Eye Spikes and Blindness

[Trusk'our he/him]

If you were to drive a Hemalurgic spike through the eye of a blind person, would they be able to see again, albeit through Steelsight?

What if they had completely lost an eye, but you put the spike through the socket?

[That1Cellist he/him]

There is a similar WOB on this about gold.

Spoiler

Herowannabe

What happens when a blind person burns Gold- especially of he "sees" a version of himself that isn't blind? Can he see the other version or just hear/feel/sense him? What about the other version, can it see things? Could a blind person use gold in this way to see the world around him?

Brandon Sanderson

A blind person would indeed sense these things, but not have the vision with the eyes. In the same way that a blind person still dreams, but doesn't "See" in them. (As I understand it.) I'd suggest talking to someone who is blind and getting their take on how this would work.

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 15, 2013)

So I suppose it would probably give them an awareness of the metals around them, but maybe wouldn't see the lines.

Oh actually, here's another interesting WOB that might help your conclusion.

Spoiler

Herowannabe

I recently picked up the Mistborn Adventure game and am loving it. I made a character who is a blind Mistborn because hey, I thought it would make for some interesting possibilities. As I understand Allomancy, he can hear/sense well enough to get around with Tin, plus even though he's blind he can still "see" steel lines (like the inquisitors), and I assume Atium would work the same way- that is, he could still "see" Atium shadows. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Brandon Sanderson

No, you're right. That works. He'd have to burn metals a LOT though. It might warp him a little.

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 15, 2013)

So I think that says you could actually see the steel lines. Technically, if you destroy the eye socket you don't have an eye anymore, so theoretically Inquisitors wouldn't be able to see steelsight lines in the other case, but you do. So blind people should be able to see steelsight lines.

Edited January 27, 2023 by That1Cellist
Found another clarifying WOB

[Trusk'our he/him]

14 minutes ago, That1Cellist said:

There is a similar WOB on this about gold.

  Hide contents

Herowannabe

What happens when a blind person burns Gold- especially of he "sees" a version of himself that isn't blind? Can he see the other version or just hear/feel/sense him? What about the other version, can it see things? Could a blind person use gold in this way to see the world around him?

Brandon Sanderson

A blind person would indeed sense these things, but not have the vision with the eyes. In the same way that a blind person still dreams, but doesn't "See" in them. (As I understand it.) I'd suggest talking to someone who is blind and getting their take on how this would work.

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 15, 2013)

So I suppose it would probably give them an awareness of the metals around them, but maybe wouldn't see the lines.

Oh actually, here's another interesting WOB that might help your conclusion.

  Hide contents

Herowannabe

I recently picked up the Mistborn Adventure game and am loving it. I made a character who is a blind Mistborn because hey, I thought it would make for some interesting possibilities. As I understand Allomancy, he can hear/sense well enough to get around with Tin, plus even though he's blind he can still "see" steel lines (like the inquisitors), and I assume Atium would work the same way- that is, he could still "see" Atium shadows. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Brandon Sanderson

No, you're right. That works. He'd have to burn metals a LOT though. It might warp him a little.

/r/fantasy AMA 2013 (April 15, 2013)

So I think that says you could actually see the steel lines. Technically, if you destroy the eye socket you don't have an eye anymore, so theoretically Inquisitors wouldn't be able to see steelsight lines in the other case, but you do. So blind people should be able to see steelsight lines.

Nice. I guess that Hemalurgy might have a medicinal use then; returning sight (of a sort) to the blind.

[alder24]

I think, because it's Hemalurgy, it will change not only your spirit but also brain and eyes. It changes your body. And that will allow blind person to see again through steelsight. Maybe not right away, but after some time, training, but they would be able to see. Inquisitors don't have eyes at all.

[IlstrawberrySeed]

I wonder if it is possible to use hemalurgy to remove/replace the part of the spiritweb that links to having such a disability, allowing you to use gold to heal, and then remove the spikes after long enough to normalize it so that you don't heal your blindness back.

[Quantus he/him]

Based on some of his other statements about individuals with odd sensory things (like color blind or synesthesia with Heightenings), it would depend on whether the person had lost their sight or never had it.  If they'd lost it I think they're they're likely to get a visual version of the Steelsight, but if they had never known sight and had no cognitive reference for it (which is more often the case with the dream example he mentioned) I think they'd get the information in some sensory framework they had (auditory would be my guess).  

EDIT: An interesting question worth asking if anyone gets the chance:  Could a congenitally blind person receive some form of Metal-sense through a spike in the ear?

Edited January 27, 2023 by Quantus

[Trusk'our he/him]

23 hours ago, Quantus said:

EDIT: An interesting question worth asking if anyone gets the chance:  Could a congenitally blind person receive some form of Metal-sense through a spike in the ear?

I believe that I actually asked that very question at one point.  

Probably, though it would be a bit weird, though probably not more than seeing through a chunk of metal.

Now, what if you shoved a Hemalurgic spike up your nose? Maybe you can pull a Lift and smell magically.