Welcome to the Yumenosaki Kingdom, we’ve awaited your arrival. The fragments are slowly coming back to their places - soon, we’ll be able to start looking for the truth.May you enjoy your stay. Do not let yourself get lost.Author: Yuanith (@enczelada on Twitter)
SoM is a short term of "Song of Marionette".
While I mostly refer to the main work like this (aka The Beautiful Song for a Marionette), SoM technically is the entire series, as in the future I also plan on releasing an additional side story (or two, we'll see), together with explanations and scenes that weren't used in the main story.Before you'll get into your journey, I've prepared a small FAQ section where you can check if this story is safe for you (because SoM, the main work, has some CW/TWs).
Should you have more questions, feel free to use Curious Cat - you can find a link in the Contact page down below.
Stories
A Beautiful Song
The main story, focusing on Mika and Tomoya on their journeys.
Library Records
The explanation of Routes, Branches, and Decisions, a two-part document - will be released as a Visual Novel for explanations and a fic on ao3 with missed scenes. available after finishing main story
Additional
What to know Before Reading?
Q: Please tell me more about CW/TWs and how do you tag them.
A: The main warnings are in the tags: these are Violence and Major Character Death. I also used the tags of Psychological Horror (character's state of mind and their fights are important and can get on the horror side), Blood and Violence + my personal "All Aboard Angst and Madness with Dose of Fluff Train" - Madness and Angst are a big part of the story. Pay in mind those are the main warnings, so there are descriptions of people slowly succumbing into madness, losing their will to live, murders, the feeling of hopelessness. Not explicit, but those are a thing, unlike the second type of TW/CW (down below).
For now, I cannot give you the "type of ending" warning - this will happen after we'll reach the final chapter. Should it be bittersweet or simply bad, I'll probably give a tag as well.Other tags are being added in Author's Note for the Chapter those apply to, doing my best you won't get caught out of anywhere.
As of December 10th 2020, some of these include: suicide, hallucinations, implied possibility of death by hanging, alcohol.
IMPORTANT: Remember that this work is rated as Mature and I avoid explicit (sometimes even any) descriptions of these types of warnings: in most cases, it's either implied, suggested that this would happen or I simply just tell "this happened". Should it happen otherwise, I will point it out in the notes.
Q: How long it usually takes for an update?
A: It depends on my life, will to do stuff and love for my country to be fair... The most typical time window is a month. Sometimes I have more than one chapter after it, which allows me for faster update. Sometimes though I hit important scenes or fragments, in which case it took even up to three months.
There are also February and June/July when my finals come in, which can mess my schedule a lot. Rest assured I don't plan on dropping SoM, so if I take time, it simply means my life is being stupid.
Q: I want to try SoM, but I'm still unsure about something. Is it okay for me to ask you personally about it?
A: Please do, I can give you personalized warnings! I can even go ahead and check the entire story, though this can result in small spoilers. My CC and (if you're really desperate to keep it private) DMs on Twitter are open.
Q: There is a pairing hiding in Fragments but I didn't start SoM or I don't feel good to go with the entire story for now. Can I read it anyway?
A: You know what? If you think this might interest you in the entire story or you're just in need of your pairings, feel free to do so. Fragments are somewhat good standalone, minus the fact they do spoil some actions and might require knowledge to notice some patterns or foreshadowing. But do your bubu, I'm the type who sometimes likes to spoil myself before getting into a bigger story.
Currently, we have Fragments for ShuMika (chapters 21-23), NatsuMugi (Chapters 33-35) and ChiaKana (chapters 43-47) and RitsuKasa (chapters 50-53). Tomoya's Fragments (Chapter 26) also have some subtle hints for WataTomo.
Q: There's a note you'll add more relationship/the relationship tag you've added feels misleading as the pair have maybe one or two chapters, is that a bait?
A: Me adding a certain relationship means it either has a great impact on characters, they have at least a fragment focused on them. Yes, there's not much kissing or hitting on each other, etc., please be aware of it. If you see your pairing, it means they have at least a full chapter with their relationship worked with or they are working together during the story (and it means I'm going to hit them with my lovely train of madness, you're welcome).
ShuMika and WataTomo are different since those are the main ships of SoM and can happen on different routes.
Q: Does SoM has softer moments or is it dark all the time?
A: Act 1 is the least angsty part of SoM. Later on, I move between drama and happiness, but pay in mind a lot depends on the choices you as the Audience make. From my part, I assure you I try to equalize both... But sometimes the situation is really shitty and I can't just add humor for the sake of it. The mood is the most important element of the story.
Q: Can you finally stop harassing us, the characters, and the Beta-Reader?
A: N e v e r. Fight me >:3
Q: How far is it currently in terms of plot?
A: As of November 25th, most of the story is ready, after Ritsu's fragments we're entering part 2 of Act 3. Hopefully I can finish the story in 2023.
Q: How many Routes and Branches SoM has?
Three Routes and Three Branches.
The missed routes/branches will be available to check in Library Records.
Q: Does SoM has any bad endings?
A: Short answer: Yes.
A little bit longer answer: I'd say "depends who are we talking about", but there's always a winner.
Q: Are there any Art-related bonuses or Extras?
A: Yup. Music, Art, memes, whatever I'll make will be available. Check Art and Extra for more content.
Yes, while I'm not the artist of the Year, I do draw a little bit, so whenever I feel couraged, I create works specifically for SoM, both serious and memes.
IMPORTANT: All outfits are prepared by my lovely Beta-Reader (Twitter: @makachii32), who I love for her hard work and all the memes which we created during over three years of this project.
Click on the selected picture to see it full size. Works are also available to see on my Twitter (@enczelada) and I post WIPs whenever I'm making anything new.
Illustrations
Acts
Main illustrations depicting overall Acts mood and main characters.
Act 1: Finished
Act 2: Finished
Act 3: ???
Scenes
soon.
Other
Other illustrations I've made.
Fanworks
Illustrations made by other people. Unlike the rest, clicking on miniatures will send you to the original artist, so you can give them all the love they deserve!
Character Projects
Collection of character sheets. Unless stated otherwise, projects and lineworks are made by @makachii32, while I take care of coloring. And yes, some (coughcough Wataru) have more than one page.
Memes
Starting from "Thanks, I'll pass" up until "You're stupid, I like that in a man" - everything that's stupid when I have galaxy brain.
Extra:
Currently in making: 26 Endings, Route Explanation, Additional Scenes, Fun Facts from the early development etc. (will be released after finish the main story)
Music Collection:
What are characters without their fight themes? Yes, this is a big thing, because of so many "what if SoM was an RPG game" jokes lol. In this document, you will find the collection for:
Battle Themes,
Character Themes,
Short comments about the selections,
Selected scenes ost which boosts the imagination.
All characters are in chronological order. Pay in mind that not all songs are spoiler-free - I've hidden them with a short comment which chapter is required so you won't spoil yourself. Some of them are also 'blocked' - that means we haven't reached the chapter yet.