u/mikewheelerfan

Hey! I’m back with another cosplay question, lol. I think I’ve managed to find every part of the outfit…except the racquet. Technically I don’t need one, but it would be a cool prop. The problem is, actual lacrosse sticks are really expensive. Especially the goalie version (I’m going as Andrew). Is there a cheap version out there? Or if not, how did y’all DIY your racquets?

Spoilers ahead!

So, I just finished The King‘s Men. I loved it. I’m not sure whether this one or The Raven King is my favorite in the series. But I can’t help feel like the later events were a bit…rushed? Once Neil got kidnapped, I looked at the amount of pages left and my heart just sunk. I genuinely thought the Foxes weren’t going to make it to finals, because it didn’t seem like there was time for that. Then the kidnapping went by surprisingly fast. Obviously it couldn’t have lasted for too long, because Neil would have been irreversibly damaged. But I just expected a bit more meat. And that’s my main complaint with everything after the kidnapping: I wanted “a bit more meat.”

I know you can only describe Exy games in writing in so many before it gets boring, but I really expected more description for the last few games of the series. Especially the finals. And then there’s like NO content after the finals, just a short epilogue. I really did want a little bit more than that. To be fair, everything is resolved, which is more than I expected. Except…I guess we never hear the result of Aaron’s trial, right? And I feel like Neil‘s injuries should have still been impacting him during the games against USC and Edgar Allen, but whatever.

I don’t think the conclusion was bad, by any means! But imo, the book really would have benefited from at least 50 more pages.

I’ve been doing a bit of research into this, but not too much. Basically, I HATE communal bathrooms. I could never last a full year in communal bathrooms. Even staying in dorms for a week with communal bathrooms is torture. I’d like to specifically point out Weaver Hall as a dorm I’d rather stay in jail than live in. Jesus, fuck that dorm. I could barely handle it for the few nights I stayed there. Also, riding that elevator was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.

Anyways, I would really prefer for the dorm to be included in the Florida Prepaid plan. But I know that limits my options a lot. I also would kill for a single, but know that’s basically impossible as a freshman.

What are going to be my best choices?

I’ve heard pretty horrible things about CLAS advising. Unfortunately, my desired major is in CLAS. My second choice major is CALS, and I’ve heard they have better advising, and they seem to have more opportunities. But I really do greatly prefer the CLAS major, and it would lend better to my future career. Is CLAS advising really that bad? And will I regret choosing the CLAS major instead of the CALS one? (I plan to minor in the CALS major btw)

I’m sick with what I think is a cold right now. I had a fever yesterday, but it went away today. But I still feel absolutely horrible. I wondered why, because my only symptom left is congestion. But then I realized my heart rate has been abnormally high the whole day. And standing up feels much worse than it usually does. I think the sickness might be exacerbating my POTS symptoms. Has this happened to anyone else before?

So, Ado actually went to a city only two hours away from me for her tour in 2025. But, at that time, I was a very casual fan who had only heard a few songs. And I had no clue the concert was happening. I only really got into Ado a few months later. Now, I know it’s going to be a while before she comes back for a full US tour. But does anybody have any predictions?

So I was in my living room, when I saw a board game I’ve never seen in my entire life before. My heart started to speed up, thinking maybe I had mini-shifted? Or my mom had just moved stuff around. I had to ask my dad to be sure.

My dad said “What do you mean? That’s always been there. We’ve played it before.” And I was like “WHAT?!” My heart was beating like crazy.

And then my mom said it’s been up in the attic for years, and she just brought it down. I still don’t remember playing it, but I guess bad memory strikes again 🫩

Hello everybody! I’ve decided that I want to go as an AFTG character this Halloween, and for all the cons I visit. However, I need help with two things: choosing which character to cosplay, and collecting some of the materials.

