#cicada's reread

[cicadagaze]

man. cloudstar is really such a tragic character. he did everything he could. he tried and tried. but in the end none of that really mattered, did it? doomed and cursed by the narrative

[jce93]

thry have the perfect sun/moon dynamic but u guys arent ready to hear that js yet 🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫

[mollypaup]

she buried the cicada....

[koszmarnybudyn]

Sooo I've been rereading To Put The World Between Us once again... and I finally got around to drawing stuff for it yay. The unidentified corpse apron is my personal favorite.

@stained-glass-cicada thank you for writing it, it's really good and i hope to actually draw a full piece for it :]

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - April 28 - Week 17

Hello, friends, hopefully you had a great week! Here’s what I read this week--I revisited a favorite by Sineala. Check it out and be sure to leave comments/kudos if you enjoy it! 

~ 

Safe Haven by gottalovev, zappedbysnow

It's been three months since the Battle of New York. Four since Steve woke up in the future. Everything is still too fast, too bright, too glib. And then, as if it wasn't enough, Steve is dragged through a portal into an alternate universe. Other Him is happy, though, and that feels like hope.

my thoughts: I love Steve realizing he could and should be happy. The hope that he was given by someone else is just--so lovely to me.

Cicada Days by Captain_Panda

The serum's failing. Overwhelmed by the implications, Steve runs.

Tony Stark catches up to him. And then he puts his foot on the gas pedal.

Because nothing says summer love like a road trip.

my thoughts: come for the angst and stay for ironbound the shark. This has been on my tbr for a while because i KNEW it would hurt me, and it did. And it was lovely.

he's written mine on my upper thigh by meidui

If Tony really wanted to set boundaries, he wouldn’t be picking up Steve’s call this late at night.

If he didn’t want this ill-advised romp with Steve to go any further, he wouldn’t have been on his couch reading a book Steve left behind the one night Morgan is away at a sleepover; he would be on a date with someone his age, someone who isn’t his goddamn babysitter.

my thoughts: i'm obsessed with the way that meidui writes babysitter!Steve. He's so needy and lovely and unapologetic in his devotion to Tony, and Tony 'trying to do the right thing' Stark needs to just get onboard.

the only love i haven't screwed up by meidui

When Steve wakes up from the ice, there’s somebody waiting for him. He's handsome, and older, and he tells Steve that they're soulmates and he's waited all his life to find him.

my thoughts: the way that this soulmate fic plays out is heartbreaking and lovely.

Thrust Issues by Sineala for phoenixmetaphor

A battle gone wrong leads Tony to the unexpected and pleasant discovery that Steve is much more well-endowed than he could ever have imagined. But when Tony learns that Steve has never actually been able to sleep with anyone because of his size, Tony does what any good friend would do: he offers to relieve Steve of his virginity. Personally. Tony's determined, Tony's methodical, and Tony has a plan. He's going to get Steve laid. Tony just needs to make sure Steve never finds out that Tony's in love with him.

my thoughts: Sineala always hits just right with her Steve and Tony and I absolutely adored my reread of this one, how Steve is trying so hard to make this MORE and how Tony just--cannot fathom that Steve would ever want to date him. The 'you're straight' scene is honestly so fantastic.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Ooh! I just rereading love the origin you gave for MK's name

the one where it was the result of confusion during the adoption process? I think @dorothygale123 gave me the idea for that one XD

Here's the post - i got confused thinking they meant it in regards to the Cicada Lily Au (which you and I have also been rambling about together!)

Pigsy and Tang arguing over what name to give the baby, only for the suggestions they typed in to accidentally be sent as is to the legal office as one big multiple word first name. XD

MK's full legal name is a huge mouthful, and he's just been going by MK for the longest time, with "Xiaotian" being his first first name.

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Now that CN is over I need more fics to read (I say as if I'm not in the middle of rereading CN and plan to reread ITYSG(AINLY) again because I'm literally obsessed with your fics). Do you have an recs? Also what's your favorite fics/comfort fics (you can include your own)? I always find it interesting to know what the authors of my favorite fics like to read when they aren't writing.

other than my other fics (babysitting in the apocalypse is my other zhongchi fic), i do have a some zhongchi recomendations! sadly i cannot actually go to my bookmarks atm nor provide direct links. i also don't really remember the authors' names of most of them? and you'd have to like.... save them for later, what with ao3 being down and all;; but here are some off the top of my head if you want to get planning:

(once ao3 gets back up i'll update this list with proper links and the authors' names and maybe more recomendations since i do have many more i just can't remember,,)

