#Witchlands characters

[dark-giver]

I'm bored, okay?!?

[andromeda3116]

and rereading windwitch and getting vivia's point of view and how she interacts with serafin, it's just. shit. this is such a well-written depiction of emotional abuse. vivia is desperate for her father's love and approval, and he seems to give it to her -- and then wrench it from her in turn. and she's left to make up excuses as to why, to fill in the gaps with what she must have done or said wrong. she knows he means best for her, he must mean best for her, surely he loves her and favors her, surely if she can be just like him then she can keep his favor and never disappoint him again, never lose his fickle favor again -- surely if he's angry at her it's because she failed him, that she wasn't good enough, she must have made some kind of mistake.

serafin never raises a hand to vivia. he never has to.

[aercnaut]

post series lee will sometimes walk into a room of gross male scholars and say he's been to the witch lands but refuse to tell them anything about them just to make them throw a tantrum that some hick from texas was the first and only man to be invited and not one of them to feel something

[tealeavesand-roses]

Status: read Rating: 4.5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟✨

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (The Witchlands, #1) 🗡️👁️📜🫴🏻🧵 It's a travesty that I was unaware of this series until recently. I just finished the first book, and I'm hooked—wow. Dennard's world-building in the Witchland Series is intricate, beautiful, and, above all, magical.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard is the first book in the Witchlands series. It is a story about two unregistered witches, Safiyah, a truthwitch, and Iseult, a threadwitch, who are on the run from various opposers, such as empires and mercenaries. Both Safi and Iseult must navigate a tense and scary political landscape. Along the way, they encounter allies and foes, including Prince Merik, a windwitch, and the bloodwitch Aeduen.

To give a little backstory, I had begun rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender, and as with every rewatch of Avatar, my heart swooned for Zutara. Listen, the first season came out when I was 13; I fell hard for Zuko and never looked back. I also immediately questioned why he and Katara didn't end up together once the series concluded, as their chemistry and scenes were *chef's kiss* 🤌🏼. Moving on, I wanted to know if any books/series exuded similar ATLA attributes/were identical in any way. I ended up finding A Clockwork Reader's BookTube video that recommended books for fans of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Thus, I was introduced to the Witchlands series. 🌬️ Side note, I love that A Clockwork Reader is a shameless fan of Zutara like myself, and she mentioned how she got a chance to chat with the author, Susan Dennard, and apparently, two characters in the series were inspired by the dynamic between Katara and Zuko, which of course piqued my interest even more.

⭐️⭐️SLIGHT SPOILER⭐️⭐️

Overall, I loved this book! I haven't read a YA fantasy in a while, but it's such a good read. I'm starting book two next week; I'm swamped with homework, so I need to put that first 🙃 Also, um, I'm sorry, the phrase Aeduan said to Iseult in her native tongue quite literally tugged at my heartstrings and nearly brought me to my knees. Like-are you kidding me?! I gasped when she divulged what the phrase meant, like...that's something heartmates say to each other, not a girl you swore you'd kill the next time you'd cross paths. Lmao. They've had such minimal interactions, but I'm obsessed with them.

[longsightmyth]

what's a book or series that you genuinely love? I'm always seeing your commentary on "not so great" (bad) books (no hate, love ur commentary) but I'd love to know the ones you like best.

Ah tumblr search function you fail us yet again (inexplicable fondness).

"The ones I like best" is a very broad category that I will try to narrow down I guess?

My favorite book of all time remains The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin. The other books in the trilogy are still excellent (I have yet to read anything by NK Jemisin that is not excellent) but specifically the first book of the inheritance trilogy remains my favorite. Other standouts of hers include the short story The Effluent Engine and the second book of the Dreamblood series, The Shadowed Sun (though, again! I cannot stress enough that I'm not even sure NK Jemisin could write a bad book/story if she wanted to!)

I routinely recommend all of Alyssa Cole's romances: not only are they incredibly inclusive, the characters navigate believable conflicts based around their characterization and not simply Because Of The Plot. Her contemporary romances are some of the few contemporary romances I enjoy: it's not usually my genre, but anything Alyssa Cole writes I will read. Shoutout to her expansion into horror, she's also one of the few authors who will get me to read THAT genre. Standouts include Can't Escape Love (novella), A Duke by Default, and Let It Shine (also a novella). Another author who I cannot stress enough: just go read her entire backlog okay. She's got historical romances in a range of time periods. She's got contemporary romances. She's got horror, god help me.

