I'll always talk up internet radio stations because I don't think the average person is aware that they're free, can run in your browser (or in any program that can connect to them), work on your phone, run better than a youtube tab, and give you a much better selection of music than you could get from a general algorithmic playlist
(also lots of them have live shows which you can tune into for free)
if u like folk and/or roots music: wumb.org !!! it is AD-FREE it has ZERO MORNING TALK SHOWS it is on air at 91.9 FM in the BOSTON AREA but streams WORLDWIDE on the WEB it is perfect.
Maybe niche but for any Irish speakers or learners out there, Radio na Gaeltachta streams online and is a great way to listen to some Gaeilge without YouTube.
All of these resources are fantastic, but I wanna give a specific shoutout to Raidió na Gaeltachta streaming online - and I say this as a person who works in Irish-language visual media - if you wanna gainna better grasp of spoken Irish and how the language is used in casual settings, Raidió na Gaeltachta is the way to go, not visual media 😬📻😁
If you are on a Windows 11 computer, pause everything you are doing for one minute and:
Open computer settings
Click on Accessibility on the left-hand menu
Scroll down the Accessibility menu and click on the Keyboard Option
Under the "related settings" tab, click "Typing" which should have a description of "spellcheck, autocorrect, text suggestions."
Turn off the AI "correct misspelled words"
and most importantly: turn off Typing Insights.
[ID: a screenshot of the above mentioned Windows 11 settings, showing that Typing Insights is now turned off, with the following description from Microsoft:
"Windows is using artificial intelligence to help you type
To help you save time and type efficiently, Windows can learn to suggest words, autocorrect spelling mistakes, and interpret swiped typing. Take a look at the insights below to see up-to-the-minute stats on how Windows has learned to improve typing for you. These stats are stored only on this device and Microsoft does not collect the typing insights data."
End ID]
"But Mx. November, it says right there Microsoft doesn't collect the typing insights data!"
I mean, yeah, it says that..... for *now.*
It also only specifies that Microsoft themselves don't collect it, and they wouldn't have made this something that I was automatically, secretly opted in for without my knowledge if they didn't have something to be gained by me not knowing it exists!
I only found this because a cat walked on the keyboard and turned on Filter Keys and while trying to figure out why my keyboard was just making chirping noises instead of typing, I happened to click on "typing insights" by accident.
Generative AI, and especially AI that is used to "personalize" and track your activity across the web and on your computer are never going to be in your best interest, it is always going to serve these companies in whatever way will line their pockets the most, and all it takes is updating their terms of service once, and then all of that data they promised they weren't collecting suddenly all belongs to them.
I'm a huge sucker for zombie apocalypse AUs even though I am PETRIFIED of zombies. This idea has been in my head for a while now, so it's about time I write it out.
For the sake of this AU, and how outbreaks cause heartbreak because of family members dying, I have thought of multiple routes for this with Chizumi's and Souichi's family.
I also want it to be High school!Junji Ito, because zombie outbreaks and teens mix pretty well.
First Route:
The Tsujii family stays safe. Since Fukazawa was a small country side of Japan, the virus is unlikely to reach it. Everyone knows that the risk of living the village is too risky. Either they die trying to get more resources, or they come back and carry the virus inside to the village.
Since it's a small area, they most definitely have their own crops and markets. Of course they will still be on edge and rarely leave their homes, but they generally are safer there.
Second Route:
The Tsujii family does their best to stay alive, but ultimately become victims to zombies. Small village means that zombies have smaller grounds to roam on and can really be around any corner.
By the power invested in his grandmother, Souichi was able to survive.
I'm intrigued with the ideas I have in mind for the black magic interference. Either he gets bitten and carries the virus, but doesn't completely turn, or the ghost of his grandmother curses the undead Tsujiis into their final round of death just before they get to Souichi. That would encourage him to gather a few, very vital things, and book it.
I think the virus flowing within Souichi's blood would be super cool. It's being held off as much as possible by his grandmother's powers combined with his own. Think of some sort of magic seal that Sachie placed very quickly and is therefore weak. Souichi would have to keep on fixing it. If the seal is strong, then I think that his body would still have risk considering that it is black magic.
No matter what, Souichi leaves Fukazawa behind, but in the First Route, I think he would have a huge argument with his family that made him depart. Would he regret it? Of goddamn course.
