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Heart

Page history last edited by Tim 15 years, 10 months ago

Back to Elements | Complete List of Elements

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Heart

Share your thoughts on the Heart Debate, or read on for more information about this controversial rumor/facet/wishful thinking.

The Debate

Heart is perhaps the most controversial of the primary elements, and its very existence is a point of contention. Heart is never explicitly referenced in any of the ELotH:TES products, though many diehard Heart supporters, or Defibrillies, maintain that Heart is an integral part of of the ELotH multiverse. Defribrillies claim that there are sly references to Heart scattered throughout the ELotH franchise, such as some vague allusions in the flavor text of some CCG cards and in some P&P RPG books, ambulatory dressers being made of heartwood, or the rumored existance of a fifth Wizbit, Phila for the unwritten fourth season of The Wizbits. Defribrillies also point out that the creator of The Wizbits, James Langomedes, has contained in his name all the letters you need to spell HEART, except for the H, the R, and the T.

Defibrillies usually point to this passage from Book 8 as proof of their claims:

"That was incredible... we... we should be dead," sputtered Trafficant.

He took Asana by the shoulders and backed her away from the smoldering crater where moments before had sat the Archmage's equipment. It was obvious that the entropic feedback machine would never again be operational.

Breathlessly, Asana turned her big brown eyes up and looked into Trafficant's charcoal smudged face, a single tear on her cheek, "Don't you see. It's just like the old man said. 'No power can stand against it, save love.'" She paused. "This is what he was talking about. I'm pretty sure that was... it was..." she trailed off.

"Heart Elemenstation?" Trafficant offered.

"I think so."

"Rubbish..."

Chapter 27 Book 8

Critics point out that this doesn't prove anything, while Defibrillies counter with "Yes it does."

Implications in Battle Theory

As far as the lore of ELotH itself is concerned, the question remains why one would want to devote themselves to Heart as a field of study. Think about it. With fire, you can burn things...burn things with FIRE! Wind lets you kick sand into people's eyes, which is kind of annoying, I suppose. Oh, and it would help with windmills and stuff like that. Water at least makes sure you'll never die of thirst. And Earth has that useful ability to open up gaping chasms under your enemies. The canonical four elements are all things that you could use to burn, blast, drown, or crush a foe, but Heart, being an abstract concept like Justice or Philanthropy, is of questionable value in a magical battle. While one could make that case that, by virtue of its name, Heart lends the user a stalwart brand of heroism and pluck, one could also make the case that stalwart pluck won't do much for you in the face of a ten foot long flying fire demon.

Heart and Metaphysics

Some Defibrillies speculate that Heart does not exist as an element, but rather pervades the other four elements and links them together, and is therefore critical to the reality-rending powers of all Elemenstation. Think of Heart as the Jello that binds together the disparate fruits of the four elements -- see the Jello-Fruitcup Metaphor of Elemenstation. Most proponents of this theory point to the existence of the Ginormous Soul and the smaller fragments of Allsoul as proof of Heart as a force, but not an element.

On the other hand, opponents of the Heart element would argue that it has nothing to do with the Jello-Fruitcup Metaphor, and is most commonly used as a dubious plot device in erotic fan-fiction. The Heart element is most frequently employed in male/male romance fanfics such as the 100 Slashes of the Sword Collection, where it is typically used to make eternal, unfathomably rageful arch-enemies fall in love with each other, and occassionally turn them gay in the process.

There are theorists who follow the octahedric hyperprism hypothesis, who controversially group Heart along with The Unspeakable as the Light or "Binding" elemenstations. They believe that Heart is the force that binds the four Secondary Elements of Life, Death, Carry, and Stream together. This implies that Heart is actually the Fourth Dark element—something Defibrillies and Dark Elemenstors both verhimently deny.

There are also the rare few who feel that, since a heart is made of muscle, perhaps it is not so much a metaphorical but literal reference to brute strength. Most people disagree with this interpretation, but keep it to themselves since nobody is willing to confront someone who thinks beating the hell out of people is a magic power.

It is worth noting, however, that The Tome of Tailors makes a vague allusion to the revival of Harbinger Portent occuring if "The Five form a Ring around the Roses with the pockets stuffed with posies." It is speculated that this indicated that the revival would require the five to sacrifice themselves by "falling down" into the NastiestPlanes, sacrificing their power to revive Harbinger. This has lead a vocal group to infer that Heart is an hitherto unseen element which will only be discovered shortly before (or perhaps, during) The Fourteenth Manuscript. Unfortunately, since the text was never technically written, further analysis is impossible.

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