u/MrFlufypants

Is this supposed to happen? Have other peoples’ books worn like this? My wife has been reading our Mistborn TFE leather bound for a couple weeks now and it’s looking very bad. I bought the set of Mistborn 1-3 earlier this year from dragonsteel because I knew I’d get them eventually to reread before the next book comes out, and my wife was planning on reading them this year.

I thought it would be an awesome experience for her but they’re wearing AWFULLY, and now it’s making us feel a little bad about the purchase. I don’t really want her thinking about ruining $125 as she reads, that’s not a fun experience. I loaned out Hero of Ages to a friend a couple months back and it came back with a tiny bit of wear, but this is way worse than that.

Is this normal? Is something wrong? I assume these aren’t meant to just be bookshelf pieces. I’m super hyped to slowly collect the cosmere leatherbounds, I love this universe and they look so incredible, but I might have to rethink my decisions if they’re all going to end up like this. It just makes them feel worth way less than $125. I was looking forward to getting Way of Kings and Words of Radiance next year to start my re-read and to give to my wife, but if they all wear like this $250 seems way steeper than I originally thought.

Any experiences you guys have reading these would be welcome!

Season 1 first time playing vgc. Skipped season 2, but I’m back trying out this one. A friend and I have optimized it a bit yesterday and today, and we’re mid ultra ball with it so far. I love Metagross so I started with him and transitioned it to a staraptor first team as it became obvious how good raptor is. Any thoughts on mons/set changes that fit well here? Yes I know the mons are very standard. But I’m trying to make as good of a team as I can, and parting shot is just way too good with staraptor. This is my first time posting a team review, so I’d appreciate any commentary/thoughts

Metagross- I started with mega metagross. Love this guy. You would be shocked how much an ice punch does to a farigiraf. It also does really well into some of the special attackers Staraptor struggles with. I swapped fangs for iron head to help the sylveon matchup. Stomping tantrum is by far the most used move. Consider bringing him even when you’re doing mega staraptor stuff. Dude cleans up on a lot of the things raptor has to switch out of. 3 speed is for mirror.

Whimsicott- standard staraptor whimsicott. But it’s max defense and you’d be SHOCKED how often it survives multiple hits. Shrugs off a hurricane with the berry. It even survived a mega metagross iron head earlier today. I originally had fake tears and tickle, but I really never found an occasion to use tears so I swapped it for encore. Went to charm over for a bit more pressure into delphox leads, but I’m not sure on this one. Don’t overlook charm as a defensive tool either.

Grimm- screens+shot. Great Mon with incineroar, you’ve seen it before. Shot is the best non-whim way to boost raptor’s attack, since incin is slower. Crunch over spirit break to improve matchups into farigiraf, delphox, goldengho, and basc, and spirit break wasn’t THAT much better in the other cases.

Incin- standard stuff.

Garchomp- was originally coaching sneasler, but this guy is WAY better into a bunch of matchups. He helps quite a bit into Metagross, raichu, and zard matchups. I haven’t tuned his EV’s, a little more bulk might be nice. I definitely bring garchomp least, but he feels really good against zard and raichu, which could both be problematic otherwise.

Staraptor- taking over the metagame, this is the standard set. With tailwind support your opponent has to pressure you with super effective special attackers or you can very quickly take over the game. Protect on turn 1 while you tailwind is excellent, try to keep it alive as best you can.

Matchups+strategy:
Staraptor+Whim is usually very good. If they have a huge threat like raichu, delphox, or sylveon, expect them to lead that and counter it. Bring Metagross in the back often. Grimmsnarl+Incin can neutralize basically any physical attacker. Incin+raptor beats kingabit even through the +2 unless they protect or fake out support it. Use tailwind+chomp to kill zard. Close combat is better than brave bird in almost every situation except for when they’re threatening knockout. I CC against sneaslers and pellippers very often.

Team is pretty basic, but let me know if you have any great ideas for improvements!

Gives you a nice pick-me-up for missing block by 1.

Busted with intangible, but since it's rare, maybe that's okay? Or just make it ironclad exclusive, since the theming fits them better anyway.

If you want to discuss this book in the comments, PLEASE spoiler tag your stuff. People should read this with no preconceptions.

Just finished this book, and man… wow.

It’s a 2026 new release, first novel by the author, and I will be SHOCKED if it doesn’t become a genre favorite for many people instantly.

- Incredibly deep characters

- Dark tragic story, but it isn’t misery porn

- A truly wonderful magic system where you write poetry to receive gifts from “the ancestors”

- A setting I’ve been a big fan of recently.

It’s Apothecary Diaries meets Sword of Kaigen meets The Emperor’s Soul. God it’s so good

No spoilers!

Priory of the Orange tree has entered my top 5 on my TBR. I noticed there is a huge prequel and a smaller novella before it, both written afterwards.

Should I just start with Priory, or should I read A Day of Fallen Night first?