Splintercast Reads: Bands of Mourning

"Ha. You're not--You're not gonna follow the rules, Wax. Come on. Let's just go. Let's--Let's just do this. I'm curious, you're curious. Let's go. Out the window with you."

Daaaaang, Feather. Back at it again with that Splintercast! 

Though I guess it probably doesn’t feel like we're "back at it" since Shadows of Self just wrapped up last week. Regardless! Here we go again. Now we're getting into Bands of Mourning and I hope you all are as excited for this as I am. We're in for a wild ride, so strap in.

Sorry for audio quality being bad in this episode. Apparently Audacity decided that I wanted to use the crappy laptop microphone to record rather than the spiffy USB microphone that I had plugged in but okay, Audacity, whatever. Hopefully I caught it on the rest of these episodes because honestly, laptop microphone is terrible. 

Anyway, please enjoy! Leave comments and responses below if you are so inclined!

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Prologue

"Okay. Nothing’s going wrong. Okay? It’s the first chapter of this book. Everything can still go smooth! We don’t need conflict yet. We can have cutes. Alright? Brandon, I’m like, staring at you across the room. Don’t do this to me. Just give me a good, nice wedding."

And now in earnest, the book begins.

Y’all knew I was gonna get rekt over these opening chapters, right? Steris is my daughter and I love her and she deserves eternal happiness. Unfortunately for her, she’s in a novel written by Brandon Sanderson, which means everything has to go wrong. Of course.

In other news, Wayne drops immensely on my list of favorite characters and I also pretend that I know something about the cosmere only to figure out I was dead wrong. Ha. Another day in the life of Feather reading these books right?

Upvotes and comments are always utterly appreciated!

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 1-3

"Yeah, you guys only thought I was going to be reacting to the book. You didn’t know you actually signed up for ‘Steris Appreciation Podcast 2016.’ Here we go.[/i]

This week, featuring special guest star: my kitten who loves to sniff the microphone while she’s purring and interrupt me. She’s smol. And naughty. And I love her.

Anyway, this week on Splintercast, Wayne talks to a jealous god. Feather realizes what a ridiculous shipper she is. Theories are put forth regarding Wax’s sister. Also, everyone is now evil. (Except for Steris, of course.) Sorry I don’t make the rules. All villains. All the time.

Finally, chapter six leaves off with a truly unfair cliffhanger, which means I was suffering as much as the rest of you in waiting for the next episode. Dang Brandon, you just can’t do these kinds of things to us!

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 4-6

"[Sputters] I don’t... even have words for what I am feeling about this development at the moment."

An episode that has it all. To quote myself: we’ve got some firefight, some cutes, some canoodling, deep snogs. Steris Harms continues to be perfect while Wayne continues to be on my bad list. We see some devices which double as plot devices for the first time. Yeeeeeeee.

Also. I can’t figure out how the heck one is supposed to pronounce the word “Scadrial.” [SKAY-dree-ul]? [SKAD-ree-ul]? We just don’t know.

Your weekly dose of Steris fangirling contained within, as well as some discussion of cosmere books in other languages. Because those are just cool.

In other news, keep an eye on the news box here this week, because you’ll soon see another non-Splintercast post from me! Oooh, what could it be? It’s a surprise.

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 7-9

"Shut up, Wax. Not everyone has to go out and like, vigilante justice fight crime with their Allomancy. Maybe some people like to juggle, all right?"

In which my commentary on these chapters contains significantly more jingle bells than one might have expected. What can I say? The kitten wants what the kitten wants. And usually that’s jingly feather toys.

Anyway, this week on Splintercast, Feather gets confused about gondolas. Wax continues to be an uptight old man who needs to chill, and Wayne perfectly embodies the struggle of the older generations against all those dang millennials and their cell phones and twitter birds and not immediately payin’ off all their student loans. Good times.

Also strange coins arise from strange beggars, and I immediately pick up on the fact that there’s shenanigans going on there. I love it when I pick up on shenanigans. It makes me feel competent. And just when you think you’re safe from me gushing over Steris, I’ll smack you with a hard dose for this week.

I also hone in on a cameo from a major character... only to completely be unable to figure out who she is. (Sorry Khriss. I know better now.)

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 10-12

"God bless. Harmony bless. Maker bless. Every... every deity just bless Steris Harms. Let’s just be real right here. Honor? Uh, Endowment? Like, all the Shards just need to like, group together, call a truce real quick, and bless Steris Harms. Kay? There we go. So it is decreed."

This episode of Splintercast, Feather discusses RP and how she really ought to get around to joining Mistborn: The Inquisition. Listen, guys. I love RP so much, but I like chat RP. It’s gotta be fast. Instant responses. Wait, you’re here to hear about Bands of Mourning? Oh, okay I guess we can do that too.

Cliffhangers continue to be my nemesis, but hey at least we got some fancy party infiltrations and a firefight in a graveyard. Steris is, of course, perfect, like usual. Dalish is cute and then naughty and must be exiled. And I’m upset that we haven’t talked about MeLaan recently.

Also a bizarre conversation about my past and future selves, which drifts frighteningly close to Homestuck. Which is ending... today. 4/13. Happy Homestuck Day, everybody. It’s the last true one. 

