beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time

I saw a post in Jon's tag on how he would never want to rule bc he's not ambitious. And that's exactly why show! Jon has ruined some of the fandom's perception of the character ( aka those who haven't read his pov chapters or read them long before the saw the tv series). Because yes, show! Jon is synonymous to his famous quote " I don't want it"

Book! Jon on the other hand, really wanted Winterfell,where he could rule as a feudal lord, when Stannis offered it:

JON XII, ASOS

The only reason he refused to take Stannis offer was because Ghost appeared at the right time and that reminded him that Winterfell belongs to the Old Gods and not to Stannis' Red God. The reason he refused was because he couldn't have the castle on his own conditions not because he was lacking ambition.

Even wanting to join the Night's Watch was because he wanted to make a name for himself, and he couldn't think any other way someone with his bastard status could obtain that.

This boy has been ambitious since day one and he doesn't run away from responsibilities ( see what happened when he was voted Lord Commander) so he won't be fine with becoming anyone's consort. He will want to be a co ruler with spouse and nothing less.

The way Arya Stark is uniting the Mountain clans to fight together -

The way Asha assumes there is no Stark to unite the Mountain clans to fight - but there is! Her being taken by surprise when attacked by the Mountain clans because there is a Stark pushing these different groups to take on the Ironborn and the Boltons - Arya Stark!

The power of Arya Stark, still thousands of miles away in a different continent and yet uniting different, warring mountain clans to band together and fight for her!!

Similar to Jon Snow, uniting together the different, warring Freefolk and convincing them to fight for him against the Boltons. And let's not forget that it's Jon Snow who send Stannis to the Mountain clans in the first place.

Arya Stark and Jon Snow uniting disparate groups under them, to fight for them. Both characters are not actively involved in Northern politics (Arya more so than Jon given Jon's tacit support for Stannis' campaign) and yet continue to influence it to a great degree, changing the political landscape of the North and will be the reason that the North will get rid of the Boltons in the next book.

THE WOLF BLOOD.

jonsa foreshadowing of the day: ygritte being a stand-in for sansa

if we take this seriously: out of two half Tully sisters there is one who actually has fish imagery attributed to her and her name is not Sansa

Why do people insist that Jon hates the Targaryens and will freak out when he finds out that Rhaegar is his biological father?

(Jon literally did the same thing as Rhaegar just to save Arya)

and is this "jonsa foreshadowing" in the room with us right now?

Michael Komarck

You even look like her.

Wind and words. Wind and words.

COUNTDOWN TO ARYA STARK APPRECIATION WEEK!

Canon Arya Stark Week is coming! Starting Monday, June 22nd and ending on Sunday, June 29th. Gifsets/edits/metas per day. Please be sure to include #aryaappreciation in the first 5 tags!

June 22nd to June 29th, 2020

June 22nd -Day #1: House Stark/ The North June 23rd - Day #2: Wolves/ Animal Symbolism June 24th - Day #3: Favorite Relationship (Familial, Platonic, or Romantic) June 25th - Day #4: Favorite Character Trait/ Quotes (Book or Show) June 26th - Day #5: Favorite Story Arc/ Foreshadowing (Book or Show) June 27th - Day #6: Elements/ Religion June 28th - Day #7: Free Choice

All signal boosts will be greatly appreciated!

Arya Stark Fancast Resource

So I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been having a hard time finding age-appropriate actors in period costumes when trying to create any content that doesn’t feature the actors from the show (not that I don’t love them all, just sometimes a change of pace is nice). That’s particularly true for characters whose book and show counterparts are significantly different in age. I thought I’d start putting together some resources for fancasts that are reasonably accurate to book descriptions, particularly after I saw the incredible Sansa Stark resource put together by BookSansaDaily.

So yeah, let’s start with Arya:

RAFFEY CASSIDY - YOUNG SNOW WHITE (SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN)

Raffey Cassidy was roughly 9 years old when filming Snow White and the Huntsman. The costume design is appropriately medieval, and I’ve found it a particularly good resource because of the number of clips where Raffey looks disheveled and/or tomboyish. Best for AGOT and pre-ASOIAF content.

ANNA MAGUIRE - YOUNG DANIELLE (EVER AFTER: A CINDERELLA STORY)

I can’t find an accurate birthday for Anna Maguire, but given that she played a 9-year-old character two years after this film, I feel confident placing her at 7-10 during the filming of Ever After. The film is set in the Renaissance rather than the Middle Ages, but Danielle’s clothes are still reasonably appropriate. As with Snow White and the Huntsman, this is a good resource for both AGOT and pre-ASOIAF content, especially since it contains footage of Anna Maguire looking both put together and covered in mud. She’s not as long-faced as Arya should be, but she’s got the appropriate mischievous energy.

