#you just won't know as much about the narrator lol but it doesn't really matter since he's not exactly the main character

[humblefryingpan]

The "Amy likes spiders" poem in doki doki literature club (Natsuki's second poem) just makes me think of being closeted with internalized homophobia and I think it works really well for her

There's the poem if you haven't seen it!

(This is just me analyzing the poem and it's probably my longest post yet. I've been overanalyzing all the poems but this is the only one I've typed out atm lol)

It specifically makes me think of four things - Yuri liking different things and her disliking her for it, Natsuki being so far in the closet that she'll take any excuse to avoid the pretty girl™, Natsuki's self projection onto "Amy" and most importantly internalized homophobia, like I said earlier

It generally makes me think natsuri but I'll get to that later. So if we go from the internalized homophobia + closeted perspective (more like raised homophobic and doesn't know she's gay but ykwim), it reads as "a girl I know is a lesbian and Im meant to hate her for it. She's pretty and she makes me feel things but I can't be friends with her because she's a lesbian"

'The narrator' (Natsuki) heard a rumor that a girl, "Amy" (the lesbian), apparently likes 'spiders' (girls) and is repulsed. And that's why she isn't friends with her.

"Amy" sings the narrator's favorite love song, her voice is cute and it's making her heart pound. But she still likes 'spiders', so she can't be her friend.

She hurts her leg and "Amy" helped her get to the nurse. She tried to avoid touching her because her hands might be gross due to touching 'spiders', so she still can't be her friend.

"Amy" is very popular, but "she probably talks about spiders" (being gay). "What if her friends start to like spiders too?" (This entire verse rlly speaks for itself)

The next verse is shortest and even more repetitive than the rest of the poem (to emphasize her point) "it doesn't matter if she has other hobbies, it doesn't matter is she keeps it private, it doesn't matter if it doesn't hurt anyone" because to the narrator - she can't be "Amy's" friend, no matter how bad she wants to, because she's always going to be a 'spider lover' (lesbian) and she won't be able to ignore that.

And then the final nail to seal shut the door to the closet - "it's gross, she's gross, the world is better off without spider lovers. And I'm gonna tell everyone" because she needs everyone to know she hates 'spider lovers' to make sure no one knows she is also one. It's so gross because she was taught it was and now she can't stop thinking it's gross, no matter how nice/pretty/kind "Amy" is.

Onto the natsuri part so if you don't like that ship feel free to skip the rest of this (if you're still here lol)

Yuri and Natsuki like such different things (creepy and complex vs cute and simple) and they reach the point where they've argued so much that Natsuki doesn't want to admit she doesn't dislike Yuri. Even if she likes her poems, she'd never tell her because she feels like she can't at this point.

Natsuki couldn't see past their differences for a while, when she finally does, she's too embarrassed to apologize and too uncomfortable to befriend her without apologizing.

Nearly every verse of the poem will talk about how great the girl is. How she has a cute voice, she helped her, she has lots of friends, she makes her heart pound. But every verse she will still come back to "but she likes spiders. That's why I'm not friends with her". It feels like her gradually warming up to Yuri but still reminding herself that she can't be her friend, they're too different, Yuri likes creepy things (Yuri probably does like spiders so that's a bit more literal but it's also that spiders seem to symbolise everything she likes that Natsuki doesn't) and she couldn't be friends with someone so different.

And lastly, Natsuki's self projection (this is what the meaning is said to be in-game), meaning "Amy" is Natsuki herself. Natsuki likes manga and her friends won't believe it counts as literature. Her manga is the spider in this interpretation, she doesn't want people to judge her based on what she likes. She's had to be so defensive about what she likes, she may even judge herself for liking it at this point. She doesn't want people to judge people by their interests.

I keep seeing people say that Amy is a real person but that's one of the only interpretations that makes no sense to me. Because Natsuki may be a bit judgemental but even she wouldn't make an entire poem about disliking her classmate's love of spiders. She said herself that anyone that agrees with the narrator in the poem is a bad person. It's far more likely that "Amy" is a made up idea, she's barely even shown as a person. She's seemingly meant to be symbolic of Natsuki's flaws and insecurities, whatever you perceive those insecurities to be.

Portraying Amy as an actual person kinda cheapens the poem, at least in my opinion, because she was talking about how people should be given a chance no matter what (or who) they like and if Amy was a person it wouldn't make sense

[obstinaterixatrix]

Do u know any good mob psycho 100 fanfics?? Or authors??

well obviously my sister but I’m guessing you’re the same anon so 1) you already know her fics 2) you want different recs from what’s on her list (some of them being fics I rec’d to her lol). recs will skew heavily seri/rei and I’m just going through my bookmarks so it’s gonna be most recently read to oldest read. also seconding sister’s recs of bobmoss and crookedturtle. but I’ll add a fic from each anyway because I already wrote something for one while I was drafting this (oops)

Recollection by CowardlyBean

This is the journal of missing 31 year old Reigen Arataka, distributed with permission from friends and family. The version presented in this document has been kindly edited with added commentary by a loyal customer of his. -Editor’s Note

gen, experimental and in progress at 14k so definitely deserves more love than it’s getting. inspired by house of leaves; as the summary says, it’s some rando writing annotations about reigen’s journal, but Something Weird Is Going On. the 4th chapter updated so I actually need to catch up. also, sister rec’d this fic to me

Like Acid Reflux, or Love by partingxshot

Dating Reigen is like dating a single dad—only with more children, weirder scruples, and an extreme ruthlessness vis-à-vis group takoyaki discounts. He's not hot enough for this.

OR: "Me, You and Steve" by Garfunkel and Oates but with fifteen million teenagers.

OR: Outsider POV exploring Reigen’s dedication to his gaggle of bizarre children through an ill-fated dating attempt.

OR: Serizawa gets bruxism.

gen(/pre-relationship seri/rei), oneshot, 7k. oc/reigen breakup lmao. extremely funny concept, extremely good execution

Dream Dial by Alakazamboni

For the better part of nine years, Arataka has proudly worked in customer service at a behemoth of a company. At least, that's what he remembers, but a strange illness and a mysterious caller keeps trying to convince him otherwise. It doesn't help that this caller has the power to distort reality.

seri/rei, in progress, 16k. great uncanny atmosphere, and also reigen is trapped in time prison as a miserable office worker. hasn’t been updated for a while but read it anyway, the stoping point is fine

What We Make by crookedturtle

Reigen and Tome are kidnapped from the Spirits and Such office to be used as leverage against Mob. They have two goals: to contact the outside world, and keep each other safe. In doing so they engage in a dangerous game of lies and manipulation with their captors—a game with potentially deadly consequences.

gen (bg seri/rei), complete, 36k. Good for whump and high stakes interpersonal maneuvering & drama. I liked how the story extends beyond rescue and goes into how everyone navigates the fallout

Man's Best Friend by bobmoss

A cursed dog gets left at Spirits and Such. Anyone who pets it is doomed to die a horrible death.

Reigen, of course, pets it.

seri/rei, oneshot, 4k. funny and cute and sweet :) there’s a very charming tentative & tender vibe

heart line by ruthwrites

It doesn’t really matter, he reminds himself. He’s making a change, just like all of Reigen’s clients. What’s on his hands isn’t set in stone. He just has to make sure Reigen doesn’t see it— even if it might feel nice to have that steady attention, Reigen’s hands that are so much nicer than Serizawa’s folding around his.

(or: Reigen starts offering palm readings as a service, leading to Serizawa having to confront his feelings for his boss.)

seri/rei, oneshot, 6k. getting together fluff, a fun light read that also highlights serizawa’s insecurities—the internal narration has good character voice

If you won't believe me when I say it, believe me when I don't by deathdefied

Two years after Reigen invited Serizawa to work for him, he still can't quite categorize his feelings for his coworker. Instead of actually dealing with those feelings like an adult and talking to his friend, he decided to get really paranoid and overthink everything Serizawa does.

seri/rei, complete, 26k. reigen drives himself nuts lmao

Obvious by skeilig

Tome’s perspective on Reigen and Serizawa’s developing relationship.

gen (but about seri/rei), oneshot, 3k. I like outsider perspective getting together fics, especially when the perspective character is like ‘I’m actually not invested in this except when it affects me directly’

Cover Me by flecksofpoppy

Reigen’s shadow seems longer as the days move forward, more solitary. The cuts on his face heal and the ache in his bones go away, but a new sting replaces it. It’s loneliness, the thing he had managed to avoid ever since a primary school-aged kid who could make cups float stumbled into his office so many years ago.

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. getting together fic that shows off a little of reigen’s gloomier side, it’s cute

loved you just a little too much by shcherbatskayas

You learn how to let go.

(It doesn't come naturally.)

gen(ish), oneshot, 2k. 2nd person character study of serizawa’s relationship with touichiro, I liked the ambivalence; effectively captures development over time with a relatively short wordcount.

offering genuine help with genuine results by suitablyskippy

“The curse was pretty clear on me not telling lies,” concedes Reigen. “It was pretty clear on me telling the truth. But,” as he lifts one finger, already sliding into the same educational tone he generally uses for imparting wisdom to Mob about life and love and the overall holistic benefits of making sure he’s always available for unexpected overtime work on weekends, “telling the truth isn’t necessarily the same as being honest, is it?”

