#atangle

[the-key-five]

arya stark appreciation week → day 2: family (bran stark)

The world moved dizzily around him. White trees, black sky, red flames, everything was whirling, shifting, spinning. He felt himself stumbling [...] A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya … madly, for he knew his older sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle. Tears filled Hodor’s eyes and froze there.

A Dance with Dragons, Bran II

[jonquilete]

“A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya ... madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle. Tears filled Hodor’s eyes and froze there.”

adwd and arya are like this🤞🏻

[jackoshadows]

I write about Arya’s relationship with Jon a lot - they do stand out in the books with their frequent mentions of each other. However, her elder sibling energy, love for and protectiveness over her little brothers is also highlighted in her narrative and something to look forward to when Arya, Bran and Rickon eventually reunite in the North.

Arya and Bran are clearly close - in Jon’s nostalgic childhood memories he compares Arya and Bran to Robb and himself, in terms of the children pairing off with each other growing up.

Playing, Jon thought in astonishment, grown men playing like children, throwing snowballs the way Bran and Arya once did, and Robb and me before them. - Jon, ADwD

Even the thought made him feel foolish; he was a man grown now, a black brother of the Night’s Watch, not the boy who’d once sat at Old Nan’s feet with Bran and Robb and Arya. - Jon, AGoT

In Bran’s weirwood visions he sees a boy and a girl playing swords and immediately makes them out to be Arya and himself - until he realizes it is Benjen and Lyanna Stark.

Now two children danced across the godswood, hooting at one another as they dueled with broken branches. The girl was the older and taller of the two. Arya! Bran thought eagerly, as he watched her leap up onto a rock and cut at the boy. But that couldn't be right. If the girl was Arya, the boy was Bran himself, and he had never worn his hair so long. And Arya never beat me playing swords, the way that girl is beating him. - Bran, ADwD

Bran and Arya like doing some of the same things, they feel the same way about  some of the same songs.

The rooftops of Winterfell were Bran’s second home. His mother often said that Bran could climb before he could walk - Bran, AGoT

Arya was a skilled climber and a fast picker, and she liked to go off by herself. - Arya, ACoK

Some books. I like the fighting stories. My sister Sansa likes the kissing stories, but those are stupid." Bran, ADWD

Sansa would have sighed and shed a tear for true love, but Arya just thought it was stupid - Arya, ASoS

Bran compares Meera and Leaf to Arya:

Meera reminded Bran of his sister Arya. She wasn’t scared to get dirty, and she could run and fight and throw as good as a boy. She was older than Arya, though; almost sixteen, a woman grown. ACoK

A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya … madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle… - Bran, ADwD

They are both strong wargs and skinchangers and even in their journeys, they have mentors teaching them to embrace the darkness

Arya would wait until she heard him snoring, then creep barefoot up the  servant's stair, making no more noise than the mouse she'd been. 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, ACoK

There he sat, listening to the hoarse whispers of his teacher. "Never fear the darkness, Bran." - "... The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness  will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness  will make you strong.” - Bran, ADwD

Apart from these many parallels, there is Arya’s protectiveness over her younger siblings. The way she tries to protect baby Bran from spooky ghost Jon and the way baby Bran looked to her for that protection.

That was when they heard the sound, low and deep and shivery. Baby Bran had clutched at Arya’s hand.

When the spirit stepped out of the open tomb, pale white and moaning for blood, Sansa ran shrieking for the stairs, and Bran wrapped himself around Robb’s leg, sobbing. Arya stood her ground and gave the spirit a punch. It was only Jon, covered with flour. “You stupid,” she told him, “you scared the baby,” but Jon and Robb just laughed and laughed, and pretty soon Bran and Arya were laughing too.- Arya, AGoT

From the mentions in the text here and there, it’s clear that Arya adored her baby brothers and loved playing with them.

Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. - Arya, AGoT

That was when Arya missed her brothers most. She wanted to tease Bran and play with baby Rickon  and have Robb smile at her. She wanted Jon to muss up her hair and call  her "little sister" and finish her sentences with her. But all of them  were gone. - Arya, AGoT

Arya stared at them with resentment, remembering the times she'd played at hoops with Bran and Jon and their baby brother Rickon. She wondered how big Rickon  had grown, and whether Bran was sad. She would have given anything if Jon had been here to call her "little sister" and muss her hair. Not   that it needed mussing.  - Arya, AGoT

Once in a while, Sansa even missed her sister. By now Arya was safe back in Winterfell, dancing and sewing, playing with Bran and baby Rickon, even riding through the winter town if she liked.  - Sansa, ACoK

I am so looking forward to reading GRRM’s take on Arya returning North and reuniting with Rickon who is being brought up by spearwife Osha on Skagos with Shaggydog during his formative years, and even before they left Winterfell was a bit more wolfish than his siblings and also liked the dark.

