#ALSO WHERE IS SYRIO | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

laurellerual · 1 year

Text

Arya Lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night

At the bottom of my inbox there's an anonymous message from months ago that says “could you do Arya with Nymeria during the long night? Fighting together?”. I haven't replied yet and the reason is that when I think about this scene, the image of GOT 8x03 pops up in my mind. Will Arya fight through the Long Night, sword in hand? I'm not that sure.

Then the other day I came up with this idea that I proposed to you in a survey: “Winterfell falls, the northeners have to escape South, Harrenhal is the main citadel, Arya as lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night”. And I must say I'm surprised with the result. It won "I see where you are coming from, and I like it" with 33% of the votes.

But many, rightly so, have chosen "I'll wait for you to elaborate", so here we are.

A role

So Jon and Dany are the ones with the army and the dragons, Tyrion is the smart one with the experience and Bran is the one with the magical powers (sorry I'm simplifying, just to summarize). It's not hard to imagine that they'll find their place in the White Walkers storyline.

And Arya? Use the valyrian steel sword she doesn't have to slay the undead? Will Jon allow her to be on the front lines? Is Arya really stupid enough to think she can do it?

She will be at most 12/13 years old and the only sword lessons she has received are those of Syrio, she is not a great swordswoman, especially if she has to face adults on a battlefield. The things that the FMs are teaching her don't seem suitable for this kind of situations. I guess she could contribute by warging Nymeria and leading her pack, but if that is the case it wouldn't be necessary for her to be physically there.

Whatever this role is it must be relevant 'cause Martin counted her among the five key characters, one of the first to be created and then decided to waste a lot of ink by telling us about her.

Harrenhal

I start with the assumtion that the Battle for the Dawn will take place in the Riverlands, that it will not be possible to stop the White Walkers at Winterfell and consequently there will be an exodus of people from the North to the South. If you don't agree or you want an explanation about it, you can read my last post: Harrenhal during the Long Night.

And which of the main characters has a strong relationship with Harrenhal?

Thematic connections

The girl has a long and complex relationship with her mother's native land and a strong thematic connection with water that you surely have read about in other metas. Most of the major events in Arya's life take place here.

Not only the Red wedding, meeting Jaqen, the Weasel soup, the separation from Nymeria, but also Mycah's death in which she realizes for the first time that her father is not as powerful as she thinks, that the injustice of the world is deeper than she thought and that especially for the nobles the suffering of the smallfolk is totally irrelevant.

Harrenhal is the castle of which she becomes the ghost. And she really is the ghost of Harrenhal, standing in front of that Heart tree, probably like her late aunt years before, as she hears a voice from the trees reminding her of her real name.

Useful knowledge

Arya knows these lands directly, crosses them, lives them, knows their inhabitants, their opinions and sides in the war. It isn't a theoretical knowledge but a practical one. As Jon Snow recalls "The map is not the land, my father often said".

But it's even more intimate than that because Arya dreams of those lands every night, she sees them through Nymeria's eyes. The wolf is currently the only undisputed ruler in that lawless place. Do you remember the image of Harrenhal tormented by the tremendous howl of the wind and wolves outside the walls?

Arya also knows Harrenhal on all its levels. She physically scrubbed the floors of every floor of every tower and she scoured all the walls in search of an unguarded gate.

She has experienced the classes and roles that exist within the castle and its management. She had to deal with armigers, cooks and blacksmiths. She has worked her way up the chain of command from the humblest of servants to cupbearer and lord's messenger.

Skills and leadership

In the books we see her many times in positions where she is the person who has to make decisions, lead a group, organize little plans.

One of the main themes of her journey is justice, mercy, power and its abuse.

Then there are more or less direct parallels such as the one between Arya and Aegon the unlikely or the list of things that would make Aegon/young Griff a good ruler according to Varys.

Let's see some quotes in the books that tell us about these aspects of the character:

The one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household.

His father used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them. “Know t

he men who follow you,” she heard him tell Robb once, “and let them know you. Don't ask your men to die for a stranger."

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms.

Whenever her father had condemned a man to death, he did the deed himself with Ice, his great sword. “If you would take a man 's life, you owe it to him go look him in the face and hear his last words di lui,” she 'd heard him tell Robb and Jon once.

Can I be lord of a holdfast?

And here I stop because there are many others. If you are interested in this, there are meta only on this topic around tumblr.

An interesting that that connects Ned's teachings and those of the FMs is the concept that power and service are closely related.

Now let's see what FM training consists of: the ability to blend in with people, listen, gather information, learn many languages. We can add her natural ability to make friends and allies of all kinds.

This seems like the perfect package to manage a castle full of frightened people from all over the world (there will be people arriving with Dany as well), from every social class, every side of the war, who have nothing in common but the hope to survive.

Disconnected thoughts and possible parallels

This would be a very poetic situation that completes the parallel with historical Nymeria by placing Arya at the head of a group of refugees fleeing their destroyed home. In addition to giving her the possibility and the power to carry out the reflection on justice in a place that has seen so much injustice.

It's also funny how Lady Whent is introduced with great expectation right into Arya's chapters, where she thinks she can ask for her help. Yet she will never meet the Lady of Harrenhal.

And isn't it funny how she decided to name her direwolf after "some old witch queen in the songs"?

From the Alys Rivers wiki page: In 132 AC during the regency of Aegon III, a number of broken men and predatory outlaws began to gather at Harrenhal under the rule of a sorcerous witch queen. Mmmh interesting… this sound familiar, the Brotherhood without banners?

There is also Sharra, another witch queen of the Riverlands from the Age of Heroes.

Conclusions

In this place where Shagwell the Fool sang about Weasel soup maybe in the future there will be songs about Arya and the ten thousand wolves.

Thanks for reading. Mine doesn't want to be a theory that speaks of the character's endgame, but of its role during the Long Night. Let me know if I've given you something to think about, if I've convinced you, if you have other ideas on what this role might be. Or if you want to write a fanfiction with this plot.

Edit: I just discovered an old thread with a similar topic. I haven't read it yet, but I'll leave it here for the record.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #arya stark #harrenhal #the long night #arya meta

187 notes · View notes

agentrouka-blog · 22 days

Note

(1/7) You know @rose-of-red-lake's theory about Dany being eaten by one of her dragons? The imagery used in these passages reminded me of these in AGoT, Arya III and Arya IV where she stumbles upon the dragons skulls under the Red Keep:

(7) I wonder if it could foreshadow Arya being the one killing the last living dragon(s?) after it goes fully wild and kills even its own “mother”. It would tie nicely with her training amongst the Faceless Men who were originally slaves working under the Fourteen Flames of Valyria and may be behind the Doom but also with Brandon Snow who wanted to assassinate Balerion Vhagar and Meraxes but was talked out of it by his brother. Arya the Dragonslayer sounds like quite the epic tale. Any thoughts?

Hi anon!

I left out the in-between messages, as they contained the relevant book quotes here, for ease of reading:

By the time she had reached eighty-seven, the room had begun to lighten as her eyes adjusted to the blackness. Slowly the shapes around her took on form. Huge empty eyes stared at her hungrily through the gloom, and dimly she saw the jagged shadows of long teeth. She had lost the count. She closed her eyes and bit her lip and sent the fear away. When she looked again, the monsters would be gone. Would never have been. She pretended that Syrio was beside her in the dark, whispering in her ear. Calm as still water, she told herself. Strong as a bear. Fierce as a wolverine. She opened her eyes again. The monsters were still there, but the fear was gone. Arya got to her feet, moving warily. The heads were all around her. She touched one, curious, wondering if it was real. Her fingertips brushed a massive jaw. It felt real enough. The bone was smooth beneath her hand, cold and hard to the touch. She ran her fingers down a tooth, black and sharp, a dagger made of darkness. It made her shiver. "It's dead," she said aloud. "It's just a skull, it can't hurt me." Yet somehow the monster seemed to know she was there. She could feel its empty eyes watching her through the gloom, and there was something in that dim, cavernous room that did not love her. She edged away from the skull and backed into a second, larger than the first. For an instant she could feel its teeth digging into her shoulder, as if it wanted a bite of her flesh. Arya whirled, felt leather catch and tear as a huge fang nipped at her jerkin, and then she was running. Another skull loomed ahead, the biggest monster of all, but Arya did not even slow. She leapt over a ridge of black teeth as tall as swords, dashed through hungry jaws, and threw herself against the door. (AGOT, Arya III)

and

This time the monsters did not frighten her. They seemed almost old friends. Arya held the candle over her head. With each step she took, the shadows moved against the walls, as if they were turning to watch her pass. "Dragons," she whispered. She slid Needle out from under her cloak. The slender blade seemed very small and the dragons very big, yet somehow Arya felt better with steel in her hand. (AGOT, Arya IV)

There is definitely a strong association between Arya and a confrontation with dragons. Whether that is simply being present during the burning of King's Landing, or whether this involves more is something I am not sure of.

I've moved away a bit from the idea of Arya killing Dany directly, but I don't doubt that her Faceless Man training, Syrio's training, her experiences in tunnels and darkness, warging, spying and deception will play a significant role.

I felt curiously reminded of this scene from ADWD, where Quentyn enters the dragon lair in the basement of the pyramid:

It was black beyond the doors, a sullen stygian darkness that seemed alive and threatening, hungry. Quentyn could sense that there was something in that darkness, coiled and waiting. Warrior, grant me courage, he prayed. He did not want to do this, but he saw no other way. Why else would Daenerys have shown me the dragons? She wants me to prove myself to her. Gerris handed him a torch. He stepped through the doors. The green one is Rhaegal, the white Viserion, he reminded himself. Use their names, command them, speak to them calmly but sternly. Master them, as Daenerys mastered Drogon in the pit. The girl had been alone, clad in wisps of silk, but fearless. I must not be afraid. She did it, so can I. The main thing was to show no fear. Animals can smell fear, and dragons … What did he know of dragons? What does any man know of dragons? They have been gone from the world for more than a century. (ADWD, The Dragontamer)

Darkness. No fear. Animals. Courage. Something you simply have to do. Something a girl can do.

Maybe, maybe not.

#rouka queue #asoiaf speculation #arya stark #dragonslayer #anti daenerys targaryen #<- for filtering #rouka ask

14 notes · View notes

jackoshadows · 1 year

Text

@nogoodsheepstealing-greatgrandma

I didn’t want to derail or hijack your Dany post, so decided to make a separate post to what I think is an interesting discussion.

As I have mentioned in some of my earlier posts, I find Sansa to be a confusing mess mainly because the character herself does not introspect, does not think, does not connect dots, does not proactively try to figure things out.

