Ready to get stuck into some crunchy theories

[PanLin they/he]

Howdy, I'm Pan and I just caught up with the Cosmere a few weeks ago when I finished Emberdark. I've immediately gone back to do a reread of Mistborn era 2.

I'm really eager to start properly theorising and I've intentionally held off from browsing the Coppermind until now—I have a group chat with the two friends who got me into the Cosmere, purely for me to spam them with theories while I caught up, so they could chat and giggle between each other and just repeat 'RAFO' to me. Being able to go through Stormlight and the secret projects, and post theories as I go with those two just going "hmmm, interesting", was a hell of an experience. Would recommend.

I'm actually planning to properly start with my own Dawnshard theory to add to the mounting pile of them. I've seen (and really got on board with) a few (well, a lot of) ideas around Dawnshards, but none of them quite hit the right spot, and I bloody love a good puzzle.

Anyway, super pumped to be here

[Akimikoisthecutest]

On 2/14/2026 at 9:33 AM, PanLin said:

Howdy, I'm Pan and I just caught up with the Cosmere a few weeks ago when I finished Emberdark. I've immediately gone back to do a reread of Mistborn era 2.

I'm really eager to start properly theorising and I've intentionally held off from browsing the Coppermind until now—I have a group chat with the two friends who got me into the Cosmere, purely for me to spam them with theories while I caught up, so they could chat and giggle between each other and just repeat 'RAFO' to me. Being able to go through Stormlight and the secret projects, and post theories as I go with those two just going "hmmm, interesting", was a hell of an experience. Would recommend.

I'm actually planning to properly start with my own Dawnshard theory to add to the mounting pile of them. I've seen (and really got on board with) a few (well, a lot of) ideas around Dawnshards, but none of them quite hit the right spot, and I bloody love a good puzzle.

Anyway, super pumped to be here

Hi! Welcome to the shard! Usually we get around to meeting new members sooner than this, but.... I'm not sure what happened. Anyways, what is your favorite allomantic/feruchemical metal?

What is your opinion on Wayne?
 

PSST I noticed your pronouns and point you to the Certified gay disasters thread.

[PanLin they/he]

47 minutes ago, Akimikoisthecutest said:

Hi! Welcome to the shard! Usually we get around to meeting new members sooner than this, but.... I'm not sure what happened.

Thanks! Happy to be here. No sweat, people have lives and I've already got stuck into some discussions anyway.

50 minutes ago, Akimikoisthecutest said:

Anyways, what is your favorite allomantic/feruchemical metal?

If by favourite you mean which ones I'd most like to have, then probably A-Brass (would help with social situations in general, plus I have a lot of anxious people in my life that I'd love to be able to help be more at ease) and either F-Zinc or F-Electrum.

How about you?

57 minutes ago, Akimikoisthecutest said:

What is your opinion on Wayne?

I love him a lot. He started a bit problematic and grating, but imo that just set him up for some great growth over the series. Plus, narratively, he's such a good foil to Wax in a way that lets both of them shine. Like, they literally wax and wane.

I think it's a damn shame that we're unlikely to ever see Wayne and the Lopen interact.

48 minutes ago, Akimikoisthecutest said:

PSST I noticed your pronouns and point you to the Certified gay disasters thread.

Almost missed this  thanks! I'll be sure to poke my head in.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

6 hours ago, PanLin said:

Thanks! Happy to be here. No sweat, people have lives and I've already got stuck into some discussions anyway.

If by favourite you mean which ones I'd most like to have, then probably A-Brass (would help with social situations in general, plus I have a lot of anxious people in my life that I'd love to be able to help be more at ease) and either F-Zinc or F-Electrum.

How about you?

I love him a lot. He started a bit problematic and grating, but imo that just set him up for some great growth over the series. Plus, narratively, he's such a good foil to Wax in a way that lets both of them shine. Like, they literally wax and wane.

I think it's a damn shame that we're unlikely to ever see Wayne and the Lopen interact.

Almost missed this  thanks! I'll be sure to poke my head in.

Oh my god I am so sorry I missed this.

On 2/14/2026 at 8:33 AM, PanLin said:

Howdy, I'm Pan and I just caught up with the Cosmere a few weeks ago when I finished Emberdark. I've immediately gone back to do a reread of Mistborn era 2.

I'm really eager to start properly theorising and I've intentionally held off from browsing the Coppermind until now—I have a group chat with the two friends who got me into the Cosmere, purely for me to spam them with theories while I caught up, so they could chat and giggle between each other and just repeat 'RAFO' to me. Being able to go through Stormlight and the secret projects, and post theories as I go with those two just going "hmmm, interesting", was a hell of an experience. Would recommend.

