#persephone nona

[bb-enablefreebuild]

The happiest baby on the Ninth fr

[oneidiotwithasword]

since we might be waiting a while for alecto to come out, let us know what your fave sff books are apart from tlt

[ddarker-dreams]

Nexus Trivia

A/N: to commemorate the final chapter of nexus' main storyline, i wanted to string together some trivia relating to the story/its creation process!

Nexus index.

When planning out this story, I wanted to draw from Greek mythology because I felt some of the motifs/themes would mesh well. Some of the references are more evident than others. These references include:

The planet Eris' name, owing to the goddess of discord/strife.

Ania, Reader's mother, is the personification of ache and anguish.

Chrysus, the spirit of gold.

Caicias, god of the northeast wind.

The quadrant Reader lives in, Thelx, is a shortened version of Thelxinoë. This name is attributed both to a siren and one of the four Titan muses. Charming minds was her area of expertise.

The name of Reader's business, the LOTUS-EATER, is a reference to (surprise) the lotus-eaters mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. An island where people pass their days leisurely in fantasy felt fitting for the Synalink business.

As for Reader/N darling, her motifs draw from the goddess of the soul, Psyche. There's also hints of Persephone in there because well. Blade and his connection to death/his obsession that disturbed Reader's mother parallels Hades and Demeter.

The inspiration for Reader's last name, Phaeales, is a shortened version of Nymphaeales, an order of flowering plants. Lotus' fall under this category. Coincidentally, the name for the largest butterfly family is Nymphalidae. Reader and Psyche are both associated with butterflies/butterfly wings. These shared prefixes went on to form the basis for the humanoid long-life species found on Eris, Nymphalians.

Since there was so much butterfly stuff fluttering about, I was like hey, why not commit to the bit. So some of the areas in Eris are named after flower parts. There's Perianth, the outer part of a flower, and the nectary, which is where, unsurprisingly, nectar is formed.

Nectar guides, the railroad system on Eris, references the special markings on flowers by the same name. Nectar guides are those lil lines that guide pollinators to their pollen and nectar.

Okay enough etymology for now. The one thing I kept from my first outline is Nexus' ending, I changed just about everything else. The ending felt like such a gut punch that I couldn't just change it into a one-shot, it wouldn't hit the same.

There was going to be more philosophy but I spared everyone that. Originally, I associated Blade with determinism, Reader with rational-egoism, Nona with nihility, and Lear with humanism. There's still some traces of this but I toned it down a bit 😭

I didn't spare everyone from Freud though, which might be worse tbh. Reader's character was roughly built around his concept of the ego, Nona, the id, and Lear, the superego.

[shy-fairy-levele3]

2023 Book List

Unbelievably I read a staggering 70 books in 2023! The most ever! My only disappointment is NOT finishing Dracula Daily, I came so close...

