The "How y'all doing?" Thread

[Leala]

Um...Hey, y'all.  Bless your sweet little heart and all that.  😂

 

I know each Ajah has a thread like this, but for the sake of engagement in general, here's one for the main board.  🤍

 

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Leala.  Hi!

 

 

I'm an Aes Sedai of the White Ajah, and I've been a member here since 2011 or so.  I took a long break and came back a few months ago.  I've made many life-long friends here.  I even met my husband here!  I started reading the Wheel of Time in 2001, when I was in high school, and it's lived in my head rent free since then.

 

I've read the series about...4 times I think?

 

My favorite character is Aviendha, and I LOVE the Aiel.  I have 3 WoT tattoos, and one of them is an Aiel spear and buckler on my heel.

 

 

May you always find water and shade.  😄

 

Anyways, here's a general chat thread.  Come and talk to me!!

Edited February 7 by Leala

[LadyWordsmith]

Hi Leala! What a great idea! 

Most folks on here call me Lady (short for LadyWordsmith). This month is my 14th year anniversary on Dragonmount! I mostly hung over in the Kin in the earlier days, but enjoy chatting with anyone. 

I started reading WoT in high school as well! In 1994. I met my best friend for life while she was reading book 1, and our first conversation included "Give me just a minute I have to finish this chapter. They're being chased by a big black flying thing!" And then we read them together and used to pass notes back and forth in the halls during the school day (she was a year ahead of me) with comments and sketches and guesses as to what might happen next. I kept them all. 🙂

The older I get the more I find myself loving/connecting with all the characters in different ways. I was younger than the Emond's Fielders when I started reading it, and on my last re-read I am now Moiraine's age, and wow does that become a different read each time! (I spent this last read more often going "Come on Jordan...this character is not ALWAYS this annoying. You could have given us their less grumpy moments. We know they have them" than hating on any of the younger characters who are all prone to be precisely the way they are because they are young. (I have spent the past 20 years also teaching high school and college students right in that range and I am often like 'yes, an intelligent 18 year old would totally do this even though we know it's not going to go well"). And I just enjoy how well Jordan wrote his characters realistically in those moments. 

That said, when I was a kid I identified SO very strongly with Egwene and I still love her. And while Perrin has always been one of my absolute favorites to read of the boys, the older I get the more I appreciate them all, and the more I enjoy everyone even when they're being realistically frustrating. I definitely feel more like Moiraine now at this point in my life though. I definitely turned out Blue at heart! (Which, I share with my Mom, who is the other HUGE WoT fan in my family). 

Nice to see everyone. 🙂

 

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

Hi Leala, Lady! 

 

Very nice to be introduced to you both again.

 

I'm Heavy. Heavy by name, not that heavy by nature, though weight gain after becoming forty does mean that no clothes on the surface of this Earth fit me, as my stomach is a good size bigger than anything else. But well, it could be worse, all things considered. Though perhaps the lady doth protest too much... though I am very much a man, however confused my journey through wearing Novice white has been. Nothing wrong about a man curtsying, and wearing a dress, and having pigtails, and mooning over the warders exercising... totally normal. Glad you came with me on that.

 

I'm an Accepted, but have not gotten further as the wave of optimism of meeting you all and being welcomed into your fold has receded and I'm struggling with the very real question of who would want me in their Ajah? Do I deserve to be an Aes Sedai? Perhaps empty questions, but ones that keep me from ever completing my last raising points... However, I do look absolutely killer in my banded Accepted dress, so there is that. 

 

I started reading WoT somewhere around the early nineties... I got the first two books out the library then saw the whole trilogy in a bookshop soon after. I later realised (after purchasing) that it wasn't a trilogy, and those paperbacks would be hard used in the coming decades. Never had anyone to share it with (my friends read Forgotten Realms and Dragon Lance (something not carried in the local library)) and later at Uni my one Fantasy reading friend gave up on Book 5 as it was too boring. Moving countries and becoming a father interrupted my reading, and it took a long time for me to finish the series. I reread the books, then read the Sanderson entries for the first time and watched the first series of the show just in time to catch the second series launch. Free of the fear of spoilers I also ventured onto the internet to find answers to all the questions I had, only to find that one, most sites were dead, and two, I had no idea what my questions were anymore. I recommend all new readers to use some sort of rudimentary note-taking system. This virginial fumbling online did eventually lead me to find Dragonmount, and a whole bunch of really awesome people, and a few I could have wished that there hands had been cut off at the wrists at birth, if I had been so inclined to violent thoughts. Much later I found some WoT Facebook communities, and forgave the Dragonmount trolls completely.

