#I hate SanSan

[ligawolfcosplayandarts]

finally decent Sansa ship without SanSan nonsense

hi! just want to say i love your art sm <3 if it's not too much trouble can i request fanart of sansa with [CUTE BOY OF YOUR CHOICE]? her common ship prospects are kind of dire!

Girl yes!! But help, where can I find a boy who is around her age, kind, decent person, not sharing same blood, not married or attached to an oath, and alive in the asoiaf universe 😭 like, the bar is not that high and still cant think of a character that deserves my girl, help

[azulolivart]

An unequal marriage in Westeros.

[catofoldstones]

Sansa doesn’t accept Sweetrobin as her suitor but she accepts Tyrion? Did you read the books? This is another nail in the ashford theory’s coffin besides the obvious fact that lady Ashford didn’t marry her suitors and valarr married another lady and soon died

you’re right, you’re right. instead sansa is going to marry sandor because dunk disturbed the tourney or whatever copium is it that you lot snort

[atopvisenyashill]

i’m not engaging in discourse about discourse i refuse to engage in discourse about discourse engaging in discourse about discourse is the mind killer

[janiedean]

I know it's been a long time, but do you plan on writing Sandor's pov of the Heart Thing series? I'm poor, so I won't commission the fic, but I wanted to at least know how you think he'd deal with it (ex, would he hide and try to ignore it, would he try to be a better person, whisper almost-kind words to it when Sansa is sad?)

hey anon, first of all thank you so much for the kind words and please no need to commission anything like I'm just glad people still remember it T_T

that said with answers for both your questions:

yes I do plan on writing that but when it happens is... up in the air because meh like I'm trying to not sound whiny about it but if it wasn't clear from my less than stellar production lately my mental health has been completely down the drain lately and as it is rn I'm finding it extremely hard to put words together unless I have an extremely hard deadline and as it is I'm trying to finish a bunch of comms that I started but I'm like really struggling with liking anything that I write so tldr: yes but it could be three months from now and it could be next year, sure af I hope it's sooner rather than later because I really don't relish any of this but eh T_T

how he'd deal with having it: first time it happens (which would be after they get together which like.. he can't actually deny it's A Thing yknow she got his so) he thinks he someone went on a bender and forgot even if he tried to cut down on the drinking and then he's like oh god nope it's really here what the fuck and immediately gives it back to her like IM NOT WORTHY HERE, she's like yeah okay sure but I don't think it's gonna end here (she's fine with it), the second time he gets it is when she's sad for some reason and she's not nearby so he has to take care of it and actually worry about it and he's like god what do I do and just keeps it close and tries to not make anyone notice, then it happens again when something bad happens to her and she's not immediately nearby and as you said he tries to tell it something nice which for his standards would be weird but it actually works because she actually feels better and then she's all smug when she tells him and he's like wait what are you fucking kidding me

and she's like sure I'm not :DDDDDDDD

so pattern he always gets it when she's sad or down or has dealt with crappy people and so on and at some point he just embraces it like yknow what I denied it for ages but it makes no sense that I should now oKAY FINE I'M NOT UNWORTHY OF THAT

sansa is just :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD for the entire next month and robb's like did you just propose her or what NOT THAT I'D SAY NO AND NOT LIKE SHE DOESN'T WANT IT sandor is like maaaybe that's uh for another time MAYBE

he probably springs the maaaybe weee should make it official thing not long later tho

robb is just extremely happy of how he matchmade half of this union XD

ngl there were things I wanted to do in that verse including the throbb fic and sansa meeting brienne like you were my role model too but eh as stated at this point I'll be just glad if I manage to finish my commission backlog and/or literally anything that won't feel like crap after five lines so i can't guarantee it's happening at any point soon, sorry anon T_T

[chodoyodes]

genuinely perplexed by what the general fandom consensus on sansan is, i think it’s an interesting dynamic but the age gap is naturally a little 🤨🤨 mode. BUT grrm has said that the unkiss is smth and also they have the same age gap as jb which is like THEEE asoiaf ship… i’m not gonna become a hardcore sansan because the books are more to me than shipping (didn’t even consider ships on my first read besides jb) but sansan fascinates me in particular bc it’s an interesting moral sticking point in a lot of the fandom

[hello-nichya-here]

Do you still like talking about ASOIAF? see you like SanSan and wanted to know your opinion about something I was reading. I was reading some discussions around Sandor's character and there seems to be a division of opinion about whether he is in fact a total bastard, but he met Sansa (who was the first to give him empathy and kindness) and so he does kind acts but only to her (or when she is near) OR he always had a "good side" somewhere inside him (still a bastard, but I think you get the ideia of what I mean?), but was too comfortable with his view of the world and become totally apathetic to the things around him (until he met Sansa and she kind of challenged his worldview). I thought I'd ask your opinion on this, if you don't mind, because I think you usually have interesting thoughts on things.