Wolf Brother Michelle Paver

Skin-Walker Michelle Paver

Be the Serpent Seanan McGuire  

She Who Became the Sun 

Soul-Eater Michelle Paver

Nona the Ninth Tamsyn Muir 

The Girl in Red Christina Henry

As yet Unsent Tamsyn Muir   

Outcast Michelle Paver  

Leonard Cohen: On a wire Philippe Girard

Oath Breaker Michelle Paver 

Ghost Hunter Michelle Paver   

 Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life Alan Cumming

M is for Magic Neil Gaiman

Silverwing Kenneth Opal 

Last Violent Call Chloe Gong

Malice: Malice Duology #1 Heather Walter  

Pandora Susan Stokes-Chapman

A Lady for a Duke Alexis Hall                                    

Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries Heather Fawcett  

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Drew Hayden Taylor

Conventionally Yours Annabeth Albert  

The Unbalancing R.B Lemberg  

Stone Blind Natalie Haynes

The Winter Soldier: Cold Front Mackenzi Lee 

Ruby Nina Allan

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter Theodora Goss

Husband Material Alexis Hall

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason India Holton  

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix Kalynn Bayron

The Monsters we Defy Leslye Penelope

Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix Aminah Mae Safi

Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman Alan Rickman

Morgan Is My Name Sophie Keetch

Threads That Bind Kika Hatzopoulou

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman Theodora Goss

Feeling Sorry for Celia Jaclyn Moriarty

Daughter of the Pirate King Tricia Levenseller

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix C.B. Lee

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Tee Franklin

Magic for Liars Sarah Gailey

The Story of Owen Emily Kate Johnston

The Brilliant Death A.R. Capetta

Circle of Magic: Sandy’s Book Tamora Pierce

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror Daniel M. Lavery  

Death's Detective- Malykant Mysteries #1-4 Charlotte E. English

The Salt Grows Heavy Cassandra Khaw

A Touch of Darkness- Hades & Persephone #1 Scarlett St. Clair

Mortal Follies Alexis Hall

Witch King Martha Wells

The London Séance Society Sarah Penner

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future David Attenborough, Jonnie Hughes

A Game of Fate- Hades Saga #1 Scarlett St. Clair

Immortal Longings Chloe Gong

Hooked Emily McIntire  

Foul Heart Huntsmen Chloe Gong

Signal to Noise Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Daughter of the Siren Queen Tricia Levenseller  

Starter Villain John Scalzi

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl Theodora Goss

Starling House Alix E. Harrow

A Marvellous Light: The Last Binding #1 Freya Marske   

A Restless Truth: The Last Binding #2 Freya Marske 

Thornhedge T. Kingfisher

What the River Knows Isabel Ibanez  

The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments Hadley Vlahos

Misrule: Malice Duology #2 Heather Walter

The Raven and The Reindeer T. Kingfisher

A Power Unbound: The Last Binding #3 Freya Marske

I started some series, and I finished some series. I found new favourite authors and revisited some old favourites. Please take them as recommendations, or if you have read any of the same books come talk about them with me!  

Reminder you can also follow me on The Storygraph to see what I am reading in real time, where I am simply shy_fairy   

Previous Years Reading lists can be found here: 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

[booksandchainmail]

Recently read through Kate Elliott's Unconquerable Sun and Furious Heaven, the first two parts of a trilogy described as genderbent Alexander the Great in space. Excellent books, but I didn't have the knowledge of Alexander's life necessary to draw the historical parallels. Fortunately, the author has a few essays up on tor.com explaining it. Unfortunately, she doesn't spell out all the connections, so here's what I have, ones stated by the author bolded:

(some spoilers, I guess)

Sun: Alexander the Great

Eirene: Phillip II of Macedon (Alexander's father)

Joao: Olympias (Alexander's mother)

Persephone "Perse" Lee: Ptolemy I Soter (Alexander's companion, later pharaoh of Egypt, noted for keeping memoirs and sponsoring mathematics)

Hestia "Hetty" Hope: Hesphaistion (Alexander's companion and lover)

Alika Vata: Perdiccas (Alexander's companion and general)

James Samtarras: does not have a historical analog, since he apparently fulfills multiple roles

Makinde Bo: Lysimachus (Alexander's general)

Razin Nazir: don't know, she hasn't shown up much, presumably one of Alexander's other companions/generals

Jade Kim: Craterus (Alexander's general, often distrusted for his ambition)

Tiana: Thais (courtesan who later became Ptolemy's consort)

Solomon: Seleuccas (Alexander's general, later founded the Seleucid Empire)

Octavian: no historical analog

Zizou: no historical analog

Crane Marshal Zaofu Samtarras: Parmenion (cautious older general contrasted against Alexander)

Anas Samtarras: Philotas (Parmenion's oldest son)

Angharad Black: Cleitus the Black (soldier who saved Alexander's life)

Moira Lee: Attalos (friend of Phillip's who arranged his marriage to Attalos's yougner relative)

Marduk Lee: Antipater (Alexander's regent in macedonia while he was away on campaign)

Nona Lee: Antigonus? I'm hesitant about this, but Nona is the only character I can think of who fits the description of "one of Philip’s old guard who unlike most of the rest of the older generation retained his importance long into and past the Alexander era"

