#sower of wind

[anielska-propaganda]

Zapostowałem anielskiego (Gabriel/Razjel) ficzka, aby choć na chwilę zapomnieć, że zacząłem właśnie studia magisterskie. xdd Dziękuję bardzo @latetotheparty za przypilnowanie mnie, bym nie pisał polglishem.

Aha, fik zainspirowany artem, którego jakimś cudem nigdy tu nie wrzuciłem:

[thelastofthebookworms]

You'll find the other polls in my 'sf polls' tag / my pinned post. I also have a 'fantasy polls' tag and 'fairy tales' tag in my pinned post.

[cienie-isengardu]

Covers for Bramy Jasności [Gates of Light] volume 1 and 2  made by Dark Crayon

[azotowanie]

if i had a nickle for everytime a black haired and blue eyed angel appeared in media and instantly became my favourite character i would have 2 nickles which is not a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[talonabraxas]

Kernunnos - Celtic Horned God Talon Abraxas Charge of The Horned God Hear ye the words of Cernunnos, the voice of the Horned One, He whose names are un-numbered:

I am the wild hunter of the forest deep, And I am the fire upon the hill, And I am the sower of the seed, And the tiller of the soil of the earth. And I am the golden warrior whose arrows are the shafts from the sun. The thunder is my hoof fall; The wilderness is my shrine. I wield the oaken staff, The elements at my call. By day I am the sun, by night I ride upon the wild winds.

I am a stag, a tree and mountain. My seed works within the earth's dark womb, For I am the Horned One; Sire of the Universe. In the wilderness doth my spirit dwell, And all wildlings and fugitives of oppression are cherished within my heart. To such as thee, my hidden children I am provider and protector. For all things wild and free are in my keeping. And all things of beauty and freedom and love delight me. Swiftly I come to merriment and laughter, for these are my invocations. For I am the Lord of all life.

Yet also I have a dark face, For I am Death. The Reaper of Souls. And terrible is this my dark face to those who know not the mystery. Yet to my hidden children, who know and love my spirit, My dark face is also sweet For tis the face of deep and hidden wisdom.

For I am the giver of knowledge, Life and death are mine to give. From death thou shalt be reborn, unto new life and love. Therefor seek my spirit and know me, Bright and dark .Then shalt thou know my mystery. For I am the Ancient One: My faces outnumber the stars. I am the Horned One of un-numbered names, I am the gentle and the fierce.

I am Cernunnos, the Ancient One, Lord and Sire of the Universe

[fallingtowers]

on the planet of serpent cults, where heat lightning always flickers on the far horizon, the queen of swords roams.

a thief, a reaver, a slayer: she is all these things and more. she embraces danger like a lover, and makes a fool of fate. she knows the five secret ways into the cursed temple, where one false move means death. she does battle with skeleton warriors while the stormclouds gather and the rising wind whips the tresses of her hair, which is black as grief or bright as gold—whatever works best for you.

1929, 1932, 1939—the year of publication is irrelevant; the queen of swords is always in her prime, and never grows old or infirm. if she dies, she will die by the sword, and that will never happen as long as she has an audience, and on the planet of jungles and ziggurats the golden age of pulps never ends. she is often wounded, but there is always a hut with dried herbs hanging from the rafters and a kindhearted peasant daughter to nurse her back to health, until the wound is just another scar.

she has so many scars.

she wears a bikini of bronze scales, which is the expected outfit for a woman in her line of work, but she would have worn it even if it wasn't, because she enjoys showing off. her body is muscular and sword-marked. her girlbulge is considerable. her pupils are dilated and her teeth stained red from chewing a root she got in the silver city, where every building is a generations-old repurposed spacecraft, and all the inhabitants are telepathic, and drugs grow freely in every garden. the root improves her reflexes as well as having an aphrodisiac effect, which is a useful combination on the planet of tombs and warlords, where lascivious sorceresses lurk behind every corner.

