#threadfamily

[acob-a-f]

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[padmerrie]

“Who the hell-waters does she think she is?” Vivia demanded.

“Well,” Stix said, “she probably thinks she’s the Empress of the Flame Children, Chosen Daughter of the Fire Well, the Most Worshipped of the Marstocks, Destroyer of the Kendura Pass-”

“And?”

“And she’s used to people doing her bidding.”   

Vivia scoffed. “I could have just as many titles too, if I wanted them.”

                                                       *    *    *                                                          

I never thought I’d be drawing Her Holiest of Holies, but after 3 books I finally got her.  Or she got me.  I love how @stdennard can turn your perception of a character on its head in a matter of pages.  The quality of this is unfortunately abysmal as it originally started off as practice with my brushes on a tiny canvas.  I liked it too much to scrap it and I know myself well enough to know that trying to replicate it from scratch on a bigger canvas would have ended in misery. 

[stdennard]

how do people know who their heart-threads/threadfamily (can you have thread parents? thread children? idk) are if only nomatsi sightwitches can see threads and most witchlanders seem to distrust nomatsis? or do they just **feel it** lol

Yep, like you said. Not so different from how we might call someone a soul mate or a found family. People who are not Nomatsi (and therefore privy to what Threadwitches can see) use the terms more loosely based on their own deep, gut feelings.

But it is a big deal. The phrases aren’t used lightly. You’re not gonna call a new girlfriend your Heart-Thread right away... ;)

[bookofmirth]

So I jut finished reading Windwitch, and one thing that confuses me was how does Iseult know her and Safi are Threadsisters when I’m the book it says Threadwitches can’t have Threadfamilies, and that they can’t see their own threads? I know that Iseult is a Weaverwitch not Threadwitch but she’s believed she was a Threadwitch since she was born and knew she was Threadsisters with Safi since she was 10, but didn’t question being able to have a Threadsister even though she shouldn’t be able to.

I don’t remember it being stated that they can’t have threadfamilies. Do you remember what page that was? I definitely remember the whole not being able to see her own threads thing, even though I read the book over a year ago.

There is some discussion in Sightwitch about threads and how they work, and it is actually kinda relevant. (Also it’s a world-building thing, not a spoiler.) It’s said that the threads that connect people are not predestined, that they can be the result of a bond that grows over time, and that they don’t have to be based on romantic or physical attraction. I think that… that second part should go without saying, since Safi and Iseult are Threadsisters, but it’s really nice to hear for aro/ace people. Especially because I can’t think of another platonic example of that in the books?

Anyway the tl;dr of that info was that it’s possible for them to be connected in that way because they are so close, and if it’s widely known that the threads can develop that way, perhaps Iseult is assuming?

And tbh, I almost posted about how I prefer that idea to the mating bond that sjm came up with…

[kbrown78]

My Thoughts: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Oh where do I begin with this book. It's only the first book in the series, and there is already a 90% chance that I will not continue with this series. I started it last year, and got 10 chapters in before I had to put it down. I finally went back and finished it so I could do a full review, but I still hated this book. It was so disappointing. I thought it would be about solid female friendships, intricate worlds, cool magic systems, and some good romance, and it was none of those. The friendship was usually framed as all about one of the girls, the world building and no context to it, and the romance was so contrived and annoying. In fact I hated so much of this that I won't be putting in a dislike section because the entire thing will be a dislike section.  

World building: So this is a vast world with a lot of history, but any information the readers get is in infodump form without any context, so it's very confusing. There's this truce that stopped the Great War, but we don't learn anything about either, other than the war devastated Merik's homeland. There's trouble brewing in the North that is only briefly mentioned, and small tid bits like Threadstones and Painstones from the Nomatsi tribe. There's also the development of the 6 different types of witchery and the different sub categories within these 6. I've heard that this was designed in a similar way to Benders in Avatar the Last Airbender, and I could see the influences. There also magic zombies called the Cleaved, which is kind of cool. There were some interesting points but there was so little backstory and context that this world ultimatly left me confused.  

Characters: This book has 4 different POVs, Safi and Iseult, who are best friends, Merik, a prince, and Aeduen, a bloodwitch. So let's starts with Safi, she was probably my least favorite character but this book revolved around her so I got to see way more of her than I wanted to. She's a very stereotypical YA heroine: very brash, acts more thinking, has a privileged background but doesn't want it. She was just a brat that everyone wanted because she was a Truthwitch. She does grow at the end, realizing her true power is how she wields her witchery and choices and that she can't always rush into things, but the book focused on how much of badass she is that I just couldn't stand her. Next, Iseult. I wanted to like Iseult, but she was very underdeveloped. Everyone but Safi dislikes her, and she is under the impression that her own mother ostracizes her, which means she has very little self confidence. She wants to go anywhere where she isn't hated. She is quiet, the thinker of the group, and she has a stutter. I was hoping that her and Iseult would stay seperated so that she could develop on her own, but that didn't happen, and she spends the next third of the book being sick and communicating with the Puppeteer. She basically felt like the punching bag for the entire story. I liked Merik, at first. He was short tempered, didn't hide his opinions (which he made obvious in his first scene), and cared about his country and crew. But as soon he was shoved into the hate to love possibility with Safi, I wasn't as interested in him. Then when Safi and Iseult are on his ship, and Iseult is dying, Merik starts treating them like crap and gives no regard for them other then they are a necessary nuisance. After that I had no investment in his character, and even seeing how people revel him at Noden's Gift didn't redeem him for me. Also, with both males, although you see it more with Merik than Aeduen, they have daddy issues, and that killed their characters. Lastly there's Aeduen. Similar to Iseult, Aeduen was underdeveloped, but what development he did get made him look like a shady person that does everything for one of two reasons: money or pleasing his father. There were other side characters that could have stood out more if they were more developed. So in general, I really disliked the characters.  