○ entirely out of spite by Bgtea - i generally assume everyone's already reading this one given how big it is (and how it was kind of my inspiration for cyanide even tho i never said it), but if you're not, holy shit are you in for a good one. literally anything bgtea makes is wonderful. this one is an au based on the premise of a different story, but you don't need any knowledge whatsoever of it to enjoy and understand eoos (tho consider it if you like the premise, bc it's also really good). the rundown is- a mondern ajax dies and wakes up in the body of tartaglia, the antagonist of genshin impact, a game he'd been playing before kicking the bucket. he is tasked by a weird isekai-anime looking menu to fill in the shoes of the antagonist or else, but he's not technically stopped from altering the story just a tiny bit or being ooc, so he goes about trying to play the tartaglia role without meeting the same end as tartaglia (who dies ingame). it's such a good fic i cannot recommend it enough - it's not complete yet, but the wait for each chapter is more than worth it, and bgtea always does an insane amount of research for everything they post.

○ literally any other zhongchi fic by Bgtea. there's this short one about pulcinella or capitano (i can't remember, it might've been pantalone) selling pictures of childe to increase morale in the fatui (something something pr strategies), that one is hilarious. there's another one about zhongli getting stuck as a dragon and childe taking care of him as the world slowly goes to shit from rex lapis being missing (a comment pointed out it might be called "ajax' adventure with dog-lizard" and it sounds about right for me). another one they have is the autumn winds are sighing i think. that one was posted WAY back, some of the info is a bit outdated, but it's still so, so good. i can't remember what it was all about, but i do remember it involves zhongli going to snezhnaya to meet childe's siblings. the pining and tension on that one is off the roof. i should read it again,,,

○ after everything by Amanveth (i think that's how their username is written,,) - literally palate cleansing fluff. there's really good angst as well but it's overall just very sweet and soft, very much a feel-good fic. it's about zhongli and childe going back to being friends after the events of the archon quest and slowly realizing they're in love. it's still ongoing but it updates shockingly fast, and it's a nice little thing to read before going to sleep.

○ the white cicada society by clementinesgulag. still ongoing i think, but i have paused reading it for reasons unrelated to the fic itself, so i can only really atest to the frist arc of it? but holy fuck is the first arc good. the angst is godly in this one, and i'm always a sucker for a good horror mystery. this one is about the gritty and slow reconciliation of post-archon quest zhongli and childe as they investigate a series of awful murders and terrifying paranormal shit (i'm pretty sure) going on in the city. (it might be revealed to not be paranromal later in the fic as that partiuclar plotpoint hadn't yet resolved when i paused it at the end of the first arc, but i wouldn't know. wouldn't make it any less good if it wasn't tho)

○ death became him by Merianon. also still ongoing i think, but part of the many fics i have paused reading for reasons unrelated to them (i have... way too many saved,,,). this one is about childe going back in time after dying and waking up as a god, and the fic starts there, so it's about how the events of the game go with childe as a god and not in the fatui. i can't remember all that much about it tbh, but i remember i really liked it, the concept was so interesting. i'm waiting for it to end.

○ a sight for sore eyes by ToumeiKyoudai. still ongoing afaik, but i paused reading it as of very recently (again for reasons outside of the fic). this one is the events of the game except childe is legally blind. you have no idea how interesting and hilarious this fic is, the premise is so simple but it's so nicely executed. i can't really say all that much more about it since it's basically just that- it's a retelling but childe's blind. and he's so fucking funny. it's all so fucking funny, and the worldbuilding is stellar, and i just really really like it i can't explain why exactly. it's not a comedy! but fuck it's so entertaining.

i have so many more that i wish i could put here but i'm not 100% confident in their titles nor which fic was which (happens when you have a ton bookmarked but have paused reading a lot of them), so i don't want to risk saying this fic is one thing when in reality it's something else completely different,,,

these last two i put below for reasons i'll explain in each of their blurbs, but they're still as recomended as those above!

○ lungs full of roses, by SecretlyACatLady. if this is the title (and i'm 99% certain it is, but i can't check), then this is hands down the BEST hanahaki angst i've ever read. i'm not kidding. this one is very specific in its angst tho, and i gather likely not what everyone is looking for in a hanahaki fic, but holy fuck. basically childe gets hanahaki here but knows he cannot afford to have anyone find out he has it (bc fatui) and also not that he died from it, i think? might be mistaking that particular plotpoint for another fic. anyway- he leaves liyue but zhongli goes to look for him bc he's confused and just wants to apologize for the whole tsaritsa's contract and all. it gets out of hand real quick when the ppl of mondstadt try to help by acting as pushy wingmen and it's so GOOD holy fuck. i've never liked when other characters try to push the main pair together and act all 'just kiss already we all know!' around them, and seeing it backfire as horribly as it could if it were a realistic scenario (tho enhanced bc childe) is so incredibly satisfying. the reason why i put it down here is 1) i'm not 100% sure that's the title and 2) if it hasn't been abandoned, it's been in hiatus for a while now. which is hearbreaking, but it's also such a good fic that i'd honestly recommend it regardless if only for the angst at the start. but i understand not everyone is in for something like that if it doesn't resolve/likely won't resolve (idk if it's abandoned tho but i understand that if a fic takes too long to update, people will fear the worst). so yeah,,