George R.R. Martin likes complex, messy characters that are very firmly in the grey area. The full on pure monsters in the story (like Ramsay and his dad) are not as large as the group of grey, or even good, characters, and they usually don't get as much attention. There's a reason we'll see the POV of Jaime, Cersei and Tyrion, but not Tywin - they have more humanity and vulnerability in them, so Martin has something more interesting to work with and develop. He even went as far as saying that even the iconic "A Targaryen is either great or mad" thing is a LIE, because ALL OF THEM did things that could make them look great or mad in people's eyes.

With Sandor in particular, lets get the most ridiculous "take" on the character out of the way: He is not kind ONLY to Sansa or ONLY when she's around. For fuck's sake, he goes out of his way to remind her of every awful thing he does/thinks in hopes she'll stop giving a damn about him and he can thus stop questioning his entire existence, and is repeatedly exasperated that nothing seems to do the trick.

And while he is kinder to her than to anyone else, he REPEATEDLY proves that he wants to stop being just a killer. We see in an Arya chapter that Sandor wanted to just live in a quiet, peaceful village until the end of his days, but he is kicked out because of his past and is clearly upset about it.

He kidnaps Arya because he wants to return her to the Starks in the hopes that they will take him in. And after the Red Wedding he still saves Arya, and after being VERY cruel to her in trying to get her to accept that her family is dead, he changes his tune literally overnight because, come on, she's a kid and what happened is horrible, he shouldn't have snapped at her and he knows it.

For fuck's sake, he CRIES confessing his sins Arya when he is "dying", and then changes his ways when he is rescued and taken to the Quiet Isle.

More important, during a public event in which his brother is trying to kill Loras for beating him in a duel, Sandor steps into to the rescue. It would have been THE perfect way to get his revenge on his abuser without any consequence - he'd just be defending himself and another person. No one could truly hold it against him if he had killed Gregor right then and there, not even Sansa. But instead, we are told this:

"Thrice Ned saw Ser Gregor aim savage blows at the hound’s-head helmet, yet not once did Sandor send a cut at his brother’s unprotected face."

George R.R. Martin went as far as creating an two distinct, very easy ways to highlight to the readers that this character has both a human side and a monstruous side - and that the human side would eventually win in this internal conflict.

The first is his identity as "The Hound." It represents his anger, his violent impulses, his willingness to obey unjust orders because it benefits him, his alcohol abuse, his tendency to snap at people for the smallest thing, and his refusal to accept that this behavior is not "just how the world works" and is in fact a problem he needs to work on.

Sandor struggles to let go of "The Hound" even though, as I like reminding people, no one hates that fucker more than Sandor himself does. He struggles because this bad behavior is a toxic coping mechanism. It was what allowed him to survive in a cruel, unjust world - in an Arya chapter, after WINNING a trial by combat and thus being forgiven for his own sins AND the sins of his brother, we have her describe him as looking like a frightened child after he gets burned. Sansa compares the kiss she's given by Sweet Robin, a little boy that latched onto her, to her imagined kiss with Sandor. The Hound is the mask a frightened, traumatized child that never matured in healthy way hides behind.

We even see Sansa herself adapt parts of "The Hound" into a healthy survival skill - righteous anger at her abusers and their enablers instead of just blind rage at every living thing, suspicion and caution around people until she's sure they can be trusted instead of believing EVERYONE is rotten to the core.

Sandor is called "The Hound" less and less as the books go on, until we reach the point of him being on the Quiet Isle, basically going through that world's equivalent of rehab and therapy, and then hear the very clear message of "The Hound is dead, Sandor Clegane is at rest." We even have an actual bad guy steal his hound helm and see how people are WRONG in assuming that Sandor Clegane is the monster running around raping and killing people because THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS MAN WANTS TO DO WITH HIS LIFE!

And that's despite him saying shit like "If you can't fight for yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can" - which brings us to the second way Martin used to highlight the duality of the character: his feelings on what it means to be a TRUE knight.

Sandor will constantly tell Sansa that true knights don't exist, that the very concept is ridiculous, that the world is awful and he's just honest about it, that knights are for killing and that killing is the sweetest thing there is.

Yet he refuses to take on the title when he joins the King's guard. Whether that refusal happens because Sandor doesn't think he deserves the title or because he is disgusted to be in the same class as people like Gregor, he is still letting the truth slip in the moment: deep down, he DOES care about honor, even if just a little. He DOES think there's something wrong with cruel, corrupt men being give praise and status for being "heroes" when they're actually monsters. He DOES have lines he doesn't cross and that nobody can make him change his mind on.

