Win or Die
Name: Abby
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!): Professor Google showed me the way
Age: 22
Location: California
Occupation: Literary Agent Intern
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’ve always dreamed of a house with lots of natural light and bookshelves on every wall. I want a home with many different places for reading-common areas where I can spend time (ie read and have discussions with) friends, more private spaces where I can make sure nobody disturbs me if I definitely don’t want to be disturbed, and maybe a hidden nook or two. I’d love a porch where I could spend time outside (without having to constantly apply sunscreen). I don’t care how big my home is as long as there is an adequate amount of room for everyone who lives there to have a bit of their own space and maybe to have a couple of friends over. (To be honest, having a slightly smaller space would be nice, since it would make it impossible to be bullied into hosting a party, which I really dislike. I don’t like too many people, especially people who I don’t trust, in my space at once.)
As far as décor goes, I would love a cozy, mismatched atmosphere, a bit like the Burrow, but with fewer ginger children running around. I’ve always dreamed of a dining room table with mismatched chairs (maybe an armchair, a bench, a couple of stools, etc) and couches. There would be almost no wall space that wasn’t covered in books, so there wouldn’t be much artwork, but maybe I would have some nick-knacks from travels serving as bookends. Of course, there would be many cats.
I would like to be in a city, as I really enjoy taking solo-adventures and losing myself in crowds. If my home could be in a good walking neighborhood, I’d be really happy. I’d prefer not to be near any party scenes, but I’d love to be close to a café that is open late. I want to be somewhere with seasons, but not with a winter that dips below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, thank you very much. After spending years in the Midwest, I’m over having my hair freeze every time I step outside. I don’t mind rain, so a climate like the northwest of the United States or London would be great for me.
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 would wish to have a fulfilling, healthy life. (I’m not wishing just for a “happy life,” since a lot of the most important moments so far for me have been a struggle. I am willing to struggle and I am willing to be sad, but ultimately, I want to be satisfied with my time on earth.
-To emancipate everyone from harmful prejudice and ignorance. So many of our problems arise from someone converting misunderstanding or confusion into hate. If people were able to look at different customs and people with their minds open, I believe there would be far less violence, bullying, and anger. Everyone would be able to see everyone else as a complex human being with important thoughts and emotions, and I believe that would prevent a lot of the blind hatred we see all over the world.
-To be a published author. This feels like a selfish use of my third wish, but if I’m being honest, it is what I would wish for. I want it more than anything.
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. ;)
I’m tied between two, but they are similar.
The first is completing and achieving honors for my senior thesis in English literature. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done academically. There were so many challenges: choosing a topic that is vastly unexplored, having to defend said untraditional topic to several professors, working closely with two very different advisors, sticking to my guns when someone tried to change something that I knew was wrong, and committing nearly all of my brain power to a completely optional project for an entire year. There were times when I broke down in the library and times when I forced myself wrote ten pages of academic prose in a day, but there were also days when I was able to prove my point to a much older and better-read advisor, or days when I knew that I was doing something important. I am very proud of myself for riding that wave through all of its highs and lows and doing something harder than I’d ever done before.
The second is completing a novel I had worked on all throughout high school and the beginning of college. I had written shorter novels and short stories before, but this was a very long project (over 200K words) with a lot of world-building and different characters to create. That was a big accomplishment for me and showed me that I really can do what I want to do if I work hard enough.
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.
Knowledge is the most important to me. Gathering knowledge is probably the prime way I interact with the world. It is something I find extremely fulfilling. I don’t think everyone has to act like me, of course, but I do think many others could do with focusing more on knowledge as well. I think a lot of people are blinded by emotion, tradition, etc-and those are not necessarily bad things, but I think knowledge can help illuminate a situation in all of its complexity and allow us to see when we should overlook our immediate emotional response.
Least important is tricky. I’d probably have to say pleasure, though that’s difficult to cut off from the other options, since I find knowledge, love, family, friendship, and adventure all very pleasurable. If this means simpler pleasure (such as physical pleasure or extreme bouts of happiness), I’ll select that, since as I said before, fulfillment easily trumps happiness for me. If it’s the ability to take pleasure in the other options, though, I’ll have to select money.
5. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I just love this quote. The second I read it at approximately 8 AM the day the book came out, I knew it was always going to be extremely important to me. I love books, stories, theories and abstract ideas. These are all things people often try to tell me aren’t “real,” but to me they are more real and more important than many concrete things. Several of my favorite characters are more important to me than most people I know. Stories have helped me in tough times when people failed. That’s not to say I don’t love my friends and family, but I think something being abstract or fictional does not make it any less real.
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.
This is tricky for me, since I have yet to be financially independent. I haven’t yet had to worry about bills, mortgages, or debt, so I’m not sure how true this answer will be for me when I grow up a little more. Right now, I have a budget for rent/food/miscellaneous things I need/entertainment, and with that I try to be fairly strict with myself. I plan out how much I want to spend on each thing, and I try to stick to that, making sacrifices where necessary. That being said, if there’s something I really, really want that I know I would love or would help me, I will break my budget and move things around a bit. Sometimes when I’m having a rough day, I’ll get myself a fancier coffee than I usually can afford, and make a cut elsewhere to make it work. If I really want an expensive clothing item, I’ll sometimes buy it and then take my lunch to work for a while or not go to that movie this weekend to compensate. I don’t want to make my life so strict that I can’t have anything I really want, but I also want to make sure I don’t allow myself to get comfortable with pushing boundaries all the time.
7. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?
-Reading/Writing. As I said before, stories are extremely important to me and reading is my favorite medium. I love the privacy to create a mental space that’s all my own. I love thinking critically about a text. I love getting to dip into someone else’s mind for a little bit. I also love creating my own stories-it’s like reading, but I get to keep the world all to myself until I choose to share it.
-Storytelling. This is a new hobby for me (I just picked it up in January) but I love it so far. I’m a private person, but I do have a background in performance, so getting to share my own stories in front of an audience (not read it out loud-I perform without notes) is very fulfilling. I love telling stories and using my words, voice, and body to create a world for the audience.
-Solo adventures. I love exploring cities and new places, and as much as I love my family and friends, it sometimes can be way more fun to do it on my own. I love going to a downtown area, getting lost in the crowd and seeing where it takes me. I love going to museums alone, restaurants alone, and shops alone. Spending a day in a foreign (but safe) city and just wandering around sounds like a perfect day.
-Critical literary discussions. I love thinking and talking critically about text. Even after graduation, I find myself accidentally writing essays. I enjoy convincing someone of something-and occasionally getting convinced myself.
8. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
-Oblivion. This is something I struggle with a lot. I really fear an eternal loss of consciousness and self. The idea of nothingness makes my head spin. When I think of not having a self or no longer existing, I honestly feel terrified. It’s hard for me to explain rationally.
-Having no control. Situations in which I have no control really frighten me. It’s why I get nervous in planes, but not while driving, even though statistically, my chance of dying in a car crash is much higher. In a car, at least I have control and can change my fate. In a plane, I am helpless-there is nothing I can do to try to save myself. I can usually handle awful situations if there is something I can actively do to at least try to fix it, but having no way of helping myself scares me more than the idea of getting hurt.
-The concept of eternity. This really ties into oblivion, but I think it should get its own bullet point. I find that the idea of an infinitely large universe and an infinite amount of time excites many people, but it really scares me. Imagining myself in any state for all of eternity makes me panic.
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:
-I am highly imaginative. This extends to all situations, not just being a writer and a reader. I think having a good imagination allows me to see things from others’ point of view and be open-minded. It’s helped me a lot in my acting and writing. My imagination has also been a refuge for me in many hard situations.
-I am very rational. Although I obviously have emotions, I rarely let them cloud my judgment. This allows me to view situations objectively, and make sacrifices if need be. Not bogging myself down with extraneous emotion has helped me a lot in my life: I can take criticism well, understand complicated situations more quickly than most people, and find solutions to problems other people may not have thought of.
-I am independent. I love the people in my life, but I’m not very needy emotionally, which has allowed me to live my life the way I want. If I want to take a trip or see something, I don’t need to wait around for someone else to agree to come with me. I don’t really care too much what other people think of me, so I let myself dress and behave the way I want to. I find most of my fulfillment in myself, so I don’t need to look to others to affirm me. Obviously I care about my friends and family, but if they think I dress or act oddly, I’m not going to change my behavior for them.
Worst:
-I can be cold. This is the double-edged sword of being rational. Since I am able to overlook my emotions, I can be insensitive to those who cannot or choose not to. Although I am not trying to, I accidentally hurt other people’s feelings more often than most people.
