f-tin F-Tin: The Ultimate Day-To-Day Comfort Metal

[Koloss17]

Well, another day, another post gushing about F-Tin. In this installation of this overly long series, I will be covering what I think is one of F-Tin’s strong points: General improvement to day-to-day life. 
 

I will be going this down by the senses, and breaking those into storing and tapping. I’ll only stick to the base five plus pain, as those are the only real confirmed ones, and this will be one of my few posts where I don’t overspeculate.

Now that we know the rules, let’s get started!

 

Sight

Tapping: So tapping sight is kind weird, as instead of improving sight in general, it basically acts as zooming in, giving you binocular vision. Great for reading small text, spotting something far away, being great at finding Waldo, and getting easy access to the menu above the counter at a fast food restaurant. Have you ever wanted to zoom in like you can on your phone in the real world? With F-Tin, you can!

Additionally, for any of my fellow glasses users, one can go without em for a bit, or just push the limits of your current prescription, so you have more of an excuse to put off that eye appointment that you’ve been two years overdue for.

Storing: 

So generally speaking, losing sight is not that great of a thing. And I will admit, there are very few cases in which this would be helpful. I would say that it is a solid excuse for “not seeing something.” 
 

“You were in the room! How did you not see the baby throwing up everywhere?”

”Oh, I was storing my sightmind!”

Hearing

Tapping: Increasing general heating can honestly be so nice. You can listen in on conversations, hear what someone’s shouting across the house easier, listen to the birds really well, and generally have a volume control across your whole life. Don’t want to wake up anyone when you are binging a Netflix show? Just leave it at an unreasonably low volume and use your hearingmind to adjust the volume. Forgot your earbuds for the umpteenth time? Hearingminds have you covered. 

Storing: Blocking out your annoying siblings has never been easier. If there are distractions, blocking them out is a breeze. For those with ADHD, I could certainly see this being a lifesaver. You can also make the excuse of not hearing people when they ask you to do something you don’t want.

Touch

Tapping:

Honestly, this would just be plain cool. Being able to feel any texture with utmost intricacy would frankly be amazing. But if you want examples, I give you petting a cat or dog. Never will you let a softer thing. It would be heaven. Additionally, any comfy blanket just became 10x more comfy. Just a really nice ability to have.

Storing: have you ever had the issue of liking the flavor of a food, but disliking the texture? This can solve that problem. Additionally, if you are handling something gross, not feeling it could be quite nice.

Taste

Tapping: Your favorite foods just got even tastier. That’s all I have to say. Great addition, and I want it.

Storing: If you are forced to eat something gross, or just want to prank your friends, storing taste can be awesome. Additionally, eating medicine or accidentally having medicine stuck in your throat just got easier to deal with.

Smell

Tapping: so interestingly enough t, this would also help your sense of taste. So more tastiness did you! Additionally, being able to smell fresh cooked bread at a distance like never before is some quality stuff.

Storing: Taking out trash and rotten food, unclogging toilets, and drying your dog has now become bearable. You’re welcome.

Pain

Tapping: This one is a bit of an oddball of the group. Generally, tapping is supposed to be the benefit, but here, it usually isn’t. However, if you are a sucker for spicy things, this could potentially help.

Storing: Honestly, all I have to say is never getting headaches again, but I’ll say more. If you’re a sports player, that injury that you know is okay, but still hurts won’t be an issue. Also, burning yourself isn’t as bad as it used to be, which is nice. One of the most interesting applications, however, is not having limbs falling asleep. The pins and needles are a nerve response, so theoretically, this would cut it off. Also, would that mean physical anxiety symptoms and nerves from upcoming performances could dissipate as well? Probably. For an anxious human like myself that has really irritating physical symptoms, that would be very nice indeed.

 

And that’s the list! If you have more to add, please do! Personally, I think F-Tin is far and away the best metal for people that aren’t politicians, warriors, or scientists. It’s useful for a myriad of smaller situations, and is just awesome. It’s six QoL superpowers in one!