Now, obviously a true knight doesn't get "drunk as a dog", doesn't comment on a 12-year-old girl "having tits now" (especially not when that girl is noble AND the king's future queen), does work for corrupt lords, doesn't kill an innocent child because a spoiled prince threw a tantrum, and doesn't hold the 12-year-old he is trying to save at knife point during a PTSD episode.

But a true knight would prevent Sansa from killing Joffrey and being punished (and possibly killed) as a consequence, would give her advice on how to protect herself from the King's wrath and from potential manipulators, would scream in protest when she's being beaten and humiliated in public and then give her his cloak to cover herself up, would save her during a riot, would offer to try and get her back to her family - and would accept her refusing that offering - and he would remove his white cloak, the symbol of his honor, to demonstrate he is ashamed of having done something that goes against his code.

Sandor Clegane is a complex, deeply flawed man. He knows it. But he WANTS to be Sansa's knight in shinning armor because, deep down, he shares her beliefs. And she recognizes that, and Martin goes out of his way to show us that she prays for his soul.

"He is no true knight but he saved me all the same, she told the Mother. Save him if you can, and gentle the rage inside him.”

No matter how awful The Hound is, Sansa Stark is never gonna take it as proof that Sandor Clegane didn't deserve justice for what Gregor did to him - not even when she's saying, to his face, that if he doesn't change his ways the Gods will send him to hell. And she's going to call him "Ser" whether he likes it or not, and question why he lets people call him a dog, and will thank him and call him brave whenever he helps her out. He can complain all he wants, she's not gonna stop.

No matter how flawed of a protector he is, Sansa will always remember him as the closest she got to meeting a true knight - to the point that when she's about to be sexually assaulted in a later book and someone saves her, her first instinct is that her savior MUST be Sandor, even though she knows she's either half a continent away or full on dead by now.

And that kindness, understanding and faith in him is what Sandor had always, desperately longed for, but didn't think he would ever get or ever deserve. And for that, he feels he owes Sansa a debt he can never repay, so he is at his kindest to her, and steps up to protect her from Joffrey because he simply can't help himself.

Sandor is not putting on an act for Sansa or changing his behavior only towards her. She is the catalyst for his character arc. He gave her tools to survive, she gave him a REASON to survive.

It's why their last interaction has her wraping his cloak around herself, accepting him as her knight, after singing this song to him:

"Gentle Mother, font of mercy Save our sons from war, we pray Stay the swords and stay the arrows Let them know a better day Gentle Mother, strength of women Help our daughters through this fray Soothe the wrath and tame the furyTeach us all a kinder way"

Sansa's dynamic with with the Hound - not Sandor, the Hound - was pure "Kill them with kindness." Beauty killed the Beast. Sansa saved Sandor from the Hound, and now he feels it's his duty to protect her.

[sherlokiness]

2013 amazes me. It's so surprising there would be a post explaining how Jon and Sansa would end up together from more than a decade ago. Is Mladen one of the og jonsas perhaps?

Hi, anon! Thanks for the ask.

Reference: This post.

It really is amazing to find that post about Jon and Sansa. I'm pretty sure that's the only one(besides blindestspot also 2013) which verbosely listed rational reasons for why Jon and Sansa could be a couple. You'd be hardpressed to find one bc all the other clues of Jon ending up with a sister are all attributed to jonrya or adjacent - aegony bc of the incest. When the original outline came out in 2017, there were talks about jonrya clues being the leftover from the og timeline like Jaime being King but scrapped. I believe the author has actually switched Jon's endgame to Sansa from Arya from the first book bc of that one line "No, that's Sansa." There are also others like Sam/Sansa being a bastard's lady love and the use of radiant.

I don't think Mladen is a jonsa the way a "shipper" is. They've merely suggested a possibility for the reason George deliberately made Jon and Sansa distant but still fond of each other. Nevertheless, it's still a bit rebellious for Mladen to suggest jonsa endgame when the most prevalent ship during those years was Sansan. It was treated as a "done deal" ship like JaimeXBrienne was. Sansa hate was also rampant so saying she's gonna end up with the "hero" in the book is practically blasphemy.

[ghanimaleto]

the way this is actually literally the opposite since everybody and their grandma knows that jonsas blogs 70% consist of jonerys/jonrya/sansan hate fueled by the fact that the first one is show canon and the other two are book based and have massive support by the author. I suppose it really sucks to like a crackship and not be able to support it with any evidence so now you have to agonise on tumblr dot com

[amplifyme]

I was tagged by @randomfoggytiger and @sagan-starstuff. Thanks! Sorry it took me so long.

