What do you know of my heart?

Needle was Jon Snow’s dick. - Arya II, AFFC, probably. Main blog: @boundinshallows ASOIAF blog: @dornishseas

[aryastarksource]

I despaired of ever making a lady of her.

[grantaere]

A Feast for Crows — Arya I

[sanshofox]

art prints available: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sansho/valar-morghulis/

My arya art nouveau piece. I combined elements I like from my previous got art nouveau pieces. I.e. the frost edges and red leaves from my sansa fan art, symbolizing both their home or the flower symbolism from my Braime fan art. The flowers represent wisdom, strength, devotion and cunning.

Also present here are her ‘mentors’, main motto and important places and weapons.

[kallielef]

commission piece of princess Nymeria, Arya Stark, and Nymeria the direwolf. I learned a lot with this piece, and I was so happy to do something in the asoiaf realm again! 

[aryaofasoiaf]

You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you.

[gendrie]

ok let me get this out of my system: 

nobody is saying arya was locked in a tower or hated by every person who resided in winterfell or whatever the fuck this fandom is on about now.  obviously, jon cherished arya but he was an outsider too. and the smallfolk adored her but they dont make the rules. even ned, who indulged her to a degree, expected her to conform. but the women in arya’s life, who mocked belittled and disrespected everything she did, had the biggest impact. they shaped her view of a woman’s role in westeros. this effects her entire outlook on life. as a highborn girl being a lady is a crucial part of arya’s identity. but its one she feels she is unworthy of. she can’t sew because her hands are like a blacksmiths. she should marry hodor because they’re both stupid and ugly. she should be like sansa so thats she has value. they literally made her feel like she didnt belong in her own life. and surprise! this plays an integral part in aryas story. her arc is about identity and belonging as she shapeshifts into numerous personas and lives on the run. she doubts her own place in the world. she doesnt know if her own mother would want her back. and even in adwd we see arya reflect on the names she was called during her life at winterfell a she tries to forget that life ever existed because she was stupid and ugly. she has a right to these insecurities and its not fair to disregard them. her relationship with femininity, identity and her role in society has been a factor since her first chapter and will continue to be until the very end 

[lordsnow]

#one of the most jarring and heartbreaking things in arya’s chapter i think is in AGoT when Ned tells Arya that she reminds him of Lyanna   #and the FIRST THING to come out of her mouth was ‘lyanna was beautiful’ and her immediate thought afterward was ‘that was not a thing that  #was ever said about Arya’   #I mean Ned tells her that his sister was wolf blooded and would have carried a sword if she was allowed to and Arya doesn’t think to herself   #‘i can see why i would remind him of her because I’m like that too’   #she immediately thinks of Lyanna’s beauty and how Arya believes that she has none herself without Ned even mentioning Lyanna’s beauty   #like…… come on you guys   #Arya’s relationship with beauty and femininity is so apparent and it did not come from nowhere   #the people around her made her feel ugly and insufficient and yes those people were her family but that doesn’t make it okay (via @lyannas)

[mericatblackwood-deactivated202]

She probably wouldn’t even know me now, Arya thought. Or if she did, she’d hate me.

Even Jon would never know Blind Beth, I bet. That made her sad. 

[killbilled]

You will forgive my doubts, my lady. A grey girl on a dying horse, fleeing from a marriage, that was what you said. I was not wrong. You were not right. Alys is not Arya. A grey girl on a dying horse. Daggers in the dark. A promised prince, born in smoke and salt. It seems to me that you make nothing but mistakes, my lady. Where is Stannis? What of Rattleshirt and his spearwives? Where is my sister?

[gendrie]

nobody is gonna convince me nymeria uniting all the wolves in the riverlands into one single pack under her command isn’t foreshadowing for arya doing the same with the men tbh - the brotherhood, the houses loyal to the starks/tullys and the smallfolk alike. this entire region is a chaotic mess with a destructive zombie in the center of it all but they need to join forces and become organized before the white walkers tear down the wall. arya is the one who’s gonna do it. she has so much history here. shes fought and bled and cried. we’ve already seen her deliver mercy and justice to soldiers all over the riverlands. she saved an innocent baby and protected her friends. she’s been a hostage at the hands of monsters but she’s going to rise to power and save this entire region when she gives her mother mercy. then she’s going to become the new stark leader just like her brother. she’ll even have his crown. but more importantly she’ll have her fathers words: the lone wolf dies but the pack survives. this is what arya’s meant to do. 