Relationships: The fucking Insta Love!!! Safi and Merik meet, yell at each other and it is blatantly obvious that this is going to be a hate to love relationship. Merik and Safi meet again that same night, dance to a lovers dance from Merik's homeland, and later on that same night Merik has to take Safi to saftey on his ship. From there it's just contrived drama with the two of them always arguing and not even trying to communicate. Iseult notes that the threads connecting them can't be distinguished as hate or love. This all takes place over a matter of days. Also on the ship, Merik is lusting for Safi, thinking she needs to keep her legs covered because that is too much for him. What?! I hate Insta Love and I don't like hate to love ships, and combining those 2 makes the ship one I cannot support, at all. Merik and Safi were at their best together when they were talking about how much the care about each other's Threadfamilies, that was the only time I was okay with them as a couple. Aeduan and Iseult I liked better because it's not clear where this could go, but they are bonded in some sort of way (their witcheries don't work on the other and he knows her native language). Unfortunately, Iseult is the least developed character and I don't like Aeduan. As for Safi and Iseult's friendship, which was supposed to be the most important feature of the book, was framed as being really all about Safi. When Safi and Iseult were first seperated by one of their mentors, the guy pulled Iseult aside and made it sound like they only tolerated Iseult because they hoped she would improve Safi's temperament. And Safi and Iseult felt very codependent. Merik and his sisters hate each other, but I think that animosity is created because they refuse to talk or compromise and want to be their father's favorite, and side note Merik is an ass to his aunt who's trying to help Safi and Iseult. The only sure fire good thing about Merik is his friendship with Kullen.    

Writing: There were so many issues I had with the writing in this book. One, the opening scene with Safi and Iseult being in peril. The pace was way too fast and I didn't care about what happened to either of the girls. This also sets up my other issue. Bloodwitches are supposed to be these mysterious figures from stories, and Aeduen immediately being introduced as a Bloodwitch contradicted that piece of story telling and I wanted Aeduen to be developed and then revealed as a Bloodwitch. There were several plot points that were just randomly dropped in, usually way to early, and that made the pacing of this book feel very jarring, jumping between being too fast to dragging. Also there was no context as too why everyone hated Nomatsi people so much. Like I get that there is prejudice there and it was hinted at that it might be because they conceal their feelings, but the level of hatred that was on display needs a sound explanation as to where that hatred stems from. Maybe it was just another way of destroying Iseult’s self confidence, which is stupid. The representation in this book was good but that isn't enough to carry the book, especially since I hated so many of the main characters.  

Final Thoughts: I should have written this review right after I finished the book. I have 2 pages of notes, but I just don't care. All I have is this lingering feeling of extreme dislike and that I absolutely will not be reading the rest of the books.

[jamiemallan]

RT @threadfamily: @Paisleymill @HLFScotland @Paisley2021 @CoatsGroupplc @CoatsIndustrial Our travelling exhibition on the history of thread making in Paisley has now reached Ferguslie Library, close to the home of J & P Coats. It can be viewed in the Tannahill Centre until Christmas #HHA2017 https://t.co/HdUyvIooue

@Paisleymill @HLFScotland @Paisley2021 @CoatsGroupplc @CoatsIndustrial Our travelling exhibition on the history of thread making in Paisley has now reached Ferguslie Library, close to the home of J & P Coats. It can be viewed in the Tannahill Centre until Christmas #HHA2017 http://pic.twitter.com/HdUyvIooue

— A Family of Thread (@threadfamily) December 2, 2017

via Twitter https://twitter.com/jamiemallan December 03, 2017 at 03:13PM

[flipsellin]

new hight adjustable trestles and black edition stool for my #threadfamily #coordinationberlin #design #lovemyjob (hier: Coordination Berlin)

[acob-a-f]

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[stdennard]

I am absolutely OBSESSED with The Witchlands, and I just had to pop in here and tell you how grateful I am for your series. It's so phenomenally unique and well-built, and I especially appreciate how you handle Heart-Threads/Threadfamilies and the concept of soulmates. It's really refreshing and I'm so, so excited for Witchshadow!

THANK YOU!!!! This makes me so happy. 🥰 

You’re awesome!! And I hope you enjoy Witchshadow!! I’m alllllmoooost done with it now.

[stdennard]

Hi Sooz! Are there threadsiblings of the opposite gender? Like a man having a threadsister? Thus far there has only been women with threadsisters and men with threadbrothers.

Absolutely!! That’s why I refer often to Threadfamily, and you’ll definitely see some of the gender varying friendships in future installments.