#mycah the butcher's boy

[ladystoneboobs]

imo one of the biggest proofs of sansa's character growth post-agot (which seems to be overlooked) is this, where grrm makes sure we know how her perspective of the trident incident has indeed shifted. why else even say this? it's not what the tyrells wanted to know, they asked about joff's treatment of her in particular, and "he lied about the butcher's boy" means nothing without context (and even if she said the lannisters used that lie to justify killing mycah, i doubt olenna, at least, would care). but for sansa atp, joffrey's sins against mycah are worth remembering and reporting as his first crime (known to her), that incident is now recognized as evidence of joff's montrosity, the wrongs committed against mycah by joffrey personally (as in not even his death) are on par with sansa losing her wolf and being beaten by the kg. sure, she still has some classism remaining, but to say she cares nothing for the smallfolk, and is still the same girl disgusted by mycah's smellyness, who later repeated joffrey's lie about him weeks after the fact and blamed arya for lady's death more than joffrey, that's just demonstrably untrue.

[catofoldstones]

I love how George creates the duality of being low-born v high-born in the asoiaf world. The juxtaposition of Catelyn calling all swords and seizing Tyrion at the unsuccessful attempt to kill her son v Mycah’s father being handed his son’s chopped up body, to the point he couldn’t even recognise that it was his son and not a pig, and still not being able to do anything about it but stay quiet. Chilling.

[casterlypriderock]

people are still so unwell (derogatory) about sansa stark it’s getting embarrassing

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

I've seen some people hold Arya responsible over what happened to her friend Mycah at the Trident incident because according to them "she should have known her place in society and the power a lady holds over commoners". I disagree with this notion on so many levels.

First of all, Arya is only nine years old during that incident . Even if you believe that she shouldn't befriend commoners (which in my opinion she's totally allowed to, and I'll express my thoughts on it later on) shouldn't you be less harsh on the judgement of such a little kid? Even if according to you "she doesn't know her place in society", she still have plenty of years before she reaches adulthood to find the so called place she is supposed to occupy as a lady in Westerosi society.

As I said earlier on, I do believe that Arya is totally justified in befriending people who belong in a different social class from her. That's isn't only my own personal belief as someone who is anti - classism and lives in 21st century, but this is also supported by the text.

From her first introduction we know that Arya likes to befriend all sort of people.

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. 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. Fat Tom used to call her "Arya Underfoot," because he said that was where she always was. She'd liked that a lot better than "Arya Horseface."

The above passage is from the second chapter of hers, before she left Winterfell. She loves Winterfell's small folk and is loved by them in return. She is even given the nickname " Arya Underfoot" because of that behavior of hers. So, it's no secret that she associates with commoners. It's impossible for her mother and her father not to know. And yet she's never scolded for that, and Arya is scolded over plenty things by her mother and the Septa but never about the people she chooses as her companions.

It makes sense that she's allowed to associate with these people, since Bran in his own POV also expresses fondness for people who belong to a lower class (and he's also never forbidden to associate with these people) and Ned, the Winterfell's own Lord, is known to dine with people who belong to a lower class. So, it's totally okay for Arya - and for any other child of his- to follow his example.

Also, post the Trident incident, Ned has a long and serious talk with Arya. If he believed that his daughter shouldn't befriend a boy from a below class, he would express this opinion of his to Arya. But he didn't, because he didn't find anything wrong with it

The only people who find wrong Arya associating with small folk are Sansa and the Lannisters/Baratheon. The first is the only person who actually shares her distaste for Arya's company in her own POV:

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block. Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers.

But we shouldn't take Sansa's view as the norm for westerosi society and especially not for Winterfell's household since her own father is okay with associating with people that belong to a lower class than theirs.

I believe that since Sansa is introduced to us as a proper little lady, some people take her views as the absolute truth when it comes to westerosi etiquette But they forget that Sansa is also a little kid who doesn't fully understand or see eye to eye with her little sister and therefore it makes sense that she views Arya's actions in a more negative light than other characters do.

As for the Lannister-Baratheon loyal family, Cersei and Joffrey have a strong distain for small folk and believe in their own superiority - but they also believe in their superiority over their fellow noble people. I guess we could say that both suffer from superiority complex and have a distorted idea of the world, so I wouldn't hold their own views as the norm, either.

I'm not saying that there aren't other nobles who believe in their own superiority over commoners and would never befriend people from a lower class, because the books contain plenty of these type of characters. I'm just saying that this isn't the absolute truth to every single noble character, aside from Arya. The kids in Winterfell are allowed to befriend people from lower classes and so are the Martell kids in the Water Gardens.

