westerosorting | Win or Die, There is No Try ....what? Yoda's kind of a dragon.

Name: Joyce
How did you find out about the community? If it's through an LJ user, please tell us who it is: I came across this community a few years ago when ASOIF was first recommended to me. I didn't read all of the series then because I was concerned that it wouldn't be finished (due to Martin's health worries). Then, HBO picked up the series, and a release date Dance of Dragons was announced. So I came back to the series and just recently finished A Feast for Crows, and I'm off to buy a copy of Dragons later this week. So, here I am.
Age: 24
Location: Michigan, USA
Occupation: Switchboard and security dispatch in a small hospital.

All About You

1. Describe your ideal house/home. Please go into as much detail as possible, and be sure to include your ideal geographical location in the description!

I think the nearest anyone has come to naming my taste is "exotic Bauhaus", and that came from my favorite art history professor in undergrad. The idea behind it is the marriage of form and function, rather than one following the other. I like the idea of using every square foot I inhabit, so as to require fewer square feet. Imagine, if you will, cramming an artist's life into a train car or a submarine bunk. That's what I work toward.
It should be no surprise, then that my ideal home is a loft; large open floor plan, with lots of windows for natural light and for the view (but I'll get to location in a moment). I don't think there's any reason to have a whole room when the corner of one will do. So, a bed, walls lined with bookshelves, a desk against the windows, an easel next to the desk, a reading chair, and a small icon corner near the door*. The openness of a space like this would enable me to use it for yoga, meditation, art, dinner parties, whatever, without getting in the way of anything because that was there to begin with was 'open'.

I like being able to use simple, well made things that can be used in more than one set of circumstances; my footlocker, which holds winter clothes during the summer (and vice versa) doubles as a coffee table and is bright ~~Ravenclaw~~ blue. Likewise, the striped Mexican blankets on the bed are both for yoga and sleeping. The loft would be furnished in that kind of way. Blocks of brightly colored simply but well-made things, and no clutter, no knick-knacks.
I have discovered (since moving from southern California to Michigan) that I prefer to live near some significant body of water. In Grand Rapids, the Grand suffices even if I'm the only one in the city that seems to love the river simply for being there. So, I want to live in a large city, but one that has a river or is situated near a bay or the ocean. Fortunately it seems that most major cities have some kind of waterfront and I think I could be happy on just any of them. (But I really like the idea of being able to watch storms on the ocean rather than the serene sandy beach and crystal blue water sort of beach). As an artsy sort of person, and a girl that appreciates seafood, hiking, cycling, and rain, I'm often told to pick up and move to Seattle and think that a city with that sort of vibe could suit me. I want a city because I enjoy people watching, and sketching while I people watch. I sing in the symphony chorus here, and can't imagine living someplace without an opera, symphony or ballet. In short, I want to the culture things that go with a city; the museums, music, art, festivals, open-mic nights, etc.

All that said, that's the ideal home I imagine for the person I am now. When I imagine the little old me that retires from all the zaniness that I love now, she live in a little brick or stone house in New England, perhaps, England where she can garden, walk in the woods, keep a kettle on for coffee and/or tea, and just sit and enjoy reading all the books she's collected.

Lastly, I'm sorry for the absurd length of this answer, sort of. This was actually really concise for me on this topic. I actually have a small black sketch journal devoted entirely to this topic. It's full of sketches, floorplans, ads from magazines, interviews with architects and designers I like, etc. I studied art and architectural history so this was my kind of question.

*An icon corner is an Eastern Orthodox tradition. Most of us, I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian, have at least a Christ icon and a prayer candle at the entrance to our homes (or in my case, rented room). Large ones include many saints' icons and incense, perhaps palms from Palm Sunday and/or holy water from Epiphany, etc.; smaller ones really are just a single icon and a candle. Mine is a Christ icon that I wrote myself, a small vial of the water from my baptism, a Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheel that a friend brought back from Tibet just for me, and an LED candle…because I have cats and they can safely knock over an LED candle. When I have to prune it down even further, I use the LED candle and one of those digital photo frames, and it cycles through Christ icons, and saints' icons.

2. Imagine you're given the classic opportunity: a genie granting you three wishes. What would you wish for? Please be as elaborate as you can. Wishing for more wishes is not permitted!

Can I wish for fiction to become fact? I'd really like to travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS.

