hungryMishim Posted October 25, 2021 Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) It seems like Hoid has some abilities that somehow involve people around him eating food. There are scenes with Kaladin, Shallan, and Jasnah where they are eating food while talking to Wit and are hungrier than they expect to be. Shallan’s scene is in Oathbringer at the inn in Kholinar. Kaladin’s is when Wit interrupts his Odium dream. Jasnah’s is when she is eating fruit after fighting in the battle in Emul. I know this is probably nothing, but I have been stewing on this (pun intended) ever since I read Shallan’s scene in Kholinar eating at the inn with Wit. It just isn’t like Brandon to include specific details that aren’t relevant. And then when Kaladin had the same reaction eating stew during his Odium dream, and Jasnah when she was eating fruit after her battle. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence. Not much of a theory, just seems like Hoid is doing something weird. Healing people through making them eat maybe? Or just talking to folks when he knows they’re hungry? Rioting their hunger? Chicken soup for the soul?? Lol I have no idea, but I feel like something is happening there, even if it’s something trivial. If there’s any existing theories or WoB related to this, I’d love to know. I plan to look up the excerpts and list them here, but if anyone beats me to it, please feel free to add excerpts of the scenes in question. Edited October 25, 2021 by hungryMishim 10
+mdross81 he/him Posted October 25, 2021 Posted October 25, 2021 5 hours ago, hungryMishim said: Not much of a theory, just seems like Hoid is doing something weird. Healing people through making them eat maybe? Or just talking to folks when he knows they’re hungry? Rioting their hunger? Chicken soup for the soul?? Lol I have no idea, but I feel like something is happening there, even if it’s something trivial. Great catch @hungryMishim I found the excerpts. Jasnah - RoW 64 Quote She sighed, then took a piece of fruit - gripping it delicately between two gauntleted fingers - and took a bite. The cool sweetness of it shocked her. It belonged to another world. It washed away the taste of ash, renewing her mouth and awakening her hunger. She'd grown that numb after just two hours of fighting? Kaladin - RoW 80 Quote He shook his head, hands on his hips, as if he were regarding a sloppy painting. Then he settled down on a stool beside a fire that Kaldin only now saw. A warm, inviting fire that completely banished the chill, radiating straight through Kaladin's bones to his soul. A pot of simmering stew sat on top, and Wit stirred it, sending spiced fragrances into the air. "Rock's stew," Kaladin said. "Old Horneater recipe." "Take everything you have, and put him in pot," Kaladin said, smiling as Wit handed him a bowl of steaming stew. "But it's not real. You just told me." "Nothing is real," Wit said. "At least by one measure of philosophy. So enjoy what you seem to be able to eat and don't complain." Kaladin did so, taking the most wonderful bite of stew he'd ever tasted. And Shallan in OB 68: Quote The innkeeper chose that moment to arrive with some food. Shallan didn't feel particularly hungry; seeing all those starving people outside had stolen her appetite. ... "Eat up," Wit said, rising and walking to the small window. "Don't waste what you're given." Reluctantly, she did as instructed. It wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't terrible. ... Shallan frowned, then looked down at her empty plate. She hadn't thought she was hungry, but once she'd started eating... Wit walked past and deftly lifted her plate away, then swapped it with his full one. "Wit ... I can't eat that." "Don't be persnickety," he said. "How are you going to save the world if you starve yourself?" "I'm not starving myself." But she took a little bite to satisfy him. ... "You've got to live life, Shallan, enjoy life. Drink of what you're proposing to give everyone else! That's what I do." ... Shallan swallowed. To her surprise, her plate was empty again. At first I thought maybe Hoid was just doing the equivalent of saying, "Here, have a Snickers..." We know that Hoid knows where he needs to be, but often not why. Maybe he just urges people to eat in case someone important is hangry and at risk of making poor decisions. But there might be something more to it. In particular, with the Kal and Jasnah ones, Hoid has bonded a cryptic by that point and become a Lightweaver. Here's something we're told about Lightweavers in the in-world Words of Radiance: Quote Yet, were the orders not disheartened by so great a defeat, for the Lightweavers provided spiritual sustenance; they were enticed by those glorious creations to venture on a second assault. That seems to fit particularly well with the Kaladin scene since we know that the food there isn't even real, but rather is taking place in a vision. 5
+Invocation Posted October 25, 2021 Posted October 25, 2021 I always thought it was him Rioting their hunger. 2
hungryMishim Posted October 26, 2021 Author Posted October 26, 2021 @mdross81 thanks for adding the excepts and especially for the quote about lightweavers. That fits really well with Tien’s ability to cheer up Kaladin and Shallan’s role with her siblings too. 1
EggArdent she/her Posted October 26, 2021 Posted October 26, 2021 maybe he is somehow projecting his heightening?
