Books > Reading List
Katerpillar's curated selection of good shit. Mainly a place for fanfiction recommendations, but there's a little bit of other stuff too. Everything should be SFW. Starred items are my favourites of my favourites. They're the ultra favourites.
Fanfiction
I tell you, there's some good shit hidden on these little fannish websites.
Fanfics (>10k words):
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The Brightest Candle Burns The Quickest by graptolite (Murder Drones, 371,815+ words [incomplete], V/Uzi Doorman)
This is the best fic of all time oh my god IM SO SERIOUS.. A Canon Divergent AU where V has a complication, and Uzi hacks her system. Shit derails. EVERYTHING happens. And it's worth every second. the writing is good, the story makes sense, and everything is so tragic. Please bro. Please read it. Reading lines from this damn fic opened up deep sinkholes in my skin and you must feel similar pain.
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Requiem by pocketknife (Murder Drones, 69,077 words, J/Tessa James Elliot)
J mourns the fuck out because Tessa is dead, so much so that she generates a hologram program thing of her dead friend. A Hurt/Comfort and Post-Canon Fix-It fic about grieving and letting go.
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Cities in Dust (shit let's be hardboiled) by Cephied_Variable (Homestuck, 42,552 words, Dave Strider/Terezi Pyrope)
This is the best Homestuck fanfiction you will ever find. Or at least. I have ever found. It's a Daverezi AU noir. Newternia detectives dave and terezi must figure out the perpetrator of a series of motivated murders. I LOVE THIS FIC SO MUCH.......... Pretty image-heavy--Sadly, the images on its current AO3 page are missing so the link attached is an archived version. The current URL is here
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Promstuck: A Homestuck Fan Adventure (With Prom) by Cephied_Variable, schellibie, urbanAnchorite (Homestuck, >20,000 words / 238 pages, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas)
A classic Homestuck fic. High School AU where senior year prom needs to be saved and heterosexuality needs to be questioned. Basically: Karkat is and has been in love with his best palhoncho buddy, JOHN EGBERT, for a long time. he MUST ask john out by the end of prom or else he will die sad, desperate, and alone just like eridan ampora. it is SO! MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!! The AO3 version is incomplete, but is linked here.
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House of Dirk
by imarriedacherub (Homestuck, 13,570 words [incomplete - abandoned], Caliborn/Dirk Strider + Karkat Vantas/Dave Strider)
A sitcom-style fic about newly satan marriaged dirkuu inviting their son dave and his boyfriend, karkat, into their house. And they do very sane and normal family things. Its so fucking funny you should read it. Pretty image heavy. Sadly, it is incomplete and appears to be abandoned :(
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He Cares More Than You Think by The_Spam_Specialist (The Amazing Digital Circus, 14,637 words, Caine & Pomni)
A sweet angst fic where Caine, surprisingly, takes the hit for pomni when an abstracted escapes the cellar and attacks her. And The POWER OF FRIENDSHIP HAPPENS while he recovers. BOOM!!! it's really cute and i really like it :D
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If to be Loved is to be Human, Why do I Crave It? by codflesh29 (The Amazing Digital Circus, 13,082 words [incomplete], Caine & Everyone)
Caine-centric angst fic where he does a good deal of thinking and reflection on what it means to be human, as an AI. Incomplete right now.
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Together Within The Rubble by MiscellaneousMisanthropy (Reverse:1999, 57,567 words [incomplete - abandoned], Schneider/Vertin)
Canon Divergence AU where Schneider went to the SPDM and met Vertin in there instead of how she met her in canon. Honestly. it's been quite a long time since ive read this fic, but i remember it being pretty good(?) so it goes in here anyway. but its abandoned :(
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Suitcase Stories
by NameNeeded
(Reverse:1999, 72,276 words)
A Slice of Life and Crack fic detailing about the daily nonsense of the R1999 cast. Doesn't focus on any character or relationship in specific, all for comedy and fun.
Ficlets (<10k words):
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Reminder by scrunch (Homestuck, 7 pages, Calliope/Roxy Lalonde)
Canon Divergent AU -very short but very sweet. Image-only. I just rlly like the art its so cool.
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The Only Recipe For Lasagna You'll Ever Need by urbanAnchorite (Homestuck, 2,341 words, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas)
John and karkat attempt to make lasagna together!!! Written sort of like a recipe manual... so fun and so cute i lova it
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Kismesisstuck by OrangeLemonArt (Homestuck, 4 acts, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas)
A Species Swap AU where John actually accepts Karkat's blistered fucking caliginous confession at the start of Act 5 Act 2 and human karkat struggles with unrequited(?) flushed feelings for troll john. Quadrant vacillation galore. Wow.
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Reach by FiveTail (Homestuck, 3,396 words, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas)
Canon Divergent AU where, after SBURB, Earth and Alternia are reset. John & karkat find and contact each other again. Brief, but spans over several years.
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No Quiet Sleeper by cest_what (Homestuck, 3,879 words, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas)
John and karkat are locked in a room on the meteor together. EXCEPT: AT DIFFERENT TIMES! Memos with Timey bullshit for true homestuckian fun.
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Coffee Black by owlpostagain (Homestuck, 5,840 words, John Egbert/Karkat Vantas)
University/Coffee shop AU where John "GRANDE CAFFE VANILLA FRAP WITH EXTRA WHIPPED CREAM AND AN EXTRA SHOT OF COFFEE" egbert is karkat's most feared customer. Really funny.
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if food be the music of love by urbanAnchorite (Homestuck, 4,280 words, Dave Strider/Terezi Pyrope)
Dave introduces different types of human food to a bed-ridden Terezi. Its cute. And it made me hungry. Fuck my life
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Night Owl by loravura (Homestuck, 646 words, Calliope & Caliborn)
Canon-Compliant and short fic about body sharing stupidity and trying to get some damn sleep.
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Goddess. Sinner. Truth. by hoomansef (Reverse:1999, 1,629 words, 37/Sophia)
Canon-compliant fic about Sophia's thoughts on Apeiron.
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shadow on the tile by GallifreyanFairytale (Alien Stage, 3,888 words, Hyuna/Luka)
Pre-Canon + Canon-Compliant fic about Luka's struggles before Alien Stage started.
Books
I only read fiction so. Um. Yeah. Fiction aka Everything:
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All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (296 pages)
My favourite book. It's a historical fiction classic about a young and disillusioned German soldier fighting in World War 1. its so flipping good. AND SO SAD HOLY SHIT.
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The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger (192 pages)
Classic about a 16 year old boy's 3 day excursion in New York it's very entertaining and SO SO SO FUN to read. You've just got to read it. Or you're gonna be a phony. You dont want to be a phony do you.
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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (320 pages)
Dystopian feminist classic. Disturbing and that's why you should read it.
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The Covenant Of Water by Abraham Verghese (715 pages)
Trigenerational historical fiction novel celebrating advancements in medicine, the bonds of family. Very interesting and well researched (and very long haha)
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Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (345 pages)
Dystopian novel about a young girl coming of age in a drug-addicted and water-shortaged vision of America in 2024-2027, written in 1993. its interesting to read and compare the book to past, present and future predictions because, as of writing this, it is 2026 which is within the time period of the book
Comics
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I'm The Grim Reaper by GRAVEWEAVER (257+ episodes [incomplete])
A supernatural thriller webcomic about a girl named Scarlet, who gets appointed by Satan as Hell's new grim reaper.
Miscellaneous
i swear i had more stuff but i guess not