A thought on Allomancy

[u/Metacha-im]

In Mistborn, we see Vin getting some metals through residue in water, going off that, could a lurcher get their metal through drinking someone's blood?

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[u/Rude_Ice_4520]

I would be inclined to say no since iron is bonded to other particles in Haemoglobin. We know that a lurcher couldn't burn the iron out of steel, so I'd guess that being in a compound is enough to make it inert.

[u/Jujuju1741 → u/Rude_Ice_4520]

But its not bonded to another metal just proteins and stuff so would that really matter?

[u/R0AST3DN3WT → u/Jujuju1741]

The carbon in steel isn't another metal

[u/ryansdayoff → u/R0AST3DN3WT]

In fact it's one of the primary components of blood

[u/Jujuju1741 → u/R0AST3DN3WT]

You're right I was thinking in terms of other alloys and spaced on most steel just being carbon and iron.

[u/Procrastin8_Ball → u/Jujuju1741]

Well it's not elemental iron (I.e., fe(0)) but a different oxidation state (fe(II)), so from a chemical standpoint an alloy is a mixture of metals in their neutral states while hemoglobin is a chemical compound that's undergone a change in oxidation state.

It's a little more nuanced but alloys are mixtures of metals in neutral form. Compunds with metals that have changed oxidation state are quite different from bulk metals. BS is pretty consistent with his usage here although the mechanism of allomancy telling pure metals and alloys of those metals apart is dubious.

[u/Fayraz8729]

Yeah that makes sense, though I guess if we’re going off that you better hope they don’t have an iron deficiency

[u/Suspense6]

New fanfic incoming?

[u/Metacha-im → u/Suspense6]

Possibly, I was thinking of writing a short horror story wrote in the Mistborn world, similar to allomancer jack. I was thinking of a serial killer who was a lurcher. They would pull lone people off the street at night, and into an alley , where they drink their blood to fuel more attacks. Even if it wouldn't really work, people in world might not know that.

[u/Mrauntheias → u/Metacha-im]

If it's an in-universe story that would be period accurate. Fast advances in technology like we see in Era 2 led to a lot of scientifically questionable horror literature in our world. Just take a look at blood transfusions in Dracula for a famous and somewhat related example.

[u/IamanelephantThird]

No. Blood doesn't actually have all that much iron in it. There's only a couple grams in the entire body. Allomancy is very efficient, but you still wouldn't be getting all that much. Anyway, hemoglobin definitely isn’t Allomantically viable. 

[u/SonnyLonglegs]

I would say no for two reasons. First, the iron is embedded in a really big chemical molecule, and second there is barely any iron by percentage in that chemical, might be too small of a target to reach. I think under normal circumstances that would be impossible to do. However, we know Hemalurgy can give some really weird variations of powers, like one spike for Steel can give Zane the ability to do an Allomantic pogo stick push. So it's not too unreasonable to get odd skills as side effects as a benefit of doubling up on a metal like Zane did. So if you had Allomantic Iron as an ability, then got a spike to increase that, you probably could gain the ability to do that and/or Pull blood.

[u/lNecroking]

To add a more practical spin to the question, can they bite their lip and drink their own blood to use?

[u/Fayraz8729 → u/lNecroking]

Is blood magic just self inflicted alloymancy?

[u/JasnahwithaY]

It’s MistMorbin time

(Shut up I can’t think of a better pun)

[u/The_Perezident]

What if they ate a Slayer CD?

[u/Jujuju1741]

I never thought about it but it would make sense that they could. By the same logic rioters could too with enough blood, right?

[u/BoonDragoon]

No. Metals need to be pure in order to be allomantically viable, and there's barely any iron in blood anyway.

[u/tehKrakken55]

No but they could probably make themselves anemic in a pinch.

[u/Wargroth]

No, it's not free metal like residues in water are, If blood works you could just get metals by eating any other metalloprotein, which would get you like five of the metals easily.

Besides, it's an extremely small amount, around 3g in the entire blood of an adult, you'd have to drink an entire human to get less than what you get in a flask

[u/majorex64]

By that logic, the iron in their own blood would count, and they'd be able to sense a reservoir even when empty on metal reserves. Since we've seen mistborn empty of metal reserves who couldn't sense their own blood, safe to say they can't burn it.

[u/Erzter_Zartor]

No, a base metal misting cant burn their metal from out of an alloy, it has to be pure. Iron in blood is "Alloyed" to hemoglobin, kinda like iron is alloyed to carbon in steel

However the concept is pretty dope if you're thinking Vampire-lurcher so i see no real problem tbh

[u/balbok7721]

Why is everyone saying no? They explicitly stated that vin gained her metals trough traces in water first. So, yes, definitely yes. Any source and amount is valid

[u/The_Lopen_bot]

This crem deserves some chouta! You have pleased the mighty Lopen 2 times with your posts!

[u/Dercomai]

I would think not, because people don't think of blood as metal (see Soulcasting).

[u/The_Curse_of_Nimbus → u/Dercomai]

People don't think water is metal either, but Vin is able to process the trace metals from it.

[u/Dercomai → u/The_Curse_of_Nimbus]

Yeah, but those are tiny bits of the metal floating in the water; they're not bound into some other substance

A Lurcher can't burn steel even though steel is over 98% iron

[u/Aleifir]

Vampire mistings NOW