And not every monarch values so little the life of their people that they would order a little boy to be killed just because their child and crown prince, threw a fit. Ask yourself the question: if Ned Stark was the King and Robb had terrorised a little boy who played with Arya/any other little noble kid, would Ned order Mycah's death? Or would he have a long talk with his heir on how he shouldn't treat his people as objects? Just because Cersei and Joffrey don't give a fuck for small folk ( and Robert could not be bothered to interfere) it doesn't mean that every monarch would react the same way they did.

Mycah died because of Cersei and Joffrey cruelty and Robert's indifference. Not because Arya befriended him.

[prahelika]

Arya Stark Appreciation Week: Day 3

Overlooked Traits : Emotional Intelligence

Game of Thrones massacred Arya's character so badly that to someone who watched the show first (mostly), she appeared downright emotionless.

Safe to say that her emotional intelligence is a criminally underrated trait.

One of Sansa's first mentions of Arya goes like this.

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block.

- Sansa I, AGOT

She makes friends with anybody. While she doesn't fit in with the highborn ladies of Winterfell, she is universally adored by the smallfolk there.

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. 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. Fat Tom used to call her "Arya Underfoot," because he said that was where she always was.

- Arya II, AGOT

The show portrayed Arya as someone who loses her softness and sweetness as her life gets progressively darker. This couldn't be further from the truth. In ACOK, where her father has just died and she is in hiding among the men of the Watch, even then, she tries her best not to take it out on anyone else. When Hot Pie bullies her for Needle, she remains non-confrontational. He instigates both verbally and physically.

Arya slid her practice sword from her belt. "You can have this one," she told Hot Pie, not wanting to fight. "That's just some stick." He rode nearer and tried to reach over for Needle's hilt.

- Arya I, ACOK

Something else worth noticing is that she stays in hiding in various dangerous places skillfully, in both ACOK and ASOS. No one suspects her of being Arya Stark (excluding Jaqen H'ghar). She even serves as cupbearer to Roose Bolton, and manages not to draw his ire.

She filled Roose Bolton's cup, and did not spill a drop.

- Arya IX, ACOK

This, by the way, isn't just a byproduct of the trauma she endured. All the way back in the first book:

It was the scariest thing she'd ever done. She wanted to run and hide, but she made herself walk across the yard, slowly, putting one foot in front of the other as if she had all the time in the world and no reason to be afraid of anyone. She thought she could feel their eyes, like bugs crawling on her skin under her clothes. Arya never looked up. If she saw them watching, all her courage would desert her, she knew, and she would drop the bundle of clothes and run and cry like a baby, and then they would have her. She kept her gaze on the ground. By the time she reached the shadow of the royal sept on the far side of the yard, Arya was cold with sweat, but no one had raised the hue and cry.

- Arya IV, AGOT

Something else of note is her kindness even when she's suffering. The way she takes care of Weasel even when she's starved or scared.

"You leave Weasel alone, she's just scared and hungry is all." Arya glanced back, but the girl was not following for once.

- Arya V, ACOK

This is what she does - she takes care of people, even when she needs taking care of herself. In Braavos:

"He has no coin," mocked the fair-haired bravo. His dark-haired friend grinned and said something in Braavosi. "My friend Terro is chilly. Be our good fat friend and give him your cloak." "Don't do that either," said the barrow girl, "or else they'll ask for your boots next, and before long you'll be naked." "Little cats who howl too loud get drowned in the canals," warned the fair-haired bravo. "Not if they have claws." And suddenly there was a knife in the girl's left hand, a blade as skinny as she was. The one called Terro said something to his fair-haired friend and the two of them moved off, chuckling at one another. "Thank you," Sam told the girl when they were gone.

- Samwell III, AFFC

There's one last point: apologies. This may not seem very important, but sometimes I see discussions where people claim that Arya is a selfish girl, does not take accountability for her mistakes etc. (usually in the context of Sansa). This is, as most anti-Arya sentiments, blatantly untrue.

Arya raised her eyes. "I'm sorry, Father. I was wrong and I beg my sweet sister's forgiveness."

Sansa was so startled that for a moment she was speechless. Finally she found her voice. "What about my dress?"

"Maybe … I could wash it," Arya said doubtfully.

"Washing won't do any good," Sansa said. "Not if you scrubbed all day and all night. The silk is ruined."

"Then I'll … make you a new one," Arya said.

Sansa threw back her head in disdain. "You? You couldn't sew a dress fit to clean the pigsties."

- Sansa III, AGOT

Arya offers a genuine apology here, even after her sister says horrible things. She even speaks perfectly here, remembering her courtesies. (Keep in mind, this is also after Sansa and Jeyne have told Arya that Mycah's death was her fault. She would be well within her rights to demand an apology from Sansa first.)

