win or die.
Name: Zoe
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 think I typed in Game of Thrones into the search bar, and found this in the communities list.Age: 24
Location: London/Kent, England, UK.
Occupation: Secretary.
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!.
Not too far from where I am now because I love living in the South of England, but I have always wanted to own a little farm in the Countryside, and I would love to look after rescued animals there. My house would be a fairly large cottage build, with exposed beams and walls, soft lighting, fireplaces in every room, comfortable linen sofas, blankets everywhere, and a large kitchen with a huge range oven. I want fairy lights everywhere, and music and laughter to fill every corner. I love our English weather too, I enjoy being in the rain and layering up in the cold. I would quite like to be within driving distance of the sea or a lake, so I could walk along the beach in the mornings. I would also have CCTV and alarms everywhere because I am paranoid about having my house broken into and waking up one night with someone looming over 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!
1) Is wishing to never die allowed? Or at least, to die when I am ready to die. Death absolutely terrifies me. I don't want to die, and especially to die weak or alone in a lot of pain or at the end of an awful illness. I want to die in my sleep, somewhere safe and warm, and I want to be happy.
2) I would like to wish for all of my friends and family to have good luck. My first thought was to wish them happiness, but all of my friends are already extremely happy people. So I would wish them good luck to put a little more sparkle into their lives. There have been a lot of deaths in the family of one of my friends recently, family troubles in another, money troubles in someone else's. They all work hard and never complain, they're a good bunch of fighters, but they deserve a break.
3) Hmm, I don't know! There are so many things to wish for... but my third wish would be to have the ability to remember everything that I have read/ seen/ heard etc. My short term memory isn't great, so that would be useful, and I could perhaps learn about something fabulous and go back to school to become a scientist or something. I would like a better understanding of how the universe works.
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. ;)
Nothing too special really. Probably just landing on my feet when I had to leave home. I got a job, surrounded myself with my friends and made my life what I wanted it to be, instead of feeling miserable about things and accepting what I had been dealt. I used to be quite defeatist but I've grown up a lot and learned to put up a fight if I want to change something or myself for the better.
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.
I am not driven by money, but money is very important to me. My husband and I don't have a lot, we have enough, but we treat it with respect because we want to always make sure we are safe and can support ourselves. Love means more to me than anything else, and with that friendship because I am nothing without my husband and friends, but money is needed too. Money does not buy happiness, but it does help keep you warm at night and keep you safe if you are in trouble, and being warm and feeling secure makes me happy. Knowledge is also entwined with this, because without us being lucky enough to have had a good education, we wouldn't be able to have jobs that we both enjoy to pay for the life we want.
I would like to add 'home' to this list too. I have been estranged from my family for a very long time, and did not have a place to call home or to feel safe and settled in until a few years ago. I didn't feel part of a family, after a rather difficult childhood, until my partner and I moved into our own place together. My world stopped being an ever-changing blur and I suddenly had a place I knew I belonged in. It was mine, and the person who shares it with me loves me.
I don't do a whole lot of 'adventuring' in person except for the occasional holiday, but I read everyday and love watching films. I take enormous pleasure in food: Ienjoy a good glass of red wine and a plate of linguine at home, with the TV turned off. Commuting to and from work is stressful, so I like to switch off on a Friday night with good food and drink, and listen to the silence. I also particularly enjoy cooking for the people I love, and having them settled cosily about my dining table as I feed them what I hope is good, delicious food. So that is what I take pleasure in.
5. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain.
Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve is my favorite song. I suppose it could be quite a depressing song really, but actually if I'm sad it makes me feel better when I listen to it. It helps me to remember that everyone's life has its ups and downs, but that you'll always be you, and just to try to be the best you that you can be. I used to struggle with anger issues, but this song helped me to learn to calm down by remembering that everything soon passes and things can always get better. #corny
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 guess I have already touched on this a bit. I'm quite easy with what I allow myself to spend as I please each month - going out etc. - but most of my salary goes into savings with my husband. My own family were quite poor, where my husbands always had savings behind them, so from our backgrounds both of us have always felt it's important to make sure we have money hidden away for a rainy day, especially now that we are hoping to start a family soon. We are careful in buying what we need when we need it, and treat ourselves for Birthdays and Christmas, but otherwise we are just sensible. We don't buy designer items etc or have many expensive things. Most of our 'own' money each month is spent on seeing our friends at the weekends, because that's incredibly important to us. We occasionally go away on long girl/boy weekend breaks too, so we will often be saving on our own for those. My husband is an accountant, so he enjoys managing the money for the most part, but I take care of spending relating to the household. He made a spreadsheet for our joint account which we check through month-by-month, to see where we are: what is coming in and going out, and amending our savings goals if we have unexpected outgoings, such as a plumbers bill for example. We have a goal that we hope to reach at the end of each year. If one of us might need a little more to ourselves one month, then we'll note that too, if we're spending too much then we'll hold back 'luxuries' for a couple months: cancel TV packages and less meat for example.
7. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office?
My favorite thing to do is to have days out with the girls. It ranges from visiting big old Country houses and palaces open to public, having fun at the beach, going for a walk in the woods, to having picnics in the park.
When the weather is not so mild, I spend most of my spare time reading or cooking, or indeed reading about cooking. I like all sorts of fiction, it just depends what mood I'm in, but I can never say no to a story revolving around war. I used to study WW2 - I remember my teacher trying to tell me about that period of time in school when I was very young, but never fully understanding what happened until I was older and more interested in the horror of it. My favorite authors are Leo Tolstoy, Ian McEwan and Sebastian Faulks.
I have three shelves at home full of cookbooks, and the most read are Nigella Lawsons Eat and Jacob Kennedys Bocca. Italian food is my favorite, and I love making cakes and jams the most. Cakes because they are delicious, and jams and chutneys because you can make so many interesting flavors of your own, and I like to have lots of jars in the cupboard so I am never without something to put on top of some toasted bread. Spending a Sunday afternoon in the kitchen is very comforting I think.
Lastly, I am a diarist and filofax obsessive. I love just writing for me, for the sake of it: making plans, arranging events, making lists. I love pretty stationery and practical notebooks.
8. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain.
1) Small spaces and large crowds. I don't know when this started, but I get very claustrophobic. Small spaces like lifts, and I panic easily when I feel too surrounded by people. I don't go out very often to shop, because shopping malls panic me a bit - that's not to say I never go outside - I just go at a time when I know somewhere that is usually busy will be quiet. My favorite time of day is dawn, when it's just you and the birds!
2) Loud noises. I don't like sudden bangs and shouts, but also prolonged loud noises, they send me into a sweat. When these sounds are in the right place, for example music in a club, it doesn't bother me, but when a noise is out of place, it puts me on edge. I suppose I'm not scared of the noise itself, it's just some irrational fear of what happens after the noise? Like do I need to be scared? I really worry about being caught in an explosion of some kind. This probably comes from domestic violence when I was little.
3) Lastly, I am afraid of letting people down. I don't think I have to date, but I would never want to make someone feel that I am not there for them, or that I have disappointed them somehow - that they thought I was a better person than to have done what I might have done to let them down. I have always tried to be a good person, and sometimes I am not, but letting myself down is more acceptable than letting others know I have let them down.
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.
Listening: I have always been a very good listener, I guess because I'm not one of many words, so I would rather hear what others have to say. When my friends have a problem or if they're worried about something, they tend to come to me to ask what I would do or what I think, or sometimes just to vent off knowing I'll keep it to myself. I think also perhaps because I am less likely to act on something emotionally, or without first thinking of the consequences of an action. Sometimes I am called wise but I think it's more that I like to think things through.
Loyal: I am fiercely loyal to my friends - family, really. An insult to them is an insult to me. They have been in my life for most of it, so I have grown up with them, and we know each other inside out. They have been there for me for the good times, but the terrible times too. They are part of me, and are just as loyal to me as I am to them.
Empathy: I can easily put myself in someone else's situation. I have relatively strong political views, but if someone agrees with me completely then I love to argue for the other side because I can see where they're coming from too. I can often also sense what someone else might be feeling, by their body language and demeanor, when they're trying to hide that.
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Impatience: I have a rather short temper, and I can't stand waiting most of all. I get so annoyed listening to babies scream, being stuck behind people who walk too slowly, not being able to fix a problem straight away, listening to someone not being able to decide what to have for dinner, having too much to do all at once. Some of those are stupid I know; the world does not revolve around me, but I hate dawdling or wasting time for no reason. I like to get things done, have things sorted, to know where I am and what I am supposed to do at what time. My biggest pet hate is when people try to organize a day out or whatever, but don't tell you the time or where or how until the last minute, or arrange to meet you somewhere at a certain time and turn up late... so rude! I like organization and good time management.
Selfish: I don't mean that I never think of others first, I do, but if there's something I can gain in a situation, I'll do my best to gain it. In relation to this, I can be very sneaky and am a brilliant liar if I need to be, particularly if I have to protect myself in some way. By that I mean if I have done some things that would greatly upset others, but I do not want to be found out for the awful person I can be, I can lie and will lock some things away in myself and never think about them again. I am a very emotional person in some respects, but when I have to, I can just stop myself from feeling emotional about something, I can be stubborn and made of stone. I am also good at being able to twist a situation to my advantage: I am manipulative, and can work out a persons weaknesses to use them for my advantage. I'm not proud of this, but sometimes I can't help myself. I learned how to do it to use as a sort of shield I guess.
