#suppleassin

What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?

I know among Jonrya shippers that this line from Jon VI in ADWD is iconic and further evidence that the good ship Jonrya is sailing strong in ASOIAF (as GRRM originally intended). I also know that there’s been some, err, tumblr discourse about the use of this line for other ships, and this is not a response to that in anyway; I’ve honestly missed 95% of that particular skirmish. 

As I was working on another meta tonight, I ran across a very curious line much later in ADWD that parallels Jon VI beautifully, so I thought I would put these two scenes together and discuss how they build upon one another.

Jon VI is the chapter in which Jon finds out about Ramsay’s marriage to fArya, and it marks an important turning point for Jon for the remainder of the book (and arguably the series itself). The quote that follows occurs after Jon reads Ramsay’s letter and has presumably been reflecting on it all day. We find him talking to Mormont’s raven and listening to Melisandre’s worship from inside his chambers. 

Jon felt as stiff as a man of sixty years. Dark dreams, he thought, and guilt. His thoughts kept returning to Arya. There is no way I can help her. I put all kin aside when I said my words. If one of my men told me his sister was in peril, I would tell him that was no concern of his. Once a man had said the words his blood was black. Black as a bastard’s heart. -Jon VI, ADWD

This particular line feels important since it’s the first time that Jon thinks about his heart in the chapter. Earlier, his heart stops for a moment when he discovers that Ramsay is to wed fArya, but that’s not quite the same thing as I’m trying to get at here. This line shows that Jon is a sworn brother of the NW--his blood has turned black and black is the color of the NW. However, his heart has remained uncolored by his oath to the NW’s. His heart remains black because it’s always been marked dark/bad/base due to his bastardy. I think the blood vs. heart here is worthwhile of our attention because we know that Jon ultimately decides effectively to betray the NW for the sake of his sister; his bastard’s heart proves too much for him to overcome. We’ll also see the phrase “bastard’s heart” appear later on, so keep that in mind.

Chapters: 16/? Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin Rating: Explicit Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Jon Snow/Arya Stark, Jon Snow & Arya Stark, Jon Snow/Other(s) Characters: Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Original Characters, Bran Stark Additional Tags: Time Travel, Reincarnation, Soulmates, Jon Snow is a Targaryen, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arya from the future, Dark Jon Snow, just making sure Summary:

Since the semester at college is ending very conveniently with the premier of got s8 and exams looming over, i wont be able to reblog any new jonrya breadcrumbs the show decides to throw our way. I will however stick by this blog faithfully for the release of twow, to properly celebrate this ship.

Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair.Arya flushed.They had always been close. - Arya I, AGOT 

This is the first time we have Jon messing up Arya’s hair, something Arya reminds us of and misses throughout the next books.And Arya’s reaction to it?She flushed.

(of a person’s skin or face) become red and hot, typically as the result of illness or strong emotion. 

It does come off as weird blushing over your brothers touch.

Arya snatched her arm and glared at him.Jon messed up her hair again. - Arya I, AGOT

“Nothing is fair,” Jon said.He messed up her hair again and walked away from her, Ghost silently beside him. -  Arya I, AGOT

Jon messes up her hair 3 times in only one chapter, he adores and loves Arya so much he basically can’t keep his hands away from her.We are told that they always have been close and at the same time we are shown trough their actions.

Jon ...

I wanna talk about how Jon start to understand the prize he paid to make his “dream” comes true, lose his family to have something to call his

 He compares the new recruits to his brother Robb , no one of them was good enough , and yet he face the cold sholder of the master of arms, He won, yet he lose all the same , He miss his brother even Sansa

Later  he thought “ He would give anything to be with her now”, HER  meaning Arya, who makes him smile , with who he can relate 

And of course he face the cruel truth about his mother, but more than that he face his childish dreams ,for a boy of 15 to face what people really thinks about the men who, even if he said to screw himself, he love , respect and value so much “ Lord Eddard was not a man to sleep with whores” 

Other thing about jon’s chapter is the Foreshadowing

One thing about Jon’s mother until this moment is so little, however to him is very clear what he dreams about her,“in his dream she was beautiful and highborn, her eyes were kind”  this line give us just like one before about Ned that to Jon his mother is someone who his father loved , witch its true, This line, bring me memories about Star Wars, how Luke ask Leia about what she remember about her mother “She was beautiful, and sad so sad”  A image on a mother is something no one can erase 

Other one is the warning “ they will slit your throat for you one night” they, of course would be her brothers of the watch 

As we saw, Jon not only face the cold, cruel true about being a bastard on the eyes of comun people, but to his own eyes 

Arya ...

What bothers me so much about the first part is about how Sansa put Arya in some awful dark place for her looks and her personality:

Sansa use the work Splendid  to talk about the tournament to separate Arya from what she thinks is beautiful and farystory like , because what she thinks is ladylike is not something she sees on Arya 

Its know that Sansa and Arya are different, and yet Sansa is who dont stop to think, try or consider who Arya really is 

One more time we saw Arya facing the symbol of authority Septa and Sansa , of what she must be , and yet they, who want her to be a lady, always trying to devalue her 

One of Arya’s traits is the guilty and responsability she have whe we talk about the people she love and care about 

Her love for Jon is above even to her father who she prefer  “She wouldn’t betray Jon, no even to their father” 

Even whit all the pain Sansa makes her pass, she would not hate her nor hurt her 

Foreshadowing

here is more about the price Ned paid, “ A lie was not witout honor”, is well know that talk about Lyanna brings pain to Ned more than anything , and yet he use it like a conexion between Her and Arya, one of many

it show too , how much Arya wants to be strong and indendant, but her father make her remember what truly lays on her words “Winter is coming... when the snow falls ant the white wind blow , the lone wolf dies but the pack survive”, these word mark Arya , in a way we can barely see but is present on her journey 

Then we have the similarities ..

the wold blood:  is constand on jon and arya always , but more important is how they both face the image of authority who opress them , to be something they are not but rather are, yes he is a bastard and yet he is not , Arya is a lady and yet she is not , because one single word dont define who they are

-The real Jonrya fandom

This is the couple that sucked me into the ASOIAF world and indirectly Tumblr as well.

When I read these two chapters (Jon I and Arya I), the most dominant feeling was nostalgia and rightness. Nostalgia, because it has been five years since I read those chapters for the first time, just to see if my hunch about that girl and that boy I saw in my ten minutes of watching episode ten of s1 would pay off. And rightness because as then, so now did I come to the same conclusion.

There is something there.

There is a connection, a comfort, a familiarity between them that is apparent in the scene where they watch the training yard.

Jon gave her a curious look. “Shouldn’t you be working on your stitches, little sister?” Arya made a face at him. “I wanted to see them fight.” He smiled. “Come here, then.” Arya climbed up on the window and sat beside him

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. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her.

One thing that seemed to run as a theme through these two chapters was how appearances can be deceptive, especially when we already possess the knowledge of latter revelations.

King Robert doesn’t look like a king. The beautiful Queen is cold and cruel. The royal children are not trueborn. The tall black-haired “knight” is not a knight. The bastard son of Ned Stark is not his bastard.