The last words they exchange here are:

"It won't be so bad, Sansa," Arya said. "We're going to sail on a galley. It will be an adventure, and then we'll be with Bran and Robb again, and Old Nan and Hodor and the rest." She touched her on the arm.

"Hodor!" Sansa yelled. "You ought to marry Hodor, you're just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!" She wrenched away from her sister's hand, stormed into her bedchamber, and barred the door behind her.

- Sansa III, AGOT

This is self-explanatory, really. Also, she apologises to Lady Smallwood for the torn dress.

Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs. "They were my son's things," she said. "He died when he was seven."

"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."

- Arya IV, ASOS

(Unimportant sidenote: I love how kind Lady Smallwood is to Arya here. She really needed this.)

Basically, Arya of House Stark is one of the most emotionally intelligent characters in ASOIAF and I will not hear otherwise.

[bookhousestark]

Every Arya & Lyanna parallel: → protecting the weak

LYANNA

"None offered a name, but he marked their faces well so he could revenge himself upon them later. They shoved him down every time he tried to rise, and kicked him when he curled up on the ground. But then they heard a roar. 'That's my father's man you're kicking,' howled the she-wolf." 

—  A Storm of Swords, Bran II

ARYA

"Mycah," the boy muttered. He recognized the prince and averted his eyes. "M'lord.""He's the butcher's boy," Sansa said."He's my friend," Arya said sharply. "You leave him alone."

—  A Game of Thrones, Sansa I

[jackoshadows]

The most amazing thing about Jonsa shippers is how confidently they just assert that all their fanon, fanfiction and headcanons actually happened in the books and at a certain point everyone else pointing out how this is untrue just give up. There's no arguing against ignorance.

Following up on this post, the same person then goes on with more fanfiction against two redditors trying to engage with them on actual book canon lol.

One thing I have noticed is that when you get into a discussion with Jonsa/Sansa stans, 90% of the time, instead of actually engaging with you, they will link to a relentlessly long essay full of nonsense to support their argument. That's because they have not actually read the books - everything they write is regurgitated from these idiotic metas and so they just link to it thinking that it will convince us or change our minds.

They know they can't argue against walls of book text that disproves the outright fallacious nonsense they put forth as canon and immediately go " Well, I don't have the time, there are other expert, smart Jonsas who have analyzed all this and say that Jonsa is a thing in the books so I trust them. The end.' Mind closed. And that's the problem with debating with Jonsa shippers - you will never change their minds because they are not open to changing their minds!

Like there are folks in there telling them that Alys looks like Arya and that's why Melisandre mistakes one for the other. But no, here have this big essay with maps and such filled to the brim with pure nonsense on why Sansa is the 'girl in grey'....

EVERYTHING in that reply is the same old tired nonsense again and again and again:

Sansa was hiding in the Vale as Petyr’s bastard and modeled her identity as Alayne basically after Jon.

NO SHE DIDN'T. It's right there in the text after Myranda Royce brings Jon up and Sansa says that she hadn't thought of Jon in ages. All the while Sansa is thinking of her family and where she can flee to - she even thinks of Tyrion as an option, but never Jon. She is playing a pretend bastard and never once thinks of Jon. This idea that she modeled Alayne after Jon is contradicted by the text but they think repeating it enough times will make it canon or something.

They’re both honorable and compassionate people. They’re both arguably spoiled.

Sansa is 'honorable and compassionate'? Sansa? Compassionate?

Poor Mycah must have missed out on that. It's not Arya that's risking everything to save a butcher's boy who is honorable and compassionate. It's not Bran standing up for Hodor against the Frey boys who is compassionate and honorable. Oh no, that's Sansa!

And sorry but there is no comparison here to Jon and Sansa being spoiled. None. Jon had a chip on his shoulder from being a bastard. Donal Noye sets him straight, he learns, acknowledges his privilege and APOLOGIZES.

I am still waiting on Sansa to atleast reflect in her thoughts about how she treated Arya - but no, Sansa is still blaming Arya for Lady! Her father had to lose his head before Sansa even figures out that these cartoonishly evil characters were actually evil while betraying her family to become queen. No introspection, no growth, none.

The absolute worst part of this ship is all these trash parallels between the two characters when they couldn't be any more different to each other.

He (Jon) thinks of her as he’s dying.

WTF!! NO, JON DOES NOT THINK OF SANSA AS HE'S DYING!

As for Jon’s tastes, Jon is also a sheltered teenage boy who had never had a romantic relationship with anyone before meeting Ygritte.

