westerosorting | Win or Die: Westerosorting Application

Name: Julie:
How did you find out about the community? If it's through an LJ user, please tell us who it is (individual user if possible, not just a community name!):
I saw it on the ‘ASOIAF’ tag on Tumblr, but I can’t find the post that was talking about it. They had a link to the site and were talking about their application, though, and it made me interested enough to go check out what they were talking about.
EDIT: I figured it out. Misstopia gets credit.
Age: 26
Location: Michigan
Profession: Unemployed

All About You
First off, I know this application said detailed, but be warned: I may be too detailed – I may not need to write a novel, but give me the opportunity and I will, to the point that you're probably going to regret that "writing too much is simply not possible" clause in your application rules.

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!.
My ideal home would look like a castle or have English Gothic styling on the outside (think Gothic as in the University of Michigan law school, with carved marble, spires, and a somewhat Hogwarts-y look, not Gothic as in stereotypical Goth black-and-skulls.) It would have large windows to let in plenty of natural sunlight, and while I would probably prefer a one-story floorplan for most of the home with vaulted ceilings that would give the house an airy feel and the appearance of a two-story home, a few towers might be nice – I mean, who hasn’t wanted to live in a house with a tower room? Maybe around 2500 square feet, a little more if it had more than 4 bedrooms (and if I had someone else to help clean it – otherwise, the ideal house shrinks a bit.) So very spacious, but not a mansion. (Also, bedrooms do not need to be large.) One really nice bathroom with a big whirlpool tub and a shower with a ledge to sit down on would be very nice.

I love open floorplans for a home, and most of the house would consist of large rooms with richly cream-colored walls and high ceilings where the rooms would flow naturally into one another. The bedroom would be painted midnight blue and flecked with gold stars, while my library (the largest room in the house) would be done in shades of crimson and emerald and would have a fireplace, lots of cherry-wood furniture, and tall bookshelves that would be capable of accommodating thousands of books. The library would be one room that would be relatively closed-off from the rest of the rooms, a place that would afford some privacy. There would also be a desk where I could set up a computer; I would love the library to have something of a steampunk theme, with accents of brass and polished copper. (It would also be awesome if there was a swiveling bookcase in the library that led to a secret room. Again, isn’t a secret room something that everyone’s dreamt of having in their house?)

Things that are intricately handmade, like spiral staircases with beautiful metal work, or handcarved tables with clawed feet, are the type of flourishes that I would like to have all over the house. My tastes are definitely not sleek or modern – they run older, with a heavily romanticized Medieval/Renaissance influence, a bit of Classical Greco-Roman (some sort of mosaic laid into the floor would be awesome), a bit of Art Nouveau (lamps!), and a bit of Victorian (like I said, steampunk.) While the look of the home would be old, I also appreciate technology – it would just be hidden a bit by the décor. (Air conditioning is a must.) I love photography (primarily nature and architecture), and there would be a ton of pictures on the walls everywhere. I love to go to art fairs, and that’s where most of the photography, sculpture, knick-knacks, and everything would come from.

Talking about geography in an urban vs. rural sense, I would like to be in an area that’s not too far from civilization, but that’s not urban. I don’t like big cities; while they might be fun to visit, the tall buildings and closely-packed population makes me feel closed-in. I’m not fond of completely rural areas, either: I like to be able to get into a city for entertainment if I want. I would love a location like downtown Ann Arbor (which is a large college town): everything you need is within walking distance, from bookstores to restaurants to theaters; anything else you need, like shopping, is a short drive away, and there’s good public transportation. I would prefer to be able to get everywhere I need without having to drive.

Talking about geography in a physical location sense, I would not like to be in a place that gets a ton of snow. I have lived my life in the land of snow, and temperatures below 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit are not fun. I don’t like temperature extremes in general, although I prefer being too cold to being too hot. I don’t like driving in the snow, having to get up early to clean off my car, or slipping and falling on ice, and I don’t enjoy winter sports, so the only nice part of winter is the sheer beauty of a new snowfall, especially when it sticks to the trees. I would want to live in an area with a relatively temperate climate, where it doesn’t rain a lot; I hate humidity.

