I remember reading ADwD and thinking am I reading it right, Jon is so passionate about Arya it's like his dormant Targaryen was unleashed. And then the Jonrya letter leaked and I had to reread the books because I had been reading it right.
Sorry, anon - I intended to write about how much I love Jon and his ADWD arc, but I ended up spiraling into a rant about George’s writing and fandom response instead! Hopefully you don’t mind me stepping on the soapbox.
TL;DR: You get me, and all of us who picked up on it have to stick together. :) Mentioned rant is under the cut!
I fully agree - I think the scope and scale of the series overall really allows some people to distance themselves from how, like, unsubtle some of the hints George has dropped in ADWD really are. Because there’s so much text to sift through, people are less inclined to take certain details or patterns as seriously as they deserve.
Has George’s original storyline mutated over the years? 100% it has. Has it changed so much that Jon and Arya’s dynamic is no longer romantic? I find it difficult to say one way or the other - there’s a lot of factors to consider, end of the day, including marketability. Jonrya just isn’t that popular.
But has the storyline changed so much that Jon and Arya’s dynamic is no longer crucial to the plot and key factors in the arcs of both characters? Absolutely not. They may not be the most important factors in each other’s arcs anymore, maybe, but theirs is certainly the most relevant relationship to their arcs. It’s more or less spelled out for us in their POVs.
George is an incredibly efficient writer. He has no intention to waste the reader’s time, and no patience for mind games. He’s extremely deliberate - his text isn’t simple or straight-forward by any means, but it is constructed with a consciously considered purpose. Honestly, people like to moan about how long George takes to finish his work, but just as many people, and often the same, will discount exactly how meaningful each line of text that he includes is. He spends that long editing and drafting and deliberating each word, and so it seems only fair to assume everything he includes has a specific purpose.
The thing with George is that when he writes POV chapters, the text is neither generally omniscient nor a comprehensive catalogue of the perspective character’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Unlike some authors, George doesn’t dissect a character’s unconscious near-explicitly in the text - he gives the readers room to breathe and settle and consider for themselves. He asks more of his readers, and the simple fact is that mainstream audiences, and that includes fandom, read the series just for leisure - not judging, that’s a totally fine way to engage with the text.
And further, the nuances in Jon’s character in particular have suffered from how mainstream audiences have engaged with him. He is easily the most frequently simplified character, and the reduction is one of the most extreme in degrees, as well, especially if you factor in what a big fucking deal he is. What I mean is - take Arianne. While I love the Martells, and Arianne in particular, there is a lot less text dedicated to them and to her than there is to Jon, or even most POV characters. It naturally follows that readers would generalize or simplify her character as easily as they do. (I don’t like it, but it tracks logically.)
In comparison, Jon, with so many POVs and being easily the most important character, perspective or otherwise, to do with the entire Ice half of A Song of Ice and Fire, has had his arc and his themes diluted down to the point they’re near meaningless to the gen fandom, and it is fucking wild to witness! It's hard to really get a grip on as a fan of his, but a big part of it goes back to the fact that George’s writing style is a) relatively dense and b) relatively demanding.
I’m a pretty critical person, but I should say there’s a lot of things I do like about the ASOIAF fandom, and a lot of the time I don’t mind the community around book-accurate Jon, Arya, and their dynamic being smaller, because I think it gives opportunities to more people to voice their thoughts and be heard, and also we’ve got some of the most talented artists, editors, writers, and meta-writers in the fandom, easily.
But it can be frustrating to have a legitimate view of the text, so much so it’s clearly explicitly supported by textual and meta textual evidence, and yet be dismissed so easily by the wider fandom. But luckily the community has some really great members and allies, and blocking is easy enough - I do it at the drop of a hat, lol!
Agh, I should wrap this up. Thanks for the ask, and it makes me happy that you came to me with the sentiment - I feel you, anon, you get me
Hate how reading fic that prominently includes Arianne gets me so excited but will 9 times out of 10 leave me incredibly disappointed, esp w/ series completion fics... Why do fic authors feel the need to force Arianne to relearn lessons she has already learned when their favs haven't even begun to learn their lesson in canon? We know why
oh my god where to even start — if you removed all of the redeeming features of the himbo meme... the most boring perspective in affc... really is pointless not even touching his creepy ass fixation on arianne... his shitty limp dick thing about hitting sansa "lighter" than the others... only ok thing he ever did was how he die, n it didnt even help anyone!
what do you think of young Liv Tyler as a faceclaim for older!Arya? she’s beautiful w out just being a random brown haired woman and she def has the Stark look
Omg dude, I love her! The long features and face are perfect, and the stern look, and she has great gifs and stills for a fantasy setting. She also just has a magic look, you know? Like she's unreal. Suits the Stark bloodline? Her features are a bit soft but that's a small thing - and everything else is awesome. Now I'm curious what sort of Jon counterpart would suit her... especially from the same era... I'm tempted in a way to say Keanu Reeves 👀 They're the same era, right?
I've been away from fandom for a long time and checked out your blog. Thank you for having an Arya and Arianne blog!
Aww, I’m happy to be here! I wish I could afford to be more active, but I’m glad that my small contributions to the fandom have made your experience better. Welcome back, I’m so glad we have you in our community!