Rickon patted Shaggydog's muzzle, damp with blood. "I let him loose. He doesn't like chains." He licked at his fingers. "Rickon," Bran said, "would you like to come with me?" "No. I like it here." - Bran, ACoK

Remember when Arya thinks ‘I wonder how big Rickon has got’? I think she’s in for a surprise!  And I feel like given how much GRRM mentioned writing more for Osha because he loved Natalia Tena’s take of it on GOT, we may get Arya and Osha or Jon and Osha meeting as well. And then there’s Nymeria and Shaggydog. Imagine them comparing notes?

Shaggydog: I had Unicorn for lunch...

Nymeria: I had Frey for lunch. Oh and also command an army of wolves...

Summer: I had some undead wights for lunch...

Ghost!Jon busy mussing Arya’s hair with his paws....

[gnomewithalargeaxe]

A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment, Bran thought it was his sister Arya ... madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle. Tears filled Hodor's eyes and froze there.

Bran, A Dance with Dragons

[queenaryastark]

A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya … madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle. -- Bran II, ADWD

Bran referring to Arya as his "little sister" even though she's older than him is so cute. It could be a typo/continuity error, but if not, it suggests that Bran caught up with and surpassed Arya in height early on despite their two year age difference. It reminds me of my older siblings since they're a year apart with my sister being the older of the two, yet she's usually the same size or shorter than our brother in pictures of them as kids.

[heretic-child]

Jon wondered where Ghost was now. Had he gone to Castle Black, or was he was running with some wolfpack in the woods? He had no sense of the direwolf, not even in his dreams. It made him feel as if part of himself had been cut off. Even with Ygritte sleeping beside him, he felt alone. (Jon V, ASOS)

Beneath her coverlets she tossed and turned, dreaming that Hizdahr was kissing her… but his lips were blue and bruised, and when he thrust himself inside her, his manhood was cold as ice. She sat up with her hair disheveled and the bedclothes atangle. Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone. (Daenerys VII, ADWD)

[thelustybraavosimaid]

I just realised how Bran is a lot like Jon, in that he equates Arya to women he admires and meets.

Jojen was so solemn that Old Nan called him "little grandfather," but Meera reminded Bran of his sister Arya. She wasn't scared to get dirty, and she could run and fight and throw as good as a boy. She was older than Arya, though; almost sixteen, a woman grown. (Bran IV, ACoK)

--

A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya…madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle.

...

Summer was there, sniffing round him, and Hodor, soaking wet. Meera cradled Jojen's head in her lap. And the Arya thing stood over them, clutching her torch. (Bran II, ADwD)

--

Now two children danced across the godswood, hooting at one another as they dueled with broken branches. The girl was the older and taller of the two. Arya! Bran thought eagerly, as he watched her leap up onto a rock and cut at the boy. But that couldn't be right. If the girl was Arya, the boy was Bran himself, and he had never worn his hair so long. And Arya never beat me playing swords, the way that girl is beating him. (Bran III, ADwD)

It's a familiarity thing, of course, but it's a thing both Jon and Bran share. (Another thing that they both share—falling for people who remind them of Arya [but again, it's a familiarity thing].)

[topshelf2112-blog]

[madison-tourmaline]

sleep beckons and i was so excited to wake up at a good time today but my mind is still atangle

anyways i've decided i'm gonna rewatch all of seasons 2-9 of mlp fim next

[new-ds9-ao3]

by stateofintegrity

Garak gets hung up on a troubling phrase in he & Julian’s latest read.

Words: 4768, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Relationships: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak

Additional Tags: Literature lovers, slumber party time, translation confusion, Speculative Anatomy

[let-me-make-you-proud]

This kid needs more hugs

[jon-dany]

Jon wondered where Ghost was now. Had he gone to Castle Black, or was he was running with some wolfpack in the woods? He had no sense of the direwolf, not even in his dreams. It made him feel as if part of himself had been cut off. Even with Ygritte sleeping beside him, he felt alone. He did not want to die alone. (Jon V, ASOS)

***

Beneath her coverlets she tossed and turned, dreaming that Hizdahr was kissing her … but his lips were blue and bruised, and when he thrust himself inside her, his manhood was cold as ice. She sat up with her hair disheveled and the bedclothes atangle. Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone. (Daenerys VII, ADWD)

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

ASOS: Arya IV (Chapter 22)

The next morning, as they crossed the little stone bridge behind the keep, Gendry wondered if this was the bridge the old man had fought over. No one knew. "Most like it is," said Jack-Be-Lucky. "Don't see no other bridges."

