What would you do with what magic?

[jag519 he/him]

So, we have a what would you do with X power topics and what power would you want topics, what would you do if you could pick any of the powers from Brandon's books to use. (Doesn't have to be cosmere magics).

 

This is assuming that all of the magic systems will work on earth, but there is no world hopping (other than like literally flying to another planet or something).  This assumes that metal on this planet will work, having 1 breath is equal to what all of us have now so you have a way of getting breaths, leaving things outside during a storm could gather stormlight, etc. 

 

This is also assuming that no one else has powers, so assume if you're going around making drabs, you're the only person doing this.

[Swimmingly he/him]

Full feruchemy. Use tinminds as super-effective noise cancelling ear buds. Store touch to avoid pain. Store eyesight while swimming. Store iron and tap pewter with some basic mechanical wings to fly. Store traumatic memories. Tap electrum, zinc, steel, bendalloy, bronze, cadmium, and gold to go on an untiring, unceasing mad science rampage.

[Pechvarry]

Make Brandon Sanderson Essence Marks. Use them on a small group of people and read everything they write.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Pechvarry

[Moogle]

Three big candidates!
 

Awakening:

• Immortality and immunity to disease? Count me in!
• The power to animate objects is okay too I guess.
• You become fabulous!

Feruchemy/Double Zinc Twinborn:

• Where do you begin with Feruchemy? Healing, mental speed, ability to store calories (and hopefully nutrients...), no need to wear a coat, super strength, it's amazingly versatile, ridiculously powerful, and has a few things that actually help people other than you (mental speed mostly).
• Double Zinc Twinborn means compounded mental speed which makes you think faster. Science, here I come! Manipulating people with Rioting is also super useful.

Soulcasting (either order of Radiants):

• Soulcasting's ridiculousness never ends. The valuable scientific knowledge that you could get from Soulcasting antimatter, or hard-to-produce elements is beyond belief. With enough specialized knowledge, I'm sure you could do things like Soulcast computers from air, though I admit to being uncertain on that point.
• So much money! Producing gold from lead is now viable. Make billions, donate it to charity and do a lot of good. Also: crash the gold economy and make all the libertarians with their life savings in gold sad, but hopefully the good you do would make up for it.
  • Gold is really a poor choice, though. Some of the rare earth metals, like platinum, are probably more cost effective to make. It would be worth researching. Plus, by bringing down the cost of things like platinum, you make catalytic converters cheaper, helping the environment! Also, electronics become cheaper. It's a win for everybody but mining companies.
• Soulcasting is great for personal defense!
• Your choice of teleportation OR neat-o illusions and laser beams made of sunlight.

[Voidus]

If there's an equivalent of Elantris to give a power-up to Elantrians I'd definitely go with that, it's just so open ended, teleportation, create food out of nothing, infinite energy, free lighting, and of course invincibility.
After that I'd go with being an Artifabrian if we can have spren, although that's probably hard since we don't have renewable sources of gemstones.
Basically I'd pick something that can open up a permanent investiture, rather than Allomancy, Feruchemy or Surgebinding, just seems more useful for earth.

[Pechvarry]

If there's an equivalent of Elantris to give a power-up to Elantrians I'd definitely go with that

 

How about: choose a city on Earth.  That city is the source of your power, with standard distance-weakening as seen with Elantris.

[Swimmingly he/him]

Three big candidates!

 

Awakening:

• Immortality and immunity to disease? Count me in!
• The power to animate objects is okay too I guess.
• You become fabulous!

Feruchemy/Double Zinc Twinborn:

• Where do you begin with Feruchemy? Healing, mental speed, ability to store calories (and hopefully nutrients...), no need to wear a coat, super strength, it's amazingly versatile, ridiculously powerful, and has a few things that actually help people other than you (mental speed mostly).
• Double Zinc Twinborn means compounded mental speed which makes you think faster. Science, here I come! Manipulating people with Rioting is also super useful.

