#revenge for the bullying attempt in the visual novel

[worlds-4th-best-dad]

Takao: If you’re ever mean to me, I’ll seduce your dad and get him to marry me. Then, I’ll be your fucking step-dad and I’ll disable the internet every night at seven PM! Don’t fucking try me! Hinata: If you disable the internet, how will you use it? Takao: I don’t need Wi-Fi when I’m riding your dad’s dick!

[mediamixs]

Top 10 horror movies from the 70's

The 1970s was a pivotal decade for horror films, characterized by innovative storytelling, groundbreaking special effects, and a willingness to tackle social issues. Here are ten notable horror movies from that era:

The Exorcist (1973) Directed by William Friedkin, this film follows the harrowing possession of a young girl and the desperate attempts of her mother and two priests to save her. Its shocking imagery and intense themes of faith and evil made it a cultural phenomenon.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Tobe Hooper's chilling tale of a group of friends who encounter a family of cannibals in rural Texas set the standard for slasher films. Its raw, documentary-style cinematography and minimalist approach to horror left a lasting impact on the genre.

Halloween (1978) Directed by John Carpenter, this film introduced audiences to Michael Myers, a masked killer who escapes from a mental institution to stalk babysitters on Halloween night. Its use of suspense, iconic score, and the "final girl" trope reshaped horror for decades.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971), directed by John Hancock. This psychological horror film tells the story of Jessica, a young woman recently released from a mental institution. She and her husband move to a secluded farmhouse in rural New England, hoping to start anew.

The Omen (1976) Directed by Richard Donner, this film revolves around a couple who unknowingly adopt the Antichrist. The atmospheric score and unsettling narrative explore themes of fate and evil, making it a classic of supernatural horror.

Carrie (1976) Based on Stephen King's novel and directed by Brian De Palma, "Carrie" tells the story of a high school girl with telekinetic powers who seeks revenge on her tormentors. The film's themes of bullying and isolation are as impactful as its shocking climax.

Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg's thriller about a great white shark terrorizing a beach town became a blockbuster hit and redefined the horror genre. Its combination of suspense, adventure, and iconic score made it a template for future thrillers.

Suspiria (1977) Directed by Dario Argento, this Italian horror film is known for its stunning visuals and a haunting score by Goblin. It follows a ballet student who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy at a dance academy, blending psychological horror with giallo elements.

Don't Look Now (1973) Directed by Nicolas Roeg, this haunting film explores grief and loss as a couple travels to Venice after the death of their daughter. The eerie atmosphere and surreal imagery contribute to its psychological horror and emotional depth.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Philip Kaufman's remake of the 1956 classic delves into themes of identity and paranoia as alien pods replace humans with emotionless duplicates. Its commentary on conformity and societal fear resonated with audiences during a time of upheaval.

These films not only scared audiences but also pushed the boundaries of storytelling, paving the way for future horror cinema.

[regalstudies]

Japanese Movie Recommendations!

こんにちは皆さん！今日、特別な順序ではなく５本の好きな映画を紹介したいです。

Hi everyone! Today I’d like to introduce you to 5 of my favourite Japanese movies! My personal tastes lean more towards the horror and anime side of things, but I hope there are some here that you guys haven’t seen! Cinema can be a great avenue to delve deeper social commentaries about the country we’re interested in learning about, so I’ve tried to pick some recommendations with that in mind! :]  

I’ve attempted to add all relevant content warnings, but there may be something I have missed so please take caution! I’d recommend having a look at what people say on DoesTheDogDie.com if you have specific concerns

Without further ado, let’s get started!

1.  Confessions (告白) directed by Tetsuya Nakashima (中島哲也)  

Confessions is a 2010 psychological thriller based off of the mystery novel of the same name. It follows the aftermath of the murder of a school teacher’s daughter by her pupils, who utilise Japan’s laws on age of criminal responsibility to “get away with it” and focuses on the differing perspectives of those involved. This film explores themes of revenge, familial values and expectations, and the normalization of violence in youth. This film is unmistakably heavy, but it is powerful.

This was introduced to me by my professor when I was doing a Japanese Film course in Uni, and it has stuck with me for YEARS. Not only is the story itself poignant, it’s brilliantly acted, beautifully shot, and has so many striking visuals with artistically composed scenes. As this was a fairly successful film,  there are a fair few articles analysing its themes - if anyone is interested, I can try and dig up the resources we used when we studied this in class! :]

Content warnings: depictions and mentions of mental and physical abuse, violence towards children, violence committed by children, bullying mentions of animal death, attempted suicide, murder, mentions of chronic illness (AIDs and cancer in particular)

2.  The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) directed by Isao Takahata (高畑 勲)

A retelling of famous folktale Taketori Monogatari (竹取物語) for modern Japanese audiences, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya brings new life to the classic story without sacrificing any of its heart. Takahata cited his own inability to connect to the original tale as inspiration for the retelling, aiming for something which the audience could connect to emotionally and really understand the titular princess. 

The film deals with feminist concerns about the restrictions of womanhood (especially in the ambiguously Heian-era Japan), familial obligation, love, and the beauty of life. It’s a cultural adventure which I would recommend to anyone regardless of their familiarity with the tale it is adapting! Honestly, I’ve written essays about  Taketori Monogatari and this film still managed to move me to tears with how beautifully and painstakingly rendered it is! I’d need a whole other post to detail just how much I appreciate the /art/ of this piece.

Content warnings: animal death, suggestion of sexual assault, arranged marriage, memory loss

3. Dark Water (仄暗い水の底から) directed by Hideo Nakata (中田 秀夫)

This 2002 horror movie is a sad ghost story! It follows the story of a single mother trying to get through her life while dealing with her divorce proceedings, new slightly-run-down apartment, and the paranormal occurrences haunting herself and her daughter. This movie deals with familial issues, parental sacrifice and confronting trauma.

Dark Water deals with aspects of Japanese horror which fans of Ringu (coincidentally, also directed by Nakata) may recognize, so I’d definitely recommend fans of Ringu and people wanting to explore the way that different cultures portray horror to give this one a shot. I found this one so fun to analyse  recurring themes and imagery in Japanese horror, and I’m more than happy to encourage others to fall down this rabbit hole too!

Content warnings: missing children, death (including that of a child), threat of death, drowning, abandonment, divorce

4.  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女) directed by  Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠)

This 2006 sci-fi romance tells the story of a high-school girl who discovered that she has the ability to travel through time! Dealing with friendship, the pressures of growing up and romance, this movie integrates slice-of-life and coming of age themes into its sci-fi setting! Its your classic tale of fairly innocent time-travel shenanigans and trying to right some wrongs, and makes the the ultimate heartwarming story! 