What's the origin of your blog title? I'm assuming you don't mean my username. Or do you? My blog title is To Every Craft, Its Proper Mystery, which is a line written by my writing mentor for a BATB fanfic way back in the day, and one that's stuck with me since the first time I read it.

If you're asking about my user name, when I first poked around Tumblr back in 2010 I realized it was a place where I could safely amp up my obsessions and proudly let my freak flag fly. So, amplify me.

OTP(s) + Shipname: Mulder and Scully - MSR. Sandor Clegane and Sansa Stark - SanSan. Vincent and Diana, who don't really have a shipname.

Favourite colour: Muted blues, greens, and plums. But for some reason, the more brightly colored art pieces are the ones that really speak to me.

Favourite game: Um, I don't know that I have one. I don't really play many games.

Song stuck in your head: This one from Your Monster. And one of my favorite scenes/montages in this film.😍 Streaming on MAX if you're interested.

Weirdest habit/trait? I tend to be obsessive about everything being just so in my apartment. If anything is just the slightest bit off-kilter or not exactly placed, I have to fix it immediately. Thankfully this trait doesn't carry over to friend's or family's homes. Cuz that would be really weird.

Hobbies: Reading, catching up on older movies and TV shows, taking walks when the weather allows, poking around thrift stores, trying new recipes.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? I think it would be a combo of doing some sort of job in a library and working at an animal rescue.

Something you're good at: Organization, multi-tasking, cooking, making people feel at ease.

Something you're bad at: Anything math related. My brain is not wired for math.

Something you love: Books. Levon the Cat. My family and friends. Music. Writing - when I'm actually able to do it.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: Any of my OTPs/favorite movies, shows, and music.

Something you hate: Dishonesty. A lack of integrity. A lack of empathy/compassion. My country, right now.

Something you collect: Books and music.

Something you forget: Grocery lists. Every. Stinking. Time. I need to start writing them on my phone instead.

What's your love language? Words of affirmation. I had to take a quiz to find that out.

Favourite movie/show: Too many to list and I'm not even gonna try. But right now, I'm riding a wave of warm fuzzies and appreciation for Your Monster. See video above.

Favourite food: Anything fresh and prepared in a way that respects the ingredients. Well, anything but food that includes okra or escargot. Just, no.

Favourite animal: All of 'em!

What were you like as a child? Probably a lot like I am now, except that now I'm wiser and have thicker skin. I also have fewer fucks to give as an adult.

Favourite subject at school? English and history.

Least favorite subject? Math.

What's your best character trait? I don't think that's for me to decide.

What's your worst character trait? Procrastination.

If you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? Nothing. It's all good.

If you could travel in time who would you like to meet? My ancestors in Scotland.

Recommend one of your favourite fanfics (spread the love!): All the Dead Mulders by @cecilysass. Just a lovely gut punch from start to finish.

I'm tagging @speaktruthful @musingsofaquietmind @xxsksxxx @enigmaticxbee and @ladytp

No pressure. Only play if you want to.

[baddybaddyadardaddy]

Fanfic writer interview

Thanks for the tag, @niennawept!! (& answering under this blog since the VAST majority of my fic is Adar-related)

How many works do you have on AO3? 14, which feels insane to me.

What’s your total AO3 word count? 202,906, which again... feels insane. I'm pretty sure Adar is to blame for like, 195,000 of those words.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Awake, Arise or Be For Ever Fall'n: My longest work, Adar's life story from his awakening at Cuivienen to the Battle of the Last Alliance. (Written and completed pre-S2, so his story after Orodruin erupts is, um, different than in the show canon. So technically it's a fix-it fic.)

sister golden hair: The Adar x Mirdania fic that I NEVER expected to write. This started as a ONE-SHOT and then exploded into an angst-riddled tale of accidental necromancy and Tolkienian zombies. Deus ex Mirdania!!!!

Son of the Darkness: The one-shot that started it all. The moment that my brain became fully unhinged. The original one-shot sketch of Adar's life story.

memories of dancing: A fic I wrote when I lost my mind temporarily pre-siege of Eregion episode premiere and decided to entertain the crack idea that Adar = Celeborn. No regrets.

