win or die.
So, when you said there's no such thing as too long ... you didn't expect me.
Questionable language, but hey, we're Martin fans, it comes with the territory.
Name: Rosa Aquafire. This isn't my real name ... but it might as well be.
How did you find out about the community? If it's through an LJ user, please tell us who it is: I received a private message from misstopia, who I have never heard of before, and thought it sounded cool! I've always wanted to read Harry Potter JUST to join that other sorting comm ... I get too into this sort of thing.
Age: 23
Location: Atlantic Canada. New Brunswick, to be exact.
Occupation: Whatever I do to get my cheques at any one time, I'm a writer.
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!.
Something big and spacious and fancy and grand out of town, old and victorian in style, with slanted ceilings in the highest rooms, balconies, one of those hexagon shaped rooms ... twirling staircases. And the more personality, the better, so if it were old and creaked a lot and had a long history associated to it, that would be icing on the cake. I'd also need to have big, green gardens, like they used to have in that sort of home, with fountains and walls and arbours with ivy crawling all over them.
I wouldn't need or even want anyone else there, just me!
As for graphical location, it would need to be somewhere cool with a lot of snow ... where I currently live is good enough for me, because I can deal with the warm summers for the nice fall/winter/springs. Especially if it were on a small mountain, so the warmth in the summer would be tolerable. I like the plants that grow up here, I like the animals, and I just like this part of the world too much to want to leave it.
Failing that, somewhere in rural Europe ... England or Ireland.
2. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
George Martin dying before he finishes writing these stupid
a) Earwigs. Creepy crawly little bugs. Fucking awful hideous little things, christ. Severe phobia of them. I don't know why. I'm not sure if you meant practical/corporeal fears like this, but jesus christ, there is nothing I hate more than those little buggers and I would love to wipe them off the planet. Get rid of them all in one foul swoop. They can't be that crucial to the food chain.
b) Being ignored. I don't seek out attention, exactly, and there are a lot of times when I just want to be left alone, so this is a bit of a tricky thing, but I have to work up a hell of a lot of gumption to put myself out there, and then once I do, if I feel that people just raised their eyebrows and kept working, it's completely debilitating for me. I guess that I thrive on feedback and I need an audience. I hate feeling invisible or inconsequential.
c) Being scolded. For anything, whether I deserved it or not. It's not success that motivates me, or a fear of failure, it's making sure that I don't take a misstep and get yelled at for it. Which makes me sound a lot more pathetic than I am :3 This is actually why I like to either be totally in charge or just be following simple orders, because it cuts down on the chance that someone is going to be able to come along and tell me I did something wrong.
3. What is your favorite aspect of your physical appearance and why?
I'm a natural redhead and it shows no sign of fading at 23 ... I'm really proud of that for reasons I can't really explain. I think it's because it shows my Irish heritage and sets me apart. There aren't a lot of natural redheads.
4. If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would you change and why?
My hideously fat body! I've actually been losing weight recently, working on a really successful eating plan, so I guess this shows that I'm willing to take steps to change things that I don't like ... eventually! But for now, yes. I spend most of my time on my ass and my physical activity is mostly regulated to playing DDR and walking around my house talking to myself, getting ideas for stories.
5. Imagine you’re given the classic opportunity: a genie granting you three wishes. What would you wish for? Wishing for more wishes is not permitted!
a) Enough money to survive while writing without worrying about bills for the rest of my life. I wouldn't want a fortune because money corrupts, but I just want enough to never have to worry about getting by and having to budget every time I want something a little nice for myself.
b) The certainty that I'll die old and healthy and painlessly in bed. I want to know that I can pace myself and I don't need to write my best-selling novel RIGHT NOW or lose the chance forever.
c) The ability to eat whatever I wanted and never gain weight! I love to eat, love it! Moderation can bite me! But I have a bad metabolism and a really tiny skeleton, which places my eating cap really low.
6. In your life so far, what accomplishment are you the most proud of? You can list more than one if you have trouble deciding. ;)
Hm, that would probably be my performance in Fiddler on the Roof in High School. My director took it so seriously and we were all so into it ... our goal was for people to walk out and be amazed that something so good come come from a high school production. And it worked, we got that, and it was an unbelievable success, packed seats every single night. I played Chava ... it was my first audition and getting such a major role really put a lot of pressure on me, but my director said that she was amazed and that my talent would take me a long way if I decided to do theatre.