“You’re the professional liar,” says Dimple. “You tell me.”

(Being cursed to only tell the truth and being cursed with Dimple as an employee are pretty much equally bad, as far as Reigen's stress levels are concerned.)

gen, oneshot, 2k. the tags include friends with no benefits whatsoever, which is very apt. Very funny to have reigen and dimple be petty and shady

a slightly more miraculous miracle by suitablyskippy

“Rumour has it that something impossible’s happened. Something that could never have happened. That shouldn’t have been able to happen.” In a single slick move Mezato produces a tiny voice recorder from an inside pocket, flips it open and active, and holds it up before Mob’s mouth to ask him, in a tone of devastating intensity: “Do you know anything about… a miracle, Mob-kun?”

Mob doesn’t hesitate. “We had maths homework to hand in,” he says. “But now we don’t have to. We don’t even have to go to the lesson.”

(The sun is shining, the birds are singing, Salt Middle School has been closed by an unexplained miracle, and the only thing wrong in Spice City is the fact that nothing is even slightly wrong at all.)

teru/mob, incomplete, 55k. for the most part I haven’t been repeating authors on this list, but listen. listen to me. I need you to listen. it is extremely unlikely for this fic to ever be completed. but hark, lest this sad probability turn you away and leave you dispassionately scrolling to the next fic, I need you (you specifically) to know that if I were in the same room as you, I would be wrestling the phone/mouse/trackpad/touchscreen/etc from your hands and furiously clicking the link. when I bookmarked this fic in 2017 I described it as having “some breathtakingly sensical prose and the funniest misunderstandings I’ve ever read”. trust me from seven years ago. open your heart.

skylight by inexhaustible

unconnected snapshots in what might, in some worlds, be something a little like recovery.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. character study that nails the tension of an escalating romantic atmosphere.

come on, come on, come over (take it off your shoulder) by mortarsmayfall

Reigen's free hand cradles Serizawa's head, curled under his ear just so to turn it for a better angle. He feels his pulse pound under Reigen's fingers, shivers just the slightest bit. If Reigen notices, he doesn't say anything about it.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. when I first read this I saved it as a private bookmark because I was so embarrassed by the sheer intimacy of haircuts with severely unresolved sexual tension. I’m guessing this was written after studio bones gave us reigen cutting serizawa’s hair. crumbs no more; for once we had a feast to enjoy. short & sweet getting together fic

Off-White by reigreitz

Some habits are tells.

seri/rei, oneshot, 1k. snapshots of pre-relationship and established relationship scenes, I’m quite fond of it. on my first reading I’m pretty sure I remember not paying attention to the habit piece at all (even with it being right in the summary) so at the last scene I was hit by the double whammy of ‘oh so that was what serizawa was reacting to’ and ‘AW… THAT’S SWEET…’; I think the fic does a great job of hiding/not acknowledging certain things the perspective character knows and is reacting to, which makes it fun to reread and pinpoint what exactly serizawa’s previously more opaque train of thought was. like, it’s the same stuff, but you get to read into more nuance.

the seven stages of falling in love by reigen arataka by matsunoble

You suppose one of the weirdest times to realize you've fallen deeply and irrevocably in love is when it's fuck o'clock in the morning and you're blearily checking your fridge for leftover curry.

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. I was quite taken by the mundane (and sometimes unappealing) descriptions of love, and I like when serizawa has the upper hand

Mr. Psychic by beefstatic

Looks like trouble in Spice City...

seri/rei, oneshot, 4k. Serizawa Acts Like An Intimidating Bodyguard During Tense/Shady Situations. fun emphasis on that potential aspect of his character, I like how it’s done.

Late by hamlingo

For the first few days after hiring Serizawa, Reigen couldn’t help but be alarmed when the door opened at eight o’clock sharp in the mornings. He got used to it eventually, and in a month’s time he was more surprised when the door didn’t creak open right on time.

This was one of those mornings.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. this is actually among the first seri/rei fics I bookmarked so I can say with relative certainty that on may 20th 2017 I decided that maybe seri/rei was not just a joke of me indulging my own spurious unreasonable whims. fun character study and has that enjoyable tension of pleasant pre-relationship uncertainty.

Quiet Talks by krypkaktus

At some point, Reigen cutting his hair twice a month had turned into a mutual habit.

seri/rei, oneshot, 600 words. another charming snapshot of pre-relationship uncertainty, pleasantly embarrassing unresolved romantic tension.

walk in by ruthwrites

It was then he realized that the reason Reigen and Serizawa were standing so close was because they were kissing.

Mob was not really sure what to do with that information.

(or: mob leaves something at the office, comes back, and walks into something he wasn't supposed to)

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. an extremely popular fic for extremely valid reasons, this is a shining example of the outsider POV shipfic where the perspective character is like. I’m 14 and did not want to see you guys kissing. and the couple is like. we also did not want you to see us kissing, this is excruciatingly awkward.

tomorrow isn't always another day by suitablyskippy

It’s like Reigen’s been waiting for the question. He stops dead on the pavement, grips Mob by the shoulders, and stares down into his eyes with an expression as haunted as though every ghost the pair of them has ever exorcised has taken up residence behind it. “Mob,” he says. “Mob,” he says again. “Tell me, Mob. Look at me and tell me. Tell me truthfully. Do I look cursed to you?”

Mob looks at him, and tells him truthfully. “No.”

“Well, you didn’t look very long,” says Reigen. “Let’s just stand here for a moment, like so, and you can have another look, a nice long look, and really think about it...”

(There's nothing strange about being called back to exorcise the same haunted photocopier six days in a row. It must just be a very haunted photocopier.)

gen, oneshot, 18k. I didn’t mean to rec the same author three (3) times but this is also one of my top faves. extremely funny time prison where nobody is on the same page ever.

space voyage by Anonymous

Tome Kurata is slightly famous—or notorious, more like—for being... a weirdo, to put it simply. She's definitely a person of interest. Just not exactly in a newsworthy way, which is obviously the only way that matters.

mezato/tome, oneshot, 1k. charming pre-relationship contention, they’re the same type of self-absorbed and tunnel vision (affectionate)

I was thinking of not writing up recs for sister’s fics but since one author got three (3) fics on the list I’m gonna also put 3 of my fave fics of sister’s

Reigen's Comprehensive Fool-Proof Guide on How Not To Be Next Door Neighbors With Your Employee (because that'd just be creepy) by MalkyTop

Reigen hires Serizawa and they somehow end up as roommates.

seri/rei, complete, 17k. a fic sister wrote for ✨ME✨ that shows off reigen’s neuroticism and his decidedly not-normal attempts to come across as Extremely Normal, The Most Normal Man Alive. there are so many comedic setups and payoffs. there are so many shenanigans. reigen gets frog-boiled into romance. actually, I drop that term a lot but I’m not sure it’s a common enough to intuitively understand. it refers to the boiling frog metaphor

If At First You Don't Succeed, Find a Loophole by MalkyTop

Reigen keeps dying; Serizawa keeps trying to save him.

seri/rei, complete, 18k. sister was insane for this because she trapped all of her readers AND herself in time prison by releasing one chapter a day. it was really funny to witness because I was the only person not in time prison by virtue of editing privilege. while we were watching mondays: see you next week (an office time loop movie), sister was saying she was impressed at how effective/efficient the movie was at picking which scenes to repeat. this is to say, as someone who notices these details, sister was very intentional about when things changed and how things changed from the perspective of a character completely unaware of time prison. also, the emotional momentum is extremely good, I loved reading serizawa’s increasing desperation from reigen’s context-less perspective.

in absentia* by MalkyTop

After what was supposed to be a routine exorcism, Reigen wakes up in the wrong body.

serirei, complete, 26k. slowburn bodyswap with mystery and intrigue. a solid casefic! I can be biased and right. there are metanarrative elements that I find fun and that, in my opinion, highlights how sister did in fact get a degree in philosophy. there’s also some fun subtle and messy characterization notes, like when serizawa asks reigen not to cook for him. it’s hard to talk about what I like about this fic without giving away a lot of specifics, so go read it.

[katatonicimpression]

Shinobi Shaw and Kwannon

AKA "What did my boy get up to in X-Men (1991) #21-23?"

This post is summarising Shinobi's scenes in these comics, in anticipation of his appearance in Psylocke (2024) #2.

For her part, in these comics Kwannon is trapped in Betsy's body and memories, and it is during these issues that she realises that she isn't Betsy and remembers her life before this. During this arc, the X-Men go to Japan and fight Silver Samurai, Nyoirin and Matsuo. At the time, she seemed unaware of Shinobi's role, but likely learnt about it after the fact.

The TL;DR of this is that Shinobi and Kwannon never met in person from what we're shown, but Shinobi does have uneasy business relationships with Matsuo and Nyoirin. He initially plans to kill "Psylocke" (presumably just Betsy) for the Upstarts competition, then abandons this plan.

--------------------------------------------------

CW: These comics are racist.

I will be posting panels from them below. The art is (somehow) not the worst of Marvel's depictions of east asian people in the 90s, but it's really not good, and, story-wise, we're dealing with a lot of stereotypes, tired tropes and caricature. If these comics could play audio, the intro from "Turning Japanese" would play when you opened it.