Blood on My Name: Awwww... a throwback to the days when Kastle (Karen Page x Frank Castle from The Punisher) had taken over my brain. A little AU where a badly wounded Frank shows up at Karen's door in the middle of the night. Midnight MacGyver surgery FTW!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try! I have not been historically the best at this, partly because for awhile I didn't realize that that was what you were supposed to do. >.< Also sometimes I type responses out and my brain tricks me into thinking that I sound way too dumb so I abort mission. But I've been trying to be much better about it because yes, fandom should be a conversation and I'm so grateful for every comment I get!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? LMAO TAKE YOUR PICK, I AM THE CAPTAIN OF THE PAIN TRAIN. Honestly, though, I guess it depends on your definition of pain. I think Awake, Arise ended on a hopeful/Tolkienian note, so I actually wouldn't say that one. I think it might be "what law can lovers move," which was a little lyrical Turgon x Elenwe oneshot that I did, inspired by Orpheus and Euryidice. Those two hurt me so good.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? Mmmmm... I think "in the halls of awaiting," a companion ficlet to Awake, Arise from the POV of Erenyë, Adar's spouse in my canon, as she waits for him in the halls of Mandos. It was SUCH an angsty fic to write, but their reunion made it all better. That said, I DON'T REALLY DO OVERTLY HAPPY ENDINGS, SORRY.

Do you write crossovers? Nope.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? I don't think so.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I DIDN'T, AND THEN ADAR X ERENYE TOOK OVER MY BRAIN. "A Knife in the Dark" is the AU smutfest of Awake, Arise and I like to say that it's what happens when you don't let your characters fuck each other enough in the longfic.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Let's hope not.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No... writing is kind of a solitary endeavor for me. I'd entertain editing, but probably not co-writing.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? I'm staring at this question going "why can I not think of an answer for this"? I mean this feels so self-promotional/self-indulgent to say, but I'm high-key obsessed with my OC Erenyë and I've definitely dedicated the most brain space to shipping her and Adar over the past two years. Turgon and Elenwe also have OTP status in my brain, as well as Kastle and SANSAN.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? Mmmmm... I think maybe "Tides of Fate Onward Run"? I started this something like TEN YEARS AGO, and the basic idea was to tell the story of Gollum and his corruption by the ring through the POV of Nienna. It was a neat little exploration and I had intended it to be a way to explore a lot of the Valar headcanons I have. Maybe one day I'll get back to it...

What are your writing strengths? Mmm... I think maybe my canon adherence? For the most part that is my sweet spot with fic-- I like to craft stories that can fit very snugly into exisiting canon with few deviations. Especially with Awake, Arise, I wanted Adar's story to feel like it could have slipped right out of Tolkiens Silmarillion canon.

What are your writing weaknesses? Ugh I think sometimes I can slip into passive voice and I hate that. Also sometimes I feel like my descriptions are just way too flat and I can fall into "telling instead of showing."

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? The only other languages I really use are Tolkien's... and I'm for it!

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? Mmmm... well technically I have written for this ship, but I've never published publicly... and may never. It's Lalwen x Fingolfin. It's wrong. It's scandalous. It's a mess of feelings. There's extensive Helcaraxë angst/trauma involved. Don't @ me, they are so compelling to me. I'M UNREPENTANT, LOOK AWAY.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Awake, Arise! I'm so goddamned proud of that fic. I'd never actually completed anything novel length (fic-wise or original) before I wrote that fic. So that was a big deal for me to do as a writer. And I really felt like I told a damn story.

ANYWAY tagging @brynnmclean, @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 @mylovelylittleobsessions @clumsycopy and anyone else who wants to play!!!

[esther-dot]

i'm a sansa stan first and foremost, and i tried to ship s@nsan so hard lmaooo but when they start saying shit like "sansa has wet dreams about the hound" and "sansa actually likes older men", argh, i just can't. do. that. i know george said something about playing with it in the books, but i also think that he wanted to raise a few questions with the relationship, one of them being "who protects sansa from her protector?". like, there's TRAUMA in there. it's funny that they accuse jonsas of using sansa as a self-insert bc i don't know if you ever read a s@nsan fic or saw the fanarts, but they REALLY wanna bang that man 😭

(about this ask)

Nothing in the fandom horrifies me as much as Sansan. I’ve had nice Sansans come into my inbox, so I do distinguish between my feelings about the ship and the shippers, but I hate the reinterpretation of the Hound because it minimizes what he did/tried to do to Sansa. Instead of the later scenes where Sansa thinks of him being about her processing the trauma of his assault, suddenly, they become a gross villain whitewashing, victim-blamey, “actually, she wanted it.”

I once even highlighted that whole "who will protect us from the guards" idea you mention because I think it was meant to emphasize what a travesty the Hound’s assault was:

(link)

This isn’t a romance, this is a pattern. The Hound saves her than tries to rape her, Tyrion is kind to her then agrees to marry her, a child, a prisoner of his family, and LF rescues her but then starts to sexually molest her. All the same, in each of these instances, Sansa is grateful, she thinks kindly of them, and I think that says a lot about Sansa that you completely miss if you romanticize it and pretend that the Hound is someone, something to her, that he isn’t. I also talk about the whole cloak thing in that post too because I think the more contextualized reading is the one we’re meant to adopt.

