#the strange case of the alchemist's daughter

[radedneko]

She had never before found being a woman confining, but then she had never attempted to investigate a series of murders before either. And now she was finding that as soon as one began moving around in the world, doing things, one ran up against a regular list of You Shan'ts.

~The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss

[losercade]

ANYONE WHOS READ "THE STRANGE CASE OF AN ALCHEMISTS DAUGHTER" WHATS YOUR OPINION ON SHERLOCK IN THE BOOK???

I don't like him in the book very much.. he's kind of annoying >_>

but I need to know if other people don't like him or if this is just a me thing?

[shy-fairy-levele3]

Book #28 and #29

[sokovianfortune]

the strange case of the alchemist’s daughter: w-who are you?

universal monsters eternal bloodlines: I’m You But Stronger

[inejstanaccount]

all the books i have at my dorm that i haven’t read…what shall i read next

[deusvervewrites]

The First Line

A lot of people out there will tell you that the first line of a novel is the most important. I've seen the wisdom that the first line must grab the readers attention, be some kind of a "hook" to draw them in deeper, or to tonally reflect the main themes. That the first line needs to throw the reader into the thick of it!

But how true is that really? It's been nagging me for a while now as someone who has started more fics than I've completed.

Out of curiosity, I grabbed a handful of my favorite novels and compiled their first lines.

"There are many legends about my mother." Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan

This line doesn't really establish much about the plot of this book. Not the narrator's name, goal, conflict, or even the setting. We can make some inferences from the existence of legends around someone, but 'legendary' only narrows anything down because of the book's title. It is, however, indicative of the narration style and the novel's prose.

"Mary Jekyll stared down at her mother's coffin." The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, Theodora Cross

This line puts us right into a scene. Some real In Medias Res. Except... it's not really an action scene. It's a somber affair. And from Mary's staring, it's safe to say she has some heavy thoughts on the matter.

We can also make some assumptions from the wording choice. Looking down at the coffin suggests that she is standing over it, so we know at once this takes place during the funeral.

Interestingly--and I'm going to break my soft rule of not addressing the rest of the text here--this line does not allude to the novel's framing device.

"The temperature of the room dropped fast." Bartimaeus: The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud

This is another opening that's setting a scene instead of trying to introduce us to the cast or conflict, or even to the setting. Why is it getting colder? We can infer from the fact that the temperature is dropping fast that this probably isn't a good thing or at least not a normal thing.

"I've seen Steelheart bleed." Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson

This line fascinates me. It says a lot and, at the same time, very little. We know that someone named Steelheart exists, obviously. However, the narrator is giving gravitas to the sight of them bleeding. So we've already learned that Steelheart doesn't bleed very often, and seeing it was worth remembering. But who Steelheart is and why the narrator cares? Nothing in this line indicates that.

"Kendra stared out the side window of the SUV, watching foliage blur past." Fablehaven, Brandon Mull

I think this is the most relatable opening line I have listed here, since I can instantly in my mind picture the expression on Kendra's face knowing nothing else about her, or where she's going. We can guess she's probably not happy to be going there since she's staring out the window with what I would assume to be boredom. That's some conflict there. But, like, extremely minor conflict.

"The tired old carriage, pulled by two tired old horses, rumbled onto the wharf, its creaky wheels bumpety-bumping on the uneven planks, waking Peter from his restless slumber." Peter and the Starcatchers, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Well this sentence rambled on a bit didn't it? But it's very evocative. It tells us very little about the story (beyond Peter's name) but it sets the scene beautifully. Not only is it evocative of the scenery, but the time period (from the horse-drawn carriage) and the tone as well. We also know that Peter wasn't sleeping very well, which indicates that he's either anxious about something or that sleeping in this carriage wasn't very easy. Or both.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

This is the kind of line that would get me murdered by a lot of writing advice that I've seen over the years. This line tells you next to nothing, not even whether or not its weird for hobbits to live in holes. What this line does do is ease us into the narration style that Tolkien employs, which is generally slow and descriptive.

Okay...?

So what was the point of all of that?

Well, this experiment has solidified my opinion on something. As I said, I've been having thoughts about opening lines, but I think that the actual first line of the book is not as important as the first scene of the book. None of these lines out of context are that good. Sure, The Hobbit is iconic, but that's not because that line itself is phenomenal. It's practically "Once Upon A Time."

But it works for the scene.

The first scene is far more interesting to me than the first line. I'm not so impatient that if the first line fails to captivate me I'll toss the book aside. And I know that's true for other people because H. Bomberguy posted a four-hour video on plagiarism and we all watched it.

What this means, I think, is that we don't need to treat our audience as if we're in an arms race against their dwindling attention spans as if we'll lose them forever to TikTok if the first sentence isn't the pinnacle of literature.

