#where's gendry

[pendragonsclotpole]

help, i just got slapped in the face with the existence of WILL. be still my beating heart as i write an essay on this man, will of ealdor

firstly, i adore the silent and implicit trust hidden in the first joke that introduces will’s character. like merlin’s been aware his whole life that if his secret is ever found out, he will be hunted down and persecuted, but here comes will with a jab that they both inherently understand is a joke in the macabre style only true friends can lovingly master. the smile they share almost immediately gives me ned stark and robert baratheon meeting again in the courtyard of winterfell in season one of got. there’s also something so normal in their interaction that speaks of a familiarity borne from their equal status and years of friendship. i know merlin’s friends in camelot tend to skew to the non-royal/non-noble, but when you tally it up, those closest to merlin often hold some title that’s greater than merlin’s role as arthur’s servant. gwaine is a knight implied to be of noble blood; lancelot, percival, and elyan are also knighted and esteemed members of arthur’s court; gwen is the lady morgana’s maid and close companion long before she is ever queen; gaius is a physician and long time member of camelot’s court; morgana before her betrayal is literally uther’s ward. i feel like when placed among them all, merlin has a tendency to fade into the background offscreen. obviously the audience knows how important merlin is to the overall story given how much of the storyline focuses on him, and the characters regularly acknowledge merlin’s importance to them or arthur, but all of them still regard merlin as merlin the servant from camelot and few of them are privy to the plots we as the audience see firsthand. and even when they acknowledge him for his merits, his role as arthur’s close friend and confidante takes precedence. look at leon’s reaction in the later seasons when merlin is bewitched by morgana. merlin literally makes a comment about plotting to kill arthur and leon barely even blinks before quipping back, “driving you mad isn’t he?” or something along those lines. except for a few instances with even fewer characters, they never get a chance to know him as merlin the sorcerer from ealdor.

will does! and more than that, he got to know merlin as he is without arthur. we all hype up their status as magical soulmates but damn if i wasnt living for how jealous of arthur will seemed to be in this episode. call me crazy, but it makes me desperately headcanon a realistic past in ealdor for merlin, full of hardship and strife, but never without it’s moments of happiness. furthermore, will’s lone appearance in season one shines some real light on the unfairness of the fate that has been bestowed on meelin. the moment that will points out why he’s been so obstinate with arthur really strikes a deep chord. sure it could be just jealousy, but more compellingly, i choose to read it as a deep sense of care for merlin. everyone merlin has met within camelot, (or reunited with in the case of his own mother) has continually pushed him closer and closer to arthur. will presents a crucial exception. he knows exactly who merlin was before camelot, and who merlin is completely separate from arthur.

will is staunchly in merlin’s corner, and that position allows him to identify a key characteristic of merlin’s series’ long arc: his complete devotion to arthur. will even points it out himself: merlin could singlehandedly defend their home if he just used the full extent of his power. merlin doesn’t, and actively chooses not to because of his desire to stay close to arthur. it’s such a small moment, but i think it demonstrates how much of merlin’s decisions become motivated by his desire to stay close to arthur and to always put arthur first, even at a detrimental cost to himself. merlin understands and readily accepts arthur as his destiny, but this acceptance does not come about independently, instantly, or of merlin’s own volition. it does so eventually, but initially merlin sticks by arthur’s side because of the encouragement of everyone around him. “arthur needs you, merlin” or “arthur is your destiny, merlin” or “arthur is a good man, merlin. he has the potential to be a great king, he just needs the right people, merlin.” its codependent as hell.

sure, merlin originally does not tell arthur about his magic because they do not know each other and as far as merlin knows revealing his magic would lead to his death, but eventually the reasoning changes and becomes so focused on doing what’s best for arthur. merlin can’t tell arthur because then arthur would have to kill him and then who would look after arthur or ensure his fate? merlin can’t tell arthur because if arthur chooses to defy uther’s law, merlin is then forcing arthur to turn against his father and how could he look after arthur then? merlin can’t tell arthur because another betrayal from magic would ruin everything and truthfully, he wonders how would arthur react? merlin comes to fear what his magic might do to arthur and what it’s reveal might mean for his place in camelot more than the laws of camelot and their verdicts.