I feel like some of my stories reach that same level of accomplishment, but they're harder to pin down, because there's no standing ovation and curtain call at the end. I really do need the audience and the recognition.
7. Which of the following is most important to you: Love, Money, Knowledge, Family, Friendship, Adventure, or Pleasure? Which is the least important to you?
Knowledge, Family, Pleasure, Friendship, Money, Love, Adventure
8. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values?
Once upon a time there was a girl
You wouldn't really call her typical
Had her own definition of cool
She lived in her own world
She had her own style her own rules
She played along like it was usual
Nobody really even knew her name
To her life was one big game
Dreaming all day, that's all she did
Ever since she was a little kid
All the teacher's thought that she was slow
She was just dreaming about her show
And when they told her she's delirious
She didn't care, she's just oblivious
She likes to make everyone curious
One day she's gonna be famous
She got her head up in the clouds
Don't know when she'll come down
She can't get to bed
She's got this song stuck in her head
~ Sharada by Skye Sweetman
9. How do you manage your money? On that note, how important is money/financial security to you?
I'm not bad with money. I don't like to budget because I hate lists, they make me feel really restricted, and I do have a history of some really stupid impulse buys, but when things are tight, I know how to buckle down and make it work unless it's an impossible situation. I'm not tight-fisted with my money, either ... when people need it, I give it generously and don't ask for returns.
My plan is just to pay everything I need to immediately, so I don't have to worry about it ... and to never get in over my head. The last part is harder in reality than on paper. I've gotten quite a few creditors after me over the years.
10. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?
Writing, reading, playing with graphics, monolouging to myself. Browsing wikipedia for information about black holes and old mouldy poets for hours and hours on end. Playing the Irish Tin Flute. World of Warcraft. Spending time with my family and friends. Just spending time alone and contemplating the universe.
11. Name (and elaborate on) your top three BEST and top three WORST qualities (personality-related, not physical).
Best:
1. Funny and entertaining ... once you get to know me. Once people fall into step with my sense of humour and I start loosening up around them, I'm usually told I have a sort of charisma, and I think that's a good trait to have.
2. Very generous. Like I said above, I have no problems giving anything to anyone if they ask ... except food, because my food is mine and they can just go buy their own. Or I can give them money and then they can go buy their own! I love to give expensive gifts and don't expect anything back, and I don't know. I just think it's an easy way to make people happy and I like seeing people happy, so sure!
3. Creative and intelligent. I've been in all those "special and gifted" programs since before I could read, so it's not just arrogance ... I really just am really fucking smart. I always put just only the BAREST amount of effort into classes at school, and my marks were always stellar regardless -- not 90s, but 80s. In the classes that I really got into, theatre arts, English, art, computer science, chemistry, my marks were closer to near perfect. And ever since I could think I've been coming up with stories. My mom used to come into my room to see me sitting, talking to my barrettes. I never played with dolls or toy cars, unless they were a prop in a rousing adventure through the woods in our yard. I wrote my first novel when I was eight, and no one is ever allowed to see it! (There's a turtle with a crush on a mouse and they're all detectives.)
Worst:
1. Elitist and arrogant. I personally believe that I am the best damn thing in the entire world and anyone who doesn't agree clearly has something wrong with them. I am always right -- always. Everyone else just needs a little convincing. The arrogance often defuses suddenly into periods of debilitating self-loathing without warning, but even then, the elitism persists. I am a member of the intellectual elite! The unwashed masses may be more popular and better looking and content with themselves, but they'll wish they were me when their great great great grandchildren are complaining about having to study me in an English class, just you wait.
2. Very cold. Cold or shy, however you put it, I don't like to let people in. I'll tell them my story, let them know who I am, make friendly overtures, and then shut the door in their face and only peer out to get the mail and say hi every so often. People I've known since I was twelve know this about me. They often get that treatment. I'm easily overwhelmed and very private -- the general rule is that I stay in my corner and do my thing, and when I want you, I'll come out to you and say so.