ONE: I would like unlimited funds and support for educational purposes. I don't care to be filthy rich, I'd just like money for as many degrees as I can earn to appear magically out of thin air. I would also like all the stresses that went along with college life taken care of; finding a place to live, having enough cash to by groceries and textbooks. Essentially, I want to go to school as often as I'd like, for as many degrees as I'd like, without any financial stress.

TWO: I would like culinary skills. Broad ones. I know just enough about nutrition to know that mine is only fair to good. Mostly, this is because I want to eat well nutritionally and I want to eat well aesthetically, but my cooking skills are limited. So, if I'm going to make the same dozen or so meals over and over again I'll eat well aesthetically but I'll be nutritionally deficit somehow. And if I focus on maintaining excellent nutrition there's the very real chance that I'll end up eating at least one very bland meal a deal because I just don't know how to make fiber tasty. (Just as an example). I want to be able to grow and cook the food. I'd also like to have a good understanding of how to combine tastes, textures and ingredients in order to build good dishes and good meals. And, if knowledge of nutrition came along with it all, then all the better.

THREE: The last one is the simplest. I'd like the home(s) I described in the first question.

3. In your life so far, what accomplishment are you the most proud of? Why? You can list more than one if you have trouble deciding. ;)

This is going to sound a little strange, but I am most proud of myself for getting a job rather than jumping into a career. I was told all my life that the plan was just like the on the "Game of Life" board. Graduate from high school, go to college, settle into career building, get married and begin populating that mini-van. I've always known that I don't want children, but it didn't seem that there were many other viable options with regard to the rest of that plan. I think my parents deliberately pushed me toward that path because they want what they think is best for me. However, by the end of undergrad it was becoming clear to me that I didn't want the stable 9-5 and small suburban home. Non-profit work, creative work, research positions, even political work all looked more interesting than something with job security and weekends off. So, rather than do what I had always been told and go out and "find a good job", I got a nightshift security position that pays the bills and doesn't interfere with my choral rehearsal schedule, or my painting and entering the ArtPrize competition in town, nor my pursuit of photography as a hobby I may turn into freelance work. I have time to devote to maintaining my Greek and learning new languages,

I'm often told it's time to grow up and get a "real job" so that when I introduce myself I can say something like my mother says, "I'm a physical therapist," or my aunts "I teach pre-school!", but I'm happy as I am undefined by my occupation. I like my job, and I like the hospital I work in, and I like the nightshift. I'm part time and I get health benefits. I can pay all my bills. And I still get to decide who I want to be each time I introduce myself rather than filling in that blank with my job description. I'm proud of myself for breaking the mold and doing the things I'm passionate about rather than settling for the predetermined.

4. Which of the following is most important to you: Love, Money, Knowledge, Family, Friendship, Adventure, or Pleasure? Which is the least important to you? Please explain why for each choice.

Adventure/Knowledge is the most important. Hear me out on the connection here. I have always been a studious person. I love research and learning things just for the sake of knowing. Knowledge is important, and I firmly believe that a little research before an adventure can make the adventure even better. Who wants to come back from wandering a city only to find out they missed the best cupcake shop in the world simply because they didn't Google "Must Visit Places in X"? However, I also believe that over-researching can kill an adventure. I like getting lost in places I'm visiting. It's how I found the voodoo shop in New Orleans where the cashier complimented me on the color of my aura. (Which is apparently a lovely darkish lavender. Who knew?) Informed, Open-Minded Adventuring. That's what's most important. Going into an adventure with a plan that includes learning along way, that values the experience for itself that's what I love doing. And I want to define 'adventure' broadly.

Here's an example, a friend and I are planning a mutual photo shoot. I'm going to style and photograph a series of portraits of her and she for me. We're not professionals. We're avid amateurs planning something ambitious in order to learn from the experience. We're not going out of town, we're shooting in public spaces in our city, we're borrowing clothes and props from each other and our friends or getting them from thrift shops. There's nothing heroic about it, there's no travel, it's not newsworthy; so we've labelled it a "mundane adventure". But we couldn't embark on it without a little bit of know-how (there's the importance of knowledge) and we won't come out of it without learning a lot. Living out these little mundane adventures is one of my continual aspirations.