And if this has taken you over the edge for joining the F-Tin cult, I welcome you. More members are always welcome, and I assure you that I won’t stop gushing about its awesomeness anytime soon.

A shameless plug for the uninitiated: 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Koloss17

[alder24]

9 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Additionally, for any of my fellow glasses users, one can go without em for a bit, or just push the limits of your current prescription, so you have more of an excuse to put off that eye appointment that you’ve been two years overdue for.

Did you really have to remind me of this? 

9 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

So generally speaking, losing sight is not that great of a thing. And I will admit, there are very few cases in which this would be helpful. I would say that it is a solid excuse for “not seeing something.” 

As a person with glasses, I can confirm, not seeing isn't fun. For me, storing sight would be a pain in the eyes, because I would be just blind. And because I have worse sight than normally, I wouldn't be able to store as much as others, and would have to store for longer, tap more attribute, just to have normal sight. Not a good thing, I wouldn't be able to use it as a replacement for my glasses. Medallions could make me store it when sleeping, that's a better option than being F-tin ferring for me.

10 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Tapping: This one is a bit of an oddball of the group. Generally, tapping is supposed to be the benefit, but here, it usually isn’t. However, if you are a sucker for spicy things, this could potentially help.

There are some for whom more pain would be desirable.

9 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

If you’re a sports player, that injury that you know is okay, but still hurts won’t be an issue.

Yikes! That's the best way to injure yourself even more. Don't do that.

10 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Also, burning yourself isn’t as bad as it used to be, which is nice.

Rust and Ruin, don't do that as well! Pain is the way your body communicates with you that something is wrong, storing pain when handling a fire is the best way to get third-degree burns - don't do that. Tap pain instead to instinctively back off your hand before you get burns.

10 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

And that’s the list! If you have more to add, please do! Personally, I think F-Tin is far and away the best metal for people that aren’t politicians, warriors, or scientists. It’s useful for a myriad of smaller situations, and is just awesome. It’s six QoL superpowers in one!

And if this has taken you over the edge for joining the F-Tin cult, I welcome you. More members are always welcome, and I assure you that I won’t stop gushing about its awesomeness anytime soon.

I do agree that F-tin is one of the best Ferring to be in everyday, Earthly life. But today you can zoom in with your camera, wear glasses, have hearing devices in your ears, or record sounds with your phone - there are ways to mitigate advantages of F-tin with modern day technology (it doesn't make F-tin any less cool!). Also depending on what you're doing and what you like, there are other choices better than tin - but tin is still one of the most universal Ferring abilities you can have.

That’s not enough for me to join your cult! 

[Koloss17]

40 minutes ago, alder24 said:

 

Yikes! That's the best way to injure yourself even more. Don't do that.

Rust and Ruin, don't do that as well! Pain is the way your body communicates with you that something is wrong, storing pain when handling a fire is the best way to get third-degree burns - don't do that. Tap pain instead to instinctively back off your hand before you get burns.

 

For theres the idea isn’t to store while doing something dangerous-it’s to store after you’ve hurt yourself. If you know what you’re doing, and the only thing you can really do for it is wait it out, not having it be in pain can be quite nice. Should you be doing this for a broken bone or a third degree burn? NO! Those are things where you need to get it treated, and generally speaking, it can be quite useful to have that pain. But having a quick touch on that frying pan that you forgot was still hot, or making the bad decision to drink the too hot tea anyway because you really want it, and getting a first degree burn that really just needs to go away with time? That’s when you use it.

[Walter The Moral]

13 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Pain

Tapping: This one is a bit of an oddball of the group. Generally, tapping is supposed to be the benefit, but here, it usually isn’t. However, if you are a sucker for spicy things, this could potentially help.

