Hey, i have, obviously, seen that you are an Gendrya shipper, even giving them kids and your ideas of them eloping and marrying. And i was wondering: How do you think Arya would go through the “process” of, by all means, choosing to spent all her life with Gendry, with Westeros power imbalance in marriages, not that Gendry would ever abuse it or her, and the risk of childbirth? Like, well, i suppose Arya would like it much more because she would genuinely love Gendry, just like, for example Rhaenyra or Lyanna probably would have if they liked their bethored, or if Laenor wasnt gay. Regardless, what i mean is, as an Arya fan, how do you think Arya would do when she’s in love, married and a mother?
A lot of my future!AU fanarts are based on one of my favorite "versions" of this couple. I like to imagine future!Aryas as a powerful woman with an important position, like Lady of Winterfell (or maybe Riverrun or Harrenhal). Or a member of King Bran's small council, pursuing important reformist policies. And Gendry is just there beign mostly supportive.
I don't hate Sansa at all, but I'm not one of those people who was surprised by the recent rumors that Martin's original plan didn't include her among the final survivors. My candidate for the final Stark in Winterfell has always been Arya.
I like the idea of Gendry ending up in the North with the Brotherhood during the Long Night war. And that a desperate Stannis publicly recognizes him and offers to legitimize him in an attempt to save House Baratheon from extinction (after Shireen's death).
I like the idea that, during the war, him and Arya reconect and decide to consummate their love in an unconventional way, perhaps with an elopement. That their relationship grows in secret in a world where the dead walk the earth, dragons cross the skies and the rules of civil society are crumbling.
And finally, I'm partial to the idea that once winter is over, a new order is established with at least slightly different rules. So the marriage is made official, Gendry forever renounces the Baratheon name and all rights to Storm's End. He takes his wife's name and becomes the father of a new generation of Starks.
Regarding the power imbalance, in the couple dynamic I imagine Gendry would be "only" a consort. And as a former smallfolk-bastrad-outlaw-southerner he wouldn't have any real power over his wife because essentially all his power comes from her (and/or her brother). But I like to think that neither of them would use their power (as lady or husband) to impose themselves on the other.
Regarding the spending all her life part... It's not like she grows up in a place where hookup culture or dating exist. The relationship model in her head is Ned and Cat.
Regarding the risk of childbirth, I think it's inevitable; there are no 100% reliable contraceptives in Westeros. And if Arya really found herself in a situation where the survival of House Stark depended on her, I think she would take the risk. But obviously, I hope she survives. I have no interest in reading a story where the protagonist lives an incredible life, surviving against all odds, only to die in childbirth just as she's found a shred of peace.
As a mother, I don't know if she'd be super openly affectionate, but I think she'd be fiercely protective of her children and teaching them to be independent. She'd be a little paranoid about not be there forever. After all, she was orphaned at a very young age.
And I think she'd encourage their natural inclinations and interests regardless of how unconventional they might be.
Keep in mind that many of my drawings on this blog aren't pieces of a single canon that exists in my head in a structured way. They're more situations inspired by this or that theory or fanfiction. So they're not very consistent with each other, nor do I consider them particularly realistic as final scenarios. @aisaac123
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