Drink: I drink far too much alcohol. I don't drink every day, or need to drink very often, but when I do I can't stop and go crazy and wake up the next morning not knowing what has happened, but having done something embarrassing and sometimes insulted people to boot or caused some trouble. This seems to happen more and more recently, and I'm quite happy to drink just on my own too, so I'm looking to change my behavior with this really. It's bad for my health and my conscience.
A Song of Ice and Fire Related
1.How many books from the series have you completed?
The first four, and I am about 20% through A dance with Dragons.
2.Who are your favorite three characters in the series? Why?
1) Tyrion. Not just because he is too witty for his own good. There is sadness behind his droll remarks. He has never been shown that he is good enough or is particularly loved: he is sneered at, thought little of, deceived, and especially by those who should be there for him, yet despite that he is loyal to his name [...was...!] and tried hard to do the best for the people below him and for the Lannister House. He makes the most of what comes his way, and he takes the good with the bad and takes the bad with dignity. He is true to himself, he is so strong and resilient despite everything, and I admire him for it all.
2) It's a really tough one between Brienne and Jon here, but I'm going for Jon. The events around the Wall means little to the rest of Westeros, but its his life, and it means the world to him. I got attached to him from the beginning because he seemed to have friends in Winterfell, but never really had 'family' except for Arya. He's a man of the Knights Watch through and through. I'd feel hopeless and lost at the Wall, but they are there and fight because of their oaths, and that's what keeps them going. He is humble hasn't been important to many people, but he is loved by his brothers and has love to give and has much courage when needed. He knows what is right, he has strength - he knows he will need to go against his nature for the greater good sometimes. I just want to hug him.
3) Sandor: I think he's a very cleverly written character. I really do sort of see him as a big dog humanized: you should be scared of him because metaphorically he has sharp teeth and can bite, but he's still fluffy around the edges and can have a good heart. He's not just a one dimensional character. Most of the characters aren't, really, but we're led to believe he's just all mean and hateful at first, and his brother's even worse - terrible genes! - but slowly we see that he can be scared and alone and he's just trying to get through life the best he can, he's not willing to just die needlessly for anyone that doesn't deserve his life. He's not always the best morally, but there is good in him. He's one of the most relate-able people in the books in some ways. He has a dark side that he can justify to himself, and a good side that he's not particularly willing to acknowledge.
3.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?
1) Cersei. She's just such a... cow. Like she doesn't even pretend to be a bitch sometimes for the greater good of the realm, and to get things done, she just is rotten all the way down. She's a mega snob, she hates everyone, she's sneaky and manipulative, but expects everyone to love her and to be willing to die for her but she would never do the same for them. Also, she's a bad mother and I feel sorry for her children. When I read her I feel as though I could be reading the thoughts of some petulant, stubborn young girl. She thinks she's so fantastic. She would be a worse Queen than the Mad King was a King!
2) I'm finding this hard actually, I don't particularly dislike anyone else. I struggled through Catelyn. I know that her POV was important, around Jon, but I just got... bored, I guess. It felt like all of her chapters were the same. 'She feels sad, she must be strong for her son, her family are scattered': repeat. I felt like she got in the way a bit, we could have heard about the events surrounding her from someone else. Also, I can't help but blame her for what happened to Robb, and dislike her for hating Jon,The Motherless Baby. I can understand why she hated him, but she frustrates me all the same, because it isn't his fault, it was Ned's.
3) AHA! Walder Frey: Just vile! He's a perverted misogynist, and as childish and exhausting as Cersei is.
And such a terrible host.
4.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why?
ONE MOMENT?
So far, the Dany and the Unsullied chapter. I was dreading reading that because I just didn't know what way she would go - until that point she had believed in freeing slaves, would she really want to command an army of them under her name? How could she possibly let one of her dragons go to pay for them? Why was she taking those insults from Haknakapapo-po (I forget his name!) Then suddenly BAM! Evil man is burned, the slaves are free, the dragons are still hers, and she still has an army of Unsullied! WATCH OUT, she means srs bizniz! She took control of a situation the way she wanted to control it, without first consulting the opinions of other people. She knew what she had to do, and to hell with it.
5. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why?
To be honest, everything seems to change so quickly and nothing is ever certain, I have no inkling how it might end, so I'm not completely sure how I would even like it to end! I would like for Dany to sit the Throne, but I just feel she's a little too... out of touch? - With Westeros. I think the person who should sit upon it, because they would rule the realm justly, honestly and honorably, is Jon Snow, but obviously... tres impossible :\ I hope he stays with us, at least...
I want to Sansa and Arya to find their ways back to Winterfell and rule the North together. I'm not sure what I want for Bran yet, I love him to bits though, and eventually I want him to be happy with Meera somewhere. I just don't know about the others, I just don't know.