win or die
Name: Martha
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!): Through dear moderntrickster.
Age: 21
Location: Malta
Occupation: Student
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!. Having lived for the entirety of my life this far on a tiny Mediterranean island, I have always had somewhat of an idealised view of mainland Europe and Britain (being a recovering Anglophile), as erroneous as that view might be. The small bit of travelling I've done in Europe made me understand that I don't see myself as a city-dweller, but I would rather live in a less busy town/city. My favourite city I have visited so far has to be Nuremberg, in the southern Bavarian region of Germany. Nuremberg is probably the model of a city I'd love to live in. Not as busy as, say, Munich, but still a sizeable city with a vast array of things to see and experience. I do see myself living in a moderatory sized apartment there. I am lucky enough to live in a large-ish house with my family, so something smaller seems to me a rather pleasant change. My ideal apartment would have ample space for shelving, good wi-fi connectivity and possibly an outdoor area where to have a small garden or some potted plants.
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!
i. Unlimited money. Honestly, who wouldn't wish this? Money doesn't grant happiness, but it sure helps. I'd probably use quite a lot for travelling. Seeing all the great things there is to see. All the art and all the natural beauties, that is not to mention all the shows and concerts.
ii. Confidence . I have missed so many opportunities by lacking confidence in myself, and have a low self-esteem, that I would really think it would make a great difference to my life if I did have it.
iii. Motivation. Because I find it rather hard to look forward to my future and not shudder slightly.
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. ;) Probably overcoming past difficulties and getting to university. Early in my life, I did terribly at anything school-related, due to bad teachers as well as family problems. For the longest time I thought I wouldn't really amount to anything. But then I slowly discovered literature, and that developed into a more all-encompassing interest in the arts. I am now in my final year of a B.A. in History of Art.
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. This isn't difficult at all. I think one needs a degree of each in life. But because I have to answer the question I'd say the most important for me is Love, and by that I don't just mean romantic love (sadly rather lacking where I'm coming from), but merely knowing that in the end of the day there are people who love you. I guess this would be connected to Family in my case, as I rely heavily on them, mostly my mother and sister, with whom I live. Probably the least important to me would be adventure, as in the obvious sense of the word. Frankly, I would rather stay in and watch documentaries.
5. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain. “You'll never be a first-class human being or a first-class woman, until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty.” - Cary Grant as C.K. Dexter Haven in the 1940 film The Philadelphia Story. I don't really have anything to add to that, just that I love Cary Grant (but that's beside the point). And let's be honest, it's better than the obvious Oscar Wilde or Siddhartha Gautama quote.
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. Not very well, to put it blankly. When I do have some money in hand I tend to spend it rather quickly on various things, like clothes, shoes, sushi, drinks and so on. When I do not have money I cope. I do still live with my mum, so I guess that helps, although I don't really depend on her financially. But of course it helps that I don't have to pay bills. Despite what I wished for, money isn't all that important to me. We were never truly well-off, so I got used to sort of coping and adjusting to circumstances early on.
7. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office? Well, I spend most of my time on my laptop, watching stuff, and things. Shows, films, documentaries, kind of crap British panel shows, and what have you. I love to compile mixtapes and just browse tumblr for hours and hours. Outside of the internet I enjoy going for sushi, the occasional play, and because of my line of study I go to quite a number of exhibition openings (mostly for the free wine, but also for the art of course).
8. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
i. Being judged. I absolutely despise being put in a position where I am being judged or put under scrutiny. So I try my best to avoid activities that involve public speaking, as I always get very nervous and shaky when I have to give a presentation or the like.
ii. Rejection. I am a total people pleaser and find it rather hard to speak or act my mind when scared of being judged and rejected for what I've done or said, so I often just suffer in silence.
iii. The future. Do I really need to explain myself? I mean, I am (hopefully) going to graduate with a B.A. next year. So...what then?
