Ashspren

I apologize for my sins. No, real talk though— I think I’ve figured out either Shallan’s next ideal (I think it’s the fourth), or Shallan’s final ideal: it’s going to be “I am Shallan Davar.” She’s going to think back to her conversation with Stick and realize that it was right all along.

So, funny story that just happened... My friend wanted me to hold their phone for them, so as they handed it to me, I said “Your phone to me. Your life to mine.”

Ouch... Granted, but now the Stormlight Archive isn’t Cosmere. That would disprove a TON of theories. I wish to be able to draw a unicorn. (@Ishar, happy?)

This episode on Ashspren’s Absolutely Not Serious Theories (AANST... good ring to it)… We all see Stick as a possible bit of comic relief during a time period in which we see Shallan discovering more about herself— funny content, but serious Cosmere ideals. However, Stick might be more than it appears. Firstly, it is important to remember what Shai from the Emperor’s Soul said about everything, even inanimate objects: everything views itself as something. With this logic from what I like to call the “Tables Have Feelings Too Lecture,” we can infer that Stick, everyone’s favorite character from Words of Radiance, must view itself as something. Therefore, Stick has its own patterns of thought, and must be able to think for itself. Nobody tells Stick to be a stick, Stick tells itself to be a stick. Thus, when Shallan tries to get Stick to change in Shadesmar, Stick proceeds to tell her what he sees himself as: a stick. Shallan tries to force it to change, telling Stick that it is actually fire, but she does not understand that Stick has made up its mind. But, where does this lead on a larger scale? Well, Stick is actually very helpful, and may have been able to predict the future. We start back at Stick’s signature line: “I am a stick.” It tells this to Shallan repeatedly, as if it wants her to know something. And indeed, it does. Stick wants Shallan to know to stay true to herself. It is very self-aware, and tells Shallan to be the same. However, Shallan stumbles upon Stick, she is not having struggles with her identity yet— this takes place later in Words of Radiance, and is seemingly resolved at the end of Oathbringer. This is where the part about telling the future comes in. Stick is warning her to be more self-aware at the moment, so that in the future, she would not have as many problems. Now, we see at different points in Oathbringer that Odium can see, and provide visions of, possible futures. This is shown through Renarin and his corrupted spren, Glys. Is Stick’s advice for the future and Odium’s abilities just a coincidence? I think not.

I think that the pomegranate might be a reference to Greek mythology. In the story of Hades and Persephone, she eats from a pomegranate, and has to stay in the Underworld because of that. We can interpret that in different ways—is Hoid eating the pomegranate to signify him to staying true to his beliefs, regardless the price? At least, that’s how I am thinking about this.

I deal with the same thing, so I get it. But, there are probably some people around you who fee the same way. Just hang out with them, you might find that you have a lot in common! (Person experience, by the way...) Also, nice shirt!

That would be interesting-- maybe he was talking about finding Shades, and somehow bringing them back.

Remember the "Tables Have Feelings Too" talk that Shai gave? The unicorns have feelings. Apologize, @Ishar. Edit-- the case was reopened.

For the record, it wanted to be beautiful. Therefore it was. Don't deprive the unicorn of its dreams, @Ishar. Agreed, for sure-- find people who don't judge you, and people that you can have fun with. @Tesh, I'm sure you're super awesome! Also, just remember that you have a bunch of 17th Sharders on your side. We've got your back

@Ishar and I just reached an agreement. Both the unicorn and hummingbird are just chalk dust in the wind, now.

But it sees itself as a masterpiece in the Cognitive Realm. Also, beauty is just a matter of perception.

Shallan couldn't convince the stick to be fire. You can't convince the unicorn to not be a masterpiece. Also, you know you're a sanderfan when you and a friend carry an argument to the 17th Shard...

...the unicorn loved itself. Shai said that the window wanted to be beautiful. I say that the unicorn wanted to be a masterpiece.

I still believe that my nonexistent art skills are superior. Welcome to the "I am a stick" movement. We seek to enlighten people through the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The truth is: "I am a stick."

