#even though i only ever read the first mistborn book

[writingwolverina]

Damn, this imposter syndrome's got HANDS

[cosmerelists]

Interviewing My Wife about the Cosmere

My wife has not read any Sanderson. However, she DOES listen to me babble about it at all hours, and she does follow this blog. So I thought I’d see what she’s picked up via osmosis about the Cosmere.

Question 1: “What are five things you are sure are true about the Cosmere?”

“Kaladin is very hot and invented therapy!”

“Jasnah is hot.”

“Dalinar is very smoofy and I like him and Navani.”

“Steris is you: she likes lists and is organized and awesome and my favorite.”

“Kaladin’s dad is a jerk and I hate him.”

Question 2: “What is the difference between men & women on Roshar?”

“Men don’t read and women are cooler.”

Question 3: “What is Rlain?”

“That’s the crab guy.”

Question 4: “What is Renarin?”

“He’s the one who leaps off of walls and has a crush on the crab guy.”

Question 5: “Who is Kelsier?”

“He’s the evil guy who is wishy-washy about being evil.”

Question 6: “Who is Vin?”

“The bad-ass lady. I don’t remember what she does but only that she is bad ass about it.”

Question 7: “Can you tell me the plot of any book?”

“The first one: Kaladin is with a bridge company that pushes bridges somehow and they all die apparently.”

Question 8: “Can you tell me about any magic system?”

“They eat metal because it gives them power but they can only use certain ones unless they are the avatar ones but that is rare. There are also ones that have spikes and get taken over by a god. Even though a spike is like having metal inside you so it seems like those are the same.”

Question 9: “Who is Hoid?”

“Hoid is the one who wears Hawaiian shirts and is kinda a dingy but he is always there. Does he even do anything cool? And somehow he got with Jasnah which boggles me.”

Question 10: “Which character is in Fortnite?”

“Uh.....Kelsier?”

Question 11: “What are spren?”

“Spren are like sword fairies and sometimes they get sad and scream.”

Question 12: “Who is Szeth?”

“I got nothing. Is he from Mistborn?”

Question 13: “How did Dalinar’s brother die?”

“I don’t remember. Killed by a lady probably? One of the badass ones. Did Navani kill him?”

Question 14: “How did Kaladin get out of the bridge crews?”

“He saved Adolin and everyone else died.”

Question 15: “Has Shallan ever killed anyone?”

“Yes. Killed her mom and dad.”

Question 16: “Has Adolin ever killed anyone?”

“Probably! He’s a duelist! (off my expression) They aren’t duels to the death?”

Question 17: “Has Navani killed anyone?”

“She  killed the crab lady that she was making logic-sex-brain looks at.”

Question 18: “Has Renarin killed anyone?”

“Probably not. He just likes to fall off buildings.”

Question 19: “Why is there a war between the ‘crabs’ and the humans?”

“The crabs don’t like the magic thing. Like when Navani and the crab lady were trying to figure it out.”

Question 20: “How did Dalinar’s wife die?”

“He set them all on fire.” 

[marvelousmagicalaura]

The Lord Ruler's portrayal worries me. I hope The Stormlight Archive doesn't do this. 

I'll preface this post by saying this is not out of dislike for the Mistborn trilogy. I'm not trying to impose my moral viewpoints onto fellow cosmerenauts. And it's not meant to dismiss that fantasy characters can have their own unique beliefs. This is simply a rant on a topic that's bugged me ever since finishing The Hero of Ages. It came back as I was contemplating Era 2's nuanced portrayal of Elendel’s problems, Harmony's plans, and Autonomy's mindset. And since I'm reading The Stormlight Archive after Warbreaker, this involves a hope of mine.

My journey throughout Scadrial created an increasing sense of concern and worry over the Lord Ruler's portrayal. In my eyes, book 3 fell into the trap of characters defending the Lord Ruler's actions. Simply because they were for the goal of preserving the world. To be clear, I understand what Sanderson was trying to do. He wanted to make a world where most characters, even when destroying the evil empire, ultimately wanted a stable world. And for that, I understand why Vin or Sazed would call Rashek a "good man with honorable intentions."

Vin always wanted a stable life. And when she thanked the Lord Ruler as Preservation, I bet her opinions of TLR were being slightly filtered by Preservation's Intent. Sazed Ascended with full access to how Ruin and Preservation connected back to Rashek. He knew Rashek in ways no one could imagine.

So while their claims were understandable, it felt extremely gross. My first issue is that I lack the same knowledge of Rashek as Vin or Sazed. I only know Rashek as a bitter, violent glory hound Terrisman who maybe had slivers of understandable motives before Ascending. Then I only know him as an evil emperor going insane for 1000 years. I don't know the "good man" Rashek. I know the asshole who did 5% good things and 95% ends justify the means.

My second issue is that the "suffered under Ruin's hand" removed accountability. Rashek didn't NEED to make slaves out of most remaining humans, turn his people into jellyfish, restrict Allomancy to the ruling class, sacrifice humans for koloss armies, or wipe out all religions and cultures. But that line pinned it on Ruin's influence, even though Rashek did horrible things and made horrible plans during the Ascension. Instead of holding Rashek himself accountable for his own actions.

And on that note, fuck Rashek for even mentioning Ruin's whispers in the Fadrex city plate. Yeah sure, centuries of Ruin's influence pushed him to make the Terris breeding program. But those reprehensible actions above were all Rashek's fault when he was a new conqueror.

My third issue is the erasure of potential depth behind Ruin and Preservation's conflict. It doesn't give Preservation something 100% despicable to actively do. It ignores the fact Ruin doesn't insert new personalities, but rather influences what is already there. Ruin was the method through which Rashek did things, but Preservation is the reason and goal. Rashek ruined to preserve.

Brandon should’ve settled for Sazed acknowledging the tragedy and genius behind Rashek’s efforts, while acknowledging they were reprehensible and weren’t solely orchestrated by Ruin. I don't know what The Stormlight Archive will hold. But if there are any characters who go "ends justify the means" or "it's not my fault it's the god," I sincerely hope Brandon calls out their rusting nonsense with a hammer. He did it with Kelsier (complicated feelings about that), he did not do it with Rashek. I hope he does it in Stormlight.

[renarinkholin]

Heyo, so, I noticed your reblog on a post mentioning "Dier Venture" and now I'm intrigued... is that a Mistborn oc fic I smell? Exploring the Venture family? Because if so, I would love to read it! (If Dier is just an obscure canon character or something else entirely, ignore this ask. 😅)

OH BOY UHHH OKAY SIT DOWN LET ME TALK ABOUT SECRETS IN STAINED GLASS.

(Character portraits by the insanely talented Elisgardor on Instagram)

Dier Venture is my character for a murder-mystery actual play series Secrets in Stained Glass that just finished airing! It's set 10 years before the events of The Final Empire book, at a weekend winter solstice party hosted by House Elariel. We use the Mistborn Adventure Game system to build our characters and roll the dice, and the mystery and storyline itself were written and run by the ever amazing, ever wonderful @rashenditrash as our illustrious Narrator. There's a lot of fun references to the books and secrets tucked away, and even though it's technically a prequel, we did a lot of work to make sure things would fit within the Mistborn canon as seamlessly as possible.

It's five episodes long, though there's some written bonus content as well! The series was edited and produced by yours truly (it nearly killed me, but it was absolutely a labor of love) and you can watch the whole thing on YouTube or listen to the audio versions on whatever podcast platform you prefer. Though, I will say, for any audio listeners, there are a LOT of visual assets and graphics for this show so if you just listen, it might be worth coming back to look up the visual elements afterward.

Lo, trailer be upon ye:

As for Dier himself... (fine, i'll put a cut to save people's dashboards, open for more info on The Trashboi™)

Dier is a known Coinshot and all around terrible trash person who makes only the best life decisions because it turns out when your name is "Venture" you can get away with quite a bit without having to deal with pesky things like "consequences." Or so he thinks, at least. He's the first cousin of the recently ascended House Lord, Straff, and is technically second in line for the house title after his cousin's little brat of an heir, Elend. No one in House Venture is really thrilled about that, including Dier himself, since he's probably the last person anyone should ever put in charge of anything and has made it no secret that he considers himself completely allergic to responsibility.

I love this asshole with my whole heart, I put WAY too much effort into developing him, and he was a blast to play. I could talk about him for hours, and Matt was an utterly ruthless Game Master and just really dug into all the messy complexities of this terrible boy and Why He Is Like That, Why Did You Make Him Like That, Feather????

The good people of the 17th Shard Discord may or may not be bullying me into doing a 10-hour stream so that I can just blab all the Dier meta into the world. We'll see.

Regardless, I love to talk about him, so if anybody ever has Dier Venture questions, my inbox is literally always the most open, haaaaaa. I will never turn down an opportunity to run my mouth about an OC and that is a threat.

