#gendry ff

[pixiecactus]

one of my favourites gendrya moments that got completely eviscerated by that awful show/hbo is this one:

“Child,” said the singer, “put up that sword, and we’ll take you to a safe place and get some food in that belly. There are wolves in these parts, and lions, and worse things. No place for a little girl to be wandering alone.” “She’s not alone.” Gendry rode out from behind the cottage wall, and behind him Hot Pie, leading her horse. In his chainmail shirt with a sword in his hand, Gendry looked almost a man grown, and dangerous. Hot Pie looked like Hot Pie. “Do like she says, and leave us be,” warned Gendry.

as someone who was reading the books around the time that got's third season was airing (at least in my country was in late 2013/early 2014), even as young as i was back then i could see that show!gendrya was devoid of their book dynamic that made me ship them in the first place. if i'm being honest the only show!gendrya moment i like, is when they first meet each other on season one and that's it.

book!gendry wanted them (arya and him) to leave their little group behind because the boy could see that the other children were dead weight, he's harsh about it but it's true, and when he brought it up to arya, a girl who cares so deeply about the people around her and their suffering, they obviously have a disagreement, this gets burried by the moment that arya decides to trust gendry with her identity, because "only gendry was different" and because the queen was after him too.

i derailed my train of thought a little bit (sorry that happens a lot in my posts), but what i was meant to be writing is that, even when he was opposed to the idea, gendry protected and nurtured this group of little kids, all while being a kid himself, exactly like arya did.

book!arya stark's passing presence in book!gendry's life, changed him, for the better i may say. but i'm a book!gendrya shipper, so my opinion is obviously biased. book!gendry is devotedly loyal to arya, so much that we actually see him, going from a figure that dislikes and distrusts nobility, that helps arya realize that northern/tully men commit awful crimes against the smallfolk too, to a child soldier helping in a quest for revenge for the treason commited against the starks in the riverlands. and i'm not even going to dabble in the "look at my boy, he's taking care of orphaned children now" once again.

show!arya stark's passing presence in show!gendry's life ain't worth shit. and it infuriates me so much. they made show!gendry a soft boi, with an immense "lacking a backbone" problem. i can resume show!gendrya relationship into: "two people that met as children (even when clearly 25 year old joe dempsie couldn't pass as a 16 year old boy), little girl had a crush in the older boy, i guess you can say older boy broke little girl's heart (referring to the "i can be your family" scene), then a lot of years pass between then, not even acknowledging that they knew each other once in that time, and they meet again, older boy who is a man now gets a "wow, she's hot now" moment and they are now both sexually attracted to each other (yay! ig...) but of course little girl, who is a woman now, is a wickedly threatening force and a murderer, and man is such a nice guy that people think he could do a lot better. they fuck. man makes a godamn awful marriage proposal to woman, but she's too far gone to even contemplate the idea, and to even let herself recover from the trauma she has endured. and woman breaks man's heart"

if that's your thing and you ship show!gendrya, more power to you. it's not a bad thing at all, it's just so lackluster to me in comparison, even when book!gendrya hasn't taken a turn forward in the romantic direction yet. and to be honest, even i have to say that the actors did a great job portraying a romantic couple even with the awful writing in the show, but for me show!gendrya lacks a deeper connection between them, and i'm not even bothered over the fact that they didn't end up together

rip book!gendry, you would have hated class traitor show!gendry so much

ps: i think this need to be said in an environment as tumblr but i'm not hating at all joe dempsie and his gendry's performance, he's just an actor doing his job, he's just being told what to do.

[jackoshadows]

The problem with the fandom is that they seem to think ruling is a reward for suffering/kindness/beauty. ASOIAF is not a fairy tale. There’s no such thing as “and they ruled wisely for a thousand years”. Rulers put the needs of the people above their own and make a bunch of morally grey and difficult choices. Daenerys knows this and she suffered a lot. Right now she’s starving and hallucinating and about to be kidnapped. Jon Snow knew this and he paid the price and lost his life. Stannis knows this and he’s starving and freezing his ass to fight till the very end. Hells, Arya knew this when she decided to flee Harrenhal leading Hot Pie and Gendry, having to kill a guard and put her life in danger, she was chased by the Bloody Mummers ffs. But somehow ruling the North during a war against a destructive force of nature is possible through courtesies, petty court intrigues and organising pretty tournaments. No, ruling is hard. It requires knowledge about the land, about it’s people, about battle strategy, about negotiating, about stocking food, about death sentences, all of that under the most severe climate conditions. What abilities the most compassionate character and embodiment of hope for the future has to rule Winterfell during the long night?