For climate, I’ve only ever been to England in the summer, but I loved it there; I also loved Italy, particularly in the north, around Florence. Someplace that has a temperate climate that would be around 60-75 degrees year-round would be wonderful, even though I don’t think a place like that actually exists, and if it did you wouldn’t get distinct seasons (and I do love watching the trees change color in the fall, but I think I could live with the trade-off if I could find a place that was balmy year-round.) A place that doesn’t suffer from lots of natural disasters would also be a major plus; I always thought that one upside to living in Michigan is that we don’t get hurricanes, wildfires, big tornadoes, earthquakes, or major floods here.

My ideal home would also have a garden, with a path for walking; I’m not an outdoorsy person in general, but I walk both to exercise and because it’s occasionally nice to get outside for fresh air. A trail with wildflowers, maybe with a part that goes through some woodsy area with a river or a stream running through it. There would also be a garden with some kind of running water (one of those manmade little waterfalls with a pond? It’s my ideal home, so I get to spend all the money I want, right?) I love the sound of running water; it’s very relaxing. A courtyard would be nice for that. Ideally, I’d like to at least be able to have two distinct nature areas, one that would be like a wildflower garden courtyard and trails, and one that would be more nature-trail, less man-made, for wandering. (For the flowers, I’d have to have someone to help me garden, or really hardy plants; I don’t really like gardening.) I like to swim, so a pool or a home near the sea would be nice. If I had a pool, I think I would want it to be indoor, although somewhat separate from the rest of the house – I think the humidity would spread into the rest of the home and make it unpleasant. (Also, I don’t know if a place could have both the climate I’d like and a lake that’s swimmable year-round; my only experiences with swimming in open water are in Michigan, where the water temperature is always freezing, or a day on the beach in Greece, where the weather was too hot but the water was wonderful. So maybe an indoor pool that’s separate from a main house would be best?)

(I know all the talk of England, France, Greece, and Italy and that sounds like I’m insanely rich, but it was all one wonderful 3-week trip back in high school. It’s provided most of my experience with climate regions – other than that, I haven’t been anywhere except the East Coast/Midwest/Canada and Florida, and the former is too cold in winter and the latter too hot in summer, although if it came down to it I prefer the Midwest to Florida, which was constantly humid.)

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!
Wish 1: Good health, perfect physical fitness, and long life, both for myself and my family, fixing past injuries and preventing current ones. I’ve been sick, I’ve seen other family members be sick, and good health and a pain-free life for me and everyone I love would be the best wish fulfillment ever. The health thing is my big wish.

Wish 2: Wealth. Because then you would never have to worry about anything financially – not paying medical bills or watching your parents worry about making repairs on their house or worrying about being able to find a job. It would mean being able to buy whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. It would mean being able to donate money to all the people who need it, to help fix a lot of the problems locally – giving funds to help people get medical care and education (from basic literacy to job training, lots of people need help and unemployment’s a big problem around here, and medical care is always a big issue when people can’t afford insurance) to helping fund the animal shelters so they don’t end up euthanizing so many animals because they can’t afford to care for them until they get adopted. (And yes, the charity is the third thing I thought of – freedom from worrying about paying the bills and being able to buy things on a whim were the first two.)

Wish 3: Can I wish my fantasy life into existence? As in, wishing a fictional world into reality and having my ideal life in that world? It’s kind of a cheat in the sense that it would encompass #1 and #2 and just about any other wish I could make (after all, “an ideal life” involves a long healthy life, wealth, and loved ones, and getting to add bonus things like superpowers or magic would be an awesome bonus.)
If that’s considered cheating, then I’ll just wish for my ideal future spouse to be dropped from the sky and into my lap. I do well with meeting friends, but not so well with meeting guys.

