#he will do what he thinks is right not necessarily what sazed wants him to do

[puddlejumper38]

Seeing as I missed the spoiler stream, here’s a question for our resident Marsh expert instead: Sazed could, if he ever wanted to, take control of Marsh in the exact same way Ruin did (and as you mentioned before, he can hear Marsh’s thoughts via Preservation). I don’t think the original Sazed would have ever taken over Marsh, but Harmony is still distinctly different? Even if he’s Sazed, he’s not the person we knew in Era 1. Do you think, in an extreme situation, he WOULD go and grab Marsh and use him? They have to have extreme amounts of trust in each other for him not to do that, and it must be so hard for Marsh knowing that at any time, his control could be taken away again? How do you think he feels about Sazed, given that massive issue, and do you think Harmony would ever do it if he thought he had no other choice?

Oh man I wouldn't claim to be an expert but I do have so many thoughts on this one

I agree with you: Sazed wouldn't but we don't exactly have Sazed anymore. I'm so worried about the answer to this one. Because I'm seeing two answers to this.

Would Harmony ever control Marsh? Unlikely. Based on The Lost Metal, Harmony is becoming less active, caught between Preservation and Ruin and so doing nothing. Grabbing control of Marsh seems like an extreme measure (certainly in terms of consequences for Marsh himself), and also something that might be done in a split second in an emergency. Harmony isn't making those sort of decisions.

So another question then: is Marsh safe from control?

No.

I've said before: I think we're headed for Discord. Harmony is not the end result of Sazed holding those Shards, everything's pointing away from Harmony. At which point we get the more disturbing (in my opinion) question: Would Discord ever control Marsh? And... I just don't know. Maybe. The implications at the moment is that Discord would be more active, which is great for protecting Scadrial. Less good if you want to avoid extreme decisions made in the spur of the moment. So my opinion? It could happen.

From a story telling perspective, its a difficult one. Partly because its already happened once in era 1. But ultimately it depends what Branderson wants to do with Marsh, because if he takes that step that's the end of Marsh. I say this because I can't imagine Marsh sticking around afterwards, knowing it could happen at any time. And if Sazed/Discord doesn't release him.... equally the end of Marsh. (Option 2, Shatter The Shards would be where I would go with this because I personally would save Marsh at all costs, but unless the cosmere is headed for 100% shattered shards, I doubt this would happen).

As for Marsh, I can't imagine he's at all comfortable with anyone having that power. He's got to function regardless, because he's made the decision to extend his life and he can't actually change the situation, but I think there's some tension there. It may get worse as Scadrial becomes more cosmere aware and he learns what happens to Vessels. He might have convinced himself to trust Sazed, but heading back to point A, there will be a stage at which he's not recognisable as Sazed anymore.

Personally, I'm terrified.

[titsthedamnseason]

it’s probably a bit hasty for me to get right into posting my thoughts but alas i shall! it took a bit but i finally finished mistborn era one!!! 🥳💗

i rated the final empire 4.25/5 stars (looking back i actually think this book deserved 5 stars. i was a little harsh but the ending and overall story arc is perfect especially now having the context of the whole series. i think if i were to reread it i would appreciate it so much more)

i rated well of ascension 4.75/5 stars

and lastly, i gave hero of ages a 4/5 stars

ultimately i was quite satisfied with sazed’s ending and the way his character arc ended. i thought it culminated very expertly and if there was any character that should have become a god it was certainly him

vin’s ending i was more unsatisfied with but i maybe need more time to sit with it. i never necessarily saw that for her and thought it was so abstract that it lost some of its impact for me. maybe it was that the moment she took on the role of preservation it was obvious that “human” vin was dead no matter the fate of her mystical consciousness so the actual moment of her death had way less impact than a character like her deserved. i mean, she was literally the main character lol. and from a romantic standpoint her and elend’s final goodbye while they were both human in person was underwhelming. maybe on purpose since neither of them knew they would never see each other again but still im bitter about it. i’m happy they are reunited though