"You'd know for certain if there was a song," said Tom Sevenstrings. "One good song, and we'd know who Ser Maynard used to be and why he wanted to cross this bridge so bad. Poor old Lychester might be as far famed as the Dragonknight if he'd only had sense enough to keep a singer."

I know this is important, but I'm not sure how yet.

+.+.+

Three days later, as they rode through a yellow wood, Jack-Be-Lucky unslung his horn and blew a signal, a different one than before. The sounds had scarcely died away when rope ladders unrolled from the limbs of trees. "Hobble the horses and up we go," said Tom, half singing the words. They climbed to a hidden village in the upper branches, a maze of rope walkways and little moss-covered houses concealed behind walls of red and gold, and were taken to the Lady of the Leaves, a stick-thin white-haired woman dressed in roughspun.

This reminds me of Bloodraven's cave system.

And once again, Arya's up in the trees.

A cloud of ravens was pouring from the cave, and he saw a little girl with a torch in hand, darting this way and that. For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya … madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away, or dead. And yet there she was, whirling, a scrawny thing, ragged, wild, her hair atangle. - Bran II, ADWD

+.+.+

"You've not seen Lord Beric?" asked Tom Sevenstrings.

"He's dead." The woman sounded sick. "The Mountain caught him, and drove a dagger through his eye.

No eye is safe in back-to-back chapters.

+.+.+

"That's an old stale tale, and false," said Lem. "The lightning lord's not so easy to kill. Ser Gregor might have put his eye out, but a man don't die o' that. Jack could tell you."

"Well, I never did," said one-eyed Jack-Be-Lucky. "My father got himself good and hanged by Lord Piper's bailiff, my brother Wat got sent to the Wall, and the Lannisters killed my other brothers. An eye, that's nothing."

Fascinating tale, Jon-Be-Lucky.

+.+.+

The next night they found shelter beneath the scorched shell of a sept, in a burned village called Sallydance. Only shards remained of its windows of leaded glass, and the aged septon who greeted them said the looters had even made off with the Mother's costly robes, the Crone's gilded lantern, and the silver crown the Father had worn. "They hacked the Maiden's breasts off too, though those were only wood," he told them. "And the eyes, the eyes were jet and lapis and mother-of-pearl, they pried them out with their knives. May the Mother have mercy on them all."

What the hell?

<- Jaime III

The fattest Dothraki Jaime had ever seen was sitting on the Mother's chest when they rode up, prying out her chalcedony eyes with the point of his knife. Nearby, a skinny balding septon hung upside down from the limb of a spreading chestnut tree. Three of the Brave Companions were using his corpse for an archery butt. One of them must have been good; the dead man had arrows through both of his eyes.

An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind.

+.+.+

"No," the old man said. "Northmen, they were. Savages who worship trees. They wanted the Kingslayer, they said."

Arya heard him, and chewed her lip. She could feel Gendry looking at her.

If you replaced King with Queen, this almost reads like they're talking about Arya.

+.+.+

"I'm not a squirrel," she said. "I'll almost be a woman soon. I'll be one-and-ten."

"Best watch out I don't marry you, then!" He tried to tickle her under the chin, but Arya slapped his stupid hand away.

Another child professing to be an adult.

Be thankful you're viewed as a little girl, Arya.

+.+.+

Anguy let Arya try his longbow, but no matter how hard she bit her lip she could not draw it. "You need a lighter bow, milady," the freckled bowman said. "If there's seasoned wood at Riverrun, might be I'll make you one."

Tom overheard him, and broke off his song. "You're a young fool, Archer. If we go to Riverrun it will only be to collect her ransom, won't be no time for you to sit about making bows.

+.+.+

"We have sore need of horses, milady. Armor as well. Swords, shields, spears. All the things coin can buy. Aye, and seed for planting. Winter is coming, remember?" He touched her under the chin. "You will not be the first highborn captive we've ransomed. Nor the last, I'd hope."

That feels like foreshadowing.