Storing: Honestly, all I have to say is never getting headaches again, but I’ll say more. If you’re a sports player, that injury that you know is okay, but still hurts won’t be an issue. Also, burning yourself isn’t as bad as it used to be, which is nice. One of the most interesting applications, however, is not having limbs falling asleep. The pins and needles are a nerve response, so theoretically, this would cut it off. Also, would that mean physical anxiety symptoms and nerves from upcoming performances could dissipate as well? Probably. For an anxious human like myself that has really irritating physical symptoms, that would be very nice indeed.

I always thought Pain was stored in a Touchmind (is that what it would be called?). So, when you store it you're just feeling less, and therefore feel less pain. Would it work for a headache? Are you actually feeling the headache, and if so, how would you store it?

[Koloss17]

15 minutes ago, Walter The Moral said:

I always thought Pain was stored in a Touchmind (is that what it would be called?). So, when you store it you're just feeling less, and therefore feel less pain. Would it work for a headache? Are you actually feeling the headache, and if so, how would you store it?

Well I mean, technically speaking pain and touch are different receptors in the body. So I would think that the two could be stored separately, but it hasn’t really been spelled out.
 

As for the headache thing, it is certainly something that could be stored, as, as far as I understand it, headaches are the same or similar nerve response that other types of pain are. Now, the question of external vs internal pain has come up, and while both can certainly be stored, the question is can they be stored separately, and that’s a bit of a question that my F-Tin senses post hasn’t really been able to have a clear answer on. 

[alder24]

1 hour ago, Koloss17 said:

As for the headache thing, it is certainly something that could be stored, as, as far as I understand it, headaches are the same or similar nerve response that other types of pain are. Now, the question of external vs internal pain has come up, and while both can certainly be stored, the question is can they be stored separately, and that’s a bit of a question that my F-Tin senses post hasn’t really been able to have a clear answer on. 

What is external pain? (rhetorical question, I know what you meant) Pain receptors in your skin are located deep within it, they're internal. I think unless you learn to store only your pain/touch from your hand, you won't be able to differentiate between "external" and internal pain.

And yes, headaches are from pain receptors (not in the brain neurons, rather inside of blood vessels), and those receptors are the same as in your skin. Google:

Quote

Headaches occur when pain-sensitive nerve endings called nociceptors react to headache triggers (such as stress, certain foods or odors, or use of medicines) and send messages through the trigeminal nerve to the thalamus, the brain's "relay station" for pain sensation from all over the body. 

Quote

Nociceptors are sensory receptors that detect signals from damaged tissue or the threat of damage and indirectly also respond to chemicals released from the damaged tissue. Nociceptors are free (bare) nerve endings found in the skin, muscle, joints, bone and viscera.

[Tamriel Wolfsbaine]

Alacatrez spoiler:

Spoiler

Grandpa Smedry has demonstrated how beneficial pain manipulation (arrive late) can be. 

That is one of the best reveals in TLM.  Pain storage as a tin mind.  Awesome! 

I agree with with @alder24 that it could lead to more serious injury.  Pain exists for a reason... to stop you from doing the things that can hurt you!  That said @Koloss17 has a great point about useless pain.  Headaches being gone?  Sign me up!  The aches and pains of age and that dang plantar fasciitis not getting in the way of my runs to the bathroom half asleep... totally worth storing. 

I am really interested in how it would synergize with F gold. You could likely allow your body to heal at a slower rate, losing less gold to the diminished returns of healing something quicker. While I don't think you could store all of the discomforts of storing gold you could probably store a good handful of them.  It has been discussed how well Allomantic pewter and Feruchemical gold work together.  I imagine this combo would be nearly as good. 

I don't know if this would ever work with a primer cube but if you had someone who could store pain into a metalmind, then burn it and store that into a primer cube, you could use it as a pain grenade for some less than moral crowd control or information gathering in an interrogation room... 