People will give a work a chance. That's what the summary is for; to tell people if they'll like it so they can know to give it a try.

If you were afraid to write, or to share your writing, because you didn't think the first line was good enough... I don't think that matters. I think that people won't hate it. Won't turn up their noses in disgust.

[boombox-fuckboy]

Hey. Could you rec any podcasts with sapphic couples as their mains? Or a sapphic story. And so on. I only really know about where the stars fell and Alice isn't dead.

You're off to a strong start. Here's 20, there's more out there, but I tried to pick a variety. I'm going to put a ★ next to the ones I think will fit best, but they're all good.

Arden: (Fictional "True Crime", Investigative, Comedy). On the 25th of December, 2007, heiress and young actress Julie Capsom crashed her car into a tree and fled into a nearby forest clearing, leaving a trail that seemingly vanished into thin air, and a dismembered torso in the trunk. A decade later, Bea, the first reporter on the scene, and Brenda, a detective on the case, are hosting a true crime podcast about it, and neither is remotely impressed with what the other has to say. Arden is also a retelling of various Shakespeare plays.

The Author's Anathema: (Horror) Looking for some extra cash, and with some help from her girlfriend Eleanor, college student Natalie takes a small job to narrate an audiobook for a reclusive anonymous author. The book being a horror wouldn't be such a bother, but the stories within are... Familiar. Too familar.

The Beacon: (Urban Fantasy) Bee is a perpetually anxious university student who discovers she has the ability to create fire, and decides to start a podcast to find others like herself. She quickly discovers she's not alone, but a series of bizzare animal attacks suggest superpowered freshers are far from the only strange thing on campus.

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio: (Weird Fiction, Horror, Sci-Fi) On day one of a new job at the Department of Variance, in the middle of her workplace orientation, Jasmine's new workplace goes into lockdown. Guided via walkie-talkie by Scarlet, an experienced security officer, Jasmine must make her way down 20-odd shifting floors of strange entities and experiments. Ideally without becoming one of them. As a disclaimer, this one is the only addition to this list that isn't actively romantic yet, however there are canonically sapphic characters, and I am fairly confident it's headed that way.

★ Elixir: (Urban Fantasy, Romance) Set in a fantasy world's equivalent of the american prohibition, lawmakers daughter Elsie approaches someone unexpected in search of her missing sister: Vera, an alchemist and propriator of the local now-elicit hush bar.

The Far Meridian: (Magical Realism) An agorophobic young woman wakes up to discover her lighthouse home has moved overnight. It quickly becomes clear this isn't a once-off, and she decides to use this as an opportunity to search for her missing brother, having some strange encounters along the way.

Interference: (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romance) Jacq is a D&D podcaster. Geneva is an orc scientist studying ancient human ruins the next world over. What happens when these women from different realities begin picking up each other's broadcasts?

Khôra Podcast: (Sci-Fi) Somewhere between adapted from and inspired by various greek myths, Khôra follows four women who deserved better (Atalanta, Echo, Medea, and Medusa) on a grand space adventure to find the golden fleece while keeping out of the reach of the olympians who own and run the galaxy.

★ Mabel: (Mystery, Supernatural, Horror, Romance). The live-in carer of a dying elderly woman attempts to contact her granddaughter, with little success. The contents of voicemails only get stranger, and what starts as a subtley creepy mystery-horror develops to poetic lesbian fae body-horror.

★ Midnight Radio: (Light Supernatural, Romance). Sybil McIntyre, host of the ever-popular 1950's nightly radio hour, begins exchanging letters with an old fan who has reluctantly returned to visit Sybil's beloved town.

Mina's Story: (Sci-Fi, Romance Elements) Still dealing with a major loss in her family, a young woman volunteers for a long-term cryonics project. The episodes are her audio logs after waking up each time, always the same place but centuries after she went to sleep. A story about grief, change, and the intersection of past and future.

Mirrors: (Sci-fi, Mystery, Supernatural). The audio journal of three women from different periods (past, present, and future) who seem to share little in common bar the strange inhuman, ghostly figures they have started seeing.

Night Life: (Supernatural, Noir) Utterly wacky one-episode story (more of a short audio movie) about an ex-vampire hunter turned private eye who finds herself dealing with the shenanigans of mafia and vampires in the wake of an upcoming mayoral election. Find it on the feed for The Lightning Bottler.

The Night Post: (Supernatural, Mystery). The conscripted couriers of Gilt City are both respected and shunned, integral to the city's function, but inexplicably tied to the supernatural. It's not something they like to talk about. When his husband goes missing on the job, Milo is called to take over. Clementine took over from her father a long time ago, yet recently someone else with her face has been delivering her own unsent letters. Val's not going to discuss how she ended up there, but she will absolutely open people's mail (filled with their own supernatural tales) to read aloud.