I know this will sound callous, but I value family the least. My family is large, melodramatic, overbearing, intrusive and so outwardly emotional it borders on distasteful. And all of them, it seems, are fond of reminding me that "FAMILY IS IMPORTANT! WE'RE ALL YOU HAVE!" Yeah….I have a BA in philosophy, and in art history. I have various and sundry artistic and academic goals. I have languages to learn and countries to visit. I have friends who actually share my interests and passions (unlike the family who often encourage me to learn something practical instead of focusing on art or philosophy, but tell me to "Speak English!" whenever I talk about particle physics, logic, or politics). I'm not going to move into the house down the block and begin producing grandchildren for my mother just because that's what she did and never imagined doing otherwise. Apparently that's what it would take to convince them that I care as much as they think I ought, and I'd rather live as the black sheep that "just doesn't understand how important family is" than give up the life I think I can live.

5. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain.

I'm really not certain there's a quote, or passage, or song lyric for me. I've never run across one and thought, "Oh! That sums up everything I've been thinking!" but the Dalai Lama comes close on occasion. He resonates at least. So, I've picked one:

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."

I like this one because of the implicit exhortation to work toward happiness and contentment as an achievement rather than a state in which one eventually finds herself through circumstance. It fits in nicely with my taste for minimalism in my possessions and aesthetics and my fascination with self-discipline as a path toward better living.

6. How do you manage your money? On that note, how important is money/financial security to you? Go into as much detail as you can.

Financial security is more important to me than money is. So long as I've enough money for rent, food for me and the cats, and student loan payments, I will not complain. With regard to money management, I set aside the money I need for rent, food for me and the cats, and student loan payments, and then everything else goes into the savings account. In the past I've been one of the worst consumers America has ever seen - if it wasn't absolutely necessary, I didn't buy it. Since then I've developed (or devolved, depending on your perspective) toward a sort of durable goods philosophy on spending.

That is, I don't tend to spend often, but when I do, I spend in large(ish) chunks because I purchase investments items. My camera, for example, is a professional grade Nikon. It cost quite a bit more than just a point-and-shoot from Target would have, but it will last me a lifetime and has greatly advanced my photography skills and appreciation for photography as a hobby. Likewise, when it became clear that I really did enjoy having newspapers and news magazines for my commute and with my coffee, I bought a Kindle so that I could subscribe at a discounted rate, save paper and carry a single device on the bus rather than a newspaper, a book and "The Economist".

7. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?

I sing (in the city's symphony chorus). We do everything from Christmas carols to the LOTR soundtracks (while the film plays!) to classical choral works from Verdi, Mahler, etc. I draw and paint and have recently jumped into digital photography (see the mundane adventure discussed above). I practice yoga on a nearly daily basis, and though I'm not certain that meditation qualifies as a hobby, I find that I miss it when I don't do it. So, it must qualify as one of my "favorite things to do outside of school/the office". And I read. I read a lot. I'm usually reading two or three books, mostly non-fiction (history, biographies, political science) and science-fiction. I'm also making my way through a pretty extensive list of classics and contemporary classics. Also, lots of news. I read and watch political news like I'm supposed to write tomorrow's headlines.

I also study. I have my undergraduate degree and can't figure out what I want to pursue as a graduate student so in the mean time, I'm "taking" several iTunesU courses on particle physics and string theory, which is basically to say, I sit and watch lectures via podcast from Stanford's physics department. I'm also translating the (biblical) book of Colossians. Because my ancient Greek was getting rusty from disuse. I'm also teaching myself Scottish Gaelic, partially for the fun of it, and partially because I'm Scottish by heritage. I'm the latest to catch the genealogy bug. It has been a family wide epidemic. I like research, and no one questions my right to dig up the details of past generations of my own family, and it does a lot to make my immediate family feel that I care. So, I've begun serious genealogy work. I can provide dates and documentation of "hitting dirt" (coming to America) for my mother's family (both her paternal and maternal lines), and my father's paternal line goes all the way back to a gardener's marriage in 1769 Scotland.

8. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.

ONE: Boredom
I guess I'm less afraid of being bored than being doomed to it. It's why I work hard all my personal art projects, why I continue to sing even though the symphony chorus gobbles up a ton of time for no pay. I never want to be the person who has no idea what's going on in the world, who hasn't anything interesting to talk about or worse still is happy with that just because it's easy.

TWO: Mistakes at Work
I am a little afraid of making mistakes at work. This isn't what you might imagine. I'm not worried about getting reprimanded, written up or fired and it's not a fear of failure thing. As, I've mentioned, I work nights in the security and switchboard office of a hospital. I'm paid to sit and be prepared for things to go wrong and since they usually don't, that means that I'm paid to sit and read ~~or hang out on LJ~~. So, my job is pretty stress-free, except when it really isn't. We're responsible for all the fire alarms, security cameras, door alarms, and panic alarms in the hospital. If any of that severe weather I'm so fond of threatens the hospital we're there in the chain of command for moving patients and staff to safe locations within the building. We run fire drills, child abduction drills, and there's discussion of creating a drill for live weapons incidents. If I give a security guard bad information, something could go seriously wrong, and people could get hurt. (But, as I said, most of the time, I sit with a book all night and the phone doesn't even ring, but hey, someone's gotta answer the red phone if/when it rings).