[mip67]

1 hour ago, Tamriel Wolfsbaine said:

I don't know if this would ever work with a primer cube but if you had someone who could store pain into a metalmind, then burn it and store that into a primer cube, you could use it as a pain grenade for some less than moral crowd control or information gathering in an interrogation room... 

This has been discussed in a prior forum thread: 

So storing in a primer cube would store the ability to feel pain, not the pain itself. If you wanted the crowd control bit, you would have to hurt everyone, at least a bit. But interrogation would be absolutely horrible with F-tin primer cubes.

Also, to Koloss17: you're the only thing that shows up when I search the tag F-tin lol.

Edited May 20, 2023 by mip67

[Koloss17]

26 minutes ago, mip67 said:

 

Also, to Koloss17: you're the only thing that shows up when I search the tag F-tin lol.

That is amazing! But slightly concerning that my F-Tin loving efforts have not spread to the masses.

There is still much work to be done….

[Jn819]

9 hours ago, alder24 said:

Medallions could make me store it when sleeping

Could they? I thought they didn't really change how Feruchemy worked, just let more people access it basically. Doesn't Sazed say (well, think) at some point in the original trilogy that he couldn't fill metalminds while sleeping, except bronzeminds?

P.S. Unrelated, but I got Lasik a couple years ago and definitely haven't regretted it, even though with how strong my prescription was it cost over $4k. (My eye doctor said I had 20/400 vision once. Without my glasses, the distance my eyes focused on was about where glasses sit.) Might be good for you too.

[alder24]

3 minutes ago, Jn819 said:

Could they? I thought they didn't really change how Feruchemy worked, just let more people access it basically. Doesn't Sazed say (well, think) at some point in the original trilogy that he couldn't fill metalminds while sleeping, except bronzeminds?

Yes they can. Medallions change a lot, they're a bit different from Feruchemy. WoBs on this:

Spoiler

Raddatatta

In Era 1, Sazed says the only thing you can Feruchemically store while sleeping is wakefulness, but in Era 2 they have the sky ships that require everyone to be storing weight to fly and they don't land while people sleep. Was Sazed just wrong, or is that a difference between normal Feruchemy and using the unsealed metalminds?

Brandon Sanderson

Unsealed metalminds, I am moving toward complete—you probably already guessed this—mechanical uses of Investiture, and this indeed is a step toward that. And so we are stepping toward having a little machine that gives you powers. That's what the world wants to try to find. And this is—this being mechanical—we'll just say that the medallions and the things that they're building have more of a life-force, more of an Identity of their own than a traditional metalmind does, even though they're unkeyed and all of this stuff.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 5 (Dec. 2, 2022)

 

Spoiler

Calderis

Does the nicrosil portion of the medallions function identitically to how a Soulbearer Ferring would use Nicrosil? 

Brandon Sanderson

Not exactly. The medallion is a little more restrictive, for one thing.

Skyward Pre-Release AMA (Oct. 31, 2018)

 

Spoiler

Pagerunner

When you tap the nicrosil portion of a medallion, will it run out over time? Or is it like a coppermind, where something discrete is taken, used, and returned?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question! Like a coppermind.

General Signed Books 2018 (Oct. 15, 2018)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

So nicrosil.  Wax couldn’t use a blank gold metalmind because he’s not a gold ferring, why can he use a blank nicrosil metalmind?

Brandon Sanderson

So this will all come out eventually but the idea is there are certain ways to connect yourself to magic, to hack the magic and make it think you have the Spiritual DNA that you don’t actually have.  And this is one of the ways.

Questioner

So then the people who made this medallion have this thing that a regular nicrosil Ferring couldn’t--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, you’re picking up on it. We’ll dig deeper into it as the series progresses.

Calamity Seattle signing (Feb. 17, 2016)

 

[Jn819]

33 minutes ago, alder24 said:

Yes they can. Medallions change a lot, they're a bit different from Feruchemy.

