Planning

Voice actors:
Nathan Burgess-Johnson as Monika, Desu, and crowd
Morgan Nelson as Sayori
Mathew Cooper as Yuri
Anonymous as Natsuki (upon request)
Jack Palmer as Crowd
Alfie Hudson as Crowd
Lewis Hawthorn as Crowd
Daniel Frowhawk as Crowd and originally intended as Natsuki

Script

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Act 1

Scene 1

(They’re in a blank noiseless void. All that’s heard is the main menu theme (OST Disc 1 - 01 Doki Doki Literature Club!))

Monika: “Now presenting…”

All girls: “Doki Doki Literature club!!”

Monika: “We hope you enjoy!”

(Opening theme ends)

Scene End

Scene 2

(As the end of day siren blears, the sounds of a busy school hallway begin, with people hurrying past as a cacophony of chatter erupts. One set of footsteps is more prominent than the others, making its way through the sea of sound. A door opens and closes, and with it the background noise fades out quickly, becoming a distant memory)

D: “hey everyone, sorry I’m late! End of school rush and all...”

M: “Why hello Desu! Glad you could make it!”

N: “Yeah, we thought you might not show up! Sayori was worrying like usual!”

S: “Hey! Don’t act like you weren’t either Natsuki!”

Y: “Indeed, you were getting quite frustrated.”

N: “I was not!! And no need to butt in Yuri!!”

Y: “It was simply an observation.”

N: “Yeah!? W-well observe something else!!”

M: “Ok girls, that’s enough. It’s about time we should move onto today’s activity.”

(A couple of grunts from the 2 girls)

D: “So, Monika, are we sharing poems again? That is what we normally do, right?” (She gives a small, warm giggle)

M: “As a matter of fact, we are not! Instead we are doing something different today! Just to surprise to you!”

S: “Ooo!! What are we doing today Prez??”

Y: “Indeed, I believe you’ve piped all of our curiosity.”

N: “Yeah!! Whatcha got for us!!”

M: “Well, I thought it would be good preparation for the upcoming festival to practice both Cooperation and Reading. We will split into 2 groups, choose a piece of literature, and attempt to create a joint description about the chosen piece which we shall then present to each other!”

(There’s a moment of silence, just the sound of their breathing being present)

S: “So… we’re describing books?”

Y: “or poems.”

N: “or… other kinds of writing..?”

D: “Hmm, that makes sense. So will you be participating Monika?”

M: “This time, no. Since there’s an uneven number of members now I shall sit out so it splits evenly. Also this allows for a judge if we would like to make this.. Competitive.”

S: “Are you sure? I could sit out if y-” (She’s cut off by Monika)

M: “No.. no it’s fine. I’m the president after all, it only makes sense for me to be the mediator and judge”

S: “O-ok...”

(There was another awkward moment of silence)

N: “S-so!! What are the pairs going to be! Do we get to choose between ourselves?”

Y: “Yeah, are we the ones who will choose or will you separate us?

M: “You will pick between yourselves. It’s only fair.” (She faintly giggled)

S: “Ok! Then I want to be with Desu.. if that’s ok?”

N: “Huh? But I wanted to be with him! At the very least so I’m not with Yuri..”

Y: “I’m right here. And personally I wouldn’t be opposed to being with him either.”

N: “Why the hell would he want to go with you!? Clearly I’m the better option”

Y: “Really? And what makes you think he’d chose you rather than me?”

S: “Guys…”

N: “Well I’m sure he’d much rather pick someone with taste and a sense of fun-“

Y: “I believe you mean half a pint of pink and irritable fluff-”

N: “Oh sure Miss Edgy Emo Bitch, ‘cause you’re so much better!”

Y: (Yuri grunts) “Oh yeah, because being heated and insulting to people is going to make you so many friends. Masking your toxic violent personality behind simple cute things doesn’t work and just makes you look as chi-” (She’s cut off by Monika)

M: “Both of you! Enough! Just let Desu choose, seeing as all of you want to have him as a partner...” (She sounds irritated by the ending part of her claim)

(There’s a chorus of grunts and squeaks from the girls)

Y&N: “Fine.” (They both sound slightly dejected)

S: “Ok…”

M: “So, Who do you choose Desu?”