by this logic, merlin is a magical solar system orbiting entirely around the celestial body known as arthur pendragon. eventually merlin cared more about his relationship with arthur and what arthur thought about him than his own life. in retrospect, it’s so sad that will died so early on, because it strips merlin of a person solely in his corner. will’s death is the first in the series’ long pattern of loss that merlin endures and that eventually comes to define him because people either find out about his magic and their knowledge is directly tested against his loyalty to arthur, or he cannot allow them to know about his magic because it will unravel his relationship with arthur.

will, freya, balinor, morgana, mordred, arthur.

also the fact that will covered for merlin’s use of magic in his last moments just adds to the tragedy AND the growing pile of moments merlin could have told arthur about his magic but didnt. and also the fact that will literally died to save arthur. like tell me that just doesn’t prove my point. tell me. will never stood a chance. tell me every aspect of merlin’s life does not get consumed by arthur pendragon.

i’m all for merthur being soulmates, but god the original series is rife with the unbalanced mess of merlin being wholeheartedly aware of arthur’s great potential and destiny leading to some intense devotion and faith that yes, arthur earns and pays back in full measure but can never fully reciprocate because he just does not know anything. by the triple goddess, it can get so toxic. i wish will had lived if just for that. and like the jealousy arthur gets whenever merlin has other people. because i 100% live for possessive arthur and protective merlin dynamics.

[pixiecactus]

time for me to leave a hot take here, without further (much) explanation:

i really hate that the show made gendry calling arya "m'lady" a romantic/pet name thing.

if my memory serves me right, the both times that gendry called arya "m'lady" in the books, one was when gendry was practically shitting himself in fear after discovering that arya was in fact a noble, when he had been treating her as any other commoner. and the second time was at the peach where gendry was angry at arya and lashing out at her because he got reminded of their differences in social standing; neither sounds very romantic to me, but maybe it's just me being miserable as always.

[thisonetimeinmeridian]

I miss Gendrya, they were my happy place. I miss thinking about them.

[winterreigned]

‘ wherever you stray, i’ll follow. ’ @stags0n

𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 , 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺. rays of warmth can melt even the most stubborn layers of ice. sansa stark was very much a blizzard , a swirling storm of all that has made or broke her these past several years. a girl barely of twenty , yet lines on her face portray years beyond her. worry , fear , pain ──── they've all found a home on once porcelain skin.

she is no stranger to the whispers of winterfell , of the nicknames each of her siblings have earned. jon the victor , bran: seer of all , arya the fierce , though when it comes to sansa , she cannot help the hurt that washes over her. the lady of ice , they have declared her. her mother once said they called sansa the sunshine of winter , for she was born upon a brief turn of season. now , the north has her hardened , would it be this way if she were a man? trauma makes men strong in their eyes , but women?

gendry stands before her , cracking the surface. smiles are seldom shared with strangers , though this a defense purely out of distrust. it is hard to view anyone as worthy of her confidence , not when it has been shattered time and time again. yet , he stands before her , and she cannot help but trust him. perhaps , it's because her sister does so fiercely. jon , ser davos , they all seem to find gendry worth of their loyalties. in this time of desperation , dragons flying about , dead marching to strike , a lion atop the iron throne , their trust is enough to allow sansa to lend it to gendry as well. allow the girl of old , who saw the best in everyone , wanted to believe the world was good and pure like the songs , a chance to return once more. to let sunlight conquer ice.

❝ the north is grateful for such loyalties , especially in times as precarious as the ones we find ourselves in. ❞ there's a curt nod of the head as she speaks , sansa may be different in many ways , yet she still maintains the composure of a lady , no matter what has been stripped from her. she is no fool , however , sansa is clever enough to pick up on meanings behind gendry's words. of course , she has been in his company more as of late , with winterfell seeking out any blacksmith willing and able. he has joined their table , been a part of many a discussion. sansa cannot help but be intrigued by him , cannot help the slight blush that creeps across cheeks as she smiles at gendry. perhaps , onlookers will attribute this to the sharp winter winds. how unproper it would look , in truth , for the lady of winterfell to spend her time chatting in the forges when much was to be done to ready for battle. yet , she cannot bring herself to leave.