That's all really cool actually, I'm looking forward to the third era of Mistborn even more now!

Side note, I think it would be cool if a Silverlight historian or something (re-)discovered (or brought back) a bunch of history from pre-Rashek times, and the in-universe dates started being given much like The Elder Scrolls. For example, say we learn that Alendi was born in 1E1458 (the 1458th year of the First Era, before Rashek changed the orbits). Vin was born around 2E980-2E990 (before Sazed returned the planet to its original orbit). Waxillium was born 3E299. I think the issues with Sazed and his shadow are building towards another significant shift for the whole planet, so maybe we'll even have 4E after someone else Ascends to Ruin or something (Harmonium suddenly splitting back into Lerasium and Atium would certainly be catastrophic for the southern continent even in Wax and Wayne's time, probably for the northerners too by the time the space age books take place).

[alder24]

11 hours ago, Jn819 said:

That's all really cool actually, I'm looking forward to the third era of Mistborn even more now!

Side note, I think it would be cool if a Silverlight historian or something (re-)discovered (or brought back) a bunch of history from pre-Rashek times, and the in-universe dates started being given much like The Elder Scrolls. For example, say we learn that Alendi was born in 1E1458 (the 1458th year of the First Era, before Rashek changed the orbits). Vin was born around 2E980-2E990 (before Sazed returned the planet to its original orbit). Waxillium was born 3E299. I think the issues with Sazed and his shadow are building towards another significant shift for the whole planet, so maybe we'll even have 4E after someone else Ascends to Ruin or something (Harmonium suddenly splitting back into Lerasium and Atium would certainly be catastrophic for the southern continent even in Wax and Wayne's time, probably for the northerners too by the time the space age books take place).

What is 1E? Which era is the first Era? Before Rashek Ascension there was a classical Scadrial, before that Scadrial existed for at most 8000 years, every 1000 years new Ascension happened, which era should be the first one? Scadrial was created, should this be the first era?

No, there is already a working calendar. Rashek was born in CS (Classical Scadrial), Elend was born in 1000 FE (Final Empire), Wax was born in 299 PC (Post Catacendre). Just like in our calendar we have AD (Anno Domini) or BC (Before Christ). FE calendar is the same as CS calendar which is the same as PC calendar - seasons just don't match each other due to different orbits, but years are the same (FE year isn't defined by Scadrial's orbit around the sun, while both CS and PC are).

And it would be really hard for someone from Silverlight to rediscover Scadrial's history, as all written records of Classical Scadrial and possibly earlier were destroyed by Rashek. I doubt Silverlight would have records of it dating at least 2000 years into the past. Sazed on the other hand, as a holder of both Preservation and Ruin has access to memories of both of those Shards since the moment of the Shattering, he already knows what Scadrial's history was in the past.

Harmonium, Lerasium and Atium are god metals, not Shards, just a small correction. And Harmony splitting back into Ruin and Preservation is very unlikely. Sazed is controlling them both (well or bad it doesn't matter, he holds them together, they're intermingled). And even if this would happen, it doesn't have to be catastrophic - Leras death, Kelsier and Vin both giving up the Shard were not catastrophic events. People on Scadrial might not even see that Harmony split into Ruin and Preservation and someone else Ascended. But as I said, it's very unlikely to happen. What is likely is Harmony changing into Discord under Sazed as its Vessel.

Some WoBs:

Spoiler

king of nowhere (paraphrased)

The lord ruler moved Scadrial closer to the sun, and orbital dynamics dictate that so its time of revolution would also become shorter. how did that impact the ages of the characters, and how did it impact the 1024 years of refilling of the well?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He said that Arcanum unbounded will contain all the calendars and that peter made actual orbital calculations. Brandon also confirmed that the characters ages were really earth ages, and that the lord ruler kept the old calendar in the final empire, even though it did not fit with the length of the year. That sounded very strange to me, but then I remembered that we already have the Islamic calendar who doesn't follow the year, so a calendar not coinciding with the year is something never seen before. he also confirmed that modern Scadrial has an earth-like year duration, which we already knew. he said that people only started asking that in the last year and he was surprised it took that long to ask about that.