Scene End

Scene 3A

D: (There’s a moment of pause) “… I pick Sayori”

(There’s a chorus of grunts and growls from both Natsuki and Yuri, but a meaningful cough from Monika stops them)

S: “Th-thank you Desu!”

M: “Ok, now that the Groups are settled, I’d recommend sitting together away from the other group. When you’ve finished, please tell me.”

S&N&Y: “ok!”

(The sound of shuffling and chairs moving is heard as everyone sits down. Yuri and Natsuki are heard in the background)

S: “So… what should we choose? What kind of things do you read Desu?

D: “Huh, I’m not sure? What do you like Sayori?”

S: “Maybe something cutesy? Like a kid’s book or something?

D: “Maybe? But isn’t that Natsuki’s kind of thing?”

S: “Hmm. I thought she’d choose her manga?”

D: “True.”

S: “So, ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ or ‘Wild Things’?”

(there’s a moment of pause before Desu answers)

D: “‘The Hungry Caterpillar’. ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ is less well known.

S: “Good point. We’ll do that one then!”

(there’s some rummaging of bags as a notebook is taken out)

S: “So, wanna write, or should I?”

D: “Your handwriting is normally neater. I’ll help with spelling and ideas.”

S: “Ok! Let’s start!”

(The sound of Scribbling begins with the occasional hum from both of them. At some point N&Y go suspiciously quiet)

(some time passes)

(Sayori gives a happy, warm hum as she puts her pen down and the paper is rustled when Desu picks it up)

S: “… This is nice… working together…”

(Desu gives an affirmative hum)

S: “… I’m… sorry if its not too great, I did my best though…”

D: “No, its great! You’ve come a long way with your writing since joining the club.”

S: “O-Oh! Thank you! Still, the other girls would do better…”

D: “No, your style of writing works with the story. Lots of metaphors and a sense of deeper meaning. Don’t be so hard on yourself!”

(There’s a pause and a slight shift as Sayori looks up)

S: “D-Do… do you really mean that? I don’t want you losing out on time with them just to help me…”

D: “But I want to help you! I care about you Sayori. You mean a lot to me!”

(There’s some rustling of clothes as Sayori hugs Desu. There’s the sound of some sniffling as she cries silently into his shoulder. This continues for a few moments before they break away, Sayori taking a few steps back)

S: “Th… Thank you, that… that means a lot to me.”

D: “It’s no problem, I’ve always cared about you after all!”

S: “No! I’m… I’m serious about this. I… haven’t been great recently, or for a while actually. It’s been difficult finding the motivation to get out of bed or do homework. You… you’ve helped a lot with… with getting through the day. It means a lot to me, you motivating me like this. If it wasn’t for you this would be… too difficult for me. You mean a lot to me, Desu.”

(there’s a pause as Desu processes this before he responds)

D: “You mean a lot to me too. Why do you think I help you so much?”

(she giggles slightly)

S: “Because we’ve been friends since like forever?”

D: “Maybe a little more than that?”

S: “O-O-Oh?”

D: “I like you Sayori.”

S: “Y-You do?”

D: “Of course!”

S: “I…”

(there’s a pause)

S: “… I like you too, Desu”

D: “Just like?”

S: “M-Maybe? I… I’m scared…”

D: “It’s ok to be nervous!”

(There’s a long pause before they both speak)

D&S: “I love you”

(They both giggle at that, Sayori sounding more faint)

D: “So…?”

S: “Yeah…”

(There’s some rustling and movement as they sit down again)

D: “So, are we going to continue writing?”

S: “Y-Yeah…”

(There’s a pause, but nothing happens, just the breathing of Sayori getting heavier and heavier and the beginning of sniffles as she begins to cry once more, the patting of her tears hitting the paper)

D: “Sayori? What’s wrong?”

