Line #38 Webcomic/WhatHappensNext


1	[[quoteright:276:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/milo_3.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:276:Milo, our main protagonist.]]
3
4	-->''“And it’s gonna get easier and easier, and more and more convenient, and more and more pleasurable, [[{{Escapism}} to be alone with images on a screen]], given to us by [[MoneyDearBoy people who do not love us but want our money]]. Which is all right. In low doses, right? [[AntiEscapismAesop But if that’s the basic main staple of your diet, you’re gonna die. In a meaningful way, you’re going to die.]]''”
5	--->- '''Creator/DavidFosterWallace''', ''Literature/AlthoughOfCourseYouEndUpBecomingYourself''
6
7	-->''“I used to be trolled but I found out a way to stop it. I do all kinds of stupid and gay shit.”''
8	--->- '''lazerbot''', ''Webcomic/TailsGetsTrolled''
9
10	''[[https://whathappensnext.webcomic.ws/comics/1#content-start What Happens Next]]'' is a PsychologicalThriller webcomic series by @maximumgraves that originated in 2021, revolving around the murder of 16-year-old Haylie Gorski, which took place eight years before most of the comic is set. The storyline follows Milo Holliday (who was an accomplice to the murder as a young teen), who struggles to face the guilt he feels from his involvement in the crime.
11
12	WHN features an EnsembleCast, and delves into themes such as internet culture (particularly among young queer people), victimization, and true crime.
13	----
14	!! This Webcomic provides examples of:
15	* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: Gage mentions this after he [[spoiler:kisses Milo]]: dating a guy in prison is hard.
16	* AbusiveParents: Milo's father misgenders him, treats him terribly, blames him for not knowing things he was never taught, decides with his grandmother to evict him from said grandmother's house without Milo having anywhere else to go, and tells Milo that he can move back home, but his parents will be even worse to him as an incitement for him to find somewhere else to go. And he tells his own son all this while he's throwing out most of his belongings except one Starlight Glimmer plush and enough clothes to pack a suitcase.
17	* TheAlcoholic: Claire has a really bad drinking problem.
18	* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Gage is... morally ambiguous at best, but despite frequently manipulating and guilt-tripping Milo, he is nowhere on the level of horrible as Griffin was.
19	* AllThereInTheManual: Max's [[https://retrospring.net/@maximumgraves Retrospring]] has a ''huge'' amount of supplementary information about the comic.
20	* AllTakeAndNoGive: Claire is the taker to Audrey's giver, and she doesn't even seem to appreciate how much Audrey does for her.
21	* AlternateUniverse: According to WordOfGod, the comic takes place in one that's almost identical to the world as we know it, but [[https://retrospring.net/@maximumgraves/a/109123223194055064 with some differences.]]
22	* AnachronismStew: Intentionally so. ''What Happens Next'' contains deliberate anachronistic references to pop culture, as it aims to conjure the feeling of modern internet spaces rather than be technically accurate with regards to time.
23	* AnArmAndALeg: Milo sawed Haylie's arms off after her death so Griffin could try to incinerate the body.
24	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: ''Victim Impact Statement'' abruptly switches to the viewpoint of Haylie's sister Claire, who'd only appeared in one panel and hadn't been named before then.
25	* AntiHero: Milo. He's the main character and ''does'' try to do the right thing (in most scenarios), but has committed horrible actions in his past which he refuses to accept any sort of responsibility for.
26	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: During their argument, Aaron asks if Claire really thinks that Haylie would want 'Haylie's Law' to be passed. Claire says that Aaron has no idea what Haylie would have wanted, to which Aaron replies, "You're right. I don't. Does anyone?"
27	* ArtStyleDissonance: Tying into the comic's themes of trying to mask horrible acts with soft aesthetics, the art style for this PsychologicalThriller about murder and trauma is round, pastel, and bouncy, like doodles out of a teenager's fanart blog.
28	* AssholeVictim: Whether Milo is a good person or not is up for debate. Nonetheless, it's hard to argue that he deserves everything that happens to him during the story.
29	** Despite Gage being frequently manipulative and cruel, his stories of being hurt by his mother and ex-boyfriend are deeply upsetting.
30	* TheAtoner: Despite claiming innocence, Milo feels intense guilt regarding his involvement in Haylie's murder (and his continued presence in Griffin's life).
31	* BeneathTheMask: At first, Claire and Audrey seem to be in a happy, healthy relationship. Under the surface, Claire drinks, lashes out, has become very transphobic and is slowly sliding to the conservative side of politics, and either hasn't realised or doesn't care that the law she's trying to get passed will make things worse for people like Audrey and her family. Meanwhile, Audrey clings to Claire because their relationship got Audrey away from her abusive father and because she's romanticising her first real relationship, while in the process just accepting Claire's drinking and toxicity without a fight.
