Ravella Smallwood "Swann" , Arya Stark

Lady Smallwood's impact on Arya is really so incredible considering they spent such a short amount of time together. Arya thinks of her often and fondly, even thinking of trying to make it back to her and noting that she would've relented to being in a dress and doing needlework if she had been the one to ask. I just really, really need them to have some sort of reunion 🥺

Lady Ravella Smallwood née Swann 💛🤎 🌱🦢🖤🤍

@buttercuparry #in my experience I don't think there are many people who would say Smallwood is comparable to Catelyn as Arya's mother figure#in fact Arya herself once says that she doesn't want anyone but her mom#mostly when people do bring up smallwood it is because of the kindness that Arya experiences after harrenhal#yes there's also a sentiment of whether Catelyn treating Arya a bit more gently would have#solved some of their misunderstandings and lady Smallwood is brought up as an example in those times but I don't think that is to say#that Smallwood should replace catelyn! that's never going to happen...#I also think there's a difference between Smallwood and Catelyn in the way grrm writes#the forced to bath and insistence into girl things carry annoyance but not shame

yeah, ik people aren't saying lady smallwood should end up as arya's mother, much less that arya would want her to. i am responding to the idea that she is better by being kinder to arya than her own mother ever was. ofc arya feels no shame with her, a complete stranger! why should she care what lady smallwood thinks of her? it's like the end of arya i agot with her saying it was worse to find both septa mordane and her mother in her room after skipping out on needlework. does anyone reallly think cat was even harsher than mordane? no? then the difference is her mother's judgment is what truly matters to her. ik in my own experience the thoughts of relatives whose opinion i care about, however they express themselves, affect me much more than even blunter judgment from those whose opinion of me idc about. arya wanted her mother's approval bc that was her own parent, her only mother, while she disliked mordane and would have given up on her approval as an impossible task years before. lady smallwood was certainly a lot kinder than the septa, but arya had even less reason to care about her approval.

yeah, i do think cat should have taken more care with her words, as i pointed out with "could be pretty" quote, but do y'all really think the only reason arya doesn't like gowns is bc she wasn't asked nicely enough to wear them? that sounds pretty close to the claim that she could be great at needlework with a better teacher. why can't we just say she's not gifted at needlepoint and doesn't enjoy it and shouldn't have to? why must we care about arya's potential needleskill when she can do basic sewing and has many other skills unique to her? arya's "wilfulness" and gender non-conformity are key, intrinsic parts of her, idt that was born all bc catelyn started out only being gentle with sansa's hair and dress while always harshly ordering arya about concerning the same. kids fight with their mothers, and are more liable to act out with them than with other people's mothers. i used to fight with my mom every single day about brushing my hair, and i can tell you asking me gently would not have helped, she was not choosing to have to chase me around the house every morning. does anyone think wolf-blooded tomboyish lyanna also had a mean mom?

#there's also the situation of being a hostage to bwb and still wearing bolton rags and smallwood saying that it is a death sentence

well, yeah, i'm not saying she shouldn't have been taken out of those clothes at all. it's just that 1 bath should have been sufficient to wash the stink off her and it would have been more practical to put her in boy's clothes from the start, or at least after the acorn dress. i'm not trying to hate on lady smallwood, i like her too, but the point is, when comparing ravella smallwood with catelyn stark, it must be noted that yes, only one is arya's mother, not just in the sense that arya loves her mother and only wants her, but bc children act differently with their actual parents than with other adults, strangers, parents of other children. arya didn't care about the lady's early attempts to bond with her through talk of needlework and her daughter, it was only at the end of the chapter when she spoke of her dead son that arya felt a connection. idt that one moment is enough to say their interactions were better than any arya had with her actual mother, or that she'd have a better, more easily feminine life if she only had a mother like lady smallwood.

we are all entitled to a tertiary character to be unreasonably fond of and mine is lady smallwood. obsessed with this woman

Shoutout to Johanna Swann who was mentioned in tonight's episode. Despite tragic circumstances of being kidnapped, trafficked, and sold into sexual slavery by the triarchy, she became the famed courtesan, the Black Swan, and eventually rose in influence and became the unofficial ruler of Lys. 👑 She is also the ancestor of Lady Ravella Smallwood (nee Swann) who was so kind to Arya in the Riverlands in ASOIAF.

My second #SixFanarts is finally complete !

