#stark siblings

[vriska-martell]

Favorite Sisters

A Storm of Swords - Catelyn IV / A Dance with Dragons - Jon VI

[catofoldstones]

okay but siblinghood in asoiaf also extends to the previous generation of starks because look at how brandon abandoned everything to go rescue his little sister, threatening the crown prince in the process - the second most powerful man in westeros. It’s about ned desperately trying to find lyanna all over the continent only to find her locked away and dying. It’s lyanna screaming for Ned and the fear only leaving her when he promises that he’ll keep her newborn safe. It’s Ned raising her son as his own, knowing fully well what that would do to his new lady wife and their family. It’s benjen still going to the wall to fulfill his duty despite not being the third son anymore george I am in your walls

[witchlingcirce]

I don’t think enough people talk about this moment in a storm of swords

Like bran and Arya basically jumping Sansa, Sansa chasing Arya, her slipping, Arya coming back to make sure she was okay, and than Sansa getting her revenge 🥹🥹 god please bring my family back together again

[forwitchesandwolves]

[yayawantstodraw]

Me when asoiaf siblings

[crimsoncold]

*Personally decided not to include Sansa & Catelyn, Arya & Ned, or Arya & Lyanna...check below for an explanation

not because I don't think they have a number of paralells but because I feel they really are too frequently compared to one another to be considered underrated...perhaps even overly so and (unfortunately) often in a manner that lacks nuance/serves to misrepresent them/reduces their complexity/or ignores the unique or distinct aspects of these characters.

[la-mannakana]

"Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths."

-A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

[hydrangea-bouquet]

modern sansa stark is a disastrous baker (baking is basically science experiment in a kitchen and she just. doesn't. get. it. not to mention that she hates converting measurements and adjusting the ingredients to portions) but she's a phenomenal cake decorator. arya, on the other hand, is a master of the oven. she can tweak any recipe as she pleases. one time, they collaborate on edmure's wedding cake and everyone still dreams about that cake. roslin gets teary when she remembers how beautiful it looks (the reception was a disaster and the cake singlehandedly made up for it).

[loveharlow]

they could never make me hate you.

[jackoshadows]

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.

[deadgirlwalked]

I want a swordfight with whoever wrote Arya & Sansa's reunion in GOT, to not even speak of the boxfight I'd have with them writing Arya & Bran's reunion

[kyuremking]

Stark Children and Narnia

Hey, I binge-watched The Pevensie Siblings and Narnia too much and now I have an idea.

The Stark brothers are playing together with their wolves just a few days before the royal court arrives at Winterfell and they all end up stuck in a dark room in the crypts and end up in Narnia.

Basically the same thing happens as in the first movie, and when they are adults and have been kings for years they return to that dark room in the crypts with their children's bodies.

Everyone hates it, in Narnia they were kings, adults who were listened and respected. Now they are children again, no one takes them seriously.

Ned and Cat notice it. Their children have changed, just a few hours have passed since they disappeared into the crypts and when their children reappear they are no longer the same.

It's not just that everyone is closer than before, there is no longer any separation between Jon and his siblings.

Sansa no longer yearns for knights and tournaments. Robb speaks like a 30-year-old man who has lived through dozens of wars. And Jon is ALWAYS with him as brother and advisor supporting him. Bran is no longer interested in climbing although he sometimes looks up to the heavens. Arya is much calmer than she's ever been before. She doesn't fight anymore but that doesn't mean she's going to listen to you or obey you. Rickon on the other hand is 100 times more savage, because he hates it, he hates being trapped in his child body because he was a grown man and now he can't reach any shelves or be left alone.

But neither Ned nor Cat have much time to think about it because the royal court is here.

And while the Stark children feel something in the air, similar to the feeling that was in Narnia when the Witch lived. Something happens with the cold, something unnatural.

@catofadifferentcolor I don't know if you like Narnia but I had this idea and thought maybe you would be interested.

What changes could there be with Stark children with the minds of adult person after having reigned in their own right and the pent-up anger of a thousand suns for being trapped in their childish bodies?

[catofoldstones]

No but Jon’s last thoughts are of his family, his siblings. His home for the past 3 years has been the wall and as far as he knows all of his siblings are dead but there is a thought of Robb, a brother whose fight he could not join He thought of Robb, snowflakes melting in his hair and responsibility kill the boy and let the man be born. He thought of Bran, clambering up a tower, agile as a monkey because he should have been in Bran’s place after all. Of Rickon’s breathless laughter. Of Sansa, brushing Lady’s hair. You know nothing jon snow. A distant sister but a sister nonetheless. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird’s nest. Someone, someone who looks like his kind-eyed, high-born mother and he doesn’t know, he just knows that he has to save her. He’s thinking of Winterfell as it was. He’s thinking of home. A dream of spring, right here, but it’s all in the past.

[jellyfishcandyy]

What does it mean that Sansa is the only stark kid without a wolf?

We know that all the stark kids have a deeper connection to their wolves- not just as in they can wrag into their direwolves and have wolf dreams, but also to their character writing and development.

Jon's wolf was found away from the litter (Ned suggested it was "driven away"), it even looked different to its brothers; while the others had grey fur, ghost was albino with white fur. This can symbolise Jon's feelings of exclusion from the starks, and his decision to go 'away' to The Wall. Ghost also had a similar temperament to Jon. Jon does not voice a lot, he keeps his cards close and he feels a need to constantly suppress his feelings and desires. Ghost is also unusually quite compared to the other direwolves.

Arya is forced to leave her wolf which is then lost and left wandering to fend for itself, and this is similar to what Arya later on goes through herself. She is forced to wander around (from making her way to the wall with Yoren, to Harrenhall, to The Riverlands etc.) and fend for herself. Also, "Arya Stark" is lost. Instead there is Arry, Nan, Squab, Blind Beth, etc. (My theory is that once she can finally reach a point where she can be Arya Stark confidently again, she will also find Nymeria.)

Bran cannot move or do things he used to do, but he constantly wrags into his wolf 'to be free again' and go places. Even when he doesn't wrag into his wolf, his feelings still reflect on Summer. For example, when he gets angry and frustrated, summer starts growling, his hackles rise and he threatens to pounce.

A similar thing happens with Rickon and Robb. When Rickon gets upset or throws tantrums, his wolf starts to act up as well. When Rickon was distraught about Robb leaving, Shaggydog grew so unruly, they had to lock him up.

Both Robb and Rickon don't get their own POV chapters so seeing their emotions plainly on their wolves can be helpful, especially with Robb because he feels that as a Lord, and later on King, he needs to hold his cards close which makes it difficult to discern what he is thinking or feeling aside from the clues his wolf give the reader. When Robb gets restless or anxious, his wolf paces around and bolts away, when Robb gets angry or scared his wolf gets ready to attack.

All the Stark kids and their connection to their wolves have something to say or show. So, what does it mean that Sansa's Lady is dead and she is the only Stark without a wolf?

[crimsoncold]

ASOIAF 2ND GEN: House Stark Masterpost by @crimsoncold

"Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives."

Links to the individual portraits

Robb Stark, Jon Snow, Sansa Stark,

Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark

[satinoflowers]

finally finished my sketch for a starklings au that takes place in 2007. theons not in this because he got a really bad dye job and purposefully got caught smoking newports by ned so he would get grounded and wouldnt be put in the jc penney family photo.