The purpose of this post is mainly to describe the plot, so I won't specifically be deconstructing or analysing these tropes but I wanted to acknowledge this up top, so every knows what we're getting in for.

------------------------------------------------

This is Shinobi and Nyoirin:

Here, Shinobi "Still No Real First Name" Shaw, drunk dials Nyoirin while hosting an orgy. That's my boy alright.

He says that he'll back him up in an upcoming meeting, in exchange for helping him kill Betsy. The details of this plan are vague, but Shinobi suggests that he can help Nyoirin recapture Kwannon.

Also, the narration describes killing Sebastian as "the smartest move he ever made". True, but not necessarily saying much.

It's then hinted that Shinobi is deliberately playing up his own drunkeness to convince Nyoirin he's no threat. It's implied that he has his own plans, and may not care to help him at all. Either way it doesn't matter, because...

A few pages later, it turns out Matsuo has turned up in his flat and demanded that he should be the one to kill "Psylocke". Shinobi threatens to murder him, then doesn't because what's the point? Immediately, Shinobi caves. He is no longer out to kill any X-Men for the rest of these comics because why even bother?

Once again, the world's least committed supervillain.

The next issue, we have a fun little sequence that really has nothing to do with Kwannon at all, but does develop Shinobi's character:

Look! He's using his powers! They never let him do that nowadays!

He also tells these guys that he doesn't care about them lol. And he mentions how he wants to look out for his mum! My "Shinobi's mother is alive and well and thriving" headcanon remains undefeated.

Matsuo remarks that he's surprised Shinobi (you know, the powerful mutant and Black King of the Hellfire Club) didn't just use his powers to kill the dude who attacked him. Shinobi brushes it off, but we the audience know that this is not the first time he's refused to actually kill anyone by hand. In fact, he'll consistantly refrain from doing so until that one terrible (also racist, also transphobic) issue of X-Force.

This is important for Shinobi's character. He's in a murder competition, but despite his blustering, he doesn't have it in him to personally take out anyone aside from his abusive dad, and even in that case, he didn't use his powers to do it. He used a bomb... which didn't work. Sebastian's alive.

His immediate willingness to let Matsuo "win" back in his apartment is part of this too. He doesn't actually want to do any of this. He wants to fuck around and day drink. He wants his mum to be safe. He's not a good person, but he's not really got it in him to be that bad either.

This is part of that weirdness with Shinobi's character where, to me and to many other readers, he comes across as very sympathetic, but it's unclear what the intention really was. It's possible, and in fact likely, that the intent throughtout Shinobi's reluctant villain era, was to portray him as a coward, in an attempt to show an emasculated villain. Similarly, his strongly implied bisexuality was likely an attempt to villainse him. Most depressingly, the exploration of his childhood abuse that we see later, may also be intented to cast him in a negative light.

One reason I think this about the intent is his appearance in #23:

This shows our heroes, Gambit and Beast, crashing into Shinobi's bath (iconic, doesn't happen enough) to ask about what's been going on. They confirm the existence of the Upstarts competition and aren't happy about it.

Then Beast implies that Shinobi has a small dick.

Great.

----------------------------------------

I have no idea if any of this will be touched on in the new psylocke comic. Maybe they'll mention it, maybe they'll change or retcon it. My hope is that he gets a sympathetic treatment, nice art and hopefully something more interesting and characterful to do than he's had recently.

I think, if we assume no changes and no retcons, how Kwannon feels about Shinobi would probably depend on how she feels about Matsuo. But there's no actual reason for any strong animosity between them, but also she would presumably distrust him (for good reasons).

[yuseirra]

mhm, I've been looking at my older drawings and I really have a thing for dynamics where the girl is cheerful, energetic & loves all and there's a quiet/sweet and slightly more reserved boy who really admires her and loves her being that way - and could risk anything for them, even if that makes them go a bit extreme and cross lines that they usually won't.

(It can go the other way around too with the guy and the girl's roles reversed, it's the girl who's the more cheerful one usually tho)

saiaka, noremma, shuyuka.. There are probably tons more too- All fall into this category pretty well hshfj and I read my older fanworks of them earlier, they're actually really well written in character. If only I were to be a more skilled artist, it could have reached more people out there... the dialogues, narrations, the monologues and the expressions are pretty on the spot in my opinion, I guess that's what I want to do well in the first place, I'll keep getting better bit by bit as I try.

Tpn spoilers below**

I honestly feel like hikaai will end up falling in this category too. I'm getting strong noremma vibes with this one especially, bc norman does something pretty extreme near the end of tpn and emma strives to save him, while he thinks he's beyond hope and is going to die. He pretends he's okay and lies to put up a strong front but eventually, emma is able to see through his lies, call him out on it and says he's a liar, stops him last minute and we find out he was actually very scared all along and was pushing himself so much for what he thought was for everyone's sake(especially emma and ray's)

while..I'm not entirely satisfied with the ending of the series(it made me really sad back then), they do still survive and live together. Emma wanted to save him and have him live with her and it happens.

Pfft I read that comic real-time too and I sort of stood my ground all the way abt them.. It did pay off! And I ACTUALLY even got some of the dialogues in the final eps RIGHT. I drew something in advance and it came TRUE.

I was suddenly reminded of them this morning and how much I loved them!! Oh and they BOTH lied to each other as well. I feel like you may like one ship if you like the other.

What was I trying to say again? Right... I don't know if hikaru can actually be saved(it's why I've been continuously inquiring what is it that he's actually done because you can't save someone who's gone too far) but the moment the idea of it had been brought up by none other than Ai, I just feel like that's how the story will go. He's suffering and probably carrying a lot and he thinks he's doomed, he doesn't care about what happens to him. But Ai does. And I feel like the most important thing in this comic is what Ai wants and her say in things. So.. I'm actually not so worried now that I think of it. If I'm the writer, I'd let Ai have her way and get what she desires in the end, whether Hikaru thinks he's beyond saving actually matters less than that in terms of the plot. His argument matters less than Ai on this matter lol, Ai's the stronger figure here both within the story and in a meta sense too!

I've read stories like this a lot in fact. The work could break that pattern ofc, but there's a buildup that should certainly be addressed. If Ai loves this guy and wants Aqua and Ruby to save him, it's going to happen one way or the other. It's not something too much to worry about!

I think that's how I started drawing a lot of the ship after that was proposed in fact...the hunch I had must have stemmed from this. I've already been there and I'm here now, let's see how it's gonna go and I really hope Fatal and Mephisto's context will be addressed, come on, it can't be anyone but Hikaru in those songs and that has to be addressed, it's about time. I think that's why Aqua's calling him out rn too. Can't really picture any other things about it in fact!

[diodellet]

So many good options for the art appreciation asks but let's go with 3, 4, 13, 14 and 27.

hi hi ner! thanks forda qs!! these are all prettie incharestinge!! (<-girlie who didn't know she'd be Yapping-Yapping)

3. and 4.) Go to [fandom] tag and reblog some art you like that has under 100 notes ++ Go to the art tag (or similar) and reblog some art you like that has under 100 notes

noted, i will undertake this mission with great care 🫡🫡

13. What are your go-to Ao3 filters?

ok i have a confession, i used to be a sort by word count++completed works only++exclude crossovers-kinda person 🤧🤧ANYWAY that was changed, now i only really exclude chat fics (ahaha,,,,theyre not really my go-to genre, like sure they're amusing but i read a really good one once* and it ruined every other chatfic for me)

*this one's for u haikyuu-natics, esp team captain stannies

hm.... i'm not super-duper picky so most of the time i can just scroll through each work's summary and tags.

but if a fandom is popular (or if i dont have the spoons for sifting through works), i stick to just reader inserts HAHAHA, maybe oc x canon if there haven't been any new x reader fics and if there's rlly nothing oough ig i have to write her myself 😭😭 sometimes doe, the curiosity strikes and i'll try looking if there are any fanfics in filipino... i really find it interesting to see how a chara's dialogue reads if theyre speaking in tagalog (tbh i think one would have more luck finding filo socmed aus on twt? but i only know about haikyuu socmed aus)

14. Best fanfic tropes ever?

oH...there are too many... u can't make me choose the best out of all my faves that's unfair 🥺jk lol

i read* this jamikali fic (i like my ships with a bit [read: a LOT] of tragedy/disaster-ness to them. it's so so so compelling to read!) and i just love the "Dubiously Unrequited Love" tag. bcs yes, the feelings are technically mutual, but there is a whole slew of other factors keeping the relationship from being a thing, which it could be a thing, but there's also that awareness that it won't last, sometimes a couple doesn't have to be endgame for the love to mean something, ykw?

this entire oneshot series....has me in a chokehold... my introduction to "Non-Sexual Intimacy" (and "Non-Sexual Nudity" i guess?) like??? holy shit??? the tension?? the way op just encapsulates the poignancy of being in such a vulnerable position without teetering too much into the cliche of roëmænce it has me On My Knees!! (like i love my smut and romance cliches, but some days i jus want a liiiitle bit more spice and variety)

Shoutout to the "Unreliable Narrator"++"Ambiguous Ending" combi that reaaaaally makes you work for understanding the plot, idk how to word it but being able to leave Just Enough Breadcrumbs and having enough trust in your readers to Get what ur implying, also forcing me to reread the fic immediately is so foul (in a good way). like there's an enjoyment in a good satisfying read, and then there's the Itch of never being sure in your interpretation, the feeling that u just need to go over it another time, spot another detail u missed, get wrecked all over again, rinse and repeat. idk i love fic.