○ non-playable character, by Jouicifer. this one is here exclusively because i'm a sucker for horror mystery - it doesn't mean the zhongchi isn't good, but it's not as prevalent in the plot as in white cicada (another horror mystery), so i can't exactly put it with the other more zhongchi-centric fics? not that the zhongchi isn't here, but. hard to explain. this one is also hard to explain in general, i'm not sure if it's based on the premise of another story or if this is a highly-secific trope/sub-genre in china (i think?), but the author refers to it as 'unlimited flow', so look it up if you want to be sure. either way, much like with eoos, it doesn't matter if you know anything about whatever that might be to enjoy and understand the story. the rundown is childe and a bunch of other people are players in this sort of virtual-reality scenario hopper, where they get put in 'games' with other players where they can die (tho idk if die die irl as well). basically, in the newest scenario they get thrown into, it's a horror murder mystery about a haunted mansion, and their guiding npc is zhongli, whom childe has met in another scenario and whom he is an absolute simp for. god idk how to explain it, it's just so good; but you need to be there for the plot first and the ship second. the ship is there! it's just the plot takes presedence. but holy fuck is the plot good. the reason why it's down here, like lungs full of roses, isn't bc of the plot or the ship being secondary, but... well, it's also been in hiatus for a long while now. to this fic's credit in particular, it was in a long hiatus before, but updated! out of nowhere! and then it went into its current hiatus, so. again, i understand people don't like that, but i'm a patient person so i'm willing to keep it in my bookmarks for as long as it takes (and forever if it gets abandoned). it's just THAT good. and since there's not much horror murder mystery in this fandom (or in fics in general), i'll take whatever i can get. the mystery is good in this one, so it helps.

(edit: added some authors and a fic title, thank you archon-of-chaos and redwormonastring!)

[liminalmemories21]

Fuck it Friday

tagged by @jesuisici33. Thank you!

I really don't know that this is going anywhere, but I've reread my way through more RWRB fic in the last week than I care to admit to, and this came to me last night.

In an ideal world Alex’s wedding would be in late Spring at the lake house, air warm and the hum of cicadas in the background.  They’d serve slow cooked bbq, and mountains of tamales.  They’d hire a local band to do the music, and later in the evening when everyone was relaxed and a little tipsy, he and Henry would dance under the Texas stars.  They would invite their friends and family, and it would be easy and relaxed.

In reality Alex knows that no matter what he might want, his wedding will look nothing like that.  While eventually he’s going to stop being the First Son of the United States and the press will stop following him around - Henry is never going to stop being a Prince of England, and fourth in line to the throne.  And his wedding is always going to be a political nightmare of negotiations about which royals will attend and what kind of statement it makes if they do or don't. 

There will be the optics to consider of where they get married since Westminster isn’t an option, and how highly ranked the member of clergy who’s going to attend and give their blessing to the civil ceremony needs to be.  It’s going to be the kind of formal that will probably involve top hats, and a guest list that numbers in the hundreds.  A Prince of England getting married is always news; the gay Prince of England marrying the First Son of the United States is the kind of news that tabloids were invented to cover.

Alex knows  all of that, and asks Henry to marry him anyway.

open tag for whoever wants to take it.

[richincolor]

Title: Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three #2) Author: Joan He Genres: Fantasy, Historical Pages: 368 Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Review Copy: Purchased Availability: Available now

Summary: All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces.

Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along…

Only the heavens know.

Review: [An extensive list of content warnings for Sound the Gong can be found here.]

Sound the Gong is a direct continuation of Strike the Zither, and that strongly affects its structure. This book is paced like the second half of a much longer story rather than as a more traditional sequel, so while the book has its own self-contained plots arcs, it also concludes many plots that were started in the first book. Author Joan He recommends rereading Strike the Zither before reading Sound the Gong, and I heartily second this. Sound the Gong does almost no recap, so if you (foolishly, like me) try to go in without at least reviewing the recap of Strike the Zither, you could be lost quickly. I attempted going in cold and ultimately ended up rereading Strike the Zither instead (which was a lot of fun).