He's young, cursedly infected (quite literally), and alone. His main defense is some rustic pocket knife that belonged to his grandfather, and the limited amount of nails he has.
The trains are down and unused, so he'd have to follow along the tracks to get into the city. He's too for gone now, so it's better trying to find any cure by some scientists rather than letting the infection and cursed seal get him. The chances are low, but the stakes are high. Plus, he doesn't want to seem like some baby to his family. Going back empty handed means shame, and Souichi isn't the type to let his ego get crushed.
He doesn't reach the nearest city by a long shot, but there's another village/town.
It's a good thing his nails are silent enough when being shot out of his mouth. However, he still has the spare them as much as he can. There's still some bits of food left in his satchel, so Souichi heads over to a hardware store first.
There's blood inside, of course, but few zombies. This is where he first ever trains his hearing and reflexes. Since he wants to save his nails from now on, he'll have to use his knife.
Stealth is also something he practices in this part. I want it to play out the The Last of Us/a video game, because I think that's pretty gnarly. If this were to be a console game, you'd have to keep the controller very still, look at the ground to not step an anything, and look at your surroundings.
Souichi pulls off his first zombie kill and it's very traumatizing. As much as he wants to think of himself as some sort of cool, badass guy— he's still a teenager, alone, and in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.
He ransacks the place. there's some pocket knives, which he takes, but still keeps his grandfather's.
The sun goes down, so it's far too risky to leave the hardware store. Instead, Souichi camps out in there in a secluded room that he knows there will be no one or any zombies creeping in.
Chizumi is the first of the main three that he meets. Souichi is caught completely off guard by here. One minute he's walking through a mostly empty small forest, and the next second, someone drops down from the tree behind him, and knocks him to the ground.
Souichi nearly thinks it's the end until his virus kicks in and makes his kick slightly stronger than usual. At that moment, he's confused, and wonders if it works like some sort of fight-or-flight mechanic. As the mysterious bloody person comes running at him, he can only crawl backwards. Getting up would make him dizzy and far weaker, so it's best to try and fight this zombie off—
Is that a person???
After some awkward conversation (that I want to write out but I'd be spoiling it if I were to actually make a fic out of this), they exchange names. Chizumi wonders why he's all alone, and he wonders the same. They don't say anything and it's some awkward silence before Souichi starts to walk off.
Chizumi catches up to him and gives a proposal. They stick together if he gives her some food he may have in his satchel, and she protects him.
Why would someone strong like her not get her own food? Souichi is skeptical, but has no other chances of survival. He was easily overpowered by her (though he won't say it out loud), so he accepts.
Despite the attempts of conversation, and constant talking anyway, they both don't reveal anything about themselves. No private life shared at all. It makes Chizumi even more eerie than how she already is, but Souichi isn't willing to share any information either.
As they walk to the end of the woods, he wonders what his family back home is doing.
Tomie is found by Chizumi when she hears a high pitched scream. She runs to the apartment complex entrance and bashes the head of the zombie trying to bite her.
Souichi had no other choice than to follow. At first, he gets angry at Chizumi for running off, but his face calms into a slight tense when he sees the new person.
After some things in between, Tomie introduces herself and explains how her that zombie was her recently turned ex-boyfriend who tried breaking into her apartment. She had ran out of food, so she needed to get something. however, before she could reach the lobby, he had been there waiting for her, and bitten. The last thing he did while alive was try to reach her for "teach her a lesson for breaking up with him".
The three of them agree to a truce under some conditions yet again. Tomie tells them everything she knows about the city. Trains, stores, exits, and she can stay with them for protection while she leads them to get food.
They end up all staying together even after they get food. It's unspoken, but they know why they're sticking with each other.
They all benefit from the other, so their chances of survival are better together.
Chizumi is only a short range when killing zombies, but she's the best out of the three of them for protection.
Souichi knows about agriculture, and can injure from a longer range.
Tomie knows the ins and outs of multiple cities. She can also seduce whatever group comes near them for help (her words, not theirs, but they both agreed to the chances of that working).
They move to different places, but stay longer in one city. It's big, and has lots of places to explore. There's a high school, and it looks like it's a hide out of people already in there. Tomie had warned them about raiders, and people that kill just about anyone and anything, so they don't risk it with that school.