This one used to be pretty popular amongst anime fans a gooood few years back, but I haven’t seen people talk about it in a while and I wanted to mention it just in case it had fallen off the radar!  With simple yet fluid character designs and beautiful scenery, this piece manages to portray grounded teenage characters and capture that warm summer feeling throughout.

Content warnings: threat of death, train accidents, minor violence and name calling

5.  Tokyo Sonata (トウキョウソナタ) directed by  Kiyoshi Kurosawa (黒沢 清)

This 2008 drama follows the disintegration of a middle-class family after the patriarch loses his comfortable salaryman job unexpectedly. This film tackles issues faced by many modern families as the sense of traditionalism and societal normalcy becomes strained under the pressures of expectation, unemployment, and inability to communicate your authentic self to your family.

This film is an incredibly grounded drama, depicting real issues faced by so many families. Take a look at the date on this film, and you’ll realise how true-to-home this story of societal and economic uncertainty is for so many. Despite it all, what seems on the surface to be a depressing story of a family at their worst, actually displays a message of hope throughout. I find it to be a very realistic and poignant film.

Content warnings: unemployment, financial struggle, communication issues, war, military, abuse, domestic violence, crime, robbery, kidnapping, themes of suicide and depression, sexual assault, car accidents, police presence 

Bonus!  Gohatto (御法度) directed by Nagisa Ōshima (大島 渚)

This one was recommended by my flatmate for this list, as a quick shoutout because “its very good” so I don’t personally have much to say about it - but I’m never going to complain about a recommendation for a gay samurai film. :]

それで、おすすめを終わります！

Thank you all for reading through this list! If you have any recommendations of your own, please feel free to add them on!

[felikatze]

pssst. webcomic recommendations. pretty pleasd

from your url i'm gonna go out on a limb and say you like orv. excellent.

my number one recommendations for you are:

Surviving Romance (on Webtoon): Chaerin is trapped in a romance novel. At first, she loved it, but whenever she attempted to divert the plot... it did not end well for her. If you've seen people talk about it, you know what twist it pulls in episode 1, but if you don't, please go into it blind. Just read episode 1, and decide if it's for you.

We have a majorly female cast (there's like, 3 dudes max, and they're all side characters). Big focus on female relationships and the idealization of romance. Chaerin moves away from desparately clinging to a romance with a man that doesn't satisfy her as she befriends her classmates who she previously only thought of as "extras" to the central romance of her life. Great mystery elements, extremely suspenseful at parts, I would die for Hisui, she is the best, she is the cutest.

Also lots of meta shenanigans and timeloops. And the episode 1 genre twist. insane comic all around. beautiful art too. it's the opposite of orv's text based focus in that surviving romance could only ever work in a primarily visual medium

Next up, The Ember Knight! Also on webtoon!

After his brother is murdered right before his eyes, Nagyunn swears to avenge him. However, being twins.... who can be sure which one died that day? He takes on his brother's identity as a knight apprentice to gather the forces necessary and bides his time until the opportunity to strike.

Nagyunn is Fucking Amazing if you like kdj because he is. the exact same and not at all. Nagyunn is Very Intense all the time but what they have in common is that. Nagyunn's only skill is lying. He is lying about his name. He is lying about his skills. He is lying about his motivations. What if you had to solve every single problem with a deception check. The insane bluffing he gets up to is both suspenseful and lowkey hilarious.

Biggest complaint would be the amount of characters with similar names. Nagyunn and Nuljin, and in the most recent arc, Lauzun, Laurun, and Laukun. Are You Kidding Me

i've read the entire thing twice and every single update puts me in absolute agony.

Other comics I won't gush about for as long and that are probably more off the ball from orv:

Estio (on Reaperscans):

Starts out VERY cinderella-esque with a boy who can talk to animals and gets bullied about it. So he decides to leave town! Fuck yall! With his gift he finds work as a Fantasy Adventurer, except there's more to reading hearts than it appears, and there's many people who'd do anything to have that ability on their side....

I haven't been the same since the chapter where Estio kills people. go boy go. his sidekicks include a talking cat, a talking monkey, and a talking cactus. the cactus thirsts for blood.

The demon prince goes to the academy (also on reaperscans):

i fucking love this one. dumbass author is put into his own novel as karmic punishment. but being reborn as the demon prince in the world of "the demon king is already dead" puts a damper on a promise of slice of life shenanigans

the first chapter of the comic sucks it's just exposition but after that i love this one dearly. after the initial running for your life arc it does turn to school life stuff but protag boy reinhardt is so insane that i'd love just watching him do homework. i love that boy very much. he will kick people in the nuts. the school aspect is kind of novel in the sense that he's the obligatory bully character.

it's fantastic. love him.

uhhh what else have i got. quick pitch time!

Vindicaris (has its own website, also on tapas): Elemental beings Ces and Sel vow revenge on the company that created them. Extremely edgy (which is fantastic), the most dysfunctional protag duo ever, fun perspective shifts between Ces and Sel as well as people still at the company. Nobody's really in the right and everyone uniquely sucks.

Ending Makers (reaperscans): Two top MMO players get isekai'd into their game. Only problem: their characters are engaged. Now these two bozos need to team up and prevent the demon apocalypse. Fake dating slow burn type of stuff yknow.

Dummy's Dummy (webtoon): a little girl who can see ghosts needs to stop the haunted toys her grandfather left behind by teaming up with an even more haunted doll. described by the author as "kid friendly horror." i havent read the reboot on webtoon, just the original, but it should still be good.

This Isekai Maid is Forming A Union! (webtoon): what it says on the tin. Brigette is sick of constantly reincarnating as a maid in isekai stories, so she's unionizing the Anders household. Neither shitty love interests with a penchant for murder nor leading ladies with superiority complexes are going to stop her. (this comic has a bone to pick with shojo isekai, and i am cheering as it goes for the throat).

i also have WAYY more but i think this is enough for now. my main haunts tend to be webtoon, tapas, reaperscans, and hiveworks. i especially recommend hiveworks if you're looking for original stuff. reaperscans mainly has action shonen shit but it satisfies my cravings for schlock. though there's also some gems buried there. webtoons and tapas should both be well known enough on their own, though i tend to prefer webtoon over tapas these days.