Soulcasting (either order of Radiants):

• Soulcasting's ridiculousness never ends. The valuable scientific knowledge that you could get from Soulcasting antimatter, or hard-to-produce elements is beyond belief. With enough specialized knowledge, I'm sure you could do things like Soulcast computers from air, though I admit to being uncertain on that point.
• So much money! Producing gold from lead is now viable. Make billions, donate it to charity and do a lot of good. Also: crash the gold economy and make all the libertarians with their life savings in gold sad, but hopefully the good you do would make up for it.
  • Gold is really a poor choice, though. Some of the rare earth metals, like platinum, are probably more cost effective to make. It would be worth researching. Plus, by bringing down the cost of things like platinum, you make catalytic converters cheaper, helping the environment! Also, electronics become cheaper. It's a win for everybody but mining companies.
• Soulcasting is great for personal defense!
• Your choice of teleportation OR neat-o illusions and laser beams made of sunlight.

Replace stormlight gems with rechargable D-battery cells

[Quiver he/him]

If people were to just spontaneously develop Brandon's magic here? I picture some kind of a grim, horrific twisted version of the world.

 

Take Breathes, for instance. You Return. Congratulations. You now look like a supermodel, with the voodoo powers of Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. You also have to run around, draining the Breathes from ordinary people in order to live, and unlike Nalthis, you don't have the excuse of it being a cultural thing. You are, effectively, a vampire.

 

Allomancer? I hope you like Pushing and Pulling your way everywhere, because is anyone going to let you in a car? Oh, sure, "I can't push cars out of the freeway, I don't weigh enough". That excuse probably won't work with the other freaked out motorists.

 

You're an immortal Elantrian. Sure, it's a little more open-ended, but if you want to use your magic- really use your magic- you've confined yourself to one city for the rest of forever. And the glowing guy whose lived in that house longer than my grandfather has been alive is going to raise some eyebrows. If you don't go completely undercover, you'll probably end up in a government lab somewhere.

 

...You know, this is actually more fun than picking what power I want. 

[Two McMillion he/him]

Feruchemy is probably the system I could use in real life with the least disruption. People might start asking me why I wear all that metal, of course...

 

Now, if I could have the full complement of the Lord Ruler's powers...

[Oudeis he/him]

You're an immortal Elantrian. Sure, it's a little more open-ended, but if you want to use your magic- really use your magic- you've confined yourself to one city for the rest of forever. And the glowing guy whose lived in that house longer than my grandfather has been alive is going to raise some eyebrows. If you don't go completely undercover, you'll probably end up in a government lab somewhere.

 

Illusion. And you can totally GO other places, you just lose your powers there. If you have enemies, that's when they would strike, but how many of us in this world have people actually out to kill them?

 

I guess in the world we're describing, some people out there are hemalurgists, so you really just have to watch yourself constantly if anyone knows who you are.

 

And with netflix, who ever needs to leave their house, let alone home city?

[Peng the Just he/him]

And with netflix, who ever needs to leave their house, let alone home city?

 

Ah netflix, that beautiful destroyer of free-time, productivity and sleep.

[Voidus]

You're an immortal Elantrian. Sure, it's a little more open-ended, but if you want to use your magic- really use your magic- you've confined yourself to one city for the rest of forever.

 

As long as Brandon swings by every now and then for signings I am totally ok with that, as for the glowing thing you can just use an illusion, also if the city is Elantris then the whole place will be glowing so everyone else is going to look out of place, I'll fit right in

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Adonalsium. I would create the Cosmere. What better thing could I do. Of course, there's the Shattering if I want to be completely canon, but we can overlook that for now.

[Quiver he/him]

Adonalsium. I would create the Cosmere. What better thing could I do. Of course, there's the Shattering if I want to be completely canon, but we can overlook that for now.

Create a new universe. Right.

So, would this new universe be existing parallel to our own, or replace it, Crisis on Infinite Earths style? You're going to wipe out an entire universe- more, the entire future of a universe- to recreate the Cosmere?

And, assuming that's possible, odds are it will come out wrong. No offence Mailliw, but you are only human! while I suspect Adonalsium was so much more than that. If you intend on focusing the magic of the shard, we're probably going to end up with a universe tainted by humanity from the start; Adam and Eve eating the apple without the paradise to start with. I imagine it would only go down from there...

(Why yes, I am a pessimist, how did you know?)

[Tarion]

I'm not quite sure it would work, but I think there's an argument for it.  I'd go full Metalborn, Lord Ruler style, and use Feruchemy/Compounding to give everyone I like my powers.