3. Hypocritical. Yeah, there are rules, they just don't apply to me. I will certainly talk bad about someone for doing something that I do, and I won't feel bad about it. Different circumstance, different story, right? Well, probably not, but that's how I justify it and it works for me. I'm not a person who extends an arm of understanding very often when someone does something to really piss me off, and I honestly don't care if they're mad at me for the same thing. That's me, this is you, totally different, fuck off.
It's a strange thing about my personality in that I'm a full blown angry, bitter cynic, but the things I love most are big dreams and magic and fairy tales and unicorns and rainbows and white castles and wearing a long skirts so I can twirl and have all the fabric spin around my legs.
A Song of Ice and Fire Related
1.Which is your favorite book of the series so far? What about your least favorite?
A Storm of Swords is my favourite. So many things came together and there were such big, explosive moments scattered throughout. I really think it was the best written of all of them, a true magnum opus. It was the time to shine for some of my very favourite characters, and a lot of my least favourite characters had less screentime. I can remember having to work in three hours, sitting in bed with the book, trying to break away to sleep and not being able.
My least favourite is a Clash of Kings, which is still just an AMAZING book, but I found less things came to a head and it was such an inbetween, without a lot of stellar performances from my favourite characters.
For reference, my order is ASoS > AGoT > AFFC > ACoK. I really don't understand the criticism of AFFC, myself, but this may just be because I loooove Cersei and I would honestly rather see people sitting around talking and betraying one another than a big damn adventure story.
2.Who are your favorite three characters in the series?
a) Sansa Stark - I think I'm the only person who loved Sansa from her first appearance in AGoT, when she was still just Arya's mean sister. I can't explain why. I wanted to know more about her right from the start, and once she had her first chapter all her own, I completely fell in love with her. I was a dreamy, idealistic, head in the clouds little girl, myself, and I knew her innocence was doomed ... it compelled me.
She was sort of a background favourite through most of AGoT, with bigger players like Jon and Tyrion and Ned taking up my attention. It was her first chapter after Ned's death where Joff brings her to the roof to make her look at his head and she contemplates pushing him off that skyrocketed her up to my number one favourite. Ever since then, she's remained my very favourite character. It's the politics of Westeros that pull me into the story, not the adventure or the war, so Sansa's position and her path towards playing the game of thrones is something that I'm so excited to see.
b) Jon Snow - Now, I know people think that Jon is a Sue, and I know people think he's an angstbucket, and I know people think he's overrated, but I just don't agree. I know his plotline through ACoK and half of ASoS was just awful. I can admit his position as commander is a little ridiculous. I can admit that him being Rhaegar Targaryen's sekrit love child sounds foolish on paper.
But it's not all of that I love Jon for, it's just him, himself, his personality, and it's really hard for me to explain beyond that. I have really obvious reasons for liking the other characters I love, but Jon is different, he's my irrational love, and that's really the best I can do.
c) Petyr Baelish - Yeah, I know, what?
Now, while Sansa and Jon are the characters closest to my heart, Littlefinger is the one who when I get right down to it, I enjoy seeing in action the most.
I hear a lot of people describing Petyr as a villain, and I don't think that he is. I think one of the points of Martin's writing is that there are no villains and heroes, just winners and losers, people who are willing to do unspeakable things, and people who aren't. We've seen enough of Petyr as a child to know that he's not a bad guy, just someone who got kicked by life one too many times and decided that it was time to kick back, and so he mounted the most epic effort he could possibly manage to power-kick the world into the sun. Possibly twice.
He's a clever, funny, charming, devilish genius with a real beating heart behind it all. I could read his interactions with Sansa every day for the rest of my life and never get bored. I think that Petyr is the most fascinating character in all Westeros. I really wish we could see from his POV, just for a second, even though it would spoil everything if we could.
I don't think Littlefinger is a villain, so to speak, but I do think that if Westeros has an "endboss" that isn't lurking up in the North, it's him. I'm looking forward to seeing Sansa turn on him and give him the tragic but deserved end he needs.
Honourable mentions go to Cersei Lannister, who I consider myself a DEFENDER of, of sorts, seeing as everyone despises her, and Loras Tyrell, who is so awesome and just needs more screentime :( All the Tyrells, in fact. I love them.
