westerosorting | you win or you die, there is no middle ground (Reply)

Name: Amy
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 noticed a big house Tyrell badge in the userinfo of someone on my flist (

sunnytyler001) and followed it here!
Age: 20
Location: Canada
Occupation: Student (was majoring in Philosophy but I'm about to switch to Communications). Also about to start a new clerical job!

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 haven't really thought much about this in the past since I'm only now just getting to the age where I can even consider homes. So it's tricky to come up with like, the colours I want to paint my bathroom or other specifics of that nature. BUT. I know for sure I'd want an apartment rather than a huge space. I'd feel uncomfortable in a big house because I've lived in small spaces my entire life and also I'm probably going to be on my own in this ideal scenario so it seems a bit excessive to need all that space for just me. And also I would never want to have to deal with cleaning the place and decorating countless rooms and all that shit. Just give me a relatively average sized upscale apartment suite somewhere in the downtown core. It really has to be in a city because that's where I intend to work and play and do everything basically. I hate suburbs and I've never lived in the country and wouldn't know what to do with myself there. Interior needs to be equipped with modern furnishings, nothing too kitschy or knick-knacky. Simple sophistication is the vibe I'd want to go for. Well stocked liquor cabinets are also required. And with a cat as my roommate.

Geographically, I'd want to stay in Canada if possible. I don't want to deal with having to apply for citizenship or whatever in another country (I mean, there are other reasons but this is essentially it).

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!
First: Infinite resources. Give me an endless flow of money and time so that I can do all the things I want to do without having to be selective about my pursuits. I want to go for several other degrees and grad school and to try out a bunch of occupations and hobbies and to travel. I hate having to decide which things to focus on because I don't have enough money or time (I want to do ALL the things!!) I want total freedom to improve myself and to have new experiences.

Second: Health and happiness for my family and friends. I worry a lot about the well-being of people I care about, especially my parents. My mother suffers from some health issues and I just want her to be happy and healthy and to have some sort of peace of mind. Knowing everyone would be secure would also give ME peace of mind. I'm a huge worrier.

Third: A sharper mind. Give me a photographic memory and the ability to absorb and process huge amounts of information quickly. I often feel like I'm not as bright as I should be for the kind of things I'm interested in. My brother is a bit of a genius so my standards for myself are probably skewed but I just feel like I'm never at a high enough level.

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. ;)
Accomplishments??? I'm only 20 and I've barely done anything yet. Everything I'm coming up with seems really trivial like 'I did good on that one research paper' or 'A's in the following classes fuck yeah!' I don't know, I'm proud of the scholarship I got a few years ago for my exam scores in high school. I was just an average student in class generally but I'm really good at writing exams and it was kind of impressive because my scores were so much higher than what people would have expected. And then there was this class last year where I came out with 100% on the final, that was pretty great. I still laugh about it because, what. How did I manage that.

I'm not hugely focused on accomplishments right now tbh. There will probably be something better to put here in a few years once I've finished my degree.

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.
Ooooh tricky tricky. All are important obviously but I think love probably stands a cut above the others. And I don't mean romantic love or being in love. I mean basic human compassion and empathy for others. Being able to love with all your heart and making decisions which reflect that. Family and friends are essential too but the concepts themselves don't necessarily mean anything positive. You can have a family where there is no love and which is actually detrimental to you as a person. You can have friendships which are shallow and more about reciprocal benefits for both people than genuine feelings. I just think love needs to be there for friendship and family to really be good meaningful things for the people involved. And anyways, love is such a huge driving force (insert gratuitous Jaime Lannister quote here).

Least important is even trickier because I want to say money but I have some reservations. I've been poor. My family went through a very difficult time when I was a child (think no food on the table) and I would never want to live like that again or wish it on anyone. Money is important in the world we live in to get by. On it's own though just as a concept it has no inherent value. It just comes up hollow next to things like adventure and knowledge and even pleasure. Who lives for money? That's so empty.

5. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain.
"Sometimes you just have to jump out the window and grow wings on the way down."
How do I even begin to describe this coherently. It's taken me a while to realize this but I'm now firmly of the belief that waiting for things to happen will get you nowhere. You can't just expect to jump into a situation perfectly equipped to deal with everything and you can't expect to grow as a person if you don't take some risks. Life is not going to stop for you to collect yourself. Opportunities won't present themselves to you unless you get out there on your own. You have to actually make things happen for yourself. There was a time when I was in a very stagnant place for about a year where I didn't know what to do with myself in terms of school and work and I developed this inertia where I just wasn't doing anything and naively hoping that something good would come along. I was afraid to commit to a discipline because I didn't want to make the wrong choice and I was terrified of failure. I think for me inertia is the most dangerous thing. It's damaging as hell. I'm trying to be the opposite of this now. I'm learning to embrace failure. I'm putting myself out there.

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.
I don't have a ton of money to mismanage at this point. I pay all my bills on time and I don't make wildly expensive purchases. I have a good credit rating and I always find ways to pay tuition (which is sooo expensive WHY) through scholarships and whatnot.

But I do have some slightly worrying tendencies towards impulsive clothing purchases. I just really love clothes and when I try something on and it looks good I can't NOT buy it. And I go into stores A LOT. I should probably ban myself from it or something. Just this week I bought this silk blouse that was way outside my usual price range (the fit was perfect though I had to you don't understand!!)

I also spend a bit too much on my entertainment budget. I go out quite a lot (though really, not that much more than most people my age) and food and drink (especially drink) are costly.

In general I try not to let financial restraints get in the way of me having fun, which is probably something I need to change. I need to definitely limit myself a bit.

Like I mentioned earlier, my family was quite poor while I was growing up so financial security is definitely something I crave. I don't like the uncertainty of living with nothing to back me up financially. I don't think that kind of stress is good for a person's health or well-being. I'm not willing to compromise my other values for money though. And I won't work a job that runs me into the ground and is unsatisfying.

7. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favourite things to do outside of school/the office?
I just told you, clothes and going out! No but really. I'm hugely in love with fashion right now. I have my favourite models and designers and I try to follow them as closely as possible. I'm also in the process of further developing my sewing skills so I can make some of my own garments. I'm also pretty into film (to the extent that I've considered minoring in it).

I like going to clubs and bars and the like on weekends because it's combining all of my favourite things into one awesome experience; Friends, socializing, drinking, dancing, music. I like to relax and get out all of my excessive energy at the end of the week.

I don't know what else to put here. I like to visit new places around my province. I make trips up to Whistler whenever possible. I like to hike. I like to do exercise (again, getting out my excessive energy and also it's good for the angst). I like playing with my dog. I don't know, what do people do?? I can't put reading here because I'm actually a terrible reader. I read like ten books a year. I enjoy it though, I'm just not especially good at sitting down to read.

8. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
a) DEATH. This is stupidly obvious and all that but it's true so I'm including it. I'm kind of hyper-aware of my own mortality and nothing scares me more than the thought of dying before I've really lived. I feel like if by some freak occurrence I died now as a 20 year old my life will have been largely meaningless and people will forget about me after a while because I'm still just in the process of becoming an interesting person and I haven't even done anything yet. THIS SOUNDS HORRIBLE I'M SO SORRY. I'm not actually that morbid or down on myself or whatever. I just feel like, what would they even put in my obituary?? 'She went to college a bit and stuff', 'she was a pretty cool lady I guess'. THERE'S NOTHING OMG. This is horrible. Who am I?

b) Pregnancy. It's just a very visceral squicky thing for me. I'm cringing just typing this. Do I have to go into details about why this horrifies me? It's all of it really. The changes to your body, the concept of having another being growing inside you, the giving birth, the responsibility afterward. All of it. It's not for me. Give me all the birth control in the world.

c) Being trapped. In a figurative sense. What I mean is getting myself into a corner where I have limited options or where I lack personal autonomy. This could mean being trapped in a shitty relationship or getting stuck in a bad business contract or some commitment that limits my ability to make other choices. ~you can't hold me down~ etc. I value my freedom above all. I fear being financially dependent on another person. I'm also just afraid of waking up one day to realize I'm married with two kids and a golden retriever in some big house in the suburbs and I hate my life but there's no way out (not that there's anything wrong with that lifestyle- it's just not for me).