[madaboutasoiaf]

#and its pretty clearly what the starks are being set up to do across westeros#jon in the north with the wildlings#and the northerners with robbs will#sansa is going to gain influence in the vale#when they all join forces eventually it’ll make them strong enough to fight the walkers (via @gendrie)

[insomniarama]

#arya’s arc is so much about abuse of privilege  #she sees knights and highborns abuse power over and over  #she’s going to use her highborn status for good  #she is a natural leader  #and her chapters are building towards her using all she has learned  #from ned syrio yoren and her time in the hobaw and braavos  #she named her wolf nymeria  #it means something  #she’s all about pack  #arya would make friends with anybody  #and she will and it will be vital for the war (via @madaboutasoiaf)

[gendrie]

there’s a reason why ned tells arya and only arya ‘the lone wolf dies but the pack survives’ and this is it,it’s not a stark family motto like the show and fandom like to pretend,it only appears in arya’s chapters and is never said or even referenced anywhere else or by any other character before or after,and that’s because while it’s a powerful saying that looks great slapped on gifsets it’s a narrative imperative for arya specifically,she’s the only one that consistently thinks of ‘pack’ in terms of people - friends and allies - those she’s taken into her protection,and feels personally responsible for leading and providing for and defending even when it’s at a cost to her own person,and finally forming one large pack from all the disparate groups she found and lost over her journey is what her arc’s building to,just like her direwolf and the warrior queen she was named after did before her,arya’s the connecting thread between these factions crooked stitches and all,it’s yet another reason why she won’t remain in the hobaw - they want her isolated and to blindly follow when she’s meant to lead,(notice ‘valar dohaeris’ isn’t far from gregor’s ‘obey. serve. live.’ in harrenhal), (via @insomniarama )

[dailygotsource]

You can come see me, you know, at Castle Black. I can’t. You think anyone will dare tell you women aren’t allowed? I’m not going back north. What’s west of Westeros? I don’t know. No one knows. It’s where all the maps stop. That’s where I’m going.

[bethgreenesgf-archive]

Westeros was freezing. The Gods had turned on us and every great Lord had fled South. Our children screamed as the days grew colder and before long there was no day at all. The Long Night. And then she came, like a miracle. The Last of the Starks. Arya, Queen in the North.

[abigailcowen]

You still have it.

[aegontargarryen]

Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon, her mother and her father, even Sansa. Needle was Winterfell’s grey walls, and the laughter of its people. Needle was the summer snows, Old Nan’s stories, the heart tree with its red leaves and scary face, the warm earthy smell of the glass gardens, the sound of the north wind rattling the shutters of her room. Needle was Jon Snow’s smile.

― George R.R. Martin, A Feast for Crows

[jonryatrash]

can u pls not tag jon x arya and anti gendrya posts as gendrya pls x

Sorry, anon! That was not intentional on my part. It was a tagging error. It’s been removed. 

[jonryatrash]

All of the quotes that hint at romantic jonrya could also be platonic. Jon could have meant what do you know of my heart as what do you know of my family and the people I love. Jon might compare people to Arya because she is his basic example of a skinny person. Jon might have questioned whether she was his sister for bastard insecurity reasons. Honestly I’m just fucking confused because there are two different ways to read jonrya and I can’t wrap my head around it.

I have to disagree with you, Anon. I’ll respond with numbered points just because it’ll help me organize my thoughts a little better.

1. When Jon thinks “what do you know of my heart, priestess?,” he also follows it with “what do you know of my sister?” It’s not about his whole family. Jon had multiple opportunities to betray his vows for the sake of his family (specifically for Ned and Robb). He could have gone running to Sansa’s aid when he heard of her disastrous marriages. He doesn’t. His sister = his heart. No other sibling relationship is characterized as being so close in this series. Except, oh wait, Jaime/Cersei... Cersei says that she and Jaime are one person in two bodies, directly drawing on that imagery of being a part of another person. 