Which is why it’s doubly frustrating that the same hypocrites who are critiquing Daenerys and Jon for their leadership will write praises of Sansa’s intelligence and political acumen when she is the least political of her peers and hardly ever engages in critical thinking.

And honestly, there’s only so much that age can be used as an excuse considering these are characters in a fantasy world where a 10 year old has been elected Lord Commander, teenagers rule as Kings and Queens and marry young. Dany and Jon have decided that they want to be leaders and so I judge them based on their actions and, despite their age, they have done a far better job than the likes of Cersei, Jaime, Robert, Ned, Cat etc. IMO.

One of the opinions I very much disagree with is the notion that Ned’s warning to Sansa or what Maester Coleman tells Sansa is vague and not understandable when, for me as reader, they come across as pretty succinct and clear in their intention. There’s also the fact that these warnings do not happen in a vacuum, there is always context for a character to put 2 and 2 together to come up with 4.

Here's Ned telling Sansa that it's dangerous for the Starks in KL

Father’s mouth twitched strangely. “Sansa, I’m not sending you away for fighting, though the gods know I’m sick of you two squabbling. I want you back in Winterfell for your own safety. Three of my men were cut down like dogs not a league from where we sit, and what does Robert do? He goes hunting.”

“Sweet one,” her father said gently, “listen to me. When you’re old enough, I will make you a match with a high lord who’s worthy of you, someone brave and gentle and strong. This match with Joffrey was a terrible mistake. That boy is no Prince Aemon, you must believe me.”

“I am looking for a fast trading galley to take you home. These days, the sea is safer than the kingsroad. You will sail as soon as I can find a proper ship, with Septa Mordane and a complement of guards … and yes, with Syrio Forel, if he agrees to enter my service. But say nothing of this. It’s better if no one knows of our plans. We’ll talk again tomorrow.” - Eddard, AGoT

To then add context to everything Ned tells her, Sansa herself is witness to Cersei ordering her beloved pet wolf dead, Joffrey's sadistic mauling of Mycah and knowing what Jaime did to Stark men. It's clear to me that it's not that Sansa did not understand Ned's warning about the Lannisters, it’s that she preferred to ignore it in favor of wanting to stay in KL, marry Joffrey and become queen because she imagined herself to be in love with him. It's ignorant self interest, where she deliberately refuses to see the bigger picture of what is happening around her despite knowing all the facts.

Let us take the SweetRobin situation in book 5. Keep in mind that the Maester here is Westeros' version of a physician. So this is a doctor - an expert in someone’s health - talking to Sansa. Surely Sansa should start with the presumption that this man knows more about a person’s health than either she or Littlefinger does, right? When I go to a doctor, I don’t have to be a medical expert in order to take the doctor’s advice right? And we don’t get any of Sansa’s thoughts on Coleman’s competence as a doctor.

When Jon Snow as Lord Commander implements Jeor Mormont’s defense strategy for rebuilding the Wall it’s because he trusts in Mormont’s experience and knowledge. As much as Jon was opposed to Bowen Marsh’s bigotry, he appreciated Marsh’s skillsets as a steward.

And while Maester Coleman is indeed incompetent and too scared of authority he does care about helping his patients. It’s a sad parallel that Coleman tried to save Jon Arryn in KL (from LF and Lysa’s poisoning ) and failed and now he will fail to save the son as well. Recall that Pycelle was of the opinion that Coleman could have saved Jon Arryn and that’s why he kicked him out of KL

Tyrion tsked at him. “I saw the tears of Lys among your potions. And you sent away Lord Arryn’s own maester and tended him yourself, so you could make certain that he died.”

“A falsehood! Yes,” he whimpered, “yes, Colemon was purging, so I sent him away. The queen needed Lord Arryn dead, she did not say so, could not, Varys was listening, always listening, but when I looked at her I knew. It was not me who gave him the poison, though, I swear it.”

The old man wept. “Varys will tell you, it was the boy, his squire, Hugh he was called, he must surely have done it, ask your sister, ask her” - Tyrion, ACoK

Coming back to Coleman and Sansa, from their conversation it's clear that Sansa ignores the doctor's warnings about SweetRobin's health because she trusts Littlefinger to know better that the politics of their situation is more important than SR's health. It’s a case of Sansa putting LF’s guidance and advice above the Maester’s.

Maester Colemon cares only for the boy, though. Father and I have larger concerns” - Alayne, AFfC

Now there can be an entire separate discussion on why Sansa is doing this given everything she knows about Petyr Baelish so far - Lysa’s confession about Jon Arryn’s death, LF being the last person she knows had Jeyne Poole, his role in the murder of Joffrey and framing Tyrion etc. Given that Sansa never introspects on all this we have to assume she is once again deliberately ignoring the truths right in front of her for whatever reason.

This is also why it’s mind boggling when this fandom takes away Arya’s critical thinking skills to prop Sansa up as the smart Stark. At 9, Arya is able to rightly guess that Cersei would harm Nymeria for what she did to Joffrey and drives her away.

Only she kept following, and finally we had to throw rocks. I hit her twice. She whined and looked at me and I felt so ’shamed, but it was right, wasn’t it? The queen would have killed her.” - Arya, AGoT

When Jaqen has Weese mauled by his dog, Arya is able to connect the dots and deduct that the supernatural is involved. Again, remember she is only 9/10 here.

She had been avoiding the Lorathi since Weese’s death. Chiswyck had been easy, anyone could push a man off the wallwalk, but Weese had raised that ugly spotted dog from a pup, and only some dark magic could have turned the animal against him. Yoren found Jaqen in a black cell, the same as Rorge and Biter, she remembered. Jaqen did something horrible and Yoren knew, that’s why he kept him in chains. If the Lorathi was a wizard, Rorge and Biter could be demons he called up from some hell, not men at all - Arya, ACoK

So is Sansa gleefully and maliciously having SR poisoned? No. Does Sansa care for SR's wellbeing here? Also no.

I write about how SR is most probably suffering from epileptic seizures in this post and the Maester's solution for this is to keep him as calm as possible. Excitement leads to shaking and seizures, which requires the Maester to dose the child with more SweetSleep, dangerous in the long term. For Sansa however, it is important that SweetRobin show up in front of the lords looking normal - even though the boy has a disabling condition.

So the doctor tells Sansa that to keep SR calm, he would dose him with the less dangerous milk of poppy. Sansa refuses because appearances are more important.

“Good. That is good.” His chain clinked softly as he bobbed his head, atop a ridiculously long and skinny neck. “This descent… my lady, it might be safest if I mixed his lordship some milk of the poppy. Mya Stone could lash him over the back of her most surefooted mule whilst he slumbered.” “The Lord of the Eyrie cannot descend from his mountain tied up like a sack of barleycorn.” Of that Alayne was certain. They dare not let the full extent of Robert’s frailty and cowardice become too widely known, her father had warned her. I wish he were here. He would know what to do. - Alayne, AFfC

No doubt the Maester is scared of LF (And is most probably going to be framed for SR's death by LF), and yet he perseveres to make Sansa understand that it's these feasts/events that's making SR have seizures requiring the sweetsleep.

“Give his lordship a cup of sweetmilk,” she told the maester. “That will stop him from shaking on the journey down.”

“He had a cup not three days past,” Colemon objected.

“And wanted another last night, which you refused him.”

“It was too soon. My lady, you do not understand. As I’ve told the Lord Protector, a pinch of sweetsleep will prevent the shaking, but it does not leave the flesh, and in time . . .”

“Time will not matter if his lordship has a shaking fit and falls off the mountain. If my father were here, I know he would tell you to keep Lord Robert calm at all costs.”

I try, my lady, yet his fits grow ever more violent, and his blood is so thin I dare not leech him any more. Sweetsleep… you are certain he was not bleeding from the nose? I must speak to the Lord Protector. This feast… is that wise, I wonder, after the strain of the descent? Lord Robert mislikes strangers, you know that, and there will be drinking, noise… music. Music frightens him”

“Lord Nestor will have no singers at the feast, only flutes and fiddles for the dancing.” What would she do when the music began to play? It was a vexing question, to which her heart and head gave different answers. Sansa loved to dance, but Alayne… “Just give him a cup of the sweetmilk before we go, and another at the feast, and there should be no trouble.” - Alayne, AFfC

Does the Maester explain the science behind how the drug works to Sansa? No. However, I think he makes it clear enough that the drug stays in the flesh and is dangerous to a person’s health.

And again, we know that Sansa understands what the Maester is telling her regarding the SweetSleep -

“Very well.” They paused at the foot of the stairs. “But this must be the last. For half a year, or longer.”

“You had best take that up with the Lord Protector.” Maester Colemon cares only for the boy, though. Father and I have larger concerns” - Alayne, AFfC

Then at the end of this same chapter, Littlefinger has a monologue where he tells her why they are doing what they are doing.

He turned her hand over and lightly kissed her wrist. “So tell me, sweetling—why is Harry the Heir?”

Her eyes widened. “He is not Lady Waynwood’s heir. He’s Robert’s heir. If Robert were to die . . .”

Petyr arched an eyebrow. “When Robert dies. Our poor brave Sweetrobin is such a sickly boy, it is only a matter of time. When Robert dies, Harry the Heir becomes Lord Harrold, Defender of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie. Jon Arryn’s bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon . . . and when they come together for his wedding, and you come out with your long auburn hair, clad in a maiden’s cloak of white and grey with a direwolf emblazoned on the back . . . why, every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright. So those are your gifts from me, my sweet Sansa . . . Harry, the Eyrie, and Winterfell. - Alayne, AFfC

This then leads to the sample TWoW chapter where Sansa as Alayne flirts with Harry the Heir so that they can get married.

So if Sansa expects SweetRobin to live long enough to marry, then why is she seducing Harry for him to offer to marry her when that depends on SweetRobin’s death?!

Which is why the conversation between Robert and Sansa is all sorts of ridiculous because even a sickly little 8 year old SR knows that Harry’s importance in all this depends on his death, Littlefinger has explained to her very clearly that SweetRobin will die and yet Sansa is talking about how his future wife will like his hair?!

If SR is going to live long enough to marry, than why is Sansa trying to marry Harry?

“I hate that Harry,” Sweetrobin said when she was gone. “He calls me cousin, but he’s just waiting for me to die so he can take the Eyrie. He thinks I don’t know, but I do.”

“Your lordship should not believe such nonsense,” Alayne said. “I’m sure Ser Harrold loves you well.” And if the gods are good, he will love me too. Her tummy gave a little flutter.