When I did take a look at the meta, I was so creeped out by the nature of it and the art. Although, I want to give credit where it’s due. Apparently they were some of the first people to start taking Sansa seriously and created the reading of Sansa becoming a political factor, so they did change the fandom’s perception of Sansa in a good way. But imo their love of the Hound causes an imbalance in how they read their scenes. The point isn't that the Hound wouldn't have hurt Sansa, the point was that he very well might have but Sansa's actions stopped him which ties into a much bigger idea and important aspect of Sansa's story:

Even after the Hound assaults Sansa, later, she thinks of how terrifying the fire was, as in, even then, she is able to empathize with him, the man who held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. It’s laughable to suggest a man who mocked her relentlessly for who she was is capable of the same consideration. In fact, it is in a state of terror that the Hound attempts to rape Sansa and his fans use that to excuse his actions, and yet, while he is assaulting her, Sansa sings of mercy, gently touches his cheek. It’s almost like the very obvious interpretation, that the way to create a better world is Sansa’s method— not his— is what Martin expected people to understand, and his surprise people have turned it into something else altogether is genuine. (link)

As for Martin admitting he "played" with it, here's a clip. It's very short, and he's expressing surprise that his female readers like villains of which the Hound is one, and I think you can tell by his facial expression that the idea of the Hound and Sansa as a couple, is absolutely not where he ever intended to take things, not what he meant when he said he played with it. There are countless old monster movies with the monster being fascinated with a young girl or beautiful woman which humanizes him/shows a soft side. That's similar to Beauty and the Beast, the girl is what allows the monster to become human again, but in these variations, it isn't a romance. You can play with/reference tropes and ideas without it actually being a direct reiteration of the original story.

Anyway, filter and block and curate your fandom experience! 😅

[janiedean]

Hello there, same anon from the heart thing ask here; look, I may not understand what you're dealing with mentally, but as a writer I wholeheartedly get what you're saying about your writing... I don't have much to say except that your writing is exceptional and beautiful and expressive to the point I one day want to achieve. Your fic were one of the first fan histories I had ever read and they're the reason I started to read other fanfics and appreciate the art that fanfic writers do.

It's because of your stories that I joined the GoT fandom and started to write my own histories... I know saying your writing is good won't help with what you're passing through, so I'll just declare one thing: it's because of you that I became a writer myself (though I don't post anything online 🙃)

About the Heart Thing, that's so sweet and the idea of him trying to take care of her heart every time she gets really sad is wholesome!!! It says a lot about his character as a bodyguard... I mean, he's difficult to act gently around people and is most of times rude to almost everyone else, but having him take care of such a fragile part of Sansa is awesome.

Truth be told, when I asked I meant what if Sansa somehow lost her own heart at a young age and how would he act if he received her heart before meeting her, as just "the scarred Clegane, the bloody Hound, the kill-at-command Bodyguard", since that would be a really interesting take on his character 😅... But what you have cooking in the oven is just as good and fluffy.

I hope that wherever it is that you're having to deal with gets better, and that you find your writing as perfect as I find it to be soon!

+++ the Heart Thing is my favorite series and I feel so giggly and warm and !!!?!!? when I read them!!!

... anon I teared up thank you so so so much T___T like I ABSOLUTELY needed to hear it and I'm so glad you found joy in writing your things too!!! and hey you don't have to post online if you don't feel like it, as long as you're enjoying doing it and you like what you do it's all good and works great, but if you ever publish let me know ;)

(and again thanks I'm just like... swamped with real life stuff, I don't think I subconsciously got over a very unpleasant thing that happened entirely too long ago at this point and tbf ten years ago I had envisioned being at this point in my life in a way that was very different and not generally in the good sense, also tbf I'd like to share more about what I'm doing but I'm still paranoid about certain individuals being around and finding out my rl info so I'm not and it's pissing me off so it's just not helping so like I really am not doing great but I'll get through it, I just... wish I could be done with it)

and honestly like whatever point I got to was with like... practicing a lot reading a lot and finding out what worked for me, which again at the moment is basically bleh because I'm absolutely not firing on all cylinders but I know it's because of that and if you just do you thing write what you like and go for it I'm sure you'll be great T_T you're really too kind anon thank you so so so much again T_T

I mean, he's difficult to act gently around people and is most of times rude to almost everyone else, but having him take care of such a fragile part of Sansa is awesome.