I'm actually planning to properly start with my own Dawnshard theory to add to the mounting pile of them. I've seen (and really got on board with) a few (well, a lot of) ideas around Dawnshards, but none of them quite hit the right spot, and I bloody love a good puzzle.

Anyway, super pumped to be here

Do you like dragons? What are your favorite compounding & non-compounding twinborn combos? What Radiant Order's oaths resonate the most with you? What Order's surges do you like the most?

[Trusk'our he/him]

On 2/14/2026 at 9:33 AM, PanLin said:

Howdy, I'm Pan and I just caught up with the Cosmere a few weeks ago when I finished Emberdark. I've immediately gone back to do a reread of Mistborn era 2.

I'm really eager to start properly theorising and I've intentionally held off from browsing the Coppermind until now—I have a group chat with the two friends who got me into the Cosmere, purely for me to spam them with theories while I caught up, so they could chat and giggle between each other and just repeat 'RAFO' to me. Being able to go through Stormlight and the secret projects, and post theories as I go with those two just going "hmmm, interesting", was a hell of an experience. Would recommend.

I'm actually planning to properly start with my own Dawnshard theory to add to the mounting pile of them. I've seen (and really got on board with) a few (well, a lot of) ideas around Dawnshards, but none of them quite hit the right spot, and I bloody love a good puzzle.

Anyway, super pumped to be here

I too am a bit late to welcome you here. . . . . Welcome!

Funnily enough, I'm in exactly the same boat as you. I finished IotED about two (maybe three? I don't keep track) weeks ago, making me currently up to date on all books Cosmere.

I've seen some of your theories, and they're quite interesting. Glad to have another person who likes to poke into Cosmere mechanics here (though you'll find we almost never agree on things, lol).

 

So now I ask the most important question: what are your thoughts on each of the three Metallic Arts, which is your favorite to read about, and what is one aspect of each that you'd love to see expanded upon.

 

[PanLin they/he]

18 hours ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Oh my god I am so sorry I missed this.

It's honestly fine  I don't come to a forum for immediate 24/7 responses.

18 hours ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

Do you like dragons? What are your favorite compounding & non-compounding twinborn combos? What Radiant Order's oaths resonate the most with you? What Order's surges do you like the most?

Gosh, right little quiz.

1. Obviously, who doesn't?
2. Compounding, probably Bendalloy: Squeeze extra hours into the day and store/tap energy reserves to make the most of that time. non-compounding, I'd probably give the same answer as I did for the two separately: A-Brass and F-Zinc
3. Willshaper! I felt it as soon as they started getting described and was so pumped to read Venli's POV parts
4. I mean, Transportation is suuuuch a good one, and while I resonate with Willshapers a lot, I think I prefer the idea of (and would get more use from) Truthwatcher surges

[PanLin they/he]

14 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

I too am a bit late to welcome you here. . . . . Welcome!

Howdy!

 

14 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

I've seen some of your theories, and they're quite interesting. Glad to have another person who likes to poke into Cosmere mechanics here (though you'll find we almost never agree on things, lol)

Oh thanks! I absolutely do; now I'm up to date, the messages in the aforementioned groupchart are getting much more unhinged. I'm still working on that CREM one, and really want to spend more time exploring the Unmade.

And if it were easy and straightforward and we all agreed on everything, it wouldn't be fun, would it?

14 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

So now I ask the most important question: what are your thoughts on each of the three Metallic Arts, which is your favorite to read about, and what is one aspect of each that you'd love to see expanded upon.

Phew, big one.

I'll start with favourite to read about: hands-down Feruchemy. The concept of having conscious control over yourself to that degree, and treating every aspect of your Identity as a resource to be stored, saved, enhanced, all at will, is fascinating. I remember reading Final Empire and desperately wanting to learn more about it. We obviously saw quite a lot of its applications explored in era 2, but now that we're entering the modern and space ages of the Cosmere, I'd really like to see spiritual Feruchemy expanded on. What does it even mean to be an individual when you can store away your Identity, Connection and Fortune, and share them with others?

Spoilers for Mistborn and Stormlight Archives:

Spoiler

With a war between Scadrial and Roshar on the horizon, I wonder if we'll see the formalisation and increased structure of Feruchemical powers like this. Like, whole teams of Sparkers off-duty storing mental capacity, just to tap it all at once to work on code-breakers and counter-intelligence, or the same with scouting units of Steelrunners and Windwhisperers, or Sentries being, well, sentries.

That said, all of the metallic arts are going to be interesting to see developments of in the space age, and particularly with the influence (or lack thereof) of Harmony/Discord and Marsh after those Ettmetal experiments.