[sixstepsaway]

I keep thinking about the TV ASOIAF adaptations lately, specifically about the fact there's a demonstration within of how people, even TV writers themselves, are fundamentally misunderstanding fiction these days.

In reality, monarchy isn't good, actually. People, especially in America which has been free of monarchy for a hot second (can't relate 😔), mostly agree that a monarchy is a bad thing. There is some nuance to it (and some cultural differences and such), and I'm not going to delve into the nuance of that rn, but go on the basis that a good majority of the people TV writers in America are writing for are not pro-monarchy. I know there are exceptions, there will always be exceptions, but America is a [consults smudged writing on hand] democracy, I think this says? And that directly affects how people think about systems of power and government. Ergo; monarchy bad.

In fiction, it's been the case for as long as there have been novels that people love to root for a presiding ruler. We love watching Peter, Susan, Eustice and Lucy ascend to the throne, we love debating who should sit on the Iron Throne at the end of ASOIAF, we love watching people fight wars for the right to rule, we love watching people fight and strive to reclaim their lost right to a throne. We enjoy that shit, much like we enjoy watching enemies fall in love or twisted tales play out in our hands or on our screens. We don't want those things in reality, we wouldn't want to turn on the news and hear how someone fell in love with the guy who broke into their house and tried to kill them, kidnapped them for a month and then let them go, just for them to hunt him down and make him marry them to get back at their mafia father for-- Look, I got off track. The point is, we wouldn't see that on the news or hear a friend talk about it as their experience and feel good about it, but in fiction it's exciting, a fantasy to explore.

When Game of Thrones ended, I was baffled by the in-show conversation that led to Bran being crowned. Sam suggesting democracy felt odd, but I could see it, I supposed, but them deciding on a ruler rather than putting Jon on the throne, or Gendry ffs, felt hamfisted and strange.

We watched eight seasons of a show called Game of Thrones, just to watch them toss the board at the end and say, "The whole game is bad, actually! Why aren't you reading a book instead of playing this?" and then shove someone on the throne anyway which was really weird and yeah.

I see similar sentiments with House of the Dragon. The writers seem to be writing under the baffling assumption that we're all in agreement that Monarchy Is Bad Really, so no one is right to be trying to sit on the throne or reclaim their birthright, because they're all bad for wanting to rule. The arguments that the Greens have just as much right to the throne as the Blacks is baffling considering Rhaenyra is the heir and the Greens are usurping (and they know it - else they would have simply contacted Rhaenyra and said, "Viserys has changed the plan, so we're going to crown Aegon as is his wishes. Come to King's Landing to participate" rather than sneak around and lock people up. They know they're committing treason), as is the argument that everyone is equally bad actually.

I genuinely think it comes from a place of deep misunderstanding, where they (the writers, mostly, but I also mean a good chunk of the fandom) misunderstand the draw of a fantasy like ASOIAF is partially rooting for someone to sit on the throne and rule. We're not watching fantasy with kings and queens and dragons and all of that so that the main characters can pat us on the head and say, "Monarchy is bad, actually, so we will instill a system of government based on votes and democracy, and you were silly to want your favorite to sit on the Iron Throne."

I dunno, these thoughts are a little disjointed, but I've just noticed how people approach these things and it feels like a combination of forgetting fantasy =/= reality (like many in fandoms these days, ugh) and also failing to comprehend that what we like and enjoy in fiction is not what we want in the real world. We don't watch horror because we want to see teenagers eviscerated, we watch horror because it's a fun fictional fantasy to explore for a variety of reasons.

I just have noticed this trend and I wanted to verbalize it. It started with sex stuff (if you read about incest or non-con or abusive or toxic dynamics you must support it irl and that makes you bad) and now it's slowly worming its way into other facets as well.

I have a sinking feeling that's one of the reasons why GoT ended the way it did, with a weird little gotcha that Incest Is Bad, Actually. I've thought that for a while because of how they reunited Jaime and Cersei just for them to die together as incestuous lovers, and then had Jon kill his incestuous lover. I wonder if that has something to do with the reframing of Daemon as an abuser and wife killer (something he did not do in the books), as though they feel they have to reinforce that it's bad, and Rhaenyra should be punished for seeking out such a thing.

