Webcomic / Strange School: Even Stranger

The Main Trio.^note From left to right: Thauna, Penny, Mariska

GREY ZONE STUDENTS
WELCOME TO THE SCHOOL! WE ARE ELATED TO HAVE YOU HERE. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT:
-ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LACK OF BRANCHINATION ABILITY.
-PLEASE FOLLOW DRESS CODE AS CLOSELY AS YOUR MATTERBITS ALLOW
-DUE TO COMPLAINTS, WE HAVE SEVERED TIES WITH U̶L̶T̶I̶M̶A̶T̶E̶ M̶E̶A̶L̶S̶ O̶F̶ T̶H̶E̶ F̶O̶R̶E̶V̶E̶R̶ M̶E̶A̶T̶S̶ COMMERCIAL CAFETERIAS
-STAY WITHIN YOUR DESIGNATED SCHOOL CAMPUS. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE COLLEGE AREA IF YOU ARE IN "SEBENTIE GRADE", FOR EXAMPLE (hows it spelled again?)
-HERE AT THE SCHOOL, WE ARE DEDICATED TO HELP YOU LURN THINGS YOU'D NEVER LURN IN YOUR HOME ZONE!
HUGS, KISSES, AND SLAPS ON THE BACK, -THE PRINCIPAL

—Prelude

A girl awakens in a room that seems to be a dorm. She knows that this is her room, and that the pencil sleeping in the bed across from her is her roommate. Apart from that, the only thing she can remember is her name. After waking her roommate and visiting another friend, they head to class. Both of her friends seem concerned by her sudden amnesia, but while the guest teacher speaks, they realize they can't remember the last few days either. When they meet up after class, they are suddenly interrupted by a scream. Their guest speaker has been murdered! Who could have done such a thing?

Strange School Even Stranger is an Interactive Comic based on Awful Hospital. Created by Gusherbug (formerly Yamemeda), it is a sequel/reboot of Strange School and can be read here. (if you want to start from the beginning, simply click here)

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Strange School: Even Stranger provides examples of:

• Aerith and Bob: Relatively normal names like Mariska and Penny, and then names like Thauna, Creepie and Cabbie.
• Art Evolution: Compare this image◊ from the first post, to this image◊, from one of the more recent posts.
  • Or these two, conveniently shown side by side.
• Author Appeal:
  • Gusherbug is a big fan of Lemon Demon, so it's no surprise that Neil (well, one of his songs) is not only mentioned◊, but an entire character◊ is based on one of his songs.
• Boarding School of Horrors: Averted. It's not quite as horrific as the last school, but it's still just as weird. Also, "boarding" actually applies this time, since there are actual dormitories on the school premises.
• Bond One-Liner: Subverted. As Penny gets ready to defeat Melissa, she flat out says, "I forgot my one liner."
• Cast of Snowflakes: Unlike in the last comic, where the only people who looked unique were the teachers, every person in this school (apart from Mariska and Rowan) is a different creature of some kind.
• Character in the Logo: While the logo only directly features a pencil (representing Penny), according to Gusherbug, the "School" represents Thauna and the "Even Stranger" represents Mariska.
• Conveniently Interrupted Document: When Penfold (Penny's brother) tries to explain what she and her friends did yesterday, his text box becomes filled with static.
• Creator Cameo: When Alli is streaming your fight with Melissa, several names can be seen in the chat. One of them is "gusherbug."
• Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: At least for Father Virgil.
• Dream Reality Check: Mariska attempts one shortly after arriving to class for the first time (well, the first one she can remember at least).
• Four-Fingered Hands: For everyone who has hands, anyway.
• Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: Every action taken and question asked is from the commentators.
• Freudian Trio:
  • Penny Selina (Id)
  • Mariska Wick (Ego)
  • Thauna (Superego)
• Eskimos Aren't Real: After Mariska finally gets pants (and somehow puts them on without anyone seeing), Thauna and Penny have this exchange:
  Thauna: Mariska's desire to present comfortably defies the laws of physics.
  Penny: Laws of physics? Seriously? Only babies believe in that. You think Canada's real too or something?
• Gaiden Game: Some characters from Strange School return/are mentioned. This is also (presumably) the same school.
• Insult of Endearment: Penny frequently makes jabs at her brother, but tells the others not to, "for their own good."
• Luminescent Blush: Happens whenever Thauna thinks about Alpha Five. Even moreso when he saves her from Melissa.
• Mythology Gag: Several references are made to the original comic series.
  • A flask can be seen in the background of one scene which resembles Professor Lidre.
  • Mariska assumes the punishment for being late to class is having your wrist broken.
  • Dr. Realz can be seen in the chat during the first boss battle.
• No One Sees the Boss: Although we read letters from him, we have yet to see the principal in-person.
• Punny Name: Nearly every character has one. For example:
  • Penny Selina, the giant talking pencil.
  • Orthia Gammy, a living paper crane.
• Quizzical Tilt: Mariska gives one to Penny at the start of the comic, since she can't exactly remember who Penny is or how she got there.
• RPG Mechanics 'Verse: Same deal as last time, with the rules instead coming from some disembodied voice:
  ???: First battle, huh? Well, NEVER FEAR!
  Battles work the same as normal actions, an actual d20 will be rolled to see how successful you are! 1-5 are a complete failure OR a major consequence to succeeding, 5-10 is a below average result, 10-15 are pretty good results, 15-19 are excellent results, and 20 is the best possible outcome!
  This applies to anything you do in battle! De-escalating, attacking, rescuing, finding backup, all of it!
  If you roll low and get hurt, depending on the severity of the injury, you may have to tough your next mystery alone! For example, if Thauna gets hurt badly, Mariska and Penny will only be able to solve the lesson.
  Now tell that Melissa what for! …By the by, my sister is substituting for Error Fatale today. Say hi to her for me!
  Mariska: ...Did anyone else-
  Penny: Yeah, that I heard. That was fucked up. Tickled, too.
  Thauna: Same. Why was I the only one theoretically hurt?
• Second Person: Since it is an Interactive Comic, this is a given.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Thauna appears to be this, if this interaction is of any indication:
  Mariska: (after being prompted to flirt, for some reason) Are you a ghost girl? Cuz that's. Uh. You're… hauntingly beau-
  [Mariska is cut off by Penny slapping her]
  Penny: Did you wake up with a fever of a hundred and STUPID? If you're gonna act like an idiot, I'm gonna treat you like one.
  Thauna: She has a fever?
  Penny: No, Thauna, I was being my usual snarky self.
  Thauna: Oh. Ok. That's not funny. Fevers are dangerous.
• Shout-Out:
  • The name of the priest who visits their school is "Father Virgil."
  • The character Melissa (who is a large computer) gets her name from the Melissa virus.
  • As seen above, Cabbie Neilson gets his name from the Lemon Demon song "Cabinet Man."
  • After an encounter with Mx. Fatale, Penny quotes AM's "hate" speech.
  • One of the items in the school store is, "a mouse pulled off a computer-y guy who's kinda weird."
  • One of the school lockers has, "BUBBY IS BEST" carved into it.
    • Adding to this mention, MasterGir makes a brief cameo as the voice of Dr. Realz.
• Shy Finger-Twiddling: Rowan's character portrait is doing this.
• Stylistic Suck: This post, which features simplified versions of each character.
• Stranger in a Strange School: The main premise. It's slightly nicer than the last school, still just as strange.
• Title Drop: In the first post.
  Well, you know a couple of things.
  Your name is MARISKA.
  And you're pretty sure that while things are strange right now, they are about to get even stranger.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Downplayed with Thauna. A Running Gag for her is that every panel which she is in, she is wearing a different pair of stockings.
• Void Between the Worlds: The area◊ between the dorms and the school is one of these, with a hallway suspended in space and the doors to the dorms/school seemingly not connected to anything.
• Weird Currency: While they are previously mentioned, this post confirms that the school currency is erasers.
• What Does She See in Him?: Flat out said by Creepie when discussing Mariska's (short-lived) relationship with Cabbie.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The alarm clock character seen at the start has not been seen/mentioned in any post since (apart from a brief mention here).
  • According to this trivia post, they were never officially named, although the possibility of naming them "Wayne" (likely after WayneRadioTV, since it's a clock radio) is brought up.
• You Wake Up in a Room: Mariska wakes up in her dorm with no memory the previous few days. Her friends don't remember either.

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