 

I enjoy the books as they are, as that Jehovas Witness twat (Orson Scott Card, one of my most favourite authors, till I heard what he was saying out of print) says, it is a powerful vision of good and evil. The publicised point of what happens if the saviour doesn't want to be the saviour I found dull, and pretty much unexplored, but the idea of how do you really do good, or evil, without unintentionally helping the other side (the Whitecloaks, the machinations of the Forsaken, etc), was really deep and really affected me as a person.

 

My favourite characters are those that willingly lay their lives down for the cause, the minor characters that know what right is (as opposed to Rand, ooo look at me, I cheated death, ha ha ha, all these years I demanded sympathy because I was destined to die, whereas as it was actually thousands of you peasants. Losers! Creator didn't give you funky new powers, did he? Ha ha ha.) And least favourite is should-have-been-roasted-over-a-hot-fire Cadsuane. Nothing likable about that woman at all. 

 

The main thing though is that if I have ever taken a moment to day dream about being in an alternate world from the ages of about 14 to 47, it was in the Westlands that I put myself - whatever strengths or flaws it had, that was where my imagination had been caught. Bosoms and spanking, and indeed the spanking of bosoms, was not what drew me here. Honest.

[Leala]

Lady, those are some awesome memories!  Thank you for sharing!  I actually started reading the series, because my freshman English teacher assigned a project to us for the end of the year.  I think it was to get us used to using PowerPoint.  I wasn't sure which book to choose from the list, but he had noticed me reading Harry Potter during breaks and downtime, so he suggested the Eye of the World.  It was a group project, and I ended up being the one to actually read the book and supply the information for the slides.  lol  Some of my friends around school read the series too, and I remember pre-ordering Crossroads at Twilight...then kinda dropping it because one of my friends said it was mostly filler.

 

I didn't finish the series completely until the news about A Memory of Light came out, and I was like, "Well, I guess I need to re-read the whole thing and get caught up!"

 

Heavy, my advice is to go at this at your own pace.  I believe you'll get to Aes Sedai one day.  I remember feeling the same reservations you do, and they are surmountable, I promise.  Your Ajah home is waiting for you, and it will be there when you figure out which one it is as well.

[Cairos]

Hello everybody! It’s your one and only Cairos Sedai of the Gray Ajah. I might be one of the oldest members around. joined DM around 2005 which is going to be 20 years. The person who got me into the series was also a Aes Sedai of the Ajah, Charis Sedai. She used to be my boss when I used to work as an after school and summer school teacher. I had a few instances where I left for a while and came back and of course stayed around now. I need to do a reread of the books. 
 

I agree with Leala. @HeavyHalfMoonBlade take as much time as you need. There is no rush in trying to join an Ajah. Go to each Ajah and feel which ones feel home to you and who you connect with there. I know that each Ajah is small due to lack of activity but there are still those of around to help you on your journey. I do enjoy your company when I see you around! 
 

@Leala thank you for making this thread. It’s so nice getting to know each other. @LadyWordsmith it is a pleasure to meet you!

[LilyElizabeth]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm Lily and in June I will have been on DM for 16 years. My sister (best friend in the whole world, and sister is an honorary title) told me about this place called DM and the shenanigans she got up to there. She convinced me to join, and I've never looked back. The funny thing is that, while I love DM, I'm not really crazy about the book series. I got stuck on Book 6, and just never picked it up again. I don't watch much TV, so the show doesn't interest me that much, either. (By the way, I never got up to shenanigans, like Minuet did. I'm the innocent little sister.)

 

Heavy, please take your time and get to know all of us. I wish I had stayed a Novice and Accepted a little longer. Don't get me wrong. I'm extremely happy with my Ajah choice. In other places, I would  be Yellow, but here I am a full-fledged Green. I relate to most of the Ajahs on some level, and some more than others, but my home is with the Greens. I'm telling you all this because I see some of that in you, too. 

 

Leala, thank you for creating this thread. It's been awesome to read so far!

 

 

[Dar'Jen Ab Owain]

Greetings to all. I am Dar'Jen Ab Owain, Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah.