+.+.+

That much was true, Arya knew. Knights were captured and ransomed all the time, and sometimes women were too. But what if Robb won't pay their price? She wasn't a famous knight, and kings were supposed to put the realm before their sisters. And her lady mother, what would she say? Would she still want her back, after all the things she'd done?

These thoughts are even more depressing when you realize Robb wouldn't pay the price.

+.+.+

The next day they rode to a place called High Heart, a hill so lofty that from atop it Arya felt as though she could see half the world. Around its brow stood a ring of huge pale stumps, all that remained of a circle of once-mighty weirwoods. Arya and Gendry walked around the hill to count them. There were thirty-one, some so wide that she could have used them for a bed.

If someone would like to tell me the significance of thirty-one, I'd appreciate it.

+.+.+

The smallfolk hereabouts shunned the place, Tom told her; it was said to be haunted by the ghosts of the children of the forest who had died here when the Andal king named Erreg the Kinslayer had cut down their grove. Arya knew about the children of the forest, and about the Andals too, but ghosts did not frighten her.

I have no comment, I'll include Erreg backstory just in case someone has thoughts.

The great hill called High Heart was especially holy to the First Men, as it had been to the children of the forest before them. Crowned by a grove of giant weirwoods, ancient as any that had been seen in the Seven Kingdoms, High Heart was still the abode of the children and their greenseers. When the Andal king Erreg the Kinslayer surrounded the hill, the children emerged to defend it, calling down clouds of ravens and armies of wolves...or so the legend tells us. Yet neither tooth nor talon was a match for the steel axes of the Andals, who slaughtered the greenseers, the beasts, and the First Men alike, and raised beside the High Heart a hill of corpses half again as high...or so the singers would have us believe.

True History suggests otherwise, insisting that the children had abandoned the riverlands long before the Andals crossed the narrow sea. But however it happened, the grove was destroyed. Today only stumps remain where once the weirwoods stood. - The World of Ice and Fire

+.+.+

Beside the embers of their campfire, she saw Tom, Lem, and Greenbeard talking to a tiny little woman, a foot shorter than Arya and older than Old Nan, all stooped and wrinkled and leaning on a gnarled black cane. Her white hair was so long it came almost to the ground. When the wind gusted it blew about her head in a fine cloud. Her flesh was whiter, the color of milk, and it seemed to Arya that her eyes were red, though it was hard to tell from the bushes. "The old gods stir and will not let me sleep," she heard the woman say. "I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye. I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings. I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror. All this I dreamt, and more. Do you have gifts for me, to pay me for my dreams?"

Fun!

I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye.

Fandom consensus has always been this is Stannis and his shadow butchering Renly. I hate accepting consensus, but that's the most sensible conclusion. Only other interpretation I could buy is Melisandre destroying Stannis.

While reading other fandom theories I saw a lot of people fixate on golden stag, which would imply Lannister. It seems more likely the gold is meant to convey the stag is crowned.

I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings.

Well, well, well. A vision of a Faceless Man assassinating a king. How funny would it be if she had the next chapter?

This is a Faceless Man killing Balon Greyjoy for Euron Greyjoy (On his shoulder perched a drowned crow).

As for the seaweed hanging from its wings, I got nothing. Aeron Greyjoy has seaweed woven into his hair, maybe it's him.

I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror.

I don't want to talk about it.

+.+.+

And then to Tom Sevenstrings she said, "I'll have my song or I'll have you gone."

So the singer played for her, so soft and sad that Arya only heard snatches of the words, though the tune was half-familiar. Sansa would know it, I bet. Her sister had known all the songs, and she could even play a little, and sing so sweetly. All I could ever do was shout the words.

[...]

The singer laughed. "The sound of me, at least. She always makes me sing the same bloody song, though. Not a bad song, mind you, but I know others just as good." He shook his head.

Siblings do know best!

Sansa would have known who he was, and the fat one too, but Arya had never taken much interest in titles and sigils. - Arya VII, ACOK

x

Tyrion could think of something clever now, but all that occurs to me is to go at them with a sword. - Jaime I, ASOS

x

Tyrion would have known all there was to know about the Lord of the Dreadfort, but Tyrion was a thousand leagues away, with Cersei. - Jaime IV, ASOS

x

One of the early Targaryen kings had fought for years to suppress the two military orders, Jaime recalled, though he did not remember which. Maegor, perhaps, or the first Jaehaerys. Tyrion would have known. - Jaime IV, AFFC

Would Sansa know Jenny's song? Maybe we'll find out.