Palimpsest, Season 2: (Horror, Romance, Fantasy Elements). Set in the 1800s, a young woman becomes the maid to a supposed fairy noblewoman, who is being kept as one of many "denizens", living curiousities, in a large house. Each season is a different story, this is Season 2.

★ The Pasithea Powder: (Sci-Fi, Thriller?) The last major interplanetary war was full of atrocities, but none more infamous then the creation of Pasithea Powder, a memory altering drug which was used to horrible effect and landed it's entire team of creators in prison. So when decorated war hero Captain Sophie Green sees one of them wandering free, worlds away from his prison, she gets in touch with a very old, estranged friend: one Dr. Jane Gonzalez, who's behind bars for the very same reason.

Starship Q Star: (Sci-Fi, Comedy) The small crew of a tone-deaf space agency's attempt at a PR mission wake up at Mars to discover that they - and the one botanist abandoned on Mars base - are now the last surviving members of humanity. Co-captains and ex-girlfriends Aurelia and Sim must now dedicate themselves to protecting their crew and finding a new home, but they're rarely on the same page about how best to do it.

★ The Strange Case of Starship Iris: (Sci-Fi) When the shuttle carrying the crew of scientific research ship Iris explodes, Violet Liu finds herself stranded in space, the last survivor with no way out. Until her emergency broadcast is picked up by a passing ship. But the crew aren't who they seem to be, there's more going on here than anyone knows yet, and Violet must decide who she can really trust.

Unwell: (Supernatural). Lily Harper revisits her supposedly haunted childhood home to help take care of her aging mother. The house is weird, sure, but there's something far stranger haunting the town of Mount Absolm than simply ghosts.

Weaver: (Supernatural, Romance Elements). The musings of the entity within the old house about the girl she fell in love with (the only thing she can remember), and her two new coinhabitants, who do not yet know she exists.

[accidentalspaceexplorer]

April Monthly Recap

(So it turns out I wrote this and completely forgot to post it...whoops!) April was pretty successful - I read a lot of books I enjoyed, and I completed my calling in the Magical Readathon. My favorites this month were all sequels, in either the Kushiel's Dart universe or in the Toby Daye universe. (My month was 63% sequels!) My least favorite was Air Awakens, which I DNF'd pretty early on.

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters: 4.75/5

Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden: 4.5/5

The Marquis Who Mustn't by Courtney Milan: 4.5/5

Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay: 3.75/5

Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey: 5/5

Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey: 5/5

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss: 2/5, dnf

Air Awakens by Elise Kova: 1.5/5, dnf

Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair: 3/5

Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany: 2.5/5, book club

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire: 4.25/5

Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire: 4.75/5

A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire: 4.75/5

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older: 4/5

When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire: 5/5

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen: 4/5

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella: 3/5

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming: 2.5/5

Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola: 4.25/5

Goals below the cut:

Complete series: +1 for the year! (started 2, caught up on 3)

Catch up on backlists: 22 (+1, although if I added Seanan McGuire to the list which I very well might do then it'll be +11 more lol)

Read FIYAH/Nebula/Hugo finalists & awards: 3 book (+2)

Read down TBR: (hard to tell what it was at the beginning of the year, but in August it was 1332) at end of April it's 1460 (still getting bigger...)

Read old top-of-TBR list: 1 (+1)

[katewibberlystan]

recommending you books i enjoy based on your favorite tbob character (ft a sentence for what each one is about/why it's awesome, and the intended audience)

kate: - the last magician by lisa maxwell; a well constructed time travel heist set in 1902 NYC, with immaculate worldbuilding and fascinating magic. YA. - the once and future witches by alix e. harrow; three sisters, who are also witches, organize for women's suffrage and fight against an ancient evil. Adult. - truthwitch by susan dennard; a pair of witches and best friends become caught up in political intrigue, reincarnated monsters, and a fantastically crafted world of complex characters and cool magic. YA. - time stoppers by carrie jones; an orphaned pre-teen discovers a secret town full of magic, one that she and her friends must save from attacking monsters. Middle Grade. - the diviners by libba bray; a group of teenagers with paranormal abilities find themselves fighting off evil spirits in the 1920s.

michael: - matilda by roald dahl; a classic children's fantasy that celebrates learning and families of choice. Middle Grade. - the strange case of the alchemist's daughter by theodora goss; the children of gothic literature's classic mad scientists come together to solve mysteries and stop human experimentation. Adult. - every heart a doorway by seanan mcguire; a quick, poetic read about what happens to the kids from a portal fantasy quest after they come home. YA. - the girl from everywhere by heidi helig; a pirate ship that can travel between time and fictional worlds, so long as they have a map, sets out on a quest to reunite their captain with his lost love. YA. - miss peregrine's home for peculiar children by ransom riggs; after his grandfather's death, a teenage boy is thrown into a world of monsters, time travel, and people with superhuman abilities. YA.