(when she was just a boy, her entire village was put to the sword. now she scatters deathblows the way a sower scatters seeds, and plumes of blood sprout in her wake. there is nothing wrong or unhealthy about this. it's the natural order of things, on the planet of conquest and savagery.)

the queen of swords, who dances on the razor's edge, who flouts the laws of men and gods! the horse she rides is always rearing; she is always backlit by lightning; her cloak snaps in the boreal gale. vallejo, frazetta, norem—everyone who is anyone has painted her. her name is whispered in the city of knives, where thieves hide in every cellar and hounds of bone and black smoke stalk the roofs, and in the city of sails, and in the city of broken idols. they speak of her even in the city of jeweled thrones, the greatest of all the cities of men, where sleep martyrs take stimulants that keep them awake until it kills them, and sarong-clad princesses burn for her touch.

though she has visited a thousand cities, she has no home. though she has taken a thousand lovers, she has never married. she lies awake late into the night, turning her melancholies this way and that like puzzle boxes.

on the planet of dust storms and pterosaurs, where every swamp teems with lizard-men and eight-foot-tall arthropodal reavers from beyond the stars descend in dropships made of steel and crystallized honeydew, there is always another adventure. but afterwards, in the silence after the clash of steel, she leaves empty-handed. the jewels slip between her fingers, and when her latest woman asks her to stay, of course she cannot accept. there is always another adventure, another forgotten dungeon or distant beckoning city, and as long as she has an audience, the queen of swords must roam.

yes, hers is a lonely life, but look, look: as she trudges through the violet sands of the southern wastes, drops of rain begin to fall, fat and blood-warm, stirring the hot dust—and the desert blooms around her.

[wayfind-er]

Hymn 15 to Zeus

Much-honored Zeus, great God, indestructible Zeus. We lay before you in prayer, redeeming testimony. O' King, you have brought to light divine works—earth, goddess, and mother; the hills swept by the shrill winds; the sea and the host of the stars, marshaled by the Sky. Kronian Zeus, strong-spirited God, the thunderbolt is your scepter. Father of all, beginning and end of all, earth-shaker, increaser and purifier, all-shaker, God of Thunder and Lightning, Zeus, the sower. Hear me, God of many faces, grant me unblemished health. Please grant me divine peace and riches and glory without blame.

Hymn 19 to Zeus

Father Zeus, sublime is the course of the blazing cosmos you drive on, ethereal and lofty the flash of your lightning as you shake the seat of the gods with a god's thunderbolt. The fire of your lightning emblazons the rain clouds; you bring storms and hurricanes; you bring mighty gales; you hurl roaring thunder, a shower of arrows. Horrific might and strength set all aflame; dreadful missile makes heart pounds and hair bristle. Holy and invincible, it comes with a sudden crash, an endless spiral of noise, omnivorous in its drive, unbreakable and threatening, ineluctable, too, the gale's sharp and smoke-filled shafts swoop down with a flash dread by land and sea. Wild beasts cringe when they hear the noise; faces reflect the brilliance of thunder roaring in the celestial hollows. You tear the robe that cloaks heaven, and you hurl the fiery thunderbolt. O blessed one, The anger of the sea waves, the anger of the mountain peaks—we all know your power. Enjoy this libation and give all things pleasing to the heart: a life of prosperity, queenly health, divine peace that nurtures youths, crowned with honors, a life-ever blooming with cheerful thoughts.

Hymn 20 to Astrapaios Zeus

I call upon great and pure, upon resounding and illustrious, upon ethereal and blazing Zeus, whose racing fire shines through the air. Your light flashes through the clouds with an ear-splitting clap. O horrid, O wrathful and pure, O invincible God, lord of lightning, I call upon you. O begetter of all, O great King, to be kind and to bring a sweet end to my life.

thunderstorm divider by @/thecutestgrotto The Full Orphic Hymns

[goblin-gardens]

January means everyone's on a "read more" kick so I've been busting out my old recs lists at work. problem is people borrow my recommendations and then those books are on cooldown until they get returned so I'm surreptitiously googling "good sci fi" and "fun mystery" as if I'm not supposed to be Google The Person myself. Help!

tumblr, live vicariously through me! what did you read recently that you immediately wanted to cram down everyone else's throats? tell me and I will tell the people in my lil upstate NY town in turn.

and also I'm putting my preferred recs under the cut because I'm that kinda guy

theme: realistic fiction/mystery- Andrew Sean Greer, Michael Chabon, Steven Spotswood

theme: non-fiction- Rebecca Solnit, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Fight Like Hell by Kim Kelly, Dawn of Everything by the Davids Wengrow and Graeber, Robin Wall Kimmerer

theme: Celebrity Biography, I Guess- I'm Glad My Mom's Dead by Jeanette McCurdy, Page Boy by Elliot Page, Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming

theme: for the Youth- Animorphs, Francis Hardinge, Terry Pratchet

theme: Short with strong narrative voice- The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey, This is How You Lose the Time War by Amar El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (this is a trap to lure you into reading the whole series)

theme: High buy-in fantasy but WORTH it- Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin, Locked Tomb series by Tamsin Muir, She Who Became the Sun/He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

theme: High buy-in and maybe not worth it but sunken cost fallacy is real so....../A Man Has Asked For A Fantasy Recommendation- Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

theme: ohh we're so sneaky being magic in a realistic setting- When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sascha Lamb, The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

theme: Ursula K. Leguin- Ursula K. Leguin

theme: got me spooked- Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

theme: Oof Ouch Oof Too Real- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow

anyways these are the ones I'm proud to recommend to the randos who come to my library and submit themselves to my influence. but I need more. feed me.