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 easy: I’m most proud of completing my doctoral degree, which I just finished. I was the first person in my family to ever get anything higher than a bachelor’s, the second person on my dad’s side to ever finish any kind of degree at all, and I was 16th in my graduating class, which started out with 100 people (not all of whom finished.) I’m really proud of this because I did it while being sick. (I will be prouder of this if I can get less sick and find a job.)

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.
First off, I’m assuming that love means romantic love, since family and friendship are considered separately. (I mean, family and friends wouldn’t be important if you didn’t love them.) Assuming this, family comes first, with knowledge a close second. Family is first because my family is very close, and tremendously important to me; they provide a support network and are utterly indispensible. I’d be crushed if anything happened to them.
Knowledge is second because I love learning. To me, knowledge is a prerequisite for gaining both pleasure and money – you need to acquire certain types of knowledge to earn money (for example, I hate math, but I needed to have knowledge of math for my career.) On topics that I enjoy naturally (history, science, literature), acquiring knowledge is pleasure. Also, I tend to make friends on the basis of sharing a love of some kind of knowledge – whether we met through school, or through having knowledge about a fandom, or talking about things we know, so without knowledge I wouldn’t have friends. And I don’t really know how to separate doing knowledge- or friend-related things from pleasure: reading, writing, and talking with friends are my main pleasures in life.

For being least important, adventure. I think adventures usually sound more fun than they actually are; I’m perfectly fine with having a calm, quiet life. Also, money itself isn’t important, it’s the things that money can give you: a sense of security, the ability to not go into debt and to be able to afford nice things. But you only need enough money to give you the things that make you happy – it’s the lack of worry that having money brings, and not the money itself, that matters. (Also, if you’re working too hard to acquire money to the point that you’re not happy in your job and you’re making yourself sick, what’s the point?) Finally, while I would love to have some kind of romantic love (see: wish #3), it’s “not important” in the sense that I can live without it; it’s not like I need a man to validate my existence or to support me.

5. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain.
Gaah. I can’t pick one quote that summarizes my entire philosophy in life: there's no single perfect quote. Have a few:

“If I look back, I am lost.” Not stanning a House here – I love the quote, because my personal worldview is that looking back and thinking about what you could have done can be both depressing and utterly pointless, because what’s past is past and dwelling on what-ifs or regrets gets you nowhere. I’d rather focus on the future. You have a lot more control over your future than your past.

“It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what your fate requires you to bear.” From Jane Eyre, and a very true statement – it’s stupid to say that you can’t deal with something when you have to deal with it. Also, dealing with it isn’t courage, it’s resilience.

“What do you fear?”/“A cage, to be held behind bars until use and old age accept them.” I don’t want limitations imposed on me from outside; I want a chance to live my life.

A couple good quotes from Pride and Prejudice (my favorite novel) which describe me, at least to some extent: "I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think." Sometimes too openly. “My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.” It’s difficult to earn my bad opinion, but I don’t forget it if someone’s been offensive, incompetent, or done something to me or a family member.

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Because I honestly believe that ignorance is the worst possible quality for a person to have, and that constantly trying to look outside your worldview and understand others’ points of view.

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.

Right now, I don’t do a lot of money management, because I’m reliant on my family for money. But financial security is of the utmost importance to me; it influenced my choice of major and career, and having grandparents who came from very poor families means that the importance of being financially secure and I grew up hearing stories from them about not being able to afford food, dental care, shoes and other basic necessities. I’ve also seen problems that lack of financial security has caused – due to illness, my parents are essentially supporting me and my grandparents (and last year, one of my parents was supporting everyone because of family illnesses.) Given limited experience, I can manage money: give me a budget and I can stick to it. However, that said, I do have a few areas I like to splurge on from time to time: namely, books and inexpensive jewelry on etsy.

7. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?
I love to read, write, and talk to people who have shared interests (mostly via Internet.) These are my absolute favorite things to do. I read a lot of everything, fiction and non-fiction; most of the fiction I read is historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, or things that aren’t easily classified (Jasper Fforde). For non-fiction, I read a lot of biology and history, particularly for ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and England and France c.1000-1600. Weird neurology case studies and odd diseases are also very interesting to read about. I own over 2200 books, so I read a bit of almost everything, excepting straight-out romance, horror, or books about modern politics.

When I write, I also tend to write original fantasy or sci-fi, or fanfiction that’s either AU or exploring very minor characters. I haven’t put any of it up anywhere, or tried for publication; I need to figure out how to edit, because I think the best thing I’ve written is about the length of A Storm of Swords. I like books – both reading and writing them – with large casts, good world-building, and generally optimistic endings (although I’m fine with putting the characters through hell in the interim – see also my taste in TV shows, like Battlestar Galactica.)

Most of my online time talking to people is spent discussing fandoms and/or random topics and/or catching up with college friends. Sometimes this overlaps. I spend quite a lot of time on tumblr these days, although that’ll probably decrease once I start feeling better and can work on studying for boards and licensure so I can get a real job.

8. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
1. Failure. I’ve worked very hard to get where I am and I don’t want anything to stop me from getting where I want to be, either in my personal or professional life.
2. Being in constant physical pain for the rest of my life. It’s pretty much the reality of my existence at the moment, and I would hope that at some point it’ll become manageable, because otherwise my ability to do anything and everything is going to be impaired.
3. Anything bad happening to my friends or family. I think this is fairly self-explanatory.

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.
Top 3 qualities:
1. Intelligence. I’m smart – both when it comes to book-learning and being occasionally witty and/or sarcastic.
2. I’m resilient. I’ve survived a lot, and am very proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish.
3. I’m easy-going and have a good sense of humor.

Worst 3:
1. I can be too blunt or truthful when I shouldn’t be, speaking freely without thinking about any ulterior motives other people might have.
2. I can be too reserved, to the point of not standing up for myself when I should, for the sake of avoiding an argument. I’m not naturally outgoing, although I tend to be more outspoken when I write than when I speak.
3. I can be too stubborn for my own good. While I pride myself on not giving up, that can occasionally be taken too far.

A Song of Ice and Fire Related
1.How many books from the series have you completed?
All of them.

2.Who are your favorite three characters in the series? Why?
Arya Stark, Asha Greyjoy, Samwell Tarly.
This was hard to narrow down – Sansa has been steadily growing on me throughout the series, Dany was one of my favorites before she hit Meereen and Daario, Tyrion definitely would’ve made the above list prior to ADWD, and Ser Barristan’s POVs were the only good part about Meereen – but in the end, I decided on those three.

I love Asha because she’s so determined. In a male-dominated society, she’s going after what she wants, and she’s smart enough to succeed with most of her plans. Then, even when she’s outnumbered and pretty much doomed, she’s determined to go down fighting. She won’t give up, ever. (Also, I even liked her back when she was messing around with Theon at their initial meeting. I know a lot of people thought that went too far, but I really liked her when I discovered who she was and that she was using the opportunity to size up Theon and gain an advantage.)

I like Sam because I think we’d get along well. Of my 3 favorite characters, we’re the ones who’d actually probably be friends; there’s a passage in the series about how Sam is clumsy, and likes kittens and books and lemon tarts, and that’s pretty much me. There are no people in Westeros who are like me (there’s only me, ha!) – but seriously, Sam is able to admit that he’s not made for the Wall and doesn’t want to be there, and if I were a man, I wouldn’t be very good at being combative and ruthless either.