27. If someone wanted to make you a creative gift, what's the thing that would make you the happiest?

oh anything featuring my fave charas is sure to make me happy! i mean i'm just not super picky abt gifts. well, maybe a creative gift has to be smth that can last a long while? (a strong hoard-ability kaya idk im senti??)

as long as the thought and intent was there, i'm already happy enough🥰💕💕 but i guess in the context of getting fic gifted to you, probably what matters most to me is that the writer enjoyed the process of making it as well. (i'm kinda drawing off of my experience writing this fic for one of m'oomfies and the vdays drabbles*** so i could be just rambling who knows?**)

(art appreciation ask questions, please bug me to rb some underrated art and fic)

[jacksprostate]

boss pls elaborate on the songs you used.!!!

- superfan anon

Warning: under the cut is a lot of rambling with only mild incoherency!

So like I said it's sort of chronological...

How to Boil an Egg is very much her discontent building up in her current life. All the lyrics are spot on lol it was an easy pick I stole from my friend. Most of these songs I stole from my friend

Cubicle is again that sense of displacement and upset that drives her to develop someone that gets her... She wants someone to do anything. Push tacks in her eyes. Bring her into their nest and regurgitate worms in her mouth. She wants to be led somewhere, away from the void of fucking nothing that is her life right now

And Breeding is also so spot on haha. Only edit required is change Barack Obama to your president of choice during her lifetime. Trying to procreate without fucking and breeding <- trying to make Tyler, tbh. And of course the opening brings to mind the space monkey and 30 yr old boy thing. That in itself I have thoughts on how it would get inverted for female fight club but that's neither here nor there.

Pedestrian at Best is them living together.... Pretty much the verses are the narrator, self critical and lost and a mess, and the chorus is Tyler — all that but confident and a bit of a shithead.

It won't be with me on my deathbed, but I'll still be in your head

Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you

Tell me I'm exceptional, I promise to exploit you

Like. It hits that aspect of Tyler so well. In contrast, verse:

I'm resentful, I'm having an existential time crisis

What bliss, daylight savings won't fix this mess

Under-worked and over-sexed, I must express my disinterest

The rats are back inside my head, what would Freud have said?

So. Yes it's Them :) (and of course, something to be said about how Tyler parts are really just the narrator's grown projections etc)

Wonderful Hell — Oh you wanna start a revolution and destroy the world so bad haha fight club fight club perhaps even Project Mayhem.. in an idealistic way

Dogma literally just sounds like Tyler lecturing lol

Chamber for Sleep (Part Two) OK so THIS one I feel is a little more opaque in the connection but also works REALLY well if I explain a little. It's the narrator... Especially during Projrct Mayhem, when she's losing Tyler's attention. She wants Tyler's attention so bad. She wants it like she died and Tyler cares. Grieve as if I died and I'll become a fragment in your mind <- she does not know Tyler is a fragment in hers... She wants so bad to mean more. I'd like to love me like you seem to, how do you hang this heaven over me <- Ok fundamentally even though Tyler treats the narrator shitty sometimes, even in base novel like... what Tyler does is ultimately all for the narrator. Creating this heaven for the narrator. No matter how twisted. Even in the book, Tyler's big martyr thing — it's because the narrator wants to die and doesn't want consequences. With feamle fight club, too, a big part of my little canon for it is that Tyler really invests in the narrator developing her own strength. Tyler wants her strong. Hungry. Tyler feeds her meals with protein and carbs and cares for her like a lover. But Tyler also abandons her. Tyler has close little conversations with Marlon that the narrator just barely can't hear but sre loud enough to keep her awake all night hearing how Tyler's relationship with someone in this house is deepening, and it's that undeserving fake, Marlon, not her. She wants to be more important to Tyler SO bad. 'Braid my hair to yours and drag us blind' come on. No matter how short Tyler's hair is that's Them. + Nail me to the bed

Relating to a Psychopath — a lot like Pedestrian at Best's chorus... sort of making Tyler into this extremely confident and charismatic heavily flaky and flawed idol. Constant back and forth between the narrator being good company and mocking the narrator for caring about her so much.

Glass House — god, this song. As my friend said, 'the narrator after realizing Tyler is basically a brain parasite'. Obsessed with this song in general and also specifically for them. I have nothing to say you can only experience it

This Tornado Loves you <- like I said earlier... everything Tyler does is really for the narrator, at the end of the day. Even if it hurts. Like a tornado. But also, reflectively, the narrator now feels this way about what she's done to everyone around her.

Horseshoe Crab is her in the psych ward.... She's unfamiliar to herself. She's learned, but god. Nothing is the same. Especially not her. Wishes she could do it better. Be better. For her? Tyler? Marlon? The women in fight club? Probably all of the above. She's dissociated from herself.. a bit lost. So much learned, but lost. This is the song that inspired me to make the playlist.

And then you cycle back.

[gardenoblues]

Fic Tag Game

tagged by @iamfandomcrazy @therulerofallpotatos @dark-visitors sorry it took time to reply, y'know uni stuff and shit <33

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? -8 2. What's your Ao3 word count? -46,208

3. What fandoms do you write for? -Wednesday, ENHYPEN (and Raise Tanin ga ii tho i doubt id write for this again) 4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? gee this is embarrassing i really dont have much 1. BloodyLocks (311) 2.Hyde The Past (74) 3. The Pastor's Son (50) 4. you never forget your first (63) 5. Who doesn't love The Smiths? (39)

In Wednesday? -its the same fics above 5. Do you respond to comments? -I try to reply to all as much as possible but if they aren't positive comments i just erase them lol. But I do appreciate the comments (not like I have a lot but nonetheless they make my day) 6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? -It's not written yet, still in the drafts and I won't spoil >< but to answer that question, I don't think I have written angst, I'm still figuring my way as a writer and if I will to write angst I want it to hurt but with purpose, and I'm not sure how to do that yet. 7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? -all my fics aren't done yet. except for you never forget your first. that's pretty happy, well the Wyler version of happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? -So far so good. But I do think that I hold back my ideas because I'm still so scared in writing them. Maybe someday when I get bolder I'd get them. Can't wait actually lol. 9. Do you write smut? What kind? -Yes. But it's just light smut. I just begun writing so I'm still exploring myself in that area.

10. Do you write cross-overs? -No, but it sounds interesting. Maybe when I get the idea. 11. Have you ever had a fic translated? -Not that I know of. Prob not. 12. Have you ever cowritten a fic before? -Nope. But I would love to if chance comes! 13. What WIP you would like to finish, but doubt you ever will? -My Reaper and Hyde The Past I have a whole plan laid for these 2. Both drained me until now, but I don't think I'd want to die while they're still unfinished. I will finish them as I promised myself no matter how long that takes. 14. What's your all-time favorite ship? -Wyler! It's more likely that I won't find another ship that tops them. (Just last night I wrote like 2 story of drafts abt them lol they're my favorite brainrot)

15. What are your writing strengths? -Narrating and dialogue. Having tons of ideas for a fic.

16. What are your writing weaknesses? -Thinking for the fic in the long run, and missing out some of the details that can make the fic more, not sure how but just more, and this factor makes me write slower. As well as being too self-conscious and ending up complying to the safest choice. Oh and fight scenes, they just seem like fairies fist-fighting when I read them lol makes me laugh. 17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? - I've thought so much about Wyler in Filipino. Somehow they can fit, but I don't think I have the determination for that yet. This made me remember @ablatheringblatherskite idea for Filipino/cultural mythological creatures for some reason, I want to write a fic about that someday as I know a lot about Filipino folklores.

18. First fandom you wrote for? -WYLER. It's BloodyLocks I had my ao3 acc made months before just so I can comment to the fics I liked with ease. But when Wednesday came out, I suddenly became a fic writer lol. Thanks to their dynamic, I have one more hobby that drives me slowly to insanity. 19. Favorite fic you've ever written? -Hmm, I thought of Hyde The Past right away, (I have a lot, I mean A LOT, that I have written for this fic, but its hard to connect them now) it pushes me to the edge of burnout. At the moment The Pastor's Son is the easiest to write and I'm personally liking where it's going.

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day? -Hyde The Past If I can rewind time, I would write it so much better and wouldn't rush. You can say that when I wrote that fic I was in my lowest, and it hurts my eyes and brain when I try to read it as I think of what should happen next. It's probably one of the reasons why it's taking me so long to finish it.

I'm tagging @tastethesetears @cosmic-lullaby @nouklea @lovepoison9 @writerrose1998 @chinita-inzunza @ablatheringblatherskite @anotherbluesunday @chaoticstupiddm i don't know who was been tagged and if you have u can just ignore this <33

[characteroulette]

Apollo Justice is such a game.