For the character, I’m stuck pretty evenly between Neil, Andrew, and Kevin. I genuinely just can’t decide. So ATP I’m going to provide a brief physical description of myself so y’all can see who I fit best. I would just look this up, but I’m only 100 pages into Book 3 and am terrified of getting spoiled by looking anything up lmao. Basically, I’m a woman (but fine with cosplaying male characters). I’m 5’6”, have relatively short hair I can easily fit in a wig, and I’m white. Like extremely pasty white. My eyes are hazel, and I‘m too scared to put contacts in, so they’re staying that color. This also means I wear glasses during my cosplays, but whatever. Anyways, my makeup skills aren’t that good. I’ve seen fanart of Neil with scars, and I don’t think I could draw those. But I definitely can do Kevin’s “2” tattoo. Please make a decision for me 🙏🏻

Okay, for the materials. I have no clue where to start, but I want to get an outfit and a racquet. I don’t think I can bring a metal racquet to cons, so preferably plastic. I‘ve heard a lot of stuff is on AliExpress. But I’m a minor, and my mom doesn’t trust any sites like AliExpress. Maybe I can talk her into buying off there if it’s my only choice. Since I’m a minor, my mom doesn’t like me spending a ton on costumes. I try to keep it within $100, but I know that will be hard. Maybe I can go a bit over and pay the difference myself.

I’m not the best at DIY. I could try to paint a racquet the correct colors, but that’s probably where my skills end, lol. Anyways, links to products would be amazing, but I’d also just love a nudge in the right direction. Thank you so much ❤️

After starting it in May and finishing it in mid July, I have finally finished uploading this fic! I hope y’all enjoy. Thanks to my betas, who I found on this sub!

Title: My Life & My Knife, To Carve It Out (Your Life)

Author: MikeWheelerFan

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84077801/chapters/221686391

Word Length: 45,847 (10/10 chapters)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, major character death (not Will or Hannibal), self harm, mildly dubious consent, and mental breakdowns. Chapter 7 is the goriest chapter, and also the one with self harm.

Description: Hannibal Lecter was always fascinated with the idea of becoming God, controlling the cycle of life and death. While in Florence, inspiration struck. Using the organs and body parts of various victims, he built a man. Gave him a name, personality, story…and a soul. Hannibal sent Will Graham away to live his fabricated life, knowing their paths would cross once more. When they did, their deadly dance would be breathtaking…

***

Hannibal created Will using various body parts, Frankenstein-style. This has many canon-divergent consequences for the both of them.

About Me: I already answered the questions in the first post. But just for fun, I will say what I’m writing next. I will eventually be writing a fic where Will really is the Copycat Killer without realizing it! I hope to co-write it with one of my betas from this fic. I was shocked when I couldn’t find any fics like this, even after this sub. And write what you want to see in the world, you know? So be on the lookout for that…at some point in time. Idk when yet, especially since I’m staring a long Spider-Man fic.

I was hanging out with a friend the other day, and we started talking basically about all our Stranger Things grievances and how we would change the story to fix them. One we both agreed on was that Billy wasn’t a good choice for the Head Flayed. There’s already too many characters, so bumping him up to a main one just exacerbates the problem. He should have stayed a relatively minor character. And his redemption arc does NOT feel earned.

That’s just our opinion. You don’t have to agree, maybe you even love Billy as the Head Flayed. But, if you don’t (or maybe even if you do), who else would you choose as the Head Flayed?

My suggestion was actually Mike. He would make sense for the Mind Flayer to target, because El is so close to him. And it would actually give him something to do. His characterization is butchered after S2, and it feels like he has nothing to do as well. This would fix that. Even if he died, he would at least have gone out with a bang. But I think there would also be an option to keep him alive and have a storyline showing his guilt and trauma over this experience.

I found my friend’s suggestion to be very interesting. She liked the idea of Karen being the Head Flayed. She said it often feels like the parents are just there as accessories so the kids actually have parents (Joyce is the exception, obviously). This would give Karen’s character something to do other than cheat on her husband with a teenager. And it would give Mike something to do, too.

What do y’all think of these suggestions? Who would you choose?

No spoilers for Book 3, please!

