#safiya fon hasstrel

[lottiesoka]

Initiate. Complete.

[dark-giver]

Iseult's stuttering and Safi's inability to count are very special to me

[andromeda3116]

idk, upon rereading truthwitch, i wonder if safi and merik actually aren't going to be endgame like i'd originally assumed. like, when iseult is thinking about the heart-threads, it's always in a potentiality -- like they are forming, but not formed. they could be heart-threads. but they were parted, and life goes on. there was a possibility there, but it fizzled out with time and distance.

idk if safi is going to end up with anyone at all, tbh, and at this point, i don't think i really want her to. maybe it ends with her and merik re-introducing themselves to each other, to see if there could be something there, after the events of the story? or maybe it ends with her and caden reaching out to each other now that the hell-bards are free? (i do believe that caden is either in love with safi or on his way to it, and i'm on the fence as to whether or not he'll survive the finale.) or just with safi finally free to choose her own fate, no longer someone else's pawn or ace up their sleeve.

i'm not of the opinion that safi and/or iseult will die -- i don't feel like this is the kind of story where one of them die, and i don't feel like aeduan will, either. i definitely think aeduan and iseult have suffered enough and it would be a betrayal of the narrative to kill either of them when they're finally starting to come to peace and find love. if one of the main four is going to die, i think it will be merik, in killing the fury -- he and kullen, thread-brothers to the end.

idk, truthwitch set up safi/merik but the rest of the series kinda dropped it, and i'm not sure that wasn't intentional. like, it's one of those almosts, you know? the guy you met over the summer, felt a connection to, had a few deep conversations with over a case of beer in front of a fire pit, imagined that he might be the one for you... but then the semester started up and you went back to college and lost contact with him, and... that was that.

i just don't see it actually happening anymore, at least before the end of the story. it's an almost. a could-have-been. at best, the ending may give them a chance to start again, but i just don't think they're the same people anymore. what they had was ended by circumstance and they've spent three books (well. two, for merik) changing and growing totally apart from one another. i don't think they're incompatible now, i still think they could connect with each other, but the connection that they had formed was between two people that they aren't anymore. they'd have to start over.

idk, i just really like safi/merik as a whirlwind could-have-been romance that got torn apart before it could become something that would have survived the distance.

[eilonwiiy]

I’m back to writing Bookends and it feels so gooooooood

Here’s a snippet from chapter 13

Safi was busy getting ready when Iseult entered their apartment.  

“So what book is it again?”  Safi asked, pulling her shirt off over her head and disappearing into her room.  Iseult stared after her.  

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Of course, I am.”  Safi reemerged wearing a different top, a loose low-cut blouse that would look lethal paired with her leather jacket.  She inspected herself in the mirror, posing at a couple different angles before giving her reflection a satisfied nod of approval.  “I’ve heard you gush about this book so many times I didn’t even have to read it.”

Safi slipped on her jacket and tucked her long hair out from under the back with a flourish that, had they been out on the street, would've caused several heads to turn.  She looked especially good for a night of discussing the machinations of reclusive witches and their covenants.

Safi noticed Iseult staring as she dabbed on some lip gloss.  “What?”

“Nothing,” said Iseult with a small shake of her head.  “You just look nice.”  

“Should I change into my wimple?”

“That won’t be necessary.”  Iseult dropped her apron onto the small square of counter space that acted as their kitchen table and shuffled into her bedroom.  She stopped in front of her closet and stared at its contents.  Several minutes passed. 

Iseult had planned on just wearing what she already had on, but watching Safi making eyes at herself in the mirror she was suddenly self-conscious of the loose threads at the cuffs of her wool sweater and the ever-lingering smell of coffee beans that clung to everything she owned.  That aspect of her being couldn't be helped regardless of whether or not she changed, but she could at least look like she hadn’t been out in a field shepherding a herd of sheep all day.

“That’s nice,” Safi said, watching Iseult inspect a plum colored sweater from the door.  

“Mm maybe.”  Iseult passed on a couple more unremarkable shirts before stopping on something else.  It was a dress.  An especially pretty dress, in fact.  It had been tucked out of sight for so long she’d honestly forgotten she even owned it.  It was simple in its design, long sleeves and a high neck collar that made up for its noticeable lack of length, and made with a soft velvet that tapered off at the waist.  The thing Iseult really loved about it was the nearly imperceptible stars stitched into the fabric with gold thread that winked like the night sky when the light hit them just right.  

For Iseult, shopping was rarely ever an inspiring experience, but she remembered falling in love with the dress the instant she saw it.  There was a small hole on the underside of one of the sleeves, which was the only way she was able to afford it.  Even with the discount, she remembered how guilty she felt after taking the plunge and walking out of the store with it.  Spending a chunk of that week’s paycheck on a dress that she’d likely never have an occasion to wear.  