Regardless of whether or not you’re Homestuck trash, if you liked this episode, feel free to drop a comment down below! See you next week!

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 13-15

"Don’t lose your guns, Wax. I feel like I’m babysitting him. Like every time he loses his guns, I’m like ‘Go get those back. Pick them up. What’re you doing?’"

In which a whole heck of a lot happens. The end of Lady Kelesina’s party and we flee into the countryside with our heroes to try to see what exactly the Set is up to.

There’s an absolutely beautiful Waxteris moment (which, yes, is the ship name that I belatedly decided on.) Expect much squeeing. I also set sail on the S.S. WaynLaan as well, because huh, those two certainly have a remarkable amount of similarity. And my pet theory about Telsin Ladrian gets mentioned again, but we have yet to see if such a theory will be proven true or not.

Also EEEEE SOUTHERN SCADRIAL STUFF. YEAH. So cool. So so cool.

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 16-18

"I don’t think it was him. I don’t think it was. I’m pretty sure he was dead. But... maybe... Augh! I don’t know! I’m doubting everything!"

I would like to issue a formal apology to my new son, Allik, whom I assume to be a Hemalurgic experiment in this chapter. Listen. We all make mistakes. Allik, I didn’t mean it. Please forgive me. Like also that mistake of me talking myself out of a theory I’ve held since the beginning. Oops.

Also, burning questions such as: was Preservation the ultimate prescriptivist? (Probably, that dirty language-keeping Shard.) Thankfully my rabid linguist senses get distracted by making some new Connections later on. Sign me up for duralumin ferring, guys.

I also talk about The 100 which... was a great show and then started making some stupid writing decisions in the time between when I recorded this and when it got released. Dangit, The 100. And get sad about Cullen. My Dragon Age husband. Listen. And rap a bit of Hamilton. It’s a multifandom mess up in here.

(Slight spoiler warning: I did end up asking Brandon if Iyatil was a Southern Scadrian, only to find out that the answer is “not really.”)  

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 19-21

"Cosmere is still number one in my heart, okay? I’ll never leave the cosmere behind. I been in this for six years. We ain’t leavin’ the trenches now!"

Finally, things start to come together for me theory-wise. I talk myself back into my theory of Telsin’s alignment, which is probably a good thing. However, I also start to “figure out” my theory about who the Sovereign is, and I’m still mad that that theory was wrong because it made so much sense, listen.

I will say, for everyone who does know who the Sovereign is, (including me, the present Feather, who is writing this) going back and listening to me trying to figure it out is pretty amusing. In a way that makes me want to punch the real Sovereign in the face because, Harmony’s Forearms, I want to punch him so much.

There’s also a ridiculous amount of Dragon Age talk, but hey, that’s all I was doing all day before I started reading, gimme a break. I’d say that I was due for a Dragon Age/Cosmere crossover, but actually… I already wrote one. Ha. Enjoy!

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 22-24

"I called it! I never call stuff like that. But I totally called it and I never call stuff like that! That’s kind of why it’s fun to record these, because the few times that I do get it right I’m like: “It’s on recording! I got proof! I’ve got an ‘I told you so!’”"

First of all, I want to apologize for the brief hiatus we’ve had on Splintercast. It’s been a really hectic few weeks for me and I appreciate your patience. Free time has been in short supply for this Feather, especially the long swaths of time it takes to sit down and edit the audio for a whole episode. But we’re back now and we’re nearing the end.

This time, a lot happens! Allegiances are revealed! Wax takes a tumble! Steris hardly gets any page-time but I talk about her anyway. And a cliffhanger of truly Branderson proportions rears its head at the end of 27. Past!Feather is wary, however. She expects shenanigans.

I also mention a currently held theory of mine, that of Roshar’s Afterlife, so I’ll drop the link to that here. This reminds me that I ought to go update that with BoM and Secret History knowledge at some point. Hmm. A project for another day, however.

Theory: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/8855-theory-roshars-afterlife-and-the-tranquiline-halls/

The Splintercast Reads Bands of Mourning, Chapters 25-27

"I need this. I need this, okay. Alright. Okay. I haven’t even started reading it yet, I just saw that Wax is… I’m pumped. I’m pumped!"

The grand finale of Bands of Mourning, everyone! It’s a race to the end as we jump off of the last cliffhanger and tumble all the way through our final installment for this book. Ships, both literal and relational, are sailing and flying and there’s Allomancy and theories and reveals. It’s wild.

And then there’s that ending. I’ll refrain from Secret History spoilers here, but I will say I feel a bit vindicated by the vehemence of my reactions to that last line here. The Salt Brigade (http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/52725-theres-not-nearly-enough-salt-about-secret-history-spoilers/) starts early with this one. No Secret History needed. Whether or not my predictions were correct for this ending (and whether or not certain tables will be flipped and set ablaze) remains to be seen.

(Warning that there are Secret History spoilers behind that Salt Brigade link! If you’re listening along as you read BoM, be careful!)

We’ll start up fresh with Mistborn: Secret History next week, everyone! As that novella is a much shorter work, there will be three episodes of that! As always, comments and reactions are exceptionally appreciated and warm the depths of my cold dark heart.

Splintercast Reads: Bands of Mourning

Syldaras