Allomancy is great but in a much more action/superhero sort of way. A great magic system to introduce new readers to the Cosmere with, and to be honest:

Spoiler

I think we explored it well enough in era 2 that I don't feel like I've missed out on any part of it now there are fewer full mistborn around. We had the fun, god-like action heroes leading up to the insanely emotional end of Hero of Ages. The era of raw power is done, I'm ready to see more innovative and craft applications of a more limited power set.

Hemalurgy has devastating implications for the wider Cosmere. I enjoyed reading about Feruchemy the most in Scadrial-centric stories, but I can't wait to see what scary shenanigans people get up to with this.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

35 minutes ago, PanLin said:

It's honestly fine  I don't come to a forum for immediate 24/7 responses.

Gosh, right little quiz.

1. Obviously, who doesn't?
2. Compounding, probably Bendalloy: Squeeze extra hours into the day and store/tap energy reserves to make the most of that time. non-compounding, I'd probably give the same answer as I did for the two separately: A-Brass and F-Zinc
3. Willshaper! I felt it as soon as they started getting described and was so pumped to read Venli's POV parts
4. I mean, Transportation is suuuuch a good one, and while I resonate with Willshapers a lot, I think I prefer the idea of (and would get more use from) Truthwatcher surges

1. correct answer

2. Bendalloy, huh? Very useful indeed. Brass n Zinc? Speedy thoughts and dull people.

3. Its almost like you were stone and it was... resonating with you, huh?

4. I CAST GLOWING ORB and also heres your limb back, just as good as new!

[PanLin they/he]

9 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

resonating with you, huh?

Haha yes, very clever 

 

10 minutes ago, CoderDrag0n8 said:

also heres your limb back, just as good as new!

I would get up to some extremely ill-advised activities if I knew I could regrow everything after

[Trusk'our he/him]

27 minutes ago, PanLin said:

Phew, big one.

I'll start with favourite to read about: hands-down Feruchemy. The concept of having conscious control over yourself to that degree, and treating every aspect of your Identity as a resource to be stored, saved, enhanced, all at will, is fascinating. I remember reading Final Empire and desperately wanting to learn more about it. We obviously saw quite a lot of its applications explored in era 2, but now that we're entering the modern and space ages of the Cosmere, I'd really like to see spiritual Feruchemy expanded on. What does it even mean to be an individual when you can store away your Identity, Connection and Fortune, and share them with others?

Feruchemy's my #2, for basically the same reasons as yours. Great control, potential for creativity and power, and of course the ability to feel weak now to become very powerful later.

Hemalurgy is my bread, butter, mashed potatoes, steak, etc. It's just so cool that anyone can learn to change such a fundamental property of themselves to eventually fit what they desire. 

Allomancy is good too, but I generally prefer it as a supplement to the other two.

31 minutes ago, PanLin said:

And if it were easy and straightforward and we all agreed on everything, it wouldn't be fun, would it?

True, true. 

Better to have disagreement than a hollow echo chamber. 

[PanLin they/he]

58 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Hemalurgy is my bread, butter, mashed potatoes, steak, etc.

I should've guessed that from your title...

Anything in particular you're hoping to see from Hemalurgy in the future?

59 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Better to have disagreement than a hollow echo chamber. 

Exactly, and it all leads to better ideas and stronger theories in the end.

[Trusk'our he/him]

24 minutes ago, PanLin said:

I should've guessed that from your title...

Anything in particular you're hoping to see from Hemalurgy in the future?

Well, since you asked, here's a few off the top of my head. . .

Spoiler

I'd like to see how exactly Linchpin spikes work- I strongly suspect they're not using a discrete attribute to hold the bearer's Spiritweb together, but rather are using a chain of spikes to keep it all together.

I'd like to see whether spiritual attributes affect the physical aspect as much as the physical ones do (such as iron for Koloss). Also what exactly the spiritual quadrant of Hemalurgy does.

I'm wondering just how small a Hemalurgic charge can be before it stops creating a physical/spiritual change in the recipicent (could you split a single iron spike to create a lesser version of the Koloss?)

I'd REALLY like to see what happens when one Allomantically burns a Hemalurgic spike, as we know it's supposed to "splice the spike's Spiritweb to the user" but doesn't graft the power on- something else is at play, apparently.

Just how exactly does Identity mesh with Hemalurgy? Modern spikes have some limitations on them due to an incompatibility (such as with Compounding), but they still work. Which is extremely weird.

Finding out just how spikes are preserved in modern-Mistborn to entirely prevent additional decay after creation.

I want confirmation on why it is that some things get passed through Hemalurgy (Koloss-blooded), but some others don't (Allomantic/Feruchemical potential). I have my suspicions, but I want a canon answer.

Why is it that Hemalurgic spikes don't interfere with the usage of Unsealed Metalminds when other Unsealed Metalminds would?