Welcome to a seven year time gap!! Your client is actually disgraced (disgraced???) former Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright!! Your tutorial mentor man is a condescending bitch!! Apollo has zero control over any of the proceedings and in the end has to present falsified evidence to prove his mentor was the true murderer for reasons that won't become apparent until much, much later!!!

wanted to think more about what the fuck just happened?? Too bad!! Time for shenanigans to ensue in proper Ace Attorney fashion!!

Here's your assistant, the girl who gave you that forged evidence!! She's Phoenix Wright's daughter. Adopted. Here's a mystery man who looks nearly exactly like the man you just sent to prison for murder!!! Also Ema is back and she's PISSED! Klavier gets a proper intro and he's bitter as fuck!! Time to present panties twice in a row and turn this courthouse into a circus!! Your assistant holds herself at ransom just to explain the main mechanic of the game to you, despite having done this mechanic in the previous case. Your client is a lil punk and his fianceé is actually both way worse and more sympathetic than you first thought!! Hope you enjoyed having your hand held during the second trial day by this Klavier guy it will happen again.

Also, Klavier sent you tickets to his concert. Which Apollo had to pay for. What a weird series of events to get us to this concert. Lamiroir sure is pretty I hope nothing happens later to ruin her character!! Despite the murder weapon being a hand canon and the victim being a man who looks like a brick house, everyone stalwartly believes a tiny 14-year-old child performed this crime without so much as an injury to his name. Apollo watches a man die and is haunted by his final words. Surprise Lamiroir is acrually blind and accused the penis hair shark man to be the actual killer!! He hated your guts from moment one for some reason well now you know it's because he was the villain here. Have fun watching Klavier get lit on fire again and again at least 7 times. The most convoluted and unsatisfying breakdown and way to acquit your client yet.

Well, whatever. Final cases are supposed to be the best!! This Mason system seems weird but surely it has to explain some things. Phoenix Wright is our main narrator and all. Apollo actually gets his shit together enough to understand something is weird about all of this but he's got no other choice than to charge into it all headfirst. The most horrifying Ace Attorney character design with the most annoying tell to spot. Klavier fucking loses it and wuh-oh seven years ago time. Explain yourself, Phoenix Wright.

Upstart Klavier!! Zak spouting ominous bullshit that makes you realise he was planning to run no matter what!! BABY TRUCY!!! The last time we'll ever see Gumshoe in a mainline game... And, of course, as if you didn't already feel cornered by this game's lack of agency, it makes you present the forged evidence yourself. You helped get Phoenix disbarred. You had no other choice but to do so.

Anyway really fucking annoying investigation time!! Have fun figuring out which very specific order in which to do these snapshots!! Apollo and Trucy are siblings??? Whaaaaat?? BLACK PSYCHELOCKS??? What does it mean??? Phoenix has fully taken over the case it is no longer Apollo's show.

Back to the trial, your client could die but more importantly, Kristoph is back, baby!!! We're never going to learn what those psychelocks meant, you have to first stare at the scar on his hand making a face lol. Misham said he never met his client but Vera obviously met Kristoph in person so Drew either left her in a room with a questionable adult alone or was straight up lying on the stand about that. I mean Zak had the evidence that could clear his name in his pocket the whole time and chose to fucking dip instead of clearing himself of a murder charge so like same hat, but I digress. Klavier is having a TIME, Apollo doesn't get to say a damn thing as we close on the court, and wheeee that's it that's the game!! You get to choose the Not Guilty verdict yourself don't you just feel so included???

I want to make it clear that I love this game dearly, but woof it is. Such a ride.

[ezralva]

10 JJK favorite characters and why? Doesn't matter dead or alive

First off, thanks for making it 10 instead of 5 so I can do my boys and girl justice. Since you asked for 'why' then knowing me, it won't be concise lol

Suguru: actually 1st place is both Suguru and Choso. It's very very hard for me to choose one out of the other but if I really have to rank then Suguru has more plus point in that, from reader's pov, he has deeper characterization and overall more developed thanks to his role in the story. Also a more complicated character which makes analyzing him more interesting. His design, appearance, techniques makes him the coolest jjk character for me.

Choso: from the 1st time he was shown and opened his mouth it was hook, line, and sinker, no turning back for me. I kinda see him as a single-minded character which is a trait that is usually be hit-or-miss in fictional character. It cud be either quickly redundant, boring, and underdeveloped or the exact opposite. For me Choso is the latter and all the positive praises. I love how Gege-sen chose his storyline until now. He has the best design out of all jjk chara. I love everything about him. Hottest character in JJK. Hotter than the sun and magma. Period.

Nanamin: I honestly cudn't find a single thing I cud dislike from this man, except myb the fact I wish we get to see him more w/o glasses on cz he has those pretty piercing gaze which I like. Has the best personality out of all adults in JJK (women chara included). He's what my friend and I said, the type of guy who wud easily pass any marriage interviews just being his true self, w/o even trying to impress the other party. And the kind that effortlessly nails all requirements of a son-in-law for many asian parents lmao, even if he himself doesn't wanna get married. Nothing but praise for his attitude and mannerisms.

Noritoshi (smol) : I've always loved underdog and this one is criminally, unfairly underrated. Added to that a pretty boy with family issues, sobbing backstory, who has great potential like him. One of jjk characters whose character development is so jarring and makes him a much better person. Seriously, if only he gets more showtime and is developed further. I love both his old and new design. Imo the way he's drawn is unique and quite different from others. Hopefully he's saved for more bigger role in the end w/o being disposed. He's not to be wasted.

Gojo: While I've never had a 'Gojo phase' whichever arc it's in, and while the concept of a loud, happy-go-lucky, rulebender, free-spirited, good-looking character who is great at everything he does isn't new to me, I found him very interesting as a character in that the way he was written is often contradictory and the way he's narrated making him more complicated than he actually is. I'd say Geto is the more complicated out of the two, but despite having much more showtime and elaborate backstory, Gojo rarely is shown being contemplative (for readers' sake) nor offers deeper insights of him as a character than what he's willing to give so it makes speculating abt him more intriguing.

Inumaki: Has one of the coolest CT in JJK, his design and characterization the most unique of all. Another great potential that is unfairly wasted that Gege doesn't even bother to give more of his backstory or development. Ultimate bishounen of JJK like nobody can even compare, followed closely by Suguru and Noritoshi yet he still wins by a margin.

Yuuji: It's hard not to like this sunshine personified. We can see how good Wasuke's upbringing was from the way he treats others close to him or total strangers. Polite and kind. All positive energy so his dynamic easily works with other characters well.

Yuuta: Also has one of the best character developments out of all. I just love it when a quiet or meek character suddenly turned unhinged after being prodded right. Love how cool and composed he is after coming back from overseas (on the outside) and still a precious cinnamon roll inside.

Shoko: Man, I just vibe with this girl in dna level. I'm literally like her irl except that I don't smoke. Do the job, do it right, chill, and dgaf abt everything else (on the surface). She's the character I can relate the most.

Higuruma-san: just...how can I not be excited when there's suddenly a nearly 40 y.o BAMF, awesome, cool ojisan in a shounen manga where all the powerful popular characters are either teens or late twenties or more than centuries old...I like his backstory, his perspectives on both his old world and the way he takes things in stride with his new world. A dark-haired as well, which is a plus.

[quaranmine]

Book Reviews with Quara

Since I keep talking about audiobooks, now I want to do a sort of mini book review of the books I've read since starting to "seriously" pick up reading again last year. Also I just like typing about things. I'm skipping Fire Season by Philip Connors and Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams because I've spoken about them already. Keep in mind I am not super-super critical of reading material; generally if I enjoyed it I'm giving 5 stars. If I disliked it though I get a lot more critical because then I want to start analyzing what didn't work for me. Now go forth and learn about what my reading taste is when I'm not reading/writing angsty mcyt fanfic!

Books I loved, aka 5 stars:

Cold Storage by David Koepp

This was the first book I checked out from Libby and it was a banger. I am still trying to replicate that high tbh. When I gave my mom access to my library card in Libby (her rural library has nothing and my city library has everything) I made her check it out too. The narration on the audiobook is fantastic. My mom raved about the narration and basically says she doesn't want to check anything out that wasn't as good--regularly her reviews to me are "good narrator, not as good as that Cold Storage book" lmao. You may know David Koepp as the guy who wrote the Jurassic Park screenplay. This is his first novel.

It's about a mutated fungus that is a sci-fi version of the very real Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which is more commonly known as the zombie-ant fungus. In this book, a version of Cordyceps can infect all lifeforms, including humans, and has been locked away deep in a former US military vault that has since been sold and converted into an underground storage facility. The plot follows two unlikely protags who work in the storage facility, as well as the two retired military people who are the only ones to have seen the fungi in action, as they try to prevent it from being released into the world. It's funny, horrifying, and gory.

They are making a movie of this book. The release date is tentatively 2024, but I worry about it because I have heard so little news on it. They did do filming though. I have high hopes because they cast Joe Keery as a main character, which I think is perfect casting for the guy in question. I have low hopes because they cast Liam Neeson, a white man, as a character who was originally Hispanic and (as I just noticed while writing this) changed the character's name to be more white. Ugh. Who is Robert Quinn and what did you do with Roberto Diaz???????

