already. It’s your hair— you’re sweeping it.”
'“Cause that's what friends are for, right? Little disorder in my sleeping quarters Yeah, that sounds like a good time”
Back in high school, Travis’ sleeping schedules would get so twisted that he’d be forced to drag himself through weeks on end—baggy-eyed and whinier than usual. You soon find that that’s a habit that a lack of exams hasn’t managed to eliminate.
Uma is kind and free enough that they offer their house for a couple nights to lull Travis to sleep. They invite you, they always do, and that’s how you know it’s all an excuse for the three of you to spend the night together. Like you’re teenagers again.
But you weren’t this when you were seventeen— you weren’t comfortably slotted between your best friends. You wouldn’t hug Uma the way you do now. You wouldn’t feel Travis’ warm skin pressed against your back—close enough to know he’s there, yet far apart that it’s comfortable for him.
I feel so bad for uma for being between mc and travis' fight :(
how do they feel about this? like, are they sad because of this or are they angry that mc and travis can't sort it out whatever it is between them and just be friends again?
You'll see later on but Uma is obsessed with being neutral and they (idealistically in a way) are a firm believer that things will work out and that everything can go back to the way it was.
Ladies, gents, and nons, it's the moment you've all been waiting for;
The Demo Is Now Here
the page will be a little boring for the moment, i'll worry about description, graphics, etc. at a later date (maybe after Christmas), so i apologise
additionally; the autosave currently does not work as intended, so please make sure to save manually, and should you wish to continue your save in the update do not save on the final thank you/demo end screen as it will be removed in updates
Now!
In this demo you can (and will);
learn a little bit (just a little bit) of context behind your situation;
choose the gender of A. Bellefleur and T. Bellefleur;
decide whether your MC will (start out) bloodthirsty, indifferent, or guiltridden;
also decide whether you were hired for your military knowledge, your diplomacy, or your charm/etiquette;
sort of meet the King and Queen.
it is a relatively short prologue, i will admit, but i do hope you enjoy!
hi how would Travis be like around / think of an MC who just kinda allows him to get mad at them + insult (?) them yknow not outwardly reacting when he's antagonistic against them bc MC feels like they deserve it in a way?? sorry if this is worded weird
Oooh interesting!
I don't think he'd be too sympathetic. Travis' meanness(? is very petty and irrational. He thinks MC deserves it too, and this belief would sort of be reinforced by MC being accepting in a way of it. Like MC is acknowledging it's their fault.
MC doesn't really know why Travis is mad (at least not 100%) tho gkwkf
Reminder that in Gaza alone, around 90-95% of the water supply is contaminated and unfit for human consumption...
If you dont believe israel is capable of this evilness (that they've been enforcing for OVER 50 YEARS) read it for yourself, from AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
So I haven’t talked about this on main before, but the situation in South Gaza has gotten so horrifying that I’m p much throwing caution to the wind to desperately plead for eyes on this. I’m raising awareness about stories from activists in Gaza right now, including one of our own.
My lovely, wonderful friend Swin (aka tumblr user @combaticon) was deployed as a volunteer medic to a Gaza hospital on the 9th.
When the bloodshed started, she heard they needed extra hands in Gaza, she spoke Arabic and had the training, and she went.
I’ve been in contact with her throughout. She’s so incredibly brave it takes my breath away. My heart bleeds for these children she’s taking care of and how resilient they are is… astonishing.
Swin and these poor people have been under siege for so long, and they’re in desperate need of critical supplies. They have to filter water through their clothes, and it’s getting dangerously cold. Foods finally been getting through, but there’s not enough blankets and jackets to go around and there’s no fuel for the generators.
Their comrades in the West Bank have been completely pushed out by settler thugs. It’s incredibly unsafe to even be doing humanitarian work for Palestinians. Remember this the next time a Zionist tells you they’re doing this to ‘feel safe’. The IOF is arming lynch mobs.
On a personal note, this has been the most gut-wrenching week of my life. Every day when I wake up without a text from her I feel so much fear. I fight back the grief but I don’t know how to help or what to do. It’s terrifying.
Swin has asked for nothing, absolutely nothing other than something it can show the people around it to make them feel like they’re not going to be abandoned. To make sure they’re not forgotten in some pit praying Rafah opens before Israel decides to slaughter them all.
Today was a bad day. She’s alive but beyond worrying about her privacy now; she’s asked me to share this and to beg that we not lose steam and forget about them. Please share this, and please keep being fucking annoying and loud and digging your heels in with fury because we cannot let these people die silently.
[Times of Gaza] [QUD network] [Eye on Palestine]
[link to GCC registration website as the link in this picture is broken]
Please keep in mind that the Global Conscience Convoy is NOT soliciting donations, and registration is to sign up for attendance to the actual event in Cairo. There’s a list of other actions you can do to boost awareness for their protest at Rafah on the website.
It has been four years since your parents died. Your younger sister and you have been left in shambles, struggling to pick up the pieces of what’s left of your family. But nothing ever goes right; you devote your life to taking care of Chrissy, and she devotes hers to resent you—and to something darker of which you are unaware.
One day, Chrissy goes missing, and the only way for you to get her back is to journey into hell. In order to do that, you are forced to make a deal.
What happens next is up to you.
DEMO • BLOG
You take the train home from college after nearly four years away, knowing you will be welcomed with open arms, bright smiles, and the sincerest congratulations from your friends and family, from the entire neighborhood. Their pride has not been misplaced, for better or for worse, you are the one: the only one who made it into college.
This is your first summer home since you began studying in Stanford. That is what everyone thinks.
This is your first summer home since you dropped out of college, thus becoming the biggest disappointment in your neighborhood. That is what only you know.
DEMO • BLOG
Congratulations, human!
You have been chosen to join the extraordinary Creature Mediation Center (CMC), a unique workplace where all kinds of different monsters creatures collaborate to bridge the specieist gap in our society. As the newest and only human of our team, you'll navigate a world of diverse creatures, handling counseling sessions, managing projects, and making critical decisions to foster harmony between two worlds.
Welcome to a realm where diplomacy is a blend of corporate intrigue and fantastical diversity!
DEMO • BLOG
It's the year 2524, and you're a defeated God/Goddess/Deity in a place and time where your kind is rarely needed anymore. After being locked away and thought to be dead for nearly a millennia, you wake up.
Happy Thanksgiving! Reminder that we (Americans) live on stolen indigenous land. It’s still Native American Heritage Month, so definitely support small, queer, or indigenous businesses this Black Friday if you’re going to shop ❤️
Statler wouldn't leave??? Like ever??? thats so disheartening I'm so in love with them. Im planning an MC who's going to go back for their degree after falling in love with them...would statler at least do long distance? Would they be okay with a move down the line when their siblings are older??
I get it😭 but they've already experienced what it's like to have both their parents leave the neighborhood. Statler wouldn't that to their siblings :(