[writtenonreceipts]

Hi friend! Can I ask you a book related question? So I read the Skyward series from Brandon Sanderson—those were the first of his books that I’ve read, and I loved them. I’ve wanted to read his other series for a long time, since I always hear so much about them, but I have no idea where to start. Cosmere? Stormlight? I read that they take place in the same universe, so do I need to read those series in order? If you could help me out it would be much appreciated. If not, I’m sure I can find the answer somewhere through google, but I thought I’d ask a friend first 🫶

Hey friend!! Yes! I love book questions! Haha 😄and I love Sanderson too, lol, and never get to talk about it enough. Forgive the rambling that is about to commence 😅

Skyward is honestly such a good place to start with his books tbh. He is very much a high and epic fantasy writer and that series really eases readers into his style as well. I still need finish them, lol, but I'm so glad you liked them! I've just read the first one and it was such a fun reach honestly.

As far as his other books go: The Cosmere is basically what Brandon called the magical universe he created to interconnect most of his books. (I think theres only 1 or 2 right now that aren't considered part of the Cosmere). So yeah, if you wanna choose chaos you can read any of the different series as you want in whatever order. But I do have some thoughts:

I do recommend starting with Mistborn. It is what he is best known for and what really launched his career. It's...it is a little denser, but the world building and characters and pay offs are phenomenal. It highlights a great magic system, political intrigue, overthrowing evil, and heists. Brandon describes it as his Cinderella heist novel, lol. It's the what would happen to the world if the villain had won? And highlights one man's desire to fight kill/eat the rich. The Mistborn books are considered "Era 1". He has 3 series planned set on this specific planet in the Cosmere.

Era 2 of Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne Books. A Western fantasy. And I love it. Queer characters, autistic characters, chaos, broody male mc, sarcasm and puns, marriage of convenience (thought that plot is very small. It's my favorite thing about the series though). The final book just came out last Nov. I'll spare you all the other thoughts lol. But it can technically be read on its own without needing to read Era 1, though, there are a lot of things about this series that work better when read after the og trilogy. I hold this series close to my heart. It's a lot of fun and you can tell Brandon just had fun.

Warbreaker. Handsdown love this book. I want to recommend reading it even before Mistborn as it does bridge the gap of ya to adult fantasy rather well. The magic system is different and fun too. This book has the forced marriage plot a bit stronger, political intrugue, queer rep (albeit small), and magical talking swords that want to kill you be your friend. And I love the female characters. Vivenna is my love. Hands down one of my favorite female characters ever. I don't think this book is talked about enough tbh. I could go OFF an all the things I love about it.

The Stormlight Archive. Get ready to buckle in. It is planned to be a 10 book series. Book 5 should be coming out in 2024. They are 1,300-1,500 pages long. So... yeah, long and epic but so so worth it. Like. I can't even begin to describe it. War, mental health, religious discussions, honor, depression, hope. Iconic characters. I also hold these books special to my heart. You can jump right into this one, but there are references to world hoppers on this book and the magic system is steep. So, I would recommend reading at least Mistborn. But that's just me.

>>Other Sanderson Books and thoughts: The Rhythmatist, people have mixed feelings but I liked it, which is why I bring it up. It's another ya almost adult fantasy. It's another great one to get into the way Brandon does magic systems and world building. Elantris is technically his first published. It was not my favorite. I mean...I enjoyed it but it was hard to get through. You can tell it's his first book. The premise is cool and interesting but I struggled with it. It is technically the first book of the Cosmere universe. He has a book of short stories and novellas interwoven through the Cosmere. If you can find it on it's own The Emperors Soul is great.

I'll stop. I loved this...anyways...

[danpuff-ao3]

ten books to get to know me

Thanks for the tag @wolfpants!! And @consistentsquash!! :D

Tagging: @perverse-idyll, @writcraft, @lizzy0305, @arrisha-ao3, @liladiurne, @bluesundaycake, @cindle-writes, @ripeteeth, @givereadersahug, @broomsticks, @charlotterhea, @ashesandhackles, @teacup-tai, @sugareey-makes-stuff, @mrviran, @yletylyf ....no pressure! Apologies if you've already been tagged or done this! And if you've not been tagged and want to play along, go ahead and consider yourself tagged!

Under the cut cuz LONG. (Y'all know I like to talk.)

The Harry Potter series

....I'm in the HP fandom, so that's probably 0 surprise. Also feels icky due to being written by Terf McTerfington. Buuuuuut. Well. The universe needs balance and HP's power was so great it could only be stopped by Great Evil, or so I like to tell myself.

The series was published in the U.S. when I was 7. I was already a big reader. I was a big reader from the moment I could read at all. But HP was the first series I fell well and truly in love with. I discovered fanfiction at 11, and started writing it at 13. The story and this fandom were there through the worst moments of my life. I'm not sure it will ever not be important to me.

The Percy Jackson series (Rick Riordan)

Honestly, I can't lie, I'm a big sucker for kids' books. They're just fun, dang it. Great literature? No. But I don't read to impress, I read to have a good time, and Percy Jackson is a good time. Also all the related series. Magnus Chase? Trials of Apollo? The Kane Chronicles? Yes yes yes BRING THEM TO ME.

There's a Potter-esque feel to the PJO series. Dark haired green eyed hero who didn't know he had magical abilities? Also the Cabins make me think of the Houses, even though it's more parentage than traits. It's a vibe, okay? And on top of that...mythology???? I'm a big ole mythology nerd, especially for Greek mythology. And let me tell you, I inhaled those books. And I still love them a lot, actually.

The Twilight series (Stephenie Meyer)

To round out the list of "stories Little Danni loved" is Twilight. Yes, I was a Twi-hard in junior high and high school. What's funny is all the modern "this is problematic because Edward is stalking Bella, and also he's a vampire and immortal and there's an age gap!" jabbering is probably what sold me on the story to begin with. Listen: I like what I like, okay? Also: vampire + human? Does that count as monsterfucking? Idk but it's at least different species which ticks some boxes, okay?

Honestly everyone talking about how effed up Twilight is was just a lightbulb moment for me of like "oh. No wonder I was so into it."

Twilight also played a role in my writing journey! In high school I joined a Twilight themed RPG site on proboards. I created a mega evil vampire named Danna Deville, whose face cast was Hayden Panettierre. This weirdly made me super popular because no one else was creating/playing villainous characters. Let me tell you, it did loads for my self esteem. Also it's funny to think about all those old friendships born of "hey let's RP together. I really want your character to torture my character."

Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)

This one I have big opinions on. On the one hand, I really enjoy Brandon Sanderson's stories. On the other hand, while his magic systems are often highly praised, I hate them. Hate, loathe, and despise them. I'll not say more than that. I don't like to hate on things. And my partner really loves Brandon Sanderson and his magic systems. (I'm just over here muttering about "they eat metal" and have to actively not think about it.) It's just not my jam. I much prefer softer magic systems. Hard magic systems tend to throw me a bit. But Brandon Sanderson sure knows how to tell a story, dang it. He's super creative and smart and has these big sweeping ideas, with all these twists and turns! His worldbuilding is also insanely good.

Mistborn (Era 1) is probably my favorite of his works. One as an overall story (Vin, my love!) But also the connection to my Eddie.

You see, when my partner and I first met, it was in the book section of an entertainment store. Where we stood in the aisles and talked for hours. My very first impression was "who is this goofy man?" and I left the interaction fully smitten. And anxious, awkward lady that I am, my grand plan was to read the books he'd been raving about to have something to talk about. Idle chit chat? No can do. Book talk? That I can do! So I read Mistborn, for a start. Then worked my way through other book recommendations. And now that goofy nerd is mine. All's well that ends well!

The Wheel of Time series (Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson)

Once I worked my way through Brandon Sanderson's books, I moved onto The Wheel of Time, which was much more up my alley! I could not put those books down. (At least until I hit The Slog, at which point I still couldn't put them down, but I was mostly charging through waiting for it to get good again.) This was also the first time I tried to not look up spoilers before reading a book. (Blasphemy, I know, blah blah. Look: I have anxiety. Spoilers make my life easier and happier, okay?) Eddie is very staunchly anti-spoiler, so I did my best to try a spoiler-free experience. I made it most of the way through. Towards the end I accidentally spoiled myself on a big event. It was a bit foolishly done but I'd consulted google to refresh my memory on an event from an earlier book, and my Google excursions warned me of a few deaths ahead of time. Whoops. On the whole, though, me making it 10+ books with no spoilers was pretty dang impressive.

Also the book series is great. And I'm side-eying the show a bit. Just a little bit.