Jon's tastes don't matter because he was a sheltered boy! You just wait he will totally change once he meets Sansa!

especially because there is no chance in Hell that with Jon’s station and lowly birth he could even marry a lady of good standing to begin with.

Totally! He only dislikes ladies like Catelyn and Sansa because he could never hope to marry a 'lady of good standing' and not because of the emotional abuse and bigotry.

And yet — when Jon dreams, he doesn’t dream of these warrior women. He dreams of having a traditional wife who will give him sons and rule Winterfell with him.

WTF! HOW IS VAL A TRADITIONAL WIFE?! Did I miss something? Does he dream of starting a family with someone else?

There’s also other things too; like Jon conflating red headed characters with Ygritte (right after he thinks of Sansa singing and brushing out Lady’s coat, he thinks of Ygritte’s words, he thinks Melisandre is Ygritte at first, his favorite part about Ygritte was her pretty red hair), or him calling Sansa radiant and immediately despising Joffery.

He compares Ygitte and Melisandre because Mel has red hair and is called the red priestess for a reason!! At no point does he conflate Sansa with Ygritte or Melisandre. Sansa has auburn hair like Robb and Bran and Rickon.

And I already made a post about this, but you know nothing Jon Snow is either about Arya or about Bran, Rickon and Sansa. So no, it's not specifically about Sansa - more Jonsa fanfiction.

And so, so tired of this Jon is jealous of Joffrey over Sansa nonsense when Jon as a typical male teenager is annoyed that Joffrey is taller than him and Robb despite them being older and because Jon has more house loyalty than Sansa he dislikes Joffrey for his derisive attitude towards Winterfell.

Especially annoying that as the redditor replying to them points out that ALL the Stark kids start out as naive dreamers! Arya and Bran are ten times more honorable and compassionate than Sansa! Arya had to pretend to be shit as well, for longer than Jon and Sansa! Arya almost loses herself - only Needle is preventing that! Bran has to stop and prevent himself from warging Hodor and retaining his humanity. Arya, Bran, Rickon ALL WANT TO RETURN TO WINTERFELL! And yes once they get older, these kids will also want to name their future children after their ancestors!! What's so unique about any of this shit to Jon and Sansa?!

But these shippers will basically downplay all these themes for the rest of the Starks and then innocently ask 'why does Jonsa get so much hate?' 🥺👉 👈

You’re entitled to your opinions. But I didn’t come here to debate

I didn't come here to debate while writing a whole fanfiction essay about Jonsa! There will be no more comments from them.

[silverflameataraxia]

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. One of my favorite aspects of Arya's storyline is that no matter where she is, no matter who she is pretending to be, she always has a way of surrounding herself with friends.

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth.  Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block.

- Sansa I, AGoT

She would make much better time on her own, Arya knew, but she could not leave them. They were her pack, her friends, the only living friends that remained to her, and if not for her they would still be safe at Harrenhal, Gendry sweating at his forge and Hot Pie in the kitchens. If the Mummers catch us, I'll tell them that I'm Ned Stark's daughter and sister to the King in the North. I'll command them to take me to my brother, and to do no harm to Hot Pie and Gendry.

- Arya I, ASoS

Cat had made friends along the wharves; porters and mummers, ropemakers and sailmenders, taverners, brewers and bakers and beggars and whores.

- Cat of the Canals III, AFFC

She missed the friends she'd had when she was Cat of the Canals; Old Brusco with his bad back, his daughters Talea and Brea, the mummers from the Ship, Merry and her whores at the Happy Port, all the other rogues and wharfside scum.

- The Blind Girl I, ADwD

[agentrouka-blog]

I find the Jeyne Poole/Arya relationship really interesting. Jeyne bullies her, laughs at her, and coins the name "Arya Horseface", but then also is the one who informs Arya of Mycah's butchering and of Joffrey's interest in Sansa. And then of course Jeyne is forced to pretend to be Arya. If we don't get a scene with Arya, Jeyne, Sansa, and Beth, that mirrors the sewing circle scene from AGOT but with them all finally safe I will be so mad.

First up, I very much agree that this trio needs a harmonious and healing reunion and resolution to their conflict. 😊😊

Given the vast status difference between the Lord's daughter and the steward's daughter, however, I think we need to be careful with the idea of Jeyne "bullying" Arya. She does not have the power to truly intimidate or repeatedly insult her without consequences. This is still a feudal society.

GRRM made it canon that she made up a hurtful nickname, but it spread without being attached to Jeyne as the originator, and was over by the time canon starts. Arya's perception of Jeyne laughing at her in the sewing circle might be as distorted as her perception of Sansa in the same context. And while Arya held on to the hurt feelings over the nickname that touched on her secret insecurity, Arya doesn't dwell on Jeyne much at all regarding it. Her focus is on Sansa.