Dimitar: Demetrius (Antigonus's son, the names match which supports the Nona=Antigonus theory)

Soaring Shan: Cleopatra (Alexander's sister)

Metis: Phillip Arhiddaeus (Alexander's half brother, deemed mentally unfit to rule)

Beau Qiang: Callisthenes (Alexander's historian)

Baron Voy: amalgamation of Demosthenes and Aeschines (athenian orators)

Baragesi: Darius III (ruler of the persians)

Jejomar Os Cook: Sisygambis (Darius's mother, captured by Alexander)

Bartholomew: Barsine (persian noblewoman who knew Alexander as a child, and later married him)

Manu: Memnon (greek mercenary who fought for persia)

Apama: this one I struggled with, Kate Elliott says, "She has an historical counterpoint and in some ways I consider her my most important gender spin in the entire story." But I couldn't find any corresponding person she could be genderbent from. Then I realized that "gender spin" could be referring, not to making a historically male figure female, but to giving a female figure the agency and role in this narrative that she didn't get in the historical record. So my guess is Apama I, a persian noblewoman from a region whose leaders were later referred to as Sabao, whose wikipedia page basically just lists her father, husband, and children.

[bronzewool]

2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge Tier List!!!

Got The Hardback Special Edition - I don't like these books, I love them. It's not that I need the hardbacks, I need to devour the pages, so I can consume every bit of canon and then go diving into the fandom just to get my next fix (The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir: Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth)

Place of Honour on my bookshelf - I like these books and feel the need to display the paperbacks on my bookshelf, so guests know I have good taste :3 (Clive Barker - The Hellbound Heart, Agatha Christie - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & The Thirteen Problems, China Mieville - The Scar, Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards!)

Worth the E-Book - I'm happy I read these books, even though they were not necessarily in my top 10 this year. I will probably read them again in the future, so I'm happy to own them on my e-reader.

Borrow from your local library - I neither like nor dislike these books, they are perfectly serviceable, but I wouldn't spend money just to own then. (Yoon Ha Lee - Phoenix Extravagant, Frank Herbert - Dune, Dune Messiah & Children of Dune, Final Fantasy - On The Way To A Smile & Traces of Two Pasts, Clive Barker - The Damnation Game & The Coldheart Canyon, Stina Leicht - Persephone Station, Robert Jordan - The Eye of The World, Lily Mayne - Soul Eater, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie - The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side, Terry Pratchett - Sourcery)

Burn for warmth - I actively disliked these books, or they were just so boring I had to take frequent breaks just to get through them (William Joyce - Jack Frost: The End Becomes The Beginning, Greg Weisman - The War of The Spark: Forsaken, Chuck Wendig - Double Dead, Diana Wynee Jones - House of Many Ways, Clive Barker - Weaveworld)

[drastrochris]

Reading up on Ptolemy I Soter makes me wonder what system represents Syria in Furious Sun. I cannot wait for a sequel that's just "The Four Times Honorable Persephone Lee Invaded Syria."

Also, damn, Nona and Dimitar are going to be pains in the ass for /years/, aren't they?

[aiiwa]

Who have you the right to be so sweet? I accept! I always will.. 🥺 also thank you aaaaaaa I was so excited making it and starting new wkdsmdksk ALSO HAVE YOU DRANK WATER AND EATEN YET TODAY?!

🥺🥺🥺🥺 shsjsjsj it must have been such a good fresh start fuuu i’m glad it’s going good for you!! but ah yesss i ate and drank water hehe HAVE YOU THO???

[ask-the-harlem-newsies]

Yes please! -Persephone

Hades: *she smiles and points towards a big fluffy black dog who immediately lifts her head to look at her, curious* Thats Morta. *she points to the next, a white dog, the biggest of the three, whos eyes havent left Persephone since she walked in* Decima *and finally, a skinny, white and brown dog with a fluffy neck and pointy ears, the oddball of the group. Shes still big in height, but shes not as thick in stature as the other two.* And thats Nona.