(Bonus: the band Blind Guardian has a song called "Wheel of Time" about the books and it's 10/10. At least if you like symphonic metal, which I do.) (Oh, "Ride Into Obsession" from the same album is also WoT inspired.)

Flowers in the Attic series (V. C. Andrews)

The fact that I read this series as a child might explain a lot. Also you should know my mother gave me these books to read. Child abuse, forced imprisonment, murder, and incest? Sign me up! It's all sortsa messed up and dark and to this day it's still my # 1 guilty pleasure series. I like...just don't care. You can tell me how badly written it is or how problematic it is, I don't care. This is the book equivalent to eating a whole bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos while watching true crime videos. This is indulgence, my friends. I'm having a great time, please leave me in peace.

Till We Have Faces (C. S. Lewis)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Idk what to say other than this book is perfect, I will hear no slander against it, and I really need to reread it, like, ASAP. Another link to Greek mythology this one. Also: I really love Orual.

(Does anyone wanna read/reread it with me? Lmk.)

The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller)

Gorgeous, amazing, perfect, wonderful. Patroclus/Achilles forever. Ouch my heart. God it's beautiful. MORE GREEK MYTHOLOGY OF COURSE. Also all of Madeline Miller's stuff is stellar. (Circe and Galatea!!!! Read those, too!!!!) I have every feeling on planet earth about this one.

Widecare trilogy (Phillippa Gregory)

Beatrice Lacey is wonderful and amazing and also really messed up in the head. Historical fiction. Little Beatrice is in love with her family's land, Wideacre. And is HORRIFIED and OFFENDED when she realizes that, as a girl, she will not only not inherit, but will have to leave one day???? Cuz as a lady it is her purpose in life to get married and pop out babies???? But Beatrice is ambitious, clever, manipulative, and passionate and she doesn't let lady parts or the patriarchy keep her down!! And by that, she goes to rather dark and taboo extremes. Which I admire and respect. (I grew up watching horror films and reading darkfic. Trust me, I was having a great time with this story.)

Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

I stg this book gets no respect. Is this a really toxic, dysfunctional romance? Absolutely. What else do you want in a story???? Oh OBSESSIVE, PASSIONATE, UNDYING LOVE??? GOT THAT, TOO. This book lives in my heart and soul. I can fully quote Heathcliff's speech to Catherine ("I cannot life without my life, I cannot live without my soul") on demand. I have read this book to death, through resurrection, and back to death.

...also it's hella Snarry, isn't it? That explains a lot.

(Also shoutout to other teenage obsessions: The Hunger Games and Divergent. Also the Three Dark Crowns series???? Loved that. Hannibal???? Yes please. Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series??? MORE! Oh and R.L. Stein's The Nightmare Room were the books of my childhood. Oh! Oh oh! And another thing! The Wonder by Emma Donoghue????? Incredible. Blow my mind. Oh and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb is another case of "this is a very dark messed up story that a family member gave me that I inhaled because I really liked messed up stuff, actually.") (Is this cheating? Probably. But I've been a major bookworm since words even made sense to me, please cut a gal some slack.) (Please don't judge me.)

[emiliosandozsequence]

i stole this lol but it seemed fun so <3

What was your first ever story idea? What happened to it? it was a fantasy novel about an elf girl. i've never read a book where the main character is an elf, so i decided to write one myself. i did actually end up writing it; it was the first novel i ever wrote and i was 14 when i did it (still proud of that; it was 230 pgs in a word document btw). anyway, i ended up losing access to the manuscript, so rip, but i'm fully intending to rewrite it someday and make it a lot better than it was when i was writing it at 14.

What’s your writing routine? usually i'll put on music and just start writing whatever comes to mind for whatever scene i'm trying to write at the time. whenever i can't figure out what to do next, i'll go on tumblr and scroll for a bit until it comes to me. it's pretty effective, though my editor literally thinks i'm doing nothing all day bc of this even tho i Promise him i'm Working On It 😭😭😭

Are you a plotter, a pantser, or something in between? in between for sure. i plan things as i go. i start with an overall idea and then just...start writing and plan for the next chapters as they come to me. with the novel i'm currently writing, i've only planned up through chapter 8 and i'm currently writing chapter 4. i used to plan everything, but for some reason that made it so much harder for me to actually write the novels, so i don't do that anymore.

Do you try to tell moral stories throughout your work, or any other life lessons? What are they? there was a time where i did that, but the older i've gotten, the more i've realized a solid plot is a lot more important than telling any moral story. whether you like it or not, people are going to remember your book for the story you tell, not the reason you're telling it, and as a reader, i tend to go for stories with more solid plots than morals anyway.

What do you prefer, character development or worldbuilding? Why? both?? idk they both come very easily to me. to the point that there's been times where i think i haven't done enough of either and people have read my work and told me the opposite. i guess worldbuilding is more fun, but it's harder, which i think is probably why i like it more than character development bc that comes even easier to me than worldbuilding.

Do you have any tips for budding writers? i'll tell you exactly what my editor told me in the first class of his i took when i was 12: write like a shark. whatever you're writing, write it until it's done. go back and edit later. i've learned you can do a little bit of editing as you go once you've finished a few novels because then you know you can do it (speaking from experience; i've finished 7 and self-published 2 and am working on my 8th), but if you're new to writing and you haven't finished a book yet, don't do it. you will get caught up in it otherwise. especially if you have adhd (like i do).

Who inspires you to write the most? at the moment?? probably tamsyn muir. we have a shocking amount in common (our birthday's are literally a single day apart, though she's older than me by several years) and her books are exactly the kind of books i want to write. but also mary doria russell (duh) because we have very similar writing styles; ellen hopkins because she really was who really taught me (through me reading her books) how to write emotional stuff really well; brandon sanderson bc nothing is ever going to beat how i felt at the ending of the mistborn trilogy; and marie lu because her characters from the legend trilogy live in my mind rent free still and i can't help thinking of day every time i create a new boy.

tagging @thinking-in-broken-scenes @naysaltysalmon @the-lisechen and anyone else that wants to!! i just tagged people i know are also writers <3

[koravelliumavast]

Ok so after somehow reading almost every cosmere book out yet (don’t ask how because I don’t know) I’m going to list my top 5 and why (using those English class literary analysis stuff)

Possibly spoilers idk

Oathbringer: This might just be me but that 45 page chapter at the end just did something. It was really cool to see all the storylines really truly intersecting together. WOR had that but not until halfway through the book or whatever + Jasnah was alive!! Minus points for making me sad but I knew someone was going to have to die (it’s a Sanderson book you can’t get away without a favorite character dying. And absolutely nothing could possibly prepare me for Dalinars backstory. Not only that but the Kholin men just saying fuck you to gender specific roles was really a nice fun touch too.

Warbreaker: I LOVED the magic style and thought it was super interesting and unique and something that I’ve never seen before in any books. And I love way that even though the sisters didn’t really like each other, Vivenna and Siri still loved each other which is incredibly true of any sisterly relationship. (I should know I have 3). Not only that it was also heartbreaking in scenes. When Vivenna was in the mercenaries basements with all the dead bodies I was scared for her. I also loved Lightsongs arc and the way he didn’t take no for an answer.

Mistborn The Final Empire: No book has ever brought me close to the way I felt when kelsier died. I was excited for the way that he was going to take down the lord ruler and was super curious about what he would do after that and then he was dead and I CRIED. Not only that I loved the way that we got to see Vin being more trusting of the crew over the book and even think of them as a family. The writing was a little dense at times but it is high fantasy. The characters were incredibly relatable and funny and I would profoundly like to say that this was one of the few books that I’ve cried over.

Elantris: Now I may have just finished this book but I can’t get it out of my head. The ways that things all intersected so neatly together was amazing! I do wish we got more Raoden and Serene interactions but that’s fine. It’s amazing how beautifully crafted just words on paper can be when you think about it and to me Elantris is definitely one of those types of books. However with that being said, I do wish that we got to see more of the magic itself being used than the little bits that we got and Hrathen’s storyline was really confusing to follow at times. I didn’t like how he kinda seemed like he somehow wanted to get with Serene by the end, but nonetheless Elantris was a super fun book that I’d love to shar with my friends and family.

The Way of Kings: Maybe it was the 4,505 YEARS and 8 months between the prelude, prologue and first 2 chapters that hooked me or maybe it was because Ive always struggled with finding books that interested me that weren’t super short and something that I would read in a day. I don’t know. But TWoK really captivated me. Sure. I found it difficult at first because before I read this book I was reading lots of YA fantasy books and had finished the throne of glass series so this was kind of a real nosedive of a dip into more adult fantasy books, but nonetheless I loved it. This is a book I’ve tried to get others to read as I know they’d enjoy it just like I did. I also really love the character interactions. At first I couldn’t really understand them, but I plan on rereading the series real soon and will definitely have a better flow of it. The part where young Kaladin saw Tiens body on the field was CRUSHING to me and i think it was a moment similar to that or maybe it was the honor chasm scene (I’m not sure) but there was definitely a big part there that just made me go “oh? I think I understand the plot! This just got interesting.” Boy was I wrong (THE BACK COVER BLURB DIDNT DO ANYTHING FOR ME) I also love the artwork throughout the entire stormlight archives series as a whole and can’t wait for what’s in store in stormlight 5!!

