#arya stuff

[aryastark-valarmorghulis]

I rewatched the last episode, and while I still think it was a satisfying finale on many levels, I finally understood what was bothering me.

Armand's arc doesn't make sense unless he also wasn't going to let Louis die on the stage - but maybe Lestat acted first or acted better. A hurricane that upset Armand’s plan.

Because, otherwise, if he was ready to see Louis burn, why save him later (and betray the coven) when he had chosen to let him die (picking the coven over Louis)?

Armand would really look like an idiot (maybe it was the purpose, but I don’t believe it, honestly…): first he is an accessory to the trial (at best… you could say he was much more than that) but then he saves Louis’ life after what, a week of agony?

At first, he picks the coven but then he lets Louis kill them all and grovels at his feet? I genuinely don't understand. Armand says “I had complicated feelings” for the coven – so he let Louis take his revenge – but he also adds they were with him for 200 years and he didn’t trust Louis’ love to last – so he picked them over Louis.

?????

There must be some missing pieces that we don't have yet – and ok, I'm 100% sure we're going to learn more about Armand in S3 or later – and his arc in S2 feels incomplete (I absolutely loved everything about Armand and how they wrote until ep. 8) in a way that doesn't give the audience much closure.

In S1 we knew there was stuff that didn't add up regarding Lestat, but his arc felt organic and natural: he had to "die" by the hands of Claudia and Louis. His "death" was earned.

Armand being thrown into a wall and lying there like a discarded sock was consistent with the underwhelming Loumand breakup in the book, BUT it doesn't say anything about Armand and the meaning of his journey in S2.

Armand was S2's "villain" (I know we don't have villains, they're all villains etc etc, bear with me, language has its limits etc etc lmao) the same way Lestat was for S1, but a villain whose motivations are so mysterious… maybe too mysterious.

Said that, I can believe this sense of incompleteness was an artistic choice - Armand is a black hole, Armand is opaque - just not one I particularly loved. The only one I didn't love, in fact, in a season that was, in every other aspect, great.

[vintrage]

a collection of wolves, not doing well

[space-sheep08]

This originally started as a rough sketch to try and figure out how I wanted to draw the Stark children then I blacked out and woke up with this.

Won't be their final designs though, I want to truly work on their outfits which wasn't the case here.

I made two alternative versions because I couldn't choose which one I liked better-

[green-aeggs-and-spam]

ASOIAF fandom try not to call teenage girls evil and irredeemable challenge (impossible)

[leupagus]

Am I writing this largely because I enjoy the idea of Sansa and Stannis constantly hissing at each other like two belligerent cats? Listen,

x

By the first week of the siege, Sansa was forced to admit — if only to herself —that warfare was far less exciting than she'd imagined. When she had been told of Robb's victories in the Riverlands she had always pictured him triumphant upon a fearsome destrier, sword held high as he cut down his enemies before him. Then he'd been killed and she had lived through the Battle of the Blackwater, waiting either rescue or slaughter by the very man who was now her ally. That had not been exciting, precisely, but it had not been this dull and plodding affair. A far cry from the valiant knights and noble battles she'd read when she was a girl; but she'd had precious little turn out the way she'd been taught.

She slept at the camps near the front lines, in the same soldier's tent she and Brienne and Podrick had shared for the past four months. Stannis had made all sorts of ridiculous protests about "ladies" and "danger" until she'd had to remind him, once again, that her eight thousand men gave her the freedom to dictate her own movements.

"All very well while we're waiting out here, my lady," he'd growled in response, after his requisite glare at her flawless logic, "But when battle joins, you'll be nothing more than a nuisance."

"In which case, I'll be quickly killed and you can have Rickon installed as Lord of Winterfell instead," she'd replied, "as you were hoping to do in the first place." That had shut him up, at least, and he'd gone back to scowling at Winterfell's walls.

Every night when she returned to the camp, she stopped at Stannis's tent and joined the conference with their commanders and lieutenants. It was then that she learned about the waging of war: how men were best deployed, how training was maintained even in the midst of a siege, how sickness was kept at bay so that it did not kill more soldiers than did the battles. Stannis disliked her presence there, too, but she was rapidly coming to understand that he would only be truly happy when she was out of his life for good. Possibly not even then. He did not seem a man much given to smiles.

The men did not share Stannis's view, at least; as she walked through the lines each morning and night they stood to bow to her, and press the back of her hand to their foreheads as she remembered they had done to Mother so long ago.

"They say that the old gods have brought you back to us," Lord Reed told her one day, as he accompanied her on her daily walk to the winter town. "That they were angered when the Starks were driven from Winterfell, and that they're drawing you all back here one by one. They say that Robb Stark may come back from the dead, such is the rage of the gods, and avenge all who wronged your house."