3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series?
Hm, well, let me start by saying that the way I look at characters is different than most. The most evil, hateful, character who hurts all my favourites and has so many negative qualities can be a favourite for me ... see Cersei. I don't really look at a character's traits when I decide my opinion of them, most of the time, but at how interesting they are, and how well they're written.
Since asoiaf is just such an amazingly written series of books, there are very few characters who are poorly written, so I really only have one I outright dislike, and that is ...
Dany.
I can't even describe how much I hate her. She was my favourite character for her first chapters of AGoT, when she had humanity and vulnerability, a lost girl in a terrifying, unfair world who just wanted her brother to be happy and to get to go home. That tugged at my heart and really endeared her to me.
And then she makes this hilarious 180 and becomes boring and generic and STRONG WOMAN STEREOTYPE and the worst part of all this was that she wasn't written like other characters who make mistakes. Martin REFUSES to ever condemn her for anything she does, even her worst calls. It's all just a call for sympathy for her. Aww, poor Dany, but look, she's learning! I feel manipulated and bullied when I read Dany. The narrative is always trying to convince me of how awesome she is and tell me that I should like her and it gets under my skin. I don't think she's awesome. I think she's an overrated, poorly written, inconsistant Mary Sue. Leave me alone!
There really aren't any other characters I dislike ... I don't like Brienne when she's written with Jaime, but she's great on her own, and vice versa. I didn't like Cat in most of the first two books, but she started to turn me around when Martin started writing her as a foil for Cersei, and I love love love Petyr/Catelyn, so by the time she went out with the biggest bang ever, I was 100% in her camp.
I guess I didn't like Shae?
4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far?
Well, there are the big explosive moments that come to mind right off the bat, like the Red Wedding or Ned's death, or the razing of Winterfell, and Lysa's murder, buuuuut for some reason, I think the biggest one is after Joffery's death in ASoS, the chapter where Sansa escapes from King's Landing and finds out that it was Petyr behind it all the whole time. The mood was so amazing and you're still recovering from Joff's wedding, it was such a quiet interlude with so many reveals, all foggy and dreamy. I loved it. It sets the tone for Sansa's path for the rest of the series, and it was such a magical moment for me.
5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end?
The biggest thing I want is for Jon and Dany to NOT get married and for Dany to NOT end up Queen of Westeros. I staunchly believe that the Targs SHOULD have been removed, because they're NUTS, and her rolling up and blasting fire all over some zombies isn't going to make her a good Queen or suddenly legitimize centuries of suffering by her bloodline. Yeah, there were some great Targs, too, but like it's said, the Gods flip a coin, and it ends up tails a little too often for my tastes. It's not that I dislike bad rulers, heck, Cersei is one of my favourite characters, and she's terrible. It's just that I constantly feel like Dany is the big damn hero we're all supposed to be rooting for and it bugs me, because I think she's just author's precious baby and it's so fucking annoying! I don't want to root for her! It almost seems that when it comes to her, Martin lays aside all the shades of grey rules and launches into 100% black and white. She doesn't suit the rest of the series ... and her winning the day in the end would be a slap in the face, in my opinion.
Second Dany rant done.
I also HATE the theory that Lady's death means that Sansa can never be with the Starks. I think that she's going to be the one to reclaim Winterfell and will end up a massively powerful political player, possibly even being the Queen More Beautiful who will bring Cersei down, and I think that she deserves a reunion with the little of her family that's left after everything that happened.
And if Jaime and Brienne get together and live happily ever after, I'll kill myself! Worst written romance ever. I'm holding out hope for a super dramatic, gut-wrenching Jaime/Cersei murder/suicide.
Fanciful wish: that Jon actually IS Ned's bastard, impossible as it seems. This one is my only PETTY wish made without any care for quality. I just hate the Targaryens so much, it doesn't seem fair that one of my favourite characters is going to be their white knight.
Other than that, I'm not too picky. I want to be surprised, and I have faith that George has got a great end in store for us ... probably :p
Links to at least 3 applications you voted on:
There were no applications up and ready for votes when I wrote this, so I have permission to submit as is!
