Identity with Feruchemy

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

So when you are storing identity into a metalmind, does it become a keyed or unkeyed metalmind? Because you are already storing your identity, so how would that work?

[Trusk'our he/him]

9 hours ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

So when you are storing identity into a metalmind, does it become a keyed or unkeyed metalmind? Because you are already storing your identity, so how would that work?

That is an excellent question. 

We have a WoB on this matter, actually. 

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/34-arcanum-unbounded-seattle-signing/#e6001

Questioner

In Mistborn, we know if someone puts their Identity into a metalmind, they can create metalminds other people can use. Would other people be able to use that aluminummind to overwrite their own Identity, or is it still tied to the creator because it was still keyed to their Identity when they were filling it?

Brandon Sanderson

So if you have no Identity and you fill a metalmind, that metalmind is full of Identity-less...

Questioner

Yeah, so anyone can use that. But can someone use your aluminummind?

Brandon Sanderson

Ooh wait a minute, so...that you filled with your Identity. So they would have to have your Identity already. 

Questioner

Ok, so you can't have two people fill Identity and effectively swap aluminumminds.

Brandon Sanderson

If you can...there are ways to make this happen but the best way to make what you're talking about happen, is to be filling your own Identity while having a blank metalmind. That is the best way, obviously. But there are other workarounds for both situations, like a blank metalmind is pretty easy to use. It's blank. But if you were blank, and using a blank, it's a little better. 

Questioner

Ok. Because you're both blank.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, and so I'll give you the mechanics of all this eventually, they're just trying to still figure it all out themselves. Because right now they're just doing things they've been told "do this" but they don't know the why's. But if you are blank and have a metalmind that has an Identity, right, that is not an impossible situation that you're in either.

So it sounds like an Aluminummind is still keyed to your Identity, interestingly enough. 

[CoderDrag0n8 He/Him]

Thanks! That really helped. I guess that does make sense.

[Trusk'our he/him]

10 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Thanks! That really helped. I guess that does make sense.

You're welcome!

A weird thing from this is that it strongly hints that, yes, you can not only store but also retrieve your Identity as a Trueself Ferring. Which I had assumed for a long time impossible due to aluminum's inability to conduct Investiture. 

This might just have been Brandon talking in a hypothetical, non cannon sense, so it isn't really confirmed, but I would now no longer toss the idea of a Trueself Ferring tapping Identity out the window.