Yumiya

We know he spent time studying at first.

It did not bother me. I actually liked the melding of the two "worlds" back together. The setting existed for 1700 years, so there is still plenty of time to plan your own stories in.

Exactly what I was trying to get at. To split a spirit, it takes investiture. When the yoki-hijo does it, that power comes from the yoki-hijo, which is why Yumi feels drained afterwards. The machine cannot supply that power, so it takes it from the spirit, using the yellow band. Now that there is no machine and the spirits are choosing to be hion lines without any assistance from yoki-hijos, they are also using that yellow band to maintain their form, so still no yellow. Edit: At this point I think they are choosing the color scheme as that is what they are use to. They probably could choose to use a little of all three or a different pair if they wanted to. End Edit. They are not so much anchoring themselves to the viewers, as becoming the energy that powers the viewers.

The same way that spirits like rocks being stacked. They are attracted to the art in both, and agree to perform a service. The investiture is still coming from the spirits like it did when they were being pulled by the machine. The difference is that they agree to do this, so it does not trap them the same way the machine did. They could decide to stop being hion lines, but probably won't as long as the people of the planet keep making tv shows.

I actually lean towards 3. Three points of view (Yumi/Painter/Hoid). Three colors (cyan/magenta/missing yellow). Three is a Fibonacci number. Art has the rule of thirds. Humans, spirits and machines. etc

Given that Hoid's protections are triggered by the machine, turning him into a statue for years, I don't really think that is the case.

Or not just innate differences of the shards, but differences in the causes of death. Ie Virtuosity choose to splinter.

I believe that yellow plays a part in the magic of Komashi, and not just the UTol system as a whole. The whole tie to color theory and art as a whole is too strong to ignore, when art is a central theme of the book. Throw in the use on the final cover, while not proving anything, enhances the argument that yellow is present. If we take a look at how Hion Lines are produced, we can see a possible explanation. The machine is taking in investiture, or soul from spirits. During this process, it is creating lines of energy and powering itself. Two lines plus some power consumed. The lines are energy. So it would be reasonable to assume that the machine is splitting the investiture into three parts, consuming the yellow, and allowing the cyan and magenta lines to flow. This clearly hurts the spirits, though one would assume that having part of yourself used this way against your will would indeed cause pain. Now, when yoki-hijo do their art, they are attracting the spirits and asking for assistance. The spirits agree to help and so, don't experience pain. Nor are they trapped. Additionally, this is more effective than the mechanical version because part of the power does not have to be diverted to the machine. Interestingly, yoki-hijo have spirits split in two, but a third force is applied to the stones, the yoki-hijo, strengthening the idea that spirits have three parts. When the spirits recombine, the force holding the rocks in place also vanishes, suggesting that it returns to the spirit as a part of the original whole. So my theory is that, when yoki-hijos call spirits and makes requests, they supply some investiture to allow the change to take place. The spirit then turns the request into an Intent and split creating twin statues with the desired effect. The potential energy from that split is then applied to the stones, making them stable. When the machine summons spirits, it does not supply any investiture. The investiture is converted into three bands of energy (yellow, cyan and magenta), but the yellow is not seen, as it is used to make the conversion possible. This is also why there is no yellow band even after the machine is destroyed. Some spirits stay hion lines, but there is no yoki-hijo to supply investiture to make this possible, so some of the spirits investiture is used instead. Note that you do see yellow (sorta) when Yumi makes the light. It is a friendly orange and dark blue. There would be yellow in that orange. Notice that when you combine orange and blue lights, you get white light, or light made of all the colors, nothing left out.

Yumi comments on this a bit. The writting is familiar but not exact. It would probably be like us trying to read some very old English documents. Nigh impossible for the layman. Try if you are interested. Regardless, a lot has been lost from Yumi's time to Painter's time. Like what the sun is and how it looks. Or that the earth was very hot when spirits were simply living in the earth instead of existing as hion lines. Or what yoki-hijos are. It would be very plausable for the Sho-Del to have had contact with Komashi and Yumi never known (being super cloistered and rather young) and the nomads of the time forgetting about it (assuming they themselves ever knew) in the wake of the near end of the world.

Sort of, but not really. The language has shifted enough that Yumi could only communicate due to her Connection to Painter. The other nightmares, once human again, could not talk to those trying to tend to them.

I think Yumi IS special. She was not born special, but because she was chosen by her people, she became special. She has powers that others don't. Similar to how Knights Radiat are not born special, but become special when they are chosen by and then bonded to a spren.

I think a lot of Hrathen's and Fjordell politics and actions are primarily influenced by the remnants of Dominion. Though, Bavadin probably did have fingers in some of it, she did not create all of it.

We get one mention of Thanasmia in TotES. Who or what is Thanasmia? There is no other mention of a moon belonging to a named individual. At best, individual moons are referred to by their spore. Emerald Moon, Verdant Moon. Crimson Moon. Midnight Moon. Sometimes they are even referred to by an attribute. Moon of Veils. Moon of Mercy. Moon of Menace. Moon of Justice. Moon of Meanings. (Wonder if those align with specific seas...) I see a couple of options. It is simply the name of the moon, like Sel has a moon named Oem. It is the name of the Aether on the Midnight Moon, abscribed by the people of Lumar or adopted by the Aether itself. It is the name of the individual who created Lumar. I personally like the last one. Lumar feels manmade, created. Not natural or even shard made. It seems likely then that the creator of the planet would have a part of the inhabitant's mythos. Of all the cultures we have seen so far, the name itself feels Rosharan to me. So I think Thanasmia is a Rosharan worldhopper/refugee who created Lumar, potentially with use/information from the Moon Scepter (as there is other Sellish influence on the planet). I would love to hear everyone's theories and reasoning.

And to break his curse he has to successfully help the sorceress curse someone else, just like Charlie had bring Tress back to be cursed.

I doubt it was a kandra, doesn't seem to be their style. My guess is something entirely new that is more animal than sentient.