It's finally Souichi's time to shine again. I want to develop him using weapons with silence and range like a bow and arrow. He's all about stealth and aiming. This is inspired off of his nails, and I decided to give him stealth since not only does he sneak away from his family so plant curses, but also because I want to balance him out because he has anemia, so strength isn't his best.
Curiosity gets the better of him. He goes to gate of the high school with an offering of radishes. Those are the easiest to plant, and quickest to grow. He desperately needs to talk to someone that knows science or medicine, but antibiotics is something he's willing to trade for. The hospitals have been ransacked, so this is the only option.
There he sees the "leader" nicknamed as "Pretty Boy", but he introduces himself as Aoi (idk just a name I made up for him). The guy seems awfully humble, but all it does is make Souichi tense. Like, there's some strange cultish shit going on and he is scared yet also interested.
For the sake of messed up shit, I want Aoi to be a part of some dark brutal stuff. Imagine if he convinced everyone in the highschool to be cannibals or something else fucked up and they were easily persuaded (kinda) into doing that because of his pretty privilege. He's just looking out for them, guys!
Aoi gets punched in the face, then when his team is half killed, half raided, he joins our main cast. He didn't care about the ones back at the school anyway. Again, I don't want to spoil much just in case I do end up writing this.
As Chizumi is knocking the consciousness out of those other people, Souichi explores through the science labs and takes whatever first aid stuff he can find. It's one step closer to getting cured. Still to this point, he keeps his infection under secrets.
Another scene I want, is them quietly walking through some woods in the middle of nowhere due to just bad luck and miscalculation of time. As they walk, they see a spark of light in the distance. There's the scent of food cooking, and then a campfire comes into view.
It wasn't food that was being cooked. It was human. Some messed up freaks other than Aoi. After some fighting with weapons, Tomie gets stabbed in the midst of it. It's a very deep wound, but Chizumi makes sure they don't leave her. She orders Souichi to drag Tomie somewhere while she and Aoi "kill those bastards".
It's a whole crazy thing. She dies, of course. The last three camp out at the fire they took. Morning comes and Tomie is a zombie—
No, she's half dead?
Maybe I will write this. I don't wanna spoil it anymore, so I guess I'll sketch them out now
pfffff no i didn't… read this when u first posted it and then forgot to reblog when i got home. noooooooo shush.
listen man i may hate zombie apocalypses. junji ito is just too tempting. i'll also go thru the trouble to properly capitalize everything just for u.
I do think we get news that Fukazawa is sssort of close to Tokyo? I thought Michina and Yuusuke lived in Tokyo and they're mentioned (or shown) to be on a train to Fukazawa. Granted, Japan is a lot smaller than the US, but they've got a lot more trains than we do, so while it's probably not close (since it's so rural), I doubt it's half the country away. Tokyo (along with other tourist destinations, but, yk, Tokyo) would probably be a breeding ground for whatever plague you're thinking of, ESPECIALLY if it's asymptomatic at first. I don't think Fukazawa would be anyone's first place to go for an apocalypse, but at the same time I think it just depends on how you want to write it.
I don't think either route for Souichi is inherently bad, just because they've both got such potential! The idea of the Tsujiis being trapped in their house (with Kouichi and Shuji as the designated "errand boys" because they're guys) with Souichi, OR EVEN WITH THE GRANDFATHER?? Can you imagine?? They seemed to let Souichi continue on with keeping the grandfather around, but with the news of a zombie outbreak?? OUGH.
Now, as both ideas are so good… I do imagine that they could both happen :) I don't know how it would happen exactly, but, of course, Souichi would be the only survivor. It feels very Junji Ito to have Souichi survive and then revive his family as zombies only to then be attacked by them instead. However, it would also be very Junji Ito to have him survive to the next chapter. Maybe all the dark magic in his bloodline does something to repel the virus (which would have to be some "unexplainable cosmic whateverthefuck", because Junji Ito) and leads to him being immune? I also always like toying with the idea of someone who the zombies kinda… ignore? Like, they don't register as being "food" or "different" or whatever they'd have to register as to get the zombies to attack. Whether the Tsujiis die or whether Souichi runs off on his own (also very Junji Ito-like to conclude the chapter with maybe Misako saying "he'll come back", then cut to Sayuri as narrator (maybe overlooking one of Souichi's belongings) going "we're still waiting" or something like that) is entirely up to a coin flip, but either way, he needs to gtfo. For plot :D
I honestly think you'd have to consider how Fuchi affected Souichi before you can begin to have him consider what it means to kill a zombie. Like, to be clear, canonically… Souichi is either dead or horribly traumatized and disabled. Fuchi appears in one of Souichi's dreams (mostly as a callback for the reader), but she still does appear and proceeds to "trap" Souichi and "bring him back" to the house where he keeps his family locked up. Assumedly, Souichi is very much alive in this. This actually gives us a lot to work with. Maybe you can explain away his life with "because I said so". Because, you know. You said so. BUT. Consider this.
