#AonDor

[azure-sorceress]

I read Elantris for the first time this year and because of all the discourse online I was preparing myself for the Worst Cosmere Book. So imagine my surprise when I absolutely loved it.

Yes, I loved Hrathen, one of Sanderson's best characters for sure. But what about Sarene??? She does suffer from a little of the 'not like other girls' syndrome, but otherwise she's such a great character! She is cunning, smart, strong and compationate. I loved the scene in the library where she's studying politics from the old books in Elantris. You can definitly see that she will become a great queen.

And Raoden. Wonderful, optimistic Raoden. I remember telling someone that I loved reading his chapters and they told me that Raoden was a Gary Sue. Which... sure, I can see that, and he definitely got away with some pretty horrible things (i.e. getting Shaor killed, lying to Sarene about his identity). But reading his parts made me feel so much hope! After the emotional turmoil that was reading Stormlight last year, reading about someone who's life was ruined trying to make the best out of his situation and while also helping other people in his position felt so good!

I agree that Elantris has its faults. But overall it was such a pleasant read. And I needed to read a book like this at the time. People need to be nicer to Elantris.

[unilateraldisaster]

So I started Elantris on my Wind and Truth reread and pretty much immediately an idea latched on.

On page 76 of my copy, Raoden's narration says that becoming an Elantrian is all that's needed to access AonDor, and that there were "no incantations, no sacrifices, no special potions or ingredients" required to form the symbols. Seems pretty normal right? But Dakhor's access to the Dor requires sacrifices. And the very 420-friendly potion guy that Hrathen uses has Invested potions from whatever his country's magic system is (or potentially that's the Jesker access method).

So what if there actually IS a Selish magic that uses incantations to access it? There's so much of that world that we know nothing about.

And knowing BSandy, if anything like that does exist, there's even odds in my mind that it'll be connected to the musical magic system he said he tried to make at one point but couldn't make work. Changing according to rhythms and notes to eke out the power, maybe.

[onlycosmere]

Kolobi: Should the fact that the Aons in the Hoid/Riina painting are missing the chasm line be taken as canonical? If so, is this because of whatever method they are using to perform AonDor outside Sel? Or because of post-Elantris changes to Sel?

Brandon Sanderson: We let Howard pick what he wanted to illustrate, and then send illustrations in. And originally, he just did a whole bunch of weird, arcane symbols. And I’m like, “No, you need to actually use Aons in this art.” But we let him just kind of pick the Aons. You should not consider that art to necessarily be… Imagine that art to be somebody on Silverlight painting a picture of a story they heard. That art can be in-universe. (In fact, I believe that I would consider it in-universe.) But somebody painted it, and they just used whatever pictures of Aons they had sitting around, like Howard did. In other words, don’t be looking at those Aons as actual representations of how you would program in AonDor, how about that. And don’t read too much into that.

By the time of Tress, stories from things happening around the cosmere, and stories that Hoid tells, have become of interest to some people, and because of that it’s plausible that there could even end up being some sort of book written where it’s like, “Hey, he told me this story. I’m writing it down for the rest of you guys to read.” I’m not saying that’s what Tress actually is; obviously, we have the audience for Tress. I’m just saying, you can imagine world of people doing Hoid fanart.

Cosmere Considered: Does Hoid have fans?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, by that point in history Hoid does. He has far more detractors, but…

Cheekerdoodles: Is there an in-universe Hoid fan club?

Brandon Sanderson: Depends on what you call people who are fully aware of who he is and what he is. I would say yes. I mean, the royals in our world have fans. There’s fans of the royals, there’s fans of equivalent, just people who are known throughout. And he is a figure in a lot of peoples’ mythology and religion.

Would you call the Horneaters Hoid fans? Because they have legends stretching back thousands of years to him as a trickster god, to the point that Rock is fully able to recognize him (not when he’s in his Wit persona, at least not at first).

[cosmere-showdown]

Which is better? To ingest metals as fuel for a specific effect or to learn to program magic in the air? Both magics have a genetic requirement to be able to use the powers, allomancy's power slowly dwindles as generations pass but an Elantrian is chosen randomly and is as powerful as any generation.

[ternaryflower53]

on investiture and trauma

so @thephilosophersapprentice made this post about Snapping, and reading it reminded me of my half-baked theory about how being Invested represents different manifestations of trauma - or at least, it's one way that we can explore how trauma manifests

(note: i am not a 17s theorist, this is more about themes in Brandon's stories than Realmatic Theory or whatever)

Anyway. Snapping is a very typical way of thinking about trauma, particularly a singular traumatic event. Like @thephilosophersapprentice says, "Something has left you broken in a way fundamental enough to let the other in, and it becomes normal." I think it's interesting to consider how most of the time, Snapping gives you a single power, something that manifests as a singular expression of a singular event. (Which is not exactly how trauma works, but...)