The other author who can convince me to read horror is T Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon. Her fairytale retellings are A+ and always contain horror elements, and she is another author who has yet to write a dud for me. Standouts include Nettle & Bone (NETTLE AND BOOOOOOOOONE), The Raven and the Reindeer, and The Seventh Bride.

Tamora Pierce is sort of a no-brainer here for me. Her books are not always perfect by any means, but they are always progressive for the time they are written and she continues to improve and take feedback into account. Plus you probably owe the existence of your favorite stabby ya lady to her. Tortall owns my heart because I read it first but she has a lovely magic school series in a different world where friendship is literally magic and social commentary the norm.

The Dragonriders of Pern is not for everyone. Much of the sexual politics in the early novels are, as I have discussed elsewhere, outdated, but the books evolved as Anne McCaffrey's understanding did, and there are soulmate dragons and impeccably rendered closed time loops (multiples! Happening at the same time!) and a constant discussion and tension of evolving social norms and the needs of society: at what point does technology become Too Much? Does it at all? What happens when the people in charge stop giving a shit about their responsibilities? Seriously the impeachment plot in Dragonseye/red star rising is nearly prescient. Most of these conflicts originate early on but don't truly come to fruition until later, and please take my word for it and simply don't read the books written by her son. They are bad.

The Witchlands series by Susan Dennard! Tbh I think this series deserves more love than it gets. It's not perfect, it can improve, but that's the thing: it routinely does. Dennard puts time and care into her work from all sides and discusses openly her early and middle mistakes, from a technical level to a 'needing a sensitivity reader' level.

Sarah Rees Brennan! Y'all know I love Sarah Rees Brennan, right? You should. She likes to explore tropes and genre convention and snappy, snappy dialogue. I haven't reread The Lynburn Legacy yet this year, but that's an anomaly. In Other Lands is pretty widely acknowledged as superior portal fantasy, I think. Tell The Wind and Fire was constrained by the book it was retelling and I think suffered for it, but that just means it wasn't as good as I personally think it could have been, not that it wasn't good at all. The Demon's Lexicon trilogy is her first series and yes, okay, it shows a little, but have you ever thought to yourself, hey. What if Supernatural was actually, like. Good. And wanted to actually explore in a thoughtful manner morality and what it means to be a person and nature vs nurture and how complicated your relationships with parents can be. Because if so, go give The Demon's Lexicon a shot.

The Rivers of London! We will excuse magic cops this once because they are specifically *magic* cops and because Nightingale literally fought nazis and Peter is pretty critical of the met in general. These books almost make me like London, and as a bonus Peter is fully aware that King Arthur was Welsh (look this is important to me okay)

Lockwood & Co! I am on the final book now and really enjoying my feral child soldier ghosthunters. I want to give them all soup. I want to wrap them all in blankets. My inexplicable attraction to the actor playing Kipps in the show is irrelevant to book enjoyment but I am still flabbergasted, by all accounts it doesn't make sense.

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold is space opera. I love it. I admittedly love the Cordelia and Ekaterin novels most, but that is a matter of my eternal love for ladies who are generally nice but willing to fuck shit up, they're all good.

Artemis Fowl! Criminal mastermind child WHO JUST NEEDS FRIENDS OH MY GOD. I cried at the end of the third book. It's fine! We're all fine! Colfer does an excellent job of portraying the fairies as having a culture different from ours with real reasons that they haven't taken over the world, and if you don't love Holly you're wrong.

I have more but I'll stop here for now I guess. Whoops.

[safifonhasstrel]

what's your thoughts on sd's newsletter on witchshadow and ppl's reaction to it? art's meant to be analyzed and adored AND criticized and imo it's reasonable to express frustration when the book we paid for with our hard earned money doesn't live up to what's promised

Yeah honestly I am with you on this, anon. I think she's taking the criticism a bit too personally, which she really shouldn't. It's hard, I know that all too well. I am on my way to unlearn that too, so i know its easier said than done.

Every piece of media can, should, and will be criticised. That's just how it works. It's also very valid for the people who payed for said piece of media, not just with their money but also with their time, to be upset about things. I feel very bad for her and I know she went through a lot. I am glad everything worked out fine for her. But if I want to truthfully review something, I cannot think about what the creator might have went through. Then I wouldn't be able to give my honest opinion and we would have a whole bunch of 5 star rated books and reviews would no longer be valuable.

