nerajaana

[nerajaana]

Thinking about how Arya parallels Odysseus, using her wits to defy physically monstrous captors, repeated separation from her allies, sailing across the sea, isolated occultists who rely on transformation and poison luring them in and using a combination of coercion and magic to keep them under control, long, arduous journeys often misinterpreted as lighthearted adventures when the entire point is that our hero(ine) is desperate to get home to their family and loved ones after suffering through a war like none before.

Which got me thinking about connections between Arya and Jon, and Odysseus and Penelope, obviously... like, I'm thinking of Penelope putting off her duty to remarry until Odysseus, the only husband she wants, returns and Jon denying his duty to claim Winterfell until it's Arya, the only bride or blood he ultimately can't deny, on the line.

#jon snow #arya stark #a song of ice and fire #needleheart

[nerajaana]

[nerajaana]

ARYA STARK AND THE GODS ❦ BOURNE FOR THE GOD OF DEATH

Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King. The Stranger had his shrine as well, though hardly anyone ever came to him. Most of the time only a single candle stood flickering at his feet. The kindly man said it did not matter. "He has many faces, and many ears to hear."

The Many-Faced God, also known as Him of Many Faces, is a deity worshipped by the Faceless Men, a guild of assassins established in the Free City of Braavos. The tale of the guild's beginnings centers around a figure of unknown origins, the first Faceless Man, who heard the prayers of the slaves to their various gods of death and came to conclude they all prayed to the same god "with a hundred different faces", the Many-Faced God, and that he was "that god's instrument".

This belief came to be reflected in the Guild's temple, which has a large public sanctuary that contains idols of thirty death gods. The religious order refills its pool of black water with a poison, so that drinking from it leads to a painless death. Visiting worshippers light candles to their god, then drink from the fountain using a stone cup, then go lie in one of the alcoves. Others take advantage of special alcoves, called "dreaming couches", which have special candles that bring visions of the past, for a sweet and gentle death.

Followers of Him of Many Faces consider death to be part of the natural order of things and a merciful end to suffering. The guild will agree to kill anyone in the known world, for a price, considering this contract to be a sacrament of their god. The price is always high or dear, but within means of the person if they are willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of their services also depends on the prominence and security of the target.

The High Valyrian words associated with the cult and its assassins are valar morghulis, or "all men must die", and its traditional response, valar dohaeris, or "all men must serve". This philosophy runs deep. Members are made to forsake their identities for the service of the Many-Faced God, and may only assassinate targets they have been hired to kill. They are not allowed to choose who is worthy of the "gift" by themselves.

#arya stark #asoiaf

[nerajaana]

Different Roads: The House of Black and White

At the top she found a set of carved wooden doors twelve feet high. The left-hand door was made of weirwood pale as bone, the right of gleaming ebony. In their center was a carved moon face; ebony on the weirwood side, weirwood on the ebony. The look of it reminded her somehow of the heart tree in the godswood at Winterfell. The doors are watching me, she thought. She pushed upon both doors at once with the flat of her gloved hands, but neither one would budge. Locked and barred. "Let me in, you stupid," she said. "I crossed the narrow sea." She made a fist and pounded. "Jaqen told me to come. I have the iron coin." She pulled it from her pouch and held it up. "See? Valar morghulis." The doors made no reply, except to open. ❦ Arya I, A Feast for Crows

#screeching #arya stark #asoiaf

[nerajaana]

When Jon comes back to life and gains a "ghost" moniker to match with Arya, so we get the "Ghost of Harrenhal" leading in Harrenhal and the "Ghost of the North" leading in the North

#op’s tags : chef’s kiss #i love this song #whatta banger #jon snow #arya stark #needleheart

[nerajaana]

Aaa Nat tysm for tagging me 🥰

barbie or oppenheimer // ketchup or mustard // crinkled fries or curly fries // robots or dinosaurs // silly hats or silly socks // spring or autumn // harry potter or lord of the rings // vacation or staycation // day or night // board games or video games // books or movies // money or love //milkshake or iced coffee // waffles or pancakes // chocolate or candy // beach or pool // laundry or dishes // take-out or dine-out // fantasy or sci-fi // lays or pringles

Omg it's been awhile since I was tagged for something, so thank you @rubybahamut I appreciate it, doing a separate post to save you of the reblog spam haha

barbie or oppenheimer // ketchup or mustard // crinkled fries or curly fries // robots or dinosaurs // silly hats or silly socks // spring or autumn // harry potter or lord of the rings // vacation or staycation // day or night // board games or video games // books or movies // money or love //milkshake or iced coffee // waffles or pancakes // chocolate or candy // beach or pool // laundry or dishes // take-out or dine-out // fantasy or sci-fi // lays or pringles

