i hate ai generated photos but especially of things that we already have hundreds of actual photos of. why would you need ai generated images of the eiffel tower people have been taking pictures of the eiffel tower since its construction. you have unlimited eiffel tower photos already. why are you making fake ones. for what purpose.
Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserve. Today they got the Iraq treatment, and the US is bombing their civilians and toppling their government as the whole world watches. No authorisation from congress, no defensive maneuvering, no pretences of legality just the world largest, most criminal hegemonic power deploying cruel weaponry on people of colour time and time again to rob them of their resources and their futures.
shoutout to AO3 authors who write 100k fics for free while juggling mental illness, academic burnout, 3 jobs, and a deep-rooted need to fix fictional people.
You know what fucks me up the most (among so many other things) about people saying anakin created balance by destroying both the jedi and the sith is that the movie where he brings balance to the force is literally called return of the jedi. The movie where balance is restored is the movie where the JEDI return. the movie where JEDI KNIGHT luke skywalker brings his father back to the light is called return of the fucking jedi. DONT piss me off.
Was gonna do a poll then realized that with how often this has been mischaracterized as show bs by the rest of the fandom, we might want to run through some of the book hints for Sansa being the girl in grey first. So…
The one thing we know about Sansa's future is that she will find her way to Winterfell. ASOS features a prophecy telling us so:
I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." (ASOS, Arya VIII)
The snow fell and the castle rose. Two walls ankle-high, the inner taller than the outer. Towers and turrets, keeps and stairs, a round kitchen, a square armory, the stables along the inside of the west wall. It was only a castle when she began, but before very long Sansa knew it was Winterfell.
[...]
She picked up a broken branch and smashed the torn doll's head down on top of it, then pushed it down atop the shattered gatehouse of her snow castle. The servants looked aghast, but when Littlefinger saw what she'd done he laughed. "If the tales be true, that's not the first giant to end up with his head on Winterfell's walls." (ASOS, Sansa VII)
Doesn't make her the grey girl, but it’s fun that we’re told she’s going North via prophecy, and Jon is told a sister is coming North via prophecy. I’m sure it means nothing.
We have a quote which points to a reunion between Sansa and Jon by virtue of her moment of despair being a prelude for her wish coming true (there are no heroes/Edd, fetch me a block…wait a sec, that involves Jon too???):
Oh, it would be so sweet, to see him once again. But of course that could never be. Alayne Stone had no brothers, baseborn or otherwise. (AFFC, Alayne II)
More & meta links under the cut (I kept it as short as possible, promise!)
Obviously, the reunion could happen after Jon has retaken Winterfell, except we have this line which indicates a Stark will be present for that:
Battles had been fought at Winterfell before, but never one without a Stark on one side or the other. (ADWD, Jon VII)
We also have breadcrumbs leading North for Sansa by @istumpysk :
"I never knew a wolf to run up a streambed for miles," said Reek. "A man might. If he knew he was being hunted, he might. But a wolf?" - Theon IV, ACOK
x
The Liddle took out a knife and whittled at a stick. "When there was a Stark in Winterfell, a maiden girl could walk the kingsroad in her name-day gown and still go unmolested, and travelers could find fire, bread, and salt at many an inn and holdfast. - Bran II, ASOS
x
If Dontos and this northern girl helped murder our sweet king, it seems to me that they would want to put as many leagues as they could betwixt themselves and justice. Look for them in Oldtown, if you must, or across the narrow sea. Look for them in Dorne, or on the Wall. Look elsewhere. - Brienne II, AFFC
x
Or would she seek her own blood instead? Though all of her siblings had been slain, Brienne knew that Sansa still had an uncle and a bastard half brother on the Wall, serving in the Night's Watch. Another uncle, Edmure Tully, was a captive at the Twins, but his uncle Ser Brynden still held Riverrun. And Lady Catelyn's younger sister ruled the Vale. Blood calls to blood. Sansa might well have run to one of them. Which one, though? - Brienne II, AFFC) [link for much more + a map)
And most importantly, in the vision itself we have a hint that the girl is Sansa, as noted by @starwarsprincess1986
[link]
We even have a tentative travel timeline thanks to @aegor-bamfsteel [link]
Some fans believe Alys or Jeyne is the girl in grey, but neither girl’s path fits with Mel’s vision:
GRRM has the map for a reason, in order go along with the story and where everyone is at in the chapters. FArya is coiming from Stannis’ camp in Crofters’ Village, which is located in the wolfswood west of Winterfell, on the west side of the kingsroad and on the wrong side of Long Lake. Whereas Alys Karstark was coming from Karhold, which is located on the east side of the North, but it’s no where near Long Lake. This makes neither girl the one Melisandre saw in the flames. [link]
That's a good argument that neither Jeyne nor Alys is who Mel saw, and paired with GRRM’s widely noted thing for the number three, it’s pretty compelling:
Then there’s the GRRM rule of 3s; who the characters think it is, who the audience thinks it is, and who it actually is that has been foreshadowed all along. Jon’s other sister he knows was in a forced marriage has barely been on his radar. by @aegor-bamfsteel [link]
Also, Sansa is Ned’s narrative heir which would explain why Martin would want to write her return North as an echo of her father’s journey home after the rebellion as detailed by @une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir [link]
Of course, we have parallels from Jon’s side too. As many fans have noted, Jon getting murdered when he’s wanting to save a sister can be read as a callback to Brandon, but Jon dealing with a prophecy that’s eating away at him makes for an interesting parallel to his father. In both instances, for Brandon and Rhaegar, it is not any girl, but a Stark girl who is central to the matter. In fact, Sansa has specific parallels with Lyanna, and if she is the girl in grey, it would mean she and Lyanna both flee from an unwanted marriage and meet with a Targ which interestingly enough allows the conversation that Jon’s story is having with pre-canon Targ and Stark men to continue. He might save his “sister” where Brandon could not, and where his father spirited the Stark girl far away to a place she ultimately died, Jon will return his Stark girl safely home.