[pokemonunderdogtournament]

Best Gen 9 Underdog with a Signature Ability 9️⃣🪄

Round 4 - Match 2

Our Contestants:

This poll is part of an event that allows the early eliminees from the main tournament have more time in the spotlight!

[hiswordsarekisses]

Word must have spread about this woman with the issue of blood who was healed when she touched the hem of garment (Matt 9:20-22) because later when people recognized Him, they came begging Him to touch the hem of His garment, and whoever touched that hem were healed because of their faith in His Word. (Matt 14:34-36)

The hem of the garment Jesus wore is described in Numbers 15:37-40, here it is:

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout the generations to come, and they will put a ribbon of blue on the corners of their garments. And it will be for you a tassel, and you will see it, and you will remember all the commandments of the Lord, and you will do them, and you will not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes. So shall you remember and do all My commandments, and be holy to your God.” Numbers‬ ‭15‬:‭37‬-‭40‬

Jesus death on the cross paid for our forgiveness and our healing, but according to the Words below, of Jesus Himself, His Word is still alive, and following His Word is the visible fruit that should be in our life of also following HIM. From Matthew to Revelation we are constantly reminded that His Word is life.

““Therefore listen to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one who received seed beside the path. But he who received the seed on rocky ground is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, eventually he falls away. He also who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit. Some produce a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”” Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭18‬-‭23

““Whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock. And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them will be likened to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it fell. And its fall was great.”” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬-‭27‬

“Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who are going through it, because small is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭14‬

[anielska-propaganda]

już mi raz zrzucili, próbujemy dalej (jeśli ktoś chce bez cenzury to let me know a podeślę!)

[saltoftheearth5x2]

Luke 8

Over the 24 days leading up to Christmas, I'm going to be posting a chapter of Luke every day. I encourage you to read through Luke's gospel and reflect on Jesus's time here on earth. Perhaps you'll find something new.

Masterlist

Luke 8 (NIV)

The Parable of the Sower

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“‘though seeing, they may not see;

though hearing, they may not understand.’

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

A Lamp on a Stand

16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Jesus Calms the Storm

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened

....

All of this was taken from the Bible Gateway, which is an online Bible that you can easily search up. For those of you who do not have Bibles of your own, I encourage you to use online resources like Bible Gateway to read God's word.

Happy Holidays!

If you have any questions regarding the Christian faith, please ask me in my ask box. I am not a perfect person, but I will try and answer your questions as best as I can. We all have much more to learn, myself included. So please, do not be shy.

[cienie-isengardu]

Lucyfer z Siewcy Wiatru // Lucifer from Sower of the Wind

[queer-reader-07]

I'll help you procrastinate!

What were your favorite books as a child, and what are your favorite books now?

Also, I need book recs. Preferably fantasy or sci-fi, but I'm not opposed to other genres.

you, my friend, have no idea what you've just gotten yourself into

my favorite childhood books were definitely the Magic Treehouse books and Percy Jackson! (although i'm still a huge Rick Riordan fan to this day)

i say my number one spot is tied between The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver (a truly beautiful YA t4t romcom that i WILL peddle until my dying breath). and Dune by Frank Herbert! (the duality of man, if you will). i've written many a long winded pieces on Dune but if you haven't read it already go do that <3

i also read a lot more nonfiction nowadays, usually feminist & liberationist literature & memoir! (and ofc my fair share of romcoms and occasional litfic... as i say this i'm realizing that aside from horror i kind of read it all 😅)

SFF book recs!! (i'll throw in some other genres at the end if you do decide to branch out 👀)

i am a HUGE Octavia Butler fan so i'm going to recommend Dawn & The Parable of the Sower

Dawn is the first in the Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood series (and i will admit that i have yet to read the sequels, don't come for me i'm ass at finishing series). I love this novel for how it discusses what it means to be human through explorations of race and gender in the wake of an apocalyptic event. I'd also class this novel under "it's about hope if you pay attention enough" which is a huge thing for me

