I'm a long-time Matsumoto fan, but my taste for anything Japanese runs almost exclusively to 70s/80's manga and anime (and a few SF novels...) overlapping a little into the 60s and 90s - and anything related to my favourites re-done or added to in later decades. This tends to mean I have to read/view the entire kit and kaboodle in Japanese (or occasionally French!) because no-one really bothers with the old stuff - which does make finding like minded souls difficult!

For the jaded - I don't write sappy romance, gratuitous porn, crossovers between works by different authors, or slash. So what do I write? Well, if you're just after saucy bits and get bored with actual plot, I'm not your go-to author. I write what I like to read - science fantasy/fiction style adventure, more character than plot driven. Which probably means my readers are in single figures since guys run at the faintest whiff of touchy-feely and most of the girls are apparently only here to read about two guys snogging...

I freely admit to being now on the wrong side of 50, so I suspect the teenage readers will also be looking elsewhere!

Yes, I do have cats - why do you ask?!

Disclaimer: All works here are transformative, based on the characters, manga (and the derivative anime thereof) of Leiji Matsumoto, used without permission of the author but not for profit. Fair-use is assumed to apply. Although many characters, scenarios and ideas are inspired by these works, the actual stories presented here are the property of the author and should not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

And yes, technically most of these are "crossovers" since I have expanded my brief to most of the Leijiverse, in print and on screen - but there aren't enough categories to cover that breadth, and there isn't a generic "Leijiverse" one! My preferred archive is actually the one I keep on AO3, which allows me to be a bit more upfront about which properties I'm plundering!

A few ideas and characters were inspired by fellow ficcer Pollywantsa, and are (mis)used with the permission (or at least amusement!) of the author, to whom I am eternally grateful for inspiration, enthusiasm and support. She's also one hell of a writer, so what are you people doing on my page?!

The Harlock stories fall into two main categories (excluding "By any other means"!):

1. Sequels to the 2013 CGI film, all in the same continuity, drawn from the film (Japanese cut!), its novelisation, the original storyboarded ending for said film, and a massive helping of plots, characters and anything else that feels right from all over the Harlock/GE999 'verse, both written and animated. Seriously - pick a plot point, character, scenario... most of the time I've just seen it/read it in another Matsumoto work and cackled all the way to the word-processor. (Well... it works for the man himself [1]!! As anyone who's seen the new manga can testify, about the only thing not showing up so far is the Danguard Ace robot...! OTOH that didn't even make it's way into the eponymous manga until the last page...!)

I was also fortunate enough to get a copy of some brief footage from the original ending to the 2013 film and to have my paws on the storyboard, and all I can say is you'd likely have loved seeing Yama in the cloak! So how could I resist writing for him?

2. Prequels to the CGI film in the same continuity as the above, detailing one possible version of how our hero managed to screw up so badly...

There is also the possibility of a few one-shots from other canonical sources soon... I do have a soft spot for Gun Frontier, after all...!

My non-fanfic work can be found on fanfic net's sister site fictionpress, under Helen1969, if anyone has a yearning for Celtic/Norse/Arthurian "fanfic"!

NB: "Reviews" that are just anonymous requests to "adopt" story ideas will be purged without exception. Please don't leave them: the review system is there for people to leave (hopefully!) intelligent comments and/or constructive criticism on the work in question. Thank you.

The State of the Author, September 2020

Work in Progress: "Pavor Nocturnus" - set a couple of years after "Black Corsair", so for my handful of readers, be assured the story is continuing! This one's inspired by Episode 30 of Galaxy Express 999 - "Yurei Sekai Filament"... Watch this space!

No... I haven't forgotten the prequels... Harlock and Tochiro will return, in "Firestorm". Probably in the new year.

Gambit: I have to be in the mood to write for this bunch of nutters - but it will be finished!

Coda: This was always planned as an occasional collection of vignettes, rather than a coherent narrative, so updates will be sporadic...