We can safely assume that Arya is on Jeyne's mind, though.

Jeyne does have conflict with Arya, she clearly resented how she had opportunities that Jeyne would never have, but treated them with disregard or disdain. She clearly had a catty streak about it, and tried to make herself feel better through comparing their relative prettiness and mocking Arya where she could get away with it. She clearly showed little regard for Arya's feelings while sharing morbid information about Mycah's murder (same as about speculation over where the Mountain's head should be put on a spike). But she was also only 12 at the time. This is playground squabbles, not bullying. Bullying is what Aliser Thorne does to the recruits, what Jon does to them, even. One short-lived nickname is not that. Arya's insecurities have far more to do with society as a whole, with Septa Mordane, with her own sense of not fitting in.

GRRM is illustrating the misogyny and classism of their society in how it affects all of these young girls in their relationships to each other.

Jeyne being discarded in a brothel, retrieved like a toy only when the name Arya imbues her with false value, mistreated in Arya's place, forced to remain in this charade because as Jeyne she has no worth in their society... that fits right in there.

Arya's own arc strongly revolves around class and privilege, through her relationship with Gendry and with her own name. Jeyne's position in life is bound to be much clearer to her when they meet again, and what seemed big and dramatic to a nine-year-old will fade into obscurity compared to the real horrors and injustice they have all been through.

Arya is furious that no one stood up for Mycah the peasant boy.

How will she feel about the fate of Jeyne the steward's daughter, when she may have the power to work toward justice for her?

I think this is going to be a very powerful bookend to their beginning.

[thelustybraavosimaid]

Margaery hailed them when the two columns met and fell in beside the queen's litter. Her cheeks were flushed, her brown ringlets tumbling loosely about her shoulders, stirred by every puff of wind. "We have been picking autumn flowers in the kingswood," she told them. I know where you were, the queen thought. Her informers were very good about keeping her apprised of Margaery's movements. Such a restless girl, our little queen. She seldom let more than three days pass without going off for a ride. Some days they would ride along the Rosby road to hunt for shells and eat beside the sea. Other times she would take her entourage across the river for an afternoon of hawking. The little queen was fond of going out on boats as well, sailing up and down the Blackwater Rush to no particular purpose. When she was feeling pious she would leave the castle to pray at Baelor's Sept. She gave her custom to a dozen different seamstresses, was well-known amongst the city's goldsmiths, and had even been known to visit the fish market by the Mud Gate for a look at the day's catch. Wherever she went, the smallfolk fawned on her, and Lady Margaery did all she could to fan their ardor. She was forever giving alms to beggars, buying hot pies off bakers' carts, and reining up to speak to common tradesmen. (Cersei VI, AFfC)

--

"You're not supposed to leave the column," Sansa reminded her. "Father said so."

Arya shrugged. "I didn't go far. Anyway, Nymeria was with me the whole time. I don't always go off, either. Sometimes it's fun just to ride along with the wagons and talk to people."

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block. Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers. (Sansa I, AGoT)

[ladystoneboobs]

possibly incomplete list of asoiaf characters described as having red or even "ginger" hair (or red-gold as opposed to red-brown or ghiscari red-black), never auburn:

mycah, the butcher's boy*

beric dondarrion (red-gold hair)*

lharys, member of the three stooges men-at-arms (wild rust-colored hair)**

unnamed and unfortunate mother of robert baratheon's doomed youngest child, barra (light red-haired mother of black-haired baby)*

tomard aka "fat tom", stark guardsman (with his ginger whiskers)*

horas "horror" redwyne (orange hair)*

hobber "slobber" redwyne (orange hair)*

unnamed red-haired whore leaning out a window the day of ned's execution (presumably not the same as above since she was joking about the king's death)*

melisandre of asshai (deep burnished copper. red and terrible and red.)*

a man called jaqen h'ghar (red on one side, white on the other)*

pug-nosed dancy from chataya's brothel (described as red-haired by tyrion in acok but honey-blonde in asos, so presumably hair dye must have been involved between those book mentions.)**

addam marbrand (hair the same copper color as his horse's mane)*

"ginger-headed" maester frenken*

unnamed beardless ginger youth among theon's crew at winterfell*

ygritte, a spearwife "kissed-by-fire" (bright red)*

arryk aka "left" or "right", lady olenna's red-mustached guardsman*

erryk aka "left" or "right", lady olenna's other, identical, red-mustached guardsman*

lord paxter redwyne (tufts of orange hair)**

anguy the archer of the bwb*

a red-bearded karstark rapist dead in a crow cage at stoney sept*

tansy, innkeeper of the peach in stoney sept*

meryn trant (rust-red hair)*

"red" ronnet connington

mero, "the titan's bastard", former commander of the second sons (bushy red-gold beard)

a red-headed soldier who came with stannis to the wall

shadrich "the mad mouse" (bristly orange hair)*

lord rykker's red-mustached maester

marwyn belmore, lysa's former guard captain (ginger-headed)*

lord benedar belmore with a beard that was "a ginger-grey horror"*

lord orton merryweather (reddish-orange hair)