 

Using a combination of Aluminium (To drop my Identity to zero, allowing anyone to access the metalmind I'm about to create*) and Nicrosil, to store my Investiture (I.e. the fact that I'm both a Feruchemist and a Mistborn).  

 

Anyone tapping the metalmind would become a Mistborn Feruchemist, and be able to Compound their Investiture to make it essentially permanent, so long as they have access to Nicrosil.

 

*I'm assuming you don't need Feruchemy to actually tap Metalminds, as long as you have the "correct" Identity for it.  This is sort of born out by Vin being able to sense Sazed's metalmind the same way a Feruchemist would, just without the ability to tap it, since she had the wrong Identity.

 

And yes, I realise it's a colossal stretch, but the idea has been playing around in my mind.  

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Create a new universe. Right.

So, would this new universe be existing parallel to our own, or replace it, Crisis on Infinite Earths style? You're going to wipe out an entire universe- more, the entire future of a universe- to recreate the Cosmere?

And, assuming that's possible, odds are it will come out wrong. No offence Mailliw, but you are only human! while I suspect Adonalsium was so much more than that. If you intend on focusing the magic of the shard, we're probably going to end up with a universe tainted by humanity from the start; Adam and Eve eating the apple without the paradise to start with. I imagine it would only go down from there...

(Why yes, I am a pessimist, how did you know?)

It would be a whole new universe. Like the Cosmere is. But, I am not only human. I have taken the power of Adonalsium and with that have become it. With the combined power of the 16 shards how could I not?

[bartbug he/him]

If what Preservation did to Vin is any indication, than holding Adonalsium would expand Mailliw to become beyond human. Though how much control, or even how much Mailliw is even left, is anyone's guess.

[Quiver he/him]

If what Preservation did to Vin is any indication, than holding Adonalsium would expand Mailliw to become beyond human. Though how much control, or even how much Mailliw is even left, is anyone's guess.

For him to become 'pure' Adonalsium, he'd have to hold onto it long enough for its Intent to become all consuming. Of course, if that happens, who knows what the result will be. The only pre-Shattering world which we can confirm life on was Yolen. If he re-creates the Cosmere, that's what he's going for. If his intent is just 'Creation', then there's no telling what might happen. The Shattering may have been bad, but the power of creation running rampant around the universe? Maybe Adonalsium was broken by the future spDhardholders on purpose. Uncontrolled creation would be rather insane.

[Guest Alaxel]

I know this question sounded like it was asking for opinions, but there is only one correct answer: mine.

Shardplate and Shardblade. Use it to quickly rob a bank. Take your new millions, and buy gadgets and cars and to paint/cosmetically alter your Shardplate to look exactly like Batman

Enjoy your new career fighting crime to make up for the money you stole earlier.

[Quiver he/him]

I know this question sounded like it was asking for opinions, but there is only one correct answer: mine.

Shardplate and Shardblade. Use it to quickly rob a bank. Take your new millions, and buy gadgets and cars and to paint/cosmetically alter your Shardplate to look exactly like Batman

Enjoy your new career fighting crime to make up for the money you stole earlier.

 

Let me get this straight.

 

You believe that someone with an impenetrable, invulnerable suit of armour and a sword that cuts souls souls should abuse his powers to get all of the wonderful toys he wants, and you're first instinct is that he should turn into Batman?

 

He'd be invincible! You're answer implies that he won't use his Shardblade (because Batman doesn't kill) but if he does, even once? Corpses with burnt out eyeballs would scare people worse than allomantic motorcycles would. It doesn't matter if the guy who suffered it deserved it, the fact that you run around a city with a concealed weapon which you can mystically summon at any time would inspire a huge backlash. The cops would be after you, the public would be afraid of you, and this wave of crusading would most likely inspire copycats or worse, just plain run of the mill psychopaths, to take to the street and cause as much mayhem as possible.

 

So... I guess you would be just like Batman.

[Guest Alaxel]

Let me get this straight.

You believe that someone with an impenetrable, invulnerable suit of armour and a sword that cuts souls souls should abuse his powers to get all of the wonderful toys he wants, and you're first instinct is that he should turn into Batman?