I’ve liked Arya throughout the books; there’s that kickass woman-warrior defying expected gender roles thing that I like in a lot of characters, plus I’ve enjoyed her plotline a lot throughout all 5 books. From confronting Joffrey to her lessons with Syrio Forel to running through King’s Landing (“Fear cuts deeper than swords”) to her journey with the Night’s Watch and then Sandor Clegane, and finally everything that’s been going on with the Faceless Men, she’s kept me interested in where she’s going and what’ll happen to her next. I’m really interested to see what’ll happen to her in The Winds of Winter and how she’ll get folded back into the main storyline. Her Faceless Man training has been interesting, but I want to see how she’ll put it to use – and I’m hoping she gets a reunion with Sansa (and survives the series, although I don’t think she will.)

Favorite minor character: Wyman Manderly. Badass fat man is badass. For one, he supports Wylla when she has the outburst about Walder Frey; for another, he’s got the intelligence to come up with the Frey Pie plan and the cojones to carry it out. Revenge is a pie best served cold, I suppose.

3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?
Walder Frey, the Boltons (can I count them as one person? If not, then Ramsay, because he’s one sick bastard), The Mountain, Lysa Arryn (I suppose as least favorite minor character – I don’t know if she counts enough to be major), Cersei Lannister (if Lysa’s least favorite minor character and the Boltons are one person – otherwise she’s #5 and doesn’t make the list, and even then it’s a debate over whether I dislike her or Joffrey more. I mean, Joffrey’s worse, but Joffrey’s a minor, which somewhat mitigates his culpability versus Cersei, who’s an adult.)

I hate Walder Frey because he orchestrated the Red Wedding. I like all of the Starks (well, Rickon doesn’t have much characterization, and Ned and Cat could both be frustrating with their Honor-Before-Reason and Cat’s kidnapping of Tyrion, respectively), but what he did was completely wrong and a complete overreaction to Robb’s marriage to Jeyne. And I felt so bad for Arya during this: she’s so close to getting back to her family, and then the Red Wedding happens while she’s so, so close and everything just goes to hell. Here’s to hoping that Arya gets around to adding his name to her death list.

I hate Ramsay Bolton because he’s a sociopath (to the point where he made me feel sorry for Theon, something I thought would never happen after AFFC). Ramsay has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and the fact that Roose just allows him to do everything makes it worse. The flaying, the hunting women for sport, the wedding night scene in ADWD – Ramsay may well be the single worst person in Westeros, and that’s saying something. Similarly, I hate the Mountain because he’s violent and has no redeeming qualities, and he had no compunction whatever about raping Elia of Dorne and bashing Rhaenys’s head against a wall, and then saying that he had absolutely no remorse for doing so.

I hate Lysa Arryn with a passion, because she’s one crazy woman whose actions led to everything going to hell. She lied to Cat, her actions led to Ned’s going to Winterfell and everything that went down thereafter, and she almost pushed Sansa out the Moon Door. I was glad to see her go.

I suppose Lysa’s kind of minor, though, and if you want me to pick a character that gives you more insight into my personality – beyond just hating irredeemable sociopaths, crazy irrational people, and a man who destroyed a family I loved – then I have to express an unpopular opinion and go with Cersei Lannister. I mean, I don’t like Joffrey either (see intro paragraph), but Cersei just grates on me for reasons I can’t even explain fully. Most of the other characters’ POV chapters have made me like them more, but Cersei’s just make me want to bang my head against the wall, especially when you see how badly she’s playing the game of thrones. I understand that she’s repressed by gender roles in Westerosi society and that her character arc is similar to Jaime and Tyrion’s (and her walk of shame and breakdown in ADWD is masterfully written), but Cersei in general just annoys me to no end. I don’t find her particularly interesting, I don’t like her as a character, and her POVs have only intensified my initial dislike.

I don’t excuse Jaime’s actions in AGOT at all (or threatening to trebuchet a baby, for that matter) or Tyrion’s actions regarding Tysha and Shae, but Jaime’s done things since then that have made me at least understand his character more, and I liked Tyrion enough to start with that he’s not going to end up on my least-favorite list after his actions in one book. Similarly, Theon pre-ADWD would’ve made this list easily, but after ADWD, I can’t put him here, because I pity him too much. Again, I’m not excusing his past deeds – he’s still responsible for the deaths of everyone at Winterfell and those two boys – but ADWD made me go from “I WANT HIM TORTURED PAINFULLY AND THEN KILLED” to “…um, maybe not that slowly and painfully?” (I don’t, however, have any sympathy for Gregor Clegane, not even now. He deserved every bit of what he got.)