Souichi withdraws from his family after turning up out of the woods. He secludes himself to process what happens (bro is 11 and just got chomped). Stuff happens, apocalypse, Souichi gets infected--BOOM, some kind of reveal down the line that Fuchi's bite marks have been patched up with sealing talismans (done by himself) and with the zombie's curse, the muscle underneath has necrotized, but won't spread? Or maybe it's more of a constantly-open wound that can't get infected but can't heal either, giving the potential to just have Souichi smell like an open wound (drawing in zombies (even if they ignore him as a person), Chizumi, and perhaps even Miss Fuchi once more) or to have him literally smell like a rotting corpse (drawing in all the aforementionds).
As for killing the zombies… it would depend entirely on how Souichi views it. Imo, he'd probably find some sort of power in it. Like, he's spent a good five or six years (probably more towards the latter; I would have said six or seven years, but him being eighteen just feels wrong lmao) cooped up with this gaping or rotting wound, and now he finally gets to feel what it's like to be the one causing the injury? Souichi's the kind of messed up where, even if he DOES hate that feeling, he'll THINK he likes it at first. He'll kill more and more zombies, mistaking that pit in his gut for satisfaction rather than disgust. He enjoys scary movies, but he turns tail and flees when he finds actual danger. He's used to fake knives and splashes of pig's blood and cheap plastic "limbs". Whether the realness of it all makes him feel powerful in a way he hadn't before (because of karma) or makes him feel like he's in over his head is up to how he's being written. It would feel more authentically Junji Ito to have him find pride in killing the undead (especially if you contrasted him with someone like Kirie as narrator), but :shrug: we must play dolls.
Now, Chizumi… My first question is, of course, "where the HELL is her brother in all this???". My first response is "well, obviously, he saw the devil in the zombies and gave himself over", but consider instead that the zombies are less scientific and more theoretical or theological in nature. Maybe, since Souichi's grandma protected him using dark magic, Yuuma's connection to the devil offers him some kind of protection as well? Maybe not from the zombies (something something, masochist), but from the plague? Perhaps his apologies also work on the zombies, giving Chizumi a reason to stick around? I feel like you could get some interesting stuff if you kept Yuuma (who sees no one but the Devil) and had him interact with Tomie (who sees no one but herself).
Would the Devil counteract her curse with ease, since she's the same as the plague he himself wrought, giving her another companion who doesn't give a shit about her? Or would Tomie fight for Yuuma's attention just by virtue of existing, giving her what is basically the perfect victim? (His attention is always elsewhere, his entire life is spent in reverence, he ENJOYS being hurt, etc etc.) You could also come up with reasons as to why Yuuma's apologies don't work on the cast, but then you'd also have to kill anyone else who came into contact with him, lol.
Ultimately, I think it's actually best if the plague is maybe the Devil's way of "rewarding" Yuuma for his service, finally ending his life and "forgiving" him, maybe as some parallel to God? But, you know. There is more than one canon as long as we say so.
As for the rest of Chizumi, my next question is "HOW DOES SHE EAT??". I don't think she can actually stomach normal foods, and with Yuuma out of the question, I had to take a moment to consider this! Maybe, being a spawn of the Devil, she's also somehow immune to the zombies? I'm still picturing her as a child (Yuuma being a little older than Souichi), so it's not like she's actually capable of taking on a zombie on her own. But maybe she got an "upgrade" when Yuuma died (she eated HIS goopy brains) that allowed her to eat the undead, and she mistook Souichi for food? Lmao.
ur so real that souichi would never let it be known that he was overpowered. this mf would rather DIE than admit he wasn't the greatest.
Tomie… oh, my dear Tomie. How would TOMIE of all characters interact with a second plague? Maybe the plague was an artificial attempt to wipe HER out? Maybe each Tomie acts as some sort of beacon for zombies? Or maybe it was done as attempt to spread her even further, devouring her DNA and then rotting before it took hold so that it could culture itself off the corpse and seep into the surroundings rather than taking over a living person? She's remade herself out of blood in a carpet before.