THREE: Physical Safety
I'm not one of those women who is certain that every male stranger is a rapist, or about to grab my purse. But, I spend a comparatively large amount of time alone in dark walking to and from the car and office, or the bus stop and office. Now, I'm reasonably cautious about walking alone through dark parking lots and that kind of thing, but I'm going on five years in various night security positions, and I usually work with former police officers. So, I'm aware of the dangers of living/commuting alone in a city, even a little one like ours. This isn't a crippling fear or anything. If I'm stopped in the parking lot on the way into work I answer whatever question is asked, but I take note of the person's appearance so I could give a description if I had to, my phone is always within reach and the office knows what time I arrive and would come looking for me if I failed to show up. So, while I'm confident I'm safe, I also hear about all the incidences in the area and know it foolhardy to think my safety is absolute. It's more a robust vigilance than a deep fear, but it's based in an awareness that things can go bad very quickly - especially for a girl alone in the dark.

9. Name (and elaborate on) your top three BEST and top three WORST qualities (personality-related, not physical). Please answer as fully as you can, as this is an important question.

BEST:
Concentration
I concentrate to the neglect of the external world. Ever driven home on autopilot? You remember leaving, and you notice arriving but can't recall the drive because your mind was elsewhere? Now, imagine that instead of just wandering elsewhere, your mind is concentrated on a specific something (in my case it's usually some philosophical nuance, or particular artistic project). Concentration to the point of neglecting the external world, sometimes to the point that I forget to eat lunch or dinner (I do always eat breakfast though) is not unusual for me. And, academically, it was clearly to my advantage to be able to concentrate so well, however it has its benefits in other areas of life as well: paperwork, personal or professional, never piles up because I can concentrate on getting it done (and hate messy piles); the miles long list of "Books to Read After Graduation" is getting shorter. I think part of this is just the way I'm wired and that part of it was cultivated growing up with lots of cousins, aunts and uncles around. If I didn't block out the noise and goings-on then I'd never have made it through high school. (Imagine trying to study on the set of "Everybody Loves Raymond" or "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding").

"Analytical Artistry"
I enjoy and participate in all and each of the fine arts. Not equally well or intensely, of course; my tap dancing, for example, the only kind of dancing I do, rivals that only of beginner level five year olds. But I sing well (and I'm learning to do Byzantine chant). I draw/draft with an admirable if not remarkable ability. (I can draw a realistic human hand, do a good portrait, but I'm no Durer). I paint, have sculpted, work in theatre (all things technical: sound, lighting, set design/construction, etc.). I analyze situations, facts, and possibilities before I can help it sometimes. Being creative is the beginning, but adding an analysis sharpens artistic skills and thinking outside the box sorts of skills. Having this combination has cultivated this weird way of looking at everything as a potential something. Got a cereal box? I can make it a magazine holder, a place-mat, the border to a photo, or an envelope for mailing large pieces of mail. It was "just" a cereal box but now it's whatever I want it to be - because I analyzed the object and re-used it creatively.

Self-Discipline
I try to live well and responsibly in all aspects of my life, which means that I try to live according to my own rules in each area. My diet takes into account body type, allergies and liturgical requirements (the Orthodox fast under various rules at different times of the year). And, I try to know where all of my food comes from. The farmers market and grocery stores that stock locally grown/produced foods provide for most of my fruits and vegetables, breads and coffee. I've set up an exercise routine that includes daily yoga, running three times a week, and basic calisthenics. Each week I set a different photography goal, and try to get through a certain amount of the Greek and physics material I'm currently studying.

WORST:
???
If anyone's got the word for this let me know. My primary motivation in most conflicts is to deal with as little drama and emotional baggage as possible. This often means that I let a lot go because the fuss that would result from voicing a pet peeve, criticism or complaint is just not worth it. On one hand, I've learnt to deal with quite a bit, and to keep a reign on my (ample Scot-Italian) temper, and on the other, I occasionally feel like a doormat because friends complain about my annoying habits but I don't complain about theirs. (Of course, complaining that I feel like a doormat would only lead to fuss, so I suck it up and move on. It's a vicious cycle.)
It's not that I'm passive, or non-confrontational exactly. If I've actually been hurt, or angered, I say so. But I do let almost all of the little stuff slide. Which means that when I do confront someone and say something like, "But this is a pattern…" it's usually the first time I'm voicing a complaint and then it comes as a shock to the other person.

