KChan

Apparently I need to change my router security. Bluh. Though, after that PM, holy crap it's worth it. XD

You can try looking through the reference files, or look for a place to buy/borrow the player's handbook if you prefer. Amazon and ebay are your best bets, since 3.5 is out of print now.

My DS and my router don't get along. What's the gift? You can PM it to me if you don't want to spoil it for other people.

Hm, interesting. I'm still thinking over how I feel about the theory as a whole, but you've definitely pointed out some neat correlations here. Neat work!

This. A thousand times this. It's what I've been trying to say from the beginning. That's a really good point about the flowers and Endowment. And I agree - they're definitely out when it comes to being used by Allomancers.

Huh, interesting. Why don't I remember this? XD

It's not the Reds' fault they haven't had (in my opinion) many redeeming qualities/characters until rather recently. They've sort of been like the Slytherins of the Tower for a very long time when it comes to stigma and stereotype.

It's been stated before that Vin could do what she did because she was chosen to ascend, which is certainly the best explanation I can think of for it. And let's not forget Brandon's description of lerasium, a piece of the body of Preservation: as a metal that anyone can burn. Also, we shouldn't confuse the powers of a Shard with the powers of a magic system. They're different.

Please use quote tags for quotes instead of the code tag, as the latter stretches the board and colors text oddly. As to your question, didn't the Seventeenth Sharders in the WoK prologue have their own name for him? Also, from what we've seen from his Wit persona, he seems to be just fine with using pseudonyms. Besides, according to the Liar of Partinel sample chapters, his original name isn't even Hoid.

Alright, let's all take a deep breath here. No one is meaning to attack anyone; things just got a little spirited. I think the main disagreement with your theory, Reader, is that you're not accounting for the fact that each magic system has a focus: metal for Allomancy, color for Awakening, etc. Yes, the Tears and atium are both manifestations of Shards, but they also take forms that can be used by their respective magic systems. This should tell us something about how the magic works: namely, that even manifestations of a Shard need to take a certain form for it to be usable in magic. If an Allomancer got their hands on the Tears somehow, and ate them, they wouldn't be able to do anything, because their body wouldn't recognize a non-metallic object as a burnable substance. Make sense?

Actually, they're two completely different things for some reason. If you have an avatar set but not a profile picture, you'll still show up as not having a picture at all in certain areas of the site - like the little popup boxes you can pull up.

That's a moot point, actually. It's a piece of the body of Ruin, yes, but it still takes the form of a metal for a reason. They are called the metallic arts, after all. Metal is the focus of the magic system, and therefore metal is what has to be used. Meanwhile, the Tears are a flower, which can be used as a dye to color things. The focus of Awakening is color, so this works for this particular magic system. Don't forget that there's a reason these items take the forms they do.

LevenThumps, that wasn't a particularly necessary doublepost. Remember, we also have an edit function if you want to add something. And yes, Brandon is quite good at planning things out. Of course, he still manages to surprise us sometimes. *cough*AlloyofLaw*cough*

Anyone who calls me a little old lady might get turned into a spike. I mean, what? Are we still talking about spiking?

Kuri and I are still working. We're looking at a brother-sister duo, though, so splitting them up to fill that #4 slot might not go over so well.

Well, I've always been a fast reader when I actually have the time. And I definitely had the time. XD Like I said, it was summer break. I didn't have anything else to do, so I read all day. Every day. For over a month. Probably one of the best breaks ever.

Thanks! ^^ And I hope so.

This is, of course, assuming that trolls actually have that potential. Or even the desire, honestly.

It was summer break, and I did almost nothing else but read all day. XD

Just a few off the top of my head: I saw Shallan's Shardblade, the Parshendi reveal, and Kaladin's magic coming a mile away. I was totally blindsided by Sazed of all things. I'm honestly not sure how. XD

I really like what you're saying so far! One question though: Can you please clarify what you mean here? I'm having difficulty figuring out what you were trying to say with this.

Kind of off topic, but it's been mentioned that holding a Shard's power for any amount of time fundamentally changes a person - that is, after all, what happens to Slivers (though granted, we don't entirely know how that person is changed). I don't see why a current Shardholder should be any different. As to the theory, I really don't see this as feasible. As Zas pointed out, the Tears are a flower. Regardless of the mechanics of how atium really works, remember that it still takes the form of a metal, which is the focus for the Metallic Arts. To think that this is somehow a coincidence is just too big a leap for me to make. Not to mention, the Tears are from Nalthis. I highly doubt that someone from Scadrial would have the proper spiritual DNA to burn them. Even if it were possible to burn a flower.

Even Ruin wasn't inherently evil. Yeah, he did a lot of crappy stuff, but ruin in and of itself isn't a bad thing. As is pointed out in the Mistborn series, without endings, things would get really messy really quickly.

Shards do, in fact, affect their holders - and very strongly, at that. Take, for example, the letter writer's comment about what kind of person Ati (Ruin) used to be. EDIT: For clarification, a holder's will can be different from their Shard's intent, but the longer one holds a Shard, the more that person is shaped by it. Sazed, as the holder of two perfectly opposed Shards, is the only known exception.

Indeed you are! I think you'll like it around here. We're a Witty bunch.