Some vibes of this book remind me of Piranesi! The capitalization of certain nouns, the mysterious main character, the general feeling that there's a big Something we don't know yet that is very slowly coming into focus. But with a murder-mystery twist!

This passage singlehandedly pulled me out of an existential crisis:

It can even happen that one of these unhappy persons is not only honest but even kind, the providence of his family, who by his labor supports and provides not only for his own but even for others—and what then? All his life he is unable to be at peace! For him, the thought that he has fulfilled his human obligations so well brings neither peace nor comfort; on the contrary, that is even what irritates him: “This,” he says, “is what I’ve blown my whole life for, this is what has bound me hand and foot, this is what has kept me from discovering gunpowder! If it hadn’t been for that, I’d certainly have discovered either gunpowder or America—I don’t know what for sure, but I’d certainly have discovered it!”

Though plenty of society make fun of Prince Myshkin, "the idiot," plenty of times Dostoevsky also points out the ridiculousness of society as well. Here, it's the people who may do a great job already at supporting their family and others, and yet are disgruntled that they lost the chance to "discover gunpowder or America" and do some deed that'll really make them stand out.

I feel similarly at times - "have I been wasting my life going to and from my job, spending time with loved ones, not discovering a cure for cancer or writing a bestseller or becoming famous?" And while I certainly hope humanity does find a treatment for cancer, that's besides the point. Sometimes the most noble and "best" thing you can do is to spend your time with loved ones and provide for others however you can, and be at peace with that. Your life is not wasted if you do those things well, and don't necessarily win the Nobel prize or whatever.

Some fictional characters that come to mind are:

• Dean from Supernatural
• Wei Wuxian and Jian Cheng from MDZS
• Both mc's from Remnants of Filth
• Jinx from Arcane
• The mc's from Don't Let the Forest In
• The mc in All That's Left in the World
• Korra in that one season from avatar
• Ari from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
• Catra and Adora from She-ra
• every post Civil War Stony fic on ao3

basically characters that hurt others or have been hurt themselves, characters who carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, who think they're just tools to be used. that kinda thing. They don't have to be the mc but at least a good part of the story should be about them.

I'm more of a sci-fantasy gal but I sooooometimes dabble in other genres

does anybody have any recs like this or are you mentally stable? asking for a friend

i find there’s often an overlap between plant people and book people, is anyone here a fellow plant lover?? i collect tropical plants and have over 100 in my collection! btwn all my books and my plants there is very little spare room in my teeny apartment as you can probably imagine.

my favorites are my monstera deliciosa (named murphy and is so big he lives at my parents), monstera thai constellation, my philodendron squami (which i grew from a one-leaf cutting and is now taller than me, this is me flexing), my coffee plant (which just FRUITED!!!) and my florida ghost!

tell me about your plants! and if you need recs for easy plants to keep alive let me know, i firmly believe anyone can be a plant person with the right plant ◡̈

This passage singlehandedly pulled me out of an existential crisis:

It can even happen that one of these unhappy persons is not only honest but even kind, the providence of his family, who by his labor supports and provides not only for his own but even for others—and what then? All his life he is unable to be at peace! For him, the thought that he has fulfilled his human obligations so well brings neither peace nor comfort; on the contrary, that is even what irritates him: “This,” he says, “is what I’ve blown my whole life for, this is what has bound me hand and foot, this is what has kept me from discovering gunpowder! If it hadn’t been for that, I’d certainly have discovered either gunpowder or America—I don’t know what for sure, but I’d certainly have discovered it!”

Though plenty of society make fun of Prince Myshkin, "the idiot," plenty of times Dostoevsky also points out the ridiculousness of society as well. Here, it's the people who may do a great job already at supporting their family and others, and yet are disgruntled that they lost the chance to "discover gunpowder or America" and do some deed that'll really make them stand out.

I feel similarly at times - "have I been wasting my life going to and from my job, spending time with loved ones, not discovering a cure for cancer or writing a bestseller or becoming famous?" And while I certainly hope humanity does find a treatment for cancer, that's besides the point. Sometimes the most noble and "best" thing you can do is to spend your time with loved ones and provide for others however you can, and be at peace with that. Your life is not wasted if you do those things well, and don't necessarily win the Nobel prize or whatever.

when i first picked this up last year i couldn’t get past the second chapter. now i can’t stop flipping the pages.