Hello to everyone!

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New member here. I was aware of TarValon.net for at least ten years now, but I never really had the courage to try it out until now, my not being the most social person to begin with, lol. A bit about myself and such using the intro questions:

Who is your favorite character in The Wheel of Time and why?
That's tough because I have not read the books in quite some time. I'd have to say maybe Rand, by dint of him getting the most relevant and developed character arc (in my opinion!). Moridin/Ishmael is also interesting, but he was kind of a letdown — I wanted some sort of big philosophical exposition between him and Rand which never came.

Mat might have made the cut instead, if not for him pretty much never developing. That's not in and of itself a bad thing, but it is when the state he doesn't change from is the mischievous village rogue. It's charming in a rakish way in the village setting — out in the big world, though, he regularly made a fool out of himself or was usually being led around by the nose by others, the "dead men" in his head, and fate itself. I guess the lack of initiative/unwilling hero thing got old for me after awhile.

How did you find TarValon.Net?
I don't remember now! Probably was just looking for fan sites of the WoT one day. A friend of mine recently joined, so I felt comfortable joining too, now that someone I knew was here.

What do you do? (student? job? hobbies?)
I am currently a PhD student in ecology/entomology — which basically also counts as a full time job, even if you get horribly underpaid, lol. My hobbies are writing (mostly philosophical essays now, but I once tried my hand at fiction a while ago), reading, exercising (mostly weights at the gym), and various infrequent odds and ends. I'll watch films now and then, listen to classical music, paint, play video games, and sew or quilt, to name some of the irregular things I might do. I also like long drives, but currently, I rarely have the time (or money for fuel, lol).

Where are you from? What languages to you speak?
I am originally from the west of Ireland, but I have been living abroad for school/work. Most people don't take me for Irish at first glance, as I am half-Roma. I know English, Irish Gaelic, and a Romani dialect. I used to know quite a bit of German once upon a time, but not much anymore, and I also used to know written Latin — but again, based on use-it-or-lose-it, I am not good with it anymore.

What is your favorite book or author other than Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time?

I am not sure I could choose just one book! If I had to choose a favourite author, I would say it would be Tolkien, for his clever and well-read use of old mythological elements and the beautiful prose and songs. Anne Rice is another favourite — beautiful prose as well, though for gothic horror.

Anyways, nice to meet all of you, and I hope to get to know some of you better as I poke around the boards. I know I wrote a mini-essay there — I can be a bit wordy, lol.
 

Roheryn ni Galghandhrei t'al'Djinn

SylphrenRoh
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Welcome!
 

Atarah al'Norahn

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Welcome! I’m working on my PhD too, and though it’s in a different field (English Lit), I can definitely commiserate on the funding.
 
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Welcome to Tar Valon. Feel free to wander around. Folks are friendly here.

Best of luck with your studies. I do miss being a student.
 
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Thanks for the welcomes, Roheryn Sedai, Alenya Sedai, Atarah Sedai, and Dar'Jen. If the diet of a bachelor's student is instant ramen noodles, the diet of the doctoral student is instant ramen noodles that you can sometimes top with chicken and the hair you lose from stress, I like to think of the enforced poverty as, lol. It's a relative upgrade. I have a friend who is going for a PhD in English literature as well, and he is almost done. He got about forty new wrinkles for his trouble in that time! Though there's of course been plenty of rewarding experiences — I might actually miss all of this once I graduate as well, especially the having mostly my own schedule thing.
 

Nymala Ingasy

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Welcome to Tar Valon!
 
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Thank you both very much for the welcome! I love the Mr. Bean face transplant in your avatar, Elia Sedai, lol.
 

Raevyn Tsornin

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welcome Gnome.
I don't think, after all this time, I can pinpoint one favorite character. They each have strengths and I see how they all fit in the story, and some annoy my. :laugh:
I do read a lot of Brandon Sanderson, had recently revisited David Eddings and contemplating revisiting The first Shannara Trilogy
 

Nymala Ingasy

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Atarah al'Norahn

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:laugh: That's a great description. It's definitely rewarding in various ways, but yeah, the stress is something else. And I agree with you on the schedule thing--it's really hard adjusting.
 

Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum

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Welcome, Gnome!! :joy Rand isn't my favorite, but he's definitely up there for me. He's really well-developed and pretty relatable, all things considered.
 

Lithiel Morn

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Hello there! :pleased-1: Welcome to Tar Valon.

Don't worry about the wordiness. I tend to (and prefer to!) write great big walls of text, myself, given enough time. :look: Besides, this is a community of people who have willingly read a series of fourteen books, I sincerely doubt they'd mind your posts. :laugh:

How are you finding it so far, the forums?
 

Jocasta Braithe

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Hey welcome! I like your wordy intro! :) I hope you like it here!

I find I agree on Mat. He has his moments, but I need him to grow beyond the unwilling hero, and he really never does. I think at some points he's close, and he does things that are self-sacrificing, but then he goes straight back to the old grumble about how nobody will let him be an irresponsible twit the way he wants to. LOL.
 
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Welcome welcome!

I know what you mean about Ishydin, I love the character and while I wasn't expecting everything to be wrapped up in a pretty bow (not that I would object to finding him in that state, ahem) I had a definite "Wait, that's it??" reaction to his story. I wanted more!
 

Stasia t'Andrei

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Welcome! :D
 
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