"the red oarsman", one of euron greyoy's followers (fiery red hair)

unnamed red-haired sailor arriving at port in braavos*

lord clement piper

and his son lewys "little lew" piper, who served as squire to jaime lannister in the riverlands

unnamed red-haired youth who first escaped northward with varamyr from the battle at the wall

one of illyrio's washerwomen (dull red hair)**

jon connington (once red hair gone to grey, still red at the roots and eyebrows even when the rest was dyed blue. also had a bright red beard as a younger man.)**

rolly "duck" duckfield (a shock of orange hair)**

a young man among the wildling refugees at mole's town whose red hair reminded jon of ygritte*

the "sunset kingdoms" girl raped by tyrion in the brothel where he was captured by jorah**

hagen's daughter, only other woman among asha greyjoy's crew

roggon rustbeard, one of asha's men

mully of the nw (greasy orange hair)*

bloodbeard, commander of the company of the cat (fiery red whiskers)

"ginger" jack, a toungeless sellsword of the windblown sent to dany, face nearly covered by his bristly, orange beard

gerrick kingsblood*

and his son*

and gerrick's daughter #1*

and gerrick's daughter #2*

and gerrick's daughter #3*

ronald storm, son of ronnet connington

one of the 7 "choicest" enslaved girls from the yunkish ship who were sacrificed by victarion (red-gold hair)

an enslaved redhead boy in line for a well, asking tyrion about dany**

nail, apprentice to hammer, the armorer for the second sons**

maester tybald, redhaired maester from the dreadfort serving arnolf karstark

valena toland, heiress to ghost hill (bright red hair)

teora toland, valena's younger sister with the same hair

uther shett, knight arriving for sweetrobin's tourney (ginger-haired and whiskered)*

*characters whose hair is described in the povs of starks (or jon snow) who only use the terms auburn or red-brown for catelyn, robb, sansa etc. and do not compare said characters to said tully-haired relations

**characters whose hair is described by tyrion lannister, who spent significant time with sansa and exclusively referred to her hair as auburn (without anyone else telling him her hair color as catelyn told brienne)

the only asoiaf characters ever described as having auburn hair:

catelyn tully stark

robb stark (red-brown/auburn tully hair "so like" his mother's, with a beard redder than his hair)

sansa stark (auburn hair lighter than her mother's, most reddish glowing in candlelight)

brandon "bran" stark (hair not bright red enough for him to distinguish himself from young benjen at first glance in a weirwood flashback)

rickon stark

brynden "the blackfish" tully (once auburn hair gone to grey)

edmure tully (auburn hair with a fiery beard, likely brighter than his hair like robb's)

lysa tully arryn baelish

known tully descendants never described as having auburn hair

arya stark (darker brown stark-colored hair)

hoster tully (hair and beard gone from brown to brown streaked with grey to white as snow)

robert "sweetrobin" arryn (fine brown hair, thought by sansa to be his best feature)

fun fact: the only other character that i can find to ever even be descibed as having red-brown hair in the main series is rowan, one of the spearwives who accompanied mance on his mission to winterfell. (described by theon, who had psychological reasons not to think of any hair-resemblance to robb and co.)

tl;dr i suppose my point here is that auburn hair in the real world may be a term thrown around wildly as a fancier way of saying red hair, but grrm and his westerosi creations seem to keep to a much more specific (true) definition. not just specific, almost entirely unique to a certain family, a weird mutation passing down their line somewhat inexplicably, like the magic platinum hair of the targaryens. (ned stark's 4 tully-haired kids being sorta like alicent hightower's 4 targ-haired kids where nobody can really explain why it was so dominant.) except it's actually more unique to the tullys than either black hair to the baratheons or silver hair to the targaryens, with the velaryons also having valyrian hair as well as some people in the essosi free cities too. which i guess makes rowan the wildling the equalivent of an unknown dragonseed or a lysene woman who could pass as a targ, and regular brown-haired hoster and sweetrobin the equivalent of regular blonde-haired alysanne and alyssa targaryen. so the next time someone calls the tullys lame or whatever, just remember that in-universe they're actually more special than the dragonriders, at least hairwise.