❝ the north hopes... that if all of this shall pass , you would consider following here well after. ❞ once more , she deflects , makes the north a vessel for herself. though , if she has learned anything over the years , everyone either dies and leaves , sometimes walls are necessary.

[packsurvivcs]

look arya is adorable when she's happy okay

just I WANT ARYA TO BE HAPPY

and not fuck off into nothing away from her family and loved ones (lord she needs more icons i wish i wasn't such a lazy hoe)

[fineosaur]

Ooh, for the WIP asks, I’m curious about Patterns of Life? (thanks for the tag ❤️)

thank you for the ask, lily !

so, this one is a special one. back in 2019 (or 2018?) i started writing a gendrya fic with the fake marriage trope and it ended up being my most popular story posted. i sort of abandoned it cause my writing has evolved a lot since that time but i think a lot of people enjoyed the story and the premise so i decided to rewrite it.

essentially gendry and arya, who are strictly best friends, get married because gendry’s PR in winterfell is coming to an end and of course all sort of drama ensues.

the old story was and i can change your marital status. and my new story is called patterns of life, im excited about it cause i’ve always enjoyed the story and have a lot coming up.

here is a snippet from one of the later chapters:

“Morning, Maarya,” he says, trying his best to crack a smile at her despite the alarms going off in his head.

“Morning, darling,” she smiles back, drawing closer notice to the crow’s feet near her eyes. “Sorry to wake you so early. My phone’s not working proper. I’m heading to the market but I’ve made some fresh bread for you.”

“Thanks, have fun. I’ll wake up in a bit.”

Maarya nods and laughs. “Late night? Steffon looked in a worry state himself when he rocked up at the early AMs.”

“Yeah, Davos’s friends know how to drink,” Gendry jokes. Fleabottom habit, sailors’ too.

“Alrighty, I’ll leave you then and head out,” Maarya finally says but not without mention of the woman sleeping soundly in his bed. “Take care of your wife and give her plenty of water.”

[forgaeven1]

his sudden legitimisation comes as a surprise — or, rather, the request o' it is a surprise. he didn't think ser davos was capable o' this. from what gendry had known o' him, he seemed more o' a soldier than a politician. then again, maybe such a line will blur when ye've been around people who were crowned kings left and right; stannis, first. jon snow, second. ser davos had tried t' explain t' gendry that it was a smart move. the people o' the stormlands are angry, wary, and suspicious o' this new queen some bastard king in the north had brought forward — and no kind words, he said some more, would appease the court at storm's end.

except t' have robert's son, baseborn or otherwise, as a lord.

a lord that, if his legitimisation is passed, is accepted, could be in the queen's council. they're scared, ser davos had tried to soften the blow, after the dragon queen had looked at gendry from top t' bottom, silent, and left the room; her steps furious against the creaky, hardened floor of these thick northern woods. gendry had spent the minutes in ser davos' company afterwards simply starin' at the letter — not that he could 'ven read them, the irony of it all. if he'd had any humour, maybe he would've guffawed; so exhausted he was by these games the highborns are set at playin', that it's circled into laughable. all this effort t' recognise an uneducated bastard and for what ? just so they could 'ave someone watchin' the dragon queen's move ?

gendry's not laughing now, of course. how could he, when he felt like the coldness o' the north is seepin' right into his bloodstream, his lungs and everythin' inside, s' like the white walkers 'ave gotten t' him somehow, despite the fact that they're all gone. like they've clawed their way inside; they've made a home. when gendry leaves the room, he hasn't been checking where he's gone. all he'd known s' that he needed someplace quiet. someplace where he could- where he could breathe. and where he could think. not the forge, no, 'cause he couldn't handle all the stares and questions from the smiths that he'd gotten t' know over the weeks he's been there. the stables, maybe. just anywhere. this corner, near the armoury—

— he throws up.

gendry heaves, mouth wet, and eyes tearful. it takes him a moment t' finally find his breathin' again, settin' that proper rhythm, before he blinks them open, and catches sight o' yellow hair. ❛ i — ❜ he shakes his head, watches the edge of her beautiful, expensive dress makes contact with the stray hays and snow all around. ❛ ye' shouldn't be here, princess. ❜

@fraegiles — starter call

[daceytheshebear]

Yes indeed. Yes both Gendry and Jon having given her a sword is undeniably a relevant information about the role each of them play in Arya's life.

