Chapter 7 – Page 008
The thing with being a weirdo is that everyone’s a weirdo when you get right down to it, so it’s really more important who you’re weirdos with.
If you’re weirdos with a Libertarian Society, consider getting better weirdos.
↓ Transcript
Panel 1 (wide):
Young!Nancy in her flannel shirt, waist-wrapped hoodie, tight jeans and Doc Martens is linking arms with a trio of schoolmates, the fashionably dangerous but grinning Deej, adorably dorky Maeve and the exhaustingly chipper Izzie.
NANCY (box): ‘So there I was having a fun day out with my mates…’
SI (box): ‘Yer wot?’
NANCY (box): ‘My mates! David Bailey Junior…we called him Deej…drip like you wouldn’t believe but his parents were lawyers so we spent the summers lying about his pool…’
SI (box): ‘Pool?!’
NANCY (box): ‘Oh yeah, took ages to persuade Maeve Dixon to put on a swimsuit. Helped her with her Chemistry GCSE - nerdy as she looked, couldn’t keep a quadratic equation in her head to save her life. Ask her to sing the “Mummies Alive” theme, though, pitch perfect!’
SI (box): ‘Mummies Alive?!’
NANCY (box): ‘And of course coming out on the march together was Izzie Lau’s idea. Bottomless reserves of energy, you name a club, she’s in it, doing up the banners. ‘Course when she inevitably burnt out that’s what we were for, to massage her feet and headbang to kOrn.’
SI (box): ‘KORN?!’
Panel 2:
Close-up of Young!Nancy. She looks a little too desperate to have fun. Her friends are having the time of their lives.
NANCY (box): ‘Is it really so hard to believe I was a teenager once?’
SI (box): ‘Izz jus’...friends! Swimsuits! Foot massages! That ain’t you!’
NANCY (box): ‘Says who?’
SI (box): ‘Nancy. I knows ya. Hanging out at a protest ain’t yer scene.’
NANCY (box): ‘Well…’
Panel 3:
Nancy looks around furtively, straining to smile. The rest of the crowd, raucous and angry, feels distant from her.
NANCY (box): ‘…okay, you’re right, it wasn’t.’
NANCY (box): ‘This was the big one, the protest everyone went to, people who didn’t normally go on protests made an exception that day.’
NANCY (box): ‘There’s a personality type that enjoys these gatherings and getting righteously angry at something, and whatever that type was, I wasn’t it.’
Panel 4:
An older trot thrusts a CD in Nancy’s face. He’s all smiles, but Nancy politely declines.
NANCY (box): ‘Couldn’t pin down what rubbed me the wrong way about it. It was all very well-organised, very family-friendly, not especially rebellious, it felt like a jobs fair for the pin badge industry.’
NANCY (box): ‘Some old codger tried to sell me a CD of protest songs for charity and I turned it down cuz it didn’t have any shoegaze.’
Panel 5:
Nancy faces forward and sees a little girl on her father’s shoulders waving a little CND flag.
NANCY (box): ‘Whole generations had come out to march side-by-side. I was totally alone. I felt like a fraud and an interloper.’
NANCY (box): ‘My reasons for being there had nothing to do with pending invasions of Middle Eastern countries built on false pretences. I was there because I wasn’t supposed to be.’
NANCY (box): ‘It was infantile. And made me feel like an infant.’
Young!Nancy in her flannel shirt, waist-wrapped hoodie, tight jeans and Doc Martens is linking arms with a trio of schoolmates, the fashionably dangerous but grinning Deej, adorably dorky Maeve and the exhaustingly chipper Izzie.
NANCY (box): ‘So there I was having a fun day out with my mates…’
SI (box): ‘Yer wot?’
NANCY (box): ‘My mates! David Bailey Junior…we called him Deej…drip like you wouldn’t believe but his parents were lawyers so we spent the summers lying about his pool…’
SI (box): ‘Pool?!’
NANCY (box): ‘Oh yeah, took ages to persuade Maeve Dixon to put on a swimsuit. Helped her with her Chemistry GCSE - nerdy as she looked, couldn’t keep a quadratic equation in her head to save her life. Ask her to sing the “Mummies Alive” theme, though, pitch perfect!’
SI (box): ‘Mummies Alive?!’
NANCY (box): ‘And of course coming out on the march together was Izzie Lau’s idea. Bottomless reserves of energy, you name a club, she’s in it, doing up the banners. ‘Course when she inevitably burnt out that’s what we were for, to massage her feet and headbang to kOrn.’
SI (box): ‘KORN?!’
Panel 2:
Close-up of Young!Nancy. She looks a little too desperate to have fun. Her friends are having the time of their lives.
NANCY (box): ‘Is it really so hard to believe I was a teenager once?’
SI (box): ‘Izz jus’...friends! Swimsuits! Foot massages! That ain’t you!’
NANCY (box): ‘Says who?’
SI (box): ‘Nancy. I knows ya. Hanging out at a protest ain’t yer scene.’
NANCY (box): ‘Well…’
Panel 3:
Nancy looks around furtively, straining to smile. The rest of the crowd, raucous and angry, feels distant from her.
NANCY (box): ‘…okay, you’re right, it wasn’t.’
NANCY (box): ‘This was the big one, the protest everyone went to, people who didn’t normally go on protests made an exception that day.’
NANCY (box): ‘There’s a personality type that enjoys these gatherings and getting righteously angry at something, and whatever that type was, I wasn’t it.’
Panel 4:
An older trot thrusts a CD in Nancy’s face. He’s all smiles, but Nancy politely declines.
NANCY (box): ‘Couldn’t pin down what rubbed me the wrong way about it. It was all very well-organised, very family-friendly, not especially rebellious, it felt like a jobs fair for the pin badge industry.’
NANCY (box): ‘Some old codger tried to sell me a CD of protest songs for charity and I turned it down cuz it didn’t have any shoegaze.’
Panel 5:
Nancy faces forward and sees a little girl on her father’s shoulders waving a little CND flag.
NANCY (box): ‘Whole generations had come out to march side-by-side. I was totally alone. I felt like a fraud and an interloper.’
NANCY (box): ‘My reasons for being there had nothing to do with pending invasions of Middle Eastern countries built on false pretences. I was there because I wasn’t supposed to be.’
NANCY (box): ‘It was infantile. And made me feel like an infant.’