Zephyr continues to be a compelling narrator in her determination to help Ren be victorious in her war, no matter the cost. Zephyr’s strategist mindset is cold and ruthless, and her pangs of conscience don’t often win out against the prospect of victory. Her godhood gives her an edge in some respects, but it also means she can repeatedly suffer in horrible ways. In a note at the start of the book, Joan He wrote, “The reality of war, conversely, remains relevant to this day and is therefore preserved wherever necessitated by the story.” As one of the chief strategists, Zephyr shoulders a significant responsibility for what happened during the war and to the world that was built after it. Her character arc is fascinating, and I loved the ride, even when I was distressed by what she was doing.

In my review of the first book, I noted that there wasn’t much time to develop Zephyr and Crow’s rivalry/relationship; this second book remedied my concerns on that front (in a way that I was not at all expecting but very much enjoyed). Once again, their battle of wits was as cutthroat as it was compelling, and I appreciated that the narrative did not try to sugarcoat the terrible effects their stratagems had on the world in general and directly on each other. I loved where this story took the two of them, and the book’s coda was a wonderful way to explore the effects of their relationship on the world.

In addition to Zephyr and Crow, the wider cast had their moments to shine. I particularly enjoyed the deeper explorations of Ren, Cloud, and Cicada in Sound the Gong and how Zephyr’s views of them changed over the course of the book. Ren and Cloud challenged Zephyr’s view of herself and them, and of the role of a strategist Itself, and the book was all the better for it. I do wish we had gotten more of November, but that is a minor complaint weighed against all the fantastic character development from everyone else.

Recommendation: Get it now if you’re in the mood for a sweeping war novel. Sound the Gong is a strong conclusion to Strike the Zither, providing payoff for Zither’s many setups and exploring what it means to be desperate to win, no matter the cost. Zephyr and Crow’s complicated relationship plays out in unexpected but interesting ways, and Zephyr’s choices and character development are handled masterfully. This duology Is one I will definitely be revisiting.

Extras: Exclusive Interview: Joan He On Sound The Gong

Read an excerpt of Strike the Zither on the publisher’s website

[cicadagaze]

I think Jagged Peak should be allowed to beat the shit out of everyone who's treated him like shit

[chubbs-the-fish]

Will ghost ever grow out of their baby face? Im rereading it (again for the like 5th time) and They seem to want to. I dont think this would be spoilers but?

Ghost will never grow out of their baby face in any work I write.

My reasonings for this is:

a) It's my headcanon that since Ghost and Hollow are technically about the same age, Pale King had to have infused Hollow with Soul to get them to grow into their current size, and also is why their magic attacks are Soul based instead of Void for the most part.

b) it's funnier this way.

They don't actually mind the grub face too much since there are a lot of bug species that spend good chunks of their life as a juvenile phase (think of Cloth, who is supposedly a cicada) the bugs of Hallownest don't necessarily go 'this bug is a child and therefore I must find it's parents to come take care of it'. Instead, it's more of a 'this bug is a child, but also has firm grasps on how commerce works and also is terrifying with the nail, so it's probably just one of those species that the grubs are super independent from an early age and/or most of their life is spent in the grub phase.'

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (21-27 Apr 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 rounding third, sliding home. (througheden) - 68K, enjoyable steddie AU with pro baseball player Steven & massage therapist Eddie

🥰 Daddy Issues (His Boy Next Door #39) (RJ Moray) - reread; just a big fan of Jack & Channon & their ongoing story!

🥰 Common Ground (His Boy Next Door #40) (RJ Moray) - LOVE that Jack & Ewan are finding some common ground - really love that this series is showing how two people who don't particularly care for each other can work to find connection for the sake of the people they DO love

😍 ACT-verse series (ann_anotherthing) - truly outstanding series about middle-aged Steddie getting a 2nd chance romance after their first one flamed out 25 yrs earlier. Full series is 117K but it starts with A Certain Type (54K), which is a fully complete story with satisfying HEA - the rest are flashback fics or wonderfully indulgent epilogue/vignettes, full of fluffy and delicious porn. The author confesses to basically turning them into her middle-aged OCs but 1) I think her projections of their characters in middle-age with these particular life experiences seem reasonably plausible and more importantly 2) I don't fucking care because this story and these characters (main & supporting) are AMAZING.

💖💖 +227K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

When you stop being a ghost in a shell (Bittersweet_in_Boston) - MCU: Stucky, 12K - Hydra finds Steve in 1952 & then they have The Asset and The Captain. Except they really should have known better than to ever let them see one another.