 

While I first began to read WoT in high school, life got in the way and I never got very far, though I did enjoy it. Later in life, when I was dealing with a lot of chaos, I turned to reading to keep my mind busy, and thankfully, picked up WoT once more. My favorite character is Lan. It was my reading of the books that led me to DM (joined June 2017) , and I am so glad that it did, as I have found an incredible community on DM, among them my Green Ajah family. 

 

I am a mother of a twenty-one year old son. My husband, son, and I live with my father (we moved here to help care for my mother before she passed). And we spend a great deal of time traveling between OH (with my father) and TN (helping with my mother-in-law). Situation is not ideal, but we have come to live minimally and make do with what we have. I work as a customer service representative for an insurance company.

 

I love fantasy. Reading is a major past time, when I have the free time. Working slowly on a re-read of WoT. I am passionate about history. I have hand-sewn period clothes and cos-play costumes, and do other handcrafts like finger weaving and lucet cord making. I like playing video games with my husband and son, such as Halo, and independently, like Skyrim. We go for walks at the park and cemetary, and hikes in the woods. I am a writer, and after dealing with lack of muse for some time, hope to get back to actively writing and submitting pieces.

 

It's great to re-meet folks here on DM. And hope this helps some of our newer members as well. It is often the journey that teaches us much of ourselves.

[Andy MacLeod]

@Leala Sedai, my Mentor, thank you for starting this thread! It is a wonderful way to get to know the residents of the Tower for a newbie Novice like me 🥰 Haha, yup, WoT also has a rent-free spot in my head and has been part of my life for... 15 years? Love the struggle and utlimate growth Aviendha goes through in her journey from Maiden to Wise One!

 

@LadyWordsmith, how wonderful that you kept all the notes you exchanged on WoT with your best friend! These books have brought so many people together over the decades... I have a similar experience with my re-reads, in that I appreciate each character more for their own moments and development. 

 

@HeavyHalfMoonBlade, you do look amazing in that banded dress! I appreciate that you brought up the inner journey about earning the Shawl. I think of it as an integral part of moving from Novice to Accepted to full Sister. And, in the books, it is meant to be a transformative journey. May your path strengthen your inner light for all and you to see, my friend 🙏

 

@Dar'Jen Ab Owain, thank you for sharing these wise thoughts. The dialog between WoT and IRL is indeed an interesting one. I love that you made period costume and cosplay! Have you made WoT outfits?

 

Hi everyone, I am a Novice. I picked up WoT about 15 years ago, read the whole series in one go, and have been re-reading it ever since (now adding New Spring). I have found the book at times meditative, at time inspiring, at times just distracting. I look forward to getting to know wonderful folks on DM!

[Millon]

Many good hellos!! I am Millon. A Der’Manshima Warder of the Cuendren. I have no idea how to see how long I’ve been here hahahaha. Long enough maybe? but not quite long enough. I started reading the series because my older brother was a jerk and got sick of me eaves dropping on him and his friends when they played D&D. So he handed me The Eye and I completely fell in. This was my intro into reading fantasy. I haaaaaaated the space between releases until I found this space. The debates, discussions, ART, theories in between each book and the post release discussions and ramped up furor. Was almost more enjoyable than the material itself lol. My favorite characters are Bayle and Egeanen Shipless and then Hurin. The moments we got with those characters, to me, were so well written. You got so much of their characters in such short spaces and better written than a lot of the main characters! lol. Like, when Bayle says “hey, you want to see all this cool stuff I collected?” Obviously not quoting lol but that moment of the gruff sailor bein vulnerable and showin his boyish collection and sharing why he became a captain in the first place are just great ways to flesh out the character. Egeanin, though you don’t get to see it happen “on screen” risking herself with being with Bayle and her struggle with breaking away from her culture. Hurin just bein the bestest goodest boy in all the series. Just great. He really was like a bloodhound made into a human. 
 

light help me I just can’t with the show. Not a purest though! That’s not it all. I completely understand the need to make alterations for a screen. Absolutely. My dislike comes from changes that absolutely didn’t need to be changed. The symbolism of the entire lore had no need to be changed. The great serpent. Gone. The Trefoil leaf. Gone. The blight looking like a cut and paste graphic from an early 90s video game. The hill I will absolutely die on though is the absolute disrespect Tand has for that bow when he just TOSSES IT ASIDE LIKE A PIECE OF TRASH IN THE VERY FORST EPISODE. Awful. I bloody love the Shadowspawn and channeling though. Holy hell is that so. Damn. Good. lol 

Edited February 23 by Millon