Either way… yeah, no notes on Tomie's intro. Tomie locks herself up with a few men and forces them to fight for entertainment while the world burns around them, gets them to kill each other, then gets killed in turn by the survivor. Honestly, wouldn't even shock me if the final guy wasn't even a zombie, just so obsessed with Tomie and Souichi and Chizumi misunderstood the situation. Whether they realize that he's not infected at all is a different matter, but either way, you KNOW Tomie hates both of them right off the bat. A little devil girl and a freak with nails in his mouth, neither of which like her and really only came to the scream to see if there was food for Chizumi or a survivor to threaten? lmao.
I doubt Tomie will say it in so many blunt words, but I can totally see her being like "if we run into trouble, I'll just go to the nearest group of men and make them help me". Tomie is an inherently selfish creature, so she'd probably only tag along with Souichi and Chizumi if they worshipped her. However, since that's not happening, I imagine she's moreso going to tear herself apart trying to get Souichi (I imagine they're around the same "age", but I wouldn't be surprised if Tomie was actually an "adult" or took over the body of someone who would have been an adult by now, or perhaps she was just taken in by a group of predators despite being a teen) to fawn over her. Apocalypse? Zombies? Who gives a fuck? There's a man who's completely ignoring Tomie, and she doesn't have any goons to sicc on him, so she's just going to keep trying. (And probably playing "hard to get" to get Souichi to chase her, only to fail miserably).
I actually cracked open my copy of Lovesickness to find the name of the town, but the closest thing I found was something called "Nazumi Station". Of course, if I spent more than a minute skimming, I'm sure it's mentioned somewhere. I'm not going to do that right now.
There's no way you can include Pretty Boy without also including Ryuusuke, Midori, foggy streets, or fortune-telling. Considering your idea seems to be more leaning towards Pretty Boy as a human boy rather than a manifestation of a dead woman's hatred, there are some things that need to change. Maybe, once the zombies all set in, Pretty Boy, who was already pretty popular, started some cult shit with all the girls who liked him? You'd have to consider how Midori and Ryuusuke fit in with Pretty Boy as a living person, but I don't think you have to change around too many things. Pretty Boy and Midori are still cousins, but Pretty Boy was actually born before the suicide. Maybe they act more like siblings, since Pretty Boy's father didn't want him, so Midori's mom took him in?
There could be some tension between Pretty Boy and Ryuusuke, maybe somehow Pretty Boy found out about Ryuusuke "causing" his mom's death? Maybe he was there that day, or the mom told him about it? But it's, like, a secret. Eventually, with the apocalypse setting in, maybe everyone's so stressed that it comes out somehow (maybe Ryuusuke confides in Midori, maybe he comes clean to Pretty Boy, maybe Pretty Boy confronts him) and eventually everyone knows.
(the town can be foggy because. foggy. and maybe pretty boy has some low-level fortune telling abilities. so he can argue with souichi. this will also make the people trust him more, even if he only fortells bad things until ryuusuke unlocks his and starts telling good fortunes.)
As for how the next stuff happens, I do imagine that the cult vibes are STRONG with this one. I don't know when Souichi and co arrive, but I imagine it's probably around the time where Pretty Boy gets "overthrown", or something to that affect. I don't know what Souichi and co could really do aside from grab Pretty Boy and run, but I do like to consider that the breaking point is when Ryuusuke convinces everyone that they need to kill themselves to go to Heaven and escape the apocalypse, which… they do. Lol. Souichi and co probably get there just before then and are shockingly unperturbed until Ryuusuke. i dunno. runs in out of nowhere and hits pretty boy in the head with a bat? lmao. silent hill f reference.
Either way, ain't no girls making it out of whatever school they're at alive. Ryuusuke probably rallies some of the survivors and tries to help whoever's still alive (Midori is probably dead ngl), but at that point, Pretty Boy and them have most likely already left. I mean, Pretty Boy got what he wanted. Why would he stick around?