[stromuprisahat]

He was walking back to the tower to give himself up to sleep at last when Sandor Clegane and his riders came pounding through the castle gate, back from their hunt. There was something slung over the back of his destrier, a heavy shape wrapped in a bloody cloak. “No sign of your daughter, Hand,” the Hound rasped down, “but the day was not wholly wasted. We got her little pet.” He reached back and shoved the burden off, and it fell with a thump in front of Ned. Bending, Ned pulled back the cloak, dreading the words he would have to find for Arya, but it was not Nymeria after all. It was the butcher’s boy, Mycah, his body covered in dried blood. He had been cut almost in half from shoulder to waist by some terrible blow struck from above. “You rode him down,” Ned said. The Hound’s eyes seemed to glitter through the steel of that hideous dog’s-head helm. “He ran.” He looked at Ned’s face and laughed. “But not very fast.”

A Game of Thrones- Chapter 16 (George R. R. Martin)

Objectively, there's nothing funny about this scene, but a few days ago, I've read this post, and yeah... Sandor would be impossible to re-write into a billionaire daddy faithfully.

[dragnsofthread]

The Starks and their Direwolves

(note: I'm only referring to the show in this post)

It's so interesting to me how the Stark children's trajectories are reflected in the lives of their direwolves.

Robb/Grey Wind Grey Wind wars with Robb until they are both butchered at the Red Wedding. From the time Robb found him in the snow to their deaths, Grey Wind remained by Robb's side.

Jon/Ghost Jon and Ghost are a package deal (minus the Battle of the Bastards, still bitter), traveling together, fighting together. Jon's enemies are Ghost's enemies. Jon giving Ghost to Tormund before marching on King's Landing reflects Jon's own gravitation towards the North. In the end, Jon and Ghost travel north of the Wall together, where they were both supposed to be all along.

Sansa/Lady Lady died because Sansa lied to Robert and Cersei about what really happened with Joffrey, Arya and Mycah. The lie was the beginning of the end for her. It reflected her inability to see Joffrey as a villain and turned her against her own family. The death of Lady represented the death of a part of Sansa. She built herself back up, without her wolf and wrought with anger, eventually becoming the Lady of Winterfell.

Arya/Nymeria The death of Mycah was also the catalyst for Arya to send Nymeria away into the wild. Arya was changed after that and went a little wild herself. It was the beginning of her bloodlust. She learned to be a water dancer, a Faceless Man, an assassin. She took matters into her own hands and grew up to be nobody's victim. When Arya meets Nymeria again in 7x02, Nymeria is the alpha of her own pack. Arya knows her wolf is right where she was meant to be. Just as Arya had never been a lady, Nymeria had never been a pet.

Bran/Summer Bran and Summer were bonded from day one, and they stuck together all throughout Bran's journey to becoming the Three-Eyed Raven. Summer defended Bran at every turn, most memorably at the very end of season 6 when Bran and Meera leave the cave. The death of Summer represents the death of Bran the boy, and the birth of the Three-Eyed Raven.

Rickon/Shaggydog Shaggydog was ever Rickon's fierce protector, as wild as a direwolf raised by a six-year-old could be. Unfortunately we as an audience don't see much of Rickon and Shaggydog's relationship after they're separated from Bran, but we can assume they maintained their bond as Jon and Ghost do. Shaggydog's end was Rickon's end.

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

" But Arya threw an orange at Sansa, she's also being awful to her sister!!"

I'm convinced some of you never read the books and only get your "facts" from reading meta from the stans of your favourite character.

Here is the actual scene that leads to Arya's "horrible" action of throwing an orange to Sansa:

Arya screwed up her face in a scowl. "Jaime Lannister murdered Jory and Heward and Wyl, and the Hound murdered Mycah. Someone should have beheaded them".

"It's not the same," Sansa said. "The Hound is Joffrey's sworn shield. Your butcher's boy attacked the prince".

Sansa was in front on the Trident incident. We see it from her pov and Mycah didn't attacked Joffrey, it was the other way around. So, she's lying here. Like she lied when she gave her testimony on the incident. What is worse is that this time there is no one to listen what she has to say; save from Arya. So those of you who defend her lying in front of the King and Queen saying that she did so because she couldn't take her sister side in public as Joffrey's future wife, what are you gonna say about this scene? She's alone with Arya here and yet she lies once again.

And even worse, she's not even calling Mycah by his name. As if by calling him a "butcher's boy" aka focusing on his low status in society will make his murder less horrible.

Arya rightfully calls her out:

"Liar!" Arya said. Her hand clenched the blood orange so hard that red juice oozed between her fingers.