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 (As you can see in the length of these, I found this rather hard):
i. Compassionate. I do take pride in being a good listener and caring for people, while trying to be as supportive as possible. Also, it's quite a good tool to have for roleplaying.
ii. Open-minded. I'm pretty much open to discuss anything and everything, and I owe this to my wide range of interests. I can really blab on about anything. I think everyone has a right to speak their mind, as long as they're not hurting anyone.
iii. Funny. At least that's what people tell me. Oftentimes I use comedy to diffuse tension or change the subject. The best (and saddest) jokes are always about myself. I don't really know what that says about me.
Worst:
i. Laziness. This is really problematic when it comes to assignments and exams. I am one of those of people who leaves everything to the very last minute. I study for most of my exams the day/night before (and yet still do reasonably well most times). This is probably tied to my lack of motivation problem. I find it rather hard to close my laptop and sit down and work. The fact that I still have time to work on the task at hand some other time keeps nagging at me and I end up not doing anything. Every time.
ii. Anxious. Especially when I keep lazying about and procrastinating on things. I also get terribly anxious before meetings and in crowds. I'm terrible at interacting with other people when in a group. I'm fine when it's a one-to-one interaction, but get me in a group and I pretty much cave in on myself.
iii. Insecure. This goes hand-in-hand with the anxiousness.
A Song of Ice and Fire Related
1.How many books from the series have you completed? All five.
2.Who are your favorite three characters in the series? Why?
i. Sansa Stark. Where to start? I actually wasn't much of a fan of Sansa in the first book, as many others weren't. But I quickly grew enamored of her. Martin develops her character so well, that you can see her grow and mature from chapter to chapter. And I find that in the Eyrie, under Littlefinger's guidance (putting aside the dark, but rather fascinating to me, underbelly of that relationship), she is truly flowering as a player of the game, something we've only seen hints of for now.
ii. Petyr Baelish. Because I always fall for the evil ones. I adore the pure anarchy that is this character. There is a degree of admiration in the way he scaled the ladder, from an insignificant minor house to Lord Protector of the Vale, through sheer cleverness and cunning. He's the one figure in the King's small council that I always looked forward to reading about, and laughing at his cheeky quips at Eddard and others. His character dynamics with Sansa are also a source of fascination to me. Yes, there's the fact that he might have been instrumental in her father's death, and that his interest in her is beyond platonic and stems for his infatuation with Catelyn. However, I realized that the two characters had a number of similarities in their development. From what we know, both Sansa and Petyr began as rather naive (Petyr's duel against Branden) and grew into players of the game. We've already seen how Sansa seems to be Petyr's weakness, and I hope that will develop further, as I would love to see Petyr be bested by Sansa, beaten at his own game (more about that in the last question).
ii. Samwell Tarly. A hugely underrated character, I think. Unlike any other character in the books. I love how he's an unlikely hero, without even knowing so, being the most unlikely candidate for a hero in the context of the books. I'm really looking forward to see how his storyline develops in the coming books.
Honorable mentions: Olenna Tyrell, Asha Greyjoy, Roose Bolton, Stannis Baratheon, Cersei Lannister, Fat Walda, Myranda Royce (fuck yes, minor characters).
3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?
i. Daenerys Targaryen. I don't really know why, but I was never drawn to her storyline.
ii. Walder Frey. Just nasty. And not even in an entertaining way.
iii. The Sandsnakes. This is probably another rather unpopular opinion, but I never really got the appeal.
Dishonorable mentions: Victarion Greyjoy, Euron Greyjoy, Randyll Tarly.
4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why?
Probably the purple wedding. It was all so finely staged. with all the lavish courses and entertainment (and the whole Tyrion debacle), I felt rather tired after reading all that, until the shock came and I was left staring open-mouthedly at the page. Who was expecting that? I mean, really. And then I went back and read it twice and thrice over.
5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why?
Oh, Christ. Can it not end?
In the first place, I definitely don't want Sansa to die. But I want her to reconquer the North, by Harrold Hardyng's side (who hopefully turns out to not be a jerk).
I don't really know what should happen with the Iron Throne. I don't really want or think Dany will reach Westeros.
(Yeah, sorry, I'm not very good at this. Frankly, I'm not really interested in what I wish would happen in the story, being neither the creator of the world and character nor a master storyteller.)