emma: - the scapegracers by h. a. clarke; a group of teen witches become friends and form a coven to defeat a group of modern day witch hunters trying to steal their magic. YA. - the lost girls by sonia hartl; a group of vampires plan to kill the man who made them this way, before he can harm any other women. YA. - the society for soulless girls by laura steven; a college student's attempts to investigate mysterious deaths becomes connected to her angry roommate's attempts to create a potion that can alter a personality. YA. - coraline by neil gaiman; a kid finds a door to a different world in her new home, a world that seems pleasant at first but soon grows quite terrifying. Middle Grade. - bad witch burning by jessica lewis; a teenage girl trying to escape poverty raises the dead for money, only to find her zombies cannot be controlled. YA.

gabriel: - holes by louis sachar; boys at a juvenile detention camp are forced to search for a lost treasure and explore the complicated history behind it. Middle Grade. - nettle and bone by t. kingfisher; a woman sets out to kill the evil prince holding her sister prisoner, with the help of a motely crew including an exiled warrior, a fairy godmother, a witch, a possessed chicken, and a skeleton dog. Adult. - lone women by victor lavelle; after her parents die, a woman with a monster trapped in her suitcase tries to survive and build a home for herself in the Montana wilderness. Adult. - chomp by carl hiaasen; in the Florida everglades, a young boy and his animal trainer father are commissioned to help film a survivalist tv show. Middle Grade. - revelator by daryl gregory; set in the 1930s/40s Tennessee, a moonshiner raised by a cult has to return and face the monstrous being her family worships. Adult.

wilamena: - the black witch by laurie forest; a complex fantasy world in which rebellion foments among many beings at a magical college. YA. - island of the aunts by eva ibbotson; a fun children's fantasy where two outcasts are kidnapped by eccentric old women to help protect an island full of magical creatures. Middle Grade. - children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi; a young woman persecuted for her powers fights to take back her home from a magic-hating tyrant. YA. - deep blue by jennifer donnelly; the underwater world of mermaids is plunged into chaos when political machinations and an ancient prophecy collide. YA. - the thirteen treasures by michelle harrison; a girl who can see fairies is sent to live with her grandma, where she uncovers secrets about her abilities. Middle Grade.

rafe: - the witch haven by sasha peyton smith; a student at a school for witches in 1911 NYC is searching for answers about her brother's murder. YA. - the bones of ruin by sarah raughley; an acrobat who cannot die joins a magical tournament held by the most powerful people in Victorian London in exchange for answers about her forgotten past. YA. - the court of miracles by kester grant; a thief forms alliances and completes impossible tasks in Paris's elaborate criminal underworld, all so she can keep her little sister safe. YA. - the gilded wolves by roshani chokshi; a tight-knit group of criminals is tasked with recovering a magical artifact capable of changing the world. YA. - the cure for dreaming by cat winters; a teen suffragette gains the ability to see people's essence after an encounter with a hypnotist. YA.

bonus, all of the above: reaper man by terry pratchett. literally everyone should read discworld, it's amazing and reaper man is my favorite. good omens by pratchett is also a gem.

[ijustkindalikebooks]

With one of my favourite modern celebrations coming up next week, Galentines, I wanted to recommend some books about friendship and empowerment that I have loved.

Alexa start playing Perfect Night by Le Sserafim*, it's time to recommend some books!

(*or any other empowering anthem you know of)

Girl Squads: 20 Female Friendships that changed history by Sam Maggs - a graphic novel that explores different famous friendships in history, this book is a fantastic read that delivers everything you ever wanted to know by so many women in history. Spanning the arts, activism and science and diverse, this is definitely perfect for Galentines.

Empress & Aniya by Candice Carty-Williams - a YA short read that sometimes stretches your disbelief to breaking point but charming nonetheless, this book is definitely about friendship and being there for your friends when they are going through terrible situations. If you have Audible you can listen to this book for free as part of their plus catalogue, I'd recommend you do if you want a charming cosy read for a couple of hours.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - I mean, they are sisters I guess, but they are supportive of one another and that's what friendship is, like a good bra, supportive. The story of the March sisters and their lives, my favourite is Jo but I think anyone can relate to all of these women as they grow up, get married and live their lives. A very accessible classic with some beautiful editions, it's a must have for your bookshelf.

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades - A poetically book about young brown women growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Brown Girls is a fantastic read as this group of friends come of age in a city that never stops and has a look into the inequalities these young women face as they find their space in their world.

The Strange Case Of The Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss - The story of The Athena Club, who are all daughters of fictional villains, be that Doctor Jekyll or Van Helsing later on in this series, this book is extraordinary fantasy and a fantastic book on a group of friends brought together in strange circumstances, plus a dash of Sherlock Holmes, literally.