Frustration Posted October 26, 2021 Posted October 26, 2021 17 hours ago, Invocation said: I always thought it was him Rioting their hunger. Can you even do that?
StanLemon Posted October 26, 2021 Posted October 26, 2021 29 minutes ago, Frustration said: Can you even do that? Considering fatigue can be Soothed I'd imagine it would be possible. At least the effect of how strongly hunger affects someone mentally
+sugjesstive Posted October 26, 2021 Posted October 26, 2021 18 hours ago, mdross81 said: Kaladin - RoW 80 "Take everything you have, and put him in pot," Kaladin said, smiling as Wit handed him a bowl of steaming stew. "But it's not real. You just told me." "Nothing is real," Wit said. "At least by one measure of philosophy. So enjoy what you seem to be able to eat and don't complain." Is Hoid using allomancy to enflame their hunger? Or alter their perception, maybe? (Emphasis in quote is mine.) (Or maybe, is Hoid manipulating their investiture in any way? That' a bit of a stretch, but I'm thinking about how Lift can uniquely metabolize food into investiture/stormlight.)
Frustration Posted October 26, 2021 Posted October 26, 2021 23 minutes ago, sugjesstive said: Is Hoid using allomancy to enflame their hunger? Or alter their perception, maybe? (Emphasis in quote is mine.) (Or maybe, is Hoid manipulating their investiture in any way? That' a bit of a stretch, but I'm thinking about how Lift can uniquely metabolize food into investiture/stormlight.) They're in a vision/dream so he isn't actually eating
+Invocation Posted October 26, 2021 Posted October 26, 2021 5 hours ago, Frustration said: Can you even do that? I cannot think of a reason you wouldn't be able to. You can Riot tiredness (to great effect, as Vin has shown) and you can Riot anger. Both of those have direct physiological connections with their effects, there's no reason hunger would be set apart. 2
teknopathetic he/him Posted October 27, 2021 Posted October 27, 2021 Why would Houd want to riot hunger? I wonder if hunger is a side effect of Hoid using magic of some kind (somewhat like Lift getting hungry after being awesome, but instead being caused externally instead of internally).
fluffyt Posted October 27, 2021 Posted October 27, 2021 2 hours ago, teknopathetic said: Why would Houd want to riot hunger? (1) I wonder if hunger is a side effect of Hoid using magic of some kind (2) (somewhat like Lift getting hungry after being awesome, but instead being caused externally instead of internally). (1) Hoid might be doing it subconsiously as a way to keep the upper hand in a conversation (he is a cheat), or to make them shut up so he can speak. (2) Could Nicrosol have this effect? 1
BaconLord Posted October 27, 2021 Posted October 27, 2021 On 10/25/2021 at 11:38 AM, hungryMishim said: It seems like Hoid has some abilities that somehow involve people around him eating food. There are scenes with Kaladin, Shallan, and Jasnah where they are eating food while talking to Wit and are hungrier than they expect to be. Shallan’s scene is in Oathbringer at the inn in Kholinar. Kaladin’s is when Wit interrupts his Odium dream. Jasnah’s is when she is eating fruit after fighting in the battle in Emul. I know this is probably nothing, but I have been stewing on this (pun intended) ever since I read Shallan’s scene in Kholinar eating at the inn with Wit. It just isn’t like Brandon to include specific details that aren’t relevant. And then when Kaladin had the same reaction eating stew during his Odium dream, and Jasnah when she was eating fruit after her battle. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence. Not much of a theory, just seems like Hoid is doing something weird. Healing people through making them eat maybe? Or just talking to folks when he knows they’re hungry? Rioting their hunger? Chicken soup for the soul?? Lol I have no idea, but I feel like something is happening there, even if it’s something trivial. If there’s any existing theories or WoB related to this, I’d love to know. I plan to look up the excerpts and list them here, but if anyone beats me to it, please feel free to add excerpts of the scenes in question. Then get me da wit.
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