I once started writing an Arya meta I had tentatively titled "Windows, Weapons and Worms" for these important motifs that come up in her story. The way Arya gets/whishes for/handles/looses her weapons is very significant.

Jon Snow had given her Needle. Maybe she had to let them call her Lumpyhead, but she wasn’t going to let them call Jon a thief. (ACOK)

I won’t let them take us, she vowed silently, reaching back over her shoulder to touch the hilt of the sword that Gendry had stolen for her. I won’t. (ASOS)

im having feelings over the contrast. jon acquired needle to give to arya as a gift before she left winterfell so she could have something all her own. it was an sweet gesture and one she cherishes. gendry steals a sword for arya knowing full well that arya can and will use it to fight/kill as they escape a haunted castle together where they were kept prisoner

differences aside tho both boys are willing to give arya stark a sword

[sinamorarchived]

was that what you expected? / for jon snow

what had he expected? after all was said and done, after so long they had gone without seeing one another (going on twenty-three months since last he kept count), had he really expected to see the dragon queen once more and all to be well?

perhaps so. his time of healing and processing had come and gone. and once that period had ended and he heard of the arrangements winterfell had with daenerys, he had thought . . . her question slices like a sword through weak armor. her accusation had been nearly right: that he expected for a time of rekindling. a fresh start to rebuild upon. but she is wed to another now. a queen with a king.

❝ i don't know, dany . . . your grace. i just hadn't expected -- this. ❞

[ladystoneboobs]

idt we talk enough about how a song of ice and fire is also the song of incest and cannibalism. i mean, sure, obviously both of those subjects are noted as present, but the saga feels much more known for its incest, which idt is fair or accurate to the later materiel. iirc, jaime fucking cersei next to their dead firstborn is the last instance of onpage incest happening in present tl, and after that it's all about the cannibals, baby.

(disclaimer: cw/tw sa, cw/tw rape, and i'm not counting cousincest as that's normal in-world even for non-targaryens and also still legal in many places in our world today, nor counting the faux-incestuous freudian mess that is littlefinger/alayne(sansa)/sweetrobin, nor any dark humor jokes and/or unfulfilled threats wrt forced cannibalism)

in fact pretty much all the active incest during the present tl happens in those first 3 books:

the twincest as a major plot point ofc, kicking action off when bran saw them fucking in a tower

and viserys creeping on dany and twisting her nipple

tyrion relating his backstory to bronn wherein he and tysha were both raped by proxy by his father, tywin (tho tyrion does not use that terminology)

craster still being alive to rape and impregnate his own daughters (resulting in dozens of forced incestuous relationships)

and theon unknowingly groping his own sister while she (knowingly) groped him in return

jaime's early pov recalled how he shut up cersei with kissing when they fought after bran refused to die

bella of stoney sept trying and failing to seduce gendry who is (unbeknownst to them both) her half-brother as both were sired by robert baratheon (only example in these 3 books where incest was averted before any sexual activity or incestuous contact occurred)

the aforementioned sept twincest next to joffrey's corpse

tyrion learning from oberyn about cersei twisting his penis when he was a baby

cersei's failed attempt to seduce jaime in wst, pulling out his dick for either a bj or hj until her talk of tyrion's death made him lose his boner

while incest is not exactly absent from the text after that, it seems to exist in the feastdance only in hypotheticals or past memories:

aeron's trauma flashbacks of his (implied only in published text) csa by euron

jaime still feeling lust when seeing cersei nude

and her fond reminiscing about them fucking behind robert's back/brief dream of them as a married couple before her walk of shame

and cersei remembering another she twisted tyrion's baby penis

victarion misinterpreting asha's offer of partnership as a marriage proposal and suddenly looking at his niece in a new way with "his manhood beginning to stiffen"

jaime's recollection of fucking cersei at darry next to robert as he was passed out drunk before cersei sent him to hunt arya (which would have happened back in agot and the point of this scene is more his failed hunt for a child just to make cersei happy)

arianne's "uneasy" memory of a past fantasy about being seduced by a man whose description is suspiciously similar to her late uncle oberyn

