Fandom is apparently good for my mental health

[officiumdefunctorum she/her]

Hello! I recently read one of those somewhat unsubstantiated clickbait articles claiming that my shameless nerdiness and obsession with multiple fictional universes is actually good for me, and realized I had not yet plumbed the depths of the Sanderson community, so here I am. Heal me, my fellows.

In any case, greetings from Milwaukee, WI. I basically read like it's my second job (and I'm a teacher, so I read a lot for that job, too) so I can wax poetic about Sanderson's works, the Wheel of Time, Gentleman Bastards, The Farseer books, Harry Potter, Tolkien, Marvel, ASoIaF, and...probably a lot more, tbh. I read A LOT and am always looking for solid recommendations so I stop rereading a safe bet. I also shamelessly read and write fanfiction.

Lovely to be here.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

Hey, welcome to the Shard, @officiumdefunctorum! Sadly, I've run out of upvotes for today, but have a free spiked delicious cookie!

Spoiler

DISCLAIMER: Side effects include, but are not limited to, hearing voices, gaining supernatural powers, having the sudden urge to kill everyone, and completely losing control over your mind and body. The Dark Alley™ claims no liability for any damage done to/by the eater of this cookie.

Also, don't worry, you're in the right place if you're an avid reader. 

Have you read all of the Cosmere books? If so, which one should are your favorites? If not, which ones have you read?

And don't worry, you won't get too addicted to the Shard. 

[Sami she/her]

Greetings!

I envy your students! What kind of fan fiction do you write?

(sorry I ran out of upvotes so I can't' give you one right now.. I'll return later and give you one)

Edited July 27, 2017 by Sami

[officiumdefunctorum she/her]

Thank you for the welcome, and cookie. I'm occasionally insane enough in my own, so I'll save it for a special occasion.

I've read all available Stormlight things, Warbreaker, Elantris, and the Mistborn trilogy. I wasn't super enthused with Mistborn, so I've yet to read any of the additional novels (if you think they are better than the trilogy itself, I'll give them a try). I'll get around to his other stuff eventually, I suppose. Stormlight Archive solidly holds the lead, not least because it was the solice to which I fled when I'd finished the Wheel of Time and didn't know what to do with myself.

[officiumdefunctorum she/her]

And Sami, the woefully ambitious kind. I'm a fan of believable crossovers, always wondering what might happen if characters from different universes found themselves flung together. I dabble in many fandoms, but always find myself coming back to Marvel.

Also, are upvotes especially treasured? I confess I'm not a reddit user, and it's the only place I know they're a thing of, well, currency.

[CaptainRyan he/him]

20 minutes ago, officiumdefunctorum said:

Also, are upvotes especially treasured?

People love upvotes even though they do not have any significant effect. As you gather more upvotes the title under your profile picture changes. That's about it haha. It is generally courteous to upvote but by no means required. I'm sure we all have our own methods of determining what posts are "worthy" of an upvote. Fyi, you can only hand out sixteen (16) upvotes per day.

Also, welcome! If you have not read the Expanse series yet then I would highly recommend it.

P.S. Good on you for not using Reddit btw. I avoid that site like the plague!  

[officiumdefunctorum she/her]

Well I am all about courtesy. I'll try not to let my upvoting devolve into Cairhienen intrigue... That was a wheel of time thing, in case my reference went astray.

I'll put Expanse on my list. What's the first in the series?

[CaptainRyan he/him]

If daes dae'mar is your thing then you do you my friend haha!

Book 1 of the Expanse series: https://smile.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-Expanse-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0047Y171G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501202037&sr=8-1&keywords=the+expanse+book+1

They are up to book 6 out of a projected 9 (I think). About ~1 per year so we are getting close to the end.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

@officiumdefunctorum

Have you only read the first trilogy? There's a second series of books set 300 years after the first trilogy during Scadrial's industrial revolution. The coolest part about it is allomancy with guns.

If you have, then I guess Mistborn just isn't your thing. It's definitely my thing though. 

[officiumdefunctorum she/her]

I did only read the first trilogy. I wasn't into it enough to want to jump into the next set of Mistborn books. I think it's because I didn't have any real attachment to the characters.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

17 minutes ago, officiumdefunctorum said:

I did only read the first trilogy. I wasn't into it enough to want to jump into the next set of Mistborn books. I think it's because I didn't have any real attachment to the characters.

Awww, okay then. I'd still recommend reading Era 2 though. They're pretty good books, and they have a different feel from the first trilogy.

[officiumdefunctorum she/her]

I'll have to give the first of the next set a try. I really bought into The Final Empire, and then you-know-who died, and I get that that was the point, but none of the other characters really measured up, after that. Everything else was fascinating and I did enjoy them, just not enough to re-read them.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

1 minute ago, officiumdefunctorum said:

I'll have to give the first of the next set a try. I really bought into The Final Empire, and then you-know-who died, and I get that that was the point, but none of the other characters really measured up, after that. Everything else was fascinating and I did enjoy them, just not enough to re-read them.

Yeah, I gotchu. I loved Mistborn, though I can see how you-know-who's death could really make the rest of the series boring.