[puphoods]

What ocs do you have?

i have a lot blushes... i have a tag for them (just "my ocs") but i will list the different settings i have and the ocs (or at least the main ones) i have for them ill put it under a readmore though

the first one is about claire my friend claire. he is a vampire raised as a hunter by a family of vampire hunters who is learning to navigate interpersonal relationships and understand himself after the death of his father leads him to run away and become involved in a conflict between one cities main vampire coven and a mysterious cult that i have yet to iron out all the details for... some of the ohcees from this one are: -claire: main guy (gender neutral) you get it ^

-amber: human also caught up in the conflict while attempting to reconnect with her sibling who is a member of the coven (and she is claires eventual girlfriend)

-ambers siblings jake and (i dont have a name for the other one atm): ambers older sibling was turned into a vampire as a teen and drifted away from their family because watching their younger siblings age and outgrow them was too difficult and caused a lot of tension and conflict in the family. jake is a 16 year old boy and likes basketball and being taller than his adult siblings

-annie: a minor antagonist and claires "sister". she is trying to kill claire because she believes their fathers death was claires fault and has become obsessed with revenge

-zachary: dead father. the patriarch. a proud man who never once gave any of the people who depended on him what they needed

-magdelene: amber and claires mother. a resentful woman who hates her children and what they have become and is manipulating them to further the conflict between them

-opulence: leader of the local coven. french nobility turned vampire who fled the country and eventually wound up in [wherever this is all set] who has made a comfortable life for herself and her coven but is struggling to keep people safe in the midst of the conflict

-apotheosis: leader of the cult. a mysterious man who claims to know the truth to eternal life

there r a lot of other more minor characters... and a lot more that should exist but dont yet because im not a writer and this is more of a setting than the story i would like it to be 💯

NEXT STORY egress/regress. this is the only setting with a title. the description i give people:

A self-contained short story focusing on the lives and relationships of three people several years into a zombie apocalypse.

there are only three characters for this one, though i would like to flesh out their backstories and past relationships at some point:

-cooper: the main character. cooper kills people and feeds them to zombies. he does this because he believes he has to, because of the violence and destruction and pain he has seen committed against others since the outbreak.

-elliot: elliot lives nearby coopers residence, sharing land (but not property) with dahlia. they rely on cooper for protection and safety but his actions and the isolation the three of them experience has led them to become paranoid and distrustful (moreso than would be expected)

dahlia: dahlia is reclusive and does not trust the others, but trades her crops with them in return for safety and assistance with upkeep of the farm. she feels she has to keep the other two in check, but does not consider them trustworthy

-honorary mention: coopers dead father: a strong and very traditional man. raised cooper to the best of his abilities, alongside his hunting dogs

NEXT: i call this one "party story" when im talking about it... a (would be) visual novel following katherin, a young woman who finds herself face to face with the victim of her childhood bullying while at a university party and the conversation(s) they have

-katherin: a uni student in the last year of her degree, kat bullied dorothy as a young teen and outed her to the entire school one day after overhearing a conversation she was having with her "friend". kat has since realised that she is gay and had crazy internalised homophobia that made her a huge asshole and struggles with deeply regretting what she did. shes also a doggirl

-dorothy: dot is attending the same university, pursuing an arts degree. she holds little ill will for kats actions but is still wary when kat approaches her. depending on the choices you make throughout the conversation, you come to learn about the person she has become and about her partners

-aelyn: aelyn is one of dots partners. they are the manager at a clothing store and also makes and sells jewelry as a hobby. she lives with their other partner rebecca

-rebecca: dots other partner. she has an office job. thats about it these two dont have too much detail in the story its really just kat and dot. the other three are demons btw for no reason other than its fun

NEXT: last cohesive setting with multiple ocs! this follows two humans, an angel, and a demon, who are attempting to solve a murder and get into situations along the way

-zoey: a woman who, in the span of 24 hours, lost her job, found out her brother died, found out her brother was a warrior of heaven and that his guardian angel has now decided that she is his replacement, and found out that heaven and hell and angels and demons all exist. she is not happy about any of this and is trying to find the cause of her brothers death

-antares: a guardian angel who is being punished for the death of her charge. antares believes that, seeing as her charge has a twin, that she has a second chance, and is trying to convince zoey to come with her, and promises to help get to the bottom of what happened in an attempt to convince her

-[demon that doesnt have a name yet]: insists that it did NOT cause the death of zoeys brother, intentionally or otherwise. it claims to be able to lead them to the truth, in exchange for them helping it out with various things i havent decided on yet

-[guy that doesnt have a name yet]: pizza delivery guy who has an affinity for attracting supernatural forces and is the most scared guy in existence. hates that he is being led around to find various otherworldly beasts but refuses to leave the protection of the literal angel who he believes is the only way he can stay safe

-zoeys brother: the big question... what happened to this guy? someone who was supposed to become one of the strongest people on earth? what could have happened to him in the few seconds antares stopped watching over him

and thats it for stories... i have a lot more individual ocs that dont have a proper setting or are just one offs etc. or are fan ocs for something :) and one or two more settings that are old and i need to rework such as my superpowers ones. also i have another setting that is a game idea i have but that has less developed characters atm because i havent thought about it in a while. sorry this got so long omg i hope this explains these ones okay at least

[saezutte]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Happy end-of-the-year season! Thank you for writing for me!

This is my first time signing up for Yuletide, though I’ve been reading Yuletide fic for 14-15 years and it’s one of my favorite yearly traditions. Now I’m turning over a new leaf of active participation in my old age! I guarantee you I am much more worried about what I’m writing than what you’re writing—I’m pretty easy-going about the fic I read and I am going to try to help you out as best I can with this letter. If there’s something you’re unclear about, feel free to contact the mods or stalk me to find my preferences.

My AO3: saezutte

My public twitter: juncassis

My tumblr: here but I do not use tumblr much anymore, sorry.

Do Not Wants

[note: I have no actual triggers, nothing you can write for me will make me any more depressed or anxious than I already am]

Death (of major/important/beloved characters)

Suicide attempts

Rape

Angst without a happy ending, really too much angst at all

University/college settings

Established relationship

Cheating

Actual Unrequited Feelings

Pregnancy (the actual process; breeding kink is fine)

Scat or watersports

Hard BDSM or any kink complicated enough that the characters would have to discuss it ahead of time

Non-canon cisswapping or gender change (it’s ok if they do it in canon, e.g. HX/SQX)

Homophobia as a plot device

Excessive attention to sexual identity or queer politics

Note on AUs: I am ok with the usual popular AU tropes (except, see above, university settings) but I do not want them combined, e.g. A/B/O is fine and coffeeshop is fine, but I don’t want an omega barista getting his scent all over the lattes he makes for some alpha lawyer who comes in every morning. (Ridiculous example, but you get the point.) For AU/modern settings of fandoms with magic, I often like it when the magic is still there in the AU setting. I also like AUs which maintain the general outlines of the character’s relationships, like if the characters are childhood friends in canon, I like to keep that intact.

General preferences:

I am a pretty basic bitch when it comes to fanfic: I like it when two clueless boys pine for each other through some shenanigans and then lock eyes/lips/dicks.