I myself have tried my best to be respectful in my review and give valid examples. I cannot speak for everyone though, and that people have contacted her personally is nuts. But people should be able to post freely on their own social media. I think, or I hope, that she knows that.

I am a bit annoyed about the bit saying it's fine if the book is confusing at first and readers will be able to catch up. It wasn't just confusing at first. Witchshadow genuinely made me feel stupid. Because some plot points were never mentioned before! Like the paladin who has taken over Aeduan, whose name I have already forgotten because that felt so random, and the hellbard loom. I did an entire reread of the series before starting Witchshadow, and non of these things were mentioned before. I even went back and checked again. That was one of my main complaint. Things that have never been mentioned before suddenly being more important than what we already know, and we as reader are just supposed to roll with it. Same with retconning relationships, and focusing on the wrong things/characters. Why was Iseult's book, a book she's been most excited for, centred around the Hellbards??? I genuinely couldn't care less about them, but I know a portion of the fandom loves them, but really? I was expecting to learn so must about nomatsi culture but we got so little. It didn't really feel like Iseult's book at all. I think that's incredibly valid criticism. I am not sure if she would agree with this, but it is what it is. Again, not to be taken personally please. We are all adults.

Also, taking advice from someone about a series you are writing, who hasn't read said series, even if they are your friend, is a CHOICE. While I loath time jumps in general, they CAN work for some stories. But the Witchlands is simply too complex for that.

And oh boy, that got way too long. But valid criticism is supposed to help you grow. And as my boss told me when I was facing a lot of difficulties and hard choices, that, too, is incredibly valuable for you to grow as a person. It sounds harsh at first, but it's true.

Anyway, I hope no one is going to come after me or any person who has criticised the book. I really don't want Susan to feel bad, but readers negative feelings are valid too.

Now I am gonna shut up.

[detrasystem]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

hi chance!! tysm for the ask, this is such a kind and fun thing for you to be doing 💕

i have a LOT of resources to talk about with regard to this prompt. i'm actually planning in-depth posts for almost all of these, but for now i'll list out the things i absolutely cannot live without when developing a story.

websites

Random Generators. i have literally been to hundreds of random generator sites over the years, and they have become an absolutely invaluable resource for generating ideas, whether it's for a character name or a complete adventure. one of my all-time favorites, Chaotic Shiny, introduced me to the concept of NaNoWriMo and thus the writing community at large! i'd also recommend Seventh Sanctum and, as i'm sure everyone's already familiar, FantasyNameGenerators.com. each website is completely independent, some are still being updated to this day, and they each have a different Vibe to them so all three can be used depending on what kind of ideas you want to spark at the moment. HIGHLY recommend this unrestrained summer fun.

Springhole.net. this is kind of an expansion on the above, because there are some fantastic random generators on this site, but there's so much more here, too. in-depth advice for character development, worldbuilding, writing in general...it's great. and criminally underrated!

Susan Dennard's newsletter. Susan Dennard is the author of the Witchland series, among other things, and she's been keeping a long-running advice newsletter for writers for a LONG time. she's traditionally published and often has some great insight into the publishing world as well as just generally really good tips for writers of any stage. i'm not personally a fan of her books, but i am a fan of her advice. <3

YouTube. ok. hear me out. this could be for a few different things. i find it kind of fun to see how other writers tackle the writing process, so i'll watch writing vlogs every now and then--Kate Cavanaugh Writes is by far THEE best channel out there for this. her videos are excellently edited, her joy of writing is contagious, and she does a lot of fun and inspiring writing challenges! i often get bored watching people just stare at a camera and talk for 30 minutes straight, but her videos are Absolutely not like that so they're really easy to watch.

but even if you're not into vlogs, did you know that there's a whole subset of (mostly Japanese) YouTubers who make royalty free music and just like...post it? and it's GOOD? like genuinely?? go check out PeriTune right now and thank me later. i'm one of those writers that NEEDS music to write and develop characters so PeriTune (and the others that will eventually get recommended to you the more you watch their videos GHNGDFHG) makes the perfect background music for scenes, locations, characters, etc. and did i mention it's insanely good for being 100% free?