He'd be invincible! You're answer implies that he won't use his Shardblade (because Batman doesn't kill) but if he does, even once? Corpses with burnt out eyeballs would scare people worse than allomantic motorcycles would. It doesn't matter if the guy who suffered it deserved it, the fact that you run around a city with a concealed weapon which you can mystically summon at any time would inspire a huge backlash. The cops would be after you, the public would be afraid of you, and this wave of crusading would most likely inspire copycats or worse, just plain run of the mill psychopaths, to take to the street and cause as much mayhem as possible.

So... I guess you would be just like Batman.

I've always thought that Batman needs some serious therapy. A young kid watched his parents get murdered and decides to adopt the persona of a bat and fight crime? I posted my idea mostly as an amusing thought, but the fact of the matter is that Batman is a criminal and needs to be arrested. The thing that makes America great (on paper if not in practice) is that it's a Republic and no one is above the law and everyone is entitled to due process. Batman violates peoples civil liberties. In fact, he does more harm than good because of all the criminals he attracts. All in the name of "The Greater Good." There is no evil more sinister and subtle than the concept of "the greater good."

My real answer would be to be a full powered Mistborn/Feruchemist combo. I'd study under Brandon Sanderson to learn the full extent of my powers, then spend my immortality learning everything about everything. Then I would spread my knowledge to enrich people's lives.

...that or start a Shardblade/Shardplate excavation company.

[Psychocon he/him]

I would have to choose between Limelight's power or being a Windrunner.

 

• With Limelight (that's just what I am going to call it for now) I could heal people around me as well as give them force fields, and I could make any object just by hitting something solid in my surroundings. I could defend myself and help others. It would also give me super agility so I would be able to react much faster and be a much better fighter. A real life batman.
• As a Windrunner i would move around faster by lashing myself to the places I need to be, and if I buy some armor (kevlar, or cosplay armor) I can use lashings to defend others by drawing their assailants weapons to me. I could also get into a lot of places I am not supposed to go. I feel like I would be an excellent spy.

[cris34b he/him]

I would be an Awakener, supposing I started with at -least- 50 breaths, and I'd start a magic show. Each show, near the beginning, I'd ask my audience if they trust me, lets do some breathing excercise.. yadda yadda. I trust you with my life, my life to yours. Now, imagine your breath is like a rainbow, breath out and repeat so that the magic can happen. "My life to yours, my Breath become yours." and BAM an entire audience's worth of Breath is mine, probably starting somewhere around 20-100. I'd make sure that breath-donation Command became my slogan, to ensure random people I encounter say it to me. I'd keep doing shows with my amazing awakening until they became world famous, the audience slowly growing larger and larger until I could be taking in more than a thousand Breaths a show. I'd do multiple shows a day, get more breath, and make the show more spectacular. I'd keep doing this until I reached ten million Breaths. Yes, a lot of shows, and a long lifetime to do so.

 

Perhaps I would continue after this, but I see no reason to. I would retire, wait for many years till everyone forgets about me and all of my previous audience members died. I would then reveal Awakening to the world as an incredible ability for both good and for whatever other purposes. The Breath market would skyrocket, I'd probably make selling Breath an actual company, since by this point, i would have upwards of 10,000,000 Breaths. Make a sort of Breath broker. People sell and buy from us, and sell some of my own. I'd then invest in my company on the Stock Market, and make potential millions. After that, I'd buy a castle, and Awaken most every item in the castle, including the occasional Awakened suit of armor holding an Awakened sword. The result would be an impregnable fortress to ensure my longevity. 

 

I'd take on apprentices and teach them my, by then, extremely advanced awakening in comparison to the rest of the world, and things would go from there. Overall, I would be the Merlin of Awakening, and it would be amazing. 

 

Yes. I am a scam artist.

Edited February 9, 2014 by cris34b

[jag519 he/him]

Hahaha, that's great. If people don't early on try to kill you for being a vampire and stealing their life force after a show, I could see it totally working. 

I could see people being upset that after your show they fall into depression. 

If like every person that goes to your show all of a sudden falls into depression, it might make people notice you're a vampire. 

[Azul he/him]

Right now i'd be happy with being able to burn Cadmium.  I'd get a big supply and flare it like crazy to reduce my wait on WoR.