But I just finished Book 2 and I NEED to talk to somebody about it. But nobody I know has read the series, and I can’t go on Tumblr or anything because that has spoilers for Book 3 and the spinoffs. Would anybody here be willing to yap about the first two books with me? 🤣

Hi everybody! I’m definitely not a frequent user of the DBOX seats. I think they’re pointless for most movies. The only movie I’ve ever used DBOX for is Across The Spider-Verse, and that was an amazing experience. The web slinging was especially great, and I had my seat on max settings the whole movie. Since I loved that so much, I decided I would get DBOX seats for my second viewing of Brand New Day. I want to know if the DBOX is good for that movie. And how does it compare to Spider-Verse?

The UF Honors Program’s mission is to connect, nurture and engage the next generation of scholars who change the world. How do you envision yourself contributing to this mission? Consider the people, experiences, resources, and aspirations that have shaped your journey thus far and your future plans.

This is infinitely better than last year’s in my opinion

When the tour dates initially came out, I was DEVASTATED. All the locations I could drive to were during an event I had. And I missed the Trilogy Tour as well, which just put more salt in the wound. But…then my circumstances changed. I had been expecting to get a position at this event, which would have meant I stayed for a few extra days. But then I didn’t get this position. And the Orlando date was the last day of the event…and the activities ended in the afternoon. Since I’m in Florida, the timing was possible.

Even though I found out I would be able to go literally the day before the concert, I was able to get tickets!!! And my bad mood from not getting my the position just melted away. It genuinely felt unreal, even once the concert started. I think it actually took me a few songs to even believe that I was there. Because after months of disappointment, I actually fucking had tickets and was there in the stadium. They weren’t even bad seats either. I won’t say my exact section, but I was on the “2” level. I would have preferred to be closer, but I could still see everything well. Which is shocking for $50 the day before the concert. To make matters even better, I had won a $100 gift card at the earlier event I was able to use for merch. I got two shirts at the merch truck. Since I got there before the doors opened, there was only like a 10 minute wait. I was so glad to eliminate the stress from trying to get merch inside the venue. Then I immediately put one shirt on, since I didn’t have time to get an elaborate outfit (I did have my Portals shirt though).

Melanie has improved SO much since the Portals Tour. Literally everything was a massive step up. This tour is so impressive. I watched a recording online back when I thought I wouldn’t be able to go, and even that didn’t ruin my experience. Because this is something that can only be fully experienced in person (sorry European fans 😭). And the crowd was so good too! Especially the guy who got brought on for Avoidant. He slayed so hard.

I’ve heard some bad experiences on this sub, but everybody I met was so nice! Even though I didn’t have any items to trade, I got multiple bracelets and other handmade items for completely free. And all the people I talked to were so sweet and excited to be there. It was great. Maybe everybody was more chill in my section because we had no chance of rushing the B stage, lol.

My mom got a ton of video for me, since I wanted to live in the moment. I know I will be revisiting those videos over and over again! And the full recordings people have put out online. I already found one from the Orlando show on YouTube, shockingly.

I can’t lie…I started jumping up and down for THE VATICAN. But there was nobody behind me, so I felt like it was okay for me to do this. I just hope I wasn’t the annoying teenage fan that Melanie’s concerts are notorious for. I tried to not be too loud while singing along, especially since my section wasn’t full at all.

What’s funny is that Melanie confirmed she was touring in 2027 and 2028 when I was literally already in my seat. Maybe I wouldn’t have gone to this one if I had known that. But I am SO glad I did. And I will absolutely be there for the next tours she does!

Thanks to Melanie for making this one of the best nights of my life!

I’m getting a bit upset about this. Months ago, I believe literally at the beginning of the year, I put one of those really cheap deposits/polls down on a Doki Doki Cosplay. I planned to use it for my Halloween costume and cosplay. But it’s months later, at the when I need to start thinking about my Halloween costume, and still not a peep. The poll was successful, so they should have made it by now. Should I ask for a refund at this point? Because it seems like it definitely won’t get here in time for Halloween, or even be produced by then.

I remembering being about 14 or 15 years old, in the YA section of my local Barnes & Noble. I was perusing the titles, looking for something good. That’s when I saw a book called “I Hunt Killers.“ I don’t know what drew me in. The title was a bit cringy, the cover kinda ugly. But then I read the tagline. “What if the world’s most notorious serial killer…was your dad?”

