Literature / Distortionverse

Distortionverse is an Italian ongoing series of short novels with Manga themes. The series is made up of five books (until now), whose titles show use of Gratuitous English (being enlisted as Distortionverse: Chapter [number], even if the books are in written only in Italian).

The novels are set in the same near future, spanning from 2038 to 2064. The timeline split up from the Real Life following a First Contact with aliens in the early 2000s, and - as a result - taking place in an Alternate History in which all electric energy is produced by distorting the spacetime.

The protagonists of the novels vary within each volume: only Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina and Chapter 4 - Il Canto del Buio share the same characters, though several cross-references can be found throughout the series. Later, Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo and Chapter 6 - Uptune! form a sidestory on its own.

Each book contains a Word of God section in which characters and situation are explained in details.

This pages list the tropes for the whole series, grouping all six books published so far:

• Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina
• Chapter 2 - Rosenmaester
• Chapter 3 - Luci dalla Cenere, which is divided into two shorter novels (Sabbie and Sharoine)
• Chapter 4 - Il Canto del Buio
• Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo
• Chapter 6 - Uptune!

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This series provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Michelle Dumas in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo. The same can't be said for the same character in Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina.
• Aerith and Bob: Werner, Michelle, François, Bertrand, Egon are all pretty common name... well, especially if compared with Veckert, Vortag, Silman, Emmelyn, Sapphire (and so on).
• Alliterative Name: Silman Simmerik, Bertrand Brillouin, Dkrav'lest Daevka.
• Badass Long Coat: Veckert Rainer wears one in most occasions. Ezequiel from Sabbie qualifies as well.
• Bittersweet Ending: almost every book of the series is a good example for this.
  • La Notte che Cammina: Veckert get her face restored, Michelle is not convicted for Jack the Ripper's homicides but Baal manages to escape, leaving in fact the case unsolved;
  • Rosenmaester: the Big Bad succeeds into wiping out the entire population of his city (approx. three million people) before being killed. This can be considered an utmost Downer Ending when we even discover that not only he survived, but actually became the main antagonist of the previous chapter!
  • Sabbie: sure, the truth is unveiled, Kreen can design his new robots, and everyone is happy... but Lyle reveals Wentzel Herzog that he is going to die due to heart attack in the following two years. To make matters worse, Wentzel has a two-years-old daughter to care about and her mother just left her to him;
  • Rumori di Fondo: the mission is accomplished, but in the end Akima dies, as well as Bertrand.
  • Uptune!: everything fine for the protagonists, but Orviandre is revealed to be the Big Bad, Raphaël and Gabriel die, and Michelle is revelaed not to be the same Michelle as in Rumori di Fondo. Ah, to make matters worse Baal looks even more active than before.
• Clothing Damage: suffered by Eliphya in several episode of her show. Also, Michelle qualifies in Chapter 6 - Uptune!
• Cool Mask: Veckert wears one to restore her disfigured face.
• Cryptic Background Reference:
  • the Tryadine Effect case which was solved by Veckert before the events told in Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina and resulted in the opening of the dome of St. Patrick SHIELD is never explained in details;
  • the bombardment of Moscow mentioned by Egon Kramers in Sabbie.
• Curbstomp Battle: EiN against every common person who dares insult him. See the first section of Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina as a reference.
• Dead for Real: several characters, including Egon Kramers and Wentzel Herzog in Sabbie, Bertrand Brillouin in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo, Nyu Lyonell in Chapter 4 - Il Canto del Buio, Raphaël, Gabriel, and the first Michelle in Chapter 6 - Uptune!. Ah, yes, and all the inhabitants of Northern Algol at the end of ''Chapter 2 - Rosenmaester.
• Death Is Cheap: averted, since when a character dies in Distortionverse, it's usually Dead for Real; there is one notable exception, though: Silman Simmerik - alias Baal the Mad. Anyway, it's not perfectly clear if Silman died and resurrected or simply recovered from his injuries.
• Did They or Didn't They?: in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo, after Michelle enters François's room in tears and the two of them embrace, he throws a die to decide if exploiting the situation or not (Michelle being his own Love Interest). The result of the die is not shown and the scene fades out, leaving the reader unaware if they actually had sex or not.
  François: She's embracing me tightly, pain is flowing free from her beautiful blue eyes. Oh my God, she's so frail right now, it would be so easy for me... I take the die, throw it, take it back before it falls.
  Ah, is this so? Is this the result?
  • in the sequel Chapter 6 - Uptune!, it is confirmed that they actually had it.