32	* BigBad: Griffin, who is unambiguously the worst person in the cast.
33	* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Claire, who is thirteen at the time of her first appearance in ''Victim Impact Statement''.
34	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: In Claire's book, if you don't support the legal changes she's trying to make, you want rapists and murderers to get off scot-free.
35	* BladeEnthusiast: Griffin. According to WordOfGod, the reason he murders both his victims with bladed weapons is because it fits into his aestheticized view of a serial killer.
36	* BothSidesHaveAPoint: When Milo and Vikki have their argument. Vikki points out that Milo never apologized or took responsibility for what he did; he constantly makes excuses and paints himself as the victim; whether he wants to admit it or not, he got off comparatively lightly in court and had a lot of privilege, mainly from coming from a rich family; and, y'know, he ''sawed his dead friend's arms off.'' Milo rebuts that he didn't kill Haylie or know about the murder beforehand; he was fifteen and made a stupid decision because his friend asked him to; attacking him won't bring Haylie back or fix anything; and people use his actions against him like a club whenever they don't want to admit that he has a point or is being treated badly.
37	* BreakTheCutie: In ''Victim Impact Statement'', Milo is shown as a sweet, innocent fifteen-year-old, with no obvious emotional distress aside from an anxiety disorder. Of course, this chapter takes place mere moments before the murder of Haylie Gorski...
38	* BrickJoke: After Xandra and Vikki's video in "Dog Names", the former bets that Milo would act like a regular drama queen and vent about it on his blog (with Vikki's name barely censored in two asterisks). Come "Someone Else", and Milo indeed vents about his latest argument with Vikki on his blog after she misgenders him in a fit of anger. Vikki almost amusedly states that she owes Xandra fifteen dollars.
39	* BrightIsNotGood: ''What Happens Next'' depicts the real-life issue of bad people using soft aesthetics, "traumacore" and victim complexes in order to portray themselves as the survivor instead of the perpetrator. Milo often incorporates childish themes and pastels into his clothing and Tumblr blog, and desperately wants to be seen as innocent and blameless. Vikki, on the other hand, is mostly a good person, although she presents herself as more alternative and is sometimes harsh with her wording.
40
41	* BungledSuicide: Claire tried to kill herself when she was seventeen.
42	* CastFullOfGay: There are a lot of queer characters among the principal cast, many of which are on the trans spectrum as well.
43	* CheerfulChild: Downplayed, as Milo was fifteen (and thus a lot older than most examples of this trope), but Milo was significantly happier and more at-ease as a teenager.
44	* DomesticAbuse: Haylie and Griffin did not have a good relationship. It's not yet known if Griffin hit her, but they had loud arguments and he intentionally broke some of her belongings.
45	* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: One of Milo and Gage's conversations has the former talk about his toxic relationship with Griffin, stating that he realized too late that it's easy to get swept up in Griffin's charms. Gage, meanwhile, dreamily agrees.
46	* DrowningMySorrows: Five years after Haylie's death, Claire is shown stealing vodka and putting it in her Slurpees. Several years after that, she's a full-blown alcoholic.
47	* DysfunctionJunction: There's hardly a character in the comic that doesn't have ''some'' major trauma that's haunting them.
48	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first two chapters are done entirely in monochrome, pink for "Dog Names" and blue for "Someone Else". By Chapter 3, the series expands to full color panels, but only returns to the monochrome for flashbacks.
49	* EveryoneHasLotsOfSex: Averted. Milo is a virgin at twenty-three according to WordOfGod.
50	* FauxAffablyEvil: Milo describes Griffin to be very charming, though of course he uses this as a front to manipulate others.
51	* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: [[InvokedTrope Invoked.]] When Gage tries to cheat on Griffin with Milo (and Milo rejects them), they defend themself by claiming to be the "good adultery" part of this trope, saying that Milo is misunderstanding the situation due to his lack of relationship experience.
52	* GoryDiscretionShot: Griffin's murder of Haylie is never shown. Instead, we see Haylie's sister react to the sound of their argument, and then Claire walking outside and staring at a pool of blood (it's later revealed that she walked in on Milo hacking off Haylie's arms). In Milo's flashback, he only saw the body after the murder.
53	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Played with. Milo is blonde but not innocent, and the plot partially revolves around his refusal to take responsibility for his own actions in aiding a violent murder. He does, however, try to ''present'' himself as this trope, through childish dress and his Tumblr blog, and repeatedly defending his lack of guilt regarding the Haylie Gorski murder (despite not believing it).
