[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]

Strange Horizons, August 31, 2026

“Mr_Mr_Centicore” by Micah Giddens

Reviewed by Wendy Vidlak

“Mr_Mr_Centicore” by Micah Givens is a stream of consciousness story wandering through the mind of a neurodivergent teenager as he progresses into adulthood. Told in the second person, the author attempts to put you in the mind of the boy as he traverses the trials and tribulations of life into adulthood. You, the main character, are a boy obsessed with memes. He feels more at home with memes than he does with people. We watch as friends come and go. We watch as he misunderstands his friends and cannot adapt to the changes as they mature and grow. Stuck perpetually in a young teenage mind. As an adult, he tries to find the plane of existence where the memes live. He explores various internet rabbit holes and real-life cults to find the astral plane. To find a place where he can reboot himself. Perpetually looking for Mr_Mr_Centicore.

The number of likes in this story is overwhelming—I couldn’t decide if it was a literary device playing on the meme theme or poor writing. I understand what the author was trying to do by putting this story in the second person, but I had difficulty following since I would never react in the same way as the character. The “you” just took me out of the story each time it appeared. From my basic understanding, the author did a good job getting into the head of an adolescent boy who is different from the norm, even if it felt contrived.