This Picture Will Make You Keep Shipping Tormund & Brienne

Game of Thrones fans aren't the only ones counting down the days until they see their faves back on the screen and together again (even if it means we're that much closer to witnessing their inevitably gruesome deaths). The show's actors are all over social media, looking every bit as excited as we are. Kristofer Hivju hopped on Instagram this weekend to add fuel to the fire of all those Tormund-Brienne shippers.

"7 days to go! #Briemund #tarthbane#brienne #tormund @hbonordic," he wrote, captioning a Boomerang in which he turns his head and raises one delicious ginger brow at a tiny action figure of Brienne of Tarth. That's all he had to do to whip us into a frenzy all over again.

"#briemund is real!! Tormund himself has acknowledged it!!" one fan declared, reposting the image.

Those shippers were already going nuts over one publicity photo of Game of Thrones season 7, showing Tormund looking at Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) with what can only be described as hunger. The pic inspired some choice memes from creative viewers — many of whom have already written loads of fanfic about the pair.

Christie loved the scenes they've had together too. “I enjoyed Brienne being put in that position of feeling awkward and not wanting the attention,” she told Entertainment Weekly last year. “That was a very fun thing to play. He’s a wildling, he’s very sensual and animal-like and very forthright with his emotions and feelings — which is really the opposite of [Brienne]. I enjoyed trying to navigate that and the beauty of her embarrassment. She can totally deal with the situation, and with him, but she’s just so embarrassed about it.”

Unfortunately, the possible love between the two warriors may also be what dooms them, according to sadistic bastards, er, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dave Weiss.

"It inspires us because we need to kill one of them now," Benioff told Entertainment Weekly last month of the characters' chemistry, "because there can’t be a happy ending or any romantic connection on the show. But we’re not going to tell you which one."

Please, let that be after something good and life-affirming happens between them.