Giant Days by John Allison - This comic covers the years of three girls as they figure who they are at university, be that Susan, Daisy or Esther, these girls are some of my still favourite characters and all of them have their relateable moments to laugh, cry or cringe at. One of my favourite graphic novel series, these three are some of my favourite friendships in ficition.

What would you recommend? I'd love to hear what books you love!

Hope you have a wonderful Galentines!

Vee xo

[fizzigigsimmer]

Perseus

I met you in a coffee shop

You were reading Theodora Goss, in a turtle neck that warned for winter in the last days of summer, and I resented your stylistic prophecy.

Your conjectures of a world filled with cold spaces and chilly rooms,

unwarmed by a dozen long winded conversations - disguised by the hip side of fashion.

I admired your contradictions.

Your part in the everyday, the tattered cuffs on your tight jeans, your silence amid the chatter.

Lone man, reading women's work.

Lonely man, trades glances with lone woman, doing men's work.

I met you in a coffee shop, while you were reading “The Strange Case Of The Alchemist's Daughter”

I was struggling to finish a poem.

Putting down lines, and ryhming my inclinations into some semblance of order, like soldiers.

Ready to make war on the decades of history that says women don’t.

My mind was cramped, but I persisted in the exercise, in the name of my ancestors, my mothers, my sisters of yesteryear,

who wrote in dark rooms and kept their words locked in boxes, published under acronyms and pen names masculine, because women can and they have.

For the alchemist's daughter. Another strange case like mine.

Our eyes met across a table, and I sighed.

Distracted as ever by the crumbs of romances possible.

Of sparks that could become flames if one of us would speak - if the woman dare bare her throat.

For a woman to love a man is to lay herself down in front of something wild, an instinct untamed in a wilderness designed against her.

It is to be Persephone, loving the one who would hold you to him by any means,

even those as small in their stature and as profound in their betrayal as pomegranate seeds.

It is to be Andromeda, fed to the beast for the crime of fair face, and spared not for innocence, but for the lust of Perseus.

And yet, I wonder, as all women must, what words Perseus and Andromeda traded across their pillow.

Did she speak to him of dragons and waves, her fears for daughters unborn and the perils of bearing fair face and fair sex?

I wonder if Perseus ever thought past it, her sex and that face

if he ever heard a word that passed her luscious lips.

Lips worth more than a woman’s life, a daughter’s life.

Did her hero ever stop to wonder why he is -

Where manhood ends and heroism begins -

Why he had to love her first, to save her

Or why dragons haunt her daylight?

I wonder, as a woman, if my nights will be the same

Spent trading words across pillows with my very own Perseaus.

Princes who wrap me in their turtlenecks and hold my hand under coffee tables, and love me over dark roast

Content in their proficiency to keep one woman warm and safe,

Impervious to winter and dragons outside their castles

I met you in a coffee shop.

We traded small talk and mutual interest.

I was afraid.

I was practical in my retreat.

I keep watch for dragons, who would make a feast of my womanhood.

Who would break me down for consumption and leave nothing but hollow bones

Suck the marrow from my youth and leave me hollowed.

I live simple with my sisters in the green wood

Ever careful, wary of shapeshifters

And princes who call to me

Promising the world

So you didn’t meet me in a coffee shop

but the memory of you lingers.

Bitter and sweet.

[lizziethereader]

I last read... 

‘The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter’ by Theodora Goss 

what I wanted: a creative combination of classic stories with a feminist twist 

what I got: a good premise but ultimately not the exciting read I was hoping for 

what I thought: This is not a bad book but it feels somewhat... clumsy, for lack of a better word. Almost the entire story line feels expected and the characters themselves are somewhat one-sided. The way this was told was really fun, though, and for that I rate it 3 out of 5 potential elements of alchemy. 

[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

[things-bright-and-fine]

One thing that's continuously surprised me since becoming a Hellenic Polytheist is just how easy it is to believe in the gods.

I'm a skeptic by nature, and I am a HUGE believer in "mundane before magical". There's a lot in the world that can be explained! Sometimes weird things do just happen! The world's not inherently worse for it; in fact, the mundane can often be just as wondrous and delightful as the magical.

This attitude, though, was the bane of my existence back when I was a Christian. Because everyone else had such an easy time believing in God, and I would scream and weep in private because I didn't feel the same thing everyone else did. (I also developed depression, which didn't help, but still.) I wanted to be fed mentally, but since I was a girl, naturally I could just follow docilely because all I really wanted was to be told I was a beautiful daughter of God who was SO loved, right?

That's more a complaint about the church I was in, granted, but still. Since I was a girl, shouldn't I have a much closer, emotional relationship to God?

What was all the more frustrating was that I had moments where I did feel him. Times where I'm certain I felt the divine...but always in a highly curated church environment. And I felt bad not having those same experiences outside of those highly curated church environments.