“He doesn’t,” Lord Robert insisted. “He wants my father’s castle, that’s all, so he pretends.”

He does have pretty hair. If the gods are good and he lives long enough to wed, his wife will admire his hair, surely. That much she will love about him.- Alayne, TWoW

This is why context is important and the Maester’s conversation does not exist in a vacuum. LF has told Sansa that SR needs to die for their plan to work and WILL die, SweetRobin has told her that Harry is waiting for him to die to get the Vale and the Maester has warned her that giving SR high doses of the drug is dangerous. After all this, how is Sansa going to be surprised by his death? That would be like being surprised when told that 2+2=4.

Six books in and Sansa remains a character who continues to ignore the truths in front of her for selfish reasons. That’s been a consistent character trait for her, from book one to her first chapter in book 6.

So is Sansa actively colluding with LF’s gradual medical poisoning of her little cousin in order for Harry to become the Lord of the Vale? Surely, in the back of her mind she must be aware of what is happening? However, it’s an unpleasant truth, one she does not want to acknowledge and chooses to ignore because it’s more important for her that LF’s plans to get Winterfell for her succeeds.

Does she care for her little cousin’s well being? No. Despite the Maester repeatedly telling her that the drug is dangerous to his health, she thinks the politics are more important.

Remember in Sansa’s very first POV chapter with Arya and Mycah playing at the Trident and Joffrey showcases himself to be a sadistic ass?

Sansa was shrieking, “No, no, stop it, stop it, both of you, you’re spoiling it,” - Sansa I, AGoT

That’s her primary character trait. She is written as a character who does not want the unpleasant truths to spoil her personal narratives of Joffrey being a good person or Arya being responsible for Lady’s death or Cersei knowing better than her father or that SweetRobin is going to live long enough to marry a wife who will love his hair.

So we can either read Sansa as someone who is incredibly dense, who despite being presented with all the facts before her, still does not understand SweetRobin’s fate - when even 8 year old SweetRobin knows that Harry is just waiting for him to die. Or we can read her as someone who selfishly ignores the truth in front of her because it’s so unsavory and ‘spoils’ her idea of what she thinks is good and right and moral. In that, she knows that SR has to die and will die and yet keeps pretending that he’s going to be fine.

And both of these interpretations are in stark contrast with how Sansa is generally viewed in this fandom as being the smartest, most intelligent, most compassionate, idealistic ‘embodiment of hope’. She’s none of these things.

#Sansa Stark discussion

73 notes · View notes

fromtheseventhhell · 9 months

Text

“A man does not need to be a wizard to know truth from falsehood, not if he has eyes. You need only learn to read a face. Look at the eyes. The mouth. The muscles here, at the corners of the jaw, and here, where the neck joins the shoulders.” ... The next day they began the lying game, asking questions of one another, taking turns. Sometimes they would answer truly, sometimes they would lie. The questioner had to try and tell what was true and what was false.

“Then practice making faces. Beneath your skin are muscles. Learn to use them. It is your face. Your cheeks, your lips, your ears. Smiles and scowls should not come upon you like sudden squalls. A smile should be a servant, and come only when you call it. Learn to rule your face.” ... "Try it again on the morrow. You will find a Myrish mirror in the vaults. Train before it for an hour every day. Eyes, nostrils, cheeks, ears, lips, learn to rule them all.”

“She will teach you,” said the kindly man as the waif appeared outside her door. “Starting with the tongue of Braavos. What use are you if you cannot speak or understand? And you shall teach her your own tongue. The two of you shall learn together, each from the other. Will you do this?” ... Thereafter she and the waif spent their time together touching things and pointing, as each tried to teach the other a few words of her own tongue. Simple words at first, cup and candle and shoe; then harder words; then sentences.

--Arya II, AFFC

Arya's educational set-ups are so potent in just her first chapter within the House of Black and White. Learning how to detect and tell lies, learning to master her facial expressions, and learning new languages are all extremely useful and versatile skills. George doesn't just have characters learning skills without intending them to be used either. Arya's lessons with Syrio + learned observational skills are integral to her evading capture in AGOT, what she observes and learns in Harrenhal helps her to plan her escape in ACOK, etc.

It's also interesting that some of her lessons are almost supplementary to what she's learned on her journey so far. Arya has already shown keen observation skills and the ability to read people's temperaments, so learning how to read deeper and detect lies feels like a nice extension of that. Same with her ability to conform her behavior to her environment, learning the importance of facial expressions and how to "rule her face" feels like the next step. Learning languages is new but also complementary to both skills. Her development is getting taken to the next level and I'm really looking forward to seeing how her new skills will be utilized.

#arya stark #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #faceless men #what she's currently learning about is so interesting to me considering what she's already accomplished #I like that we got two books of her mostly on her own and figuring things out before we have her being more guided #cause there's a lot that she's already learned on her own but it would be unrealistic for her to learn everything without guidance #and she's not just learning in a controlled environment her lessons are being actively put to the test #just annoying that people reduce her skills to sword fighting when that's arguably her least valuable skill #and again this is just her first chapter with them and what she actively started learning...there are a lot more mentions+lessons incoming #I'm being so serious when I say she really has the potential to be a political powerhouse #the vision when you don't just reduce a character to one single trait

26 notes · View notes

atopvisenyashill · 9 months

Note

How much would change if Jon, Sansa, and Arya were genderbent?

Interesting question partially because we don’t have a lot of precedent for what happens to bastard born noble girls. Boys can inherit if there’s no true born sons - Alyn of Hull becomes Alyn Velaryon at the behest of his (rumored) father Corlys, Bran suggests to Lord Hornwood's illegitimate son should inherit, Edric Storm is likely to inherit Storms End by the ending, etc. But the girls…so far as I can find we only have Jeyne Waters (but the Longwaters descend from Jon, not Jeyne), Ashara Dayne’s (maybe) daughter, and Sara Snow.

If Jon is a girl and Cat has nothing but true born boys, I imagine in some ways things get easier for the Starklings and harder. An illegitimate girl is not a threat to the claims of Catelyn’s children the way a boy may be but it also may mean a girl Jon is much lonelier. Her existence is still an insult to Catelyn, but Ned is not going to ask Catelyn to oversee and her tutelage. If she's taught by Septa Mordane it's going to suck because Septa Mordane is super classist & an all around terrible guardian. I think Ned's paranoia might be worse however; if girl!Jon (Jeyne?) decides she hates her lessons and wants to be with all her brothers, it might remind Ned just a bit too much of Lyanna training with all of her brothers. And even though they look alike, having a daughter running around with Lyanna's face is incredibly risky. I think all of that is likely to make Jon much more quiet, morose, and sour @ life although with the same sort of passion & ability to understand outsiders.

It's also a bit complicated because its not as easy to get rid of a girl than a boy short of a marriage match in the North - the Silent Sisters and the Septas follow the faith and I don't think Ned is letting Lyanna's daughter go there nor is he hurrying to engage her to anyone (because he's not hurrying to engage anyone to anyone). So when Robert comes North...perhaps Catelyn asks for Jeyne (Jon) to be fostered somewhere else or taken with the capital. Ned is never bringing her to the capital but he might send her to foster with Howland because it keeps her out of the way and safe. That means Sam probably never finds his footing with the Night's Watch which really puts into question whether they find out that dragonglass kills wights early on. Night's Watch is kind of screwed, haha.

I do think there’s a chance Robb & Jon/Jeyne have kind of a Cregan & Sara Snow relationship; close in age and a beloved sister who he feels protective over after their father has died. It's possible he keeps her out of the action but equally possible he uses her in a marriage match.

As for boy Sansa & Arya...Arya is just a wildly different person if she's a boy. Her penchant for caring about common folk and being "underfoot" can still exist but it's treated very different. She would have a much better relationship with Cat; similar to the way Bran is a lil feisty and that's why Cat loves him. Cat is not going to worry about if her rowdy boy will have a good life and marriage because Arya is third born. I imagine a boy Sansa is similar to Bran; dreaming of songs of knights and valor. There's also no royal matches for both of them; maybe Myrcella is engaged to Sansa but that's it. I don't think the genderswap is likely to impact the Arya/Jon relationship much; would be funny if Needle becomes a gift from Arya to Jon instead of from Jon to Arya as Jon goes away to foster with Howland. It will impact the Sansa/Arya relationship however; without the gendered aspects of Arya Doing Gender Wrong, they have less issues with each other. They're also not the only girls which means there's less pressure on them and less comparisons between them. Sansa and Arya together are probably more likely to get out of KL before Ned is killed because they've trained at fighting a bit more but at the same time, without Syrio Forell there to run interference, they might get captured anyway. That's where I deeply worry about them both; if Robb ransoms Jaime for Sansa and Arya it affects the whole war but if Joffrey decides "fuck it" and kills them too (because what does Littlefinger care to spare Catelyn's boys?) I think it's likely to make the war worse.

Anyways the answer is: it changes everything lol.

#replies #asks #anons #THANK YOU THIS WAS FUN #house stark

24 notes · View notes

rumalumasuns · 1 year

Text

Random Scenarios Holostars Pt. 1

With Axel Syrios, Izuru Kanade, Oga Aragami, and Shien Kageyama

For gender-neutral readers~!

! - might be ooc, I apologize -> these characters don't belong to me, but the Hololive/Holostars company!

!- This is a work of fanfiction! Not meant to be super realistic lol

! - Romantic Fluff :D

! - Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Last Name, M/N = major name, S/N = School Name

Axel Syrios - Basketball =^o.0^=

"Oi, Y/N! Let's play ball!" exclaimed Axel excitedly as he ran over to your house that was across from his and threw you a ball.

You laughed as you caught it with ease. This was a memory from a couple of years ago when you became good friends with Axel Syrios, your neighbor who was around your age. Since this moment, whenever Axel was done with his classwork, he'd come over to your house and you would shoot some hoops together, occasionally with other friends from S/N. In addition to these hangouts, you two would also study together at your house. Well, it was mainly you trying to keep Axel from failing in certain subjects while he tried to distract you from the work he didn't want to work on.

Years passed and it was summertime now, and you two were soon coming to the end of your last year of high school. Although you two didn't acknowledge it, there was some slight tension as you knew that you would have different paths in the future: him with his "classified" job that he got accepted into, while you were going overseas to study at university.

You had just finished night studies and were on your way back home together, side by side as always.

The way back to your neighborhood was quiet. You passed the convenience store you two frequented to get a quick snack on the way back, the PC center that you two saved up money for, and the book and manga cafe where you shared many laughs. Your head was swirling with thoughts.