If you fed a neural net every fanfic written in Stargate Atlantis fandom between 2005 and 2010, the result would probably be some nonsense I’d enjoy.

I love many tropes. Tropes! Bed-sharing. Sharing an umbrella. WASHING EACH OTHER’S HAIR? Confessions where they are having an argument and then one of them yells “Because I love you!” 

I love situations where characters are forced to spend time in close proximity and find themselves with feelings.

I love fakeness: fake dating, fake marriage, arranged marriage, marriage of convenience, fake lust induced by sex pollen or heats, aliens make them have sex, whatever. 

I’d prefer story/romance/build-up to PWP but you are welcome to write porn

Tian Guan Ci Fu

Requested characters: He Xuan, Shi Qingxuan

Note: If you don’t want to write those two, I would be happy with Hualian! There are other pairings I like as well, like Fengqing. I requested these two because they are the ones I want the most, but I like almost all of the characters in TGCF so if you want to write me something that sells me on your pet pairing, go for it. Caveat is that I don’t like Qi Rong (sorry cousin)—he makes me anxious, haha.

Why I like the canon: Tian Guan Ci Fu is my favorite of MXTX’s novels, which took over my life this summer. What I love about it is the gods/mythology angle. The different story arcs remind me of reading myths about gods going out on adventures—I love folklore and myths! I love Xie Lian, I respect him so much, and I love Hua Cheng. I love how dark the story gets and I love that I could read it while being relatively assured of a happy ending. But with MXTX, you only ever get that happy ending for the main pair, hence why I requested my side pair.

Why I like these characters: I was in love with these two when He Xuan was pretending to be a grouchy Earth Master who reluctantly goes along with whatever Shi Qingxuan wants. When it turned out to be ABOUT REVENGE and they have FATES WHICH ARE ENTANGLED TOGETHER, I promptly lost my mind. I like the contrast in personalities.

I love Shi Qingxuan as a happy gossip god who is friends with everyone and yet also still pretty good at his job (unlike a lot of the gods around). I like his struggle with realizing he wasn’t meant to be a god and I honestly like where he ends up at the end of the novel—but personally I’d like it better if he re-qualified as a god, haha. I love his sex switching and you are welcome to play with that, though I would prefer if it weren’t a straightforward switch where he (she) settles as a woman. With He Xuan… I love that he’s on this dark completely-justified vengeance quest but he is also kind of a mess? How in debt is he to Hua Cheng? Has he totally neglected his ghostly duties to play Earth Master in heaven? How did he feel starting to be friends with SQX when he’s still planning on ruining his life?

What I would like for these two is something between pure fluff / all the issues are solved / “decapitated brother who?” and angst. I think they mirror Hualian in a lot of ways and I wish they had a chance together!

Prompts:

Them meeting again post-canon: He Xuan not knowing what to do with his (after)life now that he’s got his revenge and not being totally sure what’s keeping him around now that his business is over. SQX living his happy beggar life and HX not sure how he’s still so energetic.

A canon divergent AU where He Xuan doesn’t pull off his revenge plot ? Instead something else happens?

A soulmate AU would work well for these two IMO

Modern AU where HX is infiltrating the company that destroyed his family business and falls in love with the heir to the company president

SQX reascending to godhood as a beggar god and HX suspecting he will come for him in revenge but he just wants to be friends again

The Untamed (RPF)

Requested characters: Wang Yibo, Xiao Zhan

Why I like the canon: Uh, it took over my stupid life this summer. I haven’t liked an idol in years. I have frequently said I don’t like RPF because the canon is too diffuse to keep up with! And yet look at my twitter. I’m living in a hell of my own making.

Anyway, I got into the RPF side for The Untamed initially because the fictional canon here was very overloaded with its status as an adaptation of a novel where the characters are already together and where there aren’t many points for a writer to jump in and add to it. So I got more interested in the actors’ dynamic particularly because it’s different from Wangxian—WYB is a gremlin! Xiao Zhan is the serious professional one! And then I fell in love with them and now this is my life.

Why I like these characters: I just love their stupid handsome faces, I can’t help it. Don’t look at me. I am more of a Xiao Zhan fan but I want to be Wang Yibo’s best friend and bully him.

With Xiao Zhan, I love his smile and I love that he can write a whole essay on Wei Wuxian’s character and I love that he was a regular person who worked in an office before deciding to join one of wjjw’s basically-a-scam idol raising shows and then accidentally becoming the most famous man in China. He’s so professional and serious in interviews and it’s a great contrast to how we see him goofing around with WYB and the others on set.

With Wang Yibo, I like that he’s a wild boy who will run off to race motorcycles at any minute. I would like to shove him a little bit, in an affectionate manner. I love that he’s always looking at XZ and smiling and doesn’t seem to care if anyone notices.

Prompts:

Fooling around on set leads to love? The most basic of basic  

AUs with different settings/meetings—maybe XZ is still a designer and his company ends up working with WYB (who is still an idol)? Or WYB is a pro motorcycle racer and XZ is a sports photographer?

They drift apart now but meet again in 10 years with Regrets

Porn star AU

Having to share a bed

WYB is scared of something! XZ comforts him!

Any dumb AU you want but I would like to veto ABO for this, it’s too weird for me when they’re real people.

The Untamed (TV)

Requested characters: Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian

Note: There are other CQL/MDZS pairings I like, namely Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang. I also like the junior trio (as OT3 or as various twosomes.) Also, one night I read a Jiang Cheng/Lan Sizhui fic and suddenly I got all these ideas for inappropriate uncle pairings JC/LSZ and LXC/JL. If any of that speaks to your heart instead, go wild.

Why I like the canon: So obviously I read the novel and plunged into this MXTX abyss for 100 years. With this adaptation, there are a few things I don’t like versus the novel but I’m happy to ignore them because I love what they did with the visuals and music and the acting choices. Some of the changes I also do love—I love how WWX seems to be so much more into LWJ from the beginning! I love seeing them goof around, I love drunk!WYB in the drama.

I also don’t like established relationship fic for the most part, so the censorship in this adaptation means I have more to play with in fanfic!

Why I like the characters: They invented love!!! They did. I particularly like them both as kind of messes… It’s easy to forget with how great Hanguang-jun is but he’s also bad at expressing himself and it gets him into trouble. Then you have WWX the deviant genius troublemaker with a heart of gold (even when he doesn’t have his golden core). They’re immature kids who can’t figure their shit out before things get serious and then 16 years later, they are emotionally stunted 30-somethings and (tbh) I feel that. These two are meant for each other and meant to wander the country following the chaos and getting into adventures together while fucking a lot.

Prompts:

How do Wangxian get together in this universe? Was it as teens? During the war? Did they split up? Did LWJ give in to temptation earlier than in the novel? When did WWX realize his feelings?