You know you're a Sanderfan when... You read the Spanish word "hornear" (to bake) as Horneater. You debate over the pronunciation of Cosmere names with your friends. You don't want to move your hand to brush your teeth, so you try and transfer Breath to your toothbrush and give it a command. You try to draw unicorns as chalklings, and it turns out that they are extremely bad. Your friends blame you when they don't work. Then, a different friend draws an OKAY hummingbird chalkling, and when it doesn't work... you still get blamed. You dream about Cosmere things. When someone says "You are (insert something here)," you respond with "I am a stick."

I need to be put on decaf... talking about Sanderson makes me get extremely hyper, lol.

I'm sure that wouldn't be terrible! We would probably bring our 21st century technology and have to hide so we could take pictures... You can upvote Ene's post 12 times, but for each upvote you give Ene, you lose one yourself. I wish to never get paper cuts.

Granted, but it stays that way forever. You no longer get any more upvotes for your entire life on the 17th Shard. I wish I could be on Scadrial when Vin and Elend dance for the first time.

TOTALLY not acting upon that... totally. (You actually should, though. Then post about it and let us know how it went.) You know your a Sanderfan when... You continue to tell people to read Mistborn even after they've read it. You and your friends have screaming matches about Cosmere theories and topics while other people just watch, confused. You stare at sand, hoping that it will rise out of your hand before falling to the ground, colored black. You see the words "an example of radiant energy is sunlight" so you cross out "sun" and replace it with "storm." You try to give advice to your friends, and think WWSS? (What Would Sylphrena Say?) You try to do 0 divided by 0 on a calculator, and your Sanderfan friend next to you screams "That's inappropriate!" You feel more popular on the 17th Shard than in real life. You watch as Friend A argues with Friend B over Friend A's hair color. All you can think about is: "Friend A must be a princess from Nalthis..." All you ever want in life is a roast battle between Wit and Shallan, Lopen and Wayne to meet, and for Kaladin to be happy. You realize that Harry Potter is just shooting stormlight from his wand. The wands are sticks, which refused to be turned into fire. Shallan gave them stormlight because "Sticks need stormlight. For... things..." So, the sticks can now shoot the stormlight Shallan gave them. Because logic.

