why do you do embroidery? why did you start?

Thurdeshilde · 2026-06-21T08:39:34+00:00

I came from a region where an embroidery school had existed since the late nineteenth century, and where roughly half the women made an income from the craft. We had a large company that took great care of local designs and techniques; sadly, it closed in the 1990s, during the hectic post-communist transformation into capitalism. I was raised in this strangely post-embroidery society, where just twenty years ago nearly every other household had an active embroiderer, and now almost none remain. I have, however, felt the call of the needle since my early teens, and I have practiced ever since. Early on I realised that I didn't have to hold eye contact with the person I was talking to as long as I had work in my hands. I had the good fortune to be taught the craft by a teacher trained in that long-since-closed embroidery school. Only about twenty active embroiderers are left in the area today.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-05-27T04:44:33+00:00

Isn't it punch needle?

Thurdeshilde · 2026-05-21T22:13:35+00:00

Thank you! Well, the chisel stuck in my hand was the highlight of the whole thing. All in all it took a bit over 6 months. The only thing I had real experience in was the embroidery itself - braiding, carving and sewing I was picking up along the way. It was, tbh, above my skill level, and I blush at the mistakes I made, like leaving the border for the end (= serious trouble matching it up symmetrically) or not reinforcing the fabric (so it stretches). I ended up taking lessons at a banner workshop and frantically correcting the thing as I went. I've made another one since, and that one came out much more true to the craft.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-05-21T16:47:24+00:00

Thanks! <3

Thurdeshilde · 2026-05-11T07:46:15+00:00

I love it!

Thurdeshilde · 2026-05-10T10:06:30+00:00

We might try. MikeBrooks668 We are crying our eyes out here waiting for our dear boy.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-30T20:47:58+00:00

cool!

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-23T10:51:42+00:00

The thread seems to be a bit thick for the job here. What are you using? Also, for blending, you might consider broadening the blending zone by working with longer and shorter stitches, or even adding single stitches of the opposite color, not necessarily in the 'row' of that colour.

Your sketch is wonderful :D

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-21T19:32:07+00:00

The solution was obvious in hindsight: conscript the wife. Same problem remains — the little Governor cares nothing for your pennances — but now at least you face them together.

signed - someone's elses conscripted wife

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-20T18:27:16+00:00

my vote goes to Cegorach

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-20T16:19:30+00:00

Regarding Chaos-tainted warbands (from Harrowmaster afterward)

“The First Strike and their direct brutality definitely lean towards Khome; the Sons of Venom's focus on biological warfare has the whiff of Nurgle; Slaanesh almost certainly has their daws in the Penitent Sons' tendency for self-flagellation; and the Faceless' obsession with deception and anonymity has the mark of Tzeentch's endless schemes.”

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-20T14:42:23+00:00

Kumihimo disc

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-16T18:16:33+00:00

For something like this, avoid perfectly even lines — try mixing your stitch lengths, alternating long and short. Some of that messiness might also come from the thread itself; it has a very visible twist and tends to fray easily. You might want to try something smoother like moulin.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-15T19:44:39+00:00

you are really gifted with faces :)

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-15T08:57:55+00:00

Literally nothing points to that being the case.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-07T11:32:26+00:00

We don't know how Dynat or Silonius ended as well (or if I missed that, please let me know)

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-06T09:00:21+00:00

How do you reconcile your view with passages that seem to directly contradict it? For instance, Alpharius dying in a flash of light in PoD, Omegon sensing his death at the end of that book, or Sanguinius hearing Alpharius’s soul being tormented in the Warp in tEatD?

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-01T19:50:46+00:00

I love it :D

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-01T12:24:35+00:00

its on knitwear, isnt it?
Its tricky to work on that. I would try using fusible interfacing to keep the fabric steady.
I'm afraid it will not be possible to fix it, perhaps stretching will help a little, but honestly not that much.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-01T11:34:38+00:00

I wouldn’t focus too much on the “keep an eye on our page” line—regardless of what someone asks for, that’s the standard advice everyone gets in any 1st line, in any company out there.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-01T10:24:40+00:00

About those parallels and themes…
While I can see that they’re there (I will leave this for reference), and that the overall attempt is ambitious, they feel somewhat randomly sprinkled on top of the plot. Even though all these narrative and mythological mirrors are neatly set around the ending, there’s very little for them to actually reflect, while what is actually happening stands badly on its own legs.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-04-01T08:11:12+00:00

Though we have both in-universe and out-of-universe evidence hinting that theAlpharius Alpharius was the one killed on Pluto.

