Arya Stark Also Loves Lemons?

“Bring me the face,” said the kindly man. The waif made no answer, but she could hear her slippers whispering over the stone floor. To the girl he said, “Drink this,” and pressed a cup into her hand. She drank it down at once. It was very tart, like biting into a lemon. A thousand years ago, she had known a girl who loved lemon cakes. No, that was not me, that was only Arya. – The Ugly Little Girl ADWD

This is a largely misinterpreted quote of Arya’s in this fandom.  I’ve quickly addressed this before, but I think I need to make a proper post about this to prove that this quote is not about Sansa, it’s about ARYA, as in Arya is referring to herself, just like the last sentence of that quote explicitly tells us.  

First off, no character has a monopoly on liking or loving lemons in this story, and secondly, just because Arya has never said “I love lemons/lemoncakes!” doesn’t mean she doesn’t.  And when you pay attention you’ll notice that Arya does seem to have a preference for lemon.  Here I’ll provide the quotes:

She tied the pigeon to her belt and started down the street. A man was pushing a load of tarts by on a two-wheeled cart; the smells sang of blueberries and lemons and apricots. Her stomach made a hollow rumbly noise. “Could I have one?” she heard herself say. “A lemon, or … or any kind.” – Arya V AGOT

Here we see that Arya’s first choice is that of lemon, not blueberry, not apricot, but lemon, which subtextually tells us this is her preference.  

Arya would have given anything for a cup of milk and a lemon cake. – Arya V AGOT

So here Arya is living out on the streets for weeks and she longs for a cup of milk and a lemon cake?  To me this also shows a preference for lemons, considering she could have wished and longed for any food she wanted.  

Then we have Sansa trying to entice Arya to join her and the queen with lemon cakes:

“There’s going to be lemon cakes and tea,” Sansa went on, all adult and reasonable. Lady brushed against her leg. Sansa scratched her ears the way she liked, and Lady sat beside her on her haunches, watching Arya chase Nymeria. “Why would you want to ride a smelly old horse and get all sore and sweaty when you could recline on feather pillows and eat cakes with the queen?” – Sansa I AGOT

“Gods be true, Arya, sometimes you act like such a child,” Sansa said. “I’ll go by myself then. It will be ever so much nicer that way. Lady and I will eat all the lemon cakes and just have the best time without you.” – Sansa I AGOT

Now granted Arya doesn’t mention wanting anything that is lemon after AGOT, but I think we have to remember that Arya was never in a situation or place where she could have indulged on the same type of food she was used to eating in AGOT and pre-series, especially when said food is expensive.  Arya is also practical and she’s not the type to continually sit around wishing for one specific type of food when she is periodically being starved and has to rely on acorn paste and bugs to survive.

I know the above quotes aren’t technically proof, but don’t worry I have more quotes that should convince you.  First I want to bring attention to the fact that once Arya is in Braavos at the HOBAW, specifically in her Cat of the Canal’s chapter, she begins referring to herself as “a/the girl” and not her name:

Braavos was a city made for secrets, a city of fogs and masks and whispers.  It’s very existence had been a secret for a century, the girl had learned […] – Cat of the Canals AFFC

“She said ‘I’ll take three cockles,’ and ‘Do you have some hot sauce, little one?’” the girl had answered. – Cat of the Canals AFFC

“No one beat me.” The girl crawled on all fours until she found her stick, then sprang back to her feet, bruised and dirty. – The Blind Girl ADWD

But mainly my real, concrete evidence comes in here, because if you pay attention to Arya’s chapters you find a pattern to how she speaks and refers to herself and her past self in AFFC and ADWD.  She refers to Arya separately from herself and in past tense. Now when I first read the books I was already an Arya fan, so I inevitably paid more attention to her POV’s, so when I came across the “A thousand years ago, she had known a girl who loved lemon cakes. No, that was not me, that was only Arya” quote, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was about Arya, that Arya was referring to herself.  So imagine my surprise when the vast majority of online fandom links this quote to Sansa.  If you still aren’t convinced, just read these quotes:

Cats liked the smell of Cat.  Some days she would have a dozen trailing after her before the sun went down.  From time to time the girl would throw an oyster at them and watch to see who came away with it.  The bigger toms would seldom win, she noticed; oft as not, the prize went to some smaller, quicker animal, thin and mean and hungry.  Like me, she told herself.  Her favorite was a scrawny old tom with a chewed ear who reminded her of a cat that she’d once chased all around the Red Keep. No, that was some other girl, not me. – Cat of the Canals AFFC

Once she almost fell headlong down the steps, but Syrio Forel had taught her balance in another lifetime, when she was the girl called Arya, and somehow she recovered and caught herself in time. – The Blind Girl ADWD

Sleep did not come easily that night.  Tangled in her blankets, she twisted this way and that in the cold dark room, but whichever way she turned, she saw the faces.  They have no eyes, but they can see me.  She saw her father’s face upon the wall.  Beside him hung her lady mother, and below them her three brothers all in a row.  No. That was some other girl.  I am no one, and my only brothers wear robes of black and white. – The Ugly Little Girl ADWD

So after reading these quotes and seeing how similar they are to the quote this meta is about, you can’t honestly believe that that quote is about Sansa?  And this isn’t anything against Sansa, this is just me trying to set the record straight that Arya was talking about herself.  

