Theme: Novels/Short Stories
01.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
02.
Last Night I Sang to the Monster
03.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
04.
The Count of Monte Cristo
05.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
06.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
07.
The Blank Book
08.
Paper Towns
09.
I Am a Cat
10.
East of Eden
Brainstorming:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick: "You have to be with other people, he thought. In order to live at all. I mean before they came here I could stand it ... But now it has changed. You can't go back, he thought. You can't go from people to nonpeople." Madara, before and after meeting Natsume.
Last Night I Sang to the Monster - Benjamin Alire Sáenz: “The heart can get really cold if all you’ve known is winter.” Something related to Madara telling Natsume that a weak heart invites youkai.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams: "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" Nishimura + Natsume. Natsume tries to have a normal study trip with his friends this time.
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas: "Moral wounds have this peculiarity - they may be hidden, but they never close; always painful, always ready to bleed when touched, they remain fresh and open in the heart." Tanuma slips up and calls Natsume a liar during an argument.
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde: "When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance." I have yet to post anything for it yet, but I have been planning a story called The Greatest Deceit. Betrayal, love, and reincarnation are the working themes for it so far.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving: Natori as Crane, Natsume as Katrina, and Tanuma as Brom. Because the idea of Tanuma frightening Natori away by having a legend come to life would be most amusing.
The Blank Book - Lemony Snicket: "Oftentimes, when people are miserable, they will want to make other people miserable, too. But it never helps." Matoba seeks to make Natori's life a living hell.
Paper Towns - John Green: "When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that, we were just looking ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out." Natsume and Tanuma have a heart-to-heart. About the future, about feelings (awkward!), about ayakashi, about the past, and about the here and now.
I Am a Cat - Soseki Natsume: Madara recounts a story from long, long ago. Parallels to the future.
East of Eden - John Steinbeck: "I know that sometimes a lie is used in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow, eating agony of a lie is never lost." With Matoba forcing his hand, Natsume is running out of time to tell the Fujiwaras about his ability to see ayakashi. Natori hears him out.