armed with will and determination

Sami (Samira Grace for the purposes of any fantasy AU) is very Northern Coded. She's from Canada, she likes the cold. It just works.

It's probably most likely she'd be a Wildling (very similar to Val and in fact I've seen Katheryn Winnick fancast as Val, lol). But she could be from any Northern House, noble or bastard or common. She'd bully and/or charm her way into being trained with weapons - if she's from North of the Wall, this will just be part of her normal upbringing.

I'd actually love to do an inversion of the Wildling tradition of men stealing wives, and have her steal a husband.

Alternatively she could be from Essos, maybe Braavos, or simply ending up there. She could be one of the Faceless Men, actually. They trained Arya, so they do accept women.

As far as Westerosi houses she could be from, I mean, anywhere in the North? Perhaps in the Vale - her coloring is similar to how Jon Arryn is described. The Reach would work too, she could be a Tyrell or a Hightower. It'd be more of a stretch for her to be Valyrian, but I'm willing to roll with it. Any House that has characters described as fair-haired and/or blue-eyed, really.

Any point in the timeline is fine, whether it's HotD times or GoT or something else. I could come up with something to stick her in anywhere. (And eventually I'll be uploading some Vikings icons for the Aesthetic, I am not making a separate account this time, lol.)

I mostly ship her with male characters, but she would be a great protector of women, like Brienne of Tarth. She could easily swear her sword to a noble lady/queen, or also like Brienne want to join a Kingsguard/Queensguard. Arranged marriages are always a possibility too, though she'd be a bit of an older bride. There are possibilities for "spoils of war" scenarios which is also appealing.

Making her a sellsword or even a pit fighter in Essos would also be a very easy option, or otherwise having her sold into slavery. (Wildlings are considered viable options once Daenerys starts wreaking havoc in Slaver's Bay, or she could be born in Essos.)

Even if she's noble, she's not particularly special as far as dragon blood or green-sight/warging goes. She may possess dormant abilities to pass on to any potential children, but she would not show any magical skill. Her true talents are in physical combat and also in learning languages. She is good on horseback and can joust, but she is not a skin-changer.

I picked Iain Glen as her father in her default/canon, but obviously that wouldn't be the case in any GoT AUs. Ser Jorah is not her father, lmao.