"Hey Y/N," said Axel, breaking the silence. You turned to him. He pointed behind him, where the basketball court you two used to play in was. There were stray, beat-up basketballs strewn in the corners of the court.

"Wanna play ball?"

You nodded.

"I'm gonna win this time for sure!" you exclaimed, then sprinted towards the court. "Try to keep up!"

"Oi!" shouted Axel as he laughed and started running after you.

No matter how many times you two have done this, it never got old: the thrill of running so quickly your hearts sped up, the adrenaline high you got from your competitiveness, the texture of the worn basketball hitting your hands as you dribbled it across the court.

You only beat Axel a few times throughout your entire life: once was because he underestimated you, another because you felt in top form, and some other times because he went slightly easier on you whenever he was feeling nice (though you always got pouty about that because you wanted to win on your own). Sometimes, you'd have rewards for whoever won: the loser would buy snacks for the winner, the loser would do errands for the winner for a day, etc. You didn't always enjoy it, as you lost more often than you won, but it was still fun. Plus, it was a way for you to spend time with Axel, someone you liked for years now (though his dense brain wouldn't know it).

After an hour or so of playing, you lay down on the dusty court, not caring about how your allergies will probably kick up soon or how unhygienic it was to lay on the court. You were going to wash up once you got home anyways.

Axel laughed at your defeated form before jogging over to your side and laying down next to you. You looked at him with a glare and also in slight shock: how did he have the energy to jog to you???

"It's my win, Y/N. What should I do to you~?" asked Axel teasingly as he reached over and started poking your cheek. Your face grew warm at the contact, but you pouted at his taunting words, turning over to face him with another glare.

"You don't know when to let me win, do you?" you said with a humph. "What do you want from me this time?"

Axel pondered for a moment, his finger still poking your cheek. You tried swatting it away, but he ended up just putting his finger back in place so you gave up.

"...A kiss," Axel mumbled. You didn't really hear him the first time, so your face became one of confusion.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I want a kiss... on the cheek!" he almost shouted loud enough for you to flinch. You took some time to process his words before your face bloomed into a red hue.

"WHAT?"

"I SAID ON THE CHEEK-"

"NO, I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID BUT WHAT???"

Your face was bright red now, and so was Axel's. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before peering at you in a flustered state.

"Y/N... what if I told you that I liked you for a long time? What if I told you that I'm afraid of what's to come after our graduation, and that I'll regret it right now if I keep acting like I want to be just your friend. The truth is, I don't. I want to be more, ya know?"

You stared at Axel in shock. He stood up from where you two were laying down, taking your silence as a rejection, and kicked away a stray basketball before slowly shuffling to the court's exit. Realizing that he was leaving, you stood up quickly and regained enough energy to run after him and grab his sleeve.

"W-wait!" you exclaimed, gasping for air as Axel looked at you with surprise and a glimmer of hope. "M-me too! I l-like you too!"

Axel's eyes widened before he started laughing heartily.

"Really?!" he exclaimed happily before picking you up and swinging you around.

"Woah! Hey, w-wait put me down, Axel!"

"No can do! I'm not letting you go now!" he said as he ended the swinging and just hugged you close. You stayed in that position for a couple moments, just basking in the quiet and listening to your heartbeats, loud and fast. Just like when you were playing basketball together.

After a couple moments passed, Axel opened his mouth.

"So, uh, can I get my reward now?"

You looked at him before slapping your hands on either side of his face and bringing his lips to yours.

You didn't know what would happen in the future, but it didn't matter because you knew that it would work out in the end. For now, you just wanted to enjoy your moment with your longtime friend, now boyfriend, and keep this memory in your mind forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izuru Kanade - Singing Together =^-w-^=

You and Izuru were both livers - you, Liv/N (liver name) were an independent VTuber while Izuru was part of Holostars and debuted before you. While Izuru tended to stream more games and singing, you were more of a cover singer and someone who did zatsudans, with the occasional game streams and fun collabs with other livers.

When Izuru's Love me, Love me, Love me cover came out, you absolutely loved it and reached out to him to ask if you two could collab on a cover sometime. Unbeknownst to you, Izuru really admired your cover songs as well and was excited to work with you.

He responded casually with some enthusiasm, and this exchange sparked a friendship, where you two sang together often, went through ideas of collab streams, and sent each other memes at random hours during the day.

Despite your slight language barrier, you two managed to communicate in some way or another (pictures, translation devices, learning a little more of each other's languages).

Eventually, after a couple of months passed, Izuru had the courage (and permissions) to ask for an off-collab with you. Excited to finally meet in person with your friend, you responded to his inquiry with great energy.

"Of course! When and where?" you exclaimed as you leaped up from your chair abruptly, your grin on your face widening as you held your phone to your ear. Izuru just chuckled at you. Your face grew warm as the sound of his laugh tickled your ear. Lately, you felt a little shier whenever you talked with Izuru. No longer were you thinking of him in just an idolizing and admiring way, but in a way that was something more. You didn't want to burden him with these feelings, though, because of his busy schedule and such, so you chose to bury these feelings deep inside.

After your long phone call, you two decided to meet up at your house and decided that your collab stream would be streamed on your channel. You two planned on doing some chatting during the stream before you would do karaoke together.

Once your setlist for the day was set and tickets were booked, you said good night to Izuru before ending the call. Your heart was beating rapidly and blood rushed to your ears. Izuru- you were going to meet him! In the flesh!!!

You jumped up and down before looking around at your messy house. Your excitement quickly died down once you realized how much work you had to do to clean the place. Dejectedly, you turned on your stereo before bringing out the cleaning gloves and mask, getting ready to clean the darkest parts of the residence that would take a couple days to clean. Luckily, Izuru was coming in a couple weeks, so it meant you had plenty of time to prepare.

First, you had to clean out the entire house, in case Izuru wanted to explore or see any parts of your house. Then, you had to clean your streaming room... yeah, it was about time for it to be purged. You also had to install your new equipment that was shipped to you that day (new mics and PC parts) and make sure your stuff was in top shape so that there wouldn't be any chance for things to break on the day Izuru came.

After two weeks, it was finally time for your collab. You were in the airport holding a sign that said: "F/N" (you decided to go with a fake name, F/N, for Izuru in case any of his fans happened to be in the airport and could dox him). You and Izuru also came up with a phrase to say to each other ("I'm sure we'll reach our dreams, no matter how far they may be.") in case either of you met with the wrong person.

Finally, you spot a guy in a black hoodie with a guitar on his back approaching you nervously. He stuttered out, "I'm sure we'll reach our dreams, no matter how far they may be." Your face brightened.

"Izu!" you whispered loud enough for only him to hear as you shook your sign. "It's me!! Liv/N!" you said excitedly. Izuru's face became one of relief as he smiled softly and whispered a greeting. You offered your hand in order to take his suitcase, but he, misunderstanding your intentions with a slight blush, took your hand in his own and gestured for you to lead the way.

Your face became warm, as you realized he understood what you were going for, but you turned around quickly and led him to your car in the airport parking lot. For a week, you two would have a housemate situation, where Izuru would occupy the guest room in your house. You two weren't just together for one stream after all: you two were also going to record your cover together and give each other pointers while doing so.

Once you dropped off all of his things in the guest room, you told Izuru you would be in the kitchen to make food while he got settled in. He nodded as you closed the door to the room. He then quickly buried his face into the pillow of the bed next to him. He was here, with you, for a whole week, in person! Nothing could stop the loud thumping of his heart, and he hoped that later his heart would calm down enough so you wouldn't hear how loud it was.

After a couple moments of staying still in bed, Izuru heard your calls to him to get to the dining table to eat. He quickly perked up and got out of his room, excited to eat the food that you made.

The rest of the week, you two worked hard singing your cover, giving each other tips, and reminding each other to take breaks. While Izuru did the mixing, you worked on the art for some scenes while collaborating with the animator of your music video. When you both chose to take a break, you would cook together or play a game on your switch. You would also come up with a set list to play for your off-collab stream.

A couple nights before your off-collab stream, you two were sitting on your living room couch across from each other as you were thinking of what to tweet to hint at your off-collab.

"What about tweeting 🎸❀? Since those are our oshi marks?" asked Izuru as he held up his tweet draft. You nodded, thinking it was a good idea before quickly typing the two emojis up. He counted off, and you two sent your tweet at the same time.

"3...2...1...," he said. A couple moments afterward, the retweets, likes, and comments flooded in your notifications.

"OMG???" "WHAT!" "IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS??" said many comments as people talked about how jealous they were, how excited they were, as well as some hate comments but you two were used to them. You put down your phone and smiled at Izuru.

"Shall we practice our songs now?" he asked shyly as he pulled up the lyrics on his laptop. You nodded before coming next to him to look at the lyrics. He flinched a little before he calmed down and softly started to sing. You joined in, also singing softly in order to save your vocal cords for the actual stream.

It was you two together on the couch, side by side, singing songs that were duets in English/Your Language and Japanese. Eventually, you two got to the song Melt, a Miku song. While you two were singing, you felt Izuru's eyes on you the entire time. You looked at him to make eye contact with him and maintained it all throughout the song. It finally ended, and you two were breathless. Izuru then opened his mouth.

"Meruto tokete shimaisou…suki da nante zettai ni ienai... (I feel like I'm about to melt, but I can never say I love you...)," he sang softly as he took your hand gently before looking into your eyes again.

You blushed hard before gripping his hand with both of yours.

"Datte kimi no koto ga …suki na no (But...I like you)," you sang back.

Izuru's eyes widened and his face broke into a large grin. He laughed in delight before hugging you. You two stayed in this position, glad you could bring your feelings forth to each other. You decided not to sing Melt for your collab. Maybe in the future, if things went well and you decided to reveal your relationship, you would. But for now, it was a song for you two to sing for each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oga Aragami - Building Gunpla Sets =^owo^=

When you and Oga were younger, you would go to the ocean, and build sandcastles near the beach. If it was too rainy, you two would go to either of your houses and build LEGO sets together (the Death Star was a challenge, but nothing you two couldn't handle!).

Then, when you were a little older, Gunpla came out. Instead of having late nights over playing Monopoly and watching movies (although you two still do it on occasion), you two began to play music in the background and chatter as you built huge gunpla sets together.

To this day, even after graduating from university, you two would meet up and hang out and eventually date. When you two were together, you most often chatted about anything and everything as you two built large gunpla sets.

“Hey, Y/N, hand me that piece next to you.”

“This one? Here you go,” you said as you handed him the tiny piece.

