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Kingsdaughter613

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Posts posted by Kingsdaughter613

  5. wow Alloy of Law sucks. Spoilers alert in case

    in Mistborn

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Ubeka said:

    I personally wasn't sold on AoL till the very end. It was an "okay" read for most of the part and I agree on the previous criticism that it just takes really long for Waxillium to actually jump into action and, y'know, do protagonist things. In a way, most of my frustration with that book came from just not meeting expectations. For one, like many others, I was disappointed to see hardly any callback or even mention of the major characters or even terms and magics from Era 1 - on the other, my eyebrows raised that, after everyone sold this book to me as cowboy-themed and stuff, we leave the prairie after a chapter or two and instead go back to the city.

    Things came together for me at Miles' execution and when Marsh finally shows up. That was a great callback and such a good setup for sequels. Then the reveal on the train was even better. That was when I suddenly liked AoL. I absolutely loved SoS after that (though, to be fair, that again left me wanting in terms of promises - the Hemalurgy book wasn't even really mentioned or discussed iirc and Trell and everything else the Set was working on kinda left up in the air) and BoM was decent.

    Era 2 as a whole has a very weird thing going on where, very unlike Sanderson usually, it sets a bunch of stuff up but doesn't really get back to that or actually deliver already. This is sadly true even for basic metals. We've never seen a single nicroburst or leecher in action for example - which is a bit of a letdown when it's only now been revealed.

    This is because Era 2 is setting up Era 3. Era 2 was a happy accident and is mostly a pulpy, character driven work. Era 3 is where most of the over arching elements of the meta, as opposed to the character, plot will be addressed.

    For example, a nicroburst is supposed to be a major character in Era 3, so Brandon is hardly going to show us one before then.

    0

  6. Thoughts on Shadows, Perception, and the Problem of Memory

    in Cosmere Discussion

    Posted

    All people have a Cognitive Aspect which is formed of Investiture (as technically everything is). Upon death this Aspect begins to dissipate, just as the body begins to decay. An infusion of Investiture to the body will heal it and an infusion of Investiture to the Cognitive Aspect will maintain it.

    Living people are effected by other people’s perceptions. The effect is simply minimized for unknown reasons. In contrast, the Cognitive Aspects of objects and non-sapient creatures do not have whatever safe guard minimizes this effect on living sapients and are strongly effected by perceptions.

    Shadows seem to fall into an in between area. They’re less effected by perception than non-sapients, but they’re more effected than living sapients. Whatever safeguards living sapients appears to be damaged, though a strong enough infusion of Investiture or exposure to the Spiritual Realm may help.

    What’s even more interesting is that there’s some indication that the whole problem is tied to memory and the limits of human capacity for it. It’s possible memory is the safeguard. There are some indications that an ordinary living sapient who lives too long will begin to have the same issue as a Shadow. And others that indicate natural immortals may avoid the issue. It’s also worth noting that Vessels seem to have a similar problem and some take advantage by trying to shape perceptions of themselves in particular manners. (Note that most Vessels are alive.)

    To me this indicates that the problem is less of perception and more a matter of Spiritual Connection. If the body is the physical function, and the Cognitive is the consciousness, it seems like the Spiritual is the totality of our lives experiences: the web of memories and connections we form throughout our lives that define who we are. It seems to me that as the Cognitive Aspect reaches its natural threshold for recall, it begins to lose its ability to access portions of that web, almost like a magical version of Alzheimer’s disease. It’s as though the Connection between Consciousness and Experience begins to fray, leading to the weakening of the Self. I’m going to call this the recall threshold: the point past where a Cognitive Aspect can access the sum totality of its Spirit Web. If something happens to expand the Cognitive Aspect’s ability to ‘recall’ or if something stimulates this, the Cognitive Aspect will ‘remember’ itself.