How many Allomancers' worth of Investiture can be fit into spikes of a given size? Can they be fiddled with in some way similar to Perfect Gemstones where their maximum capacity can be increased somehow? Same goes for Metalminds, but spikes in particular are of interest to me.

I'd like to see how Commands and Intent can be used to refine Hemalurgy. Could you steal other adjacent attributes with certain metals, like stealing physical speed instead of just strength with iron?

Is there a way someone can use attribute-enhancing spikes, like copper, but sidestep the physical warping so they get to remain human but also get some Investiture boost?

Just how many spikes can a person hold? What would some additional consequences be if an Inquisitor tried to hold, say, 47 spikes at once? Is there a way to bolster the Spiritweb to sidestep such drawbacks?

Can small pieces of Spiritweb be naturally healed? For example, if I excise 1% of my innate Investiture with nicrosil Hemalurgy, can I regrow that with exposure to ambient sources of Investiture, such as if I live near a Perpendicularity?

Hemalurgy cracks open the Spiritweb, and it appears to do so more than most other Investiture sources. Could these cracks be exploited to let more Investiture in, say by utilizing the Mists? For example, if I added a ton of Connection to Ruin via duralumin Hemalurgy and walked into Ruin's Mists, would that Investiture leak inside my Spiritweb and give me more power?

Hemalurgy has been seen to have some lasting impacts on a species' genes (Koloss-blooded). Could you add small changes with something like copper or iron to improve a lineage, then have smaller but non-damaging perks in later generations?

Feruchemists are extremely familiar with their related attribute. Could they have some kind of Intent/Connection that allows them to specifically steal those attributes from others?

 

[PanLin they/he]

Oof, well I did ask! Tbh all of that sounds super interesting, but I'm just going to pick out a few to address specifically.

Spoiler

47 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Just how exactly does Identity mesh with Hemalurgy? Modern spikes have some limitations on them due to an incompatibility (such as with Compounding), but they still work. Which is extremely weird.

That is extremely weird. Not to bang on about my Dawnshard theory, but it places Ruin in a space of entropic force that actively reduces Identity.

Ruin's power eroding Identity while Preservation's protects it could potentially explain why the spike itself bypasses Identity when using Ruin's Art, but Preservation's power respects its Identity too much to be able to consume / accept it (unless you also stole that person's Identity, perhaps?).

 

56 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

Finding out just how spikes are preserved in modern-Mistborn to entirely prevent additional decay after creation.

Similar concept to Spheres vs raw gemstones, perhaps? Although I doubt Rashek would've gone all that time without finding the ideal shape for a spike.

 

58 minutes ago, Trusk'our said:

I want confirmation on why it is that some things get passed through Hemalurgy (Koloss-blooded), but some others don't (Allomantic/Feruchemical potential). I have my suspicions, but I want a canon answer.

Ooh that's a good one. I thought Allomantic and Feruchemical did get passed down, just not necessarily the same metals (a Tineye could just as easily give birth to another Tineye as they could a Slider, etc)

 

1 hour ago, Trusk'our said:

Can they be fiddled with in some way similar to Perfect Gemstones where their maximum capacity can be increased somehow?

Haha I should've read the whole thing before mentioning gemstones

 

1 hour ago, Trusk'our said:

I'd like to see how Commands and Intent can be used to refine Hemalurgy. Could you steal other adjacent attributes with certain metals, like stealing physical speed instead of just strength with iron?

And even further—if spikes tear a hole through to someone's Spiritweb, are we truly restricted to what the chart says, or is like a pinhole surgery and someone could theoretically have a little rummage in there and grab 'nearby' attributes?

 Do we just not have the knowledge we need on specific location/metal combos? Does a target's cognitive state affect what Hemalurgy does to them?

 

1 hour ago, Trusk'our said:

Can small pieces of Spiritweb be naturally healed? For example, if I excise 1% of my innate Investiture with nicrosil Hemalurgy, can I regrow that with exposure to ambient sources of Investiture, such as if I live near a Perpendicularity?

If it's anything like Breaths and drabs, I would bet not, but that's only a hunch. Interesting question. Could someone set themselves up as a donor of a particular attribute and just sell some of it off as often as they can recharge it?

 

1 hour ago, Trusk'our said:

Hemalurgy cracks open the Spiritweb, and it appears to do so more than most other Investiture sources. Could these cracks be exploited to let more Investiture in, say by utilizing the Mists? For example, if I added a ton of Connection to Ruin via duralumin Hemalurgy and walked into Ruin's Mists, would that Investiture leak inside my Spiritweb and give me more power?

I'm pretty sure there's a WoB out there that states that if someone burned enough Lerasium at once, they would ascend to Preservation (can't find it so might be wrong), so potentially? I can imagine that would be mad destructive though.

It really has been too long since I read any Scadrial books, need to get back into that to prep for the new ones.