Anyone who has actually read Arya's Braavos chapters would know how Arya refers to herself in those chapters and would see the pattern. These idiots just can't see the patterns, but Arya is definitely referring to herself as loving lemoncakes, not fucking Sansa. I've made numerous meta posts on this and I can't believe people are this illiterate. Like I completely understood that Arya was referring to herself in this quote the very first time I read it because I could see the pattern of how she was referring to herself. Also there are hints that Arya also loves lemons in AGOT. Sansa tries to entice Arya with lemoncakes to get her in the carriage with the queen in Sansa I AGOT, and when Arya is hiding in Flea Bottom she specifically asks the baker for a lemon dessert and thinks about how much she wanted a cup of milk and a lemoncake. Why is this so fucking hard to understand for people? Lemons may be more prevalent in Sansa's and Dany's stories, but people in this fandom forget that in world lemons are an expensive luxury food, which means it would be a favorite among nobles. This doesn't exclude Arya no matter how much she doesn't fit that lace and silk aesthetic they are clinging to.

because i just saw a post related in the tag and some discourse in other site (how did you guess it was quora)... did you know that this arya quote:

A thousand years ago, she had known a girl who loved lemon cakes. No, that was not me, that was only Arya

is about our lord and saviour sansa stark? if you don't believe it, or if you do, because how dares someone like arya like a dessert full of patriarchal femininity like lemon cakes too, you can found more about this in the new edition of the asoiaf books: asosas "a song of sansa and sansa" because what do you mean grrm has done interviews naming his favourites characters and sansa is not even mentioned once, i don't see it, i don't hear it. everything grrm writes is about sansa, did you know young grrm looked like kit harington when he was young, what do you mean kit harington's jon snow portrayal is not at all like the books description, of course it is, and grrm and kh both married a red headed woman, that is foreshadowing, let me show you all of my metas that's all based on jonsa fics and not in the books. all hail the red wolf of winterfell... what do you mean that this sobriquet is not even in the books? what do you mean that the animal comparison sansa get in the books is a bird? no no no she's all direwolf, the most "stark" of them all, the rest of her siblings will die and get stuck inside their wolves to finally give queen sansa the wolf pack she always deserved and was born to command. ps: talking about the fact that sansa is a lannister by marriage, and robb disinherited her in his will for this same fact, and also currently wanted by the crown for regicide is plain old misogyny... do you truly hate girls winning that much?

(this is h e a v y sarcarsm ofc, salt if you will. i do think i need it to clarify because sansa stans are definitely not known for their media analysis abilities)

au!sterek: in the heat of battle and thinking it's their last moments on earth. derek kisses stiles. they beat the big bad and in the afterglow of the win, stiles can't not press the issue about what it means that kissing him is the last thing derek wanted to do before they could have died.

Merlin overhears a bunch of nobles talking about how much he really gets away with, so he slowly pushes the boundaries.

Merlin, sitting patiently beside Arthur in a council meeting: My foot is injured, my lord.

Merlin, walking down the hallway, blatantly eating Arthur's food: I am testing the king's food for poison, my lord.

Merlin, wearing Arthur's crown: I am trying to see whether it needs to be resized, my lord.

Merlin, sitting on the throne: I am trying to see if the king would benefit from a cushion, my lord.

grrm absolutely knew what was doing putting these three together

I'm late for the discourse (again) but I just wanted to saying something.

JUST 👏 BECAUSE 👏 EVERYONE 👏 DOES 👏IT 👏 DOESN'T 👏 MEAN 👏 IT'S 👏 RIGHT.

Is it typical for siblings to fight? Yes

That makes it okay? No it's not. Even if they are children, cruel things can be said that can affect the other person who, I remind you, is also a child.

So stop using the argument that "they are sisters" or that "they were just children" because if for that reason the things that happened in that age were not important then bullying in schools would not be a problem.

Sansa was wrong in the way she treated Arya and accepting that doesn't mean we think she's the worst monster ever lmao

Twitter users are defending their right to assume Picasso was a renaissance artist. Tiktok users think watching any film made outside the US makes you a snob. “Replace classic lit with YA and fan fiction” discourse is flourishing. I think we’re just living in anti intellectual times.

 “Fireflies”

Inspired by frenchweasly’s and zainclaw’s edits  ❤

Stiles Stilinski + The Elements

do you guys think grrm was twirling his hair and grinning to himself when he decided to write gendry meeting the bane of his existence: lord edric dayne of starfall?

i'm rereading arya's asos chapters and it's so funny how arya and gendry meeting a 12 year old blond boy with dark blue eyes that almost appear purple makes gendry jealous in the spot, like a switch that went off, even before realizing said boy is nobility and the lord of starfall.

I think what makes it even funnier is that the first time Arya and Gendry are at High Heart they walk the circle of weirwood stumps together, but the second time they are in High Heart, Arya takes Edric to walk the circle of weirwoods LOL

do you guys think grrm was twirling his hair and grinning to himself when he decided to write gendry meeting the bane of his existence: lord edric dayne of starfall?

i'm rereading arya's asos chapters and it's so funny how arya and gendry meeting a 12 year old blond boy with dark blue eyes that almost appear purple makes gendry jealous in the spot, like a switch that went off, even before realizing said boy is nobility and the lord of starfall.

the way grrm does house-based appearances for the more prestigious houses is so funny to me bc its exactly the way a thirteen year old girl would do it. outside of the starks and maybe the florents or manderlys he never describes actual facial features or body types that are passed down its ALWAYS eye color + hair color double whammy to the point where anyone from these families can be recognized as a member by their eye and hair color. its soooo ridiculous can u imagine being some random merchant with green eyes and blond hair and EVERY person you meet is like wow you MUST be a lannister 😉😏 and u cant even be annoyed about it in public bc rich ppl r crazy and will track u down for ‘insulting their house’…

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 kind of early)))