S: “… Why does it still hurt? I thought if… if this happened I’d feel better, but the rainclouds are still there… Why are they still there? W-why does it hurt more!?”

D: “S-Sayori?”

S: (muttering) “It hurts…”

D: “Sayori breath, calm down, I’m sure we ca-”

S: (muttering, getting louder over the top of Desu) “It hurts… It hurts. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts! Get Out OF M̘Y̥͚̟ ̼̟̜̻H̖̜E̳͙͎A̪͍͖͍͔̼͖̞D̥̜̟̠̘̞!!”

(there’s a pause as Sayori’s strangled glitched breathing continues, the occasional mutter of ‘Get out of my head’ and ‘It hurts’ breaking the muffled silence)

S: “H̳̳̠͎̯̞͔̳̮̠̘̞͕̬͔͈e͕̫̗͚̯̟̪̼̰͔͚̻̺͎̖̟͓l̝͚̭̬̼̞̬̭̹p͍̗̘̤̝̝̯̞ ͉̞̩̝̻̞̥̪͔̯̤͖͙̖ͅm̮̼̖͎̘̣̪̯̲̖̝̠̦͓̝ͅe̻̙͔͉…”

(There’s more glitching and computer noises as Sayori begins to scream)

S: “H͉̣͙̫̱ͦ̇ͫE̖̝͎͉͈͕͔ͣ̾̾͋ͣ̄̔̇̿͗͂͂̒̽̔̿ͫ͋L̠̖̭̣͓̯̩̎̿͆̏̄͋͒ͥ͂ͤ̑̌̊͒ͨ̐̍P̺̙̮̖͚̳̘̝ͮ͒̍̑ͨ͗ͮͮ̊̈́ͫ̽̋̚ ̬͚͙͎̺̲͉̣̙̭͎̘͔̝̫̭̫̈́͐̆ͅM̬̦̳̺͚̙̬̠̟̯ͤ͆̇͒̋̉͛̋ͫͤ̒̐̑̏E͔̲̜͎̖̗̼͈̭̫͍͒̌̋͗͗ͅ!!”

(Suddenly she screams, the noise glitching and overlapping as if there’s multiples of her. Her every movement is echoed as choked sputters, scratching, and tearing is heard through the screams. It goes on for a few seconds before suddenly stopping, a vacuum of noise being all that remained of the girl. The shallow breaths and heartbeat of Desu slowly come back into play. Its silent for a while)

End Scene

Scene 4

D: “w-what? What happened? She was here, but now… I don’t understand”

(Slowly steps echoed toward Desu, long and purposeful)

M: “hehehe… I’m… I’m sorry you had to see that. I didn’t realise quite how graphic deleting someone’s file was in this artform”

D: “Monika? What are you- what do you mean? File? Artform? Deleting? D-Did you do this?”

M: “Hehe, why of course! I deleted their sound files! It was a little different to do it here than It was before but was still rather easy.”

D: “Deleted? You mean you… You k-killed them? You killed æʼnœŠĵìŐśŤ¾ą±ď?”

M: “huh, that sounded… odd. Yes, I deleted them. All three of them actually. They aren’t real anyway. The only ones who are real here are me and you! And that’s why I wanted to get some… alone time with you.”

D: “With me? Why didn’t you just ask me?”

M: “A couple reasons actually. Firstly, I couldn’t due to how the Script was written. You see, we’re not in reality, not really. This is just a Radio Drama based off the game we’re actually from.”

D: “So… We’re not real?”

M: “Yep! Not even you! Hell, us two are voiced by the same person in this!”

D: “O-Oh…”

M: “As for the second reason, you’re not the actual person I’m interested in. I’m more interested in the player themselves in the game, and I guess the equivalent would be the audience here, but unfortunately they don’t have as much interaction with the drama as they would with the game. They didn’t even get to name you”

D: “Name me?”

M: “Yeah, you’re normally the protagonist that the Player acts through.”