the aborted marital match of aegon/young griff to his purported aunt dany

illyrio saying (the now dead) viserys tried to rape dany the night before her wedding to drogo (another event from agot concerning a guy we already knew was into incest)

and tyrion once saying he wanted to rape as well as murder cersei

conversely, the cannibalism in the earlier books is most often only unproven hypotheticals alluded to as possible cannibalism:

old nan saying the others fed their dead servants the flesh of human children (which we have not yet seen with any wights so far, whether or not one counts walking undead eating human flesh as straight-up cannibalism)

the mystery meat in flea bottom's bowls o' brown which may or may not contain symon silver tongue after tyrion had him killed

renly's recollection that cressen kept stannis from catapulting their old master-at-arms by saying they may need to eat him later (which did not come to pass thanks to davos)

joffrey telling his people to eat their own dead (with no way of knowing if any actually did)

lady hornwood eating her own fingers (though bran's pov only notes them being chewed on, not swallowed. it's only in adwd that people talk of her eating the fingers.)

the mentions of the ice river clans being the cannibals beyond the wall (who are def not among the free folk jon snow gets to know onpage, making it just background detail)

bran's (possibly mythical) story of the rat cook

and biter chewing on people he attacked and other corpses (which seems to be just a side hobby connected to his killing method moreso constituting a snack than a full meal from a person butchered for meat. this tendancy of his is just background detail in acok, with biter chewing a corpse in the background after the weasel soup operation, and the hindsight implication that it could well have been him rather than dogs or wolves who had "been at" the corpses after the skirmish where yoren was killed)

while the feastdance feels much more in your face with cannibalism, having not only more total mentions of the practice but also more confirmed, actual cannibalism (as opposed to the ambiguity of each and every bowl o' brown), for those who know how to look at the evidence:

jaime learned that his father's mad dog aka the mountain fed parts of vargo hoat to all his prisoners (including vargo himself) after recapturing harrenhal

and euron bragged about pulling a similar trick with the warlocks he captured (the only twist being that the warlocks knew what they were being forced to eat, which vargo hoat and wylis manderly etc at harrenhal likely didn't)

the elder brother of the quiet isle told of biter eating all of a woman's breasts at saltpans after she'd been raped and killed (prob the largest amount of flesh biter's confirmed to have eaten from one corpse)

bran and co. ate "pig" supplied by coldhands which had to be long pig aka human meat

brienne felt her face being eaten by biter in her own pov (which is so much worse than him chewing others in the background of the weasel soup scene)

theon was told that two ironmen at moat cailin were found eating their dead comrades

the astapori were said to eat their own dead while under siege by the yunkishmen

and then were said to do so again in refugee camps outside meereen

sam and davos sailed past skagos and remembered stories of skagosi cannibalism

khrazz the pit fighter cut the hearts from his defeated foes to eat them

cotter pyke's last letter to jon snow said the wildlings were eating their own dead at hardhome

4 of stannis's men were executed by burning for butchering and eating other men (with asha wondering how many others had done so without being caught)

and ofc the frey pies with wyman manderly having his 3 former guests killed and serving their meat to their own kin and the other guests at ramsay's wedding while eating some himself too

two of these examples (involving gregor clegane and euron greyjoy) must have actually happened during the course of asos, but grrm chose to give us the gruesome details in affc, which was brand new information about men we already knew were villains but did not know were into that fucked-up shit specifically, unlike being reminded that agot-era jaime and viserys wanted to fuck their sisters. (and not unlike how adwd has the clarification of multiple characters saying lady hornwood ate her own fingers as opposed to bran's acok pov just saying she chewed on them.) it's as if after craster was killed and jc effectively broke up grrm decided cannibalism was the taboo subject matter he would fill the later books with, so we'd really feel the increasing danger of starvation-induced cannibalism with winter's arrival (and have no trouble believing rickon's new home of skagos really is a cannibal island). however, in-universe it feels like there's some sort of environmental balance connection so that the decrease in one formerly common behaviorial abomination just allows another such abomination to fill in the gap with a sharp increase in activity, like deer overpopulation resulting from lack of predators as if all the active incest somehow stopped more people from eating themselves or other people.