Also as a side note, I do actually think that the name Aoi would work for Pretty Boy if you contrast him heavily to Midori (at least in his supposed backstory in this world), since Midori means green and Aoi means blue. For a really long time, there was no distinction between the two colors in the Japanese language. I couldn't find the kanji used to spell Midori or Ryuusuke's names, but I think it's safe to assume that "Fukada Ryuusuke" could potentially be spelled as "rise of the blessed rice field" (or "dragon of the blessed rice field", as the "ryu" part can be spelled two different ways). Shibayama, however, can be spelled as "firewood". You could totally do something with this involving Aoi and Midori being basically inseparable until Aoi 'burns the firewood', leaving room for the 'rice field' to grow in with 'great fortune'. (Fukada can be split into "good fortune" and "rice field", which ends up sounding better to me as a native English speaker as "blessed rice field" rather than "fortunate", but whatever.)
I won't derail the rest of your post but GODDAMMIT I NEED TO KNOW HOW OSHIKIRI AND TSUKANO AND THE HIKIZURIS AND FUCHI ARE GETTING ON IN THIS WORLD??? especially tsukano. i have not written a THING about him. while writing this, i confused him with fucking ootsuka, who is not only a real life person (who is apparently in a similar vein of creation as ito and kazuo umezu) but also i think the name of the kid from the souichi stories?? the one that midori and madoka are obsessed over. the one that goes to the hospital. because souichi made him really sick or somethin. tsukano……….. i'll let you wreak havoc soon i promise…………………
Trust, I’ve been aching for your thoughts on this. Now before I say anything else, trust other characters will be dealt with and suffer. Fuchi and Yuuma are written in my notes to be huge characters later on. I had to literally hold myself back from rambling about it here and keep my post half-assed, which I’m glad I did because I got to see your input >:]
Also why did I think Fukazawa was a village far in the countryside for a whole year?! What’s wrong with me hello??? I’m glad this is how I find out before I’ve published the first chapter tho :p
Souichi’s family has GOT to die. Either all at once, or one by one (loving the last option here). It’s also such good practice to him for necromancy. I do need to write him disturbed and traumatized (and not knowing how to handle loss so he necromancies his family and ofc he’ll get karma)
I’ve also seen a video game about zombies not paying attention to a character! The Walking Dead B]
I want him registered as one of them by the zombies, but not to the humans. They don’t know, and he doesn’t know himself until later. I need people to keep him tied to a dingy chair and try to use his blood as some sort of antidote or immunity thing, OR get scared and try to kill him off since he’s “turning right in front of them”. Hell, I want him to be bit and not even know it, or be in denial!
“No, that’s probably from broken glass” to “I don’t wanna die” real goddamn quick.
He’s already got it hard enough being disabled during this outbreak, but at least there’s this weird girl watching over him. No, she doesn’t scare him— what are you talking about? Chizumi knows he’s bitten since day one. She … knows it … all.
Speaking of her! You just know she left home just to eat. Should her brother be declared dead-dead, or undead by her ughhh. He’s definitely being victim to her hunger though. I don’t want him to be dead since the beginning (before she found Souichi), so I’m gonna keep him for longer so he can have his terror happen too.
Tomie is also good for Chizumi since she brings in fresh meat.
“Hey where did that one guy go?”
“Idk lol”
Meanwhile she’s sucking on her teeth and her breath smells like.. copper.
Also, Souichi needs to have a panic attack because he acknowledged that he’s the weakest of them.
Tomie is by far the one with the most planning. You bet that she’s got several of her. I want to draw the uncanny valley horror of when the Souichi & Co sees another version of her, standing in the distance, bloodied, and staring right at them. That’s before she(it???) starts bolting at them.
I want the clones (previous Tomie’s) to be zombies. A new Tomie is clean, from new cells, and beautiful! The previous Tomie becomes bloody thirsty, and is incredibly fast, ready to eat.
This is also going to have some inspiration off of 28 Years Later.
t’s an AMAZING movie!
Aoi time! The reason why Souichi gets a terrible gut feeling with him is because that gut is so right lol. Aoi can’t be human. Ever.. He’s going to be a cosmic disguising itself as human. This isn’t spoilers since it’s pretty much a given.
What’s worse is that Aoi doesn’t do it to eat. No, he’s something else. Something that kills just for killing.
My dinner is gonna get cold so I have to go like right now, but thank you so much for your talk!! I so appreciate it since I know your writing is crazy amazing (duh I’m like ur biggest fan???)
I'm a huge sucker for zombie apocalypse AUs even though I am PETRIFIED of zombies. This idea has been in my head for a while now, so it's about time I write it out.