Honorable Mention goes to The Bands of Mourning: The group was just at their peak of chaos and honestly that is what every good book needs. A chaotic group! And even if they’re being chaotic you can still somehow learn so much about the character and their backstories too. I’ve always loved Wayne. Maybe it’s his humor or maybe it’s something else entirely, but when he was able to shoot that gun at Telsin I was excited for him because it shows growth through traumatic experiences (which is something I go to therapy for) Not only that, but I love the broadsheets throughout the entire series so far. That’s such a unique way to show that the times are getting more modern in a way. However I’m not a fan of Wax’s utter obliviousness to things at times.

I do have to say that one of the things that is really interesting to me in any Sanderson writing is that he doesn’t stray away from topics that aren’t directly relating him. And he doesn’t go into those topics uninformed either. He does research! I think on the Jasnah page of the coppermind there was something about how he went onto atheist message boards to really learn more about her. How many other authors do that? Even if he doesn’t have it 100% the best with some kinds of representation (at times) I love how he doesn’t stray away from mental illnesses, adhd, autism, physical disabilities, ptsd, and more. That’s such a rare thing to see in authors these days. Everyone seems to just stick to what they know and that gets kind of boring.

So basically yeah. Just my ramblings and stuff. :)

[redbone135]

For the Book Asks!

I; III; IV; VI; VII; IX; XIII; XIV

(Lol I SO did not have to write these on a sticky note first🙊🤣)

Used, borrowed, or new? Honestly, new is my favorite, nice crisp pages and blank clean margins to write all my notes in. But it's less practical - lately I've been doing ARCs and Gifts since it fits with my budget and the kind of book I'm trying to read is really expensive to buy new.

Paperback or hardback? Paperback, always. I know it's very dorky 90s James Dean wannabe, but I've normally got a paperback tucked into my back pocket. I don't like books that aren't pocket sized because they are harder to bring places and I don't like being without a book.

Where do you like to read? Everywhere. Not kidding. This week I have read in my office, in my car, in the park, in bed, at a fancy work event... I always have a book and I'll read everywhere. But I guess my favorite place to read is my leather recliner in front of the fireplace I built, with a cup of something warm and absolute silence in the house.

Old book smell or new book smell? Old book smell makes me sneeze and it kinda itches my throat. I suffer through it because some of my old books have sentimental value to them, but I vastly prefer new book smell.

Favorite series? I don't think anything can replace the Mistborn trilogy in my heart. It's a great series, but it's also taken on some very personal meaning in my life, and so I think that'll always be my favorite.

Book you won't read? I don't have any one specific book I avoid - but I will quit reading anything where a kid dies on page. I've stopped reading only a handful of books in my life and that's always been the reason. It's also not something I will ever do in my own writing - to the point that scenes where kids are hurt in my writing hold no weight to my friends because they know the kid is getting better or I wouldn't write it.

Worst book you've read? Probably one of the ones I've quit for the above reason. Worst book I've finished is rough though. I read a lot of ARCs and Indies which is a total gamble. There have been some pretty bad ones in that batch. I also hold a special hatred for Dune because I think it's way over hyped, and I suffered through the first book to impress a girl, even though it was complete gibberish, and then she wasn't even impressed, just wanted me to read the next one. So yeah - I'll go with Dune is probably my least favorite non-indie book I've read.

First book you remember reading? The Hobbit. My dad read it to me, but I remember it vividly. He did funny voices for the dragon and it just kinda stuck with me and created a life long love of reading - and also reading out loud. It might be the inspiration for my first tattoo - don't tell my mom :) The first book I remember reading on my own? That's harder, I've been reading since I was very littler, so I don't have a ton of memories of starting, and obviously I read picture books and stuff before chapter books, but I think the first chapter books I remember reading, because I got so into them I insisted on reading them to my mom before bed the same way my dad had read to me before he left, was the Charlie Bone series. It was my first introduction to a well plotted and foreshadowed series and I just became obsessed with the writing style.

[pocketramblr]

i'm afraid of falling into another rabbit hole but by this point i'm super curious so if it's ok can i ask you what it is the stormlight archive?

oh yes anon, you may absolutely ask... actually yes, come just a bit closer too... yes, closer...

Anyway, The Stormlight Archive is an epic fantasy series inside another, larger fantasy series, The Cosmere. If you’ve heard of Mistborn, that’s in the Cosmere too, just on a completely different planet. Stormlight focuses on one planet, Roshar, where hurricane level storms regularly blow across the continent and everyone just kinda has to deal with it. Magic, or Investiture, comes in two main forms- Stormlight, which is replenished by those storms i mentioned and stored in gems for light and power, and Spren, which are basically manifestations of how people perceive concepts- wind spren are little silvery ribbons and leaves blowing around, awe spren are puffs of blue smoke around surprised people’s heads, and shame spren are petals that blow around you when you’re embarrassed. I’ll be honest, its a very anime aesthetic between the spren sfx and the giant swords people are swinging around. 

Plotwise, Stormlight is about a lot of things- Kaladin’s a character with chronic depression even before his tragic backstory, and how he copes with that varies over the books while also being that Fantasy Hero Who’s Driven To Protect People. Dalinar is a character trying to fix a country thats constantly spiraling into war and figuring out what he actually believes in, Shallan is juggling arcs about saving her family, realizing where she is privileged and how to be better, and figuring out her own neurodivergence. Adolin is sunshine incarnate trying to figure out his own morality from the shadow of his father’s rather strict view of the world, and Renarin... i can’t say much about him without spoilers, but he’s just a gem of a character. There’s also overarching plots about war, colonialism, racism, ableism, how absolutely crucial intersectionality is for making anything better, gender roles in various societies, religion, a bit of romance but not a lot and not for every single character. oh, and lotsa found family. OH, and people’s eyes glow when they use magic powers, which. i’m utterly weak for. 

This series has, by the end of the fourth book, at least one canonical trans character, a canonical ace character, a canon bi/pan character- and a second ‘twitter confirmed’ bi character, a canon gay man and his boyfriend, another canonical mspec man, a character with the best written depression i have ever seen, a character with anxiety, an autistic character, a character with DID, a paraplegic, a character with body dysphoria, a character with adhd, a character who is mute, and..... ok there’s more rep i cant think of right now, but there’s also a lot of buildup that seems like at least two more characters, if not three or four also hinted at and whatever new characters come in, will be coming out of the closet by the end of the series. The women are, imo, better written than in other fantasy books even by this author (who is Brandon Sanderson, aka Brando Sando, aka Branderson, aka the Sandman, aka Writing Machine Go Brrr. we have a lot of nicknames for him.) There’s also only one main character who would be considered white on earth, though being on a fictional planet the fictional races don’t have a 1:1 match- the Makabaki would probably look Afro-Asian to most of us, the Alethi east Indian or Polynesian, etc.

The thing about all of that- the magic system, the worldbuilding, the characters, the plot, the representation- its all good, but, and this might be important for you: its all slowburn. Very slowburn. the books are HUGE, as in they can’t even be published as one single book in europe, and by the time they got to the third book they had to switch to thinner paper so they could keep it in one volume in the states. Kaladin’s the MC and main POV character in the first book, and he’s not even in the prelude, the prologue, or 90 percent of the first chapter! this is the slowest of burns, and we’re only 4 books published of 10- though there are also 2 novellas, taking place right after book 2 and book 3. But i enjoy slowburn, and i really enjoy fantasy series. So i would recommend it. If any of this has appealed to you... come read it too. just jump down the rabbit hole. come into my little box trap.

[circlique]

The Book of Forbidden Bending Styles: Part 2

A few sessions ago, Kelsang found a book of forbidden bending techniques in the airbenders’ library. Since the whole island was facing imminent destruction and he couldn’t afford to be encumbered with a bunch of books, he ripped pages out of the book to carry with him. Our DM, Z, actually went to the trouble to type these pages out.

With the knowledge that Amon was able to permanently block chi paths through bloodbending and that some waterbenders can event placate spirits with water, did you ever wonder why water is the most OP bending style what could happen if a waterbender was born with the affinity for an even finer level of control? This chapter covers mindbending, a (now lost/extinct) substyle of waterbending in which the waterbender can manipulate thoughts and emotions in much the same way as the Rioters/Soothers from the Mistborn series.