I don't know. I'm going to stop typing now. Like I say, it's just thoughts.

[mustardmusketeer]

NOMAD GENDRYA AU

Two homeless orphans are taken in by a trailer park community in the Dornish Marches. Their guardians – an eccentric couple with idealistic views about their mobile lifestyle – raise Arya and Gendry to seek freedom, love and nature. Gendry knows all about cars, Arya is an exceptional driver, so it’s a perfect match. They grow into adulthood dreaming about taking the road with their own RV, but, once they make it, the harsh realities of a country torn apart by inequality and unemployment slap them in the face, and the dream quickly becomes a gloomy horizon. At least they have each other and their definitely not familial feelings.

[alchemistc]

by daybreak we’ll be gone - post series gendry fic

an: @nowforruin made me do it. She literally held me at knifepoint and threatened my life.

Not really but she encouraged this and she helped shape it and at the end of the day who is at fault more, the enabler or the writer?

He glances up at the sound of footfalls - the gentle scrape of the King’s heal against the gravel at their feet, the quiet brush of his cloak as it settledsin around him.

The look he shares with Jon Snow encompasses so much more than Gendry wants it to. 

This world isn’t for them any more. They’ve fought their fight, and lived to tell the tale. It’s all there is for them, any more. A world to rebuild, a country to run, a generation of children to raise on stories of great battles and victories, of heavy losses, of those who died to save a realm neither of them is sure deserved saving. Of a winter that seemed never to end, that swallowed the warmth of the world whole and spit out remnants of men, bits of pieces of flesh and bone and life stolen in it’s jaws never to be returned.

He moves to bend the knee, his head dipping low, and Jon makes a noise, low in his throat, a disapproving noise that reminds him so much of Arya it steals his breath.

The crypts are silent, save for their breathing. They’re far enough below not to hear the sound of the work being done above, a castle reforged from the ground up, new stone and new halls and new memories to be made by people who are not them.

“It’s good she’s here,” Gendry finally manages, his voice firm, even where it should shake, where his hands should tremble and the world should open up and swallow him whole.

The crypts were the only part of Winterfell that survived the Battle for the Dawn, and Gendry thinks it fitting. Memories of that old world should stay below the ground, far below, where they could not haunt this new world they’ve been left behind to make.

“It’s where she belongs.”

There’d been no bones to gather, no body to bury. She’d been alive, brilliant and bold and beautiful, dancing through her enemies, and then she’d been gone.

Jon’s hand shakes as it reaches out, gloved hand sliding over the thin sword held between delicately carved fingers. Too delicate, everything about the stone statue is too delicate for the fearsome beast of a woman it was meant to capture, but Gendry supposed that was the way of things. Memories could be wiped clean, people lost could be built up or torn down to please whatever audience would listen. She is, at least, not demure - standing proud and sure with a weapon in each hand, at least in that they got her right.

“She’d fuckin’ hate this damn thing,” Jon says, and it startles a laugh out of Gendry. 

“Nose is all wrong,” Gendry agrees, and Jon stutters out a laugh of his own. 

They stand there for a while, low, quiet guffaws escaping them every once in a while as they find some new flaw in it, each new observation causing Gendry’s throat to tighten, until they eventually drift into silence, the candlelight flickering around them.

“She wanted me to be her family,” Gendry admits into the silence, swallowing back the lump in his throat. He is unsurprised when Jon’s hand grasps at his shoulder, the force of it light but the meaning behind it nearly enough to buckle his knees. “I just wanted to be worthy of it.”

Outside in the cool air they breathe deep, the King in his heavy furs, Gendry in the boiled leather armor he’s taken to like a second skin. He hasn’t taken it off - though there are no more battles to be fought, though he hopes to never pick up another weapon he is not forging, the battle sits in him still, and so he keeps his northern armor and he continues to pick up the accent of the north without really meaning to. 

“Sansa tells me you’ve been working on a new sword.” 

It’s the only weapon he’s worked on since the sun rose over the horizon all those months ago. There’s been so many other things to do. He’s spent his time turning steel weapons into tools for building, into crowns and sigils and armor for the new Kingsguard, into nails to mend bridges and build homes. If he never saw another sword he’d be happy for it, save this one.

“Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth asked me to forge it,” he tells Jon, and Jon swallows heavily. They’d lost Jaime and Brienne both, but their stories were favored by those who remained to listen. Jon must know what he means by it though. They’d all known how Widow’s Wail and Oathkeeper had been created. 

He’d never be able to remake Ice. That hadn’t been the intent, not really. He’d witnessed the destruction of the Starks, watched them picked off, one by one, watched their legacy destroyed, and now all that was left was the crumbling stones of a broken castle and the steel back of Lady Sansa. 

He couldn’t make the Starks whole again, but at least he could give Jon and his cousin something to remember them.

“Never worked Valyrian steel before, but it ain’t that different, in the end.”

It’s all the same, at the end of the day. Weapons or tools or fancy jewelry fit for royalty, it all comes together the same way. 

“Gendry, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you’ve sold yourself short. You’re the best smith in the Seven Kingdoms.”

“Aye.” He’s pleased when the King doesn’t seem to notice the very near mimicry of his own voice. “Made you enough fucking weapons in the last few years to arm the entire kingdom.”

Jon is quiet for a moment, as they stare out across the yard. On the far side of it is one of the only completed buildings, and just outside the forge stands Sansa, watching them both carefully as a silver-haired babe clutches at the furs around her neck. 

“It might very well be your last,” Jon tells him, and though Gendry wants to protest, he knows it’s true. There is a realm to rebuild, and the child in Lady Sansa’s arms is only the first of many that will be born in this new world.

She’s beautiful, Lady Sansa is, just like Arya had said - and it hurts to think that he should cast aside the memory of the fierce little wolf who’d captured his attention all those years ago.

But Sansa had made an excellent point, when she’d brought forth the idea of a marriage between the old houses. 

They shuffle into the forge without a word, and it’s not at all what Gendry wanted - he’d wanted to present the sword at the coronation, bend the knee to the King, his brother, his friend, no matter the enmity that had existed in the past. 

It’s better this way. Just the three of them, standing in the forge as Gendry unrolls the sword from the moth eaten canvas he’s covered it in.

He’d never seen Ice, never known the heft of it or the shape of the pommel, never felt the hilt of it beneath his palm, but Jon draws in a sharp breath as it is unveiled, and Lady Stark swallows as the babe held to her heart murmurs in her sleep.

“It’s beautiful,” she manages, a gloved hand reaching toward it, leather sliding over the etchings along the middle of it. 

“It’s heavy,” is all Gendry can think of in reply, and a corner of her mouth tics up in amusement. 

It’s all that’s left. Here in this room - Lady Stark of Winterfell, King Jon, and this sword, thats all there is anymore. Winterfell is gone, and almost all who remembered it gone too. It’s just memories now - the ones Sansa and Jon whisper in the firelight, the ones Gendry shares after enough cups of ale, the memories he’d poured back into the steel as he reforged the last living legacy of the Starks.

“Doubt it’ll be comfortable to wear on that fine throne of yours,” Gendry tells Jon, thinking of the way the Iron Throne had looked as they’d melted it down, piece by piece, until it was nothing more than molten steel ready to be made into farming tools and nails, thinking of the simple wooden chair that had gone up in it’s place. Jon glances up him before turning his gaze to Sansa. She gives a terse nod, as though answering a question in her cousins eyes.

“I’ve already got a sword. This one - it’s meant to stay in Winterfell. In the North.”

Confusion must settle in his gaze, for Jon catches his eye. “It’s why I came. I’m naming you Warden of the North.”

“Your Grace, I can’t accept -.”

“You can, and you will.”

“It should be Sansa.”

None of them remark on the fact that he’s forgotten to use her title. It’s new, this strange friendship that has grown between Lady Stark and himself, and it makes a strategic kind of sense. He’s caught himself more than once wanting to call her milady, just to see if her ire might rise at it - and it does, but perhaps not for the same reason it had her sister.

“I have quite enough to do at the moment, Ser. You’ll accept your King’s gifts and be happy for it.”

“Yes, m’lady.” 

There’s plenty more to protest - the King seems to have implied that the sword stays with the Warden, and he feels every bit the idiot boy Arya had always told him he was as Sansa rolls her eyes. 

“And you’ll have to stop calling me that.”

