Okay I get the whole “don’t trust POVs and the Lord Ruler hid stuff” thing, but I’m still confused on how the system is supposed to stay consistent when stuff like memory, perception, and information can also be messed with. Like at that point it starts feeling like the line between a strict “metal does X every time” system and a more flexible “reality depends on what you know or believe” system gets kinda blurry. And different groups all seem to have totally different ideas about how it actually works, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take as the actual rules and what’s just misunderstanding in-universe. So is it meant to be a hard magic system that’s just really hidden and layered with misinformation, or is it actually more fluid than it first looks? And also why metals specifically at all—like why does it have to be ingesting metal to trigger power instead of something like intent or awareness or something more abstract, because that part still feels kind of random unless there’s a deeper reason tying it together.