Part 1 / Avatar DND Masterpost

Chapter 6: Mindbending

Mindbending is a relatively recent discovery, deriving from Waterbending, though strangely only Waterbenders with the lowest affinity for Waterbending are able to mind bend. This is surprising because only the most powerful Waterbenders can Spiritbend, the art of placating or agitating spirits with water, yet Mindbending seems like Spiritbending applied to humans (see Chapter 2 for Spiritbending). Current theory is that Spiritbending requires the development of a spiritual connection with the spirit being bent, which requires spiritual compromise, adaptation, and redirection, all core tenants of waterbending philosophy. This is in sharp contrast to Mindbending, which is about forcing uncompromising control over another. While not much is known about the use of Mindbending spirits at the time of writing this, much is known about Mindbending people and even animals, which be expanded upon shortly. The techniques in this chapter were learned directly from the first Mindbenders: Cuttlecobras

I state that Mindbending is all about forcing control, but it has limits. No amount of force will push a mind to commit an action that it is fundamentally incapable of executing. So, while Mindbending might appear to be a standard bending style where the stronger benders can automatically bend anyone they wish, it in fact does not matter what strength or affinity a person has to bend minds. This is because majority of Mindbending occurs before any bending starts. Mindbending is just fancy manipulation, with the exception of Hypnosis, but that requires rituals and circumstances not easily encountered in daily life. Most uses of Mindbending are spontaneous and subtle. Manipulation is achieved through extensive prep work and keen perception. Thoroughly knowing the feelings, desires, and traumas of the target of manipulation is vital to successful Mindbending because it provides you awareness of the nodes available to prod in order to generate the desired result. This is accomplished by either gathering intel on the target’s personal life and background or reading their body language.

The act of gathering intel on a person is easy. Befriending, covertly watching, eavesdropping, and interviewing confidants are all easy ways of getting information. The trickiest part is sorting useless and useful information. Useless information are facts that serve no purpose in manipulation, but it all depends on how the target is going to be manipulated. If you wanted to Mindbend your target to get lunch, knowing their favorite foods would help, but that info is useless if you want to Mindbend them into killing the chef. To understand how to Mindbend your target for a specific purpose, it’s not enough to have information. You must understand what information would motivate them to do something they normally would not. There are two ways to accomplish this: witness the direct link between motivating information and the target’s action, or ponder what would motivate you to do the intended action. If you saw that the target got angry at a merchant for being dishonest to his face such that the target attacked the merchant, perhaps they would attack the waiter if you Mindbended them into interpreting an action by the waiter as dishonest. Replicating motivation can produce the same action or response. If you do not witness this, then understanding your own motivations behind your actions can help you speculate as to what could motivate your target. What would it take for you to kill the waiter? What would you have to catch them doing or learn about them to convince you that they deserved to die? And this is where knowing the person is handy because different people require different levels of stress and motivation to kill, and some may not do it no matter how much you try to Mindbend them.

Body language is also critical. Leveraging an existing state of mind is the easiest way to Mindbend because little force of will has to be exerted on your part. If they are already angry and you need them angrier, simply amplify their emotions (more on that later). But in order to leverage their state of mind, body language and context are important. Catching a target who is already distraught is a matter of luck or incredible manipulation of the surrounding environment and people. Most of the time, you have to work with what you have. Facial expressions are thought to be the easiest way to tell emotions and intent, but that’s not always the case. Targets who are good at hiding their emotions always have control over their facial expressions. However, few people have control over their ticks and feet. If someone is uncomfortable with a person or topic, they will often change the position of their legs, torso, or arms or direct their feet in a direction away from the source of stress. This change in position is more important to notice than if they were already positioned in that way before the stressor. Other involuntary responses (known as ticks or tells) include slight tensing of the shoulders, clenching of the jaw, clenching of fists, arching of back, increased breathing, crossing of legs, swinging or folding arms, and picking at fingernails. The exact ticks and tells vary by individual, which is why it is important to know the target well before Mindbending them.

The act of Mindbending is not hard, but it does take practice. It’s just concentrating, but to maximize effectiveness, minimize distractions. Meditation and pondering your own thoughts and thought processes will also make you better at understanding the flow of information and motivation in a mind, which is helpful for Mindbending others. Additionally, be as specific as possible with your intent when Mindbending. Vagueness can be misinterpreted by the target’s mind as your commands are translated between from one brain to the other. Visualizing images is more effective than words, as all humans can see a rock, but every human thinks of a different rock when they think of the word “rock”. The following are some specific techniques you can use for Mindbending, which can be divided into two categories: Reading and Overwriting.

Reading is the act of using Mindbending to detect information on the target. It is the act of establishing a link between your mind and their mind and reading existing body language. Because non Mindbenders typically don’t have as strong of wills, thoughts, or spirits as Mindbenders, it is on the Mindbender to listen as information will not be easily forthcoming. Invoking a state of emotion or stress makes a mind louder though, which will make reading easier. Note, it is impossible to read exact thoughts unless another Mindbender is deliberately trying to insert them into your head. The most you can get out of Reading are emotions and, on rare occasions, pictures when the target is recalling a memory with traumatizingly strong emotions. Again, it is important to keep body language in mind, because many emotions emitted by a mind sound the same to a Mindbender. Reading can be applied in many areas when paired with context. If asking the target a sensitive question, Reading allows you to determine if they are lying by assessing the change in their emotional state and piece together the actual truth. This gives the perception that you are reading their minds, which can amplify their emotions and make them even easier to read.

Overwriting is the Mindbending Category centered on altering a target’s thoughts or feelings such that perform the desired action. There are many useful applications of this. Amplifying and dampening emotions is a form of Mindbending that requires existing emotions in the target and changes the strength of those emotions. Amplifying is good for inducing action in the target, while dampening is useful for inducing inaction or hesitation. This is exceedingly useful if the target is already tired. A strong Mindbender can “Induce Fatigue” and cause tired targets to fall unconscious. Note, it is best if there are multiple Mindbenders acting on the same target so one can suppress all other emotions and the other can amplify fatigue. The most useful application of dampening emotions is to “Induce Doubt”. This is done by suppressing emotions that drive the target’s confidence. If they are attacking you because they are angry, suppressing their anger will make them question how strongly they feel about their actions.

Another application of amplifying emotions is “Induce Confusion”. Amplifying ALL emotions at once can cause the target to get overwhelmed and freeze. Of course, this result can also be applied by injecting conflict imagery into their mind. This can go so far as to cause panic attacks occasionally if a sufficient amount of stimulus is injected paired with amplified emotions. The most nuanced application of amplifying emotions is inducing bodily function. Amplifying disgust or injecting thoughts of disgusting things can “Induce Nausea”, and can lead to vomiting. If someone is holding a knife to someone else’s throat, a Mindbender can sharply amplify the target’s fear, causing involuntary muscle flection and resulting in a bloody knife.

As previously touched on, bending existing emotions is easier than bending emotions the target isn’t already experiencing. However, it can be done to a limited extent. This is known as “Inducing Emotion”. The emotion that results will always be weaker than an emotion that is naturally occurring due to the situation. Now, if the target eventually comes to believe that the emotion is the result of the situation, then it can be sufficiently amplified, so long as the mindbender isn’t already concentrating on inducing that emotion. To induce emotion, you need to know what would normally cause that emotion to be felt by your target. This is why intel gathering is important. The more details you have about the target’s source of emotion, the more specific you can be with the emotional imagery you send to your target’s mind. Specificity is key.

The final type of Overwriting is “Induce Thought”. This is the hardest to accomplish because it requires extensive knowledge of what the target knows, what the target feels, and why what they know drives how they feel. The reason it is difficult is because while sending an emotion has a personal effect on the target, sending a thought will have not effect beyond mild puzzlement if that thought isn’t significant or linked to emotion. The best way to explain this through an example. I once wanted a target to kill their friend after my team had ambushed them. This would never happen naturally. However, though deduction, I learned that the target felt betrayed, and I learned that his friend had previously done dishonest things for money in the past. So, I injected the idea that his friend was paid off to betray him. This was enough to cause accusations, following which I used Induce Emotion to cause the friend to suddenly feel nervous and guilty. I then amplified the anger of the target and a fight ensued. All stemming from a single thought, which would not have worked if the friend was honest, or if the target didn’t already feel betrayed. Intel is key.

I’d like to caveat that Mindbending does not work well if the target knows you are a Mindbender because they will immediately be suspicious of any and all thoughts that go through their head. Of course, this can be overcome easily by having the right intel to convince them that you are not the source of distrust. This level of manipulation really comes from experience and can’t be taught from a book. Use all your resources. Unless they have evidence, you are a Mindbender, induce doubt that you are one. If they do have evidence, induce doubt in that evidence. If they can’t be persuaded through this method, dampen their emotions so they feel more relaxed around you as you assure them that you would never use Mindbending on them. The benefit you have is that Mindbending is a relatively rare skill (as of the writing of this book). Most people don��t know the extent of our capabilities, and the general perception is that we only hypnotize, not drive emotions.