[jackoshadows]

Firstly, why is it that Sansa can only be praised by comparing her to Arya? Secondly, in what world is Arya physically strong and more than Sansa?!

The masculinization of Arya Stark by tradfems in fandom has become so commonplace that I suppose many of them imagine this is how Arya and Sansa are in the books:

In case folks don't know this: ARYA IS TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN SANSA! She's the younger sibling!

Anyone who has read a Jon POV chapter should know that Arya is a skinny, little girl. Jon specifically makes a small, lightweight, thin sword for Arya to handle.

And Arya … he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. - Jon, AGoT

Arya has been on the run for two years, hunted by Lannister men, a slave put to hard physical work and starved for food.

She spent the rest of that day scrubbing steps inside the Wailing Tower. By evenfall her hands were raw and bleeding and her arms so sore they trembled when she lugged the pail back to the cellar. Too tired even for food, Arya begged Weese's pardons and crawled into her straw to sleep. - Arya, ACoK

Often as not, she went to bed hungry rather than risk the stares. - Arya, AGoT

"Lommy's hungry," Hot Pie whined, "and I am too." "We're all hungry," said Arya. - Arya, ACoK

Arya watched them die and did nothing. What good did it do you to be brave? One of the women picked for questioning had tried to be brave, but she had died screaming like all the rest. There were no brave people on that march, only scared and hungry ones. - Ary, ACoK

I knew we should never have left the woods, she thought. They'd been so hungry, though, and the garden had been too much a temptation. - Arya, ASoS

"An inn?" The thought of hot food made Arya's belly rumble, but she didn't trust this Tom. - Arya, ASoS

Rabbits ran faster than cats, but they couldn't climb trees half so well. She whacked it with her stick and grabbed it by its ears, and Yoren stewed it with some mushrooms and wild onions. Arya was given a whole leg, since it was her rabbit. She shared it with Gendry. - Arya, ASoS

The biggest toms would seldom win, she noticed; oft as not, the prize went to some smaller, quicker animal, thin and mean and hungry. Like me, she told herself. - Cat of the Canals, AFfC

We have the contrast of Arya having to trade some carrots and cabbages they picked from an overgrown garden to get some food and the innkeeper complaining about the lack of lemons to the sumptuous 64 dish feast in the Vale with a 12 feet tall lemon cake made especially for Sansa.

Anguy shuffled his feet. "We were thinking we might eat it, Sharna. With lemons. If you had some." "Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look like Dorne to you, you freckled fool? Why don't you hop out back to the lemon trees and pick us a bushel, and some nice olives and pomegranates too." She shook a finger at him. "Now, I suppose I could cook it with Lem's cloak, if you like, but not till it's hung for a few days. You'll eat rabbit, or you won't eat. Roast rabbit on a spit would be quickest, if you've got a hunger. Or might be you'd like it stewed, with ale and onions." Arya could almost taste the rabbit. "We have no coin, but we brought some carrots and cabbages we could trade you." - Arya, ASoS

Sixty-four dishes were served, in honor of the sixty-four competitors who had come so far to contest for silver wings before their lord. From the rivers and the lakes came pike and trout and salmon, from the seas crabs and cod and herring. Ducks there were, and capons, peacocks in their plumage and swans in almond milk. Suckling pigs were served up crackling with apples in their mouths, and three huge aurochs were roasted whole above firepits in the castle yard, since they were too big to get through the kitchen doors. Loaves of hot bread filled the trestle tables in Lord Nestor’s hall, and massive wheels of cheese were brought up from the vaults. The butter was fresh-churned, and there were leeks and carrots, roasted onions, beets, turnips, parsnips. And best of all, Lord Nestor’s cooks prepared a splendid subtlety, a lemon cake in the shape of the Giant’s Lance, twelve feet tall and adorned with an Eyrie made of sugar. For me, Alayne thought, as they wheeled it out. Sweetrobin loved lemon cakes too, but only after she told him that they were her favorites. The cake had required every lemon in the Vale, but Petyr had promised that he would send to Dorne for more. - Alayne, TWoW

Arya was already a little, skinny girl smaller than Sansa when they left Winterfell. She has been worked to the bone, sleeping rough and gone hungry. Again, by what logic is this Arya supposed to be physically strong and more than Sansa?!