it might be too soon for me to really articulate my thoughts on elend’s death. i kind of hated it in the sense that it’s frustrating when a character has their moment of actualization and grows to their full potential only to die pages later, as if all that development was only for dramatic effect. but i think this one is too raw and i also might just not like it because im sad about it. objectively elend was a loyal ruler that wanted nothing but to protect his people and that is what he died doing with a smile on his face so in that sense i can acknowledge that it was in character and he would probably be content to know he died playing such a major role in saving the world

overall i really loved my introduction to brandon sanderson! his books are a rollercoaster and i hear it only gets crazier / worse / better / intenser from here so i am READY 🫡 my copy of arcanum unbounded is on the way

[mystery-moose]

BIG OL’ WIP LIST

List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on.

I got tagged by @philosoverted, who has been wonderfully supportive of all her friends’ writing even when it’s for fandoms she isn’t even a part of. Because she’s fantastic.

I’m going to be kind of vague with some of these, though, because I like to preserve some semblance of surprise for anyone who happens to be following me for writing!

I’d put them behind a cut but apparently tumblr hates readmores right now? So instead I’ll just apologize for this long post that’s about to break your dash please i’m sorry it’s not my fault tumblr sucks eggs

AMatMMP

This is the direct sequel to Angus McDonald and the Flight of the Flying V. It is very long, not the longest thing I’ve ever written (yet) but certainly the longest thing I’ll have finished when it’s finally done. It’s also very complicated, because I like mysteries and plots and hate myself. I especially hate what I’ve done by setting it so close after the first one because it means I can’t write anything else with these characters until I’ve finished this.

But I swear to you and God and whoever is listening: this summer it’s happening.

Shelter

Think of everything I’ve ever written. Thematically and emotionally. Now, multiply it by a thousand and make it even more self-indulgent. You should have some idea of what Shelter is. It’s not plot-heavy (thank christ) and it doesn’t have any action or adventure. But it is everything I’ve connected with over the past year and a half, made into a single super-specific-to-me thing that stretches into a hazy future that I might never actually finish. But the fun thing is I don’t have to finish it, necessarily; I just want to write enough to get to the One Big Moment, the thing I’ve been thinking about since, oh, a year ago. That’ll act as enough of a catharsis that I can feel good about posting it, if I never end up finishing the rest.

Basically this is the epitome of me being Back On My Bullshit. I adore it. Someday soon, I hope to start posting it. Probably after AMatMMP, though.

Money and Fame (working title)

A few months ago I came up with a little adventure for Taako and Kravitz to go on. I really liked it at the time, but I waffled on writing it because I felt like... well, it involves Sazed, and I thought I might be being too charitable to him? But I haven’t been able to get a couple scenes of it out of my head, so it’s almost certainly getting written at some point. But it’ll likely be a much shorter, more focused thing than my usual plot-heavy junk. No flashbacks in this one, I don’t think!

The Lucretia Longfic (title TBD)

I got a bee in my bonnet last summer (thanks to @epersonae and her posse) and wrote, like, twenty thousand words of a Lucretia thing. I’ve since realized that it is Bad, and needs so, so much more time than I was giving it. It’ll happen at some point, I’m sure -- I like Lucretia too much to never finish it -- but it’s... she’s probably the best character with the strongest arc in the entirety of TAZ, and she deserves the best I’ve got, and my best so rarely feels like enough for her.

Candlenights

This is set after AMatMMP, so it’s getting finished after AMatMMP. It’s a meet-the-fam fic, with almost zero conflict whatsoever, but I’ve since realized it needs a different third act and I haven’t figured out how to end the damn thing. I’ve got a few thousand words for it already, but as soothing as I find writing it, this might not get finished for a while.

Fighting Words

This was gonna be a simple little series of one-shots for each of the THB (and maybe the IPRE) just gettin’ into some scraps. It’s still going to be that thing, but it’s just been set aside for a long time in favor of, uh, every other project I’ve got going. I’ll get back to it when I feel like posting something in short order, I’m sure.

