#in actuality her beauty is likely a major factor in her being romanticized in text by Robert and Ned

[fromtheseventhhell]

hi! I’m a new fan of asoiaf (and Arya obvi lol) and I love ur blog <3 there’s a popularish post on this site that basically talks abt how the comparison between Arya and Lyanna is meant to convey that they were both tomboys and not that Arya is actually really pretty and I generally agree bc obviously yeah but it seemed kinda weird that like so many of the ppl reblogging that post were like either huge Sansa stans or were hellbent on telling others that Arya is NOT pretty which… I feel like is also missing the point?? Idk if you know which post I’m referring to, but either way I was wondering if that’s like a general fandom opinion that Arya is meant to be this conventionally unattractive person that doesn’t have looks really tied to their stories (kinda like Brienne)? Or if this is just something you’d see on tumblr cause I’ve heard the fandom here is a bit different than on like Reddit or twitter

I can take a guess at which post you're referencing and yes, it is a generally accepted idea that Arya isn't meant to be pretty. I don't think that's specific to Tumblr either, I've seen people on tiktok/reddit/twitter/etc. argue the same. While I do think there's a point to be made about Lyanna's memory being romanticized, I disagree that the conclusion should be that Lyanna and Arya aren't meant to be pretty. The idea that personality and looks aren't dependent on each other seems to be a difficult one for this fandom to grasp, so they treat Lyanna being pretty and her being a tomboy as mutually exclusive when they can (and do) coexist. There would be no point in Arya and Lyanna being referenced as pretty as many times as they are (several times for each of them) if that wasn't the case. "Missing the point" is a great way of describing it because this take is dependent on ignoring what's written in the books. As usual, I think this links back to fandom's inability to comprehend female characters that don't neatly fit into flat archetypes and their placing value on beauty and not wanting said value associated with the wrong "type" of characters. Arya and Lyanna being pretty and wild/non-conforming seems to be a little bit beyond fandom's processing capabilities.

[fcntasmas-archive]

hi

hi babe!!! so i could have given you my old boring generic answer, but there is no one who feels stronger about gryffindor!even than @ravenclawisak​ so i asked her to give you the run-down because no one will ever make a more convincing argument. so, to quote her exactly, here are the reasons why even is a gryffindor, according to the beautiful and talented rachel (remember these are literally direct quotes so the “me” being referenced here is actually her):

the things that made it a gut instinct have to do mostly with certain, select moments where i was just like. floored watching

like when he showed up at isak’s place at the end of 3.07 literally two minutes after isak sent that text

he had no idea what mood he’d find isak in–all signs actually pointed to isak being in a bad/closed off mood, given the content and tone of his messages 

but even still was like “shit this is my last chance” and jumped to take it

and that’s part of a pattern of bold behavior for him, at least when it comes to his pursuit of isak throughout the first half of s3

like consistently, once he started getting opportunities and signs that maybe isak could be interested in him too, he jumped right on those and pressed ahead and ahead to see what they could become

so a lot of the major steps taken in building their relationship–the flirting, the hanging out, the almost kiss in the kitchen, the kiss in the pool, the convo about becoming bfs–those are taken consistently by even

which isn’t to say that like, isak isn’t brave or bold or is cowardly for not being as forward, bc obvs he’s in a different place with himself and his experience with relationships and knowing his sexual attractions than even is, and that factors into why he’s kind of playing wait-and-see for a lot of the beginning

but i think it’s also an arguable difference in how they approach and solve problems: isak waits to gather more information and weigh what he wants to do before he makes a choice, but even is more inclined to take risks, make leaps once he gets that slightest sign to go, even if there’s no accompanying sign that there will be steady ground for him to land on

and sometimes that burns him really bad, but it doesn’t stop him from doing it

and that feels v gryffindor to me

and then okay this next part is going to get less concrete in the sense of things we’ve seen him do canonically and more abstract in the sense of how do i interpret and extrapolate things about even from what we’re shown

but gryffindor to me is the most Romantic house, or at least the house full of the biggest Romantics, in that they still believe in romanticized and idealized notions of like, a ruling moral code, grand gestures of good faith, the core principles of chivalry, the idea that what is good and right will ultimately win out bc it is good and right

and for even we defs see him as a romantic, like with baz being his fave director and what that suggests about the kinds of stories he emotionally connects to the most, and then with the ways (consciously or sub) he tried to work those narrative cues into the foundation of his and isak’s relationship, as if that would help elevate whatever they built between them to those same sweeping, lofty, epic proportions

he’s not what i’d call a hopeless romantic bc he doesn’t seem to believe that like, love will always win out in the end–actually the opposite. but even if he seems more inclined to believe that reality won’t work out like a movie, he still also has this conflicting hope that he’ll be proved wrong about that, by himself or the course of his own life or someone else sweeping in or whatever

it’s a v conflicted and self-doubting kind of romanticism, but it’s still a romanticism that roots itself in the bold actions of individuals: someone takes action and fate/circumstance overpowers them and makes them into a beautifully tragic figure, or someone takes action and overpowers fate/circumstance and makes themself into an optimistic, *comedic (in the aristotelian sense) figure

but either way it comes down to someone taking action, someone doing something bc they have a passion and that drives them forward, for better or for worse

and i think that informs a lot of how even understands his own actions, and his actions as part of the story of his life, and his life as part of the story of others’ lives, and others’ lives as part of the story of his own, and so on. sometimes you just have to act bc actions are what make life happen, good or bad, and idk that again just feels v gryffindor to me