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.
- Humour and playfulness - aka keeping it real. I'm a slight extrovert and when a joke presents itself I will go there. I have a knack for story telling and a flare for the dramatic (or so I've been told, this is debatable). I'm expressive in the way I talk and gesticulate. I also tend to have a lot of enthusiasm of the capslock variety when it comes to things that interest me (this will become more evident when we get to the part of this application where I talk about my favorite characters). I like making people laugh and smile. I'm fun and easy to be around. I'm not sure this is something I'm good at conveying through text though? It's more of an in person sort of thing.

- Outspoken and confident. WITH LOTS OF OPINIONS. I'm not afraid to speak up for myself and to defend what I think is right. I'm confident about voicing my opinions and I stick up for my friends. I've disagreed with authority figures before and come out on top (because I was right!!!). I'm not easily intimidated, even by people much bigger and more powerful than myself. I can hold my own in almost any scenario.

- Quick on my feet. I am a fast thinker and an even faster talker. Put me on the spot and force me to come up with something brilliant or work through a tough logical problem and I will. I do well in scenarios where there's no room for me to be complacent. This is why I'm good at tests, public speaking, debates, etc. I excel under pressure.

WORST.
- Temper. You know the whole fight or flight response thing? Yeah, I always respond with fight. It's like my default setting when pushed. It takes a lot to get me really angry though. But when I am it's a pretty loud affair.

- Trust issues. I'm highly mistrusting of other people's intentions and general goodness. I kind of assume that everyone wants something from me. I keep a lot of stuff to myself and I tend to have difficulty connecting with people on a deeper level. I keep things casual as much as possible because I don't trust people to react well to any of my ~issues~ or problems. I can come off as being shallow as a puddle because of this.

- Perfectionist streak. I'm trying to gravitate away from this but I still have this fear of failure that manifests. I don't want to fail and I also don't want others to see me failing. Everything has to be perfect when it comes to my work or assignments. I can turn anything into a huge project and I get stuck on little details. I can exhaust myself with this.

A Song of Ice and Fire Related

1.How many books from the series have you completed?
I've read all of them! And that one chapter GRRM's released for the new book (FEELINGS).

2.Who are your favourite three characters in the series? Why?
Sansa Stark - I'm going to make a concentrated effort to keep this brief because I don't want to accidentally write a novel titled 'Why Sansa is Better Than Everyone'. Sansa is my baby girl, don't even step to this. No but, let's be serious. I think she's the best character in the books. Her progression from naive girl (who was actually the most probable and realistic outcome of growing up as a girl in the society she lives in) to politically astute future player of the game has been so satisfying. Her growth has been the most consistent and her chapters are some of the best in terms of being well written. I've always felt that GRRM takes special care with Sansa chapters. Oh man, I love Sansa chapters so much. That's where it all goes down. I love where she is right now in terms of her position for even more growth under Littlefinger and the way she's learning to lie like the best of them through being Alayne. I subscribe to the theory that she's going to become a politically savvy powerhouse eventually. She's a fast learner despite her earlier worldview in the first book. Once she shed that outlook she's been consistently clever in her interactions with people who basically want to use her or kill her. She's a survivor and I love characters with a sense of self preservation. Aside from all that, I think she's a good person. Which is a bit rare in these books (not that that's a bad thing). I find it kind of incredible that she's still this kind person after all the cruelty she's experienced. I honestly think she's the central character of the series. Did I mention I live for Sansa chapters? Give them to me GRRM. It's been so many years you are killing me here bro.