I’d like to touch on some of the more advanced uses of Mindbending. Multiple targets can only be accomplished are similar in emotion or motivation. Decide in the moment if it’s better to weakly influence a few people or strongly influence one. Additionally, multiple Mindbenders acting in tandem (if properly synced), can overwhelm a target to the point of inducing cardiac arrest or strokes. More on this is a bit.

First, I want to discuss the theoretical potential of Mindbending. Specifically, teaching the Avatar to Mindbend. They could Mindbend entire nations of people. Unfortunately, the Avatar is a powerful Waterbender, but there is a workaround for (end of page)

[bellaroles]

Reminisce of the time a few years ago I hunted for these books like a hawk because goodreads rec. them to me. These were quite hard to get and some I regretted having acquired them lol.

Here some of the titles

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope. I love this one. Very Rereadable. I also like her other book, the Sherwood ring. No regrets on these

An Earthly knight by Janet McNaughton. Nope DNF. (I was in Tam lin phase then lol but this one I shall passed) Regrets!

Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. This is so fun. I may reread sometimes in the future.

The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan. I like the book fine but will not reread.

Time enough for drums by Ann Rinaldi. Right this was interesting for me but as the internet keep telling me the age gap in this one is bothering me a lot.

Keturah and lord death by Martine Leavitt. I couldn't really get pass the MC self consciousness and the way the story was told. Regrets!

Summers at castle auburn by Sharon Shinn. I love her Archangel book. (1 st book only) and this one also supposed to be without flaws. Only there are quite a few of issues that disturb me.

The Hollow kingdom by Claire B. Dunkle. Hmm will not reread. On the stockholm syndrome note.

A Face like glasses by Frances Hardinge. Was glued to the pages literally. Could not put it down. Felt the same thrills reading these like when I read Garth Nix's keys to the kingdom. Might reread but y'know it won't be like the first time ever again.

Dragon's bait by Vivian Vande Velde. Felt like a cliffhanger with no second book. Not that interesting. Regrets

11. The Blue sword by Robin Mckinley. Can't say I regret this but I'd felt that this should have been better. Not to mention the weird prequel book that I won't reread again.

12. The Belgariad series by David Eddings. Loved these while it lasted. I got bored with the second series. Not rereadable to me.

13. The Changeover by Margaret Mahy. Like it. Not gonna reread.

14. The Changeling sea by Patricia A. Mckillip. I regreted that this was the first Mckillip book I'd ever come across. Dreamy but not engaging. My favorite of hers are the forgotten beast of Eld, In the forest of Serre, the Riddlemaster series, and Winter rose.

15. War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. Very entertaining. I love it. Haven’t reread this since.

16. Song of the lioness series by Tamora Pierce. I was undecided about these. Well I like the Immortals better than this one. Trickster duology impressed me the most. Not regret these but still haven’t reread them.

17. Sabriel by Garth Nix. Special to me because I read this first on audiobook. What a thrilling experience. I was so crazy about the Abhorsen lore for months. Haven’t reread also.

18. Wildwood dancing by Juliet Merrilier. I was crazy about nearly all of her books for a time. Reread this along with Heart’s blood and Daughter of the forrest many times. It was good but didn’t really hold up to now.

19. Enchanted forest chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. Like but not love. I like Mairelon’s books better or even the sorcerer and cecelia book.

20. Crown duel by Sherwood Smith. Love the books though Mel’s impulsiveness irked me lots of time. The starts of my obsession with her Sartorias-deles saga. Too many books with vastly different target audience, I gave up trying to read them all at some point lol. Love banner of the damned and the Inda books though.

21. Sally Lockhart’s series by Philip Pullman. Yeah I like his spectacular HDM but I like these more. Sally is so cool. No regrets.

22. The Black magician triology by Trudi Canavan. Used to be my guilty pleasure. because of the ending I will not reread.

23. The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb. Love these and the third trilogy also. Regret reading the second. Won’t reread because it was too painful. Also if I could one day reread them, I might continue with the series.

24. Earthsea cycle. By Ursula K. Le Guin. Favorite series. Reread many times. Will continue to recommend them.

25. Mistborn series. By Brandon Sanderson. Love these but won’t reread because I can’t go thru all of that again.

26. The chronicle of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. Read on audiobook. Like them but haven’t reread since.

27. Lumatere chronicles by Melina Marchetta. So intense lol, it was good but I won’t go thru all that again.

30. Tales from the flat earth by Tanith lee. Did not regret. So dark and arabian-ish. I especially love Simmu’s stories and Chuz. Her B&B retelling in Red as blood is also my fav. So unique. But I regret buying her Claidi’s journals and Paradys books.

31. I, Coriander by Sally Gardner. So pretty cover. The stories was good for my teen years. Did not reread since.

32. A Company of swans by Eva Ibbotson. Gosh this was unexpectedly cute. So many weird things but still it works for me. Haven’t reread.

33. The Ivy tree by Mary Stewart. This book lied to me! I was so obsessed with the pseudo amnesia thing. First read on audiobook. One time is enough because the suspense can be experienced only one time.

34. The Seer and the sword by Victoria Hanley. Regrets. The plot was supposedly engaging but I couldn’t care less.

35. The Blue castle by L.M. Montgomery. Beautiful prose. Like the plot very much. Now if I could really find the time to read Anne of green gables.

36. Book of a thousand days by Shannon Hale. Nice. Can’t remember much but I like this enough to draw a doodle. I like her Austenland better. That was hilarious.

37. Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. I love these esp. the Dawn trader one. Haven’t reread yet.

39. The savage Damsel and the dwarf by Gerald Morris. Funny. I remembered that much.

Other books I regret are The books of Pelinor by Alison Croggon. Darkangel triology by Meredith Ann Pierce. Knight and Rogue by Hilari Bell, A college of magics by Caroline Stevermer, Riverside by Ellen Kushner.

[beeblackburn]

The Anti-TBR Tag

I was tagged by @books-and-doodles! Thank you! And poor you, for I am a long-winded bastard.

1. A popular book EVERYONE loves that you have no interest in reading?

On general principle, I feel like the really popular stuff (Twilight, Throne of Glass, Divergent, The Mortal Instruments) ends up being stuff I’m inherently not going to be attracted to and some of them have their own hatedoms going on, so going after them in detail would be punching down (though I don’t particular like any of the above). So I’m going to try to go off the beaten path with these seven:

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab = nothing against her personally, though I heard her The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was baaaaad, but apparently, she’s similar to Sanderson in the magic system being better than the characterization and I heard her writing’s got a white faux-female empowerment sort of thing going that I’m growing increasingly... discontent of by itself. I might try it out later, but I also got hundreds of books to drill through first and I’m in no rush.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo = I’ve been increasingly getting the sense that Six of Crows was a flash in the pan, Bardugo’s style more defined by fun than genuine substance. And given a rather scathing review that points out unearned shifts in characterization, lackluster supporting cast, and two really uncomfortable exploitative sexual assault fantasy scenes (one of which was underaged!), I’m gonna say no.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik = I generally like Novik! She’s a very solid writer to me and I’ve bought most of her books, so this is purely me not taking to the Wizarding School genre. Sorry, Novik, "a twisted, super dark, super modern, female-led Harry Potter" isn’t the selling point it once was, and even then, I probably wouldn’t have taken to it. Especially when I’ve already got The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan to read.

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson = I’ve got mixed feelings on Mistborn looking back: it’s hardly the worst of his oeuvre (Elantris is that and was admittedly his first book) and The Final Empire took a few narrative risks that I admire, I also found the resulting books a tad juvenile and I don’t take to steampunk, genre-wise. I’m not even that much of a Sanderson fan, so I’d rather just read the summary for all I care.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher = given what I’ve been told about The Dresden Files’ lessening of noir roots past the first few books, how it later became more flashy-and-bang magical, and how it’s pretty sexist early on (and from what I’ve been told, doubled down on it later on and having worse treatments of its female characters), I’m in no particular rush to read them. The urban fantasy genre on them only turns me off more.

The Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss = hahaha, I’m sorry, I did read The Name of the Wind, and read select parts of The Wise Man’s Fear, but everyone, instead of waiting and devoting your time for this book to come, I would suggest reading Fitz, Who Is Actually Good and Can Wring More than Disgust and an Eye-Roll out of You in Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings, given she is far better at characterization than Rothfuss.

Anything by Paul Krueger, Sam Sykes, and Myke Cole = fuck all three of these men and the idea that I’ll pay for their stuff. While I can’t demand any of you not buy from them and I’ll hardly claim to be a saint in terms of ethics, purchase-wise, I would beseech you all please don’t buy from these three authors who have a history of inappropriateness.