1 - link
2 - link
3 - link
Questionable language, but hey, we're Martin fans, it comes with the territory.
Name: Rosa Aquafire. This isn't my real name ... but it might as well be.
How did you find out about the community? If it's through an LJ user, please tell us who it is: I received a private message from misstopia, who I have never heard of before, and thought it sounded cool! I've always wanted to read Harry Potter JUST to join that other sorting comm ... I get too into this sort of thing.
Age: 23
Location: Atlantic Canada. New Brunswick, to be exact.
Occupation: Whatever I do to get my cheques at any one time, I'm a writer.
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!.
Something big and spacious and fancy and grand out of town, old and victorian in style, with slanted ceilings in the highest rooms, balconies, one of those hexagon shaped rooms ... twirling staircases. And the more personality, the better, so if it were old and creaked a lot and had a long history associated to it, that would be icing on the cake. I'd also need to have big, green gardens, like they used to have in that sort of home, with fountains and walls and arbours with ivy crawling all over them.
I wouldn't need or even want anyone else there, just me!
As for graphical location, it would need to be somewhere cool with a lot of snow ... where I currently live is good enough for me, because I can deal with the warm summers for the nice fall/winter/springs. Especially if it were on a small mountain, so the warmth in the summer would be tolerable. I like the plants that grow up here, I like the animals, and I just like this part of the world too much to want to leave it.
Failing that, somewhere in rural Europe ... England or Ireland.
2. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
George Martin dying before he finishes writing these stupid
a) Earwigs. Creepy crawly little bugs. Fucking awful hideous little things, christ. Severe phobia of them. I don't know why. I'm not sure if you meant practical/corporeal fears like this, but jesus christ, there is nothing I hate more than those little buggers and I would love to wipe them off the planet. Get rid of them all in one foul swoop. They can't be that crucial to the food chain.
b) Being ignored. I don't seek out attention, exactly, and there are a lot of times when I just want to be left alone, so this is a bit of a tricky thing, but I have to work up a hell of a lot of gumption to put myself out there, and then once I do, if I feel that people just raised their eyebrows and kept working, it's completely debilitating for me. I guess that I thrive on feedback and I need an audience. I hate feeling invisible or inconsequential.
c) Being scolded. For anything, whether I deserved it or not. It's not success that motivates me, or a fear of failure, it's making sure that I don't take a misstep and get yelled at for it. Which makes me sound a lot more pathetic than I am :3 This is actually why I like to either be totally in charge or just be following simple orders, because it cuts down on the chance that someone is going to be able to come along and tell me I did something wrong.
3. What is your favorite aspect of your physical appearance and why?
I'm a natural redhead and it shows no sign of fading at 23 ... I'm really proud of that for reasons I can't really explain. I think it's because it shows my Irish heritage and sets me apart. There aren't a lot of natural redheads.
4. If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would you change and why?
My hideously fat body! I've actually been losing weight recently, working on a really successful eating plan, so I guess this shows that I'm willing to take steps to change things that I don't like ... eventually! But for now, yes. I spend most of my time on my ass and my physical activity is mostly regulated to playing DDR and walking around my house talking to myself, getting ideas for stories.
5. Imagine you’re given the classic opportunity: a genie granting you three wishes. What would you wish for? Wishing for more wishes is not permitted!
a) Enough money to survive while writing without worrying about bills for the rest of my life. I wouldn't want a fortune because money corrupts, but I just want enough to never have to worry about getting by and having to budget every time I want something a little nice for myself.
b) The certainty that I'll die old and healthy and painlessly in bed. I want to know that I can pace myself and I don't need to write my best-selling novel RIGHT NOW or lose the chance forever.
c) The ability to eat whatever I wanted and never gain weight! I love to eat, love it! Moderation can bite me! But I have a bad metabolism and a really tiny skeleton, which places my eating cap really low.
6. In your life so far, what accomplishment are you the most proud of? You can list more than one if you have trouble deciding. ;)
Hm, that would probably be my performance in Fiddler on the Roof in High School. My director took it so seriously and we were all so into it ... our goal was for people to walk out and be amazed that something so good come come from a high school production. And it worked, we got that, and it was an unbelievable success, packed seats every single night. I played Chava ... it was my first audition and getting such a major role really put a lot of pressure on me, but my director said that she was amazed and that my talent would take me a long way if I decided to do theatre.