4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why?
I can’t pick just one! Here, let me ramble out loud:
• Jon giving Arya Needle because it’s such a touching family moment and shows the bond between them.
• Syrio’s lessons with Arya because Syrio is such a fun character and we get the whole “Fear cuts deeper than swords,” commentary.
• Aemon delivering his smackdown to Jon because it’s so very satisfying and such a revelation to find out that Aemon’s a Targaryen.
• “…and the night came alive with the music of dragons” because it’s such a lyrical, triumphant moment, a culmination of everything Dany’s been through in the first book.
• The scene in the House of the Undying because it’s a great re-read in retrospect, and was very creepy and mysterious during my initial read. The Red Wedding in retrospect, all of the descriptions of the different rooms, and Dany bringing the whole thing down with Drogon’s help was terrific.
• On that note, Dany finally getting around to riding Drogon because it was so refreshing after everything else that had been happening in Meereen and it was the culmination of so many books of waiting for her to actually do something with the dragons. (Also, the sheer badassery of Ser Barristan trying to get Drogon’s attention in order to protect Dany.)
• The Frey pie because it’s subtle and amusing and very satisfying revenge for the Red Wedding.
• Tywin’s death, because it was surprising and produced the wonderful culmination of the running gag about Lannisters and gold, and produced the quote, “In the end, Lord Tywin Lannister did not, in fact, shit gold.”
• Irri and Jhiqui exchanging their little “It is known” comments about Rakharo, just because it’s one funny scene that’s not done amidst massive suffering or involving cannibalism or violence.
• Tyrion and Bronn in the Eyrie, making their alliance, because it shows their respective personalities so well. (Tyrion gets a lot of great quotes in AGOT, from his mind being his weapon to his affection for cripples, bastards, and broken things, but I wouldn’t qualify those scenes as my favorites when taken as a whole.)
• Asha Greyjoy’s introductory scene, because after how Theon toyed with that girl on the ship, it was only fitting that someone mess with him a little. Also, it introduced Asha, and Asha’s about the only person from the Iron Islands I enjoy reading about.
• In a similar vein, the introduction of Arianne Martell and the Sand Snakes because more powerful female characters are always welcome in the series and the idea of having Martells in King’s Landing made me excited for The Winds of Winter (as opposed to most of the rest of ADWD, which made me pretty much want to slap Tyrion, Dany, and Cersei.)
• A lot of the Jaime/Brienne interaction in ACOK, particularly “Her name is Brienne,” and “I only rescue maidens,” because it’s a wonderful example of the development of their relationship (non-romantic; I don’t really ship anyone in ASOIAF, mostly because I know it would all end badly. The odds for one character alone making it to the end of the series are bad enough; two would be far worse.)
• Sansa building the snow Winterfell because it’s also tragic and heartbreaking after everything she’s gone through (and also because it’s followed shortly after by Littlefinger shoving Lysa out of the Moon Door, providing one of the most satisfying character deaths in the series thus far.)
• The Red Viper having his Inigo Montoya moment with Gregor Clegane, because it’s finally vengeance for poor Elia and Rhaenys, even if poor Oberyn doesn’t survive.
The list goes on and on and on. But I need to pick one, and if I have to pick one, that one moment is going to be:
Overall, though, if you’re making me pick just one scene, it’s Joffrey’s wedding. Between Joffrey’s immensely satisfying death, Olenna Redwyne’s acerbic comments about “The Rains of Castamere,” and all of the fallout from the subsequent events, I think that’s my ultimate favorite scene.