Okay, so let's take this piece by piece... At first, this just seems like simply setting the scene. However, as we analyze more closely, we notice a few things. Firstly, they say the "Traveler's return." From this, we know that a person has been away for a while on some sort of journey, as referenced by the name, and is finally returning to their homeland. We also notice the part about interpretation: "In some lands, white meant purity; in other, it meant death." This proves that the Traveler has been going to places with different belief systems. There are two sentences which refer to this location having a balance of sorts: "Here, it didn't mean a thing. It was simply, normal." Seeing as there is no stronger belief, it is safe to believe that this is where everything once started; this is where forces are equal. It would be the first world of the Cosmere, and its center: Yolen. With that, we can infer that the Traveler who is returning is Hoid, as he is the only person we know who meets both of the criteria stated: he has been traveling across the Cosmere, and is from Yolen. Nothing much is implied here until the last sentence. We just know that the traveling has hard, and Hoid had to endure some wear and tear on his adventures. However, in the last sentence, we can notice a reference to a different Cosmere world: "...rubbed dark with a black material that might have been soot -- or ash." Ash falls from the sky in Mistborn, so we now know a few key details about this story. Hoid has just come from Scadrial, and this story takes place during or soon after Mistborn Era 1. This is probably just an introduction to a new character in this story. However, this character is referenced as "the elderly visitor." In other times with Hoid's point of view, we never hear him reference anyone as "elderly" or "old." If this story is indeed written in Hoid's point of view, and he is the second oldest character in the Cosmere, second only to Frost, we can assume that this is "elderly visitor" is Frost. This just seems like a Hoid kind of thing to say. To put it in simpler terms, Hoid is basically saying that it seems like he is everywhere, and you can't pin him to a specific location. So, Frost cannot know whether or not he really left Yolen, because if Hoid is everywhere, "everywhere" entails Yolen. When Hoid says that he has been "ripening," he is saying that he has learned more during his travels. We do not know if this simply means that he knows more factual information, or if he has grown as a person. "Normal costumes" might refer to when he is the King's Wit, as we get the most time with Hoid during the Stormlight Archive. Wearing his black nobleman's clothing on a different world would make him incredibly conspicuous. This might be a reference to something we don't know yet, about Hoid's childhood on Yolen. What Frost says does have some truth to it, though. Even when Hoid is pretending to be a beggar on the streets, he finds some way to make himself distinguishable when the right people pass him-- just enough for him to make a difference. He has a good sense of being in the right place at the right time. When Frost says "You can't keep doing this," all Sanderfans just feel the need to pull their hair out. What is "this"? It undoubtedly means Hoid's motives, but that is what we all want to know. But, from the line "You will just make things worse," we know that what Hoid wants is dangerous-- or at least, the process of obtaining it is dangerous. This also lines up with what Hoid told Dalinar at some point in the Stormlight Archive. He said that he would see the world crash and burn to get what he wanted, and that this would overrule the sadness he would have at seeing the world end. Hoid is clearly desperate. With this, we solidify the time period of which this story takes place. It takes place after Mistborn Era 1. I won't say anything else, as that would spoil the series for anyone who hasn't read it. This also supplies further evidence that this is Frost, who is not human, but instead, a dragon. Now, we can be completely sure that this is Frost, as Hoid calls him a "sly old lizard." Hoid also calls him out for being a hypocrite. He claims that Frost was reprimanding him for going to Scadrial, but was actually watching as well. Frost, in response, says that there was a difference between what he did, and what Hoid did: Hoid interfered in the events that had recently passed. Frost even goes farther, saying that there was a promise that they made to leave everything alone. We don't know exactly what promise was made, but perhaps it was a promise to not get involved with anything of Shardic nature. However, Hoid then says that he made no promise of any sorts. This is an interesting portion of the story. Hoid is generally seen giving wise and practical advice, and always letting reason guide him. At this point, one can almost envision a smoldering rage behind his eyes. It seems that emotions are ruling his plans and intentions, rather than the reasonable Hoid that we generally see. With this, we can tell that whatever Hoid wants is more important to him than why the promise was made. Even if it would have benefited the Cosmere to make the promise, Hoid decided not to. We are getting a sense of how valuable the thing he desires is to him. The first two sentences imply that Hoid used to have negative feelings towards whatever he is now chasing. Though he may not have promised to let it go, he made an adamant choice. His current actions go against that choice. The last sentence of this quote is an obvious reference to the Shattering, where the sixteen original vessels shattered Adonalsium for power. We also know that the Shattering created some major problems, and lead to Hoid's current intentions. Frost does care, in some way, whether or not Hoid finds what he was looking for. Otherwise, he would not have asked. Whether this is just care for a friend, or for the Cosmere's best interests, we do not know. Hoid's passive response suggests that he either (a) has not, (b) is unwilling to share what he found with Frost, or (c) has found some evidence, but not all. Now, we understand Hoid's intentions a bit better. He has lost something, or rather, someone, and it seems to be someone he cared about. There were some sort of old rules that were in place, maybe before the Shattering, that prevented him from doing what he can to get what he wants. But according to Hoid, these rules no longer exist. When Hoid says "Besides, I've heard of a place..." it gives a new depth to the Cosmere. There are things that not even Hoid knows about, and locations that he has not traveled to throughout his long life. But, what is this place that can bring back what has been lost to death? Hoid is very familiar with most places in the Cosmere. However, just as we start to believe that we understand his intentions, he shuts them down... well, half shuts them down. He says that this is only partly about the dead, and therefore, only partly about what he has lost. In this scene, we also get a new perspective of Hoid. It seems that he is desperately trying to convince himself that what he wants to do is possible, even if it is not. This goes back to the emotion/reason switch. Hoid's emotions want him to believe that the goals he set are possible, yet his reason is telling him otherwise. This is where we wonder: a vendetta against who? Against what? When we combine this quote with the one preceding it, one could assume that this is a vendetta against someone who is still living, for causing the death of someone else. Perhaps this is Rayse, the vessel of Odium. In the Stormlight Archive, Hoid admits to him and Rayse not having the best relationship. Frost obviously believes that it would be wise to forget that anything ever happened. It would be safer for both of them, and possibly for the entire Cosmere. When Hoid states "You saw what Ati nearly did," there are a few ways that this could be interpreted. However, it is most likely that he is speaking of Shardic intents. If Ati, a good man and the best friend of Leras, tried to destroy Scadrial, what would happen to the other Shards? If someone of evil intent to begin with, possibly Rayse, took on the power of an Shard with evil intentions, what would become of that vessel? What should the world fear? But, how does this tie into the topic of vendettas? Did Ruin's intent simply play upon emotions that were already in place? Perhaps Ati was seeking vengeance against Leras, his best friend, who put him in restraints on a world they created together. In addition, Hoid states that there is a different vendetta that Frost should be worrying about. From the way he says it, Hoid implies that this person is a greater danger than he. Is it the desire for revenge of a Shard? Of Frost himself? Because the story ends here, we do not get to see Frost's response to that statement. To summarize: Hoid returns to Yolen after the events of Mistborn Era 1. There, he is met by Frost, a dragon, and the only person in the Cosmere older than Hoid. Frost reprimands Hoid for intervening in the events leading up to the deaths of Ati and Leras, the vessels for Ruin and Preservation. This leads into a conversation about Hoid's intentions: he has lost something or someone, most likely a dead loved one, and is seeking revenge for the person who killed them. When Frost tells him that it would be wise to let it go, Hoid reminds him about what a "simple vendetta" could lead to, by referencing how Ati nearly destroyed the world. Hoid leaves us on an ominous note, saying that there are more powerful beings with stronger desires for revenge, who are more dangerous that he could ever be.