+.+.+

Arya promptly found herself marched upstairs, forced into a tub, and doused with scalding hot water. Lady Smallwood's maidservants scrubbed her so hard it felt like they were flaying her themselves. They even dumped in some stinky-sweet stuff that smelled like flowers.

And afterward, they insisted she dress herself in girl's things, brown woolen stockings and a light linen shift, and over that a light green gown with acorns embroidered all over the bodice in brown thread, and more acorns bordering the hem. "My great-aunt is a septa at a motherhouse in Oldtown," Lady Smallwood said as the women laced the gown up Arya's back. "I sent my daughter there when the war began. She'll have outgrown these things by the time she returns, no doubt. Are you fond of dancing, child? My Carellen's a lovely dancer. She sings beautifully as well. What do you like to do?"

Arya is being dressed like a tree two chapters before Bran II, ASOS.

+.+.+

She scuffed a toe amongst the rushes. "Needlework."

"Very restful, isn't it?"

"Well," said Arya, "not the way I do it."

"No? I have always found it so. The gods give each of us our little gifts and talents, and it is meant for us to use them, my aunt always says. Any act can be a prayer, if done as well as we are able. Isn't that a lovely thought? Remember that the next time you do your needlework. Do you work at it every day?"

I'm told Arya's gift is governing. With a dagger.

+.+.+

"Now you look a proper young lady."

I'm not a lady, Arya wanted to tell her, I'm a wolf.

Tell that to the Arya tag.

+.+.+

"It was 'Let Me Drink Your Beauty,'" said Tom defensively, "and milkmaids are always glad to hear it. As was a certain highborn lady I do recall. I play to please."

Her nostrils flared. "The riverlands are full of maids you've pleased, all drinking tansy tea. You'd think a man as old as you would know to spill his seed on their bellies. Men will be calling you Tom Sevensons before much longer."

(Lady Smallwood is the highborn lady, lol)

Some men know how to pull out, while others don't...

+.+.+

"I wish I had a flaming sword." Arya could think of lots of people she'd like to set on fire.

No, Arya. Bad, Arya.

+.+.+

Gendry put the hammer down and looked at her. "You look different now. Like a proper little girl."

"I look like an oak tree, with all these stupid acorns."

"Nice, though. A nice oak tree." He stepped closer, and sniffed at her. "You even smell nice for a change."

"You don't. You stink." Arya shoved him back against the anvil and made to run, but Gendry caught her arm. She stuck a foot between his legs and tripped him, but he yanked her down with him, and they rolled across the floor of the smithy. He was very strong, but she was quicker. Every time he tried to hold her still she wriggled free and punched him. Gendry only laughed at the blows, which made her mad. He finally caught both her wrists in one hand and started to tickle her with the other, so Arya slammed her knee between his legs, and wrenched free. Both of them were covered in dirt, and one sleeve was torn on her stupid acorn dress. "I bet I don't look so nice now," she shouted.

Rest in peace to those Gendrya plans.

+.+.+

Tom was singing when they returned to the hall.

My featherbed is deep and soft,

and there I'll lay you down,

I'll dress you all in yellow silk,

and on your head a crown.

For you shall be my lady love,

and I shall be your lord.

I'll always keep you warm and safe,

and guard you with my sword.

[...]

Tom winked at her as he sang:

And how she smiled and how she laughed,

the maiden of the tree.

She spun away and said to him,

no featherbed for me.

I'll wear a gown of golden leaves,

and bind my hair with grass,

But you can be my forest love,

and me your forest lass.

Aw look, Arya gets her own song! Too bad all her fans are forced to ignore its contents.

(Maiden of the tree two chapters before Bran II, ASOS)

+.+.+

"I do not know who you are, child," the woman said, "and it may be that's for the best. Someone important, I fear." She smoothed down Arya's collar. "In times like these, it is better to be insignificant.

x

"Leave the boy, Lem," said Harwin. "Arya did start it, I have no doubt. She was much the same at Winterfell."

I'm not sure if this is important or not, but I'll include it. Lady Smallwood doesn't know who Arya is, and doesn't want to. Later, Harwin will say Arya's name right in front of her.

+.+.+

It was even worse than before; Lady Smallwood insisted that Arya take another bath, and cut and comb her hair besides; the dress she put her in this time was sort of lilac-colored, and decorated with little baby pearls. The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it. So the next morning as they broke their fast, Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs.

+.+.+

"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."

Yes, be brave. You never know what challenge might pop up on the next page.