The Great Taako-Burnsides Fight (title TBD)

I wrote a whole outline for a thing where Taako gets into a fight with Magnus about Lucretia, and then Magnus literally throws him out of his house and Taako feels really bad about it for like a week and Magnus fumes for a bit and then there’s a big ol’ forced sit-down with Lucretia and it’s yet another vision of mine for how Taako and Lucretia could ever, like, be okay again. It’s like the third version of this idea that I’ve plotted out (the Lucretia Longfic and Bygones being the other two) because apparently I’m just really into semi-forgiveness, as a concept. The funny thing? I’ve kind of settled on one that’s my personal “canon” for how it happens, and the other two are just AUs. I don’t normally do that! Normally when I establish a personal “canon” that’s all I write. TAZ has been really weird for me, in a lot of ways.

Anyway, it might get written at some point? It’s not super long, in the outline I’ve got. But there’s so many other things above it at this point, I think it’ll only happen soon if I get a real hankerin’ for it.

Cycle 95

This is a semi-follow up to Cycle 71, but it’s a different thing. The gang ends up on a planet where the Light is being held by a farming town terrorized by raiders, and have been bullied by them for generations. They have to help them fight the bandits to get the Light. (Taako is frustrated and suggests just taking it by force, but the townsfolk make it clear they would die fighting.) They end up training the townsfolk over the course of a year, defeat the bandits, and save the town. Their victory is an inspiration to surrounding communities, who create their own bands of protectors clad in red, and long after the IPRE has left, their legacy remains in the peace they create.

So this is straight up some Seven Samurai bullshit, because why not? The twist is that the town elder is something of a prophet, and as the IPRE train the townsfolk, he has a solitary moment with each of the seven in which he gives them advice that foreshadows what they’ll go through on Abeir-Toril. It’s not a lot, certainly nothing that changes how anything goes down, but I enjoy the cutesy foreshadowing and reassurance of who each character has developed into. (The only person who doesn’t get one is Taako. He avoids the elder like the plague. He gets his own moment, to himself.)

I will almost assuredly write this someday. Probably soon. It’s just so much fun to me. And it won’t be that long, either! Comparable to Cycle 71, I’d imagine. As with anything in the Stolen Century, I’d want to keep it short. There’s just too much room to lose yourself in that arc, any single year could be a hundred thousand words, and I just refuse to fall into that hole.

AMatItCJ (working title)

This is the “Angus at Neverwinter University solves a mystery with the help of his college buddies/Persona-style Investigation Team” and it is VERY loosely plotted but will almost certainly be VERY long and TOO complicated and I REFUSE to write it, do you hear me, I REFUSE.

(I’ve got character outlines and a basic plot and a few flashbacks and a final parlor scene and that’s basically it. I’ve actually thought about collaborating with someone on it, but I’m afraid I’d be too much of a control freak about it. This one might never happen.)

TaakoQuest (title TBD)

Kravitz is taken by a demonic entity anathema to the Raven Queen and is trapped inside a plane where no celestial entity or emissary can venture, purely to taunt her. Lup and Barry are helpless. Every other member of the IPRE and the founding Bureau is long dead. The Raven Queen asks Taako to do it. So he does.

This one literally came to me in the car ride home tonight, when I was thinking about Luster and how much I enjoyed the Taako-as-scientist scenes in that fic. I might write down some bits and pieces for it right now. It won’t be long. Maybe won’t even be multi-chapter. It’s just yet another exercise in showing Taako caring for other people through action, and in which he gets to act like a total baller.

I have very few settings, apparently.

This’ll almost certainly get written at some point, but maybe not soon. I’ve still got school stuff to do, but I like the bits I’ve thought of enough that I’ll almost certainly inflict them on you all at some point. But don’t worry, it won’t be nearly as emotionally harrowing as Luster. I can be cruel, but not THAT cruel.

THE ULTIMATE MOST SELF-INDULGENT GARBAGE EVER WRITTEN

I love Pyre.

