On the Book
is a Tom and Jerry Self-Insert Fic written by gelefant.
It is about Tom and Jerry wreaking havoc in Jermaine's new house. The plot is largely a rewrite of the short Mouse Trouble.
Tropes:
- Agitated Item Stomping: After his penultimate plan backfires, Tom gets fed up with the "How to Catch a Mouse" book and tears it to pieces before jumping up and down on the remains.
- Bandage Mummy: Tom is more or less covered head to toe in bandages after Jermaine treats the cat's wounds.
- Bear Trap: One of the many methods used by Tom to try and catch Jerry. Jerry simply takes it out of his mouse hole and puts it under Tom's backside just as he's about to sit down. Cue screaming, a Pain-Powered Leap, and Tom still giving muffled screams with his head stuck in the ceiling.
- Caught in a Snare: Per the book's advice, Tom sets out a snare trap baited with cheese. Jerry switches out the cheese bait for a bowl of cream, which Tom promptly runs to.
- Close-Call Haircut: A shotgun blast shaves all the hair off the top of Tom's head.
- Cornered Rattlesnake: Once Tom has Jerry backed into a corner, he reads that "A cornered mouse NEVER fights." The book is proven very wrong.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Jerry pwns Tom after the latter corners him.
- Eye Scream: Tom gets punched in the eye by Jerry at one point.
- Gory Discretion Shot: We don't see what Tom looks like after Jerry perforated and slices up the box.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Every tactic Tom tries in the book is turned around by Jerry.
- He tries to use a mouse trap, but it just...doesn't...work. A bewildered Tom tests the mouse trap with his own finger, and then it works.
- He tries a snare trap, but...see Caught in a Snare above.
- He tries to let Jerry's curiosity get the better of him by pretending to laugh at the book. Jerry tries to look at the book, and Tom slams him inside it. Jerry then pretends to do exactly what Tom was doing and punches him in the eye.
- Immediately after this, Jerry runs into a corner, panting. Tom pulls out the book again and reads that "A cornered mouse never fights." He then attacks Jerry...but Jerry beats the crap out of him.
- He tries to shoot Jerry with a shotgun...but shoots himself in the head, blowing his fur off.
- He sticks a bear trap into Jerry's mouse hole (don't ask how it fits in the hole), but Jerry pushes it out through another mouse hole behind Tom. Tom then sits down...on the bear trap. Cue the Pain-Powered Leap.
- He tries to nail Jerry with a hammer, but Jerry takes the hammer and knocks him out with it.
- Tom "gives a gift" to Jerry (he sits in a gift box and waits for Jerry to open it). Unfortunately for him, Jerry doesn't open the box through conventional means. He puts several pins through it as Tom groans in pain, and then saws it in half. Only then does Jerry bother to look inside and sees who's in there, to his horror.
- Tom activates a female mouse toy to distract Jerry, but Tom ends up eating it. However, it still works...so Tom starts repeatedly hiccupping, followed by the toy saying "Come up and see me some time!" After this, Tom becomes absolutely enraged, and tears the book to shreds.
- His final attempt at killing Jerry is to put a ton of explosives all around Jerry's hole, but he has trouble lighting the fuse. When he finally does activate the fuse, all the explosives blow up instantly and blow up half the house. Jerry and his mouse hole remain intact, however.
- Hollywood Healing: Averted. The scalp injury from the shotgun incident remains for the rest of the story.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Jerry stabs the gift box Tom hides in with large hat pins. Then, Jerry saws the box in half for good measure.
- Internal Homage: As mentioned in the description, the fanfic is mostly a rewrite of the "Mouse Trouble" short.
- iSophagus: Tom accidentally swallows the wind-up mouse. He ends up hiccupping "Come up and see me sometime" for the rest of the story.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Jermaine adores Tom despite the messes the cat causes in his pursuit of Jerry. Jermaine even goes so far as to treat Tom's injuries and later lets the cat rest on the couch with him.
- Mouse Trap: A series staple, you can bet that Tom attempts to get Jerry with a mouse trap. And as you might expect, it doesn't react to Jerry struggling with it but immediately triggers when exposed to Tom's finger.
- No Kill like Overkill: Tom's final attempt to kill Jerry is to place dozens of explosives around his mouse hole, enough to blow up half the house. Jerry and his hole remain unscathed.
- Paper Destruction of Anger: After all of the book's suggestions fail, Tom angrily tears it to bits.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: With Jerry cornered, Tom consults his book and reads that "a cornered mouse NEVER fights". He gets beat up by him anyway.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike in the short the fanfic's based on, Tom doesn't die at the end.
- Throw the Book at Them: A couple times, though it's Played for Laughs when Jerry slams Tom's nose in his book, an Amusing Injury.
- Too Gruesome for Cartoon Physics: Tom hides in a gift box in order to ambush Jerry. However, the mouse grows suspicious of the mysterious present and decides to impale it with several giant pins before sawing it in half. Finally giving in to his curiosity, Jerry peeks inside the package but quickly pulls his head out with a horrified expression, gulps in shock. Jermaine treats Tom's injuries, which ends with the cat wearing several bandages from head to toe.
- The Tooth Hurts: After accidentally chewing up the wind up mouse, Tom ends up breaking most of his teeth.
- Tree Buchet: The snare Tom makes for Jerry is tied to a tree outside. When he gets caught in the snare, Tom is bounced back and forth like a paddleball.
- Villainous Breakdown: Particularly when Tom wigs out after his penultimate attempt to catch Jerry fails, complete with Agitated Item Stomping.