Meanwhile, becoming a Radiant also requires cracks in your spiritweb - but it seems like becoming a Radiant is much more about smaller traumas that build up over time. Things like Shallan's abusive childhood, Kaladin's time as a soldier and slave - these are things that are ongoing traumas that affect your entire being, the way you view the world. And Radiant orders are about the way you view the world (see: swearing Oaths), which feels very intentional.

Breaths/Awakening kind of fucks with my thoughts a little, but there's still something there... specifically, how losing a Breath (your innate Investiture) makes someone depressed, more susceptible to disease, etc - these are also manifestations of trauma. But then having a lot of Breaths makes you hyperaware of things (perfect pitch, perfect color) - these are framed as good things, but you could consider them to be similar to hypervigilance. And I have friends with perfect pitch who tell me it can be upsetting and overstimulating.

There's a lot more magic systems, I know, and I don't have thoughts on all of them. Some of them might not fit this lens of analysis. But Brandon focuses on these particular magic systems, and Stormlight especially is very much about trauma and recovery, and, well. I think you could dig into a lot more with the relationship between magic & trauma if you wanted to.

[purple-sage]

if Brandon Sanderson has taught me anything it's that your girlfriend should also be fully capable of being your lab partner. this is non negotiable.

[cosmerelists]

Can You Lick the Investiture?

As requested by anon. :)

There's a post on tumblr somewhere that asks, "can you lick the science?" And it's like: geology-yes, physics-how?, chemistry-DO NOT, etc. So now we're going to ask the all-important licking question of investiture. So...can you lick the investiture?

1. Starmark (White Sand)

Do not lick a person's Starmark without consent! Got consent? Go wild, I guess!

2. AonDor (Elantris)

The Elantrian who has just drawn the glowing Aon may not want you to lick it, but it won't harm the Aon in any way--and don't you want to know if it makes your tongue tingle?

3. Surgebinding (Stormlight Archive)

What are you licking exactly?? You can lick the gems, I suppose, and you can lick some spren, but only if they want you to. If you are trying to draw in Stormlight, then I don't think licking is the right move. Seriously. Stop licking the gems. It's getting weird.

3. Forgery (The Emperor's Soul)

Ha ha! Lick that stamp all you want! Feels real, doesn't it?

4. Bloodsealing (The Emperor's Soul)

DO NOT LICK THE BLOODSEAL

5. ChaySan (Elantris)

Good luck! The practitioner is leaping all around, constantly in motion. Can your pitiful tongue really keep up?

6. Allomancy (Mistborn)

Hell, yeah! You should definitely lick those metals!

7. Hion (Yumi & The Nightmare Painter)

Honestly, I bet those hion lines and hion lights look like a delicious forbidden treat. You should lick them.

8. Feruchemy (Mistborn)

People do not want you to lick their jewelry, generally speaking. Is it YOUR jewelry, though? Then lick away.

9. Hemalurgy (Mistborn)

S-Stop it! That's a dead human! The spike is very gross as well, PLEASE do not lick it!

10. Awakening (Warbreaker)

Can you lick someone's Breath? I don't think so. Can you lick an Awakened object? Yes, but depending on what it is, could be risky. Can you lick a god? Yes, and they might be into it.

11. Dakhor (Elantris)

I think you will be killed.

12. Old Magic (Stormlight Archive)

I would not recommend licking the Nightwatcher. Or Cultivation. They may alter the deal.

13. Sandmastery (White Sand)

T-That's one way to get water, I guess. But licking sand? I don't think you'd enjoy it.

14. Aether (Tress & The Emerald Sea)

NOOOO YOU WILL KILL US ALL

[zephyscosmere]

Elantris is criminally underrated in the cosmere fandom. Hrathen is such a badass and Raoden's character arc is beautiful.

And AonDor is such an epic magic system. Literally cutting into the spiritual realm to access the dead bodies of gods??