IVANA BAQUERO - OFELIA (PAN’S LABYRINTH)

Pan’s Labyrinth is set in the 1940s, well outside appropriate ASOIAF timeframes, so Ivana Baquero is best used for stills and closeups. However, the scene in which she faces the toad (pictures 1 and 4 here) has her filthy and in reasonably time-neutral underclothes, so I’ve found it useful before for the period when Arya’s on the run with the Night’s Watch or the Brotherhood. Ivana was 11 when filming, so that puts her at a more appropriate age for later novels.

ANUK STEFFAN - HEIDI (HEIDI)

Again, not a period-appropriate film, but Heidi does spend a significant amount of it running around in an undershirt, so that’s useful for taking it out of time a bit. Anuk Steffan was 10 when filming, and this movie has the added benefit of portraying her with both long and short hair, which makes it particularly ideal for content portraying both Arya Stark and Arry the Orphan. She even occasionally runs around in boys’ clothing, albeit 19th century boys’ clothing.

A FEW OTHERS

1. ARABELLA MORTON - GAEL (THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER): Arabella was 10 when filming the third Narnia movie. She doesn’t have a ton of footage, but there’s some material between her and her onscreen father that’s potentially useful for Arya and Ned, and she’s got a mischievous spirit that feels very Arya to me.

2. UNKNOWN ACTOR - YOUNG SOPHIA/ZOE (SOPHIA): I’m not sure who this actor is (if you know, please tell me!) but she plays Young Sophia/Zoe in the Russian series Sophia. Based on her height, she’s significantly older than Arya, and she only appears in one sequence, which can be found here. However, I think her face is uncommonly perfect for Arya, so I’ve used her both for gifs and for stills.

3. HARRY STOTT - LUPUS (ROMAN MYSTERIES): Harry Stott was 11-12 when filming the TV series Roman Mysteries. He’s a useful resource when fancasting Arya in disguise as Arry, particularly in the Season 2 episode titled “The Fugitive from Corinth,” where he wears the brown traveling cloak you can sort of see in the picture above.

4. TOM TAYLOR - YOUNG UHTRED (THE LAST KINGDOM): Another good Arry fancast. Tom Taylor was 13ish when filming the first season of The Last Kingdom, which has particularly good cold weather, fur-based fashion. Heads up that the character of Young Uhtred was recast for later seasons, and the other kid looks much less like Arya.

Anyway, I hope this is useful, and feel free to add any additional actors you like to cast as Arya! I’m planning to make several of these for different characters; the full set can be found here once I’ve made more.

GEORGIE HENLEY - LUCY (NARNIA)

Ages 9-14 in the 3 Narnia movies. Fantasy-Medieval clothing.

HANNA ZETTERBERG - RONJA (RONJA RÖVARDOTTER)

The actress was around 10. Medieval clothing. Her friend has red hair, so could work as Bran:

SKYE BENNET - MARTHA (PILLARS OF THE EARTH)

The actress was around 14, so a bit older than Arya. Medieval clothing.

BAILEE MADISON - YOUNG SNOW WHITE (ONCE UPON A TIME)

The actress was 12-16. Fantasy clothing.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY -  GWYN (PRINCESS OF THIEVES)

She’s another older fancast, as she was around 16. Medieval clothing.

HANNAH TAYLOR-GORDON - YOUNG FANNY (MANSFIELD PARK 1999)

The actress was around 11. Regency clothing.

JOSIE O’BRIEN - MARJORIE BRUCE (OUTLAW KING)

Unknown age. Medieval clothing. Her stepmother in the movie has auburn hair, so could work as Cat:

Her face was always dirty. Would she still have that little sword he’d had Mikken forge for her? Stick them with the pointy end, he’d told her…Bring her home, Mance.

Arya Stark ended The Long Night and saved all of Westeros. That’s why every child alive knows her name. Arya and her “brothers”. Arya was the hero of Winterfell, but she wasn’t alone. Jon rode Rhaegal, named for his father, and breathed swathes of fire from dragonback. Gendry resurrected the ancient art of Valyrian steel and forged the weapons that defeated the Others. They were three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters.

“As the Starks are wont to remind us, winter is coming.”