Iseult took the dress off the hanger and draped it onto the bed.

Safi beamed.  

[everythingunderthestarsthings]

Heyyy everyone!

I love reading books but never seem to have a bookmark. I can actually remember the page numbers where I stop reading and have no problem going back to the correct page, but bookmarks are fun!

And though it's a very simple one, I made a bookmark for myself with my absolute favourite phrases from the Witchlands series by Susan Dennard!

[thebitchlands]

Round 1 ^

Round 2 ^

Round 3^

Round 4 ^

Welcome to the Most Beloved Character Bracket! Vote for your favorite and maybe they'll win. Voting for each round starts whenever I remember to post the matches.

(If I spelled names wrong, no I didn't it's been a while)

I know I gave the polls silly titles, but remember to vote for your favorite character (not who would win in a fight or who is prettier or whatever stupid thing I put)

[bookfirstlinetourney]

Round 1

As Willa overheard the two day-folk men talking about whether the earth was flat or round, she shook her head. They were both wrong. The world was neither flat nor round. It was *mountains*.

-Willa of the Wood, Robert Beatty

Joost had two problems: the moon and his mustache.

-Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

Everything had gone horribly wrong. None of Safiya fon Hasstrel’s hastily laid plans for this holdup were unfolding as they ought.

-Truthwitch, Susan Dennard

[madmanreaper]

I decided to reread the Witchlands saga, since I read it years ago when only Windwitch was out, to catch up with the other books.

It was, and believe still is honestly, my favorite saga of all the time.

Rereding it now, it still fells like the first time, I love this books even more then the past, and I absolutely swear that IF SUSAN DOESN'T MAKE SAFI AND MERIK ENDGAME AT THE END OF THE BOOKS AND DON'T GIVE THEM THE ✨HAPPY ENDING✨ THEY DESERVE I'M GOING TO BURN MYSELF & THIS BOOK (together yeah 😩) BECAUSE I CAN'T LIVE SUFFERING🚶‍♀️, BUT EVEN IN DEATH I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE SEPARATED FROM THEM! 😭

[nipuni]

Safiya fon Hasstrel, Truthwitch, card hustler, and domna on the run. from Witchlands by @stdennard 😊

[lottiesoka]

Safi, Merik, Iseult, and Aeduan from Susan Dennard’s Truthwitch (and her Witchlands series in general)

[dark-giver]

What happens to "enemies next to lovers"?!? I don't want to criticize but in today's YA books the "enemies" part is cut off entirely. She thinks he is the most handsome man since the.first.time.she.saw.him. And he wants her from the moment he lays eyes on her?!? And I ask what's going on? I don't see at what point in the book they are enemies. And the fact that I read the same male main character in every YA book, I don't think to comment on it at all.

But, look, Susan Dennard is the Queen of ,,enemies to lovers". Safiand Merick had a fight the first time they met and continued to fight for quite a long time before they decided they liked each other. Aeduan and Iseult....well Aeduan tried to kill her and Iseult's first words to Aeduan are something like beheading him. In both couples, sympathy emerges with difficulty slowly, and during that time at least there is chemistry.

This is how enemies become lovers.

Without stereotypes and clichés.

[swolpirate]

No idea how big the overlap is between the Witchlands fans and RWBY fans (if it even exists lol) but someone please tell me I'm not the only one who read like twenty pages of Truthwitch and immediately thought that Iseult and Safiya were pretty damn similar to Blake and Yang?? I actually lowkey shipped Iseult and Safi together at the beginning partly bc they reminded me so much of the bees. Like,,,,

Iseult&Blake:

-Long, dark hair that gets cut short later in the story

-Asian coded

-Has to deal with prejudice due to their race

-The quieter, more bookish one

-Much angst^tm

-Shadow, moon, night connotations

Safiya&Yang:

-No mother present in their lives

-Blonde, flirty, gifted in the chest area

-Has a drunkard uncle who secretly works behind the scenes towards the "bigger picture," initially unbeknownst to them

-Is the one who tends to rush into a fight

-Cares a lot about the people close to them

-Sun, light connotations

Anyways,,, maybe my brain was just wackin idk, but I gave up on shipping them when Merrick and Aeduan were introduced since it was clear they were gonna be their love interests. Aeduan x Iseult is super cute but I'm still not completely sold on Safiya and Merrick (don't come at me lol). But most importantly, there should be more fan content for the actual gays of the series; Vivia and Vanessssss (rip Stix, Karina rlly said "sorry, but ur destined to be maidenless")

[bookpostsfordays]

Safi: Desperate times call for desperate measures

Iseult: Now is not a desperate time!

[witchlcnds]

a short presentation as to why you should read the witchlands series 

[thebitchlands]

FINAL ROUND

This isn't late you're late