Better late than even later

[Stark he/him]

Hello and good morning!

 

I never actually got around to introducing myself on the site, and figured I should maybe do that before my post count hit 300 (this will be number 274, cutting it close).  If I remember correctly, I was introduced to the Cosmere in 2008-ish, when a good friend of mine handed me copies of Elantris and Mistborn and the Name of the Wind and asked if I'd ever heard of Brandon Sanderson or Patrick Rothfuss.  I was an instant fan, and proceeded to hunt down hardcovers of everything they had written.  And I was curious who this guy was that was going to finish the Wheel of Time, which I had been reading since I was twelve, which admittedly is not as long as some others had been reading it.  I repaid this friend by introducing him to Jim Butcher, with slightly more difficulty, as he claimed to not be a huge fan of Urban Fantasy(jokes on him, he has gone to see Jim numerous times in Seattle, where as I have not yet managed to find myself at a Butcher event).  I had the hardest time finding a hardcover of Elantris that was in good condition, and did not cost a small number of internal organs, as I was an underpaid student at the time.

 

My library now boasts Hardcovers of all of Brandon's works, except maybe the Edgedancer single and Dreamer, which I am hunting for, most of which are signed, as well as the two 10 year books, and a handful of softcover lender copies.  Some have electronic copies too. I may have a slight literature problem.

 

I think I discovered this site in 2010, when WorldCon was in Montreal, not to far from where I was living.  I got the full pass, signed up for every Sanderson and Rothfuss event I could.  (Also met GRRM, but did not line up for Gaiman, had not read anything of his yet.  I regret not having met him, but I stand by mt choice to leave space in line for those who had actually read his work).  In those events, and especially at the external signing for Brandon, at a local Indigo bookstore, I quickly found that there were people who knew a ton more about his universe than I did. I needed to fix the gaps in my knowledge.  (my claim to happiness was when I heard he was looking for a local place with enough space to do a reading and Q&A, I went and asked the manager of that store if they hosted events like that, and emailed Brandon when I got a positive response.  I got all excited that I was going to help set up a reading with my favorite author, and was only slightly disappointed when I was told Brandon had people who would take care of that.  I was sad, but I started the ball rolling, and that was a Big Deal to 23 year old me)

 

That is when I found this site.  I lurked as guest here for a year, before I finally saw something that I had to respond to.  I think it was some theory that I had my own insight to, or some such, and I Really Needed To Give My Two Cents.  So I created my account.  Which brought on the agony of finding a unique user name.  There is nothing I enjoy less than finding a user name.  I don't like naming myself, I always feel very self conscious about it.  I eventually settled on Stark.  Not because of ASOIAF, as I figure most people would assume (Though I do currently enjoy the mix of Witcher [White wolf] and House Stark references in my banner and profile image, but those are less than a year old)  I chose Stark as a direct reference to a character of the same name in Farscape, a show I was quite the fan of at the time.  For those that don't know, it was a sci-fi show that had costume design by Jim Henson's company.  Stark was a recurring secondary character after the first season, who was quite clearly broken and mad from torture, but who never broke or revealed his secret, and ended up being more important than anyone would have realized despite his brokenness.  I found something about that identifiable.  And this far into the Cosmere, the idea of the broken beggar who is more than he seems comes often enough that I find it appropriate still - though I do have a different user name I use almost everywhere else post Game of Thrones.  I really did not want anyone thinking my usernames on various sites were late arriving HBO fandom.

 

Anyhow, I created my profile in 2011, logged in and replied to my very first post.  And promptly went back to lurking for so long that I forgot my log in info.  Over the years, I've changed (recovered)my password a dozen times to be able to single post responses to various things that have come up.  I started posting in earnest in 2015, when I changed jobs to an office position that allows me some degree of internet freedom to peruse and respond to theories, even post some of my own.  I seem to be able to come up with the occasional insightful thought or witty remark that people here find entertaining, or at worst inoffensive.  I decide to finally get around to my introduction post, six years later, because in the last week I had my first post get a little heart thinger, indicating a fair number of you thought it was funny.  And then my second, and third yesterday, which I also apparently managed to win.  I did not even know winning a day was a thing before yesterday, but yeah.  Go me.  Thanks everyone for liking my posts!

 

So that is me, Stark, a 30 year old Montrealer.  The top shelves of my bookcase at home proudly displays Sanderson, Rothfuss, Butcher, Jordan and Martin.  My kindle includes Briggs, McClellan, Andrews, Carey, Corey, Wells, Mcguire, Bishop, Sanderson (again) and many others that my wallet (and more importantly, wall space) do not allow me to own physical copies of, though I would love to have Hardcovers of some of them.  I read for fun, and when I have time for a leisure activity, gaming and reading are the top two contestants, reading winning more often than not, especially when I have a new book.  My online name, here at least, is Stark, and I am a Cosmere addict.  It is a continuing pleasure to be among this group, to be allowed to add my insights, and benefit from the insights of many who see links I have missed and have knowledge that I do not.

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

I would welcome you here, but you have been here longer than I have, which makes welcoming you kind of wierd, so I just settled for an upvote :-)

Edited September 27, 2017 by Toaster Retribution

[Stark he/him]

I may have been here longer @Toaster Retribution, but I am no where near as prolific.  Congrats on the healthy post count, and interesting looking theories!  

 

Is the name a Cylon reference?

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

Just now, Stark said:

I may have been here longer @Toaster Retribution, but I am no where near as prolific.  Congrats on the healthy post count, and interesting looking theories!  

 

Is the name a Cylon reference?

Thanks! I may be prolific, but you have an excellent post/rep ratio :-)

You are not the first to think so, but no, the name isn't a cylon reference. I had never heard of cylons before @Calderis alerted me to their existence. There was a thread about creating your Cosmere names, and Toaster Retribution came out of that.

[Borio Singaldi he/him]

6 hours ago, Toaster Retribution said:

Thanks! I may be prolific, but you have an excellent post/rep ratio :-)

You are not the first to think so, but no, the name isn't a cylon reference. I had never heard of cylons before @Calderis alerted me to their existence. There was a thread about creating your Cosmere names, and Toaster Retribution came out of that.

Oh hey, that was one of my threads! Glad to have played a part in your fantastic and hilarious username's fruition.

 

 

Anyway, @Stark ... Um... welcome to the Shard? Yeah, that sounds awkward, seeing as you seem to be one of the longer-existing members of this site. But I applaud you (and upvote you) for finally making your intro post. It's better than some of us have done.

[Stark he/him]

Thanks @Firerust! I agree, it awkward.  I'm the guy whose been at the party for a while, interacting with everyone, who only decides to introduce himself at the 5th event containing all the same people.  Weird and awkward.

 

But it is done now, so I can fade back into my normal behavior of mostly lurking and only commenting when I feel I have something amusing, or insightful, to say.  That and throwing some crazy random theories at the wall and seeing what sticks.

[Borio Singaldi he/him]

21 minutes ago, Stark said:

That and throwing some crazy random theories at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Yeah, it helps if you have access to Gravitation or Adhesion. Then they stick to things better.

[Stark he/him]

7 minutes ago, Firerust said:

Then they stick to things better.

Nah, super magnets.  They are fun, and they mess with metalborn trying to sneak in and steal my thoughts.