I feel like some of my stories reach that same level of accomplishment, but they're harder to pin down, because there's no standing ovation and curtain call at the end. I really do need the audience and the recognition.
7. Which of the following is most important to you: Love, Money, Knowledge, Family, Friendship, Adventure, or Pleasure? Which is the least important to you?
Knowledge, Family, Pleasure, Friendship, Money, Love, Adventure
8. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values?
Once upon a time there was a girl
You wouldn't really call her typical
Had her own definition of cool
She lived in her own world
She had her own style her own rules
She played along like it was usual
Nobody really even knew her name
To her life was one big game
Dreaming all day, that's all she did
Ever since she was a little kid
All the teacher's thought that she was slow
She was just dreaming about her show
And when they told her she's delirious
She didn't care, she's just oblivious
She likes to make everyone curious
One day she's gonna be famous
She got her head up in the clouds
Don't know when she'll come down
She can't get to bed
She's got this song stuck in her head
~ Sharada by Skye Sweetman
9. How do you manage your money? On that note, how important is money/financial security to you?
I'm not bad with money. I don't like to budget because I hate lists, they make me feel really restricted, and I do have a history of some really stupid impulse buys, but when things are tight, I know how to buckle down and make it work unless it's an impossible situation. I'm not tight-fisted with my money, either ... when people need it, I give it generously and don't ask for returns.
My plan is just to pay everything I need to immediately, so I don't have to worry about it ... and to never get in over my head. The last part is harder in reality than on paper. I've gotten quite a few creditors after me over the years.
10. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?
Writing, reading, playing with graphics, monolouging to myself. Browsing wikipedia for information about black holes and old mouldy poets for hours and hours on end. Playing the Irish Tin Flute. World of Warcraft. Spending time with my family and friends. Just spending time alone and contemplating the universe.
11. Name (and elaborate on) your top three BEST and top three WORST qualities (personality-related, not physical).
Best:
1. Funny and entertaining ... once you get to know me. Once people fall into step with my sense of humour and I start loosening up around them, I'm usually told I have a sort of charisma, and I think that's a good trait to have.
2. Very generous. Like I said above, I have no problems giving anything to anyone if they ask ... except food, because my food is mine and they can just go buy their own. Or I can give them money and then they can go buy their own! I love to give expensive gifts and don't expect anything back, and I don't know. I just think it's an easy way to make people happy and I like seeing people happy, so sure!
3. Creative and intelligent. I've been in all those "special and gifted" programs since before I could read, so it's not just arrogance ... I really just am really fucking smart. I always put just only the BAREST amount of effort into classes at school, and my marks were always stellar regardless -- not 90s, but 80s. In the classes that I really got into, theatre arts, English, art, computer science, chemistry, my marks were closer to near perfect. And ever since I could think I've been coming up with stories. My mom used to come into my room to see me sitting, talking to my barrettes. I never played with dolls or toy cars, unless they were a prop in a rousing adventure through the woods in our yard. I wrote my first novel when I was eight, and no one is ever allowed to see it! (There's a turtle with a crush on a mouse and they're all detectives.)
Worst:
1. Elitist and arrogant. I personally believe that I am the best damn thing in the entire world and anyone who doesn't agree clearly has something wrong with them. I am always right -- always. Everyone else just needs a little convincing. The arrogance often defuses suddenly into periods of debilitating self-loathing without warning, but even then, the elitism persists. I am a member of the intellectual elite! The unwashed masses may be more popular and better looking and content with themselves, but they'll wish they were me when their great great great grandchildren are complaining about having to study me in an English class, just you wait.
2. Very cold. Cold or shy, however you put it, I don't like to let people in. I'll tell them my story, let them know who I am, make friendly overtures, and then shut the door in their face and only peer out to get the mail and say hi every so often. People I've known since I was twelve know this about me. They often get that treatment. I'm easily overwhelmed and very private -- the general rule is that I stay in my corner and do my thing, and when I want you, I'll come out to you and say so.