[gabwynart]

Elantris is really good tho

I am reading Elantris for the first time (no spoilers pls) and I really don't understand how some people online claim "is the most boring/worst cosmere book" sure is not super engaging like mistborn 1 and changing the names of things you can already say in English is kinda distracting

High Priest? nah bro we use Gyorn, Cleric? Arthet, Emperor? Wyrn

But other than that Elantris has been a really great book, everything you can think of the cosmere and Sanderson Ideas I can feel they were tested here

-Kelsier wants to overthrone a evil emperor? hey thats Sarene and Shuden's groupe

-Sprens that follows you around and really useful to have? those are seons

-A political marriage trying to join 2 large nations like in Warbreaker? thats Raoden and Sarene

-A lonely and sad man tries to assemble some random people to give them any hope? just like bridge 4? Hey that's new Elantris

My only complain is the AonDor, compared to other Sanderson magic systems this is a little vague but it's ok, at least is not the spores from Tress (dont hate me)

btw my mental image of Elantris as soon as I read "Dead and dirty city filled with living husks" was Belurat from elden ring

[natavinsmoke06]

So if I understood it right, two kinds of Investiture are just coding (Awakening/AonDor) and other two are just abusing the physic engine of the world (Alomancy/Surge binding) okey got it

[naomi-the-red]

Earth is a Shardworld and TRON proves it.

<<Spoilers for all published Cosmere works and the TRON Films>>

Good evening fellow Radiants, Mistborn, and other Comerenauts. There has been plenty of discussion surrounding many long standing questions in the Comere. What is the intent of the 16th shard? Is Earth in the Cosmere? Why hasn’t Scadrial developed computers yet?

Well the answers to all of those questions are revealed to us in Disney’s TRON (1982), which I believe was ghostwritten by Brandon Sanderson (1975)

In TRON, Kevin Flynn, after provoking the MCP, becomes trapped in the Cognitive Realm of Earth, called 'The Grid', and has to partner with cognitive shadows, called Programs, to defeat the main villain, called the Master Control Program (basically if the Stormfather decided to go Lord Ruler on the Spren after the Recreance).

Kevin, alongside programs Tron and Yori, use their differing knowledge of the magic system to stop the MCP from taking control of the Grid, a land of Programs that represent various functions within the physical world. Ring a Kharbranthian bell? Here’s a hint, replace the Grid with Shadesmar, MCP with Odium, and Kevin, Tron, and Yori with Kaladin, Adolin, and Shallan.

What’s interesting though is this world’s magic system, called Programming, creates these Programs in a much more direct and intentional way than how a Seon or Spren is created. It's sort of a cross between AonDor and Awakening, where you use an interface to write Command words that directly shape Investiture, which they call "Power", into a being called a Program.

Programs are keyed to the Identity of the User that created them and take on their appearance, as well as develop an Identity Disc, a device that contains the Intent of the Program and Identity of the User. I think these Identity Discs are the real reason that TRON will be revealed as part of the Cosmere as they open up so many issues we have when it comes to Identity. If one can key their identity onto a spren or fabrial, it's likely to have profound effects on future investiture technology.

Additionally, years later, in the events of TRON: Legacy, it's revealed that a group of people have mysteriously emerged in the cognitive realm. I believe these 'ISOs' are actually the Iriali and potentially IRE combined into one faction. If it's not a simple error of poor adaptation of the source material, this could be why the ISOs are not blonde and have a more personal connection with Investiture.

Now that Disney has started filming TRON: Ares and Sanderson has mysteriously stopped talking about that 'Mistborn' screenplay, I think it'll be revealed soon that Sanderson not only wrote TRON: Ares, but that TRON: Ares will actually be the first Mistborn Era 3 entry and will follow the plot of the Scadrains discovering Earth and trying to weaponize the Grid against Roshar.

Some Points:

Many might think that this sounds like Invention, but I think the shardic intent here is 'History' or 'Memory'. Most of the magic system at it's core, very subtly works to continously preserve data, like the Identity Discs and typical operations of the various Prorams, such as the MCP going rogue after aquiring significant amounts of data. If we consider shardic intents to be aspects of god divorced from divinity (or absolute divinity. There's a WoB on this.), then it stands to reason there's one shard dedicated to rememberence, and we know the last shard is trying very hard to survive but doesn't have 'survival' as an intention. A Historian Shard could definitely fit the bill.

MCP is corrupted Investiture, that's why it's red, but Clu is an avatar of Autonomy, which is why his faction is orange-red. Clu's entire idea is basically the same as Telsin, except probably lacking in nuclear armaments. Probably.

The device that takes the Flynns on and off the Grid is not a shardpool but a very sophisticated fabrial hooked to a shardpool. I think there's one major difference; the fabrial kills you and turns you into a cognitive shadow (Hence why Kevin could live on the Grid for ages without sustenance beyond investiture)

Daft Punk is canonically Hoid.

I have no idea why I wrote this.

[onlycosmere]

Questioner: Could you use AonDor to manipulate Connection? If so, would a real AonDor smarty be able to do something similar to a Bondsmith?

Brandon Sanderson: The short answer to your question is: yes. Let me give some explanation.