For the sake of this AU, and how outbreaks cause heartbreak because of family members dying, I have thought of multiple routes for this with Chizumi's and Souichi's family.
I also want it to be High school!Junji Ito, because zombie outbreaks and teens mix pretty well.
First Route:
The Tsujii family stays safe. Since Fukazawa was a small country side of Japan, the virus is unlikely to reach it. Everyone knows that the risk of living the village is too risky. Either they die trying to get more resources, or they come back and carry the virus inside to the village.
Since it's a small area, they most definitely have their own crops and markets. Of course they will still be on edge and rarely leave their homes, but they generally are safer there.
Second Route:
The Tsujii family does their best to stay alive, but ultimately become victims to zombies. Small village means that zombies have smaller grounds to roam on and can really be around any corner.
By the power invested in his grandmother, Souichi was able to survive.
I'm intrigued with the ideas I have in mind for the black magic interference. Either he gets bitten and carries the virus, but doesn't completely turn, or the ghost of his grandmother curses the undead Tsujiis into their final round of death just before they get to Souichi. That would encourage him to gather a few, very vital things, and book it.
I think the virus flowing within Souichi's blood would be super cool. It's being held off as much as possible by his grandmother's powers combined with his own. Think of some sort of magic seal that Sachie placed very quickly and is therefore weak. Souichi would have to keep on fixing it. If the seal is strong, then I think that his body would still have risk considering that it is black magic.
No matter what, Souichi leaves Fukazawa behind, but in the First Route, I think he would have a huge argument with his family that made him depart. Would he regret it? Of goddamn course.
He's young, cursedly infected (quite literally), and alone. His main defense is some rustic pocket knife that belonged to his grandfather, and the limited amount of nails he has.
The trains are down and unused, so he'd have to follow along the tracks to get into the city. He's too for gone now, so it's better trying to find any cure by some scientists rather than letting the infection and cursed seal get him. The chances are low, but the stakes are high. Plus, he doesn't want to seem like some baby to his family. Going back empty handed means shame, and Souichi isn't the type to let his ego get crushed.
He doesn't reach the nearest city by a long shot, but there's another village/town.
It's a good thing his nails are silent enough when being shot out of his mouth. However, he still has the spare them as much as he can. There's still some bits of food left in his satchel, so Souichi heads over to a hardware store first.
There's blood inside, of course, but few zombies. This is where he first ever trains his hearing and reflexes. Since he wants to save his nails from now on, he'll have to use his knife.
Stealth is also something he practices in this part. I want it to play out the The Last of Us/a video game, because I think that's pretty gnarly. If this were to be a console game, you'd have to keep the controller very still, look at the ground to not step an anything, and look at your surroundings.
Souichi pulls off his first zombie kill and it's very traumatizing. As much as he wants to think of himself as some sort of cool, badass guy— he's still a teenager, alone, and in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.
He ransacks the place. there's some pocket knives, which he takes, but still keeps his grandfather's.
The sun goes down, so it's far too risky to leave the hardware store. Instead, Souichi camps out in there in a secluded room that he knows there will be no one or any zombies creeping in.
Chizumi is the first of the main three that he meets. Souichi is caught completely off guard by here. One minute he's walking through a mostly empty small forest, and the next second, someone drops down from the tree behind him, and knocks him to the ground.
Souichi nearly thinks it's the end until his virus kicks in and makes his kick slightly stronger than usual. At that moment, he's confused, and wonders if it works like some sort of fight-or-flight mechanic. As the mysterious bloody person comes running at him, he can only crawl backwards. Getting up would make him dizzy and far weaker, so it's best to try and fight this zombie off—
Is that a person???
After some awkward conversation (that I want to write out but I'd be spoiling it if I were to actually make a fic out of this), they exchange names. Chizumi wonders why he's all alone, and he wonders the same. They don't say anything and it's some awkward silence before Souichi starts to walk off.
Chizumi catches up to him and gives a proposal. They stick together if he gives her some food he may have in his satchel, and she protects him.
Why would someone strong like her not get her own food? Souichi is skeptical, but has no other chances of survival. He was easily overpowered by her (though he won't say it out loud), so he accepts.
Despite the attempts of conversation, and constant talking anyway, they both don't reveal anything about themselves. No private life shared at all. It makes Chizumi even more eerie than how she already is, but Souichi isn't willing to share any information either.
