My theme for this year's Inktober will revolve around Game of Thrones' Arya Stark. At the same time, following a bit of both of Jake Parker's and Cubebrush's Prompt List.
DAY 1 - SWIFT: Arya and Nymeria swiftly attacked Joffrey when he was taunting and hurting her friend, the butcher's boy, Mycah. Sansa was too late to stop Arya from hurting her beloved Joffrey.
DAY 2 - DIVIDED: After Arya was happily reunited with her sister Sansa, a rift occured between the sisters when Arya found an old message that came from Sansa regarding their father. Littlefinger purposely let Arya find the old message to divide the sisters.
DAY 3 - POISON: "Tell them the North remembers. Tell them... Winter came to House Frey." Exacting her revenge for killing her mother and her brother, Arya took on the guise of Lord Walder Frey, who she slit his throat, then murdered the rest of the Frey men by poisoning their drinks.
DAY 4 - ARYA'S FIRST KILL. Eddard Stark was arrested for treason and the rest of House Stark in King's Landing were 'gathered-up'. Arya escapes with the help of her swordmaster Syrio Forel. While Arya frantically searches their baggage for 'Needle', she is discovered by a stable-boy who tries to stop her. As he comes at her, Arya raises her sword, and impaled him.
DAY 5 - LONG. After a long journey, crossing the Narrow Sea to find Jaqen H'ghar in Braavos, Arya arrived at the House of Black and White only to be turned away by an old priest of the Many-Faced Gods.
DAY 6 - SWORD. "First lesson... Stick 'em with the pointy end." Jon Snow had the blacksmith of Winterfell make him a sword. And before parting with Arya, he gave the sword to her as a present. It's so light and skinny that it may not cut a man's head off, but it can definitely poke a man full of holes if she's quick enough. Hence the name: Needle.
DAY 7 - SHY. Remember that one time at Harrenhal? When Gendry was trying out his new castle-forged sword half-naked while Arya was talking to him. Honestly, I don't think Arya has been shy the whole time, but I think the theme 'Shy' best fit the scene.
DAY 8 - CROOKED. "A man does not choose his companions. These two, they have no courtesy. A man must ask for forgiveness." To keep Arya safe from the hands of King Joffrey's soldiers, Yoren intended to take her back to Winterfell and hid her among 20 recruits for the Night's Watch. Yoren warns her not to trust the other recruits, as any of them could turn her in for a reward, or rape her. Most especially the three prisoners who were taken from the infamous "black cells", the dungeons reserved for only the worst criminals.
DAY 9 - THE FIRST MAN (SCREECH). After escaping the Twins and the massacre of the Red Wedding, Arya and The Hound came upon a group of Frey soldiers camped on the roadside. Arya overhears one soldier boasting that he was the one who mounted Robb's direwolf, Grey Wind, on the King of the North's headless body. Arya pretended to be hungry and asked him for food, then brutally stabs him in the back of the neck repeatedly while the Hound kills the others. The Hound asks her if that's the first man she's ever killed and she says it is
DAY 10 - GIGANTIC. "In the old times, whenever Braavos stood in danger, the titan would step with fire in his eyes. He'd wade into the sea and smash the enemies." The Titan of Braavos is a massive stone and bronze statue that guards the entrance into the lagoon where Braavos is situated. It is the primary line of defense for Braavos and lets out a loud blast whenever a ship approaches the entrance to warn the Arsenal of its coming.
DAY 11 - RUN. The Waif finally caught up with Arya after maiming her for not killing Lady Crane. She finished the job for her by killing Lady Crane first. But Arya quickly escaped and ran the side streets of Braavos to lose the Waif.
DAY 12 - SHATTERED. (WARNING! The following post contains graphic images!) After witnessing the wrongful execution of her father, and her mother and brother betrayed and murdered by the Boltons and the Freys, one can only imagine how shattered Arya must've been.
DAY 13 - TEEMING. With the help of Jaqen H'ghar, Arya, Gendry and Hotpie escaped Harrenhal. Arya suggested that they head for Riverrun where her Grandfather is lord but got lost along the way. They didn't realize they got lost in a forest teeming with outlaws known as the Brotherhood without Banners.
DAY 14 - FIERCE. 'A girl' was supposed to give a life to the many-faced gods when she saw in Braavos one of the people on her list of names. Because of her hatred for Ser Meryn Trant for killing Syrio, she took it upon herself to kill him first instead of the one she's tasked to kill. Arya is known to be fierce since the beginning and a lot of characters have acknowledged that.
DAY 15 - MYSTERIOUS. "You saved me and the two I was with. You stole three deaths from the Red God. We have to give them back. Speak three names, and a man will do the rest. Three lives I will give you. No more, no less. And we're done." The mysterious Jaqen H'ghar offered Arya to repay his debt from saving him and the two men he's with during the attack on Yoren's caravan by giving him three names that Arya wants dead.
DAY 16 - FAT. "I can't believe I thought you were a boy. You're pretty!" Before Arya and Gendry leaves with the Brotherhood without Banners, Hot Pie decided not to go with them because he notes that a life of fighting and traveling isn't really for him, plus Thoros formally made a deal with the inn to give them Hot Pie's services (Hot Pie was working for a baker in King's Landing as an apprentice before being taken by Yoren) to pay for all of the meals the Brotherhood had there. He also gave Arya a present which he baked: a loaf of bread shaped like a direwolf.