With a satisfied smile, Oga clicked the last piece into the figure he was working on. He was so excited that one more piece of his collection was finally finished. While looking at his happy smile, you also smiled. How could you not? His smiles were contagious.

Realizing you were staring, you quickly looked away from him and down to your hands, which held an unfinished gunpla ship. You were flustered and hoping that Oga was too occupied with his figure to notice you.

Your prayers went in vain as you heard Oga chuckle.

“Why is your face so red, haha?” he asked as he laughed while having one hand covering his signature sharp-toothed grin. Though you were flustered, you didn’t hesitate to give him a light smack on the shoulder.

“Shut up, also stop covering your face when you laugh like that. I’ve seen your full laugh before. I’m not afraid or anything, we’ve known each other for so long,” you said loudly, as you turned away from him in embarrassment.

You knew the reason why he covered his mouth: despite the fact that you two lived in a world filled with supernatural beings (from a star to a beastman), Oga still chose to hide his more scary parts of himself, such as his horns and his sharp teeth, by either covering them or using magic to conceal them. You hated it. Oga was a sweetheart - he only seemed intimidating to others because he doesn’t talk much to people he doesn’t know.

You stared at the gunpla ship in your hands before gentle, large hands placed themselves over your own. You looked up, only to meet eyes with Oga’s piercing green ones. He smiled at you gently, before reaching over to your head to stroke it. You felt your face grow warm, but continued to look at him with a slight pout.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to cover my face less from now on. I know you don’t like it,” he said with a soft voice as he took the gunpla ship from your hands before setting it down carefully and taking your hands into his own.

You nodded, the blush on your face widely apparent. Oga chuckled softly in amusement before bringing your hands to his face and kiss your knuckles. Your blush darkened, and you started to stutter.

“T-that’s not fair! Hey, give me your hands too!”

Oga laughed.

“Nope!” he said cheekily as he got up and started towards the kitchen.

“You can’t get away from me that easily!” you replied as you got up to follow him before tackling him with a back hug.

You two looked at each other before laughing.

What a fun day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shien Kageyama - Making Omurice =^-o-^= (using this recipe)

You met Shien during the time you were studying in Japan. While you were a M/N major, Shien was a business major with a minor in music. Shien was pretty famous. Not only was he very athletic and great at studies, but he was also a kind person who offered to tutor his peers.

The only reason you two met was that while taking a business class you were interested in, you needed some peer tutoring and got assigned to Shien as your tutor.

You two hit it off well: not only was Shien really friendly, but he also made many of the concepts you were struggling with easier to understand. Grateful for his help, you tried to give him the peer tutoring fee after your session ended, but he refused it and instead asked for your number while grinning. Ever since, you two talked, studied, and hung out together.

One day, you were in Shien's abnormally large house (basically a traditional Japanese-style mansion) for a study session. Although this wasn't the first time you had ever come to his house, you still couldn't get used to the people in black suits milling around, or the fact that Shien's family had cleaning maids and cooks making 5-star meals.

Although you loved the food you ate in the household, sometimes you wanted to make something for Shien by yourself. You don't know when this desire came along. Maybe it was after Shien's nanny, Nana, showed you a picture of Shien when he was younger during one of your breaks while Shien was out. The picture had a smol Shien happily eating away at some omurice.

You may not be a gourmet chef, but omurice was definitely something you can do. So, at the study session, you casually brought it up during a moment of silence.

"Hey, I was wondering if we could cook something together? We've done a lot together, but I don't think I've ever cooked anything for you," you said as you were scribbling down some equations on paper.

It was quiet after you brought it up, so you looked up to see what Shien's reaction was, only to see his shocked face. You tilted your face in confusion but laughed at him.

"Why are you giving me that look?" you asked as you continued chuckling. Shien snapped out of his daze.

"I'm not- I mean, y-yeah it would be cool to cook something together. What do you have in mind?"

"Hmmm, I've been craving some omurice actually," you replied as you looked down again at your paper and wrote the answer to another problem. You heard Shien grunt in agreement.

"Alright, I'll ask Nana to get our ingredients-"

"Actually, I was wondering if we could just do everything on our own? I don't want to burden Nana and it would be a fun experience, right?" you interrupted as you looked up at him.

Shien's mind processed what you said before a domestic image of you two shopping together and then cooking showed up in his mind. His face warmed up and he prayed that you wouldn't notice. For being a part of a mafia, he was terrible at concealing his emotions when it came to you. He just looked down flustered at his computer in front of him before nodding slowly.

"It's settled then!" you exclaimed as you got up. "I was getting hungry anyways, and I'm sick of working right now. Let's go!"

You pulled Shien up, and he readily followed you, and you headed to the nearest grocery store.

While getting ingredients for omurice, you two joked around and got some additional snacks to eat for later. Meanwhile, Shien was wondering if this could continue if he had a future with you, or even if you two just remained friends. He hoped this fun would last, as being a part of the mafia meant threats could come in at any time.

Luckily, the author doesn't want any drama, so nothing bad happened on the way back.

When you two got back to the mansion, Shien guided you to the kitchen, which was surprisingly empty. Likely, Shien ordered the cooks to stay out while he was in there with you. You pulled up a recipe from your laptop and got to work: Shien chopping the ingredients and you frying.

There were a few close calls (your shirt got too close to the stove, and Shien almost cut through the cutting board) but eventually, you made two plates of hot, savory omurice. Shien handed you a ketchup bottle, which you used to write and draw on Shien's omurice, and he did the same for yours. You two couldn't look at what the other wrote on the omurice until you got to the dining table.

When you sat down, you handed each other the omurice with the messages, and yours had a large heart on it. Surprised, you looked up at Shien's flustered face with his eyes looking straight into yours.

No words were needed, and you nodded at him before laughing at how silly the confession was. He sighed with relief, and you two dug into the omurice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed the scenarios. I'm planning to do more! <3

Please tell me in the requests of any other Holostars members you'd like me to do!

#holostars #izuru kanade #axel syrios #oga aragami #shien kageyama #holostars x reader #izuru kanade x reader #axel syrios x reader #oga aragami x reader #shien kageyama x reader

61 notes · View notes

aryastarksource · 2 years

Photo

Arya Month 2022 || Day 18: Mentors -- Septa Mordane versus Syrio Forel

↳ In A Game of Thrones, Arya Stark is given two very different instructors who teach very different lessons.

The first, Septa Mordane, has been granted the prestigious position of instructor in the “womanly arts” to a high lord’s daughters. Mordane is immediately shown to be a cruel person who plays favorites, verbally abuses her least favorite student, strengthens the rift between her primary two charges by teaching them both that Arya is “wicked”, and actively demoralizes Arya. Her teaching tactics rely on using humiliation as a teaching tactic. While Sansa behaves more when presented with the threat of being “as wicked as Arya”, Arya herself is left unable to progress in these lessons because she is taught that she is inherently inferior and incapable. By allowing Mordane to uses these negative tactics instead of replacing her with a more qualified instructor, her parents are allowing Arya’s education to be derailed and then chastising her for their failings.

The second instructor Arya has in the first novel is Syrio Forel, a man who served as the First Sword to the Sealord of Braavos and a water dancer. Throughout their lessons, Syrio gives Arya encouragement, telling her she would do better next time and keeping his lessons at a level that served as a challenge for her, while not being discouraging. He also fills these lessons with motivational phrases that Arya carries with her throughout the rest of the novels, using them to boost her self-confidence. As a result, Arya thrives. Not only does she improve at swordplay and in her agility, she also strengthens her self-control, discipline, observational skills, and ability to strategize. Rather than demoralizing her, Syrio’s skill as a teacher help save Arya’s life several times, to the point where he continues to mentor her even after his death.

Were Mordane and Syrio to switch subjects, Arya would struggle with swordplay under Mordane’s bullying, while flourishing in her needlework lessons as a result of Syrio’s positive reinforcement.

Mordane’s male counterpart is Alliser Thorne, the master-at-arms in Castle Black. Like Mordane, he bullies his students, using name calling, demoralizing tactics, and abusive techniques that turn his charges against each other. While Mordane is countered by Syrio, Alliser is countered by Jon Snow, who begins using the privilege of his years of education to help educate the other recruits in a positive way that allows them to learn.

Result: Arya struggles with most of her lessons with Mordane while doing well in other subjects like math, horseback riding, and administration. The impact of Mordane's bullying stays with Arya, contributing to her low self-esteem. Arya also excels in her lessons with Syrio and is able to apply her training in many situations in and out of combat throughout the story.

#arya stark #canonarya #aryastarkedit #gotaryastark #asoiaf #asoiafedit #gotedit #agot #aryastarkmonth2022 #with syrio #with mordane

320 notes · View notes

thelustybraavosimaid · 1 year

Text

@maisiestyle I took your screens but I wanted to comment on this properly. (Also not sure if you remember me from Reddit but hello again!)

There's something deeply hilarious about this take of hers.

A subset of Arya stans have convinced themselves that the purpose of her story is to show this poor underdog Cinderella heroine who is mistreated by her stepmother and wicked stepsisters

The whole point of Arya's identity crisis is just this, though. Sansa goes so far as to head to Catelyn with the premise that Arya is not her sister because she looks like Jon, and she thinks her mother must actually be *common* as a result:

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon's mother had been common, or so people whispered. Once, when she was littler, Sansa had even asked Mother if perhaps there hadn't been some mistake. Perhaps the grumkins had stolen her real sister. But Mother had only laughed and said no, Arya was her daughter and Sansa's trueborn sister, blood of their blood. Sansa could not think why Mother would want to lie about it, so she supposed it had to be true. (Sansa I, AGoT)

For this, Arya didn't go to her mother, or her father, for reassurance. She went to Jon, and it was Jon who reassured her.

Arya does not have to be pretty enough to be the "prom Queen of the north", she needs to understand that *she was never ugly to begin with*. Better people than me, @maisiestyle included, have mentioned before about the ugly duckling motifs in her story. Will she be prettier than Sansa? No, and she doesn't have to be.

Moreover, one does not need to be the prettiest of them all to be a proper ruler of the North. This is what sets Arya stans from Sansa stans — beauty is not a major factor in her narrative and this is reflected in Arya stans' metas. What's more important is what is being learned. Lords of the north are joining Stannis in an effort to retrieve who they think is Arya, Ned's beloved little girl. Arya was called Underfoot because that's where people said she was often enough. She likes people of all creeds and is an extrovert by nature.

Her time on the road gave her a different, even broader perspective and she has an even stronger sense of justice as a result. She doesn't need to be the prettiest to understand the needs of the smallfolk and have empathy for those who are not her, or those who she would gain something from, she just does. Her experiences both before and after leaving Winterfell is proof enough. Mycah, Lommy, Gendry, Weasel, Layna, Harrenhal, Braavos, her time on the road shows how deeply she has learned and we suffer, and learn, and develop with her, every chapter.