I love schmoopy, slow-burn romance.

I will probably finish this someday.

I will never post it.

THAT’S IT

I’m almost certainly forgetting one or two, but I’m pretty sure that this is all I’ve got percolating in my head and WIP folder right now.

I’m sorry it’s so long, and I’m extra sorry I’m so bad at writing things regularly.

But I’m not sorry I don’t post things until they’re finished. I learn from my mistakes. I will never leave my readers hanging again!!

oh i guess i have to tag some people huh

uhhhhhhh @orchidcactus @fistfulofgammarays @anonymousalchemist @marywhal aaaaaaaand @emi--rose

TELL ME YOUR SECRETSSSS

[mesaaana]

All right, so The Well of Ascension. I finished it. In like four days. Even though i’m back at school. But anyway.

Also, I’m actually writing this from a computer rather than a phone app so...warning for excessive italics. Yes, I’m one of those people

It’s one of those books where, after finishing it, I had to take a break rather than immediately start the next in the series like I usually might. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, the ending - and the pace in about the last 200 pages or so - was exhausting. It was like the Battle of Hogwarts or something in there, is what I’m saying.

so, that downer ending though. is it just me, or do second installments in trilogies almost always have a downer ending? Empire Strikes Back, Catching Fire (and yes, I DID read The Hunger Games), the second season of Avatar:  The Last Airbender (actually i think the writers of this were specifically going for the Empire Strikes Back vibe so ha). I’m sure there are other examples, i just can’t think of any at the moment.

there were character deaths! sure, in the first book, one of the main protagonists (Kelsier) died right before the climax, but (1) i believe tvtropes.org calls it “Mentor Occupational Hazard” and (2) he engineered a situation where he would be made a martyr so that hardly counts. admittedly, Clubs and Dockson were not SUPER important, but they did tie us to the first book and Clubs got an actual personality in this one (rather than just “Uncle Grumpy”, as Spook called him), so it was still tragic. even more tragic was Tindwyl’s death....

obviously the downeriest downer of them all was Sazed, who arguably suffered the most out of Our Heroes. but i think I’ll talk about him (and Tindwyl) last.

Um so when I finished The Final Empire, i remember being....unsatisfied with the fact that Elend became king. I think my concerns were more or less addressed, and i did get on board with it. his character development seemed natural, rather than forced because “the plot demanded it”, so i have no reason to complain. but now, yet again, i have reservations about him becoming Mistborn. sure, he was slowly turning into a more...physical character (walking right into an army of titans blue giants comes to mind in particular), but now i wonder how this development will change him. i can’t see the author making “more powerful” than Vin, since to me it seems like she’s something of an exception; that being said, if Elend does end up stronger than Vin in the Allomancy department, i will be supremely (or should I say imperially?) pissed because (1) they’re married and that would throw a wrench into their dynamic, (2) it would seem AWFULLY suspicious if the most physically capable CHARACTER who happens to be a WOMAN suddenly had her MALE LOVE INTEREST stronger than her, and of course (3) it’s just lame, especially when you consider how much Vin pushes the envelope both with her sheer natural talent as well as her ingenuity when it comes with her powers. so don’t let Elend hijack that k thnx

(speaking of Vin’s “sheer natural talent” will we ever get an explanation why? or is she just that cool? hey i wouldn’t mind too much if it was the latter but i do prefer to have an actual reason)