Fix-it for the ending where they separate!! Duh! Does anyone think them being apart is going to last?

Star Trek AU with the Lans as Vulcans

Uh, I really like A/B/O fic for these two.

MAGIC SEX CURSES. Fuck or die! Sex pollen! Particularly if they’re not a couple yet and this leads to awkwardness and getting together.

Nirvana in Fire (TV)

Requested characters: Mei Changsu, Xiao Jingyan

Note: I also love Lin Chen so if you want to write some MCS/LC or LC/Fei Liu or LC/MCS/JINGYAN OT3??? go for it. I am also a Nihuang/Xia Dong shipper so if you want to put that in… somehow… my gay little heart would be happy. I also like Nihuang/MCS/XJY or MNH/MCS + MCS/XJY but I’d like the focus on the men in that case! 

Why I like the canon: I watched this show because someone recommended this show to me as, like, Chinese Game of Thrones but good. I think it’s genuinely one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen. I love plots and revenge and good people doing bad things for justice. Even the ending is good for me though obviously it left me unsatisfied on several points.

Why I like the characters: I am deeply into sickly doomed genius MCS and every time he got even more deeply ill, I fell deeper in love. Every time he coughs up blood, my heart would race. I love his terrible schemes and stupid self-sacrificing choices. I find watching this show very soothing because I knew he would always come out on top in his schemes. I trust him. I love handsome clueless Jingyan and how he’s just so good (it’s terrible.) I love his mom and how much he cares for her. I love him but he is useless, he needs his Xiao Shu and I need fanfic to restore him to him.

Note: So my limited research on this says that male/male sex practices were accepted and well-known in this time period in history, so I really don’t want them thinking “oh no what are these weird gay feelings.” There are other barriers to them being together, like a ruler or official being overly attached to one person was considered very bad. I am also a big supporter of the socially-approved polygamy of this time period, so I don’t need Jingyan to refuse to sleep with his wife or something out of loyalty to MCS—he has to do it! Or all their plans are ruined! And he can enjoy spending time with her or the concubines without affecting his feelings for MCS—you could explore that complexity in fic if you like.

Prompts:

Mei Changsu isn’t dead, he’s hiding again, Jingyan searches for him

They start having sex during the series, the ending is averted [somehow]

Post-canon, MCS is alive and Jingyan hides him in the palace with his consort/concubines to keep him on as an advisor without anyone objecting

AU where male/male marriage is customary (maybe aristocratic men are expected to have one male and one female consort?) and so MCS decides the best way to influence and help Jingyan in the capital is by becoming his wife or one of his concubines

anything just get them together and happy.

Promare

Requested characters: Galo, Lio

Why I like the canon: I love this film but I also find it to be… not enough? I wanted more character development, I wanted more plot, I wanted the goddamn Burnish to stay burning things. So I requested it because I want more! Please help me.

Why I like the characters: I love freedom fighter idealist Lio who will kick everyone’s ass for what is right. I love idiot idealist Galo who wants to fight all fires and learns to love exactly one fire. I think now that they aren’t saving the world by punching global warming, they should have a nice romance. I also like they points where they clash in the film, so I’d love to see them adjusting to “normal life” and having to deal with not having the crisis to make sure they get along.

Prompts:

Galo and Lio rebuilding the world together

Lio regaining Burnish powers?

AU where the Burnish are still a thing but it’s not a big crisis/battle and they just have normal jobs and there are integration programs and Lio is an angry Burnish teen and Galo volunteers at a community center helping Burnish control their powers. Like a world that’s more everyday X-Men than X-men in full adventure war mode.

This is the one request where I’d probably enjoy gen fic with lots of worldbuilding.

I would also enjoy lots of horny porn, preference for Galo topping with his giant stupid dick? I’m sorry I’m like this.

I do want to note ahead of time that I might be traveling (as in, possibly literally on a plane) when fics go live, so please do not be upset if I do not comment on the fic right away! But I definitely will! I know this can be a sore spot for authors so I wanted to give some warning. 

I think that is all! Thank you very much and I’ll see you at the end of all this. 

[wolfwordfall]

Story Idea Summaries:

Master list of all the ideas:

**In order of oldest to newest, roughly**

Unnamed (Another damn werewolf story) (ABANDONED):

“A boy moves into a small rural town with his single mother. He is alone and doesn’t know anyone yet, meeting just a single friend and a handful of bullies on his first days of school. The person that captures his attention the most though, is a girl who hangs out on the fringe of society, a girl with a hood always drawn over her head, always at public malls or squares by herself. His peers warn him against her, but curious, he eventually tries to make contact.

Little does he know, she is alone, completely alone. She has no family or friends. As a result of her dark past and inexplicable newfound werewolf shifting ability she has lost control and destroyed all she knows and loves. She is on the run and in hiding. She currently lives alone in an abandoned cottage in the woods. 

She is wary at first, and defensive of her odd secret, but the charming and empathetic demeanor of the boy wins her heart and they bond inexplicably quickly. But she could not hide for long, the boy soon follows her to the cottage in the woods on the most fateful day possible, only to find in shock that the creature was not entirely her. At her shouting plea to leave before she can harm him, he bolts and doesn’t return. She is both relieved and traumatized and no longer makes contact with him.

The boy however, ever emboldened to find out what was going on, continues to search for her. Having not seen a sight of her in public for weeks. Eventually, his search for her comes to and end as he finds her by a solemn lake in the woods, and asks her to explain everything. She relents, confessing everything about her werewolf curse and her lack of control when it takes over. 

He is in shock but acceptance, and agrees to help her through the curse. Together they go on a journey and discover the secrets of her dark past, help her evade capture against the manslaughter of her past, discover more about the werewolf lore and others who are like her, and find a way to ultimately deal with her condition and grow her purpose in the world”

Medium type: Novel

Overarching themes: Additonal werewolf lore; including hereditary werewolf traits, secret were societies, etc.

Reason for being abandoned: Cliche AF, Edgy as shit

St★r M★rked (ABANDONED): (Loosely inspired by “the sight” by David-Clement Davies)

“A young wolf, born with a star-mark, is prophesied to be save the five realms from destruction. Young Kayce is a wolf who grows up learning the dark secrets of the past of his pack, he eventually comes into conflict with a sinister wolf who felt betrayed and abandoned by his old pack, a brilliant-but-vengeful leader who with the help of his army of soulless monster-hybrid wolves known as “Shadows”, is on a quest to become the prince of all five packs. Kayce goes on a journey, met with many allies and the help of his pack, to defeat the forces separating them and unite all five of the packs against the looming threat that was prophesied to be their doom.”

Overarching themes: Forgiveness, family bonds, importance regardless of roles in society, etc.