5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why?
Littlefinger would teach everything he knows about the Game of Thrones to Sansa, who would then push him out of the Moon Door at the opportune moment. Sansa would end up in control of the Vale (probably by marrying the most eligible candidate, who would be the perfect knight she was looking for back in AGOT.) Part of me wants Arya to end up as the Stark in Winterfell, ruling in her own right (don’t ask me how, because Sansa’s still alive; maybe Sansa had to relinquish her claim to Winterfell in order to gain the Vale, or maybe Arya can just act as her permanent regent), but I think that I’ll be more decisive and put Rickon in as the Stark in Winterfell (which is what I think will actually happen, by the way.) I have other plans for Arya, but I’ll start by saying that she comes back from Faceless Man training and starts taking care of her death list.

Dany invades Westeros, meeting up with Aegon, who marries Arianne Martell. Tyrion and his sellswords tag along. Dorne crowns Myrcella to sow dissent. In my ideal world, both Myrcella and Tommen would survive somehow despite the prophecy; Cersei would only think they were dead, perhaps in a faked-death way, akin to how Aegon’s death was faked (while I dislike Aegon’s introduction so late in the series, I do think I would make him real for story purposes.). I love Tommen with his hatred of beets and love of Ser Pounce, and like Myrcella from the little we’ve seen of her. That way, Cersei could think they’re dead and the “gold shall be their crowns, and gold their shrouds” prophecy would be completed without killing them; realistically, I don’t see it happening, but I wish it would, because I like them. But if I was realistically writing the ending myself, either both of them would die in the civil war or, once it was clear that Aegon (and Myrcella) were winning, House Tyrell would arrange for Cersei to think Tommen was dead but in reality would have him smuggled out, with Loras serving as Tommen’s Jon Connington (Aegon and Rhaenys parallel!) in the hopes of being able to use him as a pawn somehow in the future.

It will somehow become known that R+L does indeed equal J, and Melisandre will resurrect Jon Snow to become Azor Ahai reborn (maybe, in a very tragic version of events, having to kill Ghost as his Nissa Nissa in order to forge Longclaw into Lightbringer; I don’t know who else would qualify as Nissa Nissa for Jon.) Jon goes south because, having technically died, he’s free of the Night’s Watch vows. Hopefully on his way south, he stops at the Dreadfort, an epic battle ensues, and the Boltons are wiped out. He frees Asha Greyjoy, Stannis, and Mance; Stannis, being a R’hllor worshiper, will recognize Jon as Azor Ahai and obey Jon’s command to go back up north and try to join the Night’s Watch to defend against the Others. Mance will follow him back up north; I have no idea if that river by the Dreadfort is deep enough for ships, but Asha will ally herself with Jon and Melisandre against the Others in exchange for getting their help setting herself up as ruler of the Iron Islands. Theon will probably end up dying in the Dreadfort; if not, he’ll go along with Asha, and end up serving under her.

Asha will somehow get hold of Victarion’s horn and get it to Jon, who blows it and gains control of Viserion. Dany will meet up with Aegon when she invades, Aegon becoming rider of Rhaegal and one of the heads of the dragon. It would turn out that the Prince That Was Promised, the Mother of Dragons, and Azor Ahai are all different people, each of whom is one of the the three heads of the dragon: Aegon, riding Rhaegal (because of his father), Dany riding Drogon (it is known), and Jon riding (or possibly warging) Viserion, because Viserion is cream-colored, which is the closest to snow-colored of all 3 dragons.

Jaime and Brienne temporarily avoid Lady Stoneheart (I’m assuming Brienne can buy some time somehow; possibly, the Brotherhood is distracted by the big invasion.) After the prophecy is fulfilled and Cersei thinks Tommen and Myrcella are dead, Jaime will become Cersei’s valonqar. If I were to kill Jaime, it would be at this point (because of the poeticness of them entering and leaving the world together), but I’m going to keep him alive for the sake of the ending. Arya will eventually end UnCat’s existence after reassuring her that she’s both completed the hit list and that she (and possibly Sansa, if she knows that) are still alive. Seeing that Arya is alive and vengeance has been done, UnCat will welcome death as undead Beric Dondarrion once did.