okay now I talk about Vin, who is arguably THE protagonist of the series (so far, I suppose; i mean, she is on all three book covers). i think i’m satisfied with the direction her character took. she had a rough childhood (which is an understatement), and despite her....adaptation to Kelsier’s crew, it would not have been possible for everything to simply be all hunky dory from then on. so Kelsier’s death and her killing the Lord Ruler took their toll on her, in that she became estranged (and it was definitely at least somewhat self-imposed) from basically everyone on account of her “weirdness” and exceptionalism. hey, the life of a prodigious Mistborn, I guess? being a loner among friends is tough, you guys. but this left room for another definitely sinister Mistborn to swoop in and befriend her and....well, be entirely selfish with his interactions with Vin. so i might have cheered a little when she chose to not leave with Zane. also it must be incredibly stressful to be looked up to as a hero. i guess she’s the Superman to Luthadel’s Metropolis? albeit much darker and, uh, willing to kill and whatnot? also i enjoyed her reluctant allies-to-friends thing with “OreSeur”/TenSoon, and that TenSoon felt guilty about spying on her? *swoon* anyway, maybe it’s because i don’t really know how these things work, but i’m rather inclined to think that Vin’s relationship with Elend straddles a very fine line between “healthy” and “unhealthy”, as in she might just be a little too codependent on him. but again, it’s probably also an outcome of her upbringing

so i could probably talk about Breeze, or Zane, or Allrianne, or Straff, or Jastes, or anyone really, but i don’t particularly want to except to say:

(1) for Breeze I find myself almost disappointed that the reason he never showed interest in women wasn’t simply that he was gay. i think his reasons though are...noble, I will say, and in a Crapsack World like this...yay

(2) Straff should’ve found Zane a therapist. or, ya know, been a better father. Straff was just a terrible human being and i’m actually sad that it wasn’t Amaranta who succeeded in killing him, because that would’ve been Poetic, or something.

(3) Allrianne i did not really get. i feel like she was a plot device almost intended for us to see how “good” Breeze was. i understand she was by no means as stupid as she seemed (perhaps because people are predisposed to think that vanity = stupidity) but otherwise she served little enough purpose beyond convincing (more like bullying, but semantics) her father to side with Luthadel’s defenders

(4) Jastes, however, was an idiot, completely, absolutely, an idiot.

and now, Marsh. i have no idea what his deal with, and why he disappeared for most of the book, but i SINCERELY hope we find out. did becoming an Inquisitor do something to him? is the thing that Vin accidentally released controlling him somehow?

(is the ghost in the mist really as...not benevolent, exactly, but less sinister than it seemed there at the end? stabbing Elend aside, of course)

okay, Tindwyl. Purpose #1:  king Elend. Purpose #2:  annoy Vin, and perhaps make her think. Purpose #3:  voice of reason. Purpose #4:  be someone for Sazed to love then lose. Yeah, i’m not too crazy about Purpose #4, not after getting another named female character....that was fridged before the end of the book. Sigh, you can’t have everything in life.

this doesn’t mean Sazed does not have my sympathy, because he does. his crisis of faith is heartbreaking, honestly (i consider myself a person of faith), but i kind of think it was a long time coming, if for no other reason than that i am with Clubs and entirely baffled that you can believe in ALL the religions. that just doesn’t seem....logical? what about contradictions? like, you can’t be a Muslim and a Hindu at the same time because Muslims believe in the Oneness of God whereas Hindus have a whole pantheon so it’s like.....contradictions. but i suppose that was kind of the point, that you can’t really believe in all the religions. then of course there’s his sort of scholarly crisis, which, as a scientist-in-training, i can also sympathize with. because imagine that you have this hypothesis that you’re SO convinced is true, and then one day, after years and maybe decades of study you find out it isn’t, like not even a little; you or someone else disproves it so fully. and then you don’t know what to do with your life because you literally spent it working on proving that one hypothesis. and that would suck. i guess this means Sazed is a nihilist now?

so the thing that happened at the Eye of the World the Well of Ascension was.....weird. in a good way. creepy. what a twist. THIS is the source of the downer ending, as well as Sazed’s angst (and undoubtedly Vin will also have her own angst in the last book because guilt). and THIS is the sort of twist i like, especially with the whole ~the prophecies were wrong because someone/thing screwed with them~.

basically, “we tried to save the world but screwed up ROYALLY because we were misled by a sentient evil thing that we cannot even begin to understand because a despotic ruler that fancied himself a god destroyed ALL the records of anything that might help us so dear God are WE fucked”. (how’s THAT for a book summary?)