I’ll admit it: I was hooked. I bought the book and immediately cracked it open. And it was genuinely amazing. I tore through that story so fast, even when it made me squeamish and I could barely read some of the descriptions. I immediately put the two sequels on hold at the library, but they weren’t ready in time for an out of town multi-day event. Waiting to read the sequels was agony. When I got back, I read both 500 page books in a day each. And then I read them again about a year later. And I just read them for the third time recently. I genuinely love this series. I think it’s what jumpstarted my love for serial killer stuff, too. I never would have watched Dexter or Hannibal without reading this book. And now those are two of my favorite shows.

Without spoilers, here’s the concept. Jasper “Jazz” Dent is the son of the most notorious serial killer in the world, who was arrested a few years ago. He trained Jazz to be the best serial killer ever. His childhood was spent learning how to dispose of bodies and avoid the police. In the few years of freedom he’s had, he’s tried to live a normal life. But then a dead body pops up in his small town. She was murdered, and Jazz is worried he will be the main suspect. So he has to find the killer to prove that he hasn’t become just like his father. There’s a lot more I can say, but I don’t want to get into spoiler territory.

When I found out there was a sequel, I was utterly ecstatic! A sequel didn’t seem very necessary to me, but the original series did set up the potential of one, so I was super excited. I immediately ordered it, and reread the original series in preparation, because I couldn’t find any good summaries online. I was so prepared to absolutely love this book. And then…I didn’t. I still liked it, don’t get me wrong. But I have to admit that I was disappointed with Every Hunter Is Hunted.

But, before I can continue, I will say this: PLEASE READ THE ORIGINAL I HUNT KILLERS SERIES BEFORE READING THIS NEW BOOK OR MY REVIEW.

Every Hunter Is Hunted (which I will now shorten as EHIH), is a sequel to the original series. But it also functions as a standalone. The author’s goal was to make this an adult book that could be read independently of the original YA series. This means EHIH has to explain all the backstory…and in doing so, it spoils basically every plot twist from the original series. Now, a lot of these were easily predictable, but I don’t want any people interested in the OG series to be spoiled. So please read the trilogy first if you’re interested in this one. And honestly, I think I can only recommend this book if you liked the original series.

It’s kind of strange, in that way. If you enjoyed the I Hunt Killers series (henceforth referred to as IHK), you will appreciate EHIH more. But the main reason I was disappointed with EHIH is because the original series set such high standards for me. And then I felt let down when this new book didn’t meet those standards. So is EHIH simultaneously more enjoyable if you’ve read IHK…but also probably more enjoyable if you haven’t. It’s in a “sweet” spot where everybody loses.

SOME SPOILERS FOR THE NEW BOOK BELOW. I think I’ve mostly avoided spoilers for the original series, though. And I haven’t spoiled anything major for EHIH.

Okay, here’s my main problem with the book: Jazz’s voice. Or I guess Jasper, as he no longer wants to be called Jazz. I’m kind of “whatever” on that change. What I’m not “whatever” on is the complete 180 in Jazz’s voice and POV style. In IHK, his POV is filled with what‘s almost dark humor. He’s constantly thinking about death and killing people. His father’s voice and teachings always haunt him, routinely showing up in his head. Jazz is worried he’s a sociopath and is faking all his emotions. He’s constantly manipulating people. He can think just like a serial killer because he was taught to be one. And above all else: he’s terrified that he will become a killer. He has a war within him, one where he doesn’t want to become a killer, but part of him rushes to that idea like a siren’s song. Jazz’s moral dilemma is perhaps the most interesting part of IHK. He’s a very Dexter-esque character, and that’s what makes him so unique. I personally think Jazz’s voice is the best part of IHK.

And then we have Jasper in EHIH. This version of Jasper is eight years older, and is trying to heal and become normal. In the previous series, he defeated his urge to become a killer. He’s also working with his therapist to stop manipulating people so much. He no longer thinks about death and killing so often, and is worried he’s can no longer get into the headspace of a serial killer. This all makes sense from a character development perspective. Unfortuanely, it commits the sin of being BORING. Practically every single unique aspect of Jasper’s character has been sucked out of him with a straw, and now he’s left as just being a traumatized character trying to recover. We’ve all seen that before. IHK was unique because Jasper was unique. Now he feels like any other mystery protagonist.