2. A classic book (or author) you don’t have an interest in reading?

Charles Dickens = look, I know his word count is padded because of serial installments back then, but I’m sorry, I wasn’t that impressed by the child-sanitized versions of Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. They were easily some of the most boring of out of the child-sanitized classics I read. It was the pictures that kept me going and barely at that. No thanks.

Emily Brontë =  look, if I wanted shitty people being shitty to each other, I’d much rather read Joe Abercrombie because at least I’ll get some intentional dark comedy out of dumb shitheads being terrible to each other (Best Served Cold comes to mind). And I know we’re not meant to like these self-destructive people, but I’d rather not hate everyone that much.

Alexander Dumas = Three Musketeers really didn’t age well, just from the TV Tropes page and I’m not really looking forward to an adventure that goes out of its way to valorize its protagonists being adventurous assholes who dueled, drank, and womanized harder than anyone else and we should commend that because they were men. Ugh.

3. An author you have read a couple of books from & have decided their books are not for you?

Leigh Bardugo = like I said, I feel like Six of Crows (and Crooked Kingdom, to a lesser extent) was a flash in the pan and she’s been increasingly running on fumes ever since then. Good and fun with a decent eye for characterization, but hardly revolutionary, considering how I think Crooked Kingdom isn’t quite as good as Six of Crows, and the less said about Shadow and Bone, the better.

Neil Gaiman = I’ve read some of his stuff (and I didn’t quite see the hype over his writing, but liked it decently enough) but having heard that, in his Sandman run, he wrote in a transwoman solely to get killed for an emotional ending and how he defended that choice for awhile left a battery acid taste for me to read more. He’s a formative part of people’s childhoods, so I don’t blame anyone for being fans, he’s just not for me.

Steven Erikson = really nothing against the dude, I’m sure he's probably a decent guy, but I didn’t take to Gardens of the Moon at all and skimming Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice (which were admittedly better) made me realize its prose was something I would need a hard and sharp shovel to crack through, and the darting around of many, many POVs made me feel not invested in anyone.

4. A genre you have no interest in OR a genre you tried to get into & couldn’t?

I’ll answer both because I have the time:

I’m not interested in romance, mostly because it’s an entire genre built around the build-up. It’s usually the story about the beginning of a relationship, not the relationship itself. I’d genuinely like to read about the story of a romance that doesn’t stop shortly after the hook-up or before the honeymoon period ends. The City Watch parts of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan and The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold all have romantic elements that are relatively undrenched in melodrama or frills, but none of them are pure romances, which is a huge problem. I can take romantic subplots in fantasy, but I can’t take the genre as-is.

Urban fantasy is a genre I’m not against having my mind changed on liking, but right now, I generally find it insipid, a shortcut to good world-building, short on great characterization, and an excuse to lampshade and pretense to being above fantastical clichés in a tongue-in-cheek attitude while still committing to them. I do genuinely like Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch, but that’s really the concession I can give the entirety of the genre. I took a crack at Rick Riordan and Cassandra Clare’s stuff, but it didn’t feel like my sort of thing. Again, would like to be convinced, but I’d much rather read a domestic or slice-of-life fantasy set in a more overtly fantasy world than the urban one. 

Also, sci-fi, but I’m trying again with the Wormwood trilogy by Tade Thompson, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, and either the Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie, or the Teixcalaan trilogy by Arkady Martine. I snoozed through Azimov’s Foundation and generally bored myself of hard sci-fi books, so I’m hoping contemporary sci-fi changes my mind on the entire genre.

5. A book you have bought but will never read?

A book I personally bought? Honestly, Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell. No particular reason, I just bought it at a closing-down sale at a branch of my bookstore on the cheap because the cover looked nice and didn’t really take to its blurb. I heard good things though, so if anyone else wants to read it...

I tag @vera-dauriac, @xserpx, @autoapocrypha, @kateofthecanals, @turtle-paced, @insecticidalfeminism, @secretlyatargaryen, @helix-eagle-hourglass-nebula, @xillionart, @jovolovo and whoever else that is following me and wishes to do this tag (I’d like to read your posts, so please tag me! :D)

[nightsoulsworld]

Hello! I was wondering if you’re up for a matchup. Also, don’t stress yourself if you don’t feel like doing it right this second, it’s all cool. (I’m currently procrastinating writing a few of my own requests, lol.)

If it’s not too much work, I’d like a sort of best-friend matchup if that makes sense.

Okay… I’m a 5’1” non-binary asexual lesbian, and my name is Rue. I’m not out to my family yet because I don’t want to risk them being unsupportive or even being thrown out.

I also deal with anxiety, an ed, and I have an inkling there may be some depression too. I go to counseling for it, which helps.

I first come off as cold, socially aloof, or a bit angry because of my massive RBF, but I’m actually severely self-conscious and caring, especially when it comes to my friends. When it comes to my friends, I’ll do anything in my power to help them. I’m typically the mom friend, but when the time calls for it I can give good advice. I’ve also realized that I can be slightly over-protective of my friends, but only in my mind if that makes any sense. When I see a friend interacting with someone that’s hurt them I get the urge to take them away right now and let the other person know they’re not allowed near them, but I also tell myself that my friend deserves a chance to stand up for themself and that if they need any help they know I’m there.

I have a strict moral code as well. If someone needs help, I do my best to offer it. Honestly, sometimes it’s a flaw. It’s how I got into an abusive friendship with a narcissist. Along with that, I have an intense fear of being seen as dumb or foolish. It’s bad. I won’t ask for something if there’s the slightest chance I’ll be rejected for it, even if there’s no consequences. I’d rather suffer than be “humiliated” in my eyes.

Going off of that, I take work extremely seriously. If someone expects something of me, I’m doing it, and I’m doing it as best as I can. My essays are always super long and proof-read multiple times, and I’d rather check my work than go to sleep, even when it reaches one in the morning.

School wise, I’m very smart. I get all A’s, and am an all-around good student. I’m also part of my school’s marching band (and concert band, and jazz band, and pep band, anything band related lol) and serve as a field commander with my best friend. I’ve been doing a good job so far, though we aren’t that far into the season yet. (I play the clarinet, oboe, and piano.)

Aside from how serious and responsible that makes me seem, however, I love to joke around. My sense of humor is very fluid, so I mainly laugh at anything. If I had to pick a favorite, though, I’d say a sort of “light-hearted sarcasm”. It’s the main part of my relationship with my dad, and I love it when we can bounce jokes off of each other.

When push comes to shove, I can also be very blunt and stubborn when I need to stand up for myself, though it took years to realize. It’s part of what I’ve learned from the shitty friend I mentioned earlier: stand up for yourself and your boundaries. You’re not being mean for it, and you’re not being unreasonable. This part of me only really comes out in super dire situations, however.

And oh my god, don’t even get me started on music. I can’t function without it. I love almost every type of music, though I tend to notice my favorites are super emotional and angry pieces or very laid-back pieces. (Exs. “good 4 u” and “Sunflower”.)

I’m super quiet, and only really say anything if there’s a point, but I love listening to conversations. This usually means I end up feeling a little left-out though, because it also means people notice I’m there less.

I can also be a bit of a geek about the things I’m interested in. For example, I read the Mistborn trilogy in January and I’ve been obsessed with the cosmere (basically the fandom for all of the author’s works) ever since. I lent the books to my best friend and we’ve been geeking out ever since. She even made me a mistcloak, and I’m planning on getting some overalls for a small cosplay.

When I go to college, I plan to major in biology, specifically ecology if I can. I’ve always been interested in nature and the way everything fits together. My dream job would be working with endangered species and helping with conservation efforts.

I also dress slightly punk-ish. I don’t really call myself punk or emo or anything like that because I’m not super into the music, but I wear my combat boots and platform shoes a lot, along with chokers and a lot of black. It blends with some academia as well sometimes; I have this tan turtleneck that I love with my whole heart, and I’d love to have a sweater that I can pair with a white button-up or a casual blazer.

Anyway, this is long enough already. Thank you!

Hey, thanks for asking ♥️. I was happy to read your description. Sorry if it isn't good best friend match up, if your don't like it, message me anytime 💜.