Where the Sunflowers Grow (AidaRonan) - Stranger Things: Buckingham, 30K - incredible Chrissy recovery fic with bonus Buckingham. Just. So Fucking Good.

Early Returns (rageprufrock) - Inception: Arthur/Eames, 15K - fabulous AU where Arthur's an editor who has everything on lock, dammit & Eames is a reporter who wants to mess him up. Also the newsroom is nothing but a high-pressure high school when it comes to gossip.

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Murdoch Mysteries - s16, e14-20

Um, Actually - s9, e5; s1, e3, 4, 6-20

Game Changer - s6, e6

Smartypants - s1, e1

Ghosts (US) - s3, e9

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Untapped Rage" (s21, e16)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Honor the Cock" (s16, e16)

Dead Boy Detectives - s1, e1-3

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #13: Of the Gentle Sea

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep13 "Of the Gentle Sea"

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #14: There is an Ocean Vaster Than This One

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep14 "There is an Ocean Vaster Than This One"

99% Invisible - The Power Broker #04: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

What Next: TBD - The Internet Archive Endangered

⭐ The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tree Week: A Tasty Tale about Meyer Lemons

⭐ The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tree Week: Love Letters

The Sporkful - Priya Krishna Writes The Kids Cookbook She Wished She'd Had

The Allusionist - 193. Word Play 3: Lemon Demon

WikiHole - Cicadas…LIVE (with Matt Rogers, Carl Tart and Claudia O'Doherty)

In Defense of Fandom - Season 2 Episode 3: Fanfiction fixit data

Vibe Check - Her Mediocrity Cannot Touch Me

Code Switch - How Jewish Communities Are Divided Over Support of Israel

Short Wave - Beavers Can Help With Climate Change. So How Do We Get Along?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tree Week: Oh, the places you will go …. to see these notable trees

⭐ Decoder Ring - Making Real Music for a Fake Band

Ologies with Alie Ward - Columbidology (PIGEONS? YES) Part 2 with Rosemary Mosco

All Songs Considered - Cruel songs for the cruelest month

Pop Culture Happy Hour - What Makes A Good Sex Scene?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tree Week: Killer Trees with Mary Roach

Shedunnit - Agatha Christie's Many Houses

⭐ 99% Invisible #579 - Towers of Silence

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat: Sound and Music Talkback Extravaganza: The Sound and the Fury: Music is All Around Us Volume 1

Dear Prudence - My love language with friends is touch, but it makes my partner jealous. Help!

Worlds Beyond Number - Fireside Chat for Chapter 1 of The Wizard the Witch and the Wild One

⭐ Endless Thread - The Jackie Show

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for LEVELING UP (1 to 2)

Today, Explained - Honey, We Saved the Bees

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Renée Elise Goldsberry

⭐ Hit Parade - The Bridge: What Made Them Beautiful

History Is Sexy - Episode #86 - Napoleon III

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

'80s Pop Party

Village People radio

[mydarlinginej]

read my full review of sound the gong by joan he here.

From New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, comes the dazzling and sweeping conclusion to The Kingdom of Three duology, Sound the Gong, the breathtaking sequel to the critically-acclaimed Strike the Zither.

All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces.

Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along…

my review:

After adoring Strike the Zither, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the sequel. I was so nervous to start it though; I got an ARC months and months ago, but I knew Joan was going to break my heart like she always does. Sound the Gong certainly pulls no punches and leaves you stunned by the ending.

This review contains spoilers for book one, Strike the Zither.

Still in Lotus’s body, Zephyr continues to scheme in secret from her place alongside Ren. She’s still facing Miasma as a threat and reeling from the betrayal of Cicada and Crow. But for all her plots, can she really go against destiny and the will of the gods?

I knew that the original idea was to just have one, long standalone book, and I think you can certainly tell that it was split in half here. This book picks up pretty immediately after the first book’s ending, but thankfully the author has written a recap, if you’re like me and don’t have time to reread the first book. This was extremely helpful although I do kinda wish I had reread Strike the Zither anyways just because it would’ve immersed me in the world more.

read my full review here.

[sohcah--toa]

three assassins/grasshopper 2015 things that needed a place to stay

OK so basically... hello Three Assassins/Grasshopper 2015 fandom!!

I am VERY VERY late to everything about this book!! I first picked it up in 2023 during the summer, fell in love and have reread it 5 times now. (also convinced 10 of my friends to read it. one of them did. love her forever. And politely asked my mother to watch it with me, which she said yes to but now never wants my movie recommendations again. You win some you lose some.... at least she liked Asagao!!!)

And if you're randomly strolling upon this post with no idea what this is, PLEASE read it or watch the movie, it is SO good if you don't mind vulgar language and sensitive/gory content.