Elitism
I'm a self-admitted snob. Even though every sitcom ever has done the "what's on the inside matters" episode, I pay attention to a person's appearance because I think presentation is important. (Don't misunderstand, I don't necessarily care what a person looks like, but that they've at least made the effort to be neat, clean and presentable while in public/at school/in the office). I hold leaders (political, local, religious) to ridiculous standards, and I have very little patience for self-pity and/or willful ignorance. I know I could learn to let go of this, but it is partially out of my elitist bent that my self-discipline grows. I may be an elitist, but I don't want to be a hypocrite. So, I work toward speaking and writing well, toward being fit and attractive, toward being well-read and well-informed. And I look for and respect the same in others.

Stoicism
My default reaction to (nearly) any situation is analytical rather than emotional. I've had to learn the signs that people want to vent, or talk something through, rather than examine the facts. I'm still overly blunt about it sometimes; "But crying about it won't help!" (especially if you're crying for the third time and the first two incidents didn't provide any catharsis). I'm also told that I'm not in touch enough with my own emotions. I think this is false, I don't share them aloud too often, but they're there. Apparently it irks people not to see them.

A Song of Ice and Fire Related

1. Who are your favorite three characters in the series? Why?

First Favorite: Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger
He's snarky. He's clever. He's resourceful. He's pragmatic. He turns Sansa into a character worth caring about. He does away with Lysa. He makes himself a lord to be reckoned with. And even though he loves/loved Cat (and I kinda hate her), he's loyal to her in his own twisted way. And, once again, in a twisted way, he's honest. I think it's more that he's a realist than that he's honest, but the character that can say "I did warn you not to trust me", push a woman through a trapdoor and convince good, innocent, kind-hearted Sansa to lie about it is bound to be an interesting one.

Second Favorite: The Stark Sisters
I know this is two, and they're radically different women, but read the explanation. Anya and Sansa are at the deepest sense very similar. Each uses her natural aptitudes to its greatest advantage. Anya ends up with the Faceless Men, Sansa becomes Alayne and sort of default mistress of Littlefinger's household. Each survived. Each changed dramatically, but neither became the other. Sansa is still a lady even if she's becoming one to be feared rather than struck, and Anya is still a tomboy training in men's ways even if she no longer shrieks "I'm a girl!" I also find it interesting that they each seem to have developed their own words; "A lady's courtesy is her armor", and "Fear cuts deeper than swords", and, of course, "Vahar morghulis".

Third Favorite: Daenerys Targaryen
I waffle a bit on Dany as a character. Usually I like her but every now and again I wish she had a dream and goal of her own rather than adopting the family's. However, I consistently enjoy the Dany chapters. Also, dragons. And the element of surprise. Does anyone in Westeros even remember she's alive and may be coming to claim her throne? And her narrative adds a little Arabian Nights to an otherwise Tolkien and Arthurian world.

Honorable Mention: Asha Greyjoy. As a girl with tentacle themed jewelry, an affinity for oceans, and rivers, plans to learn to wield a battle axe (yay for the SCA!), and no plans to mother children, there was no way I wasn't gonna like her.

2. Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?

First Worst: Catelyn Stark, (not Lady Stoneheart, Cat)
She drives me nuts. She's all quiet melodrama, and her motives are entirely derived from motherhood. "I had a mother's right." Nonsense. If this is her rationale for everything, she can not blame Cersei for a thing. She's one note. Everything is about being a mother. It's not even about the children themselves - she doesn't say "It was for Sansa and Arya!", no, instead it is "I had a mother's right." There's no balance, no self-restraint, what she personally feels as a mother trumps all. Including the balance of power in the realm. She's crazier than Cersei is.

Second Worst: Stannis Baratheon
I think that Stannis might be a narcissistic sociopath. He shows no remorse and little empathy, and thinks he has been wronged by the entire world and therefore is deserves everything he's entitled to and more for his trouble. Now, sociopaths are people too, but narcissism is an unattractive quality in a character.