The Parable of the Sower is part of a duology (which i have finished!) although was meant to be a longer series, unfortunately Butler passed before finishing it. this is the book that had me going "this woman is a prophet" because of how much the events of the novel remind me of the modern day. set in the 2020s in the wake of climate and economic collapse, we follow Lauren, a teenager with hyper empathy (a condition she has due to her mom's drug use during pregnancy) as she not only works to survive in a crumbling society but also build a new future for humanity. this is another story that i believe is at its core about hope, but that specific kind of hope that can only exist because of the despair one has experienced. a hope borne out of a refusal to accept destruction as the only way forward. a hope borne out of a love for humanity.

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers!!! this is a soft, quiet, tender story about a robot who just wants to learn what humans need. and this robot starts to learn that when it encounters a monk who just wants to be in the wilderness alone to find their true calling in life.

Babel by RF Kuang is one of those books that i will fully admit is a tad bit condescending to the reader but nonetheless i find it a great and engaging place to start when it comes to literature that explores the violent ramifications of colonialism. like yes it overexplains things that i think could've been left to subtext, but i will also point to it before i point to academia, ya know?

The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams follows a main character who is like if Indiana Jones was a Black lesbian in a fantasy world and better. i call this one "not necessarily adventure gone wrong but rather adventure became far larger and graver than you could have ever imagined." empires on the brink of collapse, a species of creatures people don't quite understand are about to return, and the ninth rain is imminent. (also part of a series i have yet to finish, im sorry!!)

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake. this one has NG vibes but is written by a markedly better person!! the godson of Death, a vampire real estate agent trying to sell a house and a ghost haunting said house (he's quite the pain in the ass if you ask her), and some really high stakes games involving the literal gods; what could possibly go wrong? (specifically recommending the audiobook for this one, it was phenomenal!) (this one is also very gay!!)

ok now i'm gonna throw some non sff at you to try to get you out of your comfort zone :)

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is a heartwrenching memoir-esque narrative of a queer boy writing to his mother in a language he knows she cannot read. it tells the story of what it's like to be an immigrant and the child of one, of what it means to be queer in a culture that doesn't accept you. it is, at its core, a story about the urgency of survival and the anguish of love that explores how we find joy in this broken mess of a world. (i read this one in a Gender in Lit and Film class i took my freshman year of highschool for a unit on masculinity and it has 100% shaped how i view and interact with masculinity especially in regards to race)

in a similar vein but not quite i'll also recommend Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. written in the 50s, this is a heartbreaking story to two queer men falling passionately in love only for it all to be ripped apart. i've recommended this book before alongside the lyrics to Good Luck Babe! by Chappell Roan. "you can kiss a hundred boys in bars // shoot another shot just to stop the feeling // you'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling"

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is a novel i read right around when it came out back in 2020 and i really ought to revisit. it is, in my opinion, one of the best fictional explorations of what it means to be a mixed race person in the US. Bennett explores race in the United States through two twin sisters, both biracial, one who lives her life in the town they grew up in as a Black woman and the other out west as a White woman. told throughout generations their lives become more and more intertwined (were they ever really separate?).

probably my favorite memoir of all time is A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliot which explores race, gender, colonization, and more through the lens of Elliot's experience as a mixed race, First Nations Indigenous woman. the title comes from the Mohawk phrase for depression and it is with the same urgency and feeling that that phrase evokes that Elliot writes all her essays with. I particularly think of her essay titled "Half Breed: A Racial Biography in Five Parts" because its exploration of the grief only felt by being mixed or having mixed children is deeply personal to me. however, all her essays have so much depth and emotion to offer.

i'm not sure if romance novels or YA contemporary are your thing but if you're interested shoot me another ask about those, didn't include them here since those are more "you like em or you don't" imo

ok that's all for now thank you for providing me this distraction and giving me a chance to go full special interest on you <33

[soupedepates]

Rhea (mentioned) belongs to @corneille-but-not-the-author

They call me the Marmarean. I come from a land of ice and desolation. My life is not important.

I am a soldier.

The humans trained me as soon as they slaughtered my family. We make good fighters, or so I am told. We get strong and resistant when we become adult.

And for fun, they put a kid against the other for "natural selection".

Humans are the scum of these lands. They are cockroaches. Everywhere, vicious, resilient. They tracked my mother and I for hours and days perhaps, in the snow, in the dense woods, in the chilly wind of Marmarea. I remember the "Why did you kill the fairy? She would've made a fine whore" and the "Take the kid, not the best we can find but hey, you have to cut your coat according to your cloth".