-I can accidentally isolate myself very easily. Again, the independence I admire in myself has a dark side. I’ve found myself in situations where I’ve retreated so far into myself that my friends and family cannot help me. I’m not good at opening up and being vulnerable with others, which can be really hard.
-I have a bit of a temper problem. If I’m in a bad mood, even the smallest of things can make me furious. I don’t have tantrums or yell, but I can let my anger really blind me sometimes.
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?
-Brienne. My love for Brienne goes beyond rational reasoning. I know if I were ever to meet her, I probably would not be friends with her, but in the context of this story I just adore her. In a world full of liars and cheats, her loyalty and determination are really refreshing. It’s really interesting to watch her interact with and struggle in this world: also interesting is that she is probably the most knightly character we know well, although she can never be a knight for obvious reasons. Her story is heartbreaking and her strength to defy expectations admirable. I loved her from the second she stepped onto the page, though being a woman who is naturally taller and stronger than most of my male friends may have helped me be empathetic towards her.
-Tyrion. His POV chapters are probably my favorite. I love being inside his head and watching the world from his perspective. He’s extraordinarily smart, which I always love, and I especially I love when he tells off annoying characters. His flaws really round him out: although far from admirable, his self-hatred and misogyny issues create a very realistic human being, which I will always prefer over a character who has only good qualities.
-Varys. (This was a really tough call between him and Jon Snow, but I think I’ll ultimately choose The Spider.) Now don’t get me wrong, Varys can make me want to throw my book against the wall sometimes, but I find him very interesting. I would never want to be friends with him but I love trying to puzzle out his game. Especially with the revelations that come in ADWD, I’m very interested to see what he’s up to. I’m excited to figure out his layers, since he definitely has a lot going on.
3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?
-Joffrey. Whose list would he not be on? Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind characters who do awful things (I mean… look at my list of favorite characters), but Joffrey just falls too flat for me. He’s just too easy to hate. There doesn’t seem to be much else to him than being a horrible person. I want a little more moral ambiguity in my characters.
-Ramsay Bolton: For the same reasons listed above. I would love a Ramsay with something (anything) redeemable about him, but right now he’s just too shallow. He feels like a Joffrey-replacement, to be honest.
-I feel pretty bad for saying this, but Davos. He’s a good person and there’s nothing super unlikeable about him, but his chapters bore me to tears. He’s a well-drawn character, but being inside his head is just awful. I don’t think I would mind as much if he weren’t a POV character. I’m hoping he dies, and we get someone with a slightly spicier mind to tell us what’s going on with Stannis.
4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why?
Oof-this is a really hard question. I think it may have been the epilogue to ADWD. I was lulled into a false sense of security without Varys around, but his sudden appearance had me practically screaming. I had always viewed him as a side piece in the game of thrones, but that moment (and the rest of what we find out about him in ADWD) made me realize that he’s a player. I also thought it was extremely well written. (All of the children are super creepy, and while I had an idea that something was up, I was totally surprised by what actually happened.)
5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why?
I want Jon to be resurrected as Azor Ahai and somehow get in touch with Dany. Although I don’t think they’d make a great couple, I do want them to work together to take the throne since I think Jon is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son. Jon also makes a pretty good Ice to Dany’s Fire. (He would also be one of the heads of the dragon-and I’d like him to ride Viserion since he matches Ghost.) I think Young Griff may actually be a Blackfyre, so rather than being one of the heads of the dragon, I’d love to see him come into conflict with Dany. I want to see how Varys ends up playing the game, but I think he may be a Targaryen in some capacity, so he’ll probably help out Dany. I can’t guess who the third head of the dragon will be. I’d love it to be Tyrion or perhaps a Martell (who’s more competent then Quentyn).
I hope Littlefinger flies out of the Moon Door and that Sam can use his knowledge to tell Jon something crucial that will help him during the war. I hope Melisandre teams up with Jon once she finds he’s AA reborn and kills Stannis herself. I hope Dany is the younger and more beautiful queen that displaces Cersei, and that Jaime is the valonqar.
Once the war is over, I want the North liberated, with either Sansa or Bran ruling. I would love for Brienne to move to Winterfell and maybe get to be the Master at Arms. I want the Iron Islands also freed, with Asha ruling. If Arya was a. reunited with Nymeria and b. able to find some sense of normalcy after all of the trauma she’s endured.
I know I’m missing a ton of characters, but those were all of the important things I could think of right now.