Allomancy quirks

[Immortal Platypus]

So we see that people (with practice) can change bendalloy/cadmium bubble size. Does this mean that coppercloud size could be changed? And would it use less metal/be more powerful because it is more concentrated?

 

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon he/him]

I can’t find any good WoBs on this, and I don’t think it says anywhere on the Coppermind, but I believe it’s possible to change the size and shape, to an extent. A coppercloud is described as a bubble, as are bendalloy and cadmium. I think it is arguable, however, that a coppercloud wouldn’t function the same way as those, as a coppercloud moves around with the smoker, but a Slider or Pulser’s bubble stays in place. My personal conclusion is that, unless otherwise stated by Sanderson, it is likely that with some Savantism and practice a Smoker would be able to produce these effects. If that made sense at all. That was my thought process.

Edited April 17, 2023 by TheAlpha929

[alder24]

38 minutes ago, Being of Cacophony said:

So we see that people (with practice) can change bendalloy/cadmium bubble size. Does this mean that coppercloud size could be changed? And would it use less metal/be more powerful because it is more concentrated?

I've found nothing about the size of the coppercloud, but maybe a skilled Smoker would be able to shield others from emotional allomancy.

Spoiler

Questioner

Also speaking of continutiy...

Brandon Sanderson

Uh oh. 

Questioner

This is a very very minor spoiler. It's just a statement that was made in Alloy of Law, that Smokers could...

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah, that was just a typo

Questioner

Is that going to change things?

Brandon Sanderson

Wait, go ahead and say it.

Questioner

Can Copperclouds shield others' emotions?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh okay. Did we put that in Alloy of Law in the Ars Arcanum? Is that where you read it?

Questioner

I forget. I don't remember where it is.

Brandon Sanderson

I believe it’s in the Ars Arcanum, which in Alloy of Law was put together by Peter. And that’s mostly a mistake, though the thing is the Role Playing Game came to me and said “Is it feasible that this could happen?” And I said “It’s perhaps feasible, but only a very rare individual could make this work if they knew exactly what they were doing.” And so I said “Yeah, go ahead, but make it a power that someone really has to know what they’re doing to make it work.” And so they put it in, and so Peter assumed that it was canon, that anyone can do it, but that’s not what I intended.

Questioner

So would it be easier to say that somebody discovered they could do it and now they are training copperclouds to do it?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say that it is viable that someone could figure it out, but it would be a very difficult thing to train, and it is not a common Coppercloud—A common Coppercloud isn’t going to be able to be doing it, and almost no Mistborn will ever be capable of doing it, they just don’t focus on that metal enough to learn it. Of course, there aren’t Mistborn around anymore. So it is a possible power, it is plausible, but it is not the standard. Perhaps I will allow it to become the standard eventually, but it’s not right now. It would be much easier to wear a tinfoil hat. (laughter) Aluminum, aluminum. Which does work.

West Jordan signing (Dec. 15, 2011)