this isn't a resource for development, per se, but i can't recommend 4thewords enough. it's an online word processor that turns writing into an RPG: battle monsters by writing words during a certain time limit, and then complete quests with the loot you earn from your battles! there's a free 30 day trial for new users, and if you're participating in NaNoWriMo, the devs usually put coupons for free writing time during those months, so if you're not constantly in need of drafting several words at once, you really don't have to spend a cent. though 4thewords IS independently owned and developed by a wonderful team of writers who are very inclusive, so i do recommend supporting them if you can. :-) one month starts at $4, and if you use my referral code IRZVE23798 you and i both get free "crystals" that count toward subscription time <3

books/publications

there are two writing craft books i need EVERYONE to read, regardless of medium. Damn Fine Story by Chuck Wendig, and 27 Essential Principles of Story by Daniel Joshua Rubin. this is not the writing advice you've heard before. this is not elitist, prescribed advice. these are two books that will change the way you THINK about story, no matter how experienced you are. i am ALWAYS consulting these books. they live on my desk permanently.

Writer's Digest. i will admit to being subscribed to this magazine (and Poets & Writers), and for good reason! each bi-monthly issue is full of insider information about the publishing industry, creative writing prompts, and great food for thought about the craft. even if you can't/don't want to subscribe to the magazine, their website is full of great articles to get the inspiration flowing.

Publishers Weekly. i just check their website out periodically, to get a pulse on what's getting published these days, and by whom. if you want to be traditionally published, it's ALWAYS a good idea to understand the trends of the industry; plus, reading reviews on PW is a great way to find books to read that you might not have found otherwise.

and finally, of course, if you want to write, you have to read. like. i cannot stress this enough. find books that speak to you. reading others' work is essential to finding out what kind of techniques, tropes, characterizations, etc you LIKE as well as DON'T like. some people don't like reading in their genre for fear of accidentally plagiarizing, but i'm in the camp that NEEDS to read in my genre to get the right words into my brain so i can spit them all back later. no matter how or why you read, though, you gotta do it. even if it's just one novel that you read over and over again to keep getting inspired. GO TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. thank you.

[im-not-corrupted]

Nine Favourite Characters

Tagged by @samsalami66 — thank you my love <333

I am excited for this one. I have many favourite characters :)

Dream of the Endless from The Sandman

Harrowhark Nonagesimus from The Locked Tomb

Gideon Nav from The Locked Tomb

Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn and Horizon: Forbidden West

Ronan Lynch from The Raven Cycle

Noah Czerny from The Raven Cycle

Lucienne from The Sandman

FitzChivalry Farseer from The Farseer Trilogy

Vivia Nihar from The Witchlands

I did struggle so much coming up with this list lmao, there are so many characters I adore that it was hard to choose only nine.

Tagging @un-empressed and @hadeswritesthings if you two feel like doing this too! <33

[riddlemefuckingthis]

Okay, okay, okay, I wanna contribute to this thing about Witchshadow.

I REALLLLLLY liked this book. I liked just as much as much as Bloodwitch actually. Anyway, besides the point.

I keep on seeing people saying that they didn’t like Witchshadow as much as the other Witchlands books but I just… don’t get it. This book was fucking amazing imo. Iseult’s whole thing where she didn’t know what to do anymore because she was just so fucking done with holding back her weaverwitchery made sense to me. I get so tired of seeing people in fantasy books hold back their big bad power and when they do finally let it loose and wreak havoc over everyone, suddenly their the villain and that’s just sounds like the author got tired to write their character. BUT with Susan Dennard… it’s a whole different story. She actually wrote Iseult and decided fuck it, let’s make this woman go through shit. Manipulate her, destroy this fucking woman, make her suffer and in the end, she’s still a good person. AND THAT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD TO SEE. Now, I do get it with Aeduan. I do get why people didn’t like the whole thing he went through with the Paladin possessing him and that whole shit but I’m just a sucker for this trope that Susan did. It’s so interesting and it may just be me.

Vaness and Vivia’s POV felt somewhat kinda boring… Vivia isn’t that fun to read about. I’ve felt the same about her since I first read these books when I was thirteen. Vivia is just meh. I really want to see Vaness’s POV tho. That woman is so cool.

Safi’s situation is another one of my favorite tropes. I’ve noticed this trope is sometimes there in epic fantasy series. During the second to the last or last book in the series, the main character or side main character always ends up being held captive. I like this trope. Makes the characters go through shit and it’s just nice to see. I also like that we got nuance with Hendrick’s character yet he’s still a pathetic little worm.

Stix and Ryber were one of my favorite POV’s besides Iseult and Safi. I want the best for Stix and she goddamn better get it.