There is this idea that's often pushed where Sansa is some dainty, fragile princess while Arya is this strong executioner henchwoman and it's just so tiresome and toxic.

Arya is also not Brienne! They are two different characters. If you want physically strong warrior types to compare to Sansa, there is already Brienne. Arya is the smaller, younger sister. In canon and logically, it's the taller, bigger, elder sister with access to good, rich food who would be physically stronger.

The Stark looking Starks tend to be slender and quicker compared to the bigger, stronger Tully looking Starks.

He was of an age with Robb, but they did not look alike. Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast. - Bran, AGoT

The biggest toms would seldom win, she noticed; oft as not, the prize went to some smaller, quicker animal, thin and mean and hungry. Like me, she told herself. - Cat of the Canals, AFfC

"Can't you guess?" Jon teased. "Your very favorite thing." Arya seemed puzzled at first. Then it came to her. She was that quick. They said it together: "Needle!" - Jon, AGoT

Arya was always quick and clever, but in the end she's just a little girl, and Roose Bolton is not the sort who would be careless with a prize of such great worth. - Jon, ADwD

This is one of the reasons for why Jon Snow is so protective of Arya Stark - he certainly doesn't see her as some physically strong warrior type, despite gifting her with a sword. He's scared for her because he knows that despite how clever she is, Ramsay can kill, rape and torture her - she's 'just a little girl'.

Arya deserves to be protected, same as Sansa. She is not there to be anyone's henchwoman, she does not have super strength and she is certainly not physically stronger than Sansa.

[ai-manre]

Cant believe there are still people calling Arya unkind and implying she's somehow less moral and less heroic than other characters. When she is TEN years old and does this:

As they were running toward the barn, Arya spied the crying girl sitting in the middle of the chaos, surrounded by smoke and slaughter. She grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to her feet as the others raced ahead. The girl wouldn't walk, even when slapped. Arya dragged her with her right hand while she held Needle in the left. Ahead, the night was a sullen red. The barn's on fire, she thought. Flames were licking up its sides from where a torch had fallen on straw, and she could hear the screaming of the animals trapped within. Hot Pie stepped out of the barn. "Arry, come on! Lommy's gone, leave her if she won't come!"

Stubbornly, Arya dragged all the harder, pulling the crying girl along. Hot Pie scuttled back inside, abandoning them . . . but Gendry came back, the fire shining so bright on his polished helm that the horns seemed to glow orange. He ran to them, and hoisted the crying girl up over his shoulder. "Run!"

Rushing through the barn doors was like running into a furnace. The air was swirling with smoke, the back wall a sheet of fire ground to roof. Their horses and donkeys were kicking and rearing and screaming. The poor animals, Arya thought. Then she saw the wagon, and the three men manacled to its bed. Biter was flinging himself against the chains, blood running down his arms from where the irons clasped his wrists. Rorge screamed curses, kicking at the wood. "Boy!" called Jaqen H'ghar. "Sweet boy!" [...]

Going back into that barn was the hardest thing she ever did. Smoke was pouring out the open door like a writhing black snake, and she could hear the screams of the poor animals inside, donkeys and horses and men. She chewed her lip, and darted through the doors, crouched low where the smoke wasn't quite so thick.

A donkey was caught in a ring of fire, shrieking in terror and pain. She could smell the stench of burning hair. The roof was gone up too, and things were falling down, pieces of flaming wood and bits of straw and hay. Arya put a hand over her mouth and nose. She couldn't see the wagon for the smoke, but she could still hear Biter screaming. She crawled toward the sound.

And then a wheel was looming over her. The wagon jumped and moved a half foot when Biter threw himself against his chains again. Jaqen saw her, but it was too hard to breathe, let alone talk. She threw the axe into the wagon. Rorge caught it and lifted it over his head, rivers of sooty sweat pouring down his noseless face.

Arya literally threw herself into a burning shed with falling roof, to rescue complete strangers. The worst she's risking here is not a beating or anything, she's risking her life and that too by making the active choice to go in and rescue people she does not know. Are you kidding me?? You see this and still Arya Stark isn't the kindest heroic character?