“Aye, m’lady.” He says it with a cheeky grin, and she huffs, turning up her nose like a proper lady should, but there’s mirth in her eyes, and he feels a pang in his chest, aches for a fist at his arm, a fiery blaze of anger. All he gets is a curl of rosy lip and an annoyed tilt of chin, in a face too narrow, in eyes the wrong shade. 

“You’ll need a name for it,” Jon tells him, reaching towards Sansa as the baby starts to fuss. Gendry’s never seen a man so intent on carting around a child as Jon Snow seems to be, but he can’t really blame him. He’d lost the same thing Jon had lost on the battlefield, but all Gendry has left to hold on to is dusty memories and a woman he’ll never feel as much for as he had her sister.

Gendry runs his finger along the blade, glances between his Lady and his King. “Don’t suppose Needle really fits.”

The baby takes that moment to let out a wail, and even muffled against Jon’s furs it’s loud enough to startle them all. 

“Not Needle then.” He tells the crying bundle softly, and the heir to the Seven Kingdoms curls her hand into a fist and yanks hard on her father’s beard, seemingly satisfied by the grunt of pain it elicits.

“I think M’lady might do quite well,” Sansa tells him, her hand hovering close to his but never quite reaching out, and despite himself, despite the hundreds of reasons he has to brood and frown and curse the world, he finds himself bursting into laughter, grinning ear to ear while the usually cool and collected Lady Stark smiles back at him. 

There aren’t many reasons any of them can find to smile these days. The King has made him a Baratheon now that the name means next to nothing, and they’ve all lost more than they can ever reclaim in the time left to them. But new walls they have left to build, new steel to forge, new life to bring into this world, new mistakes to be made. Those that are gone are not lost to them, and in time the pain of their memory might fade. 

He can’t forget. Won’t forget. He doesn’t have it in him. This world isn’t for him, but he can make something of it for those who will come after him. And when it’s done and he’s gone, when all of them are nothing more than bone and memory, in the stories they tell, he hopes he’s worthy of being a part of it.

[thescarletgarden1990]

In the Midnight Hour - Chapter 28: Ready or Not

Moodboard by @justwandering-neverlost​

It was mornings as peaceful as the following one, that Arya desperately needed in her life. Being a Sunday, Gendry had her promise the night before that she would spend the morning with him, for once not worrying about her studies. It had irked her at first, but now she was glad he had insisted.

There would be no alarm sounding today. She woke up to the soft rhythmic stroke of Gendry’s fingers on her bare back, as she lie on her stomach on the bed. She didn’t open her eyes, relishing in the soothing sensation. Every few minutes, he would take his hand away from her skin briefly, as she could hear the flutter of pages before he would resume his caresses. It was so peaceful, the light morning breeze filtering through the open window, the birds chirping in the distance, the peace of being with him.

When she was with Gendry, Arya could let her walls down. She could just be, without worrying of being vulnerable, without worrying of what he would think of her, because he saw her for what she was. 

Sighing contentedly, she rolled on her back, facing Gendry and fluttering her eyes open. His hand moved softly on her breast instead, a smile on his face. “Good morning,” he murmured. He shut the book he was reading, setting it on the nightstand before he bent over her, placing a loving kiss on her lips.

[bigdaddib]

Some Arya Stark doodles to advertise my hunger games au gendrya fic! The first five chapters are up if you're interested 😁

[forget-me-not-s]

Who's writing this Gendrya AU?!

[anxious-acushla]

𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓘𝓷 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 by @foxxandbeanz

Gendry has been hiding in plain sight for three years. Smithing. Biding his time. Alone. Someone is about to find him and set him on a new path to familiar faces *or* Gendry finds out Arya is alive and they start a new journey together.

“𝙰𝚛𝚢𝚊 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙.”

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚢 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜. “𝙰𝚛𝚢𝚊 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍.”

“𝚂𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚝.”

𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗. 𝙶𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍. 𝚁𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚗. 𝙸𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖, 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙰𝚛𝚢𝚊’𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙. “𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚜. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜.”

“𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 . . . 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚜.”

“𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝,” 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. “𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚜? 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚐, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑? 𝙷𝚘𝚠’𝚖 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛?”

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚂𝚑𝚎’𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍.”

“𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎’𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛?” 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛.

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕.”

[thereideffects]

I love that despite all the disagreements about game of thrones couples, in fan fiction there will always be Gendrya

[tigereyes45]

oooh, these prompte are all amazing! 17. "where are you?" for Gendrya maybe? 😊

So I took this suggestion and ran with it haha! Thank you Welt! For anyone else wondering the post with prompts can be found here: https://tigereyes45.tumblr.com/post/624649204488355840 The story goes along with ASoIaF more so than the show.