3. Hypocritical. Yeah, there are rules, they just don't apply to me. I will certainly talk bad about someone for doing something that I do, and I won't feel bad about it. Different circumstance, different story, right? Well, probably not, but that's how I justify it and it works for me. I'm not a person who extends an arm of understanding very often when someone does something to really piss me off, and I honestly don't care if they're mad at me for the same thing. That's me, this is you, totally different, fuck off.
It's a strange thing about my personality in that I'm a full blown angry, bitter cynic, but the things I love most are big dreams and magic and fairy tales and unicorns and rainbows and white castles and wearing a long skirts so I can twirl and have all the fabric spin around my legs.
A Song of Ice and Fire Related
1.Which is your favorite book of the series so far? What about your least favorite?
A Storm of Swords is my favourite. So many things came together and there were such big, explosive moments scattered throughout. I really think it was the best written of all of them, a true magnum opus. It was the time to shine for some of my very favourite characters, and a lot of my least favourite characters had less screentime. I can remember having to work in three hours, sitting in bed with the book, trying to break away to sleep and not being able.
My least favourite is a Clash of Kings, which is still just an AMAZING book, but I found less things came to a head and it was such an inbetween, without a lot of stellar performances from my favourite characters.
For reference, my order is ASoS > AGoT > AFFC > ACoK. I really don't understand the criticism of AFFC, myself, but this may just be because I loooove Cersei and I would honestly rather see people sitting around talking and betraying one another than a big damn adventure story.
2.Who are your favorite three characters in the series?
a) Sansa Stark - I think I'm the only person who loved Sansa from her first appearance in AGoT, when she was still just Arya's mean sister. I can't explain why. I wanted to know more about her right from the start, and once she had her first chapter all her own, I completely fell in love with her. I was a dreamy, idealistic, head in the clouds little girl, myself, and I knew her innocence was doomed ... it compelled me.
She was sort of a background favourite through most of AGoT, with bigger players like Jon and Tyrion and Ned taking up my attention. It was her first chapter after Ned's death where Joff brings her to the roof to make her look at his head and she contemplates pushing him off that skyrocketed her up to my number one favourite. Ever since then, she's remained my very favourite character. It's the politics of Westeros that pull me into the story, not the adventure or the war, so Sansa's position and her path towards playing the game of thrones is something that I'm so excited to see.
b) Jon Snow - Now, I know people think that Jon is a Sue, and I know people think he's an angstbucket, and I know people think he's overrated, but I just don't agree. I know his plotline through ACoK and half of ASoS was just awful. I can admit his position as commander is a little ridiculous. I can admit that him being Rhaegar Targaryen's sekrit love child sounds foolish on paper.
But it's not all of that I love Jon for, it's just him, himself, his personality, and it's really hard for me to explain beyond that. I have really obvious reasons for liking the other characters I love, but Jon is different, he's my irrational love, and that's really the best I can do.
c) Petyr Baelish - Yeah, I know, what?
Now, while Sansa and Jon are the characters closest to my heart, Littlefinger is the one who when I get right down to it, I enjoy seeing in action the most.
I hear a lot of people describing Petyr as a villain, and I don't think that he is. I think one of the points of Martin's writing is that there are no villains and heroes, just winners and losers, people who are willing to do unspeakable things, and people who aren't. We've seen enough of Petyr as a child to know that he's not a bad guy, just someone who got kicked by life one too many times and decided that it was time to kick back, and so he mounted the most epic effort he could possibly manage to power-kick the world into the sun. Possibly twice.
He's a clever, funny, charming, devilish genius with a real beating heart behind it all. I could read his interactions with Sansa every day for the rest of my life and never get bored. I think that Petyr is the most fascinating character in all Westeros. I really wish we could see from his POV, just for a second, even though it would spoil everything if we could.
I don't think Littlefinger is a villain, so to speak, but I do think that if Westeros has an "endboss" that isn't lurking up in the North, it's him. I'm looking forward to seeing Sansa turn on him and give him the tragic but deserved end he needs.
Honourable mentions go to Cersei Lannister, who I consider myself a DEFENDER of, of sorts, seeing as everyone despises her, and Loras Tyrell, who is so awesome and just needs more screentime :( All the Tyrells, in fact. I love them.