Final thoughts:

Dense, difficult chapter. Hopefully I didn't miss a ton.

-> return to menu <-

[ammonitetestpatterns]

may you be vindicated between what action shows and the real holds regardless of reception. if nothing else, hope can be found in the recognition of your agency and the coordination of such understanding with reality, this counts for something when its very relational fabric looks suspended in a crisis of fragility, a feast of souls, and the social branch that sways the flatlining of characterization and alienation disproportionate to the moral krisis already contained within the action or disposition. other people cannot stand in as the frontier of dictation over the clarity of an individuated will immanently assured of itself, remulching resonance with concrete circumstance, a forest floor atangle with possibility

[kellyvela]

Blue hair and beard didn't seems lucky. Blue Bard had blue hair and had been tortured to insanity. Daario had blue hair and beard is in captivity of yunkai. Jon C and Aegon dyed their hair blue. Though they are going to shed the dye to reveal themselves but they are going to die. Thoughts?

Color blue in general is a bad omen. Especially for Jon's aunt:

When they were alone, Ser Jorah drew his dagger. Deftly, with a delicacy surprising in such a big man, he began to scrape away the black leaves and dried blue mud from Drogo's chest. The plaster had caked hard as the mud walls of the Lamb Men, and like those walls it cracked easily. Ser Jorah broke the dry mud with his knife, pried the chunks from the flesh, peeled off the leaves one by one. A foul, sweet smell rose from the wound, so thick it almost choked her. The leaves were crusted with blood and pus, Drogo's breast black and glistening with corruption.

—A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VIII

"Then why do men lower their voices when they speak of the warlocks of Qarth? All across the east, their power and wisdom are revered."

"Once they were mighty," Xaro agreed, "but now they are as ludicrous as those feeble old soldiers who boast of their prowess long after strength and skill have left them. They read their crumbling scrolls, drink shade-of-the-evening until their lips turn blue, and hint of dread powers, but they are hollow husks compared to those who went before. Pyat Pree's gifts will turn to dust in your hands, I warn you." He gave his camel a lick of his whip and sped away.

—A Clash of Kings - Daenerys II

The merchant prince sat up sharply. “Pyat Pree has blue lips, and it is truly said that blue lips speak only lies. Heed the wisdom of one who loves you. Warlocks are bitter creatures who eat dust and drink of shadows. They will give you naught. They have naught to give.”

—A Clash of Kings - Daenerys III

A long stone table filled this room. Above it floated a human heart, swollen and blue with corruption, yet still alive. It beat, a deep ponderous throb of sound, and each pulse sent out a wash of indigo light. The figures around the table were no more than blue shadows. As Dany walked to the empty chair at the foot of the table, they did not stir, nor speak, nor turn to face her. There was no sound but the slow, deep beat of the rotting heart.

(...)

. . . three heads has the dragon . . . the ghost chorus yammered inside her skull with never a lip moving, never a breath stirring the still blue air. . . . mother of dragons . . . child of storm . . . The whispers became a swirling song. . . . three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . . Her own heart was beating in unison to the one that floated before her, blue and corrupt . . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . . The voices were growing louder, she realized, and it seemed her heart was slowing, and even her breath. . . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .

(...)

The Undying were all around her, blue and cold, whispering as they reached for her, pulling, stroking, tugging at her clothes, touching her with their dry cold hands, twining their fingers through her hair. All the strength had left her limbs. She could not move. Even her heart had ceased to beat. She felt a hand on her bare breast, twisting her nipple. Teeth found the soft skin of her throat. A mouth descended on one eye, licking, sucking, biting . . .

—A Clash of Kings - Daenerys IV

“Blue lips speak only lies, isn’t that what Xaro told you? Why do you care what the warlocks whispered? All they wanted was to suck the life from you, you know that now.”

—A Clash of Kings - Daenerys V

And the Crow's Eye, Euron Greyjoy.

He looks unchanged, Victarion thought. He looks the same as he did the day he laughed at me and left. Euron was the most comely of Lord Quellon's sons, and three years of exile had not changed that. His hair was still black as a midnight sea, with never a whitecap to be seen, and his face was still smooth and pale beneath his neat dark beard. A black leather patch covered Euron's left eye, but his right was blue as a summer sky.

His smiling eye, thought Victarion. "Crow's Eye," he said.

"King Crow's Eye, brother." Euron smiled. His lips looked very dark in the lamplight, bruised and blue.

