Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the North

While non-Arya fans might easier remember the meanspirited mocking she experienced as a child since it’s mentioned even in Theon’s POV chapters, and it’s something that affected Arya and so she dwells on it, and genuinely forget about Arya being called pretty, because that’s obviously not the most important part of Arya’s chapters or character.

At the sound of Arya's voice, Weasel came creeping out from the bushes. [...] The Weasel put her arms around her [Arya's] leg, clutching tight. Sometimes she did that now.

ARYA STARK APPRECIATION WEEK 2024 ↳ Day 2: Her pack

ARYA STARK APPRECIATION WEEK 2024 ↳ Day 1: Favorite book (A Storm of Swords)

arya stark appreciation week → day 1: quote

Only the kindly man knew the Common Tongue. "Who are you?" he would ask her every day. "No one," she would answer, she who had been Arya of House Stark, Arya Underfoot, Arya Horseface. She had been Arry and Weasel too, and Squab and Salty, Nan the cupbearer, a grey mouse, a sheep, the ghost of Harrenhal . . . but not for true, not in her heart of hearts. In there she was Arya of Winterfell, the daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn, who had once had brothers named Robb and Bran and Rickon, a sister named Sansa, a direwolf called Nymeria, a half brother named Jon Snow. In there she was someone . . . but that was not the answer that he wanted.

ARYA STARK APPRECIATION WEEK:

DAY 1 : FAVORITE CHAPTER: CAT OF THE CANALS

It's really hard to choose a favorite Arya chapter but Cat of the Canals is really up there for me.

One of my favorite things about this chapter specifically is that we get to see Arya (who "Cat" basically is in all but name) interact with other people without the constant pain and stresses of war. I love that George decided that it was important to show the readers how Arya acts within a community and what we see is a girl who is kind, friendly, curious, helpful, confident, funny, and cared for by others.

nymeria is hardly a figure who represents indifference towards politics or prioritizing personal freedom over duty. things arya is frequently accused of representing herself. nymeria bore more responsibility than just about any other female character in the entire asoiaf historical canon. she didn't just bend to westeros' ideals either. when she married mors they combined their sigils and names; joining the sun and the spear. her eldest daughter ruled after her as was the custom of the rhoynar. she fought to secure her position and changed the culture. as arianne puts it: "she burned as bright as any man"

that is why she is arya's role model

she named her direwolf, the extension of her soul, after nymeria for a reason. arya takes nymeria as one of her own alias in harrenhal. she uses it again while creating her backstory as cat of the canals. this is not a meaningless connection. nymeria's story has been relevant to arya's from the very beginning. arya is forced to endure a difficult journey just like her hero. arya values her people and assumes responsibility for them bc "the pack survives". arya is willful and determined. even her wolf reflects her namesake as she has united all the wolves of the riverlands into a gigantic pack.

In the godswood she found her broomstick sword where she had left it, and carried it to the heart tree. There she knelt. Red leaves rustled. Red eyes peered inside her. The eyes of the gods. "Tell me what to do, you gods," she prayed. For a long moment there was no sound but the wind and the water and the creak of leaf and limb. And then, far far off, beyond the godswood and the haunted towers and the immense stone walls of Harrenhal, from somewhere out in the world, came the long lonely howl of a wolf. Gooseprickles rose on Arya's skin, and for an instant she felt dizzy. Then, so faintly, it seemed as if she heard her father's voice. "When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives," he said. "But there is no pack," she whispered to the weirwood. Bran and Rickon were dead, the Lannisters had Sansa, Jon had gone to the Wall. "I'm not even me now, I'm Nan." "You are Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the north. You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you." "The wolf blood." Arya remembered now. "I'll be as strong as Robb. I said I would." She took a deep breath, then lifted the broomstick in both hands and brought it down across her knee. It broke with a loud crack, and she threw the pieces aside. I am a direwolf, and done with wooden teeth. - Arya X, ACoK

arya was the only team stark player who did the math in kings landing. ned becomes so blinded by duty and mercy that he fails to truly appreciate this very simple truth that arya can very easily recognize: they are outnumbered. 

it also tracks with arya taking note of numbers and having a good head for mathematics in general. from counting flowers to roofs and guards, prisoners, hearths and weirwood stumps, ect. 

and this:

Many of the captives were wounded. If any halted, one of the riders would trot up and give him a lick of the whip to get him moving again. She tried to judge how many prisoners there were, but lost count before she got to fifty. There were twice that many at least. 

She could go where she would. The garrison numbered no more than a hundred men, so small a troop that they were lost in Harrenhal. […] But now there were only a hundred men left to guard a thousand doors, and no one seemed to know who should be where, or care much.

“Gendry, there’s a hundred northmen. Maybe more, I couldn’t count them all. That’s as many as Ser Amory has. Well, not counting the Bloody Mummers. We just have to get them out and we can take over the castle and escape.” (Arya, ACOK)