Even when you are seeings some things happening in Elantris itself, you are seeing them manipulate Connection. It is mostly reinforcing Connection, but it is, in a way, manipulation. Rewriting Connection, rewriting Identity are both things that they can do. So with enough power, with enough smartiness, what a Bondsmith can do can be done.

In fact, we have seen short-range Elsecalling done by… Obviously Elsecalling’s not Bondsmithing, but you know that a Bondsmith powered a big Elsecalling [to migrate from Ashyn], one of the big things you’ve seen a Bondsmith do is get people between planets.

And you have seen people use AonDor to Elsecall. You’ve seen them Lightweave, you’ve seen them do a lot of these things. They also could do some of this same stuff.

Basically, rule of thumb is: almost anything in the cosmere that is possible can be replicated with AonDor with the right program. But you may need an injection of Investiture in certain ways.

[aethericfist]

Avatar fits perfectly into the Cosmere, in this essay I will--

SPOILER WARNING: Alright so, this theory contains the heaviest spoilers in the world for Stormlight Archive Rhythm of War, Warbreaker, Elantris, Tress of the Emerald Sea, and I might have to borrow from Mistborn Era 2

It also spoilers ALL of Avatar the last airbender and Legend of Korra.

The world of Avatar almost perfectly fits into the cosmere, here me out.

I'll be using cosmere words like Bond, Connection, Investiture, Spren, Shards, cognitive realm, Intent, and the like, so if you don't know any of those, read the cosmere books before reading on in this theory. I'll to capitalize those words in order to make them stand out.

I will call the Avatar-World the Avatar-World in order to avoid confusion.

---

Let's get started, first of all, of course there are not really fitting shards left over for this planet, but to put it simply, something similar to Roshar is going on.

Spren-like splinters called Spirits inhabit the Cognitive Realm known as the Spirit-world of the planet Avatar-World, and two perpendicularities known as Spirit Portals in the North and South pole of the planet exist. This is a fact that points towards two Shards of Adonalsium having been shattered on that world.

The Spirit World, Spirits, and the Perpendicularities

Judging from the original humans having been in the Cognitive Realm first, they might've migrated over from another planet, before having been changed by Cosmereological Intent (see Pure Lakers on Roshar) to let the ever present but Mist-like (see Scadrial) invisible form of Investiture known as Chi, flow through their bodies.

The Spren/spirits/splinters of those Shards known as the lion turtles could thus grant the humans a special form of Bond to allow them to use the power of an element.

In the Avatar-World there must be two new types of Bonds: one that lion turtles use to grant the ability to use investiture to control and element, and one bond that Spirits use to possess a human.

Bending and Investiture - an End-Positive System

Forming a Connection to the power of the Splintered shards (see what happened on Sel), this Bond is not very similar to the Nahel Bond (Roshar & Spren) and a Luhel Bond (Lumar), but instead only requires an initial bond that unlcoks the power in a human and can then be passed on genetically.

Investiture in the Avater-World in the physical realm is an invisible gas, or at least humans have evolved to not see it, and is ever-present, seeping into the humans where it is called Chi.

The unlocking of bending and chi-gates might form cracks in the soul that are passed on genetically, seemingly even the more powerful Splinters or rather Cognitive Shadows can hold such powers, as evident by Raava and Vaatu.

Bending itself is a way of Accessing Investiture, requiring intent and specific physical movements that look almost like a martial art. This is similar to Aons drawn by Elantrians using AonDor or the martial arts on Sel.

The Avatar

Both bonds were used by Raava and Wan to create the first avatar: A cognitive shadow that holds memories of all prior avatars, held together within a human body by the Spirit Raava.

Whenever an Avatar dies, the memories are added to the cognitive shadow known as the Avatar, and the spirit Raava carries it on to a newborn human from another nation to use the possession Bond with.

Similar to a Bondsmith, the Avatar can create and sever connection, such as completely taking someone's ability to bend, or temporarily elsecalling into the Spirit World (Cognitive Realm).

Chi-Blocking 

Chi-blocking blocks spiritual pathways for the Soul which investiture would need to take.

Healing

Healing works well in the Avatar-World since due to the physical movements through which investiture is accessed, the humans of the Avatar-World have developed a stronger image of self and their cultures, even associating them directly with how they can use investiture.

Savantism

Savantism in bending might require something more than just a lot of investiture and using their power, but these are known as specialized bending types.

---

Tell me what you think. Did I make any mistakes? Any way you can fix my mistakes and still make it fit?

Also @felagund-fiollaigean yo you wanted to be tagged

[lets-get-ready-to-ramble]

and if you pick allomany/feurochemy/ surgebinding say in the tags which sub class you would want!