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nanenna · 7 years ago

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Mystery Machine Mishap!

Chapter 1: A Phone Call

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Fandom: Undertale Rating: General Audiences Pairing: None Summary: There was an accident at the Lab and now Papyrus is left trying to take care of Sans as a toddler while Alphys tries to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. To say Papyrus is unprepared is not just an understatement, it's downright fact. But Papyrus is determined to be the best big brother ever, even better than Sans is when he's the older on.

As usual, also available to read on fanfiction.net or AO3 under the same name. (links not included because that messes with the search function)

It all started with a phone call from Undyne. She told Papyrus that Alphys had called her to say that something had happened at the Lab and she needed Papyrus to go there right away.

“WOWIE, REALLY? BUT WHY WOULD DR. ALPHYS NEED ME AT THE LAB? I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW SHE KNEW WHO I WAS. WHAT AM I SAYING, OF COURSE SHE KNOWS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! BUT STILL… WHY DOES SHE NEED ME?”

“I don’t know,” Undyne replied, “but I’m coming too! I’ll meet you there!” There was a click followed by silence.

Papyrus put his phone away before taking off in a sprint. He was in Snowdin re-calibrating his puzzles when he got the phone call, so he was about as far away from the Lab in Hotland as you could get, but Papyrus would go to any length for a friend in need! Well, for a friend of a friend.

Papyrus slowed to a jog as the Lab came into sight, Undyne standing in front of it wearing causal clothes and sipping from a paper cup. “UNDYNE!” Papyrus called, “DO YOU KNOW WHY DR. ALPHYS CALLED US YET?”

“No, I was waiting for you. Let’s head in.” Undyne chugged the last of her water, then walked confidently into the Lab with Papyrus trailing behind. “Alphys? We’re here!”

“U-up here,” Alphys called from her room.

“YES, WE HAVE INDEED ARRIVED,” Papyrus boisterously called as they walked up the escalator. “AND WE EAGERLY AWAIT YOU TO INFORM US OF WHY WE ARE NEEDED.”

There was a squeal, then the pitter patter of tiny little feet running towards them. “Oh my goodness!” Alphys cried in alarm. “Quick, catch him!”

“daddy!” A tiny skeleton child wearing nothing at all ran straight into Papyrus’s legs and clung to him excitedly. Papyrus and Undyne both looked down at the child in confusion.

“You uh… got something you forgot to tell me about?” Undyne asked with a raised brow.

“I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT I DO NOT HAVE ANY CHILDREN, THERE MUST BE SOME CONFUSION.”

Alphys came huffing towards them with a few pieces of familiar clothes in her arms while Papyrus picked the giggling child up and held them in front of him. “HELLO, LITTLE ONE, WHO ARE YOU?” The child was small, with big, round eye sockets that contained equally big, round, bright pupils, a fixed smile, and short, stubby limbs.

“daddy!” The child squealed again while reaching for Papyrus’s face.

Papyrus obligingly hugged the child close as he turned his attention to Alphys and the clothes in her arms. “WHOSE CHILD IS THIS? AND IS THAT SANS’S HOODIE? IS HE HERE? IS THAT WHY YOU CALLED US?”

“Oh, uh… well y-you see uh… that ch-ch-child is Sans.”

Papyrus and Undyne stared blankly at Alphys while the child in Papyrus’s arms looked up at him in confusion.

“What do you mean this kid is Sans?” Undyne asked as she looked the little skeleton over.

“not daddy!” Sans suddenly wailed, great big tears welled up in his eye sockets and dripped down his face, which was quickly turning red.

“WELL OF COURSE I’M NOT DADDY, SANS,” Papyrus responded in confusion as he held the child out to get a better look at him. Sans squirmed and kicked in his brother’s grasp. “IT’S ME, YOUR BABY BROTHER… THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

“daaaaaaaaaaddiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!” Sans wailed even louder as he kicked and thrashed. Papyrus’s grip started to slip, so Undyne reached over and plucked the squirming child from his grasp.