Honestly, EHIH could just be any crime/mystery novel. It feels very generic and somewhat formulaic. Replace Jasper as the protagonist and I don’t think much changes. Which is absolutely insane. IHK always revolved around Jasper, and it would have fallen apart if you replaced him. I can’t say the same about EHIH. It’s advertised as a “Jasper Dent mystery,” but Jasper is a different person and the tone is completely different. Even the beloved characters from the original series (like Howie and Connie) barely show up in this one, instead replaced with side characters who don’t do all that much. And their a scene definitely is missed. Jasper is now the most important character by far, and the sole POV character, unlike Game and Blood of My Blood (book 2 and 3 of IHK). He’s carrying this novel on his back. But does his character have the strength and depth to do that anymore? Well…kind of. He hasn’t been completely butchered, but I really miss the old Jazz.

Speaking of the tone, this book is adult instead of YA. And you can tell. The overall tone is more mature with less humor, and the author uses a larger lexicon. However…IHK actually feels way darker. EHIH is shockingly tame. The killer of this novel, named Bridekiller, doesn’t have that intense of a method. He murders brides on their wedding night. Which is crazy, but all he does is stab them. And we only see one kill throughout the events of the novel. One! The first IHK book, which is a similar length, had about four (if I remember correctly). And they actually described the bodies. In this one, Jasper just walks into the crime scene, goes “oh shit he’s killing redheads in addition to brunettes now,” and immediately leaves. That’s it. Maybe it’s a bit strange to say I want more blood and gore. But that’s what the IHK series always provided. It really pushed the boundaries of what could be considered YA. EHIH is more adult in tone, but almost feels less adult in content than its predecessor. That’s so incredibly strange to me.

And, because there’s only one kill, the plot moves pretty slowly. I was initially disappointed at it only being 280 pages, but now I understand why it’s not any longer. I think there were more opportunities to flesh the story out, show more of Bridekiller’s kills. But that just never happens.

A quick note about Bridekiller’s identity: very, very obvious. But most of IHK’s twists and identities have been pretty predictable in the past, so that’s not an issue for me.

The one thing I will give this book is that it seems like it’s setting up an incredibly interesting sequel. Billy Dent has been calling FBI centers around the country…what is he doing? Well, Jasper is going to find out. And, after spending an entire novel fighting his affinity to serial killers, Jasper is finally accepting the fact that he’s deeply connected to them. This is all promising, and lends itself to a much better and more interesting sequel. If EHIH ends up being basically a filler book inbetween two great books, that’ll be okay.

And it’s not like this book sucks. Like I said at the beginning, I actually did enjoy the read, and I finished it very quickly. I know I’ve spent the whole reviewing tearing into down with basically nothing good to say about it. But I can’t help it. IHK is one of my favorite series ever, of course I’m going to compare the two. And, yes. EHIH is worse than IHK. That doesn’t make it bad. It just has some big shows to fill. And if you think you’d enjoy a somewhat generic crime novel, you will like this one. Just be sure you know that’s what you’re getting into.

But, even if you don’t read EHIH, I am begging you: read IHK! It is criminally underrated and the fandom is tiny. Please join us 🤣

I’m sure I have more to say, but I can’t think of it right now. I might edit this post or add stuff in the comments later. Bye for now!

A few years ago, I got blocked by an author for the dumbest reason possible: being on the opposite side of a ship war. This honestly hurt, because I had left super long loving comments on each chapter of the fic. The author even shouted me out as a beloved reader, until they found out about my shipping preferences when I gave them my Tumblr (they also blocked me on that site). But I moved on with my life and basically forgot about it…until now. I read an awesome fic and tried to leave kudos, but the button just wasn’t there. And it said I was blocked by the author. I checked their profile, and sure enough, it was that author from a few years ago. I’m honestly just really sad I can’t even show my love for the fic ☹️

Well, at least I can still bookmark it…