DAY 17 - GRACEFUL. "Now we will begin the dance. Remember, child, this is not the dance of the Westeros we are learning, the knight’s dance, hacking and hammering, no. This is the Braavo’s dance, the water dance, it is swift and sudden." Lord Eddard Stark hired Braavosi master-swordsman Syrio Forel to train Arya how to fight with a sword. Syrio taught Arya the Braavosi style of sword fighting, the Water Dance.
DAY 18 - FILTHY. The survivors of Yoren's caravan are taken to Harrenhal. But due to the huge amount of prisoners, Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie are placed in a filthy pigsty along with the other prisoners set to be tortured by the Tickler.
DAY 19 - CLOUD. With Catelyn Stark murdered at the Twins, The Hound decided to take Arya to her closest possible kin, Lady Arryn, in the Eyrie, hoping to get a reward. Unfortunately, upon reaching the Bloody Gates, the guards there informed him that Lady Arryn had also died (murdered by Littlefinger by pusing her through the Moon Door). Arya mocked the Hound for taking her there all for nothing.
Day 20 - DEEP. "I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you'll shut forever. We will meet again." When Arya confronted Melisandre for taking her friend Gendry, Melisandre looked deep in her eyes and somewhat foretold Arya's dark future.
Day 21 - FURIOUS. "A girl gives the man his own name?! Gods are not mocked. This is no joking thing." Arya became furious at Jaqen H'ghar when Jaqen can not kill Tywin Lannister, not at the moment anyway. So Arya gave Jaqen his own name instead for him to kill. "A man can go kill himself!"
Day 22 - TRAIL. Arya leaves a bloody trail which makes it easier for the Waif to track her down.
Day 23 - JUICY. "But they’re already here, my lord. They weren’t easy to carve. Especially Black Walder." With Arya's new found talent, she disguised herself as one of the Frey servants so she can get close to Walder Frey. When Lord Walder asked where his son's are, disguised Arya presented him with a nice juicy pie made from both his sons', Lothar and Black Walder's, dead bodies.
Day 24 - BLIND. "The faces offer no one. You are still someone. And to someone, the faces are as good as poison." Arya was caught using one of the faces from the Hall of Faces for her own personal agenda by killing Meryn Trant. As punishment, only death can pay for life. Jaqen drinks a poison that she thought was meant for her and dies. Arya is horrified by the death of her "friend", only to find out that the waif was now "Jaqen". He explains that Jaqen was no one, something that Arya compromised for herself. Jaqen was never a real person, just a face. And faces can only be used by those who are "no one". To "someone", a face is poison, and Arya Stark is rendered blind.
Day 25 - SHIP. Arya left the Hound to die from his own wounds after battling Brienne of Tarth. With her new found freedom, Arya decided that she would ride a ship going north to the Wall, probably to see Jon Snow. Unfortunately, the captain of the ship won't take her to the wall since he's already setting sail to go back to Braavos. Fortunately for her, she has an iron coin that Jaqen Hghar gave her and presented it to the captain and uttered "Valar Morghulis". The captain replied "Valar Dohaeris" and gave her a cabin. Right there she decided that she'll go to Braavos instead and look for Jaqen Hghar.
Day 26 - SQUEAK. "Dead rats don't squeak." On the way to the Twins, Arya and the Hound encountered a Pig Merchant whose wagon broke down. The Hound decided to kill the merchant and steal his wagon as a means to enter the Twins. Arya stopped the Hound from murdering the merchant.
Day 27 - CLIMB. King's Landing is a-buzz with news that the Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark, will confess his treason at the Sept of Baelor. A huge crowd gathered at the yard. In order for Arya to see what's happening, she climbed the statue of Baelor. Little did she know that upon her father's confession, King Joffrey order Ser Ilyn Payne to cut off her father's head.
Day 28 - FALL. When Arya thought that she's all set to leave Braavos, the Waif, disguised as an old lady, grabbed and stabbed her twice. Arya escaped the clutches of the Waif and fell down to the river.
Day 29 - UNITED. "When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives." Lord Baelish was led to believe that he has turned sister against sister. During the gathering at the Great Hall, he was surprised to know that he was the one on trial and not Arya. At that time, the Stark siblings united against Lord Baelish. Then Arya slit his throat.
Day 30 - FOUND. "You're Arya Stark. I swore to your mother I'd bring you home to her." After leaving the Bloody Gates, Arya and the Hound came across Brienne of Tarth and Podrick who were on their way to the Bloody Gates. Brienne asked for directions to the Bloody Gates when Podrick recognized the Hound. She then realized that the girl who's with the Hound is Arya Stark, one of the daughters of Catelyn Stark who she swore that she'll find and keep safe. Arya questioned Brienne's intentions when she knew that her mother was already dead. The Hound also didn't want to give Arya up that easily, thus a fight ensues between Brienne and the Hound.
Day 31 - MASK. "Is the girl ready? To give up her ears, her nose, her tongue? Her hopes, her dreams, her loves and hates, all that makes the girl who she is... forever? No. The girl is not ready to become no-one. But she's ready to become someone else." Upon passing the game of faces, Jaqen H'ghar brings Arya to the Hall of Faces. She realizes her work as an acolyte is to prepare the bodies to have their faces skinned and hung to dry in the Hall of Faces. The same faces that the faceless-men use to carry out their mission.
This is the sketchbook that I used for this year's Inktober. Used up most of the pages. I used up most of my pens and markers as well. I guess I'm somewhat glad that I get to finish all 31 days because I didn't get to finish Inktober for the past 2 years.