    In the absence of a whole link to the Spiritweb, I think perception takes its place. That’s a type of Connection too, but it’s one formed by the collective experiences and memories of other people. If you don’t know who you are, then you have to take it from other people. Imagine someone with amnesia, being told ‘You are X. You work as a Y. This is your family.’ etc. and determining who you are based on that. Except on a much broader and unconscious scale. 

    In this hypothesis, as the ties from the Cognitive Aspect to the Spiritweb fray, the collective Consciousness, the perceptions and Connections of and with other people, act to shore up the fraying supports. Over time, as the ties between Realms continue to weaken, this collective consciousness becomes a pseudo-Spiritweb shaping the way the Cognitive Aspect defines itself while still allowing that self to maintain some definition.

    This has little to do with whether it’s the original person, or soul, or not. It’s not a problem of perception - indeed, perception would actually be acting as a symptom reducer - but a problem of Connection between Realms. The problem that Shadows face would simply be a result of those ties being damaged by having died. Just as a person loses their Connection to the Physical, they also lose their Connection to the Spiritual upon death. When a Shadow has their Cognitive Aspect stabilized, it stops the severing process and may even reverse some of the damage. But it seems reasonable that these Connections between Realms are no longer whole. The Connection to the Physical, for example, needs to be intentionally restored. If the tie to the Spiritual remains damaged, then it would be more vulnerable to breakdown than that of a living sapient. So while both living and Shadow will experience the recall threshold problem, a Shadow will experience the effects much sooner.

    This effect would apply to all Shadows over time. In fact, it would apply to all non-natural immortals. Even natural immortals could, in theory, eventually hit their (presumably much higher) recall threshold and experience the effects of the loss of Spiritual Connection. 

    In conclusion, whether or not a Shadow is the original person’s consciousness/soul is immaterial and remains a philosophical problem (as per WoB). The problem is one of Realmatic Connection that would ultimately effect all sapients, with the closest Physical Realm equivalent being something like Alzheimer’s or other disorders of memory. The fact that increasing the recall threshold or decreasing the distance between Realms can heal this damage would be indicative of this problem not being tied to original personhood of a Shadow, but to a greater Realmatic effect to which Shadows are simply more susceptible due to their weakened ties to the Realms.

    13

  8. Allomantic Electrum doesn't make any Sense (to me, anyway)

    in Mistborn

    Posted

    On 1/6/2022 at 10:33 PM, Trusk'our said:

    In The Hero of Ages, we see Vin use Allomantic electrum, but she comments on how it doesn’t really affect the fight except to counter Atium. 

    Not only did electrum not “affect the battle much”, neither Vin nor Elend uses it outside of combat. Is Allomantic Electrum just not very useful? What’s more, wouldn’t it not truly counter another form of future-sight unless you could actually use it to reliably change your decisions by seeing the future?

    It probably works similarly to (SotD)

    Spoiler

    Sak.

    But it would probably take a lot of practice to use effectively.

    1

  10. Guess That Cosmere Character! Forum Edition!

    in Forum Games & Random Stuff

    Posted

    37 minutes ago, Marukka said:

    Nope, not the obligatory Hoid-guess. Though it would be great to get to 4 clues with him! :D

    Not Szeth
    Not Rayse
    Not Dalinar
    Not Sazed
    Not Hoid

    1. This character was decieved.
    2. This character was instrumental in making a fateful decision.
    3. This character speaks more than one language.
    4. This character has seen the world.
    5. This character almost/maybe/closely had a bond.

    Vivenna?

    0

  13. Creating Scadrian Half-Shards/Shardblades

    in Mistborn

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

    True, as it would seem.

    Azure's blade is proof that this is possible. Makes me wonder though; what make the two swords different? A different command? Perhaps they were created using different hacks of magic systems (assuming that you need a hack to make them, which very likely is the case)?

    More refined version of the original experiment?

    0

  14. Is Marsh Collecting New Spikes?

    in Mistborn

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

    yeah, I have. 

