No Hammerblow To The Heart Could Have Felled Her Half So Hard.

“No hammerblow to the heart could have felled her half so hard.”

“The hammer was like part of his arm. She watched the play of muscles in his chest and listened to the steel music he made.” -A Clash of Kings - Arya IX

“As the swish of oars faded, she could almost hear the beating of her heart. Suddenly she was somewhere else . . . back in Harrenhal with Gendry.” -A Feast for Crows - Arya I

She dreamed of Gendry because her heart’s beats recalled Gendry’s hammer beats, the music he made with steel. And when Brienne first saw Gendry she thought he is Renly and get excited and characterized her feelings with “hammerblow” image. Even she didn’t know he is a blacksmith at this point. It is something Arya can say about Gendry actually :)

“He loved her, and would love her; and defy her, and this miserable bodily pain.”

Robert&Lyanna “North and South” AU by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Arya Stark&Willow Heddle (Little Sisters)

First we all know Willow Heddle is a character who have parallels with Arya Stark. But it’s not just paralles. If we look in detail she and her sister Jeyne and their aunt Masha both have paralles with Sansa and Catelyn. Three of them are living in an alternative universe for Arya&Sansa and Catelyn. Look at their surnames; Heddle aka needle.

I am going to focus on Arya and Willow’s paralles. I found some of them from the forums and some of them myself.

1) Willow and Gendry together look after the orphan children and before Gendry did this with Arya too. They looked after Weasel, Hot Pie and Lommy.

2) Both of them threatened with rape by Rorge with tools in their hands;

“You shut your mouth!” Arya tried to think what Syrio would have done. She drew her wooden practice sword. “Come closer,” Rorge said, “and I’ll shove that stick up your bunghole and fuck you bloody.” -ACOK Arya II

“Willow stepped out into the rain, a crossbow in her hands. The girl was shouting at the riders, but a clap of thunder rolled across the yard, drowning out her words. As it faded, Brienne heard the man in the Hound's helm say, "Loose a quarrel at me and I'll shove that crossbow up your cunt and fuck you with it.” -AFFC Brienne VII

3) Arya&Gendry paralles;

-When Brienne first saw Gendry she thought he is Renly and said;

"My lord?" she gasped. "Lord?" The boy pushed back a lock of black hair that had fallen across his eyes. "I'm just a smith."

She thought Gendry is a lord. And after that she noticed Willow’s attitude on the children;

“Gendry was the closest thing to a man grown, but it was Willow shouting all the orders, as if she were a queen in her castle and the other children were no more than servants.”

Brienne started to think if Willow could be more, if she could be a highborn lady like Arya Stark;

“Brienne wondered whether Willow might be more than she appeared. The girl was too young and too plain to be Sansa Stark, but she was of the right age to be the younger sister, and even Lady Catelyn had said that Arya lacked her sister's beauty. Brown hair, brown eyes, skinny . . . could it be? Arya Stark's hair was brown, she recalled, but Brienne was not sure of the color of her eyes. Brown and brown, was that it? Could it be that she did not die at Saltpans after all?”

And the last shot comes from Ser Hyle;

“"One day that little girl will make some man a frightful wife," Ser Hyle observed. "That poor 'prentice boy, most like."

-Willow is stobborn girl too like Arya and made polemics agaisnt Gendry(again like Arya :)

“We better be careful. I’ll go around west, see if there’s some road. There must be if you saw a wagon. You take the shore. If you need help, bark like a dog.” “That’s stupid. If I need help, I’ll shout help.” (Just an example)

“"No," said the boy smith. "Yes," said the girl Willow. They glared at one another. Then Willow stomped her foot. "They have food, Gendry. The little ones are hungry."”

But of course real Arya says “no” with him at the same time 😂;

“"NO!" Arya and Gendry both said, at the exact same instant. Hot Pie quailed a little. Arya gave Gendry a sideways look.”

BONUS;

“We have beds, though. Some featherbeds, but more are straw.”

把它烧了吧

i was checking Arya and Jaqen(aegon which i am not sure but interesting) theories and i saw this and i think i need this delusional on my life for my problems :D

I have read this passage many times over the years and I didn’t notice that both, Gendry and Willows, are stand-ins for other characters here:

Gendry was the closest thing to a man grown, but it was Willow shouting all the orders, as if she were a queen in her own castle and the other children were no more than servants. - Brienne, A Feast for Crows

I mean, it’s obvious that Willow is Arya. It has been brought up many times by the readers. It’s often mentioned when people want to emphasize Arya’s leadership skills. It’s also one of the instances of the foreshadowing of Arya’s future as a queen of sorts. Some shippers also consider it a foreshadowing of Arya’s relationship with Gendry. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t noticed it before: both of them are playing someone else’s roles here. Gendry is not just being himself nor symbolizing his future. Just like Willow is not meant to be seen here just her. Gendry is the closest thing to a man and Willow is the closest thing to a queen. They are not themselves, both of them. A man is naturally Jaqen ( Aegon ) and Willow is Arya, his future queen.

It’s yet another moment of the foreshadowing of Arya’s and Jaqen’s future and yet another one that hints at her dominance over him.

“I trust my father, and I trust my mules. I won't fall.”