Here we go

Incarnation : 2012

🤔I think I'd paired you with...🤔

Donatello Hamato

I think that Donnie would be the perfect for you

From the first moment you two get along very well and he's very happy that he get chance to meet you

You surprised him with your wisdom and this is what got him on his knees

April? Which April? Idk any April O'Niel

He immediately forgot about her, his only love is you, dear ♥️

He loves your style and he likes about you how you take work seriously like him

That's why he always asks you on your opinion ; your wise voice is for him very important

This nerd loves your playing on piano, the clarinet and oboe and he asks you if you can't play him something while he's working on his new project

He likes your sence of humor and he's laughing out loud when you tell him some of your jokes

You two are buddies that they can talk about hours and hours about the things that you both are passionate and interested in

We all know that this nerdy boi is always working hard in his lab 24/7 without sleep so obviously he don't have a chance to listen his favorite songs so that's why he's always asking on your fav songs and he's happy to listen to them aany chance he get

He appreciates that you're on quiet side, he likes little quiet space in his life full of fight and annoying brothers

So when you're in his lab and you just sitting there doing your homeworks or listening to music, he's glad

Your presence is everything to him

He loves you so much, you are his buddy, his love forever ♥️💖

I hope you like your match 💜💜

[rascheln]

Hi. I have no idea how long I've been following you, but you just pointed out your about you page and I've never seen it before and now I have a few questions if you don't mind answering. 1) Did you watch all of Supernatural? (I stopped like at season 7 or something) 2) Have you ever watch Samurai Champloo? (it's like the only anime I know) 3) What kind of horror do you like? 4) How do you feel about the fantasy genre? 5) Have you read/seen Dune and if so, what are your thoughts? (I could barely get through reading it and the adaptations do not impress me, but I know a lot (a lot) of sci fi fans love it) I also didn't realize you were partially an aesthetic blog, I just thought every so often you really got into pretty pictures.

^_^

sdfgh Anon thank you for all those questions!!😊 I very much run my blog on an "I like pretty things" philosophy, so it's impossible to just make it about one single thing! Putting my answers under a read more because this, uh, got rambly :')

1. I believe I stopped actively watching around season 8 and stopped keeping track of the show around s10, so nope, never finished it either :D That said, I've watched season 1-5 a lot. A lot a lot. Enough to. for a while, be able to name an episode from those seasons just from looking at a screenshot. 2. tbh I've never watched Samurai Champloo, for some reason it just never appealed to me?? Somewhere there's a massive list of all the anime I used to watch, yet I would maybe recommend just a handful of them. It's a love-hate relationship😭 (That said, there's a reason Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is considered top tier, though. If you ever get around to watching any anime this is the one I can wholeheartedly say is very good and suited for people who aren't familiar with anime brainrot. Maybe the first season of Psycho Pass as well, since it's got some huge neo-noir vibes.) 3. Anything sci-fi horror immediately draws me in, haha (movies like Annihilation or Pandorum, but I also used to be super into the game Dead Space). Also love atmospheric/psychological horror that relies more on the characters themselves and the threat of something happening (It Follows, The Others)... plus horror podcasts like Magnus Archives and Sayer etc- and visuals are pretty much a surefire way for any medium to draw me in, like have you seen the original Suspiria??

The horror/mystery aspects are often what compel me to watch TV shows actually, because I don't have a strong interest in series most of the time tbh

4. Fantasy is interesting in the sense that I read lotr and the Hobbit as a kid and watched the movies (lotr many, many times) as well as German authors like Walter Moers and Kay Meyer (forever bitter about the babysitter who borrowed Frostfeuer from me and never returned it) or the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix- yet it's not something I actively seek out as a genre. Tried to get into Mistborn since people were hailing it for its writing and realized I do not care for magic systems that make sense if the world/characters/writing style aren't compelling.

It's a huge genre with a lot of variation though, so stories with magic in them or stories in worlds with creatures and magic are very much compelling and easily draw me in!!

5. Dune is on my to-watch, but not my to-read list. Space aristocrats only work for me if you make them a little whacky and crazy and Dune looks like it's taking itself Very Seriously lol. Before the film was even announced I once checked out the first book and uhh decided not to suffer through all of those books!! You saying you didn't like the movie reminds me of the massive amount of ppl praising Blade Runner 2049 whereas I just thought it felt kinda long winded and empty in comparison to its predecessor.

Whelp, that got very long. Sorry for rambling :'D

Here's a pic of BB for you!!

[loopy777]

Sorry if this is a repeat question, but have you ever read anything from the Mistborn trilogy? I’m making my way through the first volume, and am beginning to form an opinion on it. I find it a very easy read; the writing is certainly humorous, especially the dialogue of Kelsier’s character. I’m not sure if I’m 100% in love with the story, but I might as well finish (at least) this volume. Do you like the series? It’s a bit of a heist story which might interest you.

Okay, finally time to properly answer this. WARNING: contains structure spoilers, as in (fake example) "3/8ths of the way through the first book, a twist happens."

So I’ll start by saying I’ve become a big fan of Sanderson, and I think the Mistborn trilogy is his best stuff. His writing is overall functional, but I think his storytelling is great- provided you make an investment. Also, as you note, he’s good at working humor into things without it feeling inappropriate to the seriousness around it; this humor is character-based, so it feels a part of things.

There's a Horror quality to Mistborn that I think is mostly unique in his writings and gave me a different impression of him compared to what I’ve found in his other stuff. See, in most fantasy stories written for adults, even if the rest of the content is perfectly PG or PG-13, they have NC-17-level violence. Mistborn mostly isn’t particularly violent, but when dudes showed up walking around with giant spikes in their eyeholes, I was just like, “Yup, here it is, as expected.” Overall, ythough, I found it fairly mild as far as fantasy for adults goes. The violence wasn't dwelt upon or fetishized, and the Horror stuff actually felt like it was integrated in the story being told, rather than just having something scary for its own sake- it felt like part of the worldbuilding, even if the reasoning wasn't immediately apparent.

The action is where I found the books to first stumble. The magic system here, Allomancy, is unique and interesting and fun, and I think the way the Mistborn move and fight would look great in a movie adaptation, but the problem is that Sanderson is actually kind of bad at writing action. He's detailed and literal, but the problem is that I don't need to know every single move that a character makes during a big brawl in a single unbroken POV segment. The key to writing interesting action scenes is to use problem and solution sets- a character encounters a problem with no apparent solution and then solves it. If the solution is "characters shoots the bad guy with a gun," then that's not interesting because I can predict it and I've seen it a thousand times. The lack of predictable solution is how tension is created and released. Mistborn has a number of sequences where characters are mowing down mooks, and it’s always tedious. But having fight scenes that can be skimmed is hardly the worst crime in fantasy writing. Fortunately, Sanderson doesn't overfill these books with action.

No, what made me increasingly skeptical as I made my way through Mistborn was how much Sanderson was obviously holding back with the story. Without getting too spoilery, as things start to ramp up in the first book, a number of questions are raised that had my antenna up, but the first book closed without many explanations. Okay, fair enough, there's a whole trilogy we need to set up, and the book did have a real ending rather than a cliffhanger or simply stopping. So I moved on to the second book, deciding that the first could be rated as Okay But Subject To Being Called Bad If The Mysteries Don't Pan Out.

But then the second book had a slower-moving plot, IMO, and what was already a dark setting got heavier and darker. And without answering most of the questions from the first book, it started throwing out even more questions and mysteries. This is where I started to get worried. This was before I experienced the crime against storytelling that was JJ Abrams' Rise of Skywalker, but that's hardly been the only thing I've encountered that starts by promising intriguing mystery and then can only offer a shrug when it came time to start providing solutions and explanations. In fact, it’s very common. So we had a slower, less fun plot, an increasing pile of mysteries, and no solution in sight- very worrying signs.

Still, it was possible, in my opinion, to save things. I figured the third book would have to start by providing those answers, though, if it was going to have the time to deal with everything.

Instead, the third book opens with more mysteries and brand new subplots.

"Hoo boy," was my reaction.

I kept reading, of course. I was already into the third novel of a trilogy, and a novel is nothing to me, a week's work at most and only a day or two if I work at it. (Purely talking about free time, of course. If I devoted an entire day just to reading, I'd be able to pound down several thick novels. I read fast, to the point where I've had to train myself to go slower.) At the very least, finishing the book would allow me to properly criticize it. And I was still enjoying the characters, even as things got darker. The plot was moving faster than the in the second book, and the additional POVs and subplots were helping to keep things interesting. I was almost looking forward to the mess that was going to be the ending.

Then, about halfway through the third book, the explanations start coming. And from that point, it's like watching one of those cool elaborate domino sequences. And in the end, not only is everything explained, but all the subplots dovetail into a satisfying epic. Details that I didn’t think were important turned out to be hinges for the whole storytelling mechanism, and what I thought were new mysteries were actually the avenues to the explanations for old mysteries. It all turns out to be a very unique twist on typical Fantasy narratives. This is what I mean when I say that Sanderson’s works are worth the investment. Even when they seem like they’re falling apart or going nowhere, they’re probably setting up a knockout punch.

Of course, I took so long to answer the Ask that you might already know that or disagree. In that case, perhaps future generations will benefit from your suffering.