[libraryofglitter]

Locked Tomb characters at the Oktoberfest

Most importantly, Ianthe would wear one of those incredibly horrible pink Lederhosen for girls™️. She would buy the shortest ones and finds herself hilarious and hot.

Gideon wears a classic pair of Lederhosen. It's an old pair but she takes good care of it.

Corona owns an overpriced classic Dirndl with lots and lots of cleavage. Gideon is definitely unaffected.

Harrow has a Dirndl that's so long and high-collared that it isn't really recognisable as a Dirndl anymore. She carefully ties the ribbon in the front in the middle (this signalizes being a virgin or not wanting to be bothered by annoying flirting people). Ianthe reaches out and unties the ribbon all. the. time. Harrow HATES it.

(Imagine this but with more bone decorations and fabric)

Magnus and Abigail go to the Oide Wiesn ("Old Oktoberfest", with old-timey stuff) with the terrible teens. The teens get sick from eating too many roasted almonds. Magnus buys several gingerbread hearts for his wife.

Jod spends five hours at the Teufelsrad ("devil's wheel", where you can sit on a big spinning wheel and try to stay on it for as long as you can) because he thinks the name is funny. He overexplains what he finds so funny about it until Mercymorn pushes him off the Teufelsrad. He bruises his leg.

Gideon has a tradition where every year, she buys one of those postcard with Dirndl cleavage on it. Harrow pretends to not know Gideon when she buys it.

Nona only cares about the rides and drags Camilla onto every stupid rollercoaster. She also loves watching people (Babs) fall off the Toboggan (a big structure where you pay to hop onto a super fast conveyor belt and everyone always loses balance).

Colum and Silas are nowhere to be seen and Judith and Marta work as security guards at the entrance. Judith pretends to not know Corona when she has to control her handbag.

Is this incomprehensible for anyone not familiar with Oktoberfest culture? Probably. I don't care. It's funny. A comment by @pomegranates-persephone inspired me to write out all of my TLT Oktoberfest headcanons, so thank you!

[bb-enablefreebuild]

Our heir has been born! Please welcome Persephone Nonavrius.

[felixbobelix]

NONA THE NINTH SPOILORS!!!!

I cant belive I just put this together

Alecto: Earth. Literally the spirit of the Earth.

John: God. God of the dead you could say.

John put the soul of the earth in to human form against her will and locks her away underground on a desolate planet, that becomes a death cult. A kind of underworld you could say.

Are John and Alecto just a big Hades and Persephone analog???

(Not to mention Alecto is the name of one of the Furies in Greek mythology which are sometimes said to be Persephones daughters)

[coffeebooksorme]

✨✨ JANUARY 2022 READING WRAP UP ✨✨

1. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall ⭐⭐⭐ : I liked this but I didn't love it like I expected I would. I honestly found Luc to be too damn insufferable to truly enjoy the book fully. The friend group was amazing, though. I definitely wanna give the sequel a chance.

2. Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop ⭐: Absolute trash. I read this when I was in my early twenties and loved it. Obviously I blocked out all the fucked up shit in the book. Incest, sexual assault, rape, grooming; you name it and it was in there. I'm ashamed at my younger self for having liked this.

3. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair ⭐⭐⭐.5 : A spicy Hades/Persephone romance. Really enjoyed it. You can definitely tell it's self published because it definitely needed more editing but a promising start to a series.

4. A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair ⭐⭐⭐: Eh, it was alright. Persephone was significantly more annoying in this book than the first. Way more spice than plot but still enjoyable at times.

5. A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair ⭐: Technically I DNF'ed this at 90% but I'm still counting it for the pain and suffering. Typos out the ying yang, repeat sentences/paragraphs, and a complete 180 of Persephone's character. Hades becomes a walking cock just there to be a fucktoy instead of a fully fledged character. Any and all editing went out the window with this one because book 2 ended in August but this one started in July but further along in the storyline. Por que!?