                                _____________________________

Pain blossoms from his side. Gendry frowns as the Lannister soldier. It's feels deep, and endless like water running down a waterfall. Thoughts racing a million miles a minute. His body first freezes up. It's not terror that grips him, but a deep, unsettling desperation. As the soldier pushes his broadsword further into his side. Fervently his mind insists this isn't enough for a killing blow. Plenty of people survive a wound like this. It's reasonable to keep fighting. If he could just push him back then the fight could be won.

The light leather armor over his side starts to fracture around the blade. It breaks inward, pushing into the wound. Pain that feels like a thousand needles break through his flesh. Gendry tightens his grip around the hilt of his long sword. For once the leather feels soft. It rubs against his sweaty hands, fitting naturally. This time it feels natural within his grasp. All the clunky movements and uncomfortable swings were lost to the past as he prepares himself.

"Where is she?" There's screams from his left. A gaggle of Lannister soldiers dash towards past. To them he was just a dying man already on the ground. The victor probably appeared to be taking his time. Did all fighters just assume their companions were this sadistic? From the news the Boltons were. With rumors came many warnings about the flailing assholes.

And with those rumors came fear. Fear for the woman Arya was being forced to become. His eyes look towards the sky. She had once told him a secret.

"Where are you now?" Suddenly his thoughts change altogether. All now aimed at the young Stark he used to know. Was she crying right now? Walking through the Godswood she played in as a child? Were her parents watching over her from their places besides their gods? Would he be meeting them in the what comes next? Maybe not her mother. The silent, vengeful woman was still breathing. Instead of Beric she now leads this barely put together force. What would Arya think? He can imagine her smile. The pure bliss in her face from the knowledge that the mother she butt heads with so much, was still alive. That, at least not yet, she wasn't a complete orphan. Not yet. Maybe that would be enough to quell the fear the sight of Lady Stoneheart would strike into her heart. If anyone could overcome such a thing, it'd be her. Powerful, bright, brilliant Arya.

The Lannisters' man says nothing as he pulls his sword out. It scraps, and drags Gendry's flesh. A whole new bout of blood pouring out. If his armor wasn't going to be stained before, it definitely would be now. The brotherhood weren't going to be happy about this. Good news for them was rare. Losing their blacksmith was just another blow in a long series of ones against their cause.

As soon as his flesh was free from the steel, Gendry takes his chance. Without overthinking it, he attacks. The soldier falls back. His red helmet falling off from the sudden jerk.

'Sideways. Smaller target.' Her voice fills his mind. Fragments of words he knows she's said. 'Quickly. Attack!' Panic, where he was calm. Maybe he was projecting all the fear he felt into the imaginary Arya he conjured in his mind. A coach, a goal, a twisted version of what he had known, and what he fears she has become. She had eyes grey like steel. Just as cold and distant too. Those eyes look back at him from the flat of his sword. A glint, in the corner. Narrowed, and damning as they cut through the man's neck. They're gone just as quickly as they were there. Metal sticks in bone with a sickening crunch.

Brutally, Gendry pulls the sword free. He jerks it towards him, the sharp edge sliding against the neck bone it had gotten stuck in. Blood sprays all over his face. It covers his clothes as the man falls to his knees. Their positions now reversed, in a way of irony he did not focus on. The man should've stood sideways. If he had maybe then the blow wouldn't have been a killing one.

As the brotherhood rallies on the field, Gendry looks towards the woods. The place where Lady Stoneheart remain, hidden. Wherever Arya was he knows what he has to do. The tip of the sword drags along the ground. It draws a line in the field between him and the skirmish. A line between everything the brotherhood had given and cost him.

'I'm going home!' The memory announces stubbornly, and of course he believes it. No Gendry didn't want to work for a lord forever. He didn't want to see Arya everyday just to know he was always going to lose her. Staying had been his act of defiance against the fate, the world had in store for them. He had hoped she would find her family. That against all the odds she would return home and get to live the way she wanted.

But a lord's daughter has even less agency then a poor, blacksmith boy.

'Where are you?'

One near death experience was enough. It was time to put an end to his fears, and all the doubts. To the nightmares, and the grand tortures his mind made up in place of what the rumors won't tell. He was done seeing her crying in his mind's eye.