• Domed Hometown: St. Patrick SHIELD.
• Emotion Suppression:
  • Ezequiel fit this trope for the whole Sabbie. Then, in the end it's revealed that his lack of emotions is due to a bullet which remained stuck inside his brain;
  • Michelle Dumas in Chapter 5: Rumori di Fondo is described as not able to feel any sort of positive emotions.
• Even Girls Want her: Michelle Dumas and Veckert Rainer.
• Face-Heel Turn: François Orviandre in Chapter 6 - Uptune!.
• Fangirl: Jazele qualifies for this in Sharoine.
• Fanservice: lamented by Eliphya in Sharoine, since she had to play a five-minute-long-scene completely naked in her own series.
• Fountain of Youth: Lylie is turned into a kid instead of dying at the end of Sabbie, due to a overexposition to distortion projectors.
• Fun with Acronyms: ENiGMA - Enemy Interception Genetically Modified Airforce.
• Gratuitous French: each time Michelle Dumas speaks in Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina. Also, François Orviandre in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo qualifies for this.
• Gratuitous German: Vortag Schlieber's name for several reasons: Schlieber is not a German word whatsoever, while Vortag translates as Eve in English. And, no, it's not Played for Laughs. Also, the name Rosenmaester, though looking German-like, is just a combination of Rosen (rose) and Maester (???) which is a Final Fantasy X-version of Meister.
• Guardian Entity: the Walking Night to Baal, during his fight against EiN.
• Heroic BSoD: Michelle has a couple of them in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo.
• Love Dodecahedron: in such extent that Chapter 6 - Uptune! could be confused with a Soap Opera.
• My Parents Are Dead: Veckert's reaction when Kari talks about her difficult relationship with her mother.
• Nursery Rhyme: the walking night rhyme in Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina:
  When there is no more sunlight,
  You can see Her with your eyes.
  Can deny it, yes, you might...
  But She's still the Walking Night!

  When the clock is striking twelve,
  The dead ones exhume themselves,
  Then revive, and pace, and thrive,
  While the Moon's high in the sky!

  Wind is twisting leaves and grass,
  Can thou hear their scream, their voice?
  It sounds like the judgement brass!
  Come back home, you have no choice!
  [rough translation from the Italian original one]
• One-Winged Angel:
  • Bertrand Brillouin in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo. He turns into a three-metres-tall monster with six eyes, six bladed arms, chainsaw teeth, and spike-harpoons-spawning shoulders.
  • François Orviandre in Chapter 6 - Uptune!; Ylena qualifies also for this trope.
• Opposites Attract: EiN and Michelle.
• Robo Speak: VORS Blame: each line of speech starts with a ">" command line symbol.
• Robot Girl: multiple examples:
  • Cybil Vane in Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina;
  • each one of ONE's "clones" in Chapter 2 - Rosenmaester;
  • to a further extent, Akima qualifies for this in ''Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo.
  • and also Ylena, being basically a clone of the former.
• Samus Is a Girl: Veckert Rainer.
• Sawed-Off Shotgun: Ezequiel's weapon.
• Sequel Hook: the last section of Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo. Also, the ending of Chapter 2 - Rosenmaester which is the connection between this novel and the previous one. This actually makes sense, since Chapter 1 - La Notte che Cammina is set one year later than Rosenmaester.
• Serial Killer: Rosenmaester.
• Ship Sinking: In-Universe example: in Sharoine, though most female fans of the fictional Show Within the Show la principessa dei petali di luce ship Eliphya with her antagonist Count Sebastien, she explicitely states that she hates him. And, yes, he's exactly the one who completely destroyed her clothes by means of animated thorns in a special episode of her series.
• Shout-Out: it happens different times throughout the series:
  • In Sabbie, RealLifeAnime boss compares his upcoming show to both Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon;
  • In Sharoine, Eliphya compares Count Sebastien to "a gay version of Tuxedo Kamen";
  • One of the chapter names of Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo is blatantly called ''You can (not) retreat'';
  • Wentzel, Kramers, and Brillouin are a reference to an approximation method used in quantum mechanics;
  • Rosenmaester, the Big Bad of Chapter 2 is an outmost shout out both to Light Yagami and Adrian Veidt;
  • Werner Kroemer calls Veckert "Lady Oscar" on several occasions.
• Show Within a Show: La principessa dei petali di luce, Renaissance, Bloodsuckerz Slayers, Sexy Guardians! Neko girls. All produced by the MegaCorp RealLifeAnime.
• Something about a Rose: Count Sebastien in Sharoine. Averted in Chapter 2 - Rosenmaester, since the eponymous character pseudonym is given by the mass media. Actually, his killer blood-sucking flowers are chrysanthemums, not roses.
• Stalker with a Crush: Theia Aropoulus for Michelle in Chapter 6 - Uptune!. EiN does not take this well.
• Sunglasses at Night: Vortag Schlieber insanely loves his Triangle Shades and almost always wear them. Dkrav'lest Daevka also qualifies for this.
• Talking Is a Free Action: averted in Chapter 5 - Rumori di Fondo. When the Big Bad kills Akima, Michelle starts speaking with her, completely neglecting the Eldritch Abomination which is going to devour her as well. When Michelle exits her Heroic BSoD, she realizes she's still alive only thanks to François's intervention. Obviously, François yells at her in anger:
  François: Welcome back, miss. If you haven't realized it yet, we are in serious troubles. Now, what do you think about stopping crying for the dead ones and helping the living ones? Perhaps, they need it the most, don't they?

• The Don: Chad d'Orsale, alias don Chaddo.
• Third Eye: both Lylie Xeraphim and her son Hojeno qualify for this in Sabbie.
• Transformation Sequence: all members of the ESPDeC while going in the uptuned status. EiN qualifies also for this trope.
• Weapon of Mass Destruction: Rosenmaester's blood-sucking flowers, if handled correctly.
• White Mask of Doom: Baal take this trope up to eleven.
• Zombie Apocalypse: The Haemophage invasion in Bloodsuckerz Slayers.

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