Lucca Comics and Games Festival (Oct. 28, 2016)

 

Spoiler

Peter Ahlstrom

The [Scadrian] calendars don't appear in Arcanum Unbounded, but they're mentioned on the map as old calendar/new calendar. Since the Lord Ruler actually kept the calendar the same, what this is referring to is only the placement of seasons, since those have to change from year to year because of the orbit.

Miscellaneous 2016 (Oct. 31, 2016)

 

Spoiler

Thanatos17901

If Sazed were to die, would he drop the Shards Ruin and Preservation, or would he drop the Shard Harmony?

Brandon Sanderson

Excellent question. The shards are now intermingled, and would take effort to split apart. He would drop Harmony. (This is what Odium feared would happen, by the way.)

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 23, 2013)

 

[Jn819]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

What is 1E? Which era is the first Era? Before Rashek Ascension there was a classical Scadrial, before that Scadrial existed for at most 8000 years, every 1000 years new Ascension happened, which era should be the first one? Scadrial was created, should this be the first era?

No, there is already a working calendar. Rashek was born in CS (Classical Scadrial), Elend was born in 1000 FE (Final Empire), Wax was born in 299 PC (Post Catacendre). Just like in our calendar we have AD (Anno Domini) or BC (Before Christ). FE calendar is the same as CS calendar which is the same as PC calendar - seasons just don't match each other due to different orbits, but years are the same (FE year isn't defined by Scadrial's orbit around the sun, while both CS and PC are).

And it would be really hard for someone from Silverlight to rediscover Scadrial's history, as all written records of Classical Scadrial and possibly earlier were destroyed by Rashek. I doubt Silverlight would have records of it dating at least 2000 years into the past. Sazed on the other hand, as a holder of both Preservation and Ruin has access to memories of both of those Shards since the moment of the Shattering, he already knows what Scadrial's history was in the past.

Okay I guess as long as everyone knows what they stand for CS FE and PC are fine. Maybe Sazed should record that history like he made the Words of Founding.

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

Harmonium, Lerasium and Atium are god metals, not Shards, just a small correction.

...

it doesn't have to be catastrophic - Leras death, Kelsier and Vin both giving up the Shard were not catastrophic events. People on Scadrial might not even see that Harmony split into Ruin and Preservation and someone else Ascended.

I know, but doesn't Sazed make it clear that as long as the Shards are united in him, the metals will generally be too? If someone managed to split Harmony back into Ruin and Preservation, couldn't Harmonium split back into Atium and Lerasium too? They may not be the shards themselves, but they are the "body" of the shards.

Then again, Marsh has kept his hands on some Atium for the last 300 years, so I guess god metals aren't necessarily changed when their associated gods are, it's just that new possibilities arise with new Shards.

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

And Harmony splitting back into Ruin and Preservation is very unlikely. Sazed is controlling them both (well or bad it doesn't matter, he holds them together, they're intermingled). But as I said, it's very unlikely to happen. What is likely is Harmony changing into Discord under Sazed as its Vessel.

Some WoBs:

  Reveal hidden contents

king of nowhere (paraphrased)

The lord ruler moved Scadrial closer to the sun, and orbital dynamics dictate that so its time of revolution would also become shorter. how did that impact the ages of the characters, and how did it impact the 1024 years of refilling of the well?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He said that Arcanum unbounded will contain all the calendars and that peter made actual orbital calculations. Brandon also confirmed that the characters ages were really earth ages, and that the lord ruler kept the old calendar in the final empire, even though it did not fit with the length of the year. That sounded very strange to me, but then I remembered that we already have the Islamic calendar who doesn't follow the year, so a calendar not coinciding with the year is something never seen before. he also confirmed that modern Scadrial has an earth-like year duration, which we already knew. he said that people only started asking that in the last year and he was surprised it took that long to ask about that.