But what is funny about this post of the OP's is this (I cannot respond directly, because I'm... unsurprisingly...blocked) is that Arya stans can't claim such and such because that is strictly belonging to Sansa.

The whole point of us as readers watching Arya's struggles and her development is to turn around the idea that duty and the roles of being a lady, a queen, etc, are skin-deep. It's not about looks, and never was. You need to have deep knowledge and know how to treat with people of all kinds, of different religions and languages, etc, and it would not do to uphold the status quo because the status quo is sexist. Standard Westerosi culture is not where a woman who does not fit the model thrives.

Ned indulged Arya with Syrio and the art of water dancing, and allowing her to keep Needle, but he did think that she would eventually have to settle down and marry (perhaps Lyanna flashbacks would serve here):

"You must," he said. "Sansa must wed Joffrey, that is clear now, we must give them no grounds to suspect our devotion. And it is past time that Arya learned the ways of a southron court. In a few years she will be of an age to marry too."

Sansa would shine in the south, Catelyn thought to herself, and the gods knew that Arya needed refinement. Reluctantly, she let go of them in her heart. But not Bran. Never Bran. "Yes," she said, "but please, Ned, for the love you bear me, let Bran remain here at Winterfell. He is only seven." (Catelyn II, AGoT)

It would serve as an important reminder that Arya and Sansa are *meant* to serve as polar opposites:

(3) Arya was one of the first characters created. Sansa came about as a total opposite b/c too many of the Stark family members were getting along and familes aren't like that. Thus, Sansa was created; he ended by saying they have deep issues to work out.

[Source]

Therefore it is no surprise that George shows more deep development and analysis of the sexism of the Westerosi system with characters like Arya and Dany rather than Sansa. Therefore, it should not be understated the importance of her storyline and also the role she will serve/has served for both the North and for the endgame.

Jon Snow has me in him, and Sam Tarly. The women too, Lyanna and Shaara, and the girls, Arya and Adara . . . Daenerys Stormborn, searching for that house with the red door. And Tyrion Lannister? Oh, yes. The Imp is me in spades, the horny little bastard.

[Source]

Arya comes closer to being Sansa's wicked stepsisters (jealous, assaults her, calls her stupid, considered less pretty, unhappy Sansa gets the princes attention while she doesn't)

Arya was not jealous of Sansa, as @jackoshadows pointed out wonderfully [here]. She assaulted her because Sansa lied about her to defend Joffrey.

Also Arya never calls her stupid. Sansa only gives this:

"Rubies," Sansa said, lost. "What rubies?"

Arya gave her a look like she was so stupid. "Rhaegar's rubies. This is where King Robert killed him and won the crown." (Sansa I, AGoT)

A look is not a saying. And yet we have Sansa calling Syrio Forel stupid:

Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. "Can we take Syrio back with us?"

"Who cares about your stupid dancing master?" Sansa flared. (Sansa III, AGoT)

while Sansa is much closer to being a Cinderella figure (beautiful, mistreated by her foster mother, associated with birds like Aschenputtel's doves, is given a beautiful gown by a mother figure, prays in front of a tree)

You will have to explain to me how any of these are even remotely singular to Sansa, as Arya has swan imagery in her narrative (and is called Squab to boot), is given the acorn dress by Ravella Smallwood, whom I consider a mother figure:

"I'm sorry, my lady." Arya suddenly felt bad for her, and ashamed. "I'm sorry I tore the acorn dress too. It was pretty."

"Yes, child. And so are you. Be brave." (Arya IV, ASoS)

(who Arya remembers calling her pretty):

Arya spotted a yellow tent with six acrons on its panels, three over two over one. Lord Smallwood, she knew, remembering Acorn Hall so far away, and the lady who'd said she was pretty. (Arya X, ASoS)

and prays in front of the heart tree in Harrenhal and hears her father's voice:

In the godswood she found her broomstick sword where she had left it, and carried it to the heart tree. There she knelt. Red leaves rustled. Red eyes peered inside her. The eyes of the gods. "Tell me what to do, you gods," she prayed.

For a long moment there was no sound but the wind and the water and the creak of leaf and limb. And then, far far off, beyond the godswood and the haunted towers and the immense stone walls of Harrenhal, from somewhere out in the world, came the long lonely howl of a wolf. Gooseprickles rose on Arya's skin, and for an instant she felt dizzy. Then, so faintly, it seemed as if she heard her father's voice. "When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives," he said. (Arya X, ACoK)

Not to mention that even before this moment, she thinks that the old gods sent Jaqen to her:

Arya lowered the splintery point toward the ground. "How did you know I was here?"

"A man sees. A man hears. A man knows."

She regarded him suspiciously. Had the gods sent him? "How'd you make the dog kill Weese? Did you call Rorge and Biter up from hell? Is Jaqen H'ghar your true name?"

"Some men have many names. Weasel. Arry. Arya."

She backed away from him, until she was pressed against the heart tree. "Did Gendry tell?"

"A man knows," he said again. "My lady of Stark."

Maybe the gods had sent him in answer to her prayers. (Arya IX, ACoK)

All in all, though, their entire point makes no sense and I am *begging* these people to actually *read* these chapters every once in a while oh my fresh fuck

60 notes · View notes

branwendaughterofllyr · 2 years

Text

A quick meta inspired by the discussion of Sansa and the dawn inspired by the comments on @cappymightwrite‘s post about snowflakes

The Stark sisters being symbolized by the sun and the moon is pretty well known motif for ASOIAF. Ned says it to Arya all the way back in AGOT

Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you … and I need both of you, gods help me." ARYA II, AGOT

The same motif recurs with Brienne, whose arms are a sun quartered with a moon, who is searching for the Stark sisters. (Brienne’s father is also the Evenstar of Tarth, a reference to the evening star, which feels like another connection to the sky imagery of the Stark sisters.)

Arya is connected to the moon, and her moments of triumph or confirmation of her identity are often marked by a rising moon, or a moon being revealed, while she is often at her lowest or darkest when the moon is concealed or dark. In AFFC, she is no one when the moon is black, i. e. gone or hidden.

She carried neither candle nor taper. Syrio had told her once that darkness could be her friend, and he was right. If she had the moon and the stars to see by, that was enough. ARYA IX, ACOK

If I had wings I could fly back to Winterfell and see for myself. And if it was true, I'd just fly away, fly up past the moon and the shining stars, and see all the things in Old Nan's stories, dragons and sea monsters and the Titan of Braavos, and maybe I wouldn't ever fly back unless I wanted to. ARYA X, ACOK

That night she lay in her narrow bed upon the scratchy straw, listening to the voices of the living and the dead whisper and argue as she waited for the moon to rise. They were the only voices she trusted anymore. She could hear the sound of her own breath, and the wolves as well, a great pack of them now. They are closer than the one I heard in the godswood, she thought. They are calling to me. ARYA X, ACOK

She was strong and swift and fierce, and her pack was all around her, her brothers and her sisters. They ran down a frightened horse together, tore its throat out, and feasted. And when the moon broke through the clouds, she threw back her head and howled. ARYA V, ASOS

The moon turned and turned again, though Arya never saw it. She served, washed the dead, made faces at the mirrors, learned the Braavosi tongue, and tried to remember that she was no one. ARYA II, AFFC

When the moon was black she was no one, a servant of the Many-Faced God in a robe of black and white. CAT OF THE CANALS, AFFC

Braavos also has extremely heavy moon imagery, with the escaped slaves led there by the Moonsingers, which sounds awfully like an epithet for wolves. There are also the moon pools, where the bravos duel at night.

Sansa’s imagery with the sun is similar, and her moments are connected to the dawn, the rising sun. (Also, the white cloaks of the KG in Sansa’s story line are often described as being like the moon, or “moon cloaks.” And there's very little rising moon vs. dark moon imagery in her chapters as well. )

Sansa drifted to sleep as the moon rose, Arya several hours later, curling up in the grass under Ned's cloak. All through the dark hours he kept his vigil alone. When dawn broke over the city, the dark red blooms of dragon's breath surrounded the girls where they lay. "I dreamed of Bran," Sansa had whispered to him. "I saw him smiling." EDDARD V, AGOT

Here we have both the dawn and the rising moon, and both Sansa and Arya are with their father, a moment of safety and comfort before everything falls apart.

Dawn appears again with Sansa in ACOK, after her harrowing experience in the red Keep during the Battle of the Blackwater.

Sansa was wondering what it might mean when a second bell joined in, and a third, their voices calling across the hills and hollows, the alleys and towers, to every corner of King's Landing. She threw off the cloak and went to her window. The first faint hint of dawn was visible in the east, and the Red Keep's own bells were ringing now, joining in the swelling river of sound that flowed from the seven crystal towers of the Great Sept of Baelor. They had rung the bells when King Robert died, she remembered, but this was different, no slow dolorous death knell but a joyful thunder. She could hear men shouting in the streets as well, and something that could only be cheers. ..... "It's done! Done! Done! The city is saved. Lord Stannis is dead, Lord Stannis is fled, no one knows, no one cares, his host is broken, the danger's done. Slaughtered, scattered, or gone over, they say. Oh, the bright banners! The banners, Jonquil, the banners! Do you have any wine? We ought to drink to this day, yes. It means you're safe, don't you see?" SANSA VII, ACOK

When Sansa realizes that she has survived the Battle of the Blackwater, the dawn is just beginning. It’s interesting that although Sansa is brought this good news while the sun has started to rise, it is a faint dawn, the first hints of it. She is not truly safe yet.

And it is dawn when Sansa escapes KL. It is night when she enters the godswood, but the sun rises as she leaves.

One more step, she told herself, one more step. She had to keep moving. If she stopped, she would never start again, and dawn would find her still clinging to the cliff, frozen in fear. One more step, and one more step.The ground took her by surprise. She stumbled and fell, her heart pounding. When she rolled onto her back and stared up at from where she had come, her head swam dizzily and her fingers clawed at the dirt. I did it. I did it, I didn't fall, I made the climb and now I'm going home. SANSA V, ASOS

The eastern sky was vague with the first hint of dawn when Sansa finally saw a ghostly shape in the darkness ahead; a trading galley, her sails furled, moving slowly on a single bank of oars. As they drew closer, she saw the ship's figurehead, a merman with a golden crown blowing on a great seashell horn. She heard a voice cry out, and the galley swung slowly about. SANSA V, ASOS

Again, “first hint of dawn.” Maybe this is not as much of an escape as it should be, considering LF orchestrated it to bring Sansa into the Vale.