2. When was the last time you thought of your siblings as “your heart,” the very organ that people cannot live without? I love my siblings a lot, and there is enough of an age gap between us that I feel very maternal towards my younger ones. However, I’ve never thought of them like that. And like it or not, GRRM is writing for a contemporary audience who would look for hints and cues made for them.

3. Jon hasn’t seen Arya in at least a year when the whole Ygritte business happens, and surely there are skinny people in the NW if he’s just looking to compare her to any skinny person. Also, GRRM didn’t *need* to add a simile. He could have just said that maybe Ygritte was skinny? We understand what that means as readers. In the scene, Jon thinks that Ygritte could be pudgy and then says “Underneath all [her clothes] she could be as skinny as Arya.” It’s not even that Jon is looking at her naked and thinking about how skinny she is. He’s *imagining* her naked (without her furs, etc.) and thinks about his sister.

4. When was the last time you mentally undressed someone and then thought they had the same body shape as your sibling? I just... 

5. Jon absolutely questions whether Arya is his sister for narrative purposes, like a reminder of his bastardy. It serves to remind him that he gave up his family when he joined the NW. It also serves to plant doubt in the reader’s mind since Jon’s parentage (more specifically his mother) is a perpetual question for the audience. Importantly though, he doesn’t ever ask this about Robb, Bran, Sansa, or Rickon. The latter three he was never super close to, but he and Robb were basically the same age. Jon tells us they were best friends and rivals all in one. Jon might question whether he should come to Robb’s aid, but he certainly doesn’t have the same sort of “was he ever” line about Robb like he does with Arya. 

6. GRRM created Jon and Arya as two parts of a love triangle, and we can safely assume that at least AGOT was published with that initial Waterstones plot in mind. The question is, has GRRM done anything in all these years to characterize Jon and Arya any differently? At their parting in AGOT, Jon arms Arya to keep her safe. In ADWD, Jon betrays his brothers and his vows for “one little girl,” who he has no proof is still alive other than the word of Ramsey, to save her from a monstrous marriage. He very literally dies to protect her. So, GRRM isn’t really doing anything to make his readers think that Jon and Arya are any less vital to each other than they were in book 1. They think about one another constantly, and at times they are the only things that keep each other grounded. 

7. GRRM says that the original endgame is still in play, even if he has taken different roads to get there. If that’s true, Jon and Arya are going to have some unsavory feelings about one another to contend with, regardless of whether they ultimately sleep together and become romantically involved.  

[jonryatrash]

Do you have any headcanons Jon being jealous of Gendry ( who for the sake of the au is Arya’s betrothed, husband, or modern au boyfriend or crush) ?

I think it would depend on whether Arya is into Gendry or not. Personally, I don’t see Arya ever forgiving Gendry for turning his back on her. I mean, she might understand his reasons, but Arya is all about pack and, to her, I think he would be pushed to the peripheral at that. She wouldn’t want to see him come to harm, but I don’t think she would allow him the sort of close bond they had on the road. 

Also because he’s a bastard, I don’t think anything would come of a betrothal or marriage in canon, so it wouldn’t be an issue of jealousy since there’s nothing to be jealous about. But if we’re imagining some sort of AU where Bobby B legitimizes him and Ned accepts a marriage to a legitimized bastard for his daughter, then, all that being said, I can imagine a few things: 

1. If Arya is truly happy, Jon would not say a damn word to her about it and force himself to be happy. I also don’t think he would recognize his feelings for what they are, so he’d probably resent another man taking his place as the closest man in her life, but nothing beyond that. 

2. Arya wouldn’t be truly happy. Let’s be real, hotness does not a good husband make. I don’t care if Gendry wins Mr. Westeros five years running; he just doesn’t have what Arya needs. Now, Arya can either suck it up and be resigned to her lot in life, or she can fight against it. 