      Hide contents

    Kelsier canno't leave Scadrial. He's too Connected to it. That's why he wanted to have the Ghostbloods find the Herald Kalak for him, so he might be able to find a way to leave the world he's currently stuck on.

     

    Spoiler

    The GBs are likely collecting forms on Investiture for him; we know Mraize at least has quite the collections. Nothing says he has to do it personally.

     

    0

  15. Is Marsh Collecting New Spikes?

    in Mistborn

    Posted · Edited by Kingsdaughter613

    33 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

    Suppose that's possibly true. Marsh always was the better brother, as it was said.

    But Kelsier still can't get off world currently, which limits my ability to believe that it's him doing it.

    ……………….. Ah. Um. Er. You haven’t read RoW yet, have you?

    Spoiler

    Kelsier is very good at getting other people to do things for him.

     

    0

  16. Why the Lord Ruler could have made his bracers Unsealed Metalminds

    in Mistborn

    Posted

    On 1/1/2022 at 3:49 PM, Trusk'our said:

    Okay, now I want to mention that I’m pretty sure that the Unsealed Metalmind that granted all powers that we see in The Bands of Mourning were created by Kelsier, acting as the Sovereign, not the Lord Ruler. However, that’s not to say that the Metalminds that the Lord Ruler possessed weren’t Unsealed either. In The Bands of Mourning, the characters questioned why the Lord Ruler would have wanted to turn his bracers into Unsealed Metalminds, as that could have given someone else his powers. However, he could have done this because he feared getting Hemalurgically spiked. If his bracers really were Unsealed Metalminds, then even if he had his Feruchemical gold stolen away Hemalurgically, he could have tapped the Unsealed Metalminds to regain the power (of course he could probably have just Allomantically burned a goldmind that he’d already filled, but still). Additionally, he may have been okay with someone else gaining his power if he were to perish. We see that he did try to prepare humanity for Ruin, even if he died, so I don’t think it’s that far-fetched an idea to think that he wanted to give one last bit of an edge to whoever would have survived his death. Plus, no one even knew about Unsealed Metalminds at the time, and you can’t tap them without knowing that you can tap them first. I certainly could be wrong, and Rashek very likely didn’t make Unsealed Metalminds, but slight as it is, I think that there is still a possibility.

    Seeing as they were melted down and sold, I don’t think it matters much. Rashek’s bands are long gone.

    1

  17. Is Marsh Collecting New Spikes?

    in Mistborn

    Posted

    On 1/3/2022 at 8:10 PM, Trusk'our said:

    During the time of the Final Empire, not all of the metals, or even all of the powers of the known metals, had been discovered yet. But now in Scadrial’s modern era such things have been discovered. So, would Marsh want to get his hands on these powers? For instance, if there was a Slider Misting who’s continued existence he. . . disagreed with, would he also be willing to use Hemalurgy to get their power as well?

    What about gaining access to other magic systems? Would he be bound to Scadrial like his brother, or like with Mistings and probably Ferrings, would he be free to leave? This WoB seems to say that Allomancy can be taken off world without too much difficulty, but what about Hemalurgy?

    In fact, there is a WoB that says that someone is going around the Cosmere and collecting magics via Hemalurgy. Could that be Marsh?

    So, I guess I've got a few questions here, really.

    I think you have the wrong brother. The person most likely to be doing this is Kelsier.

    0

  18. Guess That Cosmere Character! Forum Edition!

    in Forum Games & Random Stuff

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Marukka said:

    Storms, that was a good one! I am actually sad I got it early, there would have been some great clues yet to come...:unsure:

    Next round is presented by Poets of the Fall!

    1. Seek you out

    I was surprised someone got it so early - but pleased I’m not the only one who remembered Lightsong was once an accountant! (Which is still one of my favorite minor Warbreaker twists.)

    24 minutes ago, Marukka said:

    Nope

    Not Shallan
    Not Marsh
    Not Marasi

    1. Seek you out
    2. Someone special
    3. Running out of time
    4. False Kings

    Navani?

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