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

What if you got kidnapped and woke up in a parallel world where everybody knew who you were, but they think you're someone else? What if you're just a quantum physics professor, but this other version of you is a successful theoretical researcher? What if your wife never married you in this universe, and your son was never born? How do you get back home? This book is constantly pulling out interesting new questions, twists, and places to explore. Also I liked that while it does feature romance pretty prominently, it's about a guy who just really loves his wife of 15 years and wants to see her again. I just like it when men love their wives.

Also, a fair amount of Goodreads reviews poke fun at this author for having way too much fun hitting the enter key on his keyboard, but since I listened to the audiobook I never had to deal with any annoying formatting choices lol

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I feel like we all know about this one already, tbh. If you don't, heavy tw for child abuse and eating disorders. Tread carefully. It's worth it though if you are confident you won't get triggered. If you haven't read it I recommend the audiobook specifically because Jennette narrates it herself and that gives the book so much extra. It was a 6 hour audiobook and I was gripped by it all day.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

BACKWARDS TIMELOOP BABEYY!!! This one was great. It's about a Mom who witnesses her teenage son kill a man. Every day she wakes up in the past again until she can solve why this happened, the mystery leading up to it that entangles her family, and try to prevent it. First she ways up the day before, then two days, then three, then a two weeks, then a few months, then a few years--until her son hasn't even been born yet. I enjoyed it. Also a plus for British accent narrator (can you tell I'm American....)

A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

This one was fun. I checked it out because it was longish and I had to drive like 8 hrs roundtrip for a work trip, so I listened to this the entire way. It's about a (Canadian) woman named Mallory who was a police detective in the modern day, who gets attacked while out for a jog in Edinburgh, Scotland. The attacker strangles her and she goes unconscious. When she wakes up, however, she finds herself in someone else's body--in the Victorian era. She's now a 19 year old housemaid, and has to adapt as quickly as possible to avoid suspicion. She quickly finds out that she works for a man named Dr. Duncan Gray, who is a medical examiner. And there's a person who's been murdered in a very similar way to how Mallory herself was attacked. And she's quickly finding out that the person who's body she's in was not well-liked.

My favorite part about this one is the emphasis it has on early forensics in Victorian Scotland. Dr. Gray is a fantastic character and it is so interesting to see him doing his lil cutting-edge forensics research (which Mallory, being educated in modern times, wants desperately to help him with.) Also the narrator, while being Canadian, does Scottish accents for all the Scottish characters. I'm not the best person to ask as someone who isn't Scottish but I thought the accents sounded pretty good lol

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

My mom recommended this one to me. It's also a lot of fun. The title is, mostly, accurate. Ernest Cunningham (protag) is a writer, who mostly creates how-to books for mystery novelists he sells on Amazon. No, he doesn't write mysteries, he just writes the how-to books. But he's very well-versed in the "rules" of how to write a classic mystery! He promises that, as the narrator of this story, he will always be an entirely reliable narrator. The book itself is obviously fiction but within the narrative of the book, it is being told like a nonfiction account of something that the main character is writing down. This book is sort of a bottle mystery--strange murders while everyone is snowed in at a ski resort during a family reunion, anyone? The main character is funny and breaks the fourth wall often. I am convinced that there is a separate audiobook specific version since the narration within the book references it being an audiobook. The main character will be like "so, you probably realize this isn't the real killer, since we still have 4 hours of the book left to listen to" lol. I almost want to check out a print copy of this to see if the text is different.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

First one on the list that I didn't listen to as an audiobook. Honestly, I probably read this book in 4 hours flat. Three of those hours just dead-focused while on a plane (with the book's hold expiring as soon as I landed and took my phone off airplane mode.)

I don't really know how to explain this one. I don't think I understood what it was about until I actually got like 4 chapters in and then I couldn't stop. It's just off-the wall ridiculous. There are talking cats. There are dolphins that want to unionize. There is a volcano lair. There are explosions and assasination attempts. There is a reasonably bleakly accurate capitalist picture of what "villainy" means in our world. There is a poor main character in over his head as he learns he's inherited all this from an uncle he never saw. This book is like...satire comedy. Comedy and outlandish but you're also depressed about billionaires a little while reading it.

Books I thought were Okay (3-4 stars but actually I gave both these 4 stars I think)

The Poisoner's Ring by Kelley Armstrong

The second book to the book I mentioned above. Honestly, I remember very well what the first book was about (i typed the summary by memory) but I have trouble remembering specifics about this one. It's a bit too long as well, at 14 hours. I don't have anything bad to say about it, I just didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first one.

But honestly I do remember it was still a good time. I just really like Dr Gray as a character and the setting, early forensic science focus, etc. These books are also setting up to be an EXTREME slow burn romance between Gray and Mallory, which I don't mind. (Literally by book 2 the most we have is that she thinks he's attractive, so at this rate it will take us 3 more books to get anywhere lol.) I will be checking out the 3rd book when it is released this spring.

Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moines

Also a book that suffered from being too long. It's a 12 hour audiobook but I think that it could have been 8 or 9 hours and gotten the same point across. My mom recommended this to me. It's narrated by Daisy Ridley, who does a good job. I enjoyed it, but I also started to feel like I really wanted it to be done?

Also unsure how to describe this one. Slightly-contrived-but-cute plot about how a bag switch up in a gym connects two women's stories. One is a, frankly quite annoying, American woman who married rich but has now been completely cut off from her money (and even passport) by her ex-husband who's cheating on her with a younger woman. One is a British woman with low self-esteem and a bad job who is struggling to keep her family afloat while her husband suffers from severe depression. I think my favorite was a side character named Jasmine who brought light to every scene imo.

Books I disliked (2 stars but after writing this review I almost want to make it 1 star)

Aurora by David Koepp

David I really believed in you after Cold Storage. But imo, this book isn't it. It throws away every interesting part of its apocalypse-level plot to focus on the characters. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a good character-focused plot, except I never connected with anyone in the book. I just kind of didn't enjoy any of them. This is a story that is supposed to be about a solar flare taking out all electricity and communications for most of the world. And it only covers like a few days after the disaster AND THEN TIME SKIPS LIKE 8 MONTHS UNTIL EVERYTHING IS HAPPILY SOLVED NEIGHBORHOOD UTOPIA STYLE. I'm sorry????? Assuming I can believe that this little suburban Illinois cul-de-sac has managed to set up subsistence farming in a few months and is living perfectly happily, why would you....not show me how that happened.....

Also the "everything fits together" character moment at the end felt unearned. I was like yeah, okay, I guess this slots together. But the author didn't earn that moment for me. Instead of connecting with the characters and the plot and getting invested I felt like I was just being....told that everything worked out?? Or told that this was an important moment instead of actually Feeling the moment? It's hard to explain but I was like ok great thanks let's all go home now.

Sigh. I just can't get over the whole "throwing away the most interesting part of your setting" part. Again. Why would you spend a significant time setting up the science and how much of a disaster the solar flare is and then not show any of the characters figuring out how to survive it long-term....?

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

This book has such a high rating. It's very popular right now. It took me like 12 weeks of waiting for my hold to come up, and that's with the library having 7 copies.

It is, supposedly, about a smart octopus named Marcellus who helps an elderly lady solve the mystery of her son's disappearance at sea when he was a teenager.

In practice, it is about one minute at a time of Marcellus (the best part of the book) and extended sections of characters that I don't care about at all. I assume all the pieces of the story were supposed to come together later, but I was just highly bored. I was so bored that I DNF'd at 25% when my hold was up. I do not care enough to wait weeks to check it out again. Based on the one star reviews I read, the characters I didn't like did not develop into better people later and remained similarly annoying. Now, I don't need characters to be good people of course. But I do expect to be interested in them. I still don't know how the son's disappearance factors in because I felt like I heard barely anything about the supposed main character woman.

I feel vindicated because my coworker also checked out the book and told me a few weeks ago that she was at 50% and there still wasn't anything happening in the plot. I will ask her tomorrow if she finished it or not and if it ever got better.

Write an entire book for Marcellus the octopus and I'll check it out...

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

This book had so much potential. It's about a group of four women who were formerly assasins but are now retiring at 60. To celebrate retirement, they go on a cruise and then realize that they're the new targets for assasination, presumably because they know too much about the organization that used to employ them.

In execution....very meh. I actually had a Libby glitch on this one, where I think I missed about 1.5 hrs of narration total because the book skipped twice. I have no concept of which parts I missed. What I do know is that, the book was already so cobbled together before the first skip that I didn't realize I had missed anything until the end. Like sure, parts didn't make sense, but I was ready to accept that it was just Like That since the rest of the book was like that. After reading a bunch of reviews of this book I am convinced that there is NO way that all of its flaws can be explained by me missing a small part. After all, I did listen to 8.5 hours of it still.

