Worm Drama

**Worm Drama** is an up-and-coming band formed by Fang (guitar and vocals), Trish (guitar), and Reed (drums). The band was initially started on a lark, and mostly for the amusement of its members. However, Fang would eventually become serious about turning the band into the staging ground for their music career, causing friction to emerge.

## Story

### Background

The origin of the name is revealed in the flashback "Starting Worm Drama". At some unknown time in the past during the afternoon, Trish found a worm in her locker, which she showed to Fang. They discussed how worms lived free of problems. Trish then mentioned that worms had 5 aortic hearts, implying they have more hearts to break as a result. Fang remarks "That's a lot of worm drama", and the two instantly jumped to the conclusion that they should start a band.

Initially, Fang, Trish, and Reed each wrote songs for the band. Their early songs bore vulgar, silly titles and subject matters, such as *Gym Teacher Sex Dream* and *Puke Factory*, the latter of which being frequently regarded as a favorite from that period.

At some point in time, Fang managed to get them booked at Shady Palms retirement community, from which they were banned for life afterwards.

Prior to senior year, Fang was in contact with LJ, and attempted to get an audition for Battle of the Bands through her, but LJ disliked the band's direction, and she encouraged Fang to try something new.

### Episode One

Prior to the first day of school, Fang sends LJ a recording of Trailer as a sample of the band's new direction. LJ approves of the recording and tells Fang that Worm Drama has earned their audition spot.

During first period in Ms. Roberts's class, Fang designs a new logo for the band and attempts to text it to Reed, but due to signal interference from the asteroid, the text does not go through. When questioned by Ms. Roberts and Naomi about career aspirations, Fang discusses their plans for the band's future, to which Ms. Roberts shows contempt. After class, Naomi apologizes for putting Fang on the spot, and Fang invites Naomi to watch Worm Drama perform sometime.

During lunch break, Fang holds a band meeting at the music room where they break the news to Trish and Reed of them winning a spot in the audition. The two are initially in disbelief, as LJ is noted as having a long history of not liking their music. Fang then reveals that they had spent the summer working on music due to Trish and Reed being elsewhere, which led to them writing Begin Again. They perform a segment of the song to demonstrate the band's new direction. After they finish, Trish and Reed comment that it sounds nothing like their previous music, and Trish wonders if LJ is setting Worm Drama up to fail. Fang then tries to organize a day to practice before the audition, but both Trish and Reed have conflicting schedules.

### Episode Two

The following day, Fang holds an emergency band meeting on the Volcano High rooftop, where they try to discuss a plan for getting songs ready for the audition. Despite LJ telling Fang to perform all-new music, Trish suggests repurposing old music in light of her very tight schedule; Fang shows discomfort with this idea, but ultimately accepts it. After Fang suggests they pick a song together at lunch, Trish cuts the meeting short to go to her locker over a "terrible secret".

During lunch, Worm Drama enters the music room once again to decide which song to rework. The conversation between Trish and Reed initially focuses on the impending threat of the Asteroid, but Fang manages to rally the two and get them focused on the task at hand. The three songs from the back catalogue in contention were *Puke Factory,* *My Mother is a Robot (Beep Boop),* and *Get Bent Jimmy Two-Face*. While Reed favors *My Mother is a Robot (Beep Boop)*, and Trish *Get Bent Jimmy Two-Face,* the final decision comes down to Fang's preference.

After a song is chosen, Fang lays out how much work needs to be done to the song ("new title, different key, new hooks..."), which Trish doubts that they can pull off before the audition due to both her and Reed's time constraints. Fang brainstorms, and suggests using their MIDI controller to help cover for Trish's part in the song, which Trish finds an acceptable compromise.

After getting home from school, Fang sorts through their room and finds the MIDI controller from under their bed. Over the course of the following week, Worm Drama manages to organize multiple practice sessions, which take place at Reed's house. One song that they practice, and is added to the line-up for the audition, is Reunion. At these sessions, Rosa comes over to hang out with Trish, distributing some cookies and eating pizza with them later that evening; during a later practice session, Trish brings her younger sister over to watch them; and during another, both Rosa and Trish's younger sister are present, applauding the band as they finish rehearsing a song.

The day before the audition, Fang texts the band, organizing one final practice session slated for after school. However, a beetle hits their bedroom window and startles them, causing them to spill nail polish all over the MIDI controller, causing it to stop working.

## Songs

* Space Caverns
* Gym Teacher Sex Dream
* Puke Factory
* My Mother is a Robot (Beep Boop)
* Get Bent Jimmy Two-Face
* Reunion
* Don't Call
* Pretty Heroes

## Development History

Worm Drama was revealed in the game's Reveal Trailer, and are seen both practicing and performing in the Story Trailer. The band's name, stylized as "VVORM DRAMA", has been shown on the official website since its launch. In-game, this stylization is absent entirely, and the subtitles always spell the band's name with "W" instead of "VV".

The band is referred to in the July and November 2020 Volcano High Bulletins, where Marcela mentions the band performed a concert in the parking lot of a Dino-B-Que restaurant, which Marcela called the most interesting thing to happen in that region for a long time. This concert is never mentioned outside of the newsletter, putting its canonicity in doubt, particularly as the newsletter was released while the narrative reboot was ongoing.

## References

1. ↑ KO\_OP Newsletter: Volcano High Bulletin July and November 2020 Dispatches