Davos will find Rickon, install him in Winterfell, and go home to spend some quality time with his remaining family, because the poor guy is one of the genuinely decent people in the series and deserves a break. Sam Tarly becomes a maester and gets his chain forged with a link for magic, while Lord Randyll Tarly dies horribly when the Others invade. I don’t really care about Varys except for really hating him for killing poor Ser Kevan, so I would hope he’d die before the end somehow, although I suspect he might survive to serve a restored Targaryen dynasty.

In the end, the Others invade, Jon, Dany, and Aegon destroy them, and set up a triumvirate to rule. With no Others, Mance Rayder becomes 1000th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and makes peace with the wildlings. Tyrion becomes lord of Casterly Rock, Sam Tarly becomes a maester and Hand of the King, and Brienne becomes a part of the Kingsguard/Kingsguard/Queensguard. Jaime, Arya, and Ser Barristan become triple heads of the triple Guard, with Barristan head of Dany’s Queensguard (and Brienne succeeding him upon his death), Arya head of Jon’s Kingsguard, and Jaime head of Aegon’s Kingsguard (redeeming himself from having killed Aerys.) It will be agreed that Aegon and Arianne’s children will inherit the Seven Kingdoms (reflecting, again, that Dorne was originally brought into the Targ fold by a marriage alliance.) With the full support of the newly established Targ dynasty, Asha Greyjoy rules the Iron Islands and directs them towards a less burn-and-pillage lifestyle. The Tyrells are allowed to retain their claim to the Reach, albeit with their power greatly diminished. The Stormlands are given over to Stannis, who relinquishes his claim because Azor Ahai is on the throne and he loves R’hllor (plus, 3 dragons are hard to argue with.) Bran will narrate the epilogue, having become one with the weirwood and thus one of the old gods.

I like this ending because my favorite characters end up surviving, the Others don’t kill everything, and it’s basically the closest you’re going to get to an “all is well” ending in this series. I don’t think it’s entirely realistic – I think Jaime will go out with Cersei, and that Tommen’s going to die, and that Arya and Asha both have a pretty good chance of biting the dust – but I like this ending, especially with the triple rulers and setting up some nice parallels with the Guard. (Also, Arya and Brienne would get along really well together, and I like the idea of Arya guarding Jon with Needle, Jaime redeeming himself by guarding a Targ, and Brienne getting to head a faction of a triple Kings/Queensguard once Ser Barristan dies. I also really don’t want to see Stannis sitting the Iron Throne; he would make a terrible king.

*Alternate ideas I’ve seen and don’t mind, but feel too much like crack theories to me to accept as real: Brienne ends up being Azor Ahai and forges Oathkeeper by killing Jaime (with permission), right after Jaime kills Cersei; this fulfills her vow to Lady Stoneheart, and takes Jaime and Cersei out of the world together. This all feels very fitting, except that Brienne doesn’t fit any part of the prophecy while Jon Snow’s assassination has a lot of parallels to Azor Ahai – not to mention Melisandre’s visions. That, and I saw one fan idea that said the final line should be “Jaime Lannister sat on the Iron Throne to see who would come and claim it,” and while that’s an awesome final line, it would drive me batshit insane, because it puts Westeros right back where it started before ASOIAF happened, and I like my endings more wrapped-up than that; it would feel like I'd just read 10,000 pages for nothing.

Well, that's it! I honestly have no idea of where in Westeros I belong, so hopefully you can figure it out!
(Note: Edited only to insert some line breaks, as the last comment suggested. Thanks to hamsterwoman for reminding me that < br > does exist - I'd tried < p > when initially doing the application, but that does some screwy stuff with putting the text all in gray. Second edit done to give credit to misstopia for referring me here, since I just figured that out.)