When they freed us from the barracks, I fell crying to the feet of our liberator.

He was older than time itself I think. His eyes were saying it all.

"Raise, my child, you don't bow to a king without a kingdom", he said. "Besides, I won't take the achievement of another."

In the back of the tent, a midragon like me was tending the wounds of a boy with a star on his cheek, maybe sixteen years of age. Around mine. The midragon was repeating, "If you don't stop moving, Ouranos, I won't be able to heal you, dumbass!".

"The Witch-King is one brave fellow", the man smiled. "Too brave. That is often their fatal flaw." He patted my shoulder.

"Your Highness", the midragon shouted, "make the kid comes back to his senses, he won't stay put!"

"I'm coming to help, Miguel."

He was crowned of silver glory. Stood before me the King Oberon, chosen among the Fae by Titania our Eternal Queen. I cried more, quietly though. I looked at Him taking the star-cheeked boy by the hand, whispering.

King Oberon is the subject of many tales in Marmarea. An elf. A dragon. A fairy. A dwarf. A siren. A nymph. Every race wanted Him to be a part of their community. I guess the divine changes everything in someone. Silver hair adorned with a crown of jewels, eyes older than time and containing space and its many nebula. A skin like stained glass. You see the blood flow, the bones, the nerves, the organs. Folded wings projecting light on the ground like in a cathedral.

Ouranos died on the ground. The man with the red coat beheaded him like a dog and took with him the little princess. And I searched her. Everywhere.

Until His Highness Oberon told me it was pure madness. She was out of His sight.

And I sobbed.

I had lost my everything and his daughter.

The new Witch-Queen gave me hope. She was raised by one of the traitors from the Spider Brotherhood, but there was a fire inside of her.

I was right to believe in her. She brought back the head of the Inquisition. Lenaig raised the girl right.

But then...

They got His Highness and I saw Him melt like glass on the pyre. I saw humans having a feast. I saw them praying for our People, for the Fair Folk, to be annihilated.

Titanis Two-Stars disappeared for two years before Her Highness Titania forced her out of her exile.

But she betrayed us already. I am not the only one feeling that way.

We need a new Witch-Monarch.

More like Ouranos Fear-Sower.

Call it a plot.

Call it treason against the cause.

But someone must put an end to the Traitor and Weak.

I am a soldier.

And a good soldier must do everything for where their allegiance lies.

[daughterofhecata]

2025 Book Bingo TBR

Alright, I'll try to get through @batmanisagatewaydrug's 2025 book bingo next year, and I have made a list in preparation this time instead of just filling out squares as I go and then scrambling for the last fills at the end of the year.

Let's see if I can stick to it, and also fill the last empty spaces.

1. Literary Fiction: [to be decided]

I don’t currently have any on my TBR I realized, so we’ll see. Certainly keeping the recommendations of Raven Leilani’s Luster, Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed and Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar as options in here.

2. Short Story Collection: Mariana Enríquez: A Sunny Place for Shady People [org. title: Un lugar soleado para gente sombría]

A biiiit of a placeholder, maybe, taken from the reading updates of Mr Gatewaydrug; sounds interesting but idk if I’ll be able to actually get my hands on it.

3. A Sequel: Xiran Jay Zhao: Heavenly Tyrant / Luke Arnold: Whisper in the Wind

I hadn’t gotten the memo that the sequel to Iron Widow is coming out next year and now I’m excited! But we’re also getting #4 of Luke Arnold’s brilliant fantasy noir series next April, so I’ll probably get to that first. Can’t wait to find out what my boy Fetch will be up to now.

4. Childhood Favorite: Derek Landy: Skulduggery Pleasant / Peter Freund: Laura und das Geheimnis von Aventerra

I’ve been missing the old Skulduggery vibes for a while now, so I might revisit the first book. Or see how the Laura series holds up; I was pretty obsessed with that as a teen but haven’t touched it in almost fifteen years.

5. 20th Century Speculative Fiction: Diana Wynne Jones: Howls’ Moving Castle / Octavia Butler: Parable of the Sower

I’ve been meaning to read Howl for a while, maybe I’ll get around to it next year. Or I’ll read some more Octavia Butler, depending on how I like Fledgling (on my list for December).