Cersei Lannister - Don't even try to talk me out of this. Fierce lioness who will eat your faves for breakfast and ask for seconds. I love Cersei to a ridiculous degree considering what an asshole she is to some of my favourites. I am gleeful every time it's a Cersei chapter because she jumps off the page more than any other character and I love being inside her head. I think she's hilarious. She's got such a cutting voice. She's consistently full of fire and forcefulness and all these things that excite me as a reader. I was drawn to her from the start because she embodies one of my favourite literary tropes, the wicked queen. But she's more than that and she's also one of the only characters who voices a frustration with the patriarchal society she lives in. I FEEL U GIRL. I think she's justified in a lot of her anger over her abusive husband and the minimal amount of power and autonomy allowed to her. Not that all her actions are morally acceptable. They aren't obviously. But I can understand her to a degree and I do sympathize with her generally. She's a warrior in spirit but she's forced into this arena which doesn't really allow for that and it leads her into disaster. I think people tend to overlook that by the time she starts getting paranoid and politically sloppy she's already had all these steady figures in her life ripped away from her (I wish I could write more about this but there just isn't room here for what I want to say). And then her fall from power happens and we get to see how she reacts when you put her in a cage, the initial fight of kicking and screaming and the eventual resolve to manipulate the situation. Let's not even start on her second chapter in ADWD. I get chills just thinking about how great the chapter was. And at the end where Kevan thinks she's finally been broken but he's so wrong because she's still scheming and regrouping her battle plans. Only Cersei Lannister defeats Cersei Lannister. She's going to be her own undoing in the end. Her and Jaime are going to kill each other and I'm going to love it. I want to see them rip each other apart (literally, figuratively, whatever). It's going to be beautiful. I can't control my Cersei feelings apparently because this is only skimming the surface and I could write more (I could talk about her all day if we're honest). Brief concluding thoughts: fierce bitch, fascinating to read about, terrible and wonderful at the same time.

Theon Greyjoy - Oh man, Theon. He just kills me. He's the one who gets under my skin the most and the one who makes me FEEL the most. He's this little shit in the beginning but it's such a thin cover. I like that he gets taken down several pegs by Asha after being such an asshole to women earlier in the books. He really deserved that. And then later on the text just punishes him to these increasingly extreme degrees and he really gets it for everything he does. I like that GRRM can take a character who a lot of people hate and then make us feel sorry for him in the cruelest way. But who am I kidding I was never able to hate this guy. He's too fascinating not to love. He's never had a real home where he could be completely comfortable or welcome. He's a hostage at Winterfell as a child and later a friend to Robb and someone just a few steps short of being a brother. But he was never a Stark and then he goes back to Pyke and he learns that he's not really Greyjoy material either. He's rejected by his father and his little brain is just working to come up with a way to get on top of the situation and he makes some bold moves and goes after Winterfell (I loved this plot twist personally). It's so interesting because he can't really commit to anything 100%. He's always a bit on the fence because he's never quite standing on solid ground. He goes after Winterfell but can't go through with killing Bran and Rickon so he kills the butcher's boys and that's horrifying too but also indicative. Because he can't give up the Starks completely even though he's made this choice which will end any kind of kinship with them. And then the whole descent into becoming Reek and ADWD just as a whole. His chapters were some of the most poignant and intense. We really get to see his remorse and his messed up mental state and it's all so fascinating and bone-chilling and heartbreaking. I swear, every time he mentions Robb I want to cry (the part where he's like "where was I? I should have died with him" gets me the most). I love the theme of loss of personal identity that keeps coming up in these books and I think Theon is one of the most interesting occurrences of this. We really see him come full circle. I loved watching him regain himself near the end of ADWD through rescuing Jeyne and breaking away from Ramsay even though he's been so broken down and conditioned to bend to his will. It was a really great moment. And then WOW GEORGE giving us a Theon chapter sample. Am I allowed to talk about that? Because I have a lot of feelings about that too.

This was really hard to narrow down because I have really strong feelings on a lot of characters. Like, I could write essays about Catelyn Stark and I will defend her always but she doesn't excite me as much as the three above. Others I love (just for reference I guess): Jaime Lannister, Arya Stark, Sandor Clegane, Asha Grejoy, Arianne Martell, Oberyn Martell, Varys, Stannis, Davos, Melisandre, Littlefinger, Brienne. It's a long list and it gets longer but I'll stop here.

(I am so sorry about the word-vomit that happened here. I just get carried away when talking about these characters and I'm not good at editing myself because I have so many things I want to say.)

3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?
Not including obvious monsters and surface level villains. Because that's boring and too easy.

Robert Baratheon - He's an incompetent oaf who ran a kingdom into the ground over his personal feelings and shitty habits. He's also an abusive husband and terrible father. And a terrible friend too. No consideration for Ned at all wow you guys were besties? Never would have guessed with the way you dropped a kingdom into his hands to run for you while you boozed it up and indulged yourself. I hate people like this in stories and in real life. He's such a washed-up loser. Get over the dead woman you barely even knew.