—A Feast for Crows - The Iron Captain

A smile played across Euron's blue lips. "I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last. I have taken the Silence on longer voyages than this, and ones far more hazardous. Have you forgotten? I have sailed the Smoking Sea and seen Valyria."

(...)

The captain took the cup Euron had not offered, sniffed at its contents suspiciously. Seen up close, it looked more blue than black. It was thick and oily, with a smell like rotted flesh. He tried a small swallow, and spit it out at once. "Foul stuff. Do you mean to poison me?"

"I mean to open your eyes." Euron drank deep from his own cup, and smiled. "Shade-of-the-evening, the wine of the warlocks.

—A Feast for Crows - The Reaver

“Not all your enemies are in the Yellow City. Beware men with cold hearts and blue lips. You had not been gone from Qarth a fortnight when Pyat Pree set out with three of his fellow warlocks, to seek for you in Pentos.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys III

Beneath her coverlets she tossed and turned, dreaming that Hizdahr was kissing her … but his lips were blue and bruised, and when he thrust himself inside her, his manhood was cold as ice. She sat up with her hair disheveled and the bedclothes atangle. Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone. She wanted to shake him, wake him, make him hold her, fuck her, help her forget, but she knew that if she did, he would only smile and yawn and say, "It was just a dream, my queen. Go back to sleep."

—A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys VII

That's why this line:

A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness…

Doesn't mean some some grand romance, but death and betrayals...

Credits for finding the quotes to @shieldofrohan

More about the bad omens of the color blue here:

STORM IS COMING…

SWEET BLUE FLOWER ON THE WALL = DEATH

[fedonciadale]

Are there any foreshadowings about Jon and Dany committing incest albeit accidental?

Hi there!

Yes, there are, but it is also heavily foreshadowed that it won’t be mutual.

Put under the cut for length.

In Dany’s chapters there is the vision in the house of the undying:

Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. (ACOK, Daenerys IV)

This can be read as a hint at RLJ, but it has also been read as a hint to Jonsa, although I am not convinced, and as a hint that Jon, the blue rose is destined for Dany. If the first sentence is a hint to Drogo, the second could be a hint to Victarion or Euron Grejoy (who yet has to meet Dany), the third could be Jon.

That the air is filled with sweetness could be a hint to the fact that Jon will betray Dany. Sweetness is not positive in her arc and usually points at betrayal.

Then there is the prophecies of threes, the three fires, the three mounts and the three betrayals.

. . . three heads has the dragon . . . the ghost chorus yammered inside her skull with never a lip moving, never a breath stirring the still blue air. . . . mother of dragons . . . child of storm . . . The whispers became a swirling song. . . . three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . . Her own heart was beating in unison to the one that floated before her, blue and corrupt . . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . . The voices were growing louder, she realized, and it seemed her heart was slowing, and even her breath. . . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . . (ACOK, Daenerys IV)    

The third is usually understood to be Jon. She will light a fire to love (whatever that means - I think it means she will try to burn the love she feels), she will love him (mount to love), and he will be the last betrayal, the betrayal for love (and not for love of her), the one she will not see coming, because she will think that she has past all the betrayals.

You can see that this is ambiguous as well: If Jon is the third option for all of them and again it does not bode well.

Dany also dreams of lover whose face is a shifting shadow. Jon is connected to shadows in Melisandre’s visions, but we have to wonder if this is positive.

Sometimes she would close her eyes and dream of him, but it was never Jorah Mormont she dreamed of; her lover was always younger and more comely, though his face remained a shifting shadow.   (ASOS, Daenerys II) 

The flames crackled softly, and in their crackling she heard the whispered name Jon Snow. His long face floated before her, limned in tongues of red and orange, appearing and disappearing again, a shadow half-seen behind a fluttering curtain. (ADWD, Melisandre I)

I mean, shadows are almost never positive?

Dany feels alone although Daario is with her,

She sat up with her hair disheveled and the bedclothes atangle. Her captain slept beside her, yet she was alone. (ADWD, Daenerys VII)

and so does Jon, although Ygritte is with him,

Even with Ygritte sleeping beside him, he felt alone. (ASOS, Jon V)

but so does Sansa although Tyrion is with her, even if it is worded a bit different.

Her lord husband was not beside her, but she was used to that. (ASOS, Sansa IV)

Dany has a strong connection to the moon, and therefore the following scene is read as a foreshadowing of Jonerys:

"Every man who walks the earth casts a shadow on the world. Some are thin and weak, others long and dark. You should look behind you, Lord Snow. The moon has kissed you and etched your shadow upon the ice twenty feet tall."  (ADWD, Jon VI)

Again, Jon is the shadow and here the shadow seems to indicate that Dany kissing him will have a big impact (what kind of impact remains the question).