I will be tagging: @003-alissa ¦ @la-hannya ¦ @sephirothism ¦ @alwayswandering21 ¦ @bringingclawstoagunfight ¦ @lorelei-4 ¦ and anyone else that's what's to do it, don't feel forced to do it if you don't want to do so xD

[nerajaana]

Asoiaf fandom be like: let's make fun of Arya and Jon for being snob while doing chores.

Meanwhile those two are the only Stark kids who have done labor in their lives and are okay with it. I dare to say that 95% of the rest POV characters would endlessly complain if they were in Arya and/or Jon's shoes.

#anti sansa stans #fandom nonsense

[nerajaana]

ASOIAF AU || As part of uniting Westeros in peace and happiness, Queen Daenerys I Targaryen arranged a series of marriages as her ancestors once did. One such match was between her nephew, Prince Aegon, and Arya Stark, the Queen in the North. In truth, the "arrangement" was in name only as an affection had grown between the pair as they fought beside each other during the Long Night. So it was that when their impending marriage was announced, their first babe was already on the way.

#arya stark #aegon vi targaryen #arya x aegon #asoiaf

[nerajaana]

If Arya was feeling cold, Jon Snow would burn Sansa Stark like kindling to keep her warm. Know that. 

#always relevant #jonsa #asoiaf fandom nonsense

[nerajaana]

I don’t think that’s how the dark trope works, and as for the rest…..what in the world

What are we even supposed to say about this

Like people say a bunch of shit about Jonryas and other shippers but I've literally never seen any of us imagine heinous shit like this

What the fuck is wrong with you

#this is blasphemy

[nerajaana]

"I love you, Father, so I shall spare us both the indignity of lying," Aemon stepped forward, watching Rhaegar closely. "It's Arya I wish to wed, not her sister. You may despise my choice. You may not give me your blessing, but it will happen."

He remembered the moment he truly knew, when the royal party visited the Starks. Arya, restless, raced off to the wolfswood with him giving chase. It was sealed when she told him the names of northern flowers, and in exchange he pointed out the beauty of the night sky. It was sealed further still when she made him promise to teach her swordplay. Aemon had half a mind to gift her a sword of her own to wield. She'd certainly like that.

He continued staring at his father, thinking of all the stories he told him as a boy. Of his fierce wife—if only for a brief time—the beloved she-wolf Lyanna Stark. The woman who snarled as she defended a crannogman from three assailants. The woman who enraged a king and won the heart of a prince.

What am I, Your Grace, if not your son?

#jonrya #Needleheart #fanfiction

[nerajaana]

I am a stark sisters enemies stan. I hope when they come head to head, arya doesn't forgive sansa for the way sansa has treated arya all her life, all the bullying and namecalling that made arya have self esteem issues, she doesn't deserve arya. I hope arya gives her the same enegy. And they never reconsile. I hope they fight to death. And arya winning of course. But i hope arya doesn't forgive sansa ever!

#yeas pls #arya stark #sansa stark

[nerajaana]

Jon Snow Appreciation Month 2022

Day 19: Mother

He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet, he dreamed of her…..

#lyanna stark #sr

[nerajaana]

all the perspectives of twilight

#today years old when i realised midnight sun has been released #wdym i no longer have to refer to the incomplete shoddy 13 chapter draft for laughs and cringe

[nerajaana]

Westeros knows them as...

Ironic that by ADWD, as far as Westeros is concerned, the two sisters are known as Ladies of two different Houses.

The plan was for Sansa to be used as the key to North. That failed. It was actually "Arya Stark" who was used to secure the North and it's now "Arya Stark" whom Northern banners are being raised to liberate Winterfell and rescue Ned Stark’s precious little girl.

~*~

"The bride weeps," Lady Dustin said, as they made their way down, step by careful step. "Our little Lady Arya." ... What do you think passes through their heads when they hear the new bride weeping? Valiant Ned's precious little girl." ...

"Lady Arya's sobs do us more harm than all of Lord Stannis's swords and spears."

~*~

This is the political atmosphere Arya will return to and why her direwolf is so important. After meeting Jeyne Poole in Braavos, Arya will return to Westeros with another name added to her list. Ramsay Bolton.