The characters never felt their age to me. I felt like they either acted like they were 80 or 90, or like they were 20. It just seemed odd to me. The characters also felt very 2D, like the author wrote down three traits per person and called it good. There's a younger woman who appears to know the main character and conveniently helps the group, but I literally never figured out where their relationship originated or how they knew each other. Maybe I missed that too. By the end of the book I still didn't know who anyone was and couldn't remember which person was the main character. The plot jumped around to new locations constantly and often with little transition--this happened even on the parts where I definitely didn't get a skipping glitch. The main villain was a guy I literally had barely heard anything of til that point, although perhaps he came up in the 1.5 hrs I missed. They described the same painting in excruciating detail THREE separate times. It was...too feminist? Feminist in a contrived way where I have to be reminded every 5 minutes the characters are women? Like, I know, I am reading a story about women. Please don't mention it several times a chapter. There are ethical and moral considerations about their profession and chosen organization that never really get given the weight required. There was a love interest for the main character that I hadn't heard of once until he was introduced like an hour from the end--maybe I missed more about him in the parts I skipped? Unknown.

ANNND THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!

[bonesandthebees]

thoughts and questions that didnt get in my comments bc I needed to let them bounce around my brain for a bit 1/?

please don't feel bad for using the bird metaphor so much, it's cool and I think it also works really well with the unreliable narrator thing where wilbur can translate the birds actions in one way, warped by his pythia training or denial or coping, while the reader, thinking different, can translate it in the different (and I think the right) meaning

wilbur says the bird shrieked (in ch10) bc tommy liking him was wrong, I think it's bc it's what the bird yearns for and it's a sing of happiness, recognition, he wants to be loved and cared about (like he deserves and never got)

is it just me or does it kinda feel like part of wilbur wants them to kill him so he won't have to do it himself?

yes he is scared of dying. even of the deathlings killing him, but

we know he's scared that clara will ask him to kill himself and that hes not sure if he could do it (that means he wouldnt be able to do it, which im super grateful for)

and I know he's trying to make sense of his situation and why the deathlings are acting like they are and killing him would be the logical choice

but also I noticed that he keeps mentioning the killing to the deathlings very often and phil was right about him basically suggesting it in that argument and it kinda makes me feel like he (probably mostly subconsciously) wants the deathlings to kill him just so he won't have to face the disappointment if clara asks him to kill himself which he internally knows he wouldnt be able to do (in wilburs mind its more of a question of when bc he believes that clara will want to get rid of him now that he failed to escape)

the talk about wilburs life in the palace, his (lack of) power, excluding himself from the rich and you mentioning here on tumblr how wilbur and schlatt used to be closer and on more equal level before schlatt became the emperor made me realise how little we actually know about wilburs life in the palace

we know schlatt didnt listen to him, he had to wear the blindfold and everyone saw him more as a thing than a person, but what did he do in all the free time?

aaa thank you I'm glad the bird metaphor is working out well and isn't being overused lol. I'm definitely still figuring out the balance with using long metaphors throughout an entire piece. it definitely is really fun to look at as wilbur pushing his feelings off onto something else so he can deny them as his own

hmm if they made the decision to kill him it certainly would make things a lot easier for wilbur now wouldn't it because he wouldn't have to confront anything himself... but he's also still afraid of dying in general. in his mind he knows it's the 'right' option, but he also doesn't want to die. so if he's confronted with it, he's going to back down and be terrified no matter how much he tells himself it's his 'duty' or it's easier for everyone.

he actually did have a lot of advisorial duties like sitting in on meetings with schlatt's council to stay updated on what was going on in the country, meeting regularly with the priests of clara and leading worship rituals, and of course meeting with schlatt on a near daily basis even if he didn't have a vision the night before just to have a 'check-in' of sorts with how things were going. when he wasn't doing any of this though, he would often read history books on the history of the country or the history of clara worship. he'd also just read a lot of educational books besides history texts, like for science and maths as well. also I like to think there was a piano in his quarters, so he learned how to play piano and would spend a lot of his free time practicing. (he's never done much singing though.)

[kaleschmidt]

anyone ask for henry thoughts ramble post? well like i fucking fucked up my first draft and deleted all of it by mistake so um. i am now writing it all over again. i hope he explodes.

anyways it's all under cut and i need you to know i'm dunking on him so much he's gonna be a soggy cookie ok? ok nice

i have SUCH a burning hatred for henry to start this off. It was like. worse when I first got into dayshift, but i am now capable of hating him more in a cooler way

I hate Henry as a person but as a CHARACTER he's fun to me. I'm glad we know his backstory, even outside of the story, and that he's not excused. Yes, he had a shit childhood and experienced the horrors of war, but what he did after the war- all of dayshift's events... it doesn't excuse what he did, and I'm glad about that because like if he got redeemed, I would have had to get in the game and maul him dog-style myself. /lh

Now. Onto my interpretation of him.

Something important to me while writing Henry is that he's vague. He's never written in his own first person perspective. Only seen through others. Nobody knows what he's thinking. Only a VERY select few people can get close to his motives, and even then, they aren't on the money. Even when his son gets murdered (sacrificing nemself to save another's life), it's kept vague how exactly Henry feels about it. Kale (oc) believes that Henry's uncharacteristic aggression towards Dave prodding about his son is due to either Henry actually caring about nis death, or being upset his son's death stained the family, but it's never confirmed. As much as Kale likes to say it knows Henry more than he knows himself, it also admits that it could never know what Henry was thinking. Also kale is an unreliable narrator and has fucking issues /lh. I'm never gonna write Henry in first-person because I find him more interesting when he's not exactly picked apart from the inside, but the outside, if that makes sense?

Something also to note, which is canon anyways I believe, is that Henry is always scheming, no matter what. Always prepared. He makes sure that everything will go his way, albeit the small divergences and such. It's the big ones that irritate him. He'll always manage to improvise, though. hard to improvise when u get jumped by a dog and bitten and dragged to the void tho. #lol couldn't be me.... i'm different

ok like give me a bit i am so sad that my first draft was fucked up bc i had a lotta good points i couldn't remember. sniff.

I won't touch upon it too much (maybe in Jack's ramble if anyone wants it) but I really like parallels btwn Jack and Henry, especially as there are canon parallels. Henry is the Beginning, and Jack is the End. (i am so normal about this phrase btw. trust me.)

Also won't touch upon Martha in this post because she gives me major brainrot i have so many thoughts about her.

About Henry's void... i actually dunno if that's a confirmed char or not, but the concept is really interesting to me (...and i kinda accidentally did that before i interacted with the fandom too). Would love to dive into that but part of it is tabbykat's playground spoilers. And also will make this post longer than needed. just ask for kale ok?

OH another thing. More of a personal pref n no hate to those who do this, but I do NOT like henry good aus... genuinely cannot see that happening. Better counterpart for me is that he doesn't do murders but also he is a terrible dad in the most funny way (those terrible, terrible baby clothes. you know the ones.) I also just think man just became the way he is by himself n not the void but mostly bc i'm fond of my own interp who i would love to beat up and explode

I think. that's all i had but like closing this off with a song in my playlist for henry: Drink To Me. Look it's SUCH a fucking henrycore song. SOOOO fucking much. Parts of it relate to Dave ofc. god. Anyways hope y'all enjoy reading through this i love going into my thoughts of chars and should do it more

EDIT:

OK I FORGOT TO PUT THIS AND I CANT BELIEVE IT but I think of Henry gasterisms ok? He is gasterisms. And I think that's another thing that makes him interesting to me bc I like gaster. My brain is kinda fried but I need to put this hwre.

[transsexualhamlet]

sherlock holmes reactions part 4 (?) ive lost count already but unsurprisingly ive grown even more attached to him

using this as the cover image because i made him a playlist. cause im awful

no legit this is gonna need a read more because it's SO LONG SHIHEWIESHEFSHIEWHF

Had three mental breakdowns this week and realized i do in fact kin sherlock motherfucking holmes. this does not bode well for anything in my life mentally I've diagnosed him with so many things

Oh boy lol you want the list I think hes autistic (undisputed honestly) plus also adhd but on top of that there's the manic depression and uhhh the bpd lmao I dont even think that's it those are just. the obvious ones

But yeah man's a fucking mess and a shit person but in the same way as me so 👍

Some highlights I thought were very funny:

watson: we are in fact going to be waltzing into a place where people are Shooting People you do not have your gun. this is a problem

sherlock: don't worry watson I have my trusty stick!

watson: visible pain

This clearly happens like every day or so with them

but yeah there were some really honestly sweet scenes with them at the apartment and why am i getting soft over the crusty man being gay

have you considered tho. have you considered them

have you considered sherlock, who usually only plays absolute garbage on his violin serenading watson to sleep when he was tired and in pain and watson being so fucking in love with the man and waxing poetic about falling asleep to his music and waking up to see him fallen asleep on the couch next to him and oh my god them

They're just really sweet together for such a completely dysfunctional couple so much of the time lol I just. Sherlock being like.

Sherlock half of the time: watson you're fucking stupid. no i won't take care of my personal needs stfu. watson get a goddamn life. watson shut up. watson no one cares about your goddamn opinion. no i need to disturb you in the middle of the night it's for science. hey watson mind if i manipulate mansplain malewife

Sherlock the other half of the time: HELLO SIR YOU ARE MY FAVORITE MAN TO EVER MAN HELLO MAY I SPEND THE REST OF MY DAYS WITH YOU HELLO I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU WE ARE PERFECT MATCHES I LOVE YOU AND I NEED YOU YOURE SO MUCH BETTER THAN ME PLEASE MARRY ME

They're... they certainly are.