Third Worst: Jaime Lannister
I neither like nor dislike Jaime. And that's the problem. He's at the root of so much. He threw Bran from the window. He fathered Cersei's children. He's the Kingslayer. We've got this great image of corrupt knight - gorgeous, able, ambitious, self-serving and self-gratifying. And then he goes and has the gall to develop as a character. No matter how much white he wears he's a wishy-washy shade of grey. Now, I can't love to hate him, but I can't cheer for him either. I love to hate characters - what's a narrative without a good villain? - but he doesn't fall into that category anymore. But he's not quite one of the good guys (yet). He's the literary equivalent of a waiting room and it drives me up the wall. (It's an empty waiting room though, he's next. I have great hope that G.R.R.M. does enough with him that he eventually becomes one of my favorite characters).

3. #1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why?

It's definitely the moment in which Littlefinger has thrown Lysa through the door and Sansa is rationalizing it to herself! Indecision, apathy, and fear of making the wrong move, all bother me. I love a good carefully mapped out strategy, but there's no point in planning if you haven't the moxy to see it through. Sansa hasn't. But Alayne has. And it's Littlefinger's influence and 'protection' that makes Sansa into an interesting character. Pawns are no fun at all, and she may not be playing the game for herself yet, but she's at least on a team and deciding to side with Petyr and lie about Lysa was her turning point.

In the HBO series, Tyrion Lannister screaming, "Why?! Am I beginning to make sense?!" when Catelyn's men ask if they can gag him already.

4. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why?

I'd like to see Sansa/Alayne and Littlefinger survive. She should rule Winterfell, as Queen in the North, and I wouldn't mind if she did it without marrying since it would be a nice counterpoint to the Sansa we first met who was destined only for marriage. (And if she kept Littlefinger around as spymaster she'd be a force to be reckoned with). The other option I might enjoy for the surprise of it is a trio of queens. Let's see Dany return and claim the Iron Throne, Myrcella as Queen of Dorn, and Sansa as Queen in the North. That would be a different three-headed dragon than anyone foresaw. (I like Asha, but doubt she gets to be Queen of the Ironborn).

With regard to some of the great houses, I think their extinction is coming and kind of appreciate the full circle quality of that. Since Jamie can't father children and Cersei may be Lady of Casterly Rock but once it passes to Tommen it passes to House Baratheon (since he can't be acknowledged as a Lannister), that means that unless Tyrion returns, House Lannister pretty much evaporates with Tywin's death and Tyrion's departure. Lancel may be the Lord of Darry but as a son of a second son, and lord of Darry rather than the traditional Lannister seat, he'd be a weak head for a great house. I particularly like the possibility that the series could end with the collapse of Lannister House since so many of the events have their roots in the actions of Jamie, Cersei and Tyrion. But more than that, since no one is quite certain that Tommen is a Baratheon, and I doubt the books end with him on the throne anyway, the House Baratheon dies with he and Stannis (whose survival I also doubt) since Stannis has only a daughter that no one is likely to marry.

We will, it seems have bastards and the unconventional left standing at the end; Edric Storm, Gendry, and Mya are all Robert's bastard children. Sansa has only survived as Alayne Stone. Bran and Rickon have survived by "going wildling" so to speak. Bran will become something more akin it a hedge-maester than a ruler, which is fine since Sansa may yet be fit to rule if she learns from Littlefinger. There's no telling how Rickon turns out or if anyone ever hears from him again. And Arya, as a Faceless-Man, it's quite the wolf pack Ned fathered; wargs, assassins, mages and a lady of courtly intrigue. And whether Jon Snow is of Stark-Targaryen blood, or actually Ned's bastard, he too has only survived because he's a bastard banished. It would be fantastic to come to the end of the series and have the Stark children sort of take over. All the great houses currently trace back to figures from the heroic age, but the next age could trace to Arya (a black figure on a halved field one side red, one side white, "Fear cuts deeper than swords"), to Sansa ("Courtesy, Duty, Honor"), to Bran (a crow on a green field, "Fly"), to Jon (a white wolf on a black field, "Winter is coming"). I especially like it since they're of the "old blood" when no other family is.

Lastly, though, and on a different note, what is it with hands? Jon's is maimed. Jamie's is lost. Each of them has taken vows to forsaken family, marriage and political allegiance, and each commands his respective brotherhood which is sworn to defense of the realm and the throne. I can't help but think the parallels are deliberate. And I love that one wears white and other black. It makes me wonder if they're not Dany's men in the end somehow. One for the black dragon (Drogon), and one for the white (Viserion), while she keeps to the green, (Rhaegal).