BUT YOU KNOW HE'D BE VERY GOOD AT DOING THAT HE JUST HAS TO EMBRACE IT!! ;) I'm absolutely a fan of putting sandor in that position and have him find out he's actually great at that ;)

Truth be told, when I asked I meant what if Sansa somehow lost her own heart at a young age and how would he act if he received her heart before meeting her, as just "the scarred Clegane, the bloody Hound, the kill-at-command Bodyguard", since that would be a really interesting take on his character 😅... But what you have cooking in the oven is just as good and fluffy.

AAAAH I see, sorry as stated I'm completely out of it and misunderstood your ask but in that case...

okay let me think he'd probably be early twenties if we go for the most likely timeline sooo first reaction would still be turning on his side and going back to sleep presuming he's too drunk and he's hallucinating it right

then he wakes up in the morning and it's still there and he's like WHAT THE FUCK

he proceeds to make sure it's very well hidden and pretends it's not there for like three days during which he ends up drinking less because for some reason he feels bad doing it which MAKES NO SENSE YKNOW AND YET

it takes him like two weeks to actually take it in his hands without a cloth around it or something and he's there like huh wait it feels nice i actually feel kind of good WAIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SORCERY IT HAS TO BE A MISTAKE IT'LL DISAPPEAR IN A WEEK ANYWAY

spoilers it doesn't

two months after he has to admit that no he actually does have it and it glows a bit when he holds it and what the fucking fuck

then it turns out that if he feels like crap and holds it close he actually feels better

at the same time knowing he has it makes him resent the fact that people treat him like he has no feelings more than it would have regardless because he knows that if someone ended up saddled with him regardless he can't be that bad right

at some point he gets asked to do something that's like just not gonna fly when it comes to his morals so he goes like you know what fuck it I quit and leaves king's landing

turns out being a hedge knight actually works out for him

spends a few years going around and actually building a good reputation until he ends up in winterfell out of roaming around while he also looks for the person the heart belongs to

;) ;) ;)

hope you enjoyed this dish too ;)

and awww thanks again for everything! T_T I HOPE SO ANON I HOPE

[agentrouka-blog]

Hello. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the idea that GRRM shut down Sansa/Sandor isn't accurate.

When you watch the interview, what GRRM did was express surprise that the ship, and the character of Sandor Clegane, had become so enormously popular. He made the comment during a time, many years ago, when it was the biggest ship in the ASOIAF fandom and most Sansa fans shipped it. If you weren't in the fandom at that time, it's probably hard to imagine how ubiquitous the ship was, but it WAS ubiquitous, and popular, to the point where GRRM expressed surprise over it. But he did not at any point shut it down.

In fact, he rather did the opposite. This next part of his answer is always ignored by haters of the ship, but after expressing his surprise, he went on to acknowledge that the show did "play with it a bit" and that "I did too, in the books." These quotes, in all their fullness and context, are easily found in online videos of the interview.

I'm not a fan of the ship. There are many reasons to hate it. I'm not arguing that it will be Sansa's endgame, either.

But I do believe in being honest and genuine and not putting words in GRRM's mouth to make him say what we want him to say. He has never, to this day, dismissed or shut down Sansa/Sandor.

There's indeed a video where he addresses it, and the very fact that he so openly addresses it... shuts it down as a genuine avenue of speculation, honestly.

He says he "played with it", but when you look at the page, what he has shown is the Hound sexually harrassing and later assaulting Sansa, and Sansa inventing a trauma-induced less terrifying reinterpretation of this event, turning his "song" rape-metaphor and the blade at her throat into "he took a song and a kiss".

That's not romantic. That's an adult creeping on a child. That IS a form of "playing with" a sexualized dynamic between these two characters. But. It's a one-sided "attraction" of an adult to a child, and he cannot stop emphasizing his surprise at how women are eating this up as "romantic", like none of that is contradictory in any way.

Like, no, he didn't say "They are definitely not getting together in the books", but it seems to me that many take the same view as the female interviewer who, in fact, contradicts GRRM himself by repeating how she thinks it's "fascinating" or "it has crossed her mind". The male interviewer interjects that the show played with that imagery, and GRRM agrees that so did he, but that doesn't mean he supports the intended reading as actually romantic. Like, the support there is not coming from the author but from the sansan-shipping female interviewer.

[ligawolfcosplayandarts]

Even though I don't ship SanSan , this was too good not to draw for SanSan fans who love my cosplays, Oc and art. Also I needed to draw this in general. Because I don't ship certain pairings doesn't mean I shouldn't draw memes of them for those who do.

Also hope the anon who hate asked weeks ago, eat this !!!

Sansa is portrayed adult in this art anyway, and I need to draw more feminine figures.