Sansa is up in the Vale, hiding as Alayne Stone while the rest of world sees her as Lady Lannister - missing & wanted for Regicide. It's gonna be kinda hard to get that annulment from the High Septon. Currently being mentored and moulded by one of the men who betrayed her family.

Again, how very ironic.

#arya stark #sansa stark #asoiaf

[nerajaana]

The most ridiculous aspect of all this 'it's just sisters being sisters' nonsense is that we actually do see an example of siblings being siblings with the other Stark kids.

The affection and concern for each other amongst the Stark brothers - Robb and Jon embracing each other fiercely in their parting goodbye, their care and concern for each other, Robb telling Bran they can visit Jon at the Wall, Jon nearly deserting the NW for Robb and Robb telling Catelyn - “You forget. My father had four sons.”

Are the 'this is just how sisters are' folks implying that the boys can be loving and affection brothers with each other while 'sisters being sisters' is just bullying, shaming one's appearance and nonconformity and not caring that their little sister has been literally attacked with a sword? How very sexist of them.

Jon and Robb have that complex and very human sibling bond, where when they were little children Robb hurts Jon with his words and now in their teens, Robb has a deeper empathy for Jon than anyone else.

There's a reason Arya felt really alone and missed her brothers while in King's Landing - that was where the real sibling love was.

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. She had no one left but Sansa, and Sansa wouldn't even talk to her unless Father made her. - Arya, AgoT

She went back to the window, Needle in hand, and looked down into the courtyard below. If only she could climb like Bran, she thought; she would go out the window and down the tower, run away from this horrible place, away from Sansa and Septa Mordane and Prince Joffrey, from all of them. Steal some food from the kitchens, take Needle and her good boots and a warm cloak. She could find Nymeria in the wild woods below the Trident, and together they'd return to Winterfell, or run to Jon on the Wall. She found herself wishing that Jon was here with her now. Then maybe she wouldn't feel so alone. - Arya, AGoT

So we do see siblings being siblings amongst the love the brothers have for each other and their love for their sisters, especially Jon's concern and love for Arya. Bran is concerned for Sansa's well being and Sansa is confident that Robb will win. This is all siblings being siblings - not bullying and throwing siblings into danger for selfish reasons.

So it's not that GRRM cannot write affectionate and complex sibling dynamics and siblings being siblings - he has done so with the rest of the Starks. It's just that the character of Sansa was created specifically to create that discord amongst the Starks and so we end up not getting a loving sisterly relationship between the Stark sisters like we do with the brothers.

Now one can criticize the author for choosing a female character to create that discord or for not writing in a strong sisterly female relationship like he did with Jon and Robb or Robb and Bran or even the beautiful brother/sister relationship we get with Jon and Arya.

That's perfectly legitimate to critique the narrative from a Doylist perspective and, if Sansa is one's favorite character, to call out GRRM for not giving Sansa the same sibling dynamics he has done for Arya, Jon and Bran.

What is not okay is to equate Sansa's treatment of her little sister Arya in AGoT as 'just sisters being sisters', or even more egregiously 'that's just how older sisters are' and attempting to normalize the bullying and mocking of one's appearance.

An elder sister is typically one of the most protective in a family, IMO and we see that in Arya's concerned thoughts about Bran and Rickon in Winterfell after she goes on the run and in how Bran clutches Arya's hand for protection when Robb/Jon prank the younger ones with a ghost.

We have Sansa's POV chapters and at no point is Sansa ever concerned for Arya the way Jon and Bran are concerned for their sisters in King's Landing in their POV - which is what siblings being siblings means in my books. Quite the opposite - Sansa victim blames Mycah and Arya for sadistic Joffrey's actions, throws Arya under the bus by telling Cersei that it's Arya who is the traitor and forgets to even ask where Arya is and what happened to her when things go south in KL.

AGoT Sansa is a rather shitty elder sister to have. However, Arya has loving brothers in Jon and Bran and I can't wait for her to reunite with characters who genuinely love her, want to protect her, look after her and have showed concern for her well being.

And wanting Arya to be with characters who have shown her that love and affection in the actual text of the books instead of a sister who bullied her and didn't care a bit for her is not sexism, no matter how much one attempts to gaslight the fandom with faux feminist nonsense.

#stark siblings #asoiaf

[nerajaana]

Just realised that it's Christmastime so it's Incesty Folger's Commercial Jonrya Days™️

#😂🤣😂 #needleheart