Lucca Comics and Games Festival (Oct. 28, 2016)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Peter Ahlstrom

The [Scadrian] calendars don't appear in Arcanum Unbounded, but they're mentioned on the map as old calendar/new calendar. Since the Lord Ruler actually kept the calendar the same, what this is referring to is only the placement of seasons, since those have to change from year to year because of the orbit.

Miscellaneous 2016 (Oct. 31, 2016)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Thanatos17901

If Sazed were to die, would he drop the Shards Ruin and Preservation, or would he drop the Shard Harmony?

Brandon Sanderson

Excellent question. The shards are now intermingled, and would take effort to split apart. He would drop Harmony. (This is what Odium feared would happen, by the way.)

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 23, 2013)

 

Ok yeah, I guess based on what we know of the original Shattering of Adonalsium it would probably take Dawnshards. I'm not sure what it would mean if Harmony changed to Discord other than for his self-perception.

[alder24]

15 minutes ago, Jn819 said:

Okay I guess as long as everyone knows what they stand for CS FE and PC are fine. Maybe Sazed should record that history like he made the Words of Founding.

For now Sazed is against giving people knowledge without any effort, he did this once and is regretting it as this stopped invention.

1 minute ago, Jn819 said:

I know, but doesn't Sazed make it clear that as long as the Shards are united in him, the metals will generally be too?

No, that was one of the Kandra who said that before Wax experiment. Harmonium is split in contact with Trellium. And this whole thing is one of the arguments suggesting that Harmony is already Discord.

3 minutes ago, Jn819 said:

If someone managed to split Harmony back into Ruin and Preservation, couldn't Harmonium split back into Atium and Lerasium too? They may not be the shards themselves, but they are the "body" of the shards.

Then again, Marsh has kept his hands on some Atium for the last 300 years, so I guess god metals aren't necessarily changed when their associated gods are, it's just that new possibilities arise with new Shards.

You mean if Harmony was split into Preservation and Ruin, would Harmonium also split into Preservation/Ruin? Not really, Harmonium would remain as Harmonium even if there is no Harmony anymore, just like Atium remained Atium after Sazed Ascension even when there was no Ati as Ruin anymore. When a Shard is Splintered/merged its god metal that already existed is unaffected. Does it mean if Harmony was to split would Harmonium be easier to split into Atium and Lerasium? Maybe.

Spoiler

Volratho

What happens to god metals when a Shard is Splintered?

Brandon Sanderson

God metals are unaffected.

Volratho

And atium and lerasium stayed unaffected when they merged?

Brandon Sanderson

Lerasium and atium that existed before were unaffected.

Skyward Chicago signing (Nov. 16, 2018)

 

11 minutes ago, Jn819 said:

Ok yeah, I guess based on what we know of the original Shattering of Adonalsium it would probably take Dawnshards. I'm not sure what it would mean if Harmony changed to Discord other than for his self-perception.

I don't think you would need any Dawnshard, just a very angry Shard that would want to Splinter Harmony into pieces, this could result into separation of Preservation and Ruin after their Vessel would be killed. 

For Discord there are some clues, TFR ch 8 epigraph:

Quote

"He shall defend their ways, yet shall violate them. He will be their savior, yet they shall call him heretic. His name shall be Discord, yet they shall love him for it."

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Is there a significance between Harmony and Discord being musical terms? And would they be considered different Investiture tones? 

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and no. So what's going on here is that... it is significant, I chose those two terms very specifically. Not gonna tell you a lot about Discord or things like that, but the idea is that idea of Harmony is in... the sounds are in harmony, they are working together. In Discord they are not. I wouldn't call them Investiture tones, more the way the two tones are responding to each other.

JordanCon 2021 (July 17, 2021)