Medium type: Graphic novel, comic, children’s illustrated comic

Reason for being Abandoned: Too cliche

The World Aftermore (ABANDONED):

“Kasia finds herself inexplicably transported  into a world where she is the last human on an entirely different Earth, after a post-apocalypse that ended the human race and marked the beginning of many others. The story begins as a normal day where she is raised for several years by the eldest member of a tribe of people known as the Linguakins, as she goes about her day amongst her peers who have taken her on as mostly one of her kind, save for a few elders who have been grudgingly pessimistic about the old linguakin woman’s decision to keep her. Things change quickly when a sudden attack brings the tribe into a frenzy, Kasia recalls the hazy dream she had in the morning of a prophecy and visions of what she has to do, and knows she must leave, she packs up and with her devoted friend Damik by their side they go on a wayward journey across the dusty landscape. They meet another unlikely ally, a cryptic and bubbly Oracle girl named Nadair, and together the trio meet and discover the various races and tribes of the land, and learn what they must do to bring peace and balance to their world instead of facing total destruction like the humans of the past ages”

Medium type: Novel

Overarching themes: Racism, Unity, individual wordbuilding/race lore

Reason abandoned: Cliches (racism/unity of races, prophecies)

Tale of Tails(Pending/Semi abandoned):

“Sirius is a yearling wolf that finds himself lost in a snowstorm, crying out for his pack. The clumsy and spirited wolf trips over a rock and blacks out. When he comes to he is in a dim cave lit by the low light of a fire, and peers into the faces of array of canid or canid-like creatures, much like him. Among them is authoritative and brash leader of a thylacine, a kind and caring arctic wolf, A polite but tough maned wolf, a serious and constantly bored hyena, a bush dog with a napoleon complex, a shy and avoidant fennec fox, and a peppy young fox bat. 

The incredibly unusual group helps him get on his feet and agree to help him find his pack again. Little does he know the random collection of adventures and discoveries about them he makes is all the pack he has ever needed. Conflict erupts when he does he find his old pack, and ultimately he makes a decision”

Medium type: graphic novel/comic/ short comic. Children’s illustrated comic

Overarching themes: “the blood of the covenant is greater than the water of the womb”, Star marked lore within this story as legend/story for the characters, interesting facts and traits about each species of canid/animal

On the Spot (Semi-abandoned/Abandoned):

“A young border collie cross dog finds himself suddenly abandoned on the side of a highway. Lost and confused, the intensely loyal and optimistic dog is on a quest to find his human, a young girl of 5 years old who he loves dearly. Along the way the newly strayed dog finds two new friends, a skeptical-but-intelligent pit bull, a three-legged and hot-headed chihuahua cross, and a puppy-brained , woefully goofy, sorta-dumb wolf-dog hybrid named Ravenous. The unlikely group of dogs must traverse the city streets and long roads while avoiding animal catchers and treacherous plights to find their way in the world and their true homes.”

Medium type: Graphic novel/comic, Children’s illustrated comic

Overarching themes: Loyalty, common issues in dog-ownership and stray animal life, dog fighting, loss, family issues, and coping with past trauma

Kennel Story: 

“Spot returns in an unrelated tale, a dog who finds himself dropped off at an animal shelter, he meets many other dogs like himself on death row. Many of complicated pasts and stories to tell. Among his time spent their he meets a particularly quirky cat known as Mischief, who helps him discover and explain the going-ons of life in the shelter. Over the course of his time spent there, he loses friends and allies, with one escape attempt going largely unsuccessful. In the end, he is found by someone and is happily adopted into a new life”

Medium type: Visual novel, comic, children’s fiction

Overarching themes: Life, death, past experiences, individual stories, loss

The Mendeleon Paradox: 

“An independent scientist, played by you, discovers a severely endangered species on creature on the brink of extinction. These animals are called Mendeleons (Panthera Mendeleonus), a feline-type species that appears as a cross between lions/caracals/bees/Pisum Sativum. This is a choiced base or three-path story, and depending on which path or choices one has made, leads to different resulting endings. There are three paths: Sin, Neutral, and Philanthrope.

Sin path- You as a scientist choose to brutally and intensely breed and perform horrific scientific experiments on these creatures. The creatures are severely traumatized, become sentient and aware, and out for revenge, this leads to a dangerous and fateful ending

Neutral path- You as a scientist breed these creatures carefully and selectively, these creatures are well-cared for and maintained, they lead a natural and recreationally stimulated life. These creatures do not become aware, but are intensely intelligent and loyal animals. You are able to market these creatures worldwide as guard animals, military soldiers, service animals, and companion animals. They become commonplace and are actively thriving

Philanthrope path- You as a scientist breed these creatures enough to keep their population thriving and alive. You bond with them as if they were your children. These creatures become sentient and aware, and soon they begin to ask for things that break your heart but you agree to help make plans to help them achieve their dreams, this leads to a very revolutionary and new ending.

In all endings, you end up in a cataclysmic event that causes your demise, you face the god of death himself, Anubis, with his weighted scale as he judges your deeds”

Medium type: Choice-game app, choice-game visual novel, Three separate ending part novel

Overarching themes: References to mendel’s experiments on heredity, Harlow’s research of attachment on monkeys, metaphorical themes about paradox, etc.

Ideation among us (tentative name/unnamed):

“A washed-up student in medical school gets out after a particularly strained one-on-one assessment with a course instructor, learning that he has failed medical school. The devastated twenty-something has decided to walk the long way home in the dark and rainy night only to find himself meeting a particular character along the way, a shady individual by a bridge, who initially thinks he is there to commit suicide. Shocked and reluctant to have the person think he reached such conclusion, he frantically explains his situation, the individual listens to his plight, and without a thought grants him a job offer

Shocked, the young man goes home to his fiance, reluctantly telling her about his grim situation, they both mourn their uncertain future and hold each other in the night. Still perplexed by the odd invitation of the man at the bridge but curious nonetheless, he follows the instructions that were given to him carefully.

He soon learns that the opportunity he had been given was about as shady as the night. The man he soon meets is a dead-eyed man with a graying beard despite his youthful age, and ex-doctor turned underground assisted suicide facility leader, the man has experienced clinical depression for years exercises his only dreams and goals in life by doing what he can’t do to himself for others; grant suicidal people the ability to die. The young man soon discovers his role as an assistant and gets into the gritty and morally-gray, ambiguous world of medically-assisted suicide, helping many clients most of which are rich or easily able to hide their demise via contact through the technological advancements of the deep web, bitcoin, and other shady mechanisms of commerce and business.