"On the way," the young bastard promises as he returns to the fray.

[pixiecactus]

if anyone wonders if my posts are exactly my thoughts translated in written form, the answer is: yeah.

most of the time i have something i consider a partly decent thought and i decide to write it almost immediately because the longer i take in doing it, the faster i forget about it.

so colour me surprised when i saw this post in my drafts today, i really want to write a gendrya fic and bwb aus are my favourites, so i guess this is me trying to have an outline for it, but it's been so long that i don't have any idea of what i was going about here lmao.

[comment-exchange]

126. a string that ties to you (Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire)

Title: a string that ties to you

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515808

Platform: AO3/Tumblr

Creator: tinytendril 

Work Type: Fanfic

Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire

Rating: G to E (Dependent of the drabble/one shot)

Pairing: Robb Stark/Margaery Tyrell, Theon Greyjoy/Sansa Stark, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Jon Snow/Ygritte

Word Count: 9324 (Between 2000+-5000+ per chapter)

Warnings: Smut, Language (Dependent of the drabble/one shot)

Number of comments: 4 (now >15)

Completion Status: In Progress

[geraltcirilla]

One of my biggest issues with season 8 is that it was so rushed that many scenes of important character dialogue and reflection had to be cut. Therefore I’ve complied a list of canon-compliant cut-scenes or outright fix-its for various episodes. The scenes we deserved to see but were robbed of.

** Last Updated 6/1/19 **

7x06

A Long Time, Indeed by The_RedQueen_Supremacy

The Million And One Ways Arya Could (Should) Have Been Mentioned by SecondFromTheRight

7x07

By Your Side by sanctuary_for_all

My Lady by sanctuary_for_all

The Blacksmith's Assassin by Caenea

Winter Is Here by faithisbrokenn

Winter's Song by GaboBlue1004

8x01

This is my wish by crazychipmunk

A Portentous Reunion? by LME

arrival by Val_Creative

8x02

And Have Only Memories On Which To Depend by bethgreenesgf

looking up for heaven (waiting to be buried) by akingdomofunicorns

hold me in this wild, wild world by akingdomofunicorns

Today by SecondFromTheRight

The Wolf and the Stag by AGirlHas_NoOne

a steady place to lay down my defenses (loving you had consequences) by mariposaroja

You Belong to Me by therearenousernameleft

what little time we have left by aryasreys

8x03

The Power in a Name by Youmightdietrying

the aches that linger afterwards by madeofstarsandfanfics

Beneath The Weirwood by SecondFromTheRight

In The Dark by SecondFromTheRight

So Be With Me by Slytherin_Princess_Nysa

These Cold Stones Keep Our Stories by Fireway

This isn't Goodbye by crtkelly_writes

8x04

Somewhere Between, The Truth Lies by thotiana

Let the Good Things Last by Milaley

Before the Weirwood by ariannenymerosmartell (somethingmoo)