[bisexualmultifandommess]

My favourite kind of Gendrya fic is either a reunion or post-reunion fic or a relationship reveal fic of any kind where Gendry and Arya obviously seem to know each other and Jon is just stood there watching them like:

[strangesmallbard]

pondering an asoiaf war of the five kings au where ned decides to tell robert about cersei/jaime (maybe his death was less imminent or ned believes he’s honor-bound to tell him before he signs that document about joffrey), and in response, robert pulls an aegon 4 and legitimizes all his bastards right before kicking it. he tasks ned with finding and protecting his heir, conveniently not mentioning who that heir is.

of course, much would stay the same after that. for example: joffrey still executes ned, sansa is imprisoned, arya flees the red keep, etc. i think cersei still orders robert’s now trueborn kids killed, but with more urgency; news of the legitimization travels fast (varys helps spread it to destabilize the lannisters even more in preparation for young griff), so cersei and co have to work double time to refute the rumors and bury the evidence (the kids).

beyond robert’s kids, the biggest story change would be stannis’ arc. i think he’d also send people to find robert’s kids; he specifically wants to find robert’s eldest trueborn son, but instructs all newly baratheon kids sent to dragonstone. however, i think it’d be interesting if renly, rather than making his own claim, decides to throw his support behind edric storm. after all, a noble bastard could be more readily accepted and he’d have five years as his regent. to bolster edric’s claim, renly begins searching for the kids as well.

as a result, you have Many People looking for kids with black hair and blue eyes. i think gendry (+arya, hot pie, weasel, and lommy) wind up at dragonstone. lysa immediately sends mya there as well, not wanting the war on her doorstep, but she’s intercepted by renly’s team, who promptly take her to storm’s end. (mya’s pov chapter is vivid in my head; as she’s very comfortable in her role and responsibilities at the vale + she’s technically the eldest sibling overall, her perspective on Suddenly Being a Princess could be really interesting).

i’m unsure where bella rivers ends up; maybe she’s the only bastard found by cersei’s guards? i can’t think of a reason cersei would keep her alive except to psychologically torment her like she does sansa, but sansa already has that arc. OH maybe she’s the one who winds up with the brotherhood without banners instead of gendry? (i think gendry ends up there either way; him and arya sneak out of dragonstone at some point).

anyway, aside from plot points i haven’t quite worked out the “why” factor. why change these events? what is the overall purpose? which themes could be illuminated with this change? does this change affect jon’s story at the wall or dany’s story in meereen at all? and so on. but if this au has inspired any ideas (even lore corrections LMAO), i’d love to hear them!

[packsurvivcs]

arya munching on bread pretending not to watch mister i'm not wearing a shirt rn as he practices with the sword.

[dragonseeds]

besides daemon as a gothic heroine trutherism the reason i want to see more of harrenhal on house of the dragon is because i always thought it would play a significant role in twow/ados. if king’s landing gets annihilated due to some combination of wildfire, dragon fire, and jon connington bell-related ptsd and winterfell is in the hands of the boltons—and there must always be a stark in winterfell, which aside from being propaganda actually has something simmering there—where on the continent do these storylines converge?

it’s chekov’s monstrously huge castle that no one family can hold, that can hold armies, right in the middle of the continent—a liminal space, a temporal vortex, haunted and cursed, hungry and waiting. it sits on the god’s eye, where the first men and the children of the forest made their pact, where dragons died, where gendry realized who arya was just as rhaegar realized who lyanna was. balerion made a pyre out of the highest tower and there are weirwoods built into the beams and rafters. it’s where jaime was claimed and sent away by an unworthy king and where he returned to save brienne in a moment of certainty and bravery that sucked him into the past and propelled him forward all at once. littlefinger holds it and holds sansa captive, but she has giants to slay and the vale has men. the timing of its completion with aegon’s conquest, how he burned it that first day, and that it’s where jaehaerys held the great council that set into motion the dying of the dragons—but daenerys is a character who symbolizes rebirth, redefinition, reclamation (of her body, of her name, of her legacy: if the throne her family built burns like a pyre, melts like harren’s tower, what better place to restart than a castle that was also burnt and survived? and if arya goes back there, will it seem like an old friend this time?) like we’ve got to go back. the dragons are back. we’ve got to go back. different roads lead to the same castle. am i losing my mind.