The ex-doctor has gone about his business for the last 2-5 years, but he is getting restless, worn, and tired. He feels he doesn’t make enough of a difference. Things become more and more convoluted as an ongoing investigation commences and he slips up more and more, and it is only a matter of time before he gets caught. A disastrous ending approaches”

Medium type: Short story

Overarching themes: The rationality behind suicide, the workings of the deep web and illegal activity

Unnamed fantasy about a boy dragon slayer:

“A young boy and his friend are bullied and forced to leave the field they are playing in. The boy feels anger and rage at the injustice they have experienced. In a fit of disgust, he feels he must do something about it, and tells his friend he is going on a quest. The young boy learns of an ancient legend of a dragon who lives in a cave in a region far from his land, a vicious beast who destroyed many kingdoms and was known for brutality, and the boy knew he must go slay the beast and retrieve a relic to restore rightness to the world.

On his journey, he passes an elderly beggar, a thief, and (situation unknown), and his anger at the injustice of the world only grows colder, and his quest more dire. 

He soon reaches the dragon and his ultimate heroic deed to kill him and restore justice to the kingdom is at hand, but ultimately what is it that he must do when he meets the dragon?”

Medium type: short story, children’s book, illustrated children’s book

Overarching themes: Peace, forgiveness, justice, kindness

Maddie and the afterworld (tentative offshoot of “shedding the mortal bracelet”):

“After an unfairly short life, Maddie is dead. She soon forgets that however as she is thrust into a newfound existence of walking through various planes of reality, space and time intertwine and she can now be anywhere and do anything, Maddie must learn what she can do to navigate the afterlife.

Along her journey, she finds friends and allies, some of which like to meddle in the world of the living. Ultimately though, she finds a like minded soul in the living world, someone she feels intensely connected to and desires to indirectly help them make discoveries about themselves throughout their life. Their bond brings them unfortunately close-yet-too-far, only close enough to bond through their dreams, but far enough that the boy in question forgets about her in the land of his wakeful conscience. Maddie must find out how to help him without harming them both.”

Medium type: short story, novel

Overarching themes: LGBT issues

[recentanimenews]

Off the Shelf: Battles, ballrooms, & a baffling noise

MICHELLE: Hey, Melinda! What do a plum and an elephant have in common?

MELINDA: Wow, Michelle, I have no idea! What do a plum and an elephant have in common?

MICHELLE: They’re both purple! (Except for the elephant.)

MELINDA: Ahhhhhh, now this feels right. Starting off with a bad joke. That’s the stuff Off the Shelf is made of.

MICHELLE: Quite possibly nobody else enjoys it, but it is tradition, after all!

We’ve dusted off the shelf to discuss a few recent series, including one title that we both read. But would you like to go first with your solo read?

MELINDA: I’d love to!

So, nobody will be surprised to hear this, unless they’re just surprised that it took so long, but I’ve been reading the first two volumes of Platinum End, the latest from one of my favorite manga artists, Takeshi Obata, and his frequent collaborator, Tsugumi Ohba of whom I am historically much less fond. But, y’know, I love Obata and I’ll take what I can get, so here we go.

Mirai is graduating from middle school, but he couldn’t be more miserable. Orphaned at a young age and forced to live with abusive relatives, all he wants is to end it all. But when he tries to do that by jumping off his roof, the intervention of an angel, Nasse, drags him instead into a deadly, Highlander-style tournament in which he is competing with 12 other humans to win the chance to become the next God. Armed with a few special powers—angel’s wings, red arrows that work like a love spell, and white arrows that kill on contact—Mirai must prove that he’s worthy of inheriting the power of God.

Okay, so besides humiliatingly showing my age, the Highlander reference is also somewhat inaccurate, at least in theory. There is no rule in the angels’ truly weird competition that requires the God contestants to kill each other in order to win. But in Ohba’s pessimistic (and probably depressingly accurate) view of humanity, there is inevitably a candidate who immediately decides that the surest path to victory is to kill the other candidates, creating an atmosphere of terror and violence in the competition right from the start. Just as typical of an Ohba manga is the specificity of the powers’ rules—the red arrows only work for 30 days, for instance—and the competition’s built-in inequity. The angels choosing the candidates from among the downtrodden are not all created equal, and their contestants only inherit whatever powers their personal angel can also wield. Mirai, luckily, has a special-rank angel who can give him all three, but he’s a rarity in the bunch.

I’m talking a lot of plot here—also an Ohba trademark, of course—so let’s get down to the business of reviewing this thing. I generally expect to have a love-hate relationship with an Ohba/Obata manga, and my expectations were even lower going into this one, since I tend to be bored by angel stories. Interestingly, I get the sense that Obata might feel the same way, as his angel characters are the least imaginatively drawn in the series so far. But that said, I came away from these first two volumes actually hating very little.

Like most of Obata’s collaborations with Ohba, the story leans very heavily on plotting and strategy, but the real story seems to be about Mirai figuring out the point of living. Though his new wings give him a taste of personal freedom he’s never before enjoyed, his true liberation comes from the destruction of his abusive family, which he unwittingly causes, sending him into a guilt spiral and forcing him to confront questions of morality on a level most middle-schoolers are years away from having to think about outside of YA novels and video games. He’s made immediately aware of the consequences of his anger, and the cost of manipulating others with his new powers. Meanwhile, he’s learning to forgive the manipulation perpetrated by those weaker than he is, starting with his middle-school crush—herself a God candidate—whose weaker angel advises her to take pre-emptive actions against Mirai in order to protect herself.

Obviously I can’t be sure where this series is headed, but getting to read a new Takeshi Obata manga that doesn’t present me with either an utterly hateful protagonist or outrageous sexism right from the get-go feels like a treat.

MICHELLE: I, too, am bored by angel stories and I confess that I expected you were going to say you disliked it. Now my curiosity is piqued!

It seems, too, like there might be some symbolism in Mirai’s name, as “mirai” means future. And that’s really what’s on the line for him.

MELINDA: I think it might help on the angel front that the story is really not about them. Also, they are pretty strange, amoral beings who seem perfectly comfortable advancing a sort of hyper-selfish, Ayn Rand vision of individual happiness over all on behalf of their candidates, one of whom uses his newfound power to make swaths of female idols fall in love with him, so that he can spend his life immersed in a 24-7 orgy. Meanwhile, Mirai’s angel is utterly unable to comprehend why enacting bloody revenge on his horrible relatives, despite their Dickens-level villainy, does not make him happy.

The nature of God is equally ambiguous, especially since we’ve seen that only those who have already given up on humanity are actually eligible for the post. All of this plays into the creative team’s strengths, as it gives them a lot of morally gray material to work with (and lots of shonen-friendly competitiveness), while avoiding some of the things that sometimes makes their work unreadable (for me, anyway) by letting Mirai be our gateway character who is just as weirded out by most of this as we are.

It works for me, at least so far, which is a bit of a relief!