Already the little boat was no more than a swirl of smoke and fire behind them, almost lost in the immensity of the dawn sea. There was no going back; her only road was forward. "Very weary," she admitted. SANSA V, ASOS

The imagery of a dawn sea is very interesting, especially back to back with “her only road was forward.”

The most intense dawn imagery comes with the chapter where Sansa builds her snow castle in the godswood, and there is a lot of it!.

this was not Winterfell, but the Eyrie. And I am Alayne Stone, a bastard girl. The room was cold and black, though she was warm beneath the blankets. Dawn had not yet come. Sometimes she dreamed of Ser Ilyn Payne and woke with her heart thumping, but this dream had not been like that. Home. It was a dream of home. SANSA VII, ASOS

She is not in Winterfell, she is not Sansa Stark, and the dawn has not yet come. This a very purposeful combination (and very similar to Arya’s dark of the moon.)

All color had fled the world outside. It was a place of whites and blacks and greys. White towers and white snow and white statues, black shadows and black trees, the dark grey sky above. A pure world, Sansa thought. I do not belong here. Yet she stepped out all the same.

Before she steps out, the sky is still dark. When she does, and tastes the snow, “It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams.” She closes her eyes, and when she opens them, it is dawn.

When Sansa opened her eyes again, she was on her knees. She did not remember falling. It seemed to her that the sky was a lighter shade of grey. Dawn, she thought. Another day. Another new day. It was the old days she hungered for. Prayed for. But who could she pray to? The garden had been meant for a godswood once, she knew, but the soil was too thin and stony for a weirwood to take root. A godswood without gods, as empty as me.

Sansa then builds WInterfell in the snow, and dawn appears again.

Dawn stole into her garden like a thief. The grey of the sky grew lighter still, and the trees and shrubs turned a dark green beneath their stoles of snow.

I’m not quite sure to make of this line. This is the only description of “dawn stealing” in the books, and it feels very important. Dawn, her garden, and a thief?

I will tentatively point out the connection to the recurring motif of stolen Stark daughters, and this feels like a connection to that. Sansa and rose imagery also occurs a lot, and it is definitely a common motif in her story. The Rose of WF was stolen by Bael the Bard, this story comes up right before the chapter where Sansa “flowers,” Sansa is receives roses, is called the A Roadside rose. It’s all there, and smarter people than I have talked about it. She’s also “stolen away” by Bael-ish. (think of how dawn and her weariness are juxtaposed with each other when LF is revealed as the one orchestrated her escape. This mention of dawn does not have that caveat, but is combined with the lighter grey sky. bringing to mind the Stark colors.)

I think the explicit connection with the dawn means Sansa might be “stolen” again, but this time as something she actively wants and choses, rather than something she is coerced or decieved into, since the rising sun is positive for her.

(I mean, I have my own theory 😉. I’m not saying it might be related to Jon, but I’m not not saying that.)

Adding onto the dawn and rising sun motif, Sansa is also placed in the easternmost tower of the Eyrie.

Maiden's was the easternmost of the Eyrie's seven slender towers, so she had the Vale before her, its forests and rivers and fields all hazy in the morning light. The way the sun was hitting the mountains made them look like solid gold. ALAYNE I, AFFC

I don’t know about you, but this screams “it is the east, and Juliet is the sun” to me. Very fitting for romantic (and often tragic) heroine. And the idea of the sun being romantically linked has come before in the books with “"When the sun has set, no candle can replace it,” which Tyrion makes fun of, but I think that Loras might be more right here than not.

So yeah. The dawn imagery comes fast and hard with Sansa, and I think it’s very reasonable say it might be important down the road.

#mine #meta #asoiaf meta #Sansa Stark

92 notes · View notes

gendrie · 1 year

Text

what do we know about the sealord of braavos? great question glad you asked! the sealord is first mentioned in arya’s second chapter - in the entire series.

“Nine years Syrio Forel was first sword to the Sealord of Braavos, he knows these things.” (Arya, AGOT)

so the sealord’s existence has been a part of the worldbuilding since the very beginning - longer than a lot of other aspects. arya’s braavosi “dancing” master served as first sword to the sealord. thats a tangible connection for her to this ruler considering how important syrio becomes to arya.

the position of first sword is elaborated on in TWOIAF a bit:

Though many a deadly swordsman can be found amongst the bravos and water dancers, by tradition the greatest of them all is the First Sword, who commands the personal guard of the Sealord and protects his person at all public events. Once chosen, Sealords serve for life. Inevitably, there are always those who wish to cut that life short to effect some change in policy. Through the centuries, the First Swords have fought many famous duels, taken part in a dozen wars, and saved the lives of scores of Sealords, for good and ill. (TWOIAF)

syrio was most likely released from his service when the sealord died. syrio also tells arya about the sealord’s palace, specifically, his menagerie which is full of exotic animals. syrio does this to teach her a valuable lesson about the truth in a way a child can understand.

Syrio clicked his teeth together. "The cat was an ordinary cat, no more. The others expected a fabulous beast, so that is what they saw. How large it was, they said. It was no larger than any other cat, only fat from indolence, for the Sealord fed it from his own table. What curious small ears, they said. Its ears had been chewed away in kitten fights. And it was plainly a tomcat, yet the Sealord said 'her,' and that is what the others saw. Are you hearing?" Arya thought about it. "You saw what was there." (Arya, AGOT)

syrio became the first sword not because he was the best fighter but because he was smart and saw the truth. he passes that onto arya before he dies protecting her. its been indispensable advice for her so far and could possibly play a role in whatever happens with the sealord in twow.

after that we don’t hear a lot about the sealord for awhile. not until arya arrives in braavos.

When she looked behind her, the harbor and lagoon were lost to sight. Ahead, a row of mighty statues stood along both sides of the channel, solemn stone men in long bronze robes, spattered with the droppings of the seabirds. Some held books, some daggers, some hammers. One clutched a golden star in his upraised hand. Another was upending a stone flagon to send an endless stream of water splashing down into the canal. "Are they gods?" asked Arya. "Sealords," said Yorko. (Arya, AFFC)

the ‘canal of heroes’ is lined on each side with statues of deceased sealords each bearing an emblem that represents them. the sealord is the ruler of braavos - which is generally regarded as the most powerful of the free cities. its an elected position, but we don’t know much about the process.

Neither prince nor king commands in Braavos, where the rule belongs to the Sealord, chosen by the city's magisters and keyholders from amongst the citizenry by a process as convoluted as it is arcane. (TWOIAF)

mysterious is how it appears to the readers from the outside with only a couple subtle references in the main text. arya sees it differently from within:

When he is dead, there will be a choosing, and the knives will come out. That was the way of it in Braavos. In Westeros, a dead king was followed by his eldest son, but the Braavosi had no kings. (Arya, ADWD)

she marks the sealord choosing as something that is, inherently, dangerous.

thru affc the sealord is mentioned almost exclusively in arya’s pov. theres one ref in a samwell chapter after gilly gets lost and cries at the foot of a sealord’s statue but other than that? its all arya

in adwd this changes. there are refs to the sealord in tyrion and dany’s chapters. penny received a “grand gift” from the sealord and the sealord witnessed the pact that was (allegedly) signed by doran martell and willem darry, in braavos, to marry arianne and viserys. the sudden mentions of the sealord in multiple storylines is a pretty good indication that this is about to become very important. it seems like grrm is gearing up for something big.

One time, when Brea took to her bed with her moon blood, Cat had pushed her barrow to the Purple Harbor to sell crabs and prawns to oarsmen off the Sealord's pleasure barge, covered stem to stern with laughing faces. (Arya, AFFC)

the current sealord is ferrego antaryon (affc appendix). qarro volentin is the first sword - a position syrio forel once held. word on the street: the sealord is not doing so great.

"And what three new things do you know that you did not know when last you left us?" "The Sealord is still sick." "This is no new thing. The Sealord was sick yesterday, and he will still be sick upon the morrow." "Or dead." "When he is dead, that will be a new thing." (Arya, ADWD)

while blind arya gathers and learns how to analyze intel

"Tormo Fregar will be the new sealord." "Is that what they are saying at the Inn of the Green Eel?" "Yes." The kindly man took a bite of his egg. The girl heard him chewing. He never spoke with his mouth full. He swallowed, and said, "Some men say there is wisdom in wine. Such men are fools. At other inns other names are being bruited about, never doubt." He took another bite of egg, chewed, swallowed. "What three new things do you know, that you did not know before?" "I know that some men are saying that Tormo Fregar will surely be the new sealord," she answered. "Some drunken men." "Better.”

some (drunken) men are saying tormo fregar will be the new sealord but their words are, notably, painted as unreliable by the kindly man.

"I know why the Sealord seized the Goodheart. She was carrying slaves. Hundreds of slaves, women and children, roped together in her hold." Braavos had been founded by escaped slaves, and the slave trade was forbidden here. (Arya, ADWD)

arya also finds out that the sealord seized a ship carrying slaves - wildling women and children from hardhome.

theres also the issue of the targaryen/martell marriage contract and the possibility that dany and viserys were sheltered for a time with sealord in braavos. this will be confirmed or denied when arya gets to the sealord’s palace in twow. tbd by if it has a red door or not.

The Sealord had never visited the Gate, but Izembaro named a box for him anyway, the largest and most opulent in the house. "That must be the Westerosi envoy. Have you ever seen such clothes on an old man? And look, he's brought the Black Pearl!" (Arya, TWOW)

in arya’s twow chapter, the sealord is still alive, but trouble is brewing. arya assassinated raff the sweetling effectively framing the westerosi envoy (harys swyft) by association for the murder of an innocent braavosi citizen. this was, likely, on the orders of the faceless men who are working to secure the iron bank’s interests. currently, that means undermining the iron throne because they won’t make payments on their loan and “the iron bank will have its due”.

This would make trouble for the Sealord and the envoy with the chicken on his chest, she did not doubt. She would think about that later, though. (Arya, TWOW)

arya notes that what she has done will not only effect the envoy but the sealord too. which is a telling observation. i think we can safely assume harys is being hosted by the sealord. if the envoy is framed for a violent crime it will effect an already weakened sealord......but the faceless men did it anyway. they play an active role in the election (arya is also carrying a key in twow) but to what extent is unclear.

another relevant piece of historical information is how elissa farman sold the 3 dragon eggs she stole to the sealord of braavos during the reign of jaehaerys i

“How shall that be proved? Has this thief been seized, tried, found guilty? Braavos is a city of laws. Who is the rightful owner of these eggs? Can they show me proof of ownership?”