themes:  freedom or safety? this book in particular definitely begged the question, as well as “can you be both a good person AND a good ruler?” my answer to the first question is:  i dunno, dump me into a bizarre post-/pre-apocalyptic fantasy world and THEN we’ll talk. to the second, i’m inclined to say yes because of my religion, which is, ironically, another theme of this series, but one i will not get into because it is a theme with which i am increasingly frustrated. perhaps i’ll discuss it after i finish the last book...which i will probably start tomorrow.

but until then, if you read this entire thing, wow, what ARE you doing with your life? just kidding, but seriously, thank you for reading and i love talking about books with people

[survivor-of-flames]

The first two characters I identified with a lot were Spook (lol my handle tho) and Sazed. Sazed because when I first read Mistborn era 1, I was in a bit of a religious crisis. I didn't know what I believed in or what I wanted to believe in, and my faith in the things I had believed was becoming quite shaky at best. Also because I'm a total nerd with a love for academics (sidenote: not academic/intellectual elitism because it sucks and is super shitty) and I would love to record and archive different religions, especially as a way of opposing an existing hegemony. Also (SPOILERS AHEAD:) I really liked the way Sanderson had the atheist become a god - to me it meant that even someone who didn't necessarily believe could still contribute meaningfully to a religious setting. (END SPOILERS)

Spook, though - when I was first reading era 1, I was definitely at a point in my life where my relationship with my father...wasn't great. Nothing particularly horrible but suffice it to say that I was really feeling that "Lefting I'm born" sentiment at the time. Nowadays I relate to him a lot more in the Survivor-of-the-Flames, tin savant era. (@ neurodivergent community: if it's offensive or appropriative to use the term "savant" in this context please feel free to let me know & I'll change it. I think it's what Sanderson uses so that's why I'm using it for now.) I'm prone to light-sensitive headaches as well as sensory overload from auditory stimuli, so I really relate to sensory stimuli sometimes just being Too Much.

Lately though, I identify with Kaladin a lot. It means a lot to me to see someone with deprsession, who faces a lot of self-doubt and tends to take the world on their shoulders in a way that isn't necessarily the healthiest for their own well-being. And it means a lot to see them as a main character, as someone actively moving the plot along, even if they have to drag themselves through it every step of the way. I appreciate that he's shown as strong and resilient, and I really resonate with how protective he is, first of his squadronmates in Amaram's army, and then of Bridge Four. (***Tw: talking about death, suicide, and violence ahead - skip to the next "***" if you don't want to see that***) I have some friends with depression, and sometimes things have gotten bad enough that I wasn't sure if they were going to make it through the night. I also have a fair few friends who are part of one or more marginalized populations who typically face violent hate crimes, and between those two things, sometimes life feels like a bridgerun. I know I'll be fine, but I'm always worried about someone else not making it. (btw all my friends are still here right now.) On top of that, I just want to make sure all my friends are doing alright physically and mentally, and that they have a decent quality of life. (***Okay that section is over with now***) Pretty much all the lessons about depression, guilt, and responsibility Kaladin has struggled with are the same things that I've also struggled to learn. I'm also just straight-up fascinated with first aid (got certified as a lay responder last month! Yay!!)

Tl;dr: I relate to Sazed's religious crisis and general academic inclinations, Spook's issues with sensory stimuli, and Kaladin's depression. They're all fantastic characters and I'm glad my friend told me to read Final Empire cause it led me down a rabbit hole of awesome.

Which character in the cosmere do you identify with the most and why?

Let’s do this little get to know each other thing as a fandom. If you see this on someone’s blog, go into the notes, dind the most recent reblog and add onto it from there to make it so we can get EVERYONE. I’ll start! I identify most with Shallan Davar from Stormlight Archive. When I was reading the books, it was crazy how much the things she thought or said were identical to my own thoughts and feelings. From her sense of keeping things to herself to her use of sarcastic witty humor… it was almost eerie to read because I felt like that could honestly be me. Which is also really cool, because it was like seeing another fantastical life for myself.