Joffrey had been diligent in recounting every detail of what had happened to Robb's body after Roose Bolton had killed him. She repressed a shudder to think of it and held more tightly to Reed's arm, grateful for the warmth of him at her side. "I hope they are not disappointed if all they get is me and Rickon."

Reed chuckled. "They're well-satisfied, my lady," he said. They walked into the winter town just as the sun broke over the mountains. "You're a sight prettier than the Young Wolf ever was, that's certain."

The winter town was where her real work was done each day. It was the custom every winter for the smallfolk of the North to leave their hides holdfasts and journey here, bringing what they could cart or carry. The winter town would eventually house nearly one in three of every soul living in the North, seeking shelter together to endure the cold.

The Boltons had not bothered to do their duty, laying in no provisions and building no new housing. Up until now it had mattered little; even as the winds had begun to blow, few smallfolk had dared to come take shelter under the banners of the flayed man. The town itself had been all but abandoned, until word of the Starks' return had begun to spread throughout the North.

Now the winter town seemed to double in size with each passing day despite the ongoing siege of the Keep. Sansa had her hands full in directing builders, organizing kitchens, allocating what resources they had to feed and shelter everyone. In this she was aided by any number of friends and allies: those servants and household members who had first escaped during Winterfell's seizure by the Ironborn, or who had endured that but had fled the Boltons' brutal takeover; the households of her lords who had come to support the siege; even Lady Umber and her formidable staff lent a hand before she returned to Last Hearth. Her most steadfast assistants were Rickon and Shireen, who at first had joined her out of boredom but were now her little lieutenants, breathlessly updating her on all events of the previous night as she joined them for breakfast each morning. She received aid also from her men in the armies, assigning their builders to fortify the town in much the same way they were fortifying the siege camp.

Her lords approved of this; Stannis, of course, did not.

"You seek another threescore soldiers?" he demanded one evening.

The siege had now dragged on near a month. Bolton's men showed signs of distress, Lord Flint reported with no small satisfaction; they would not last much longer. But this had brought a fresh concern, and Sansa had broached it during their evening conference.

"We need to build up the palisades along the eastern side of the winter town," Sansa insisted, pointing at the map spread out along the table, with the various pieces representing the various companies all arrayed neatly atop. Stannis's wooden flaming hearts were outnumbered by Sansa's wolf heads two to one, though many of hers appeared hastily-carved from whatever spare wood was at hand. She reached for a flaming heart on the far side of the Keep, well away from the siege. "It need only be for—"

"Give me that," Stannis snapped, snatching it back. "Those men are covering the huntsman's gate, should any of Bolton's forces be cowardly enough to attempt escape rather than stand and fight."

"And you anticipate that happening in the next day?" she demanded, resisting the urge to lunge for the piece the way she used to with Robb when he had teasingly stolen her embroidery, holding it just out of reach. "There must be fifty or sixty men out of twelve thousand that can be spared."

"Why are the palisades in need of building up in the first place?" Stannis demanded, as Lord Glover opened and then shut his mouth to reply to her. "This winter town of yours is folly — you cannot grant entry to every farmer and tinker who pleads for shelter."

Sansa gaped at him in outrage, though even as she did so she was heartened to hear the murmur of her lords at such a comment. "That is precisely what is done, and has been for every winter since before Bran the Builder set stones to build Winterfell!" She glared at him. "This is a refuge, Your Grace."

"This is a siege, my lady," he retorted, looming over her. She thought longingly of the beautiful heeled shoes Margaery wore; she needed only a few inches to match Stannis's height, and see what good his looming did him then. "The smallfolk congregate here at their own risk!"

"My people congregate here because they believe I will keep them safe, and I will do so. With or without Your Grace's help!"

"Without, if it pleases my lady!"

Half-ready to club him over the head with the nearest chair, Sansa grabbed the flaming heart out of his hands and waved it in his face. "What are these men supposed to do, if Bolton and his soldiers escape out this way?"

Stannis looked too near a fit of apoplexy to reply, so it was Lord Cerwyn who cleared his throat and answered, "They are charged to report back, my lady, with some following at a safe distance to see where they go."

"It's perfectly obvious where they'll go," Sansa snapped. "Lord Bolton will make for the Dreadfort."

"Of course he will," said Stannis, finding his voice at last, though he did not try for the wolf's-head piece again. "That doesn't mean—"

"I know three dozen local boys who could hide along the route from the huntsman's gate to the eastern road and bring back reports, without clomping about the forests in full armor," Sansa said, slamming the piece down at the winter town. "And they might be able to bring back some food, while they're at it. Unlike your soldiers, they know how to hunt in the Wolfswood without frightening off half the game."