MICHELLE: Yeah, it really does sound pretty interesting! I will have to check it out.

MELINDA: I think the rest of the Battle Robot so far has not enjoyed it as much as I, so ymmv. But for me, this is a win.

So what have you been reading, Michelle? Something less morally ambiguous?

MICHELLE: Oh, indeed. Nothing is ambiguous about Welcome to the Ballroom, after all. It’s all about passion and determination!

Specifically, I’ve been reading volume three, but I’ll give you a short introduction to the series in case you’re not familiar. Fifteen-year-old Tatara Fujita had nothing that he was especially good at. When he is saved from bullies by a champion ballroom dancer named Sengoku, he doesn’t have the courage to tell the other man that he was actually looking at a part-time job advertisement and not a flyer for the dance studio. Once he sees a recording of Sengoku in action, looking confident and self-assured, he vows to change himself by also entering into the world of dancesport. It doesn’t hurt that his lovely classmate, Shizuka Hanaoka, is also one of the top amateurs.

In volume three, Fujita is competing in his first tournament. He’s also got a wager on the line with Shizuka’s bellicose new partner, Gaju, who has tossed aside his sister and longtime partner, Mako. Because he’s a newcomer, he lacks the stamina and repertoire of the others, and his attempts to beat Gaju are not successful. However, once he realizes that his real goal ought to be helping Mako outshine Shizuka (and thus convincing Gaju to partner with her once more), there’s a palpable shift in his performance. He goes from merely leading to becoming the “frame” for the “flower,” executing moves that allow Mako to shine to her best advantage.

I really enjoyed seeing how a ballroom dancing competition works, but what I found especially impressive was that Tomo Takeuchi’s art actually conveys this change in Tatara’s attitude. There was a tension in his earlier performances, when he was essentially taking full responsibility upon himself, and once he internalizes the notion of becoming the “frame,” his whole body language changes. It’s difficult to explain in words, but to be able to depict that difference in a way that even an utterly ignorant-of-dance person like me could pick up on is seriously cool.

MELINDA: For some truly unfathomable reason, I have yet to pick up this series, and I really can’t believe it. Everything you describe just sounds both dramatically exciting and fun. Making a story about dance work with only still drawings is a huge challenge, but when it works, it’s just spectacular. The visual storytelling sounds incredible, from what you describe.

MICHELLE: I think you’d like it quite a bit. Another thing that’s neat is that, unlike a lot of sports manga with a male protagonist, the female characters aren’t cheering on the sidelines or serving as the team manager. They’re co-competitors. And, in fact, it’s by Tatara allowing Mako full agency and achieving nonverbal yet total communication with her that the pair really attracts notice.

MELINDA: That’s definitely a welcome feature in a “sports” manga, and possibly the push I needed to get me to the bookstore!

MICHELLE: I hope you do check it out. And, of course, one generally doesn’t dance without music, which is my not-so-subtle segue into discussing our mutual read for this column. Would you like to do the introductory honors?

MELINDA: I will give it a go, sure! Our mutual read this week was the first volume of Ryoko Fukuyama’s Anonymous Noise, recently released on Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint.

Nino loves to sing with her best friend, neighbor, and habitual punster, Momo, but when his family suddenly moves away, she’s left with the fear of using her voice at all, as all she wants to do is scream. She finds momentary salvation in the company of Yuzu (who nicknames her “Alice” as a shortened version of her surname “Arisugawa”), a kid she finds writing songs on the beach, but he ends up disappearing on her, too, after he realizes he has no shot at living up to her dreamy memory of Momo.

Flash forward a few years, and these three are thrown back together in high school, where Yuzu is the main songwriter for an Alice-in-Wonderland-themed pop band, Nino is destined to become their new lead singer, and Momo is a mysterious dude befriended by Yuzu whom Nino hasn’t yet recognized. Also, the pop band (who sing all their songs while wearing face masks?) is operating incognito as the pop music club at their school, and Yuzu has super-long eyelashes, which is somehow a plot point.

I think that’s the best I can do, here. Michelle?

MICHELLE: That about sums it up! (The repeated eyelash references were especially odd.)

Anyway, I’m not really sure what I expected from Anonymous Noise, but it wasn’t quite this. To me, it reads almost breezy (with dumb jokes and kooky supporting characters) and a bit muddled, though it’s possible the storytelling will calm down some now that everyone is at high school together. Some elements of the story come through clearly, like Nino’s longing to see Momo and Yuzu again and the way that singing eases her pain. But unlike, say, NANA, I’m not getting much sense of what Yuzu’s band sounds like, or what Nino’s singing voice sounds like. We are shown its power to transfix others, but is it high? Is it low? Is it raw? Is it pure? No idea!

Another slightly muddled area for me was Momo’s and Yuzu’s reactions to seeing Nino again. Yuzu, it seems, didn’t want to see her because he has been wanting to escape his obsession with her, but there’s some disembodied narration that I think is Momo, also wishing that he could escape being in Nino’s thrall. Or something? How did you read that part?

MELINDA: I, too, found myself comparing it to NANA, which really isn’t fair at all. And, like you, I couldn’t exactly say what my expectations were for this manga, but whatever they were, I didn’t expect what we got, and what we got was largely disappointing. I’m willing to give it more time to come together, and I think it still could end up being interesting, but so far it’s kind of a vague mess, with a few clear elements as you describe. I feel like I’m the most interested in Yuzu at this point, but it’s really because he’s the character we’ve gotten the clearest read on so far. His needs and desires are fairly transparent, and he ends up being my favorite character just by default. I don’t think that was the author’s intention, though.

As for that section of narration near the end… I read it the same way as you did, but I didn’t really understand it. Is Nino’s voice the cage? And if so, why? Or was that Yuzu’s narration? I was pretty confused by that sequence, I have to admit.

Maybe the expectation that wasn’t met was an idea that somehow this was written for an older audience than it actually was?

MICHELLE: That may be it. I think I was expecting a story about a determined girl who’s serious about her band. And that’s not what this is, at all. Now, maybe Nino will grow into that kind of girl—Fukuyama does make a point of showing how terrible she is singing with others, and maybe that was laying a foundation for growth—but I kind of doubt it at this point. It seems like “music leads to Momo” will always be her true obsession rather than music for its own sake.

MELINDA: I long for that, I admit, and also perhaps a clearer idea of what any of the music sounds like, besides her childhood obsession with “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” In my mind, it’s all kind of “Twinkle, Twinkle” at this point, and that is just not very compelling.

That said, I’ll definitely read the next installment.

MICHELLE: Haha, yes, exactly. I agree on all points.

MELINDA: And so we live in hope. Until next time?

MICHELLE: ‘Til then!

By: Melinda Beasi