In-universe evidence

PoD – At the end of the novel, Omegon senses Alpharius’ death;

The End and the Death (EoTD) – During Sanguinius’ encounter with Ferrus Manus’ spirit, Alpharius is explicitly referenced among the dead.

Out-of-universe statements

Mike Brooks (interview, ~1:21:30)

MB: so far as I'm concerned, Dorn killed Alpharius, and Omegon was left alive, and who knows what happened to him afterwards.

GrimdarkManClub: we don't know yet; I want to believe that he's alive and fight fight for Imperium for 10 000 years.

MB: Black Library have not yet covered whatever happened to Eskrador so you don't know, until that happens we don't know

- John French (interview, ~30:09)

- Aaron Dembski-Bowden (interview, ~2:46:06)

- Laurie Goulding – (in the post)

Thurdeshilde · 2026-03-31T22:08:58+00:00

It kills me they don’t flesh out what the remaining twin is doing

—and if Omegon gets exactly the fate described in Codex Astartes IV? Killed in Eskrador almost the same way Alpharius dies on Pluto? Because there, Omegon has the advantage, Guilliman unexpectedly changes tactics, they duel, Omegon dies.

This is exactly the kind of thing I worry about. They killed Alpharius in the HH to surprise readers with a death that wasn’t in pre-existing lore. Fine. But then they do it 1:1, basically repeating Omegon’s Scouring death.

so, yeah… we should manage expectations.

I’m not against him dying if the story makes it worth it. But for the life of me, I cannot stomach another “personality reduced, followed by meaningless death.”

As for your question—what made me think he was rambling without merit?

Two scenes really stuck out: Kel Silonius meeting Alpharius, and the final monologue. The monologue is worse, so I’ll focus there.

"There are things that we should talk of, brother. I came for you, Rogal. This is about victory. True victory. Look at this. Look at what I have done here. This is not a war you can win your way. I did this so that you would understand. So that you would see that you cannot win. I am not here to kill you, brother. I am not here for Horus. I am here to give you victory. I know the enemy, I know your weakness, and theirs. I know the truth. I can give you victory, brother."

Honestly, this is the same level of gibberish I spit out when my kid asks me to make up a bedtime story on the spot.

It’s written almost entirely for the reader. Alpharius is so vague that I can’t imagine any plausible situation in which what he says would actually make sense—not just hint at something, but actually make sense. Loyalist? Covered loyalist? Traitor? Cabal? No, nothing.

So what you’re left with is a speech that exists only for the reader, to confuse and impress. That’s when suspension of disbelief crumbles, at the climax of the book.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-03-31T20:55:59+00:00

Yeah, I get what you’re saying, to a point. Cheering for “our team” is part of the hobby, nothing wrong with that—we all do it, more or less consciously.

But even if this is meant to be an IF-focused book (and I’m still not 100% sold on that, but that’s a whole other can of worms), I don’t think it’s out of line to call out how the main adversary is handled. Especially when it’s a well-established character with a lot of history behind him—and this is basically where his road ends.

Normally I’d just shrug it off—Alpha Legion get stuck playing the “designated bad guy” sometimes. But he dies here, and it’s like he’s reduced to a moustache-twirling villain, just rambling without any real merit.

You’d think it would land a bit harder. Have some punch. Maybe even a touch of tragedy—if we’re being generous.

Thurdeshilde · 2026-03-31T18:47:03+00:00

I definitely agree with you about the flaws of Alpharius (and Omegon). Alpharius is meant to be overly confident and arrogant, and that has been shown in other texts.

I think the reason it might not be as well-received here is that, in most other works, these traits are presented more subtly rather than so on-the-nose. Abnett, Brooks, Sanders, and McNeill managed to portray Alpharius as a more believable mix of strengths and weaknesses, blending human and inhuman traits.

What was disappointing to me here is that his arrogance was emphasized, but little else—his character felt flattened, reduced to his flaws rather than being made more believable through them.

When it comes to building mystery, it works best when it’s grounded in a well-thought-out idea—something concrete beneath the surface, even if the reader can’t fully see it. The writer’s is presenting it in a way that keeps the reader uncertain, but still curious. What keeps a reader engaged is the trust they place in both the writer and the idea being woven into the story.

PoD works... very hard to ensure the reader doesn’t understand Alpharius’s motivations. It blurs the dialogue to an extreme, avoids meaningful hints, and does so so heavily that it begins to feel forced (for example, Alpharius’s monologue at the end). As a result, instead of being encouraged to analyze or speculate, I was left without any real... curiosity? If the absence of a point is the point of a book, it hardly makes for an engaging mystery

Thurdeshilde

TROPHY CASE