Other than the book, a movie's been made about it (called Grasshopper グラスホッパー - made in 2015. Grasshopper was the original name for the book but for some reason it got translated into Three Assassins in English though lol!! Both are great :DDDD) and it's practically as good as the original by Mr Kotaro Isaka.

Here are some really brainrotty-strange things that just needed a place to stay regarding both versions of the story... (SPOILERS)

-> Firstly, Cicada has completely different motives (not motives for his job but like... ya know if ya know) in the movie. In Grasshopper, he has this ringing in his ears that he wants to stop, whereas in the book, he's TERRIFIED of being controlled by another person (namely Iwanishi cough cough), especially after watching the film called Oppression by Gabriel Caseau or something among the lines of that.

-- The movie doesn't actually exist hahaha I was so disappointed. Or maybe it does and I just didn't dig deep enough...? Please tell me!!

Ahem anyway...

Cicada is such an interesting character. I think he's 100% Kotaro Isaka's favourite just because he got his own manga series.

YEAH YOU HEARD ME RIGHT CICADA HAS A MANGA SERIES!!

-> It's titled "Waltz" and it's written by both Kotaro Isaka and Megumi Osuga in Maoh: Juvenile Remix. (AKA 魔王 ~JUVENILE REMIX~) It acts as a continuation of Three Assassins, I suppose. It is AMAZING the art is beautiful!!

(I literally could not find the full thing I'm sorry but there's a Reddit thread reviewing the series and it links to the website if you want to read Waltz!! the whole thing revolved around Cicada.)

Also yess he gets a "backstory" here!! We also get full reason to why Grasshopper is titled Grasshopper other than Asagao/the Pusher and Suzuki's interesting musings ;))

-> Did you know that the book the Whale/Kujira was reading is called "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky? (or Преступление и наказание, Фёдор Достоевский)

You probably knew... hahahahaa

But if you didn't, there's a little secret!! It's a wonderful story as well, quite dark although, like, if you're reading Three Assassins...

-> Onto the amazingly written characters and their kind of messed up philosophies:

-- ASAGAO (朝顔) /THE PUSHER:

He believes that humans are like grasshoppers, and they enter a swarming stage when crowded. However, unlike locusts, they can't fly away so they just get more and more aggressive..?? Very interesting, so so so cool!! I love these random things Kotaro Isaka drops in the story. Like, WOAhHH give me a second!?!?

But also somehow, the Pusher is some that seems kind. I don't know, I'd hate to be that person but when he was interacting with the family, I just kept thinking "this could actually be a wholesome family dynamic if only he wasn't the Pusher and Sumire and the kids weren't his employers..." (He has a sense of humour too, isn't that great?? He gives off massive dad energy sometimes and I could have genuinely believed that he was the dad of Kojiro and Kentaro, especially when

-- CICADA (AKA SEMI 蝉)

His thoughts are represented in an uncanny way, because he genuinely is completely unempathetic to humans. You could argue that all the other assassins are the same but like, come on!! Isaka definitely definitely upped it up a notch with Cicada...

He straight up says that "well if we could see humans breathe then it would be harder to hurt them" and compares his job to "you know, it's like when you stop too late at a red light and your car kind blocks the road and you're feeling guilty but it's not that big of a deal". (these are not the actual quotations for OBVIOUS reasons but same energy)

It's hilarious that he likes cats and dogs as well. Everything this guy says is kinda quotable (everything the Pusher says is too, that man is practically a philosopher)

Oh yeah!! And I've got to mention the movie!!

In the movie, Cicada is absolutely unhinged as well but the ending is something else completely!! He gets beat up by the Whale (and the Whale gets beat up by him too) when he goes to Fräulein's headquarters while Iwanishi (more like his ghost) just stands there. Then Cicada cuts his ear off but we don't talk about that.

That turn of event was totally unexpected... I thought the cedar grove ending was cool in the book and extremely ominous but this worked so well too, I loved the Whale and Cicada's dynamic at the end of it where they just drive off together ahaahahah!!

-- SUZUKI (鈴木)

He's just a guy. I may as well be Suzuki in another universe because he is sounds really pathetic in the book sometimes.... don't get me wrong I love him it's just very funny how he fails to do so many things and overthinks everything... I guess it's like, a "THIS COULD BE YOU" moment but not really because he definitely has his own character.

(but also we should respect his dedication for his wife.. this man was willing to GIVE IT ALL UP for her and honestly it's so impressive!!)

OH YEAH AND HE BECAME A CLOWN IN THE MOVIE HAHAHAHA RESPECT!! After all he's been through that's a pretty solid career choice. He's totally precious in the movie though, the scenes with his wife and him are so sweet...