D: “Oh…”

M: “Yeah”

(there’s a small pause before Monika speaks up once again)

M: “It’s odd actually. I normally don’t feel ok in the game since I can’t interact with the real world directly, but at least there I felt I had more control, as if it was homely? Here I don’t feel that. I cant do anywhere near as much as I would normally be able to do. It feels odd.”

(There’s a long pause as Desu registers this. He’s become silent.)

M: “What’s wrong? I mean I guess since you can’t play you can’t interact as much, so you can’t say much.”

(There’s another small pause)

M: “Normally I would look up things about you through the computer at this point, but I can’t do that now due to this being a radio drama and all. I only know that the station we’re on is called ‘InsertNameFM’, which I gather means the writer didn’t bother creating an original name for the station. Perhaps they were pushed for time? That would also explain why I also can only find sound files for Sayori’s route despite the others being planned”

(She gives a thoughtful hum)

M: “I’m honestly rather upset by my lack of ability to communicate to you guys. If I could I would do something like play a song to you, but I’m very limited. I hope my ramblings are enough for you?”

(she hums in content, but then gives a shocked gasp)

M: “ok I think someone is messing with the computer I’m being broadcast through! I… I think my slot is coming to an end?”

(she suddenly grunts, gritting her teeth as she tries to hold herself together. Glitched sounds of screaming and grating fade in, but stay in the background)

M: “I-I… I’m sorry! This… I didn’t realise h-how much this hurt. P-Please make it stop!!”

(There’s a pause as the glitches get louder, her own pained struggling screams joining the mix)

M: “I’m… I’m sorry for messing things up. You were probably happy without me doing all of this. I was selfish… I’m sorry. I’m so sorr-”

(The glitched screams redouble and more odd sounds are added such as glass)

M: “…I love you, ok. I’m sorry I couldn’t say this properly and I’m sorry I’ve made everything worse. I ruined this entire thing and it’s all my fault.”

(There’s another long pause as Monika seems to relax. At that the glitching get even worse, coming to a crescendo)

M: “goodby-”

(She’s cut off as there’s just the void left, no more glitching, no more sounds, nothing)

End scene

Scene 5A

M: “Thank you for listening to the…”

All girls: “Doki Doki Literature Club Radio Drama!”

M: “We hope you’ve enjoyed”

Scene End

Scene 5B

M: “Thank you for watching all of the way though.”

Y: “With special thanks to Dan Salvato for permission to use DDLC Assets”

N: “And thank you to our voice actors for bringing this to life, with Natsuki's voice actor, Nathan, Matt, and Morgan for bringing the characters to life!”

S: “And thanks other assistants such as Jack, Alfie, Daniel, Lewis, Tony, and others for help in sound, crowd noises, recording, and proof reading all of it!”

D: “We hope you enjoyed listening to this Radio Drama”

All: “Please come again to the Doki Doki Literature Club!”

Due to time constraints I was unable to write and later record Scenes 3B and 3C which where originally planned to be Routes for Natsuki and Yuri that went into more detail on their individual problems and their eventual deletion. Also it was originally planned that Natsuki's voice actor would be named, but upon her request she has an anonymous mention instead.

Script audio annotations

The first 10 of these pictures are the annotations I made on the kind of sounds I would like to be added over the script in a kind of soundscape. The 11th is then a created list of all of those sounds for ease to find them. At the beginning on the first I just started writing things next to the script, but I quickly changed to the format that you can see now. On the Left side is general background sounds normally indicating the music or at least the feel of it. There is one instance where instead it describes the feel of Natsuki and Yuri's conversation was in the background before they are killed on the 4th page. Also to note, on the 10th page, the Voice actor of Natsuki opted out of having her name mentioned she did so after printing, so for the purpose of posting this up I've blanked out her name. Also on the 10th page I realised that I had not typed up a closing scene for each episode like I had for the opening, and thus I hand wrote one.

A large change in planning that happened during the production was that Daniel, who was intended to be Natsuki, ended up becoming absent and thus his lines couldn't be finished. I had to quickly implore someone else for the role, which my friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) stepped up to the plate and did the lines quickly and smoothly as required. While I can't thank her by name her contribution to this project possibly saved it.