She Loved Him And He Loved Her by SecondFromTheRight

You'd Be My Lady by Opal_Butterfly

The World is Yours and Mine by stagaawolf

Your Equal by AmberStripez

If you're not with me by cassiemortmain

No Parting Glances by balios_and_xanthos

Not a fighter by sadplant

8x05

Make Our Own Way by Journalist298

hellscape by julesmpm

the fury by nymja

Somewhere I Have Never Traveled by thesunflowermachine

A Crown Of Golden Leaves by maize_onice

tremble by julesmpm

A Change of Heart by elbell3618

hallowed, but hesitated by PleaseDontGetMeRescued

And Indeed There Will Be Time by FrostedGemstones22

what happened in winterfell by imnotalady

Life or Death by alovelikeher

8x05 - Arya Leaves King’s Landing and Heads to Storm’s End

Choosing by HeavenlyDisaster

Lord and Lady of Storm's End by klarolinedrabbles

Fated Reunions by ronny_of_yore

And Arya Stark Chose to Live by Purple_Slippers_18

A Compromise by tabbytabbytabby

never leave well enough alone by charleybradburies

hellscape by julesmpm

The Beginning Of Hope by itsinthestars

The Many-Faced God Answers None by irishwoodkern

winters fall, storms end by ADaftMyriad

8x06 - The Dragon Pit Scene

Instinct. Habit. by SecondFromTheRight

Be With Me, Forest Love by capricopia3

Ends The Same Way by SecondFromTheRight

Honor by MeltedFlames

the way she shows me i'm hers, and she is mine by aliensroutthere

She Chose Life by WordsDontMeanShit

Make Our Own Way by Journalist298

8x06 - Goodbye Scene

Sailing Away by tabbytabbytabby

The Long Way Around by SecondFromTheRight

The Bad Kind by trufaxx

Dockside Romance by ronny_of_yore

by my side (you'll never be) by laultimastark

Treats You Kind by freelancejouster

i can't arrest the sun (but i am trying) by yanak324

Stupid Bull by pollyweaster

time and tide (will set her free) by purplemechanics

That's not me by StrangelyInnocent

all of our aching by olivemartini

Holding On and Letting Go by Swan

if i could do it all again (i know i'd go back to you) by miladys

the sun was shining on the sea by woodswanderer

With Me by LynyrdLionheart

8x06 - Gendry’s on the Ship

anywhere she goes by charleybradburies

Sun Chaser by wildechilde17

Sneaking by MissIves

Starlight by benofie

Sea Sick by thestarkbitchtumblr

when you move, i move by natalia17

when I'm with you by sunflowerjohnny

Love is the Ocean with You by crossingwinter

Sail the Western Waters by VarjoRuusu

To The End of The Earth by Crumpets

Post Season 8 - Reunion

Somewhere in the Middle by sneetchstar

been waiting for you by stilinskitrash

The Longer the Waiting by CravingHoneydukes

Time to face the Bull by RoziCanuti

Home of Our Making by missmissa85

Hello, my love. by catbug45

Westward to More by rowetheboat

going home by ellcxm6

Redemption by LME

The long way Round by Syrse

Are You Nobody Too? by whowhatsitwhich

i'd catch you if you fall by hollyhobbit101

How To Be Us by Violet_Eyes_and_Candlelight

To Temper Steel by NRGburst

Birds of a feather, wolves who run together by wmthackeray

The East Winds Whispered Your Name by Fireway

a cry at the final breath that is drawn by actualbluesargent

No Walls by HeavenlyDisaster

how can anybody have you and lose you (and not lose their minds, too)? by lavenderflower

letters he cannot read by youheldyourbreath

when everything is made to be broken (i just want you to know who i am) by rosemargaerys

Shifting Tides by elbell3618

the time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things by woodswanderer

what the sea gives (it can take away) by NaomiGnome

The sea that calls you home by cassiopiea

we have begun to heal by olivemartini

At Storm's End by 5hines_writes

our hearts buried deep by Val_Creative

Surprises come in all shapes and sizes by Koolnitchbitch

Come Back to Me and Say My Land Is Best by Draco_sollicitus

The Pack Survives by freyjaschariot

Exhale by elleisforlovee

Home by questioningconstellations

West of Westeros by MadamPuddifoot

A Featherbed Fit For Me by ASwornStark

Love Can Kill by PrincessAmericaChavez

Winters End by mssarahx

A Soft Epilogue by BeStillMySlashyHeart

And it's been a while (but I still feel the same) by sanstarcks

Lady's Bane by benofie

Vindication by MeltedFlames

What lies in Westeros by helgaslifehacks

Like Rations and Taxes (and Forks) by joinedunderprotest

Hello, Love by Slytherin_Princess_Nysa

lady of my heart. by AlwaysInSonder

Post Season 8 - Future Fic: Established Relationship

forest love and forest lass by desolatemind

Little Dreams of Spring by jeeno2

But First, We’ll Live by miladyaryastark

took me home by nymja

storms by AtLoLevad

Post Season 8 - Reflective

Eyes closed by Marial1_K

[goldcloaksbitch]

Nobody:

Me, at any given time: ... AND THEN THEY BOTH CHUCKLED!!

[malyen0retsev]

can u believe we could have got a scenario the scenario we deserved tbh of sansa and theon ruling the north together, and arya and gendry ruling the east together; both stark girls married to people they genuinely love, who care about them, who view them as equals, who love them for who they are, not despite it

but instead we got this faux-feminism thing where both women ended up alone and isolated bc apparently you can’t marry someone you love and also represent being a strong, female leader. you can’t have both those things guys, even if it makes absolute sense to have both!

and don’t get me started on how for theon, living would have been the ultimate end to his arc of pain and torture because i will start to cry