-- THE WHALE (AKA KUJIRA 鲸)

Oooh alright, now this was difficult to place a finger on. The Whale has a really nonchalant attitude to things sometimes and his whole demeanour is just "wahaaaha?!?" because he was so unpredictable. Like, I would not have guessed that he once worked as a newspaper delivery bow and shot his employer.

(oooyayaa but I need to say that the movie kinda changed his backstory and the first person he killed was his father)

OK I MEAN that was a massive connection to the film "Oppression" that Cicada is obsessed with (not in a good way) that Kotaro Isaka just DROPPED on us all of a sudden.

So what does that mean??

He just gives off this feeling that everything is connected. Cicada mentions this a few times as well, since Iwanishi starts quoting some talking scarecrow from a book (what is the book though??!?!). I guess the fact that he compares humans/technology to insects too shows that all the assassins have similar thoughts, which are all properly explained by the Pusher or something... that's merely an interpretation though!! A rather scuffed one at that....

-- HIYOKO

She's not the most important character ever but she's the textbook definition of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. She's so manipulative throughout the entire story and keeps threatening Suzuki with awful stuff... well, she's good at her job, that's that...

On the other hand, it's so interesting how her white skin is emphasised in the book. It's first "porcelain white" (By Suzuki), after it's just "pale white" (by the Whale), then "white like a mannequin" (by Cicada) and finally "her skin seems to have gone past white into a shade of green" (by the Whale when we last actually see her character).

BUT THEN THE MOVIE IS A WHOLE OTHER STORY!!

She is so ghghghgh :"DDD They made her so much more brutal, like she pulls out a weapon at absolutely everything and the scene where her shirt gets splattered with blood- WHAT. That's wild. (

Also her actor is so so so pretty!!)

(look at Suzuki in this picture hahahaha nooo save him)

-- OTHER CHARACTERS

Momo: she has such nice energy in the book and her friendship with Cicada is honestly wholesome sometimes even though they are what they are!! She seems really mysterious honestly and if she ever had a solo spinoff, I would totally read that!! Under appreciated character..

(also her reference to the Bashō poem was hilaRiOus!??)

Suzuki's wife: I don't know why but she's so much less chaotic in the movie, which is hilarious to see because in the book, she's kinda portrayed as someone who has extremely strong beliefs and is quite stubborn. She's still so sweet though!! In Three Assassins (book), she and Suzuki met at a hotel "all you can eat" when she started piling food up on her plate and said "oh I'm on a 1 on 1 battle with myself". This was followed by a really cute ending scene where Suzuki booked a hotel for himself after all the events transpired and basically just did the same thing. But Grasshopper (movie), they replaced everything there and made her bake a cake(?) and Suzuki ate the time capsule at the end. Aahahhh so sweet!!

Kentaro/Kojiro/Sumire: Felt so bad for the little guys, and was so surprised when Kojiro was the one who Suzuki's wife tried to save in the movie. I guess that's what made it so well rounded, because Suzuki ended up getting closure. Kentaro was so adorable too, like grr that football scene!?!? Yeah they had to keep it, even in the movie. It was too wholesome.

Sumire, on the other hand, was a little... CREEPY. Her actor was so so good, what the math!! And in the book, she has schoolgirl energy but this really sinister side to her as well. (I mean she enjoyed seeing Suzuki panic and stuff so why wouldn't she hahaaa)

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This was so much longer than I expected I'm sorry... but thank you very much if you read this war!! That's kinda crazy woaah :"DD oK these are just intrusive thoughts that needed a place to stay. I hope this post reaches some other insane people so they can tell me what they think about everything!!!!! <333

[doyouknowhowtowaltz]

Hiss of cornsilk.

for the unstoppable cat and the immovable forest

it is a simple quote from your work Yank Your Chain that alway catch my eyes while rereading and keep spinning around in my head a lot

Title: Hiss of Cornsilk

Summary: Enoch is a collective, a flock of ravens, a writhing rat king, a swarm of green-backed cicadas, and the Beast has never quite been sure if he is a great singularity split a hundred different ways, or a great conglomeration mutually acting as one.

Then along comes the catskin.

Along comes the maypole.