3. The MOMENT that Arya expresses any sort of displeasure with her betrothal or marriage, Jon would come running (assuming he’s not in the NW and more of a free agent). Arya would be delighted, because it’s Jon and he’s the only person (her father aside) who has ever made her feel truly loved and happy. Jon would disapprove of the whole thing with Gendry and monopolize Arya’s time like it’s his job. 

4. Those two, left alone in their own little world, would definitely be drawn closer together, especially as adults. Think Cesare and Lucrezia from The Borgias, but without the presence of a family scrambling for power. (If you’ve not seen that show, run, don’t walk, to your nearest streaming service). 

5. This leads to very impure thoughts and behavior. Jon, perhaps jealous that he can’t ever just openly *have* Arya like he wants to, doesn’t hesitate to get involved with her physically. In this scenario, she is all he has, and it’s toxic AF but also fulfilling. As for Arya, well…Jon is family. He is pack, and her allegiance is to him first and foremost, despite whatever she swore before Gods she doesn’t believe in. This is also not healthy, but she’s starved to feel like herself again, before she ever left the North for some fiance/husband. 

6. They end up in bed with one another. A lot. The first time, Arya removes her wedding ring as that marriage has no place in her bedroom (ironically). Jon asks (commands, most likely, for a little D/s element) she put it back on. Whenever she takes him into her hand, Jon gets a thrill out of looking at it while she’s stroking him, because it’s such a beautiful fuck you to a man who doesn’t deserve her. (P.S.: this would also happen in any modern AU too). 

After writing all this, I realize that it’s not so much about Jon’s jealousy, Nonny. So, sorry about that. But I also don’t think that I can quite offer a lot of headcanons on that topic because there’s absolutely nothing for Jon to be jealous over because Arya would always put him above anyone? And this isn’t even me making stuff up. We know from AGOT that Arya wouldn’t tell the truth to Ned when he asked directly who armed her. If she is more loyal to Jon than her own *father* who she loves dearly, then Gendry doesn’t stand a damn chance in the hierarchy of Arya’s love. 

Now, I’m sure Gendry would have LOADS to be jealous about. 

[jonryatrash]

When will people accept that Jon kills Daenerys? Another thing GRRM has said is that both ice and fire kill. It has many meanings and the ending is supposed to be bittersweet. Insisting the title is about Jonerys is denying it's not endgame and how one of them kills the other. I didn't mind Jonerys shippers when they stuck to their delusion of a baby because it's just the way shippers are but it's a fact from GRRM that wights can't have kids. There won't be a happy Jonerys end. Let the ship die.

So, I don’t think that we should take anything that happened in GoT as canon for ASOIAF. Do I think that some of it may happen as a variation on a theme? Certainly. For instance, I’ve bought that Dany-descends-into-villainy narrative since 2014-ish, but that is in large part because Dany recognizes her own...idk...monstrosity is probably the best word because that’s literally *her* word for it. Also, GRRM seems to be shifting all his characters in to the morally gray area in the end. The Lannister boys are prime examples. Readers are set-up to dislike Jaime and like Tyrion, but as the story continues, it’s Jaime that becomes more likable and Tyrion less so, generally speaking. I think this will be a trend with many of the major players in the end. 

I also want to say that my main complaints with all the other Jon and Arya ships, but especially J*nerys and J*nsa, isn’t that they exist, but that fans argue that the ships have all this canon evidence. That’s just...not true. At all. By all means, people should feel free to ship all they want, but it’s the rabid insistence that these ships are canon that I take a lot of issue with. All I ask is that people be real about what is and isn’t there.

Y’all, I ship some serious crack ships, especially in other fandoms, okay? In fact, it feels like all I do is ship non-canonical ships? And that is OKAY, but I don’t go around insisting that, for example, Rick and Daryl from The Walking Dead are really going to bang one out in season whatever-the-hell. And I’m not going to get in it with Rick/Lori or Rick/Michonne shippers and act like it’s really going to happen in the show. For me, that’s where J*nerys and J*nsa shippers take it too far, *especially* when we’re talking ASOIAF. 

I hope that clears up some of my stances on these issues. I will defend anyone’s right to enjoy whatever ship they want as long as they’re realistic about what’s actually happening in a series.