As they walk to the end of the woods, he wonders what his family back home is doing.
Tomie is found by Chizumi when she hears a high pitched scream. She runs to the apartment complex entrance and bashes the head of the zombie trying to bite her.
Souichi had no other choice than to follow. At first, he gets angry at Chizumi for running off, but his face calms into a slight tense when he sees the new person.
After some things in between, Tomie introduces herself and explains how her that zombie was her recently turned ex-boyfriend who tried breaking into her apartment. She had ran out of food, so she needed to get something. however, before she could reach the lobby, he had been there waiting for her, and bitten. The last thing he did while alive was try to reach her for "teach her a lesson for breaking up with him".
The three of them agree to a truce under some conditions yet again. Tomie tells them everything she knows about the city. Trains, stores, exits, and she can stay with them for protection while she leads them to get food.
They end up all staying together even after they get food. It's unspoken, but they know why they're sticking with each other.
They all benefit from the other, so their chances of survival are better together.
Chizumi is only a short range when killing zombies, but she's the best out of the three of them for protection.
Souichi knows about agriculture, and can injure from a longer range.
Tomie knows the ins and outs of multiple cities. She can also seduce whatever group comes near them for help (her words, not theirs, but they both agreed to the chances of that working).
They move to different places, but stay longer in one city. It's big, and has lots of places to explore. There's a high school, and it looks like it's a hide out of people already in there. Tomie had warned them about raiders, and people that kill just about anyone and anything, so they don't risk it with that school.
It's finally Souichi's time to shine again. I want to develop him using weapons with silence and range like a bow and arrow. He's all about stealth and aiming. This is inspired off of his nails, and I decided to give him stealth since not only does he sneak away from his family so plant curses, but also because I want to balance him out because he has anemia, so strength isn't his best.
Curiosity gets the better of him. He goes to gate of the high school with an offering of radishes. Those are the easiest to plant, and quickest to grow. He desperately needs to talk to someone that knows science or medicine, but antibiotics is something he's willing to trade for. The hospitals have been ransacked, so this is the only option.
There he sees the "leader" nicknamed as "Pretty Boy", but he introduces himself as Aoi (idk just a name I made up for him). The guy seems awfully humble, but all it does is make Souichi tense. Like, there's some strange cultish shit going on and he is scared yet also interested.
For the sake of messed up shit, I want Aoi to be a part of some dark brutal stuff. Imagine if he convinced everyone in the highschool to be cannibals or something else fucked up and they were easily persuaded (kinda) into doing that because of his pretty privilege. He's just looking out for them, guys!
Aoi gets punched in the face, then when his team is half killed, half raided, he joins our main cast. He didn't care about the ones back at the school anyway. Again, I don't want to spoil much just in case I do end up writing this.
As Chizumi is knocking the consciousness out of those other people, Souichi explores through the science labs and takes whatever first aid stuff he can find. It's one step closer to getting cured. Still to this point, he keeps his infection under secrets.
Another scene I want, is them quietly walking through some woods in the middle of nowhere due to just bad luck and miscalculation of time. As they walk, they see a spark of light in the distance. There's the scent of food cooking, and then a campfire comes into view.
It wasn't food that was being cooked. It was human. Some messed up freaks other than Aoi. After some fighting with weapons, Tomie gets stabbed in the midst of it. It's a very deep wound, but Chizumi makes sure they don't leave her. She orders Souichi to drag Tomie somewhere while she and Aoi "kill those bastards".
It's a whole crazy thing. She dies, of course. The last three camp out at the fire they took. Morning comes and Tomie is a zombie—
No, she's half dead?
Maybe I will write this. I don't wanna spoil it anymore, so I guess I'll sketch them out now
i didn't draw the planchette as a stylistic choice (i forgor)
inspired by @fizzynezs 's idea ("souichi using a ouija board to contact souji"), i grant this over-the-top piece. i'd explain all of the imagery used, but i kinda wanna save that for when i actually color it. i was gonna wait to publish it til then, but i've been struggling so much with the palette that i give up for now. i will say tho that the board references four souichi stories, remina, and black paradox. (sketches and such beneath the readmore)
in order these are the thumbnail sketch, the bigger sketch, the "i don't want to erase all my hard work on the lines, so i'll keep a copy of everything where it's all intact" group, a picture of krita, and then the total editing time (so far)