6. Jade City by Fonda Lee ⭐⭐⭐: A really interesting mafia/mob story with a fantastical twist. Really loved the magic system but it was super hard to understand the world, the workings of the mafia, and how things were related due to a lack of glossary. If you have fantastical elements that are integral to the plot and understanding of a mafia gang, please include a glossary so my dumbass doesn't spend 3/4 book confused. Really slow burn build up but excellent twists to make me want to read the sequel.

7. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: By far my favorite read of the month! A TOTAL MINDFUCK THAT I LOVED! No lie, I totally wiki'ed a lot because Gideon's book was confusing and I read that forever ago so I was hopeless going into this, and I definitely spoiled myself. TBH, it didn't matter because this was so masterfully written and such a delight that when I was finished I immediately wanted to reread Gideon and then this. Super stoked for Nona the Ninth now!

All in all it was a pretty good month of reading! I hit two backlist books (Jade City and Harrow) and did one reread (trash dumpster fire). I’m trying not to be intimidated by the big chunky books so that was Jade City for me. 

I’m unsure what I’ll read this month for my chunky book. Probably Between Burning Worlds because it’s book 2 in a Les Mis retelling so technically it’s romance and I’d like to stay with a romance theme this month. Plus, I really want to reread Evelyn Hugo. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about that and I miss how much I loved that book so I want to revisit it. 

[sephthewitch]

Hello, friend ! Welcome to Seph’s little corner of the internet.

Persephone , tho most people call me Seph, some Persie, some Nona, and very few call me Phee.

18 yo.

He/him.

Queer.

Autistic.

Beginner witch.

🌞Gemini 🌝Taurus ⬆️Taurus.

Please dni if you’re a transphobe, homophobe, think witches are evil, pedophile, sexist, ableist , or a bigot in any form or shape.

(This is only a prototype of an intro, I’ll be editing this soon)

ALSO ALSO ALSO I have plenty of witchy books in ePub format if you want a book dm me the title I might have or if you’re interested in witchy books in general dm I’ll send you the list of books I have and I’ll send you what you want by email

[dragonologist-phd]

I was tagged by @orime-stories! thanks for the tag!

Rules: tag nine people you’d like to get to know better

Top three ships:

Hm this changes constantly but lately I’m having feelings about Desta/Aloth, Nona/Thaos, Hades/Persephone

Last song:

the OBC recording of Wait For Me from Hadestown (this soundtrack has been like the quarantine anthem in my house, hence the Hades/Persephone ship feelings)

Last movie…

…in theaters:

Ummm I want to say Little Women back in like January? I think that’s right

…at home:

Does the The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals count? It’s certainly long enough

Currently reading:

I was reading The Innocent Man by John Grisham but that’s a little heavy for right now so I’m putting that on pause for a while and re-reading Redshirts by John Scalzi, which is a book that always puts me in a good mood

What food I’m craving right now:

I just at lunch so I’m pretty satisfied at the moment! Might go get some more sweet tea, though, so I guess I’m craving that

Tagging:  Um I think most of the people I follow have been tagged recently, so I’ll just leave this open I guess!

[aurorawest]

Rules: we’re snooping on your playlist. Put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first ten songs, then choose 10 victims. 

Thank you @quartzcelticas!! Ahh my music library, my pride and joy. This isn’t particularly representative of what I listen to every day but is pretty representative of my music collection.

1. Postiljonen - ‘On the Run’ 2. Mike Doughty - ‘Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well’ 3. Persephone’s Bees - ‘On The Earth’ 4. Bettie Serveert - ‘Mayhem’ 5. Alexandre Desplat - ‘Harry’s Sacrifice’ (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2) 6. Maná - ‘Vivir Sin Aire’ 7. Nona - ‘Mondays’ 8. K’naan - ‘Simple’ 9. Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey - ‘Missa in Nocte: Alleluia’ 10. Souad Massi - ‘Khabar Kana’

I tag @mareebird @iamanartichoke @thelightofthingshopedfor @loxxxlay @arcade-lackey @taaroko @wyrmy @finnlaily @franniebanana @lelliefant and you know what? All of you. Please, all of you do this, I LOVE knowing what music people like!