6. Fantasy: James Oswald: The Damage Done. An Inspector McLean Novel.

Silly little crime novels are generally a personal favourite and I really like how Oswald weaves in and treats the fantasy elements of his world, so I’m looking forward to finding out what poor Tony has to suffer next – originally this book was planned for December, but got pushed back by readings for class.

7. Published Before 1950: Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

2025 will be the year I finally read P&P, I promise.

8. Independent Publisher: [to be decided]

I got it easy here tbh, Germany has a good share of it’s own publishers, so there’s bound to be something. Ideally I’ll get my hands on the third part of Christian Handel’s Hexenwald-Chroniken, because that’s from a very small fantasy publisher and I loved the first two parts, but idk if that’ll happen yet.

9. Graphic Novel/Comic Book/Manga: Christopher Tauber: Justus Jonas – Eine Interpretation

Since we Germans massively ran away with Robert Arthur’s Three Investigators series, we don’t only have like roughly 200 books more than the American continuation (incl. Crime Busters), we also have a couple spinoffs and one of them is a beautifully dark and painful vision of their future in graphic novel form and we’re getting a sequel to that in Febuary and I can’t wait to see how much that will hurt.

10. Animal on the Cover: [to be decided]

I don’t fucking know yet, I’ll have to see what book I come across.

11. Set in a Country You Have Never Visited: Maurice Leblanc: Arsène Lupin. Das goldene Dreieck. [org. title: Le Triangle d'or]

This year I started making my way through the Arsène Lupin books in earnest and I still have a couple of those left AND I've never been to France – although I certainly aim to change that at some point, I'll definitely get to this book before I get to do that.

12. Science Fiction: Karel Čapek: R.U.R.

R.U.R. is a sci-fi play I’ve been meaning to read for a while now, because I love that both the concept of the robot and the word robot are a Czech invention (based on robota, which describes a form of forced labour). Also I loved what I’ve read of Čapek so far.

13. 2025 Debut Author: [to be decided]

Since I absolutely never keep up with things that get published, this is kinda the furthest thing from a free space for me, but I guess I’ll find something. Absolutely open to recommendations, and obviously also curious to see what other people will read for this space.

14. Memoir: Rob Halford: Confess

Rob Halford’s autobiography has been on my list for a while, I haven’t been able to get it via library so far, maybe I just have to bite the bullet and buy it.

15. Read a Zine, Make a Zine: New York’s Worst Responders. NYPD and 9/11.

I’m always interested in reading about the ways the police system is rotten to the core (I want to say, the ways in which it fails, but lbr, it’s a feature, not a bug, the system works exactly the way most cops want it to), and this has been on my list for a while. The making of a zine is another question.

16. Essay Collection: [to be decided]

If anyone has recommendations?

17. 2024 Award Winner: Cari Hunter: A Calculated Risk

Took a look around the Lamda Awards, this sounded most interesting to me as someone still a crime novel reader at heart, we’ll see if I’ll get to ths or maybe switch in something with a German award.

18. Nonfiction: Learn Something New: Ingrid Strobl: Die Angst kam erst danach

I'm cheating a bit here, since I already know quite a lot about WW2 and the Shoah, but I don't have much knowledge about the role of female resistance fighters yet, and I'm really looking forward to learning more about that. But maybe I'll swap in something about the Golden Age of Piracy or Störtebecker, if I come across something.

19. Social Justice & Activism: bell hooks: The Will to Change

What can I say. Tumblr put it on my radar and I really need to read more theory anyway.

20. Romance Novel: [to be decided]

I’ll probably take a detour through the library’s romance section at some point and chose something that sounds at least a bit appealing. Rereading You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty for the third time in as many years probably doesn’t count, does it?

21. Read and Make a Recipe: [to be decided]

22. Horror: [to be decided]

If anyone has recommendations, please do tell!

23. Published in the Aughts: Ellen Kushner: The Privilege of the Sword

Kushner’s Riverside series is a personal favourite (well, Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword are, I never read Fall of the Kings and don’t plan to rn), and I’ve been meaning to reread this.

24. Historical Fiction: Laurent Binet: HHhH

Putting this here as a kind of placeholder, maybe. I’d like to reread it, I think, it’s about one of my longest standing special interests, and we talked about it in class recently, because it really gets into the question of methodology re: historical fiction/writing history/historiography/etc.

25. Bookseller or Librarian Recommendation: [to be decided]

I’ll wait with this until the next time I visit my parents and get a chance to duck into my favourite bookstore, or I’ll keep it for after the move and ask at a bookshop/the library there to build rapport with my new book dealers.