54	* {{Hypocrite}}: speaking out of two mouths is practically an acquired skill in this comic:
55	** Gage's blog introduces us to their character by showing their About, which says that they don't condone real-life murders despite being a True Crime fan--juxtaposed with a gruesome photo from the Black Dahlia murder case tagged under "aesthetic".
56	** Vikki is bang on about Milo refusing to take responsibility for his role in the murder case or for his internet addiction, but she similarly refuses to take her video of their interview down even though she knows it's contributing to Milo's harassment.
57	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Milo desperately clings on to anyone who knows who he is and what he's done and is still civil to him, because nearly everyone else rejected him.
58	* InnocenceLost: [[spoiler: Claire overhears her sister's murder, and finds the newly-lifeless body, at the age of thirteen.]]
59	* ItsAllAboutMe: Milo tends to center himself in discussions about Haylie, although it's most likely unintentional. Lampshaded by several characters (notably Vikki), who wish Milo wouldn't have such a victim complex regarding the murder.
60	* {{Manchild}}: Milo is called one by Vikki and Xandra.
61	* MeaningfulName: "Milo" and "Griffin". A [=LolCow=] user takes issue with the characters, both of whom are trans, naming ''themselves'' this, saying that all trans men choose "dog names". Dog Names is the title of the first chapter.
62	** Milo's tumblr handle is 'autistic[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic starlightglimmer]]'. It's not particularly surprising that he strongly identifies with a character who did bad things for friendship-related reasons, but was ultimately redeemed.
63	* MurderersAreRapists: [[spoiler: Griffin attempted to sexually assault 11-year-old Savannah Plunkett before he murdered her. It's not shown whether he did anything in that vein to Haylie, but the possibility exists.]]
64	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Milo has this reaction after aiding in covering up Haylie's murder, feeling rightly horrified by his own (and Griffin's) actions, and still feels paralyzing shame over what he did eight years afterwards. Griffin, on the other hand, doesn't appear to feel the same guilt.
65	* NoSocialSkills: Milo is emotionally repressed, and is confirmed to not have any friends other than Vikki, Gage and Griffin. This could be in part due to his autism (as many autistic people struggle with socialization), or the fact that he spent five years in a mental hospital.
66	* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: [[spoiler: Implied. Gage attempts to make out with Milo, and when Milo rejects them, their only worry appears to be keeping it a secret from Griffin.]]
67	* NotSoDifferentRemark: In an argument with Milo, Gage claims that Griffin and Milo are more alike than the two think, clearly aiming to insult the latter.
68	* NWordPrivileges: Discussed. Milo tells Gage not to say the "g-slur" for Romani people when the two are discussing [[WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft a My Little Pony fan song]] that contains it.
69	* OlderThanTheyLook: Milo is twenty-three, but he has rounded, childish features, and often dresses in the manner of someone in their early teens.
70	* PosthumousCharacter: Haylie is dead by the time most of the series take place, and we only see her (alive) in the first part of ''Victim Impact Statement'', which takes place eight years before the rest of the comic.
71	* PrecisionFStrike: When Aaron reveals that they are not supportive of Hailey's Law, Claire responds by asking, [[spoiler:"Is that what all your tranny friends are telling you?"]]
72	* PyrrhicVictory: Claire gets Haylie's Law passed, but it doesn't magically make Haylie's death meaningful and it doesn't fix Claire's life. Instead, her friendship with Aaron is crumbling as they finally admit just how bad the effects of the law are.
73	* RejectedApology: After he got out of inpatient, Milo showed up at Claire's place and tried to apologise. She responded by punching him in the nose.
74	* RevengeMyopia: Claire's speech about Haylie's Law makes it clear that she considers Milo to be an equal and willing participant in Haylie's murder, even though it was shown in court that Milo didn't kill Haylie and was an accomplice after the fact, not before. She also deliberately deadnames Milo and Griffin both, even though she knew Griffin as Griffin when he was dating Haylie, and Milo had changed his name several years ago.
75	* ScrapbookStory: A majority of the story is told through various in-universe websites and videos--primarily Tumblr blogs, Kiwifarms threads, Youtube videos, and various video calls and articles. Sometimes you will get "clips" from real life media relevant to the cast's interests and thematically appropriate for the scene.
76	* SelfHarm: As a story about a group of unwell twentysomethings, you get to see them self harm during their emotional lows or recover from previous attempt. Emotional self harm gets some attention as well; Milo's coping mechanisms include keeping an active blog that mentions his crime and discussing it on air with a true crime blogger, which guarantees less savory people will keep dogging on him.
77	* ShoutOut: A ''huge'' number, mainly because the majority of the main characters are/were terminally online:
78	** Milo loves WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic and ''Film/DearEvanHansen''. He's also shown wearing a Music/TheyMightBeGiants hoodie.