When I did finally step away from church and decided I was done with Christianity, those spiritual feelings went away. And I didn't miss them, was the strange thing. Perhaps there weren't as many highs, but there also wasn't that cloying feeling of "You're doing this wrong. You're not good. You'll never be like your friends, the GOOD Christians." (All of those friends left the church, btw. And had a much harder time in the post-Christian fallout than I did, because they were in so much deeper.) It took...nearly a decade to really decide I wanted to try with deities again, because there was something in me that craved the divine and could feel something pulling at me, though it wasn't the Christian god. I tried Asatru and Celtic polytheism, since my ancestry is Scandinavian and Irish, but neither clicked. So then I pulled out my archetype cards and straight up said, "All right. Whoever's there, show me which of these you are, and I'll find you based on that."

I got Alchemist, Advocate, and Trickster. One google search took me to HERMES over and over and over again. And of course I was skeptical, but at the same time I just felt...relieved. It made sense; the areas I'd tried looking for in other forms of polytheism (words, travel, protection) all went back to His areas. And once I settled in with Him, suddenly believing in the gods was as easy as breathing. Reaching out to Them wasn't a frantic one-way prayer that felt unheard; I would see things I took as answers, and they had personality: playful, stern, ambivalent.

As I've said before, I'm a skeptic by nature. It's very possible that, imaginative thing I am, I'm projecting. But here's the difference: if that's the case, I'm able to project for the first time. I'm able to imagine Hermes' laughter, Hestia's gentleness, and so much more. Things I've never been able to do with any gods before, Christian or otherwise. And now, I can go out and see the Divine through my own experiences instead of needing one created for me. And I worship! I praise Them for who They are, and it feels genuine instead of an ACTS step.

Regardless of what the truth is, it feels real. I am able to believe that the gods have a hand in the world, that They see me and my silly little human life and say "Yes, that one, she's one of Ours." And that, I think is a blessing in and of itself.

[bibxrbie]

Masterlist

DC

Batfamily

The Batman [2022]

Set in the Battinson universe, a series of one-shots featuring the introduction of Dick Grayson.

in desolation, we find each other

Bruce Wayne is bullied into going to a circus. The Graysons fall.

not family yet

Dick Grayson finds the cave. Sorry, the Batcave.

Robin

Jim Gordon goes to Batman with a case when the cape giggles.

With these broken bones I'll build our home

The multiverse has proven that when there is a Gotham, a Batman will rise from its shadows. Bruce Wayne is Batman. Thomas Wayne is Batman. Terry McGinnis is Batman.

In this universe, Rachel Wayne is Batman.

The Cruelest Gift

Rachel Wayne is seventeen when she leaves Gotham. She is twenty-two when her entire world breaks once more.

Blue Eyed Birdy, Flying

Rachel relearns the lesson the world had taught her at the tender age of eight: life moves on, and the only thing you could do is to try and keep up.

Or:

Batman meets the Justice League. Rachel Wayne goes to a circus.

mother's love, mother's rage

Batman can't kill. Rachel Wayne can and will.

Or,

Sometimes, to keep your kids safe, you have the get rid of the people who endanger them.

this is me trying

Most people divide their life into the before and after, the action and its consequence. Significant change was at the centre of these divisions, like how they lived before they had the baby and the things that changed after the baby. The relationship dynamic before they got married, what happened after they got married.

Before and After. Good and Bad. Day and Night.

Rachel Wayne divides her life into periods of love and mourning, an endless cycle of trying.

Broken Hearts Cause Birds

holding hands with loss and victory

Tim Drake loses in life just as much as he wins. For everything he gains, there is something he must lose.

heart beats differently for the same eyes

Tim Drake's heart stops beating on the operating table. When it starts up again, it beats with fear at the thought of Red Hood.

Superfamily

Superman and Lois

Kon-El

Conner wakes up in a world that differs greatly from his own.

Conner

There’s a boy on the bleachers, a leather jacket straining against his broad shoulders, and Jonathan can’t help but think he’s familiar.

anywhere i want (just not home)

Kon wakes up. Sadly, he doesn't exist.

the heartbeat I long to hear

Sometimes, when he flies, Clark finds himself smiling to his right, expecting someone to smile back only to end up disappointed.

Jon invites his new friend over for breakfast.

worlds apart

Natalie Irons wasn’t stupid, but she was beginning to think the Kent family were.

It had taken her one introduction with Conner Drake to know who he was.

my daughter, i know you not

Natalie Lara Kent wakes up in a crater with no memory of how she got there.

Now she's stuck in a world that resembles her own, yet is so different. With parents who aren't her parents, brothers who weren't her brothers, Lara has to find her way home before her father brings done the wrath of the Justice League onto this Earth.

Also, where the hell is Conner?

