Arya and Jon

These are a lot of great points, Anon!

In the books Arya collects flowers, plants trees and is often associated with nature and new life. Especially ones that come out of the earth (acorn dress anybody?).

Awhile back I researched Arya’s name and this is what I found: 

The Sanskrit word Arya is a surname and a masculine and feminine Hindu name, signifying 'goddess parvati' and it means “noble, honorable, and of good family”. In Hindu and English speaking parts of the world, the latter influenced the Italian name Aria which means “air” or “song”.

The name Aria is of Hebrew-Italian origin meaning “air; song or melody”.  As an Italian name, Aria's literal meaning, air, is meant as a musical term denoting a kind of song or melody thanks to it being applied to vocal solos performed in operas.  Hebrew Aria, is a variation of Ari, meaning “lion”.

Aria however, appears earlier in Greek mythology as a woman of Crete that bore a son name Miletos by Apollo.  Most likely her name was a variant of the Greek Areia “warlike” or “of Ares” an epithet of both Athena and Aphrodite.  Aria is also the name of a nymph in Greek mythology

In the Albanian language, the name Aria means “treasure” or “gold” or “of high value”

Not only is she looking for “treasures” but she is also someone of “high value” as she is a Key to the North which is emphasized with how often she’s been abducted because of her family name - twice.  And that doesn’t include her abduction and enslavement in Harrenhal or Yoren taking her to protect her - I mean at least he explained the circumstances along the way, but he did technically take her at first.

Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle. Who knows.

Back in Winterfell, Arya had prayed with her mother in the sept and with her father in the godswood, but there were no gods on the road to Harrenhal, and her names were the only prayer she cared to remember. (ACOK)

there are few things i enjoy more than a crisis of faith. its a natural human reaction to question the gods existence, especially in moments of turmoil and its something arya and jon both experience. but ultimately they’re devoted to the old gods:

The gods of the sept had nothing to do with him; the blood of the First Men flowed in the veins of the Starks. (Jon AGOT)

They are not my Seven. They were my mother’s gods, and they let the Freys murder her at the Twins. She wondered whether she would find a godswood in Braavos, with a weirwood at its heart. (Arya AFFC)

jon never followed the seven to begin with because that was a something catelyn brought to winterfell. jon prays only to the old gods, notably for arya’s safety in adwd. ghost’s unique coloring reflects the heart tree giving jon a strong symbolic connection to them in the form of his wolf too. this influences jons decision to not take winterfell which was a hugely significant moment for him. he was not willing to sacrifice the heart tree because both wolf and castle belong to the old gods and it was not his right. 

many believe all the direwolf pups to be divine gifts. so arya’s bond with nymeria is just as important. in harrenhal when arya prays for guidance to the heart tree her wolf howls just before the gods speak. this shows a link between the wolves and the old gods. they also seem to have an active interest in seeing arya brought home. for they remind her that she is “arya of winterfell, daughter of the north.” in twow it appears they have begun to call her back once again. arya believes that the old gods returned needle (“jon snow’s smile”) to her too. the wolf dreams, the old gods, and needle are all important aspects that work together to keep arya connected to her roots. unlike jon, arya was raised in both faiths. despite that arya shows no interest in the seven and she officially rejects it after the red wedding. 

Gods of my fathers, protect these men. And Arya too, my little sister, wherever she might be. I pray you, let Mance find her and bring her safe to me.

He wanted to see her face again, to smile at her and muss her hair, to tell her she was safe.

Bring her home, Mance. I saved your son from Melisandre, and now I am about to save four thousand of your free folk. You owe me this one little girl.

Arya gave him a whap on the arm with the flat of her blade. The blow stung, but Jon found himself grinning like an idiot.

"I know which end to use," Arya said.

"The memory of her laughter warmed him on the long ride north. "

And Arya… he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. Arya never seemed to fit, no more than he had… yet she could always make Jon smile. He would give anything to be with her now, to muss up her hair once more and watch her make a face, to hear her finish a sentence with him.

That might mean Lord Eddard would return to Winterfell, and his sisters as well. He might even be allowed to visit them, with Lord Mormont’s permission. It would be good to see Arya’s grin again and to talk with his father.

"It’s just a sword,” she said, aloud this time . . . 

. . . but it wasn’t.

Us: imagining feral!jon sigh with absolute relief and elation that he ain’t sinning with all those “l want my bride back” thoughts mhmm very guilty, yes.

Okay, it’s funny you sent this to me because I was just thinking about how most of the popular headcanons on Jon’s reaction to R+L=J are unbelievably boring. Honestly, the lack of imagination in this fandom is astounding. At best, all they can come up with is “JOn wiLL FEeL sO guILtY/ANgsTY”, and its like, okay… then what? Is that the only emotional blowback you can imagine? Lol, the fact this fandom can’t even conceive of any real impact to Jon’s personal life shows how little they understand the writing of this series. GRRM isn’t the type to randomly throw in a secret parentage storyline if it didn’t affect Jon’s personal life, especially his relationship with the Starks. So far, the only speculation in the fandom I’ve seen is Jon might betray them or vice versa, which feels like something D&D would write (AKA lame as fuck). Wouldn’t it be more satisfying if the reveal acted as some sort of resolution to another part of Jon’s story, rather than pointlessly cause drama? But what could it be? It would have to intersect with something (maybe a relationship?) that has had substantial hints for Jon’s parentage in the past? Hmm… if only we had some book foreshadowing on this subject…

Jon had never met anyone so stubborn, except maybe for his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever? - Jon III, A Storm of Swords

By now she’d be eleven, Jon thought. Still a child. “I have no sister. Only brothers. Only you.” - Jon VI, A Dance with Dragons

“I have no sister.” The words were knives. - Jon VI, A Dance with Dragons

She wondered if he would still call her “little sister.” I’m not so little anymore. He’d have to call me something else. - Arya VIII, A Storm of Swords

Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. Arya flushed. They had always been close. Jon had their father’s face, as she did. They were the only ones. - Arya I, A Game of Thrones

“ As I write these last two books, I’ll be moving towards the endings I’ve known since 1991. Many of the fine details maybe moved around and changed and all that. Of course I am writing books. Benioff and Weiss have some what different challenges.” - GRRM