This also don't need to be meant as ship art, just Sandor being support. Take this pic how you want.

Enjoy peeps, and I adore you all.

I had to do it before someone else does . Here is template.

[orchestraytedkhaos]

Rexsoka. Yeah, it's my ship. Still.

I mainly just lurk here, reading fanfic and enjoying the memes. But the angst of the last few has given me the courage to dive in and say a few words.

First, let me clear the air: Rebels was when I started shipping Rexsoka. Prior to their reunion on that show, it had never ever occurred to me to ship them. Despite having read the novels.

So, yeah, look, I totally get the opposition to shipping early Clone Wars Rex and Ahsoka. She's a child. He's a child too, arguably, although his accelerated maturation makes everything super messy. The military structure and fact that Rex is basically a slave means its got power issues galore. Then for those in the US, there is the whole 18 year old age of consent thing (noting, for good or ill, it's 16 most other places). I get why this squicks people. It's the SanSan of Star Wars.

But people grow up. Even on TV.

Season 7 Ahsoka is 17 going on 18, and effectively an adult. She's commanded armies, and just spent a year living and working independently. She is also obviously mature and, frankly, animated that way. Rex is a long term friend, they love and care for each other, and by the end of the season, she basically risks everything for him, and he for her. The episodes are also written in a very obviously shippy way, with the gazing, the chats, the meaningful converstions, the hand holding and the tears. Not to mention that sad, moonlit reunion in Tales of the Jedi.

And although I dont think it matters much, by this time, even taking Rex at double chronological age, the gap is pretty mild by fantasy standards. 17-18 and about 26, roughly the same as Buffy and age-corrected Angel, and way less than Han and Leia.

Fast forward to Rebels, and we have two mature adults with a shared history and goals, who love, trust and admire each other, share common interests, and are amongst the most important people in each other's lives. It's a believable and natural thing for that to progress to something more. The challenges to their relationship are things like, for Ahsoka, the lingering memory of the Jedi code and Anakin and Padme's destructive passion, and Rex's rapid aging, status and limited life experiences. It is those kinds of emotional and external barriers and their shared trauma that make the romance so interesting.

Season 7 + and Rebels Rexsoka is classic friends to lovers, and one of the nicest, softest and most realistic relationships in Star Wars. The opposition to it, and moraliatic shaming of those who like is, is something I simply don't get. It's bizarre. There are heaps of ships that are far, far more problematic (including Anakin/Padme) that don't get this hate.

Like, anti dudes, what exactly *is* the problem here? I suspect the it's that some people just want to get their hate on.

The recent flashbacks? Yeah, that one on Mandalore complicates thing, but I doubt they had stomping on shippers in mind when they cast Ariana, as I have seen suggested elsewhere. The more likely scenario is that - at about 14 yo when this was filmed - Ariana was totally perfect for the first flashback, and is perfect for playing young Ahsoka going forward. Even setting aside that she is an amazing actress, she's insanely athletic and can duel weild light sabres while knee walking though a twist. She's also already tied to Disney. She wasn't quite right for the part, and, I agree, that does make watching it in light of the fanfic a bit uncomfortable. But, it's not just a shipper issue. Putting an Ahsoka that looks and sounds like that in the episodes with the Martez sisters and Bo Katan is weird af too, and doesn't work. I doubt it is meant to.

Story-wise, the best and only real take is that the flashbacks aren't live action replays. The Mandalore scene doesnt even chronologically match what happened (Ahsoka is so fighting Saxon in that scene, which never happened). They are visions about Ahsoka and Anakin and their relationship, not live action replays. Both remember her as a child caught up in a war. Smoke, the fog of war, flashing lights and dying, faceless clones.

And Anakin and Rex.

What I take from these is that in Ahsoka's mind, and Anakin's too for that matter, Rex is always there for her. Standing in the chaos, calm and confident in himself and in her, and looking badass as heck. With an older Ahsoka it would have absolutely been smoking scene from her pov, and no way was it written otherwise. As an older Ahsoka remembering, it's hot. As younger Ahsoka, he's there as her protector and friend.

Do I do ever think this ship will play out on screen? Not, no explicitly. And, yeah, it probably is harder now because of that vision (although if they ever do film a younger Ahsoka series, they will undoubtedly be casting a young actor for Rex, and Ariana will, by then, be 18). But I don't think that was intentional, and I don't think that much has changed. It was always intended to be an "open for interpretation" relationship, written with the possibility not excluded. And I am good with that. Perhaps I even prefer it. Star Wars has a truly dreadful record with romance and, besides, too often cementing subtle or ust-based ships kill them. I just hope this hasn't, because it's still my ship and I love it.