Tuesday, September 23, 2014

If I Were Westerosi...


This spring and summer I spent every free moment engrossed in the current five novels of the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin, aka The Game of Thrones books. I entered the world of the seven kingdoms with excitement and vigor – devouring the first two books in a few weeks but by book five I was exhausted, burned out. Tired of all the characters I still couldn’t keep track of, tired of all the cliffhangers with no resolution in sight. I needed a nap. Actually, more like book detox. I quickly read Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed so I could find myself devouring a book that is both beautiful and important. While I have to say that I didn’t enjoy And the Mountains Echoed as much as Hosseini’s other two books (A Thousand Splendid Suns being my favorite), it was still a beautiful story and did the trick of detoxing me from Westeros.

Now that I can look back on A Song of Ice and Fire series with more prospective and as I am going back to my daily suburban housewife/stay at home mom routines... I wonder, if I were a character in The Game of Thrones, what kind of Westerosi would I be (assuming, of course, that I would be a Westerosi and not from over the narrow sea somewhere)? Would I be highborn or lowborn? Would I live in King’s Landing or one of the seven kingdoms? Would I be a southerner, a northerner, or a widling mayhaps? Would I worship the new gods or the old? What is the equivalent of a Christian American middle class suburban mom?

I did find a Game of Thrones Name Generator:

My GoT name is Alerie Antaryon.
Take Ladies of Westeros today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Based on A Song of Ice and Fire Wiki, the character with that last name Antaryon is a Braavosi but I don’t see myself as living anywhere other than the seven kingdoms.

Here’s what I can say of myself based on my life decisions:
I like to be in a suburb that’s close to the city but feels far removed. I like summer. I like to be near water. I like the idea of being rebellious, but it’s too risky so instead I just stray slightly left or right of the norm. While I am certainly not upper class, I’ve lived a pretty comfortable life and have had minimal struggles with money (besides the usual middle class single income woes). I am fairly intelligent and educated, but certainly not maester-level.    

I  figure, I’d probably live somewhere in The Reach, somewhere outside of Highgarden. Maybe the daughter or wife of one of the lesser houses sworn to the Tyrell’s, like House Crane of Red Lake.
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I’ve spend WAY too much time of this today but it was fun. Would love to hear what you think – what kind of Game of Thrones character would you be? Where would you live?

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