And ofc Sansa accusing her of "calling her names"

No honey, Arya isn't calling you names. Unlike you, she's not lying she's stating the obvious.

" Go ahead, call me all the names you want," Sansa said airly. "You won't dare when I'm married to Joffrey. You'll have to bow and call me Your Grace". She shrieked as Arya flung the orange across the table. It caught her in the middle of the forehead with a wet squish and plopped down into her lap.

"You have juice in your face, Your Grace," Arya said .

Even if Arya threw a hundred oranges at Sansa at that moment, I would still say that she was the one being right during that scene.

[creganofhousestark]

(Screenshots because I’m one hundred percent sure i will be blocked for stating facts that go against the op’s headcanons if i were to reblog my opinions under their post and then will proceed to rant away about the eViL aRyA sTaNs whose crime is, well, reading the books, you know?)

So, i had the misfortune of coming across this one post by @agentrouka-blog when i was going through the main tags and, god! The amount of bs i have to wade through in the name of fandom experience is concerning at this point.

Whenever did Sansa cover for Arya? When she was declaring her as a traitor to a bloodthirsty Cersei Lannister that it was her sister with the traitor’s blood and not her after her father’s imprisonment? Or when she threw Arya under the bus at Trident?

“She blames Sansa for things she never did” dude there was never one moment where Arya blamed Sansa for things she never did. Hell, Arya didn’t blame Sansa enough. Guess it’s time to reread AGoT lol. Sansa “it’s your butcher boy’s fault for dying because he attacked the prince” is blameless y’all *mic drop*

“Violently attacks her because that’s her opportunity to blow off steam after a traumatic 4 days” yes because your sister is basically accusing of treason when the reason behind her actions was purely defense. Apparently you must be level headed in the face of your your sister refusing to be honest in a moment when the outcome (which is Mycah living or dying) depends on her word. If Sansa’s really as smart and intelligent as stansas claim then Joffrey’s actions at the Trident should’ve opened her eyes. Ned was the Hand of the King, the King’s BFF. She was under no pressure to maintain diplomacy. Hell, Ned was right by her side, reassuring her and encouraging her to speak her truth. What would’ve happened if she were honest? The betrothal would’ve been called off? Ned would’ve lost his spot at worst? Big loss, the North would have minded it’s own business as usual….and Sansa’s southern dreams would have shattered. In that moment Sansa chose her dreams and fantasies over her sister and remain blind to the kind of a monster Joffrey was.

Moreover, being focused and worried about herself and her desires is not necessarily a flaw, Sansa’s just more human. She’s got five heroes to compete against, which is why she may appear more flawed than Arya. But honestly it’s all subjective. Arya’s character is simply rich and has a hell lot more depth, that’s all.

Mostly Ned’s favouritism BRO NED CHOSE TO GIVE UP THE HONOUR HE VALUED hell he chose a traitor’s death for her and, goddammit there’s not one moment where he favoured one over the other. Do not talk about the damned flowers scene in Sansa I, Ned would’ve grinned and thanked Sansa for the same bleeding flowers. Sansa was just pissed that Ned didn’t reprimand his child for behaving like a typical 9 year old child. Which, nobility or no, is quite common in that society. Hell, we have textual evidence of Catelyn playing with LF and Lysa making mud pies at 12. It’s almost as if Sansa can’t stand anything short of Sansa 2.0 from her sister.

Arya’s miles better. Just ask GRRM. He wrote the books.

Anyways, thanks agentrouka for reminding me how brilliant of a writer George Martin is. The man picked stereotypical heroes and gave their stories not-so-stereotypical twists as their arcs progressed. An exiled powerless princess who earned it all and more through her blood sweat and tears, a non conformist noblewoman who’s gone through an extraordinary number of trials, a powerful noble dwarf unwanted by his own blood, a disabled boy with unparalleled magical potential and a bastard from two powerful, magical families who was practically thrown aside.

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Arya II

Arya desperately wanted to explain, to make him see.

“I was trying to learn, but…” Her eyes filled with tears.

“I asked Mycah to practice with me.”

The grief came on her all at once. She turned away, shaking. “I asked him,” she cried. “It was my fault, it was me…”

Suddenly her father’s arms were around her. He held her gently as she turned to him and sobbed against his chest.

“No, sweet one,” he murmured. “Grieve for your friend, but never blame yourself.

“You did not kill the butcher’s boy. That murder lies at the Hound’s door, him and the cruel woman he serves.”

“I hate them,” Arya confided, red-faced, sniffling. “The Hound and the queen and the king and Prince Joffrey. I hate all of them. Joffrey lied, it wasn’t the way he said.”