“His Grace can show you proof of dragons.”

That made the Sealord smile. “The veiled threat. Your king is most adroit at that. Stronger than his father, more subtle than his uncle. Yes, I know what Jaehaerys could do to us, if he chose. Braavosi have a long memory, and we remember the dragonlords of old. There are certain things that we might do to your king as well, however. Shall I enumerate? Or do you prefer the threat veiled?”

“However it please your lordship.”

“As you will. Your king could burn my city down to ash, I do not doubt. Tens of thousands would die in dragonflame. Men, women, and children. I do not have the power to wreak that sort of destruction upon Westeros. Such sellswords as I might hire would flee before your knights. My fleets could sweep yours from the sea for a time, but my ships are made of wood, and wood burns. However, there is in this city a certain…guild, let us say…whose members are very skilled at their chosen profession. They could not destroy King’s Landing, nor fill its streets with corpses. But they could kill…a few. A well-chosen few.” (F&B)

when threatened by the iron throne’s representative the sealord implied braavos would use the faceless men against the crown. the sealord never admitted to possessing the eggs but paid off the iron thrones debts to the iron bank to settle the matter. its likely these dragon eggs are the same ones that would go on to become dany’s. how they get to illyrio is uncertain. im thinking penny, her brother and father each received one from the sealord (their grand gift) which they later sold and got ripped off most definitely.

i think the sealord is going to be a major factor in twow. grrm has been laying a lot of groundwork for it. as we known from one who’s actually read chapters of twow braavos is going to become “crucial” in the next book. it’s extremely overlooked but the sealord and by extension braavos’ other organizations (the faceless men and the iron bank) have ties in numerous storylines throughout asoiaf......and arya stark is in the middle of it all.

#asoiaf nonsense #''nobody asked!!!!!''#well idc lol #ive connected the dots and you're all gonna hear about it

113 notes · View notes

whitedragonwolf4961 · 2 years

Text

Day 19: Intelligence, Skills, and Learning

In my humble opinion, Arya is one of the most intelligent characters of the series. The only people who rival her intelligence are the other key five and characters like Tywin Lannister and Littlefinger. Arya is a hundred times smarter than Sansa. Sansa believed that Joffrey and Cersei were wonderful people simply because they were beautiful. Arya on the other hand was able to see that there was more to them than meets the eye. Sansa still couldn’t see what a psychopath Joffrey was even after he sadistically hurt Mycha. Actually most of the older Starks (Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Sansa) all trusted the wrong person one time or another. But Arya and Jon and Bran (three key characters) avoid that flaw. Arya is also able to plan a coup of the Northern prisoners at Harrenhal. And let’s not forget that at that point she was ten years old. She is able to trick Jaqen, a Faceless man (and that requires immense cunning), into being stuck into doing what Arya wants by saying if he doesn’t help she will name him as the third name to kill. It works and Jaqen agrees to help her free the Northern lords trapped. Jaqen has Arya make hot broth from the kitchens which Jaqen and a few others would use to distract the guards and then kill them. It works. During this time Arya doesn’t reveal the plan to Hot Pie. Not because she doesn’t trust Hot Pie, but because Hot Pie isn’t the brightest nor the best at keeping secrets. Arya even makes an observation that Vargo Hoat (the psychopathic leader of the murderous Brave Companions) arriving would create a good distraction and later that he doesn’t cut the hands and feet off of the Northern prisoners despite that being something he enjoys (because Hoat changed sides and is now working for Bolton). Robbet Glover notes the cleverness of the plan. Despite Glover and the others being Northmen, Arya doesn’t reveal who she truly is because she doesn’t want Rorge and Biter to hear. And she never reveals her true identity to Roose Bolton which was good judging from Arya as it is eventually revealed that Bolton had betrayed her brother and if Bolton got his hands on the real Arya he would marry her to his monstrous son Ramsay Snow.

“I'm Weasel," she blurted, before he could tell who she really was. She did not want her name said here, where Rorge might hear, and Biter, and all these others she did not know.”ACOK Arya IX

So you might be wondering if Arya didn’t use Jaqen to escape Harrenhal then how did she escape? Simple. Planning to leave through the postern gate with Gendry and Hot Pie, there is one guard. Arya pretends to the guard that Roose Bolton is having her handing out silver coins to the guards as payment for their services. Arya uses the coin Jaqen gives her. She drops it. And when the guard goes to pick it up Arya slashes his throat and whispers ”Valar Morghulis”. Arya used Jaqen to help her get the Northerners out and then she cleverly escapes Harrenhal on her own with her friends. The whole Harrenhal arc was a great testament to how intelligent Arya is.

“It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household. Sansa had never had much of a head for figures. If she did marry Prince Joff, Arya hoped for his sake that he had a good steward.” AGOT Arya I Arya inherited her Aunt Lyanna’s skill to ride a horse. But as it turns our Arya can mange a household, something Sansa can’t do. That Arya can manage a household at nine years old shows high intelligence. “Figures”. I think that means Arya is good at math and numbers. But another one of Arya’s skills is her ability to make friends with just about anyone no matter age, gender, and most importantly social status. Arya makes genuine and meaningful friendships with many people and inspires fierce loyalty and protectiveness from them. Much more impressive than Sansa whose friendships are mostly shallow and meaningless. Arya has also shown that she is a great student when she tutors under Syrio Forel. Despite being a non conforming girl, Arya’s natural charm and ability to make friends with all, her skills at running a household, and how she protects her friends herself shows that she can definitely be a leader. PS: Special shoutout to my good friend @the-king-andthe-lionheart who helped me with this post greatly! She revealed to me what Arya did and how she did it! Not only did I get to make this post, I learned something new about Arya! Thank you so much my friend for your help!

#arya stark #canonarya #aryastarkmonth2022 #asoiaf #arya is immensely intelligent #she is ten times smarter than Sansa will ever be #Sansa could never do something like this #Arya has more practical skills than Sansa #Arya is one of the smartest characters #My longest post

98 notes · View notes

agentrouka-blog · 2 years

Note

"First lesson," Jon said. "Stick them with the pointy end." Arya gave him a whap on the arm with the flat of her blade.'- Jon(AGOT II). "Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow."- Jon(ADWD XIII). Jon gave Arya this lesson in the beginning and she first hit him with sword. Only for him to remember the same lesson while being stabbed by his 'brothers'.

Let’s see if we can spot a touch of poetic justice in here, centered around the misguided move to hand a deadly weapon to a child who has had no training, but has poor impulse control and a violent streak when cornered.

He meant well. He meant to give her something that the world would withhold from her. Something to make her feel strong and to pursue her own interests. But. It’s a deadly weapon. And she is a child, who has never been taught to approach the subject of combat with responsibility.

The master-at-arms put a hand on Robb's shoulder to quiet him. "Live steel is too dangerous. I will permit you tourney swords, with blunted edges." (...)

"Are you training women here?" the burned man wanted to know. He was muscled like a bull.

"I am training knights," Ser Rodrik said pointedly. "They will have steel when they are ready. When they are of an age." (AGOT, Arya I)

Jon hands Arya live steel right away. It’s a gift and a curse.

You'll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers." (AGOT, Arya I)

Arya’s training with Syrio also involves only a wooden sword. It is heavy. It is meant to teach her the weight of fighting.

"It's too heavy," Arya said."

It is heavy as it needs to be to make you strong, and for the balancing. A hollow inside is filled with lead, just so. One hand now is all that is needing." (AGOT, Arya II)

But all he teaches her is forgotten with live steel in her hand. And her first kill is a child like herself.

Everything Syrio Forel had ever taught her vanished in a heartbeat. In that instant of sudden terror, the only lesson Arya could remember was the one Jon Snow had given her, the very first.

She stuck him with the pointy end, driving the blade upward with a wild, hysterical strength.

Needle went through his leather jerkin and the white flesh of his belly and came out between his shoulder blades. The boy dropped the pitchfork and made a soft noise, something between a gasp and a sigh. His hands closed around the blade. "Oh, gods," he moaned, as his undertunic began to redden. "Take it out."

When she took it out, he died.

The horses were screaming. Arya stood over the body, still and frightened in the face of death. Blood had gushed from the boy's mouth as he collapsed, and more was seeping from the slit in his belly, pooling beneath his body. His palms were cut where he'd grabbed at the blade. She backed away slowly, Needle red in her hand. She had to get away, someplace far from here, someplace safe away from the stableboy's accusing eyes. (AGOT, Arya IV)

His belly and his shoulder blades, is it?

This time she did not hesitate. "Dareon is dead. The black singer who was sleeping at the Happy Port. He was really a deserter from the Night's Watch. Someone slit his throat and pushed him into a canal, but they kept his boots." (AFFC, Cat of the Canals)

His throat, is it?

… away, he meant to say. When Wick Whittlestick slashed at his throat, the word turned into a grunt. Jon twisted from the knife, just enough so it barely grazed his skin. He cut me. When he put his hand to the side of his neck, blood welled between his fingers. "Why?"

"For the Watch." Wick slashed at him again. This time Jon caught his wrist and bent his arm back until he dropped the dagger. The gangling steward backed away, his hands upraised as if to say, Not me, it was not me. Men were screaming. Jon reached for Longclaw, but his fingers had grown stiff and clumsy. Somehow he could not seem to get the sword free of its scabbard.

Then Bowen Marsh stood there before him, tears running down his cheeks. "For the Watch." He punched Jon in the belly. When he pulled his hand away, the dagger stayed where he had buried it.

Jon fell to his knees. He found the dagger's hilt and wrenched it free. In the cold night air the wound was smoking. "Ghost," he whispered. Pain washed over him. Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold … (ADWD, Jon XIII)

Needle is an incredibly important object to Arya, it represents home to her, and her own identity.

But at the same time, it is central in moments of intense trauma and the end of her childhood and fuel for significant moral ambiguity. None of the kills she makes with Needle are “clean”.

Jon handed her something she was not yet equipped to handle. The same way Bran has a power he is in no way equipped to handle. The same way Dany has a power she is not equipped to handle. There are degrees to this, of course, but in each of these cases, their source of comfort is also a source of moral degradation.

This is probably not a popular take. But Arya got Needle too early, before she was ready to carry a blade, and it will be reflected in how her story with it will be resolved. It already is reflected in how her kills are mirrored in Jon’s own stabbing.

#arya stark #needle #jon snow #poetic justice #trauma #war is not a game #arya stark critical #<- not really just to be safe

89 notes · View notes