[Elaboration on the Sansa and Lyanna parallels in this tag and in a recent post by @julibf ]
There’s also the succession issue which both Jon and Sansa’s story have prominently featured with LF wanting to use Sansa to claim the North and Stannis wanting to use Jon, and of course, both are significant in the debate about Robb’s will which will create a fun wrinkle:
There is a conflict between them too - until they learn that Bran and Rickon are alive they both are kinda heirs of Starks and Winterfell, both are ruler coded since AGOT and their political strengths complement each other's weaknesses. Moreover, both can support each other's claim. Sansa Stark while being legitimate heir in many lords eyes is still married to Lannister and everyone knows it and she is also a girl who doesn't know how to wage a war. On the other hand Jon Snow even with Stark blood printed on his Ned Stark (who is still beloved in the North) face is still a bastard and can't interfere with claim of legitimate heirs (given that Robb's will is still unknown). One of them on his/her own can raise a lot of questions but two can make a decent claim. by @asoiaf-essays-collector [link]
All of this set up is wasted if they are not both feasible options (in the North) for the Northern Lords to back, allowing the political drama to unfold. (And then imagine when Bran and/or Rickon shows up alive!)
I’d argue this bit hints that the girl in grey will not only make an appearance, but will have real significance to Jon’s story beyond Alys’ brief appearance:
[link]
There’s also the the possibility of Jon post assassination being a play on “the Stranger,” and Sansa a “silent sister” to consider:
[link]
And I can’t do a recap of this theory without acknowledging The Meta. Written all the way back in 2013, this post predicted that Jon and Sansa would not only reunite but reunite first of all the Starks:
If one believes in dramatic irony, it is that thoughtlessness in regards to each other....that gives them the best chances of being the first (if not only) Starks to reunite. [link]
So, is Sansa the girl in grey?
Feel free to add on additional arguments and/or your favorite bits of evidence. I’ll post a poll in a few days!
Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, Virgin and Child with Angels (1620) // AGoT, Arya I // AGoT, Sansa VI // Lucas Cranach the Elder, Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist (1526) // Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Illustration for Enid in Idylls of the King (1913) // ASoS, Sansa I // ASoS, Sansa III // Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, The Uninvited Guest (1906) // Guillaume Seignac, The Red Rose (n.d.) // Marie Spartali Stillman, Love’s Messenger (1885) // ASoS, Sansa III // William Mouat Loudan, Elaine (1899) // ASoS, Sansa III // Girl and Knight, Pinterest // Workshop of Dirk Bouts, Christ Crowned with Thorns (n.d.) // ASoS, Sansa III // Vladimirovich Pukirev, The Unequal Marriage (1862) // ASoS, Sansa III // Crying Woman, Pinterest // ASoS, Sansa VI // Frank Dicksee, Romeo and Juliet (1884) // Crying Dove detail, Pinterest (n.d.) // Domenico Veneziano, Portrait of a Young Woman (n.d.) // ASoS, Sansa VI // Harry George Theaker, A Song of Love (n.d.) // TWoW, Alayne I // Edmund Blair Leighton, Stitching the Standard (1911) // AFfC, Alayne II // TWoW, Alayne I // George Frederic Watts, Sir Galahad (1860-62) // AFfC, Alayne II // Follower of Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Beneath the Blossom (n.d.) // TWoW, Alayne I // John William Waterhouse, Lamia and the Soldier (1905) // TWoW, Alayne I // John William Waterhouse, Isabella and the Pot of Basil (1907) // AGoT, Sansa III // Blue Rose, Pinterest // Francesco Hayez, The Kiss (1859)
i don't think grrm understands how much of my mental health relies on sansa and ghost forming a bond when she goes back north. something something sansa living while lady dies, jon dying while ghost lives, two broken halves making something whole
Jonsa wedding endgame because Sansa has spent this whole series wondering what name will be forced on her next, whether it be Baratheon, Tyrell, Lannister, Arryn, Hardyng, Stone. But then Jon gives her a direwolf cloak, affirming that she's a Stark again. That she'll be a Stark forever.