ALSO OH MY GOD.

THIS ONE TIME WHEN SHERLOCK WAS JUST PACING AROUND THE ROOM AT 3 AM GOING "IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE >:(((" AND HUDSON LIKE BARGED IN TO COMPLAIN AND THEN WATSON WAS LIKE DUDE YOU GOTTA STOP DOING THIS AND PROCEEDS TO SAY THE LINE "YOU ARE KNOCKING YOURSELF UP, OLD MAN"

BAHGHSFHGRHEWHEWHIFEW

BRB SOBBING

CALLING HIM AN OLD MAN???? KNOCKING HIMSELF UP?? I DONT KNOW WHATS FUNNIER

The main highlight of this part was I have now gotten to see him have a great time watching his homo homie get married

Its so fucking funny.......

I was prepared for a funny reaction by yuumori sherlock's face when he said it lol but. Damn i was really not prepared tbh

watson: I'm engaged!

sherlock: *pained groaning*

watson: do you... not like her?

sherlock: no she's fine she's great you'll be wonderful together bUT I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE ARE HETEROSEXUAL WATSON DO I HAVE TO MARRY MYSELF THEN WATSON? ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE ME MARRY MYSELF.

watson: yeah... yeah... fair, I feel really bad because you did this whole case and I got a girlfriend out of it and all you got was me leaving you alone fuck man im sorry what are you gonna do without me

sherlock, highly sarcastic: dont worry watson I've always got my handy cocaine! *pulls it out and gets high in front of watson just as he's about to leave*

watson: *in fucking agony*

sherlock: good for you!

I DONT EVEN- THIS SCENE KILLED ME MULTIPLE TIMES OVER WHAT

ITS SO GODDAMN NONCHELANT ABOUT IT SHERLOCK IS JUST LIKE YEAH I WILL IN FACT NOT BE MENTALLY HEALTHY IF YOU ARE NOT WITH ME 24/7 BUT WHATEVER YOU DO YOU /S

I'd like to apologize to watson on sherlock's behalf lmao. man is being a bit too codependent on main

The last thing about sign of four I do need to address is yeah, there's the Horrific Amounts Of Racism in that one and the whiplash hearing it is just ridiculous because they seem to be so knowledgeable in all other areas and fairly... politically correct, taking sherlock's original misogyny as a purposeful character flaw, but then they just mention someone indigenous once and suddenly its all parrotting racist propaganda and just... really awful shit. There's no way I'm gonna speak for the group that just got absolutely hate crimed here but anyone can tell the author just has no clue what he's fucking talking about and it's physically painful.

And I don't know, it's just so bad it seems out of character? Doyle's making these motherfuckers say shit that honestly, Sherlock would know better about. And especially Watson. Come on, you cannot tell me watson is mentally capable of being prejudiced against someone. Please do not make him that way.

I'm not sure how to handle it specifically, or what's the proper way I should handle something like that in a media I otherwise like. Is it ok to say Doyle was clearly a piece of shit on the matter and separate those characters from his bias or is that insensitive?

I don't know, I was Not a fan of it and I'm glad to see they've at least finally shut up about the guy

But anyway yeah, uhhhh onto the short stories because I'm trying to read those before I get to the final problem

Scandal in Bohemia was a fucking ride, first of all, before we even get to Sherlock's girlboss arc we have to discuss how gay the whole situation was and how Doyle's attempt at making them less gay failed spectacularly

Like he's all "ah yes I need to marry off watson and uhhh make sherlock ummmm interact with a woman so they dont look gay" but he does it SO BADLY that it makes them look EVEN GAYER

cause i mean, even the conversation they had about watson getting married back in sign of four was gay af, but how Doyle handled things afterward was in no way straighter.

Cause you know, the man kind of wrote himself into a corner with the fact of Watson narrating these stories. So Watson has to be around to witness them, and to witness Sherlock's own thought process rather privately, so he has to be around sherlock at night, a lot. But trying to come up with a reason for that happening just... it didn't occur to Doyle. He just went. Ah yes this makes sense. And it's Watson just like Sleeping Over At Sherlock's like every other goddamn day and every time his wife leaves town and having them basically still live that cute domestic home life but they have absolutely no excuses for doing it anymore. It's quite funny

Like it was gay already the way they interacted when they officially lived together but it was like, a necessity for them. Now it's not, Watson just comes over because he goddamn wants to, and it's hilarious to me.

LIKE IDK I THINK THEY KIND OF BROKE UP FOR A YEAR OR SO BC OF WATSON GETTING MARRIED AND THEY LIKE DONT HAVE CONTACT WITH ONE ANOTHER BUT ONE DAY WATSON JUST INEXPLICABLY HAS THE URGE TO COME VISIT SHERLOCK ON NO NOTICE AND THEN SUDDENLY THEY ARE TOGETHER NEAR 24/7 AGAIN LIKE BARELY ANYTHING CHANGED AHIEHOEWH

SIT DOWN AND TRY TO TELL ME THOSE ARE NOT HOMOSEXUALS

Watson walks in on no fucking notice after a full year and Sherlock is just. In the middle of some experiment obviously but hes like

Sherlock, carrying around unidenfiable chemical mixtures: W A T S O N you look good you look good! i see you've gained seven pounds!!

watson: uh. thanks??? Hey lol *awkwardly waves* Uh um Wanted to Uhm sEe you

Sherlock: ABOUT gODDAMN TIME AND YES WONDERFUL LOOK LOOK SIT DOWN I HAVE THINGS TO INFODUMP ABOUT

watson: :) ok :) *turns to camera* and we were back to the old days

sherlock: makes a deduction

watson: wowwwwwwwwwwww !! so true bestie !!

sherlock: !!!!!!!!! :))) !!!!! :))) uh fuck im supposed to be smooth Its Elementary Lol

watson: *turns to camera* when i stroke his ego like this and compliment him he blushes like a girl like i just complimented his dress so i do it more because he likes it. this is a homie trait

watson: well i should probably get going! my wife will notice that i am gone my dear buddy bro homie!

sherlock: NO DONT LEAVE IM LOST WITHOUT YOU (pretty much a direct quote lol) your. wife doesn't. get back home until monday. I know this because I am smart and definitely have not been stalking you.

watson: alright :)))))

AND THEN HE FUCKING SLEEPS OVER LMAO FUCKING HOMOS

So yeah they're right back where they were before pretty much and there's a case bc of course there is

And honestly I think this short story specifically was so insane mostly just because of how absolutely fast it all went. Yuumori kind of made me believe the original Irene Adler was more of an important character than she really is? And I think that's. Honestly so funny. Motherfucker shows up for ten pages, girlbosses her way around town, and changes sherlock's entire opinion of the female gender while still keeping him gay?

LIKE NO LOL SHES NOT IN ANY WAY A LOVE INTEREST AND WATSON GOES OUT OF HIS WAY TO SPECIFY THE FACT THAT IN NO WORLD WOULD THEY HAVE BEEN ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED BECAUSE. SHERLOCK. DIDN'T DATE WOMEN.

HE WAS JUST??? SO IMPRESSED AND SHELL SHOCKED BY HER EXISTENCE HE DECIDED IT WAS TIME FOR GIRLBOSS APPRECIATION DAY TODAY AND ALL DAYS HENCEFORTH???

AND THEY HAVE LIKE O N E INTERACTION?? God, the power this woman(?) has. Watson looks at her once like. damb shawty 😳 and she's like "no<3" and he's like FUCK

Like yeah it's pretty much just the king walking up like "help girl the whore is blackmailing me" and sherlock being like "ok lol this will be easy" and then it proceeded to not in fact be easy or even possible

sherlock like... posed as a dead body and tried to get her to give up the location of the photo but she out-acted him and skipped the town the next day after doing the 'good night mr. sherlock holmes' thing with sherlock completely tricked

and she just. sends a letter like "dear sherlock holmes. you're a fucking idiot and i think it's funny that you lost. nice job tho mad respect" and sherlock just SHORT CIRCUITS

the king comes back a bit later like "hey Dude where's my Photo" and sherlock's like oh yeah uhhhhhhhhhhh about that and the king is like HOW COULD IT POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN THAT GODDAMN HARD i would have dated someone more noble if she wasn't so pretty i swear im on a whole different level from her

and then. GIRLBOSSIFIED SHERLOCK HOLMES RESPONDS "from what I have seen of the lady, she seems indeed to be on a very different level from your majesty" ABSEHHESHEFHHFES ROASTED

and the dude just LEAVES

After that I read a few more of the short stories and well the highlights I got from that pretty much were these conversations

Watson: sherlock. honey. have you. eaten anything today

Sherlock: IT DIDNT OCCUR TO ME DEAR WATSON

Watson: ITS FIVE PM

and:

Sherlock: *having one of his Moment Moments at three in the goddamn mornig* GRRRR CRIME ISNT WHAT IT USED TO BE

Watson: MY DEAR SHERCOCK WHAT IS CRIME S U P P O S E D TO BE LIKE ACCORDING TO YOU

Sherlock: no one's original anymore fucking copycats

Watson: so you want the criminals to make things harder for you specifically.

Sherlock, exasperated: yes!

I love them your honor.