How To Train Your Dragon

On The Backs of Dragons

Learning to Fly

Hela Horrendous Haddock was the strange daughter of the Chief of Hairy Hooligan Tribe and had the misfortune of being the most un-Viking-like Viking to be born on Berk. Small, weak, and clumsy, Hela doesn't fit in with what the tribe thinks a future Chief would be.

During one of many dragon attacks, Hela, determined to prove herself to her father, manages to sneak out and shoot down a dragon. However, due to the many, many, many instances in the past, no one believes her. Left to her own devices, she goes searching for it and finds herself unable to kill it, leading her down the most un-Viking-like path a Viking had ever walked before.

Or,

How To Train Your Dragon but Hiccup is Hela, Astrid is Aron, Toothless is adorable, and Stoick is just trying to connect to his daughter while running a village.

Fullmetal Alchemist

The Life of Eden

Simplicity of Life

Trisha Elric is a simple woman. She knows her daughter won't be.

her (father's) golden eyes

The world keeps spinning, Al grows, and Ed learns new things.

It is during the year of her fourth birthday that she learns a valuable lesson. It gets etched upon her heart with never-healing scars and tear tracks on her cheeks; out of sight but never out of mind. Of course, this lesson is taught by her father when he leaves in the middle of the night.

Star Wars

Luke Jade Skywalker

sun of the son

"She had always loved Anakin Skywalker. When he was the mirage of the desert dunes, sands of lies set to keep her safe. When he was a collection of war stories harshly sewn together by bloodied hands. When he had a heart singing the song of hatred, composed in the name of her death, metal hands bruising her skin, tearing her apart. She had loved him as a monster and man.

She had held him as he died a free man, alive once again. She saved him once, and now she's going to do it again."

The problem Luke Skywalker was currently facing was the fact that she didn't know she was Luke Skywalker. Instead, her mind is a mess of memories she doesn't remember living, and, unbeknownst to her, she is as far from home as one could get.

There are few things does know: she is a Jedi, and she would do anything to get back to where she was from, but as time goes by, Luke remembers and is faced with a mess of problems to solve that might save the galaxy.

Emphasis on might.

Luckily, she gets picked up by the Jedi Order. They, in turn, throw her into the front lines of war. The Clone Wars, to be precise.

Or,

Luke Skywalker in the Clone Wars as Obi-Wan's padawan.

meeting the parents [one-shot]

Luke Skywalker introduces Mara to her dads.

[primordialized]

( lee soohyuk, transmasc, he/him ) — amongst the faces lining the staff portrait wall, you recognize SION LEE, the thirty-five year old professor within the school. having spent five years as a member of the verum staff, students say that they’re reminiscent of warm calloused hands stained black with gunpowder and iron / an empty grave sitting upon the top of a hill overlooking the sea, abandoned but not forgotten / fluttering pages of an opened children storybook in the wind, covered in debris and stained with blood, never completed / burning the midnight oil searching for answers within stacks of books until the pitch black sky breaks into sepia-toned dawn. their unwavering and conscientious temperament brings color to these halls, but be warned, you may also find them to be taciturn and disillusioned. regardless, hopefully they’ll remain when it’s time for verum to open its doors again.

PROFILE.

FULL NAME Yohan Lim Sion Lee AGE thirty-five BIRTH DATE december 27th, 897 GENDER & PRONOUNS transmasculine & he/him ORIENTATION ace-spec RELATIONSHIP STATUS married

KHEMIA transmutation, specializing in weaponry engineering OCCUPATION professor of metallurgy @ verum academy CURRENT RESIDENCE cynefin, clwyd-isle

PARENTS Minkyu Lim (father, deceased); Eunmi Hwang (mother, deceased) SIBLINGS Siyeon Lim (younger sister, deceased) PARTNER Cyrus Mihalis (husband, alive) CHILDREN Ahri Lee (daughter, alive); Yuri Lee (daughter, alive)

HEIGHT 185 cm / 6’0’’ WEIGHT 70 kg / 154 lbs BUILD healthy, muscular and tall DISTINGUISHING MARKS small scars all over his hands, burn scar coiling around his left arm, standard lobe piercings, an upper lobe piercing on left ear

POSITIVES paternal, incisive, wistful NEUTRALS candid, persevering, realistic NEGATIVES reticent, self-sacrificial, dependent ASTROLOGICAL SIGN capricorn sun, cancer moon, virgo rising ENNEAGRAM the defender MBTI ISTP MORAL ALIGNMENT chaotic neutral TEMPERAMENT choleric-melancholic

FACECLAIM Lee Soohyuk CHARACTER INSPO Secretive Plotter (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint), Alhaitham (Genshin Impact), Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist), Kitagawa Yusuke (Persona 5)

SUMMARY.