Then there is this scene where Val seems to serve as a stand-in for Dany:

When they emerged north of the Wall, through a thick door made of freshly hewn green wood, the wildling princess paused for a moment to gaze out across the snow-covered field where King Stannis had won his battle. Beyond, the haunted forest waited, dark and silent. The light of the half-moon turned Val's honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow. She took a deep breath. "The air tastes sweet."

"My tongue is too numb to tell. All I can taste is cold." (ADWD, Jon VIII)

Again this is ambiguous and seems to hint at Dany falling for Jon and not him falling for her.

The same hold true for this ‘lovely dream’:

Sleep came hard, even when Daario came back, so drunk that he could hardly stand. Beneath her coverlets she tossed and turned, dreaming that Hizdahr was kissing her … but his lips were blue and bruised, and when he thrust himself inside her, his manhood was cold as ice. (ADWD, Daenerys VII)

Dany feels Jon’s death

Off in the distance, a wolf howled. The sound made her feel sad and lonely, but no less hungry. As the moon rose above the grasslands, Dany slipped at last into a restless sleep.  (ADWD, Daenerys X)

Again this is so ambiguous! And please note the wording: ‘ no less hungry’. Also, I would alert you to the fact, that Sansa also feels Jon’s death in AFFC, Alayne II: It sounds like a wolf, thought Sansa. A ghost wolf, big as mountains.     .

Dany muses on the fact, that she might have married, Aegon, Rhaegar’s son by Elia. 

There here would have been a sixth, but the Usurper's dogs had murdered her brother's son when he was still a babe at the breast. If he had lived, I might have married him. Aegon would have been closer to my age than Viserys. (ADWD, Daenerys I)

Then there are the multiple hints that Jon is a player aka Political Jon:

We should have twenty trebuchets, not two, and they should be mounted on sledges and turntables so we could move them. It was a futile thought. He might as well wish for another thousand men, and maybe a dragon or three. (ASOS, Jon VIII) - This shows where Jon reals interest lies, Dany’s military power.

There is a battering ram called Joso’s cock in ADWD, Daenerys VI: Their masts had become her battering rams, and swarms of freedmen had torn their hulls apart to build mantlets, turtles, catapults, and ladders. The sellswords had given each ram a bawdy name, and it had been the mainmast of Meraxes—formerly Joso's Prank—that had broken the eastern gate. Joso's Cock, they called it. The fighting had raged bitter and bloody for most of a day and well into the night before the wood began to splinter and Meraxes' iron figurehead, a laughing jester's face, came crashing through.    

This might be a hint at Jon being a jester, a fool, who deceives Dany.

Then there is the cyvasse scene in ADWD, Tyrion VI:

And when she reaches Westeros, and meets you for the first time, you will meet as equals, man and woman, not queen and supplicant. How can she help but love you then, I ask you?" Smiling, he seized his dragon, flew it across the board. "I hope Your Grace will pardon me. Your king is trapped. Death in four." 

This clearly points to a dragon coming out of nowhere and killing another dragon.  

There is also a parallel to Dany/Jon: In AFFC Cersei is tricked by the bastard Aurane Waters (as I explained here).

Not to mention that Jon did it with the Freefolk!

In addition there is the narrative that might lead towards Jonerys. The accidental incest is even older than Oedipus and it has been explored by many authors. Secret parentage is one of the classic set-ups for accidental incest - which by the way always has a tragic ending.

And if GRRM writes Jonsa, he would be a fool to explore that. Jon being afraid to commit incest with Sansa, leaving her and avoiding her only to commit accidental incest with his aunt. It is too neatly set up not to be explored.

Then there is the fact that Jonerys is perfect to tease the Targaryen restoration. I think GRRM might even go so far as to at least let Dany believe she is pregnant. The whole Dany storyline is there to dupe the reader into believing she is the chosen one and destined to restore her house to greatness only to pull the rug and make it clear that she was a villain from the beginning. To bring Dany to her breaking point it seems logical that all she ever wanted should be in her grasp.

So, there are several hints that point towards a relationship but none of them are really positive. All points towards Jon being ‘cold’, towards a tragic end of their relationship, towards a crumbling of Dany’s dream of Targaryen restoration.

Thanks for the ask!