79	** Griffin liked Music/PanicAtTheDisco, Music/MyChemicalRomance and Music/IDontKnowHowButTheyFoundMe, and cosplayed as L from ''Anime/DeathNote''.
80	** Haylie loved Music/{{Mitski}}, played "Game Shows Touch Our Lives" by Music/TheMountainGoats at an open mic night, cosplayed as [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} GUMI]] from the "[[Music/KenshiYonezu Matryoshka]]" video, and ''Literature/PaperTowns'' was one of her favourite books.
81	** Savannah really liked ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''.
82	** Claire likes ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', has a poster of Rei from Anime/{{NeonGenesisEvangelion}} in her room,cosplayed as Kiki from Anime/KikisDeliveryService, is shown introducing Aaron to the concept of FridgeHorror, and plays ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' with them.
83	** Xandra is a superfan of Creator/DavidLynch and his works.
84	** Vikki has a photo of ComicBook/LenoreTheCuteLittleDeadGirl as her Discord icon.
85	* TheStoner: Gage smokes weed, and owns a [[MemeticMutation dirty bong]].
86	* TeensAreMonsters: At the ripe old age of fifteen, Griffin [[spoiler:lured an 11 year old out to a forest away from her friends and family, tried to sexually assault her, and then murdered her when she resisted him.]] A few months later, he murdered Haylie and convinced their mutual friend to hack up the corpse in a failed attempt to hide it.
87	* TemptingFate: One of Vikki's past videos was debating whether necrophilia could ever be ethical. A few videos later, there's one called 'Stop Telling People I Fuck Corpses'.
88	* ThereAreNoTherapists: {{Downplayed\|trope}}.
89	** Milo has a therapist, but said therapist is court-appointed. As a result, Milo by definition cannot be honest with her, because admitting how he really feels would get him sent back to the mental hospital, which he doesn't want.
90	** Claire wound up in a mental hospital after she tried to kill herself, and presumably got therapy as part of that, but in the present day, she's not seeing a therapist and her time in the hospital doesn't seem to have helped her.
91	* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Gage tells Milo that his initial attraction to Griffin was seeing photos of him in court, a 'tall, skinny kid with hair in his face'.
92	* ToughLove: Deconstructed. Milo's dad insists that Milo has been "coddled" up til now and that he'll treat Milo terribly to encourage him to get on his own two feet. However, his idea of "coddling" Milo is actually a pretty low level of support--while, to be fair, he has been giving Milo money, there's no indication he's done anything else, such as actually ''teach'' Milo how to do the things he keeps demanding he do, when it should be pretty obvious Milo doesn't know. Not to mention the fact he won't even call Milo by his actual name puts paid to the "love" part. Ultimately, rather than encouraging independence on Milo's part, it just pushes Milo into a pretty shady living situation.
93	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Griffin, who convinces Milo to aid him in covering up Haylie's murder.
94	* TransTribulations: While many of the trans characters are in a reasonably good place, others are demonstrably not. Milo's father and grandmother call him by his deadname and misgender him. Clare is openly transphobic around Aaron, who is at the start of their transition. Plus the comic repeatedly cuts to message boards dedicated to transphobic (and all around gross and bigoted) harassment, calling all the characters involved various slurs, viciously mocking their appearances, and plotting to doxx Milo.
95	* UsedToBeASweetKid: Milo started out as a happy, quirky teenager, and is now a depressed, traumatised adult.
96	** Claire was a normal, if maybe a little cynical and sarcastic, teenager. Now she's depressed, traumatised and a possible alcoholic who lashes out at people.
97	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being a repeat murderer, Griffin has plenty of fans and admirers on Tumblr's true crime community. He's dating Gage, who is one of them.
98	* WeightWoe: Gage is implied to have an eating disorder, as he is shown to eat very sparingly, drinks zero-calorie energy drinks, and has his fridge stocked with [[TrademarkFavoriteFood carrots, exclusively]]. The author [[https://retrospring.net/@maximumgraves/a/109624526910437675 confirmed it]] on Retrospring.
99	* WhamShot: The last page of ''Victim Impact Statement'': [[spoiler:Claire has gone missing.]]
100	* WithFriendsLikeThese: Claire is a really nasty friend to Aaron, and that's without her noticing the increasing signs that Aaron seems to be either non-binary or a trans woman.
101	* WouldHurtAChild: Griffin, the most morally reprehensible character in the comic, doesn't only murder his girlfriend (who is a year older than him), but also [[spoiler: 11-year-old Savannah Plunkett.]]

Context Webcomic / WhatHappensNext