A few days later, she had her men.

[kiekiecarrera]

multifandom meme > [12/14] characters - gendry waters (a song of ice and fire)

[thelustybraavosimaid]

I know I talk about it a lot, but it's the heart and home stuff that really gives me pause in regards to how much Jon and Arya mean to one another. It's not just the comparisons between Ygritte and Arya, or Arya constantly being on Jon's mind and vice versa, or even the fact that George intended for the two of them to dream of each other, but that she's called a dark heart and he calls his own heart black.

"You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!" (Arya VIII, ASoS)

--

There is no way I can help her. I put all kin aside when I said my words. If one of my men told me his sister was in peril, I would tell him that was no concern of his. Once a man had said the words his blood was black. Black as a bastard's heart.

...

"The heart is all that matters. Do not despair, Lord Snow. Despair is a weapon of the enemy, whose name may not be spoken. Your sister is not lost to you."

"I have no sister." The words were knives. What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?

Melisandre seemed amused. "What is her name, this little sister that you do not have?"

"Arya." His voice was hoarse. "My half-sister, truly…" (Jon VI, ADwD)

But the dark heart has another significance as well—it's a connector to Rhaegar. Robert said Rhaegar had a black heart and yet the one who made him happy enough to label the tower the tower of joy was Lyanna, who is very much so Arya's precursor.

It's the connections. They are fascinating.

[laurrelise]

guys i’ve drawn lila some more

decided to draw 2 of her saddest scenes for what reason????????

i actually don’t have an answer i just liked the references

(also here are the references)

and i can’t remember if ive dropped these here before but i did some pencil drawings of her a whiiiiiile ago and im actually really proud of them so i’ll just leave them here regardless :)

v also their references

[arya-saphira]

Anyways that Viking video huh

[rockpaperimpala]

Arya and Nymeria

[fromtheseventhhell]

A lord would have gold for a certainty, they all did; perhaps he would pay some of Lord Tywin's own sellswords to take her to Riverrun. Father had always said that most sellswords would betray anyone for enough gold. (Arya VII, ACOK)

One thing about Arya, her chapters are going to be casually littered with little lessons and tidbits of information that have proven relevant to characters with leadership positions

[aryastark-valarmorghulis]

Two reasons why I'm having a hard time connecting with the Iwtv / VC fandom and I went into a major blocking/unfollowing spree 🤦🏻‍♀️

1. Hardcore Lestat stans-apologists (psa: I'm not a Lestat hater by all means, I like and enjoy book Lestat, I love Samstat and Loustat) rejoycing because Lestat will finally be the lead and we'll discover he's this special snowlflake of a tortured hero and the narrative did him dirty so far, he isn’t a villain, he's a poor victim and the abuse towards Louis was a mutual abuse etc etc

Some stuff, I admit, is actually a lot more nuanced than this and not completely wrong per se, but it's worded in a way that makes me realise some Lestat fans don't care about Louis at all and want the show to be only about Lestat and his white manpain. Which. Um, ok, I know it's exactly like this in the books but they're not doing the books page by page (and thank heaven otherwise we'd have Blood Canticle on screen). It would be a terrible decision to sideline the black main character in favour of the white special prince etc etc not to mention nonsensical since the show has been color-conscious in its approach and very much interested in exploring racism, black queer characters and identity so far

2. VC book purists that despise the show have been enraged about many things during the last 3 years but the worst were: Armand not being a 17 y.o. redhead and Daniel being old. They're now saying this horrible show gaslighted us (seriously?) into believing DM would happen and this "thing" isn’t the real DM. You know, the one where Armand looks like a kid and Daniel is a hot 30 y.o.

Which. Again, yes, it's in the books and I love book DM (best thing AR ever wrote imho), but they're adapting the books and a lot of those scathing complaints sounds a lot like racism & ageism to me

Sorry. I'm done, got it off my chest, now I'm free 🤷🏻‍♀️

[totes-magotes]

₊˚⊹♡˚𐙚｡˚IT GIRL❀⋆.ೃ࿔*₊˚⊹

Ritu Arya

[hewantshisbrideback]

After years of living on the run under assumed identities and burying her past deep down where it couldn't be weaponized against her or her loved ones, her own name has grown near foreign to her. On the bright side, seeing as the press can't keep the name Princess Arya Stark out of their fucking mouths and off their fucking cover pages, the novelty will probably wear off in no time, she's sure.

A SONG OF INTERVIEWS AND FAKE NEWS: ARYA'S RETURN

[noneofurconcernuwhoreson]

⚔ future faceless assassin in training ⚔

[kiekiecarrera]

multifandom meme > [6/6] siblings - jon x arya

You’re my brother. Not my half-brother or my bastard brother. My brother.