Tyrion Lannister - Because of his rampant and unrepentant misogyny. The way he made Tysha's rape all about his manpain (and actually has the nerve to go looking for her. Just let the woman live her life). The way he treats sex workers. The murder of Shae. Saying he wants to rape and kill his sister. Everything that happened in the brothel in ADWD. A Dance With Dragons just put him on my shit list for a bunch of reasons and I couldn't care less about what's going on with him at this point. I can seriously only read 'where do whores go?' so many times before having to put down the book. I do appreciate that GRRM went there with his favourite character though. I think it's very calculated and we're supposed to be seeing him in a darker light at this point. He's really not that good of a guy. Biggest case of the unreliable pov narrator in the whole series imo. And like, bottom line is that I don't find his chapters fun to read anymore. I found myself looking forward to even Jon and Bran chapters over his which would never have been the case in previous books.

Jon Snow - He's a decent enough guy but that doesn't endear a character to me (this should be obvious by now with Cersei as one of my favourites). What Jon lacks for me is an interesting personality. He bores me to death. His chapters are only interesting because of the environment he's in and the other characters his pov gives us access to (Stannis! Mel!). I guess maybe I just don't get Jon at this point. Most of the characters are handled subversively but he seems to be played almost straight for the most part. I kind of tend to skim his chapters until the names 'Melisandre' or 'Stannis' come up. And he's supposedly one of GRRM's finest creations? I don't see it. He's too much like Ned in a lot of ways and I don't get why we would need to rehash that. Hopefully he'll become more exciting in the next book. Turn him into a zombie or something, I don't care.

4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why?
So many good ones but Cersei II in A Dance With Dragons is the freshest in my mind and the one I have the most feelings about right now.

I already mentioned this in my earlier Cersei answer but let's talk some more about how literally perfect every single line in that chapter was. The shaving of her head and how it's a mirror of Jaime's earlier head shaving in the Tully dungeon. The loss of her golden crown to go along with her actual crown and hair grows back, I am a lioness I will not cringe for them. I'm not going to pretend I don't have huge chunks of this chapter memorized, let's be real. The actual walk and how she slowly realizes that she's made a huge mistake in doing this because they see her now and she's been bared to the people as just a woman like any other and what that means for her. The line where she was like Ned Stark stood here and how they looked at him the same way. The visions of Ned and Sansa and the direwolf in the crowd, seeing Tywin, every child becoming Tyrion in her eyes. The way she reassures herself all throughout that she's doing this for Tommen and she has to get to him. And then the moment where she snaps and just crawls up the hill and they all laugh but she doesn't care because she's being powered by sheer force of will alone. GOD. So good. Best ever.

Honourable mentions to the Red Wedding (because HOLY SHIT), Sansa building the snow castle of Winterfell, 'only Cat', 'is there gold in the village', Oberyn Martell's Princess Bride moment and just that whole scene ('she was Elia of Dorne.' I still get chills!). There are others but I will stop here.

5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why?
Sansa as queen in the north. Maybe with some sort of temporary alliance with Dany during the inevitable white walker invasion that's coming. But I would honestly prefer house Martell to win the game if anyone has to have the throne. I don't know if that's in the cards but hey this is my dream scenario. I would also be cool with the Iron Throne being burnt to the ground.

I think the Lannisters and the Tyrells (to a lesser extent) are fated to be fallen houses. I don't see either being able to maintain the level of power they've been chasing. I want Jaime and Cersei to go out in a blaze of glory as I've already mentioned. I will be pissed if they don't fulfill that prophesy. I want Tommen to survive everything and live with his kittens in High Garden. I want Myrcella to continue to live in Dorne and become her own person away from her family.

I'd like for Arya to come back and reconnect with Sansa. And for Lady Stoneheart to see her daughters again and find peace. I want Bran to somehow have a conversation with one of his siblings, be it through a heart tree or any other way. I want the truth to come out that Bran and Rickon lived. I want Theon to have a proper death scene and to be at peace.

I want Brienne to continue going on quests because Brienne/quests is my otp.

(my dream scenario has two out of three of my absolute favorites dead. GRRM WOULD BE SO PLEASED.)