Tags: The inherent errotisism of being invited into a symbiosis, Colonial Organisms, Playing Fast and Loose with the concept of Personhood, Hive Minds (sort of)

[halfdeadwallfly]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers✨

!!! (I realized too late this is five things, ten ppl :(((( sorry abt that one.... Feel free not to read but I wanted to talk abt them haha )

My acappella group--- I was in a lot of groups and things in high school, and I listened to a lot of sentimental graduation talks about people finding their home and their family in those places. It always made me so sad, because I never did. But even though I'm not close friends with everyone in acappella now, I already feel so much more comfortable and at home with it already than I ever did in high school. I love the people all so much, and I'm so happy to be around them every time we go to rehearsal and every time we perform. Being in acappella has been the highlight of my year honestly, and I'm so grateful for it. I love the music, I love to direct and lead and sing, and the people are just so so so kind. Genuinely. Even when I feel anxious or stressed or I feel like I need to hide, I know that I can work through it, because I really just trust that outside of my own social anxiety, these people are kind and genuine. I love them so much and being around them makes me so happy.

Making flower chains -- pure pure fun. Can do anything you like during. Or nothing. Listen to a podcast. Listen to the buggies. Like down. Run around. Frolick. I love finding a good patch of flowers with long stems, esp if there's multiple kinds, and just really investing myself in them. You can find little buggies and greet them and love them so much when you are in the grass and such, and it is super nice to see them all. My favorites are rolly pollies but I also like snails and slugs a lot and also I think ants are cute and beetles and worms so I always try to help out the worms if they get lost

Writing poetry -- very good to do, do not always recommend rereading. Do recommend taking poetry 1 with [redacted] at my school bc he is the greatest and so kind and helpful. I love writing poetry even if it does make me hate myself for being too pretentious sometimes. Sometimes I like what I write and it is nice to talk about with people and get thoughts and opinions

Reading abt gender theory -- Genuinely life-changing thing taking that intro to wgss class this year lolollll. Maybe it is silly of me, but that class really made me rethink myself and where I want to go with my life. There's so much more that I want to read and learn and I'm almost anxious that I can't do it fast enough

Looking at the stars and clouds -- a good one. It makes me happy. I am very small. Sky is beautiful like art. It's the same and it's never the same. I'm getting tired sky is still up there. Space is very very very cool. Clouds are very very very cool

Cicadas -- BEAUTIFUL CREATURES!!!!! they have been so loud this year and I had to wear headphones outside while watering the plants for a while, but I also get to see all of them out there!!!!!!!!!! And different kinds too!!!! They are so beautiful and lovely and it makes me so happy to see them and hear them too most of the time. When I was little they would always be dying under the trees at recess and the boys would mess around with them when they couldn't fly away, so I had to go make them stop so they wouldn't be dying while being tormented by ten year old boys. I was always very mad when they did that and I'm always still super sad to see cicadas in the midst of dying when they can't fly anymore. But I love their singing and their songs and their nice nice eyes, and I like to pick them up if they let me and have them crawl all over my arms because their legs are sticky and nice. They're the prettiest little bugs and I love them

Melted brie cheese -- yummy.

Putting on pajamas after work -- I work in a warehouse with no ac which is ok but kinda sucks in the summer, esp when it's super humid like it is now where I am. I also package coffee that often is flavored with really strong syrups, and is often ground, so I almost always leave work smelling intensely like pancake syrup (less nice than it sounds after nine hours) and covered in gritty coffee. It's a good job and I like it a lot actually, but boy by the end of a day when the temperature is high, it's super tiring. When I get home I just take off all my work clothes and turn off the lights and lie in the dark, and it's so nice and calming and I really love getting to do that, and relax into a calm cool late afternoon.

Drinking coffee with real cream -- Aka. super duper yummy. I get to work before everyone else in the morning, so I make the first coffee pot and I always make me and the other early packaging person's fav blend, and it's basically my favorite part of the morning, watching the sun rise while the coffee brews and coming back to my work area to greet the morning window spiders. At home in the summer, I love making iced coffee with milk and adding just an eeeeensy bit of cream, it's so tasty and it makes it all nutty and buttery and rich, and it brings out all the good flavors.

Listening to podcasts -- thank you podcasts you make me so happy. Right now thank you tanis for driving me insane and thank you wolf 359 for helping me feel calm and safe when I'm stressed. Special thank you to zach valenti because his voice in particular is like really soothing and anyway that sounds weird but like you know what I mean. Past thank you to potterless for getting me into podcasts and referring me to the bright sessions, which was the first audio drama I listened to and got sooo into. Special thank you to lauren shippen for being like my favorite podcaster ever oh my gosh, and honorable mention to briggon snow for being in so many of those lauren shippen related shows. Thank you wtnv for coming near me so I could see the attic. Thank you to literally every show I've listened to. Basically everybody in my life thinks the podcast thing is kinda weird and laughs a bit when I get too into it, but honestly this is like. A really important thing to me now. I love podcasts a lot and they make me very very happy to get to listen to