Individual portraits below the cut to see them better !

I like to imagine Arya returning to Acorn Hall and Lady Ravella Smallwood dressing her in another acorn inspired look, except Arya would wear a doublet and pants.

Outfit inspired by Christian Dior FW 1998

You know which AU I would love to read ? An AU where Arya, after leaving the Hound, go straight to Lady Smallwood...

“I’m sorry, my lady.” Arya suddenly felt bad for her, and ashamed. 

I just noticed that Lady Smallwood tells Arya more or less the same thing that Jon Snow tells Maester Aemon regarding Samwell Tarly.

Here’s Lady Smallwood telling Arya that whatever her gifts are, they have worth:

“What do you like to do?”  She scuffed a toe amongst the rushes. “Needlework.”

“Very restful, isn’t it?” “Well,” said Arya, “not the way I do it.”

“No? I have always found it so. The gods give each of us our little gifts and talents, and it is meant for us to use them, my aunt always says. Any act can be a prayer, if done as well as we are able. Isn’t that a lovely thought? Remember that the next time you do your needlework. - Arya, ASoS

And when Jon tries to convince Maester Aemon to take on Sam as his steward:

“The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves, isn’t that so? Lords are gold and knights steel, but two links can’t make a chain. You also need silver and iron and lead, tin and copper and bronze and all the rest, and those are farmers and smiths and merchants and the like. A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people.The Night’s Watch needs al sorts too. Why else have rangers and stewards and builders? Lord Randyll couldn’t make Sam a warrior, and Ser Alliser won’t either. You can’t hammer tin into iron, no matter how hard you beat it, but that doesn’t mean tin is useless. Why shouldn’t Sam be a steward?” - Jon, AGoT

It highlights the similarities between Arya and Sam feeling like they don’t have a place in a highly patriarchal society and the characters who help them out.

Lady Smallwood is incredibly important for Arya, lifting her spirits and comforting her. Arya wears a pretty acorn dress because Ravella is kind and non-judgemental. She does not help Arya because she’s Arya Stark of Winterfell but because it’s the right thing to do:

"I do not know who you are, child," the woman said, "and it may be that's for the best. Someone important, I fear." She smoothed down Arya's collar. "In times like these, it is better to be insignificant. Would that I could keep you here with me. That would not be safe, though. I have walls, but too few men to hold them." She sighed. - Arya, ASoS

In the same way Jon helping Sam become a steward makes Sam feel one with the rest of the boys. And Jon never tells Sam what he did. He simply did it because it’s the right thing to do.

“I’ve been summoned to the sept,” Sam said in an excited whisper. “They’re passing me out of training. I’m to be made a brother with the rest of you. Can you believe it?” “No, truly?” - Jon, AGoT

And the way Jon and Ravella give encouragement:

"I'm sorry, my lady." Arya suddenly felt bad for her, and ashamed. "I'm sorry I tore the acorn dress too. It was pretty."

"Yes, child. And so are you. Be brave." - Arya, ASoS

“Truly. I’m to assist Maester Aemon with the library and the birds. He needs someone who can read and write letters.” “You’ll do well at that,” Jon said, smiling. - Jon, AGoT

Ravella Smallwood "Swann", Arya Stark

Minor characters I love unreasonably (5/?): Ravella Swann, wed Smallwood

“I do not know who you are, child,” the woman said, “and it may be that’s for the best. Someone important, I fear.” She smoothed down Arya’s collar. “In times like these, it is better to be insignificant. Would that I could keep you here with me.”

some tertiary characters in arya stark's story: mycah, syrio forel, jaqen h'ghar, harwin, ravella smalwood and the waif

Arya Stark Appreciation Month Day 10 - Women in Arya’s Life

“I have no gowns of leaves,” said Lady Smallwood with a small fond smile,

“but Carellen left some other dresses that might serve. Come, child, let us go upstairs and see what we can find”

It was even worse than before; Lady Smallwood insisted that Arya take another bath, cut and comb her hair besides ; the dress she put her in this time was sort of lilac-coloured, and decorated with little baby pearls.

So the next morning as they broke their fast, Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs.

“They were my son’s things ,” she said. “He died when he was seven.”

“I’m sorry, my lady.” Arya felt suddenly bad for her, and ashamed.

“I’m sorry I tore the acorn dress too. It was pretty.”

“Yes child. And so are you. Be brave.”