3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series?
Hm, well, let me start by saying that the way I look at characters is different than most. The most evil, hateful, character who hurts all my favourites and has so many negative qualities can be a favourite for me ... see Cersei. I don't really look at a character's traits when I decide my opinion of them, most of the time, but at how interesting they are, and how well they're written.
Since asoiaf is just such an amazingly written series of books, there are very few characters who are poorly written, so I really only have one I outright dislike, and that is ...
Dany.
I can't even describe how much I hate her. She was my favourite character for her first chapters of AGoT, when she had humanity and vulnerability, a lost girl in a terrifying, unfair world who just wanted her brother to be happy and to get to go home. That tugged at my heart and really endeared her to me.
And then she makes this hilarious 180 and becomes boring and generic and STRONG WOMAN STEREOTYPE and the worst part of all this was that she wasn't written like other characters who make mistakes. Martin REFUSES to ever condemn her for anything she does, even her worst calls. It's all just a call for sympathy for her. Aww, poor Dany, but look, she's learning! I feel manipulated and bullied when I read Dany. The narrative is always trying to convince me of how awesome she is and tell me that I should like her and it gets under my skin. I don't think she's awesome. I think she's an overrated, poorly written, inconsistant Mary Sue. Leave me alone!
There really aren't any other characters I dislike ... I don't like Brienne when she's written with Jaime, but she's great on her own, and vice versa. I didn't like Cat in most of the first two books, but she started to turn me around when Martin started writing her as a foil for Cersei, and I love love love Petyr/Catelyn, so by the time she went out with the biggest bang ever, I was 100% in her camp.
I guess I didn't like Shae?
4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far?
Well, there are the big explosive moments that come to mind right off the bat, like the Red Wedding or Ned's death, or the razing of Winterfell, and Lysa's murder, buuuuut for some reason, I think the biggest one is after Joffery's death in ASoS, the chapter where Sansa escapes from King's Landing and finds out that it was Petyr behind it all the whole time. The mood was so amazing and you're still recovering from Joff's wedding, it was such a quiet interlude with so many reveals, all foggy and dreamy. I loved it. It sets the tone for Sansa's path for the rest of the series, and it was such a magical moment for me.
5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end?
The biggest thing I want is for Jon and Dany to NOT get married and for Dany to NOT end up Queen of Westeros. I staunchly believe that the Targs SHOULD have been removed, because they're NUTS, and her rolling up and blasting fire all over some zombies isn't going to make her a good Queen or suddenly legitimize centuries of suffering by her bloodline. Yeah, there were some great Targs, too, but like it's said, the Gods flip a coin, and it ends up tails a little too often for my tastes. It's not that I dislike bad rulers, heck, Cersei is one of my favourite characters, and she's terrible. It's just that I constantly feel like Dany is the big damn hero we're all supposed to be rooting for and it bugs me, because I think she's just author's precious baby and it's so fucking annoying! I don't want to root for her! It almost seems that when it comes to her, Martin lays aside all the shades of grey rules and launches into 100% black and white. She doesn't suit the rest of the series ... and her winning the day in the end would be a slap in the face, in my opinion.
Second Dany rant done.
I also HATE the theory that Lady's death means that Sansa can never be with the Starks. I think that she's going to be the one to reclaim Winterfell and will end up a massively powerful political player, possibly even being the Queen More Beautiful who will bring Cersei down, and I think that she deserves a reunion with the little of her family that's left after everything that happened.
And if Jaime and Brienne get together and live happily ever after, I'll kill myself! Worst written romance ever. I'm holding out hope for a super dramatic, gut-wrenching Jaime/Cersei murder/suicide.
Fanciful wish: that Jon actually IS Ned's bastard, impossible as it seems. This one is my only PETTY wish made without any care for quality. I just hate the Targaryens so much, it doesn't seem fair that one of my favourite characters is going to be their white knight.
Other than that, I'm not too picky. I want to be surprised, and I have faith that George has got a great end in store for us ... probably :p
Links to at least 3 applications you voted on:
There were no applications up and ready for votes when I wrote this, so I have permission to submit as is!
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