Anyway, people say this book was mostly just a Hellbard book more than an Iseult book but I strongly disagree. We may have gotten more world building on the Hellbards but it’s still Iseult’s book. Most of the character building is on Iseult and most of the book surrounds Iseult. At the end of the book, everything is about Iseult.

This whole book was supposed to be two books and I fucking hate Tor Teen for making Susan Dennard have to put it into one book while also being pregnant and going through postpartum depression. Susan is so cool through and this book was so cool and I just love this series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Witchshadow

[dark-giver]

How all the characters in The Witchlands know so many languages like I'm not sure about my native language and in the series everyone knows more than THREE

[libraryinthecountry]

★ Happy #StackSaturday! What are you #currentlyreading? I just started Shattered Souls by @beck_michaels! This is the third book in Beck’s epic dark fantasy Guardians of the Maiden series and I am so glad to have discovered it, because it is a favorite of mine. I’ve waited an embarrassing amount of time to start this one, but it was a bit like coming home when I did! I’ve missed these characters so much. Peak tension and angst, incredible world building, characters you love and hate, found family, forbidden romance, an epic quest … this series has everything I love about fantasy (with fantastic romance, too!). Highly recommend these ones! This is one for the Throne of Glass, Falling Kingdoms, and Witchlands fans out there. ♥️ I just got my special edition box for Shattered Souls in the mail and wow, no author does boxes like Beck, I am telling you. Everything is so nice and perfect. I’ll post the description of the first book in the series in the comments! ★ HASHTAGS // #bookstack #bookdragon #bookhoarder #bookishlife #readersofinstagram #fantasybooks #desksofinstagram #windowview #beckmichaels #guardiansofthemaiden #divineblood #bondedfate #shatteredsouls https://www.instagram.com/p/CnIL6xXycQE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[aercnaut]

why did it take a h.dm shitpost video for me to realize that after serafina gave lee the cloud pine he quietly says "thank you ma'am" BITCH WHAT THE FUCK

[dadplagg-mamatikki]

Me: has never written a crossover fanfic for any fandom.

Also me: starts a new book series and attempts to find the OTP on ao3 with little luck.

Me: "Alright, any fic ideas?"

Idea 1: "Ok, hear me out. The Witchlands book series and ML crossover because of Bunnix."

Me: "I may have a idea for that."

Idea 2: "But wait. Two of your favorite characters from two different fandoms discuss and break the 4th wall."

Me: ...

Ideas: ...

Me: ...

Idea 1: shakes hand with idea 2. "Good talk."

Idea 2: "She doesn't know where to begin and will stue on it for a while."

After Oblivio Fic: "Excuse me. I deserve it. I've waited the longest."

My other wips: *distant sceeaming.*

[hummingbird-hunter]

don't ask why but you give me witchlands aeduan vibes idk maybe it's bc of your wizardposting character

You would most certainly fight commando ror2 bc he's short

I think you'd get along well with the DRG dwarves

I do not know what any of those are; but I'll make sure to check them out!

[safifonhasstrel]

I was going to say it was bold of you to assume she’s still writing the final witchlands book, but I just checked IG and apparently she posted a snippet in her newsletter recently…

On a serious note, I feel the same as you do: I probably won’t read the final book. It’s been 3 years, and Witchshadow was a mess. When I started it I had to double check that I hadn’t somehow missed an installment because I was so confused. The weird retconning of Vivia’s feelings for Stacia (how she described her in earlier books is not how you feel about a sister, yikes). The big bad is now a ferret??? Where is Merik?? I could go on and on.

All this to say I love pre-Witchshadow Safi but I don’t blame you for wanting to change your URL.

When I started witchshadow I honestly thought I was reading Esme’s pov but no! It was just ooc Iseult! And omg don't even get me started on the retconning of Vivia and Stix's relationship. Aeduan and Merik being barely present despite being MAIN characters! Because gotta focus on side characters more because reasons!!! Iseult and the Nomatsi barely being the focus despite it being HER book!

I could go on forever. And yeah, I did read these snippets and idk how to feel about them.

I will forever keep the series pre- witchshadow and especially truthwitch close to my heart because it meant so much to me and I still love these characters so much but if the last book is as awful as I fear it will be, I gotta distance myself from the series a bit.

And yeah, it's been 3 years! It's actually insane how long it has been. I personally feel like the author herself has lost interest in the series because all we see are updates about her new series. Which I am not planning on reading BTW, because i associate it with the decline of quality in the Witchlands. Like come on, safi and leopold again backwards???? What the hell was that?