his name is sion lee. thirty-five years of age. a professor of metallurgy at verum academy. if not caught teaching, he can usually be found in his own office buried nose-deep in a book about metallurgy or the human anatomy, or in the lab jotting down calculations upon the already full chalkboard. if you still can’t find him by the time the clock strikes 5 pm, try again tomorrow because he had already headed home to his husband and daughters. something to keep in mind, though; he doesn’t care for geniuses or prodigies—only hard work. joined verum as a part of the faculty five years ago despite having never studied there, though he claims to have been taught by a former professor as their apprentice. strangely enough he avoids anything relating to weaponry and would rather utilize his skills for communal purposes like engineering. most people only remembered him as the stranger who wandered into cynefin seven years ago, muttering gibberish about death and the sea before the local priest rescued and nursed him back to health. upon first glance might seem standoffish due to his quiet and intimidating exterior, but is actually helpful if you ask him. always looks deep in thought that one might think he is reflecting something beyond the grand scheme of things (spoiler: he’s thinking about going home already because he misses his family). can be quite blunt, but only because he thinks holding back on things will cause problems later. always jumps to the worst case scenario so he won’t ever be taken by surprise, and will not hesitate to state his less-than-hopeful view on the subject out loud even if it means lowering the morale of the group. also fiercely protective of those he considers as “his”.

BACKSTORY.

born as yohan lim in a city by the borders of clywd-isle, to a family full of scholars. father was a skilled healer, known for his community service and humanitarian acts. mother was an engineer employed by the town hall to help with local development. they both met during their education in verum. grandmother is a self-taught healer herself.

when the conflict first arrived at their hometown, it first took his parents with them, then his grandmother not long after. yohan was forced to become the sole caretaker of his then infant sister, siyeon, alongside an orphan that his grandmother took in few years prior named cyrus.

their survival mostly relied on moving from city to city, with yohan utilizing his bare minimum knowledge of transmutation to work odd jobs here and there. they lived on the streets or abandoned houses or even shelters and orphanages as they couldn’t afford rent. the only constant thing in his life was siyeon and cyrus, so yohan held onto them with everything he’s got, even if it means he had to work until the palm of his hands or the soles of his feet are bloody.

at eighteen, it was cyrus who got taken away from him, and yohan was then recruited by the military. the soldier had told him that it was an experimental program to create soldiers that can also produce weapons in the events of a war, spearheaded by a former professor hailing from verum. as they were promised food and shelter in the military, yohan agreed to join.

yohan himself became the professor’s apprentice, who claimed to have also taught his mother during her studies in verum. aside from khemia training, he was made to participate in standard military training such as survival skills and combat. his mentor deemed it necessary in order for yohan to understand how his weapons will be used in real battle situations.

ten years later he finds himself in talcelin, a prominent member of his ranks due to his skills and achievements. yet even then the sight of the battlefield still causes dread and guilt to keep him awake at night, especially knowing that his creations has caused innocent children like them to suffer. chose to turn a blind eye for his sister’s sake.

ironically enough, it was siyeon who begged him to leave the military with her after finding out the true nature of yohan’s job, which prompted his mentor to eventually assassinate her. clueless at first, yohan turned his grief into hatred for the enemy and continued his work, even participating actively as a soldier at battle. it wasn’t until his mentor got drunk and confessed to orchestrating siyeon’s death that yohan finally murdered the professor before escaping the military.

which finally brought him to cynefin after months of wandering aimlessly, looking for a sea to set siyeon’s belongings free before taking his own life, only to find a still alive cyrus instead. finding a reason to keep living once again, yohan chose to settle down with the younger man and form a family with the arrival of their twin daughters. hence the year 925 marked the death of yohan lim and the beginning of sion lee.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

someone from his military days. maybe you were dispatched together once, or maybe you two only known each other from afar. either way sion isn’t very pleased to see a walking reminder of his old life… but maybe that’s exactly what he needs.

neighbors in cynefin. “you scratch my back and i’ll scratch yours” type of arrangement? you ask for help with mechanical/building related stuff and in return he receives a constant supply of pastries and homecooked meals? or they simply just enjoy each other’s company? or maybe the opposite; you can’t sleep because he kept tinkering with his husband’s prosthetics at night.

fellow professors in verum. the quiet ones who doesn’t mind his company while reading. the cheerful/easygoing ones that became his closest work friend. the ones that probably thought he standoffish until they interacted.

fellow staff in verum. librarians who had to keep reminding him to return the books he borrowed to the point of going on first-name basis. infirmary staffs who had to deal with his chemical burns during experiments. security who has to deal with his failed experiments.

students. those who genuinely like him. those who just wants a good grade. those who had always been considered as the rotten eggs but he thought has potential.

and more!! these are the ones i could recall at the top of my head atm so i’m most definitely open to discuss plots, etc. actually if you ever come up with something for our muse out of the blue just throw it at me bc i will love u for it.