When... You want to name your future dog TenSoon. When someone says “do you even lift, bro?” and you respond with: “Yes, I do. I’ve read the Stormlight Archive. I Lift. It’s... awesome. You see a crab climbing on the rocks, and you think of the ugly-lizard-crab thing and Hoid. Your autocorrect corrects normal words to Cosmere related things. You try to soulcast your vegetables into chocolate cake. You say the ideals of the Knights Radiant and try to desperately communicate with your spren. Oathbringer Spoilers! You watch in awe while your friend gains Hemalurgic powers as they put in earrings. You watch as a little boy runs up to his older brother, showing him a rock. You feel sad, because it’s obviously Tien in this universe. Every time you close your eyes, you think that you might have one of Dalinar’s flashbacks. It’s raining and you don’t want it to, so you scream “Curse you, Stormfather!” at the sky. You see a windup toy, and watch it move. You scream: “It’s been Awakened! Stop that person— I need to question them for the 17th Shard! Does he know Hoid? What’s it like on Nalthis? CAN I HAVE AN AUTOGRAPH?!” You see a Lava Lamp, and immediately know the truth: it’s not moving because of heat— it’s a fabrial. And, if that’s wrong (because most of your theories are), your friend, who is standing next to you, is hiding their Windrunner powers from you. You don’t get mad at them, though, because you’re excited that you could become their squire. You see a fire and think: “That was a stick. Shallan finally succeeded.” You see someone dancing with their hands at their sides and just swaying-ish from side to side. You go up to them and say: “you dance like a stick... your moves are fire.” You wonder why you don’t see windspren on a windy day.

That’s awesome, good for you and your sister! I have friends like that too, but they don’t get annoyed— they just don’t get the references in general. Then I get annoyed... I also have a friend who said: “Look, I’ll read the books, but I’m not going to go all ‘Cosmere crazy’ or whatever.” Now the friend might even be crazier than me... just kidding. I don’t think I know anyone who is more obsessed with the Cosmere books than I am.

I totally will. Best case scenario— she’s read the Stormlight Archive and gives me an answer... I get what you mean about the Reshi/Alethi thing. It makes sense. And the part about the Shard is so true. I’m glad I got an account... I can’t talk to a lot of my friends about this because they get extremely annoyed...

It was in that middle ground, between tan and dark— that’s why I was thinking about it so much. Also, I love how we’re having this conversation right now... You know you’re a sanderfan when you and another person on a fan forum website have a full conversation about the appearance and Rosharan ethnicity of a complete stranger...