She expertly hoisted him on her hip and began rocking back and forth as she cooed at Sans. “Shhh… I know… I know… it’s really scary, huh? A bunch of strangers who are talking around you like you aren’t even here. Don’t worry, kid, we aren’t gonna hurt ya.”

“HE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE ME?” Papyrus asked as he turned his attention back to Alphys and wrung his hands in worry.

“He doesn’t recognize anyone, I think he lost his memories when he uh… when the accident… when he got turned into a baby???”

“Hey Sans, how old are you?” Undyne asked as she looked down at the still sobbing but much quieter child. He shyly held up two fingers before hiding his face in her shirt. “Wow, two whole years!” Undyne said in a soft voice as she continued to sway back and forth. “That’s so big!” She turned her attention to Papyrus and Alphys. “So he likely only has the memories he had way back then, right? Paps, how much older is Sans than you?”

“FOUR YEARS OLDER, WHY? OH WAIT… OH...” Papyrus looked down at the still upset toddler. “I WASN’T EVEN BORN YET WHEN HE WAS TWO.”

“So Alph, how did this even happen?”

Alphys started wringing the blue hoodie in her hands, “W-well Sans was helping me with some stuff that was left behind when the previous Royal Scientist uh… left? There were a lot of machines and blueprints and half finished projects left laying around and I was trying to move it all around and uh… o-organize things I guess and Sans was… he was helping me. A-anyway! I found some blueprints and notes that looked like a machine that was actually right there but all the old scientist’s notes are in some kind of code so we were trying to decode it while we were looking over the machine and uh… th-th-then it accidentally activated. W-with Sans ins-s-side.” She gestured helplessly at the toddler. “And uh… he came out like that.”

“ARE YOU SURE THIS LITTLE BABYBONES IS MY BROTHER?” Papyrus asked worriedly.

“Of c-course I’m sure! I Checked him first thing!”

“OH! OF COURSE!” Papyrus turned away to hide a faint dusting of pink on his cheekbones, it was also the perfect opportunity to do a Check of his own. The toddler’s name was indeed Sans, and the description was the same one as always… until a second line was added. Odd, but it still confirmed what Alphys said.

A quiet, muffled, “want daddy,” came from Undyne’s side.

Undyne started rubbing his back, “Yeah, I don’t blame ya kid. But you know what? We got the next best thing, your big brother Papyrus.”

Alphys snorted and Papyrus stared blankly at Undyne, “WHAT?”

“Well, you are bigger than him, aren’t ya?” Undyne hefted Sans higher and angled her body so he was closer to Papyrus. She turned her attention back to Sans, “You love your big brother, right?”

Sans looked Papyrus over shyly. “big bruvvuh?” He asked as he shoved a thumb into his teeth.

“THAT’S RIGHT, YOUR BIG BROTHER THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

Sans still seemed unsure, but he did at least stop hiding his face in Undyne’s side as he looked Papyrus over more critically. Undyne shifted so Sans was being offered to Papyrus, “Here, take him.”

Papyrus held his arms out and Sans let himself be handed over. Once that was done Undyne expertly shifted Papyrus’s hold until she was satisfied.

“You s-sure seem to know what you’re doing,” Alphys commented.

“Perk of being the head of the Royal Guard, lots of little fans following you around.”

“SO NOW THAT SANS HAS CALMED DOWN, WHAT DO WE DO?”

“W-well, I should be able t-to decipher the blueprints and notes for the machine we were looking at, once that’s done I should be able to figure out what when wrong and h-hopefully reverse this.”

“WELL THAT CERTAINLY IS A RELIEF. I SUPPOSE UNTIL THEN I SHALL HAVE TO BE THE BIGGER BROTHER AND TAKE CARE OF SANS.” Papyrus looked down at the sleepy toddler.

“Yeah! You’re gonna be the best big brother, I can feel it!” Undyne slapped Papyrus’s back unusually gently, he barely had to step forward to keep from toppling over.

“H-here, you should probably have Sans’s th-things.” Alphys offered up the clothes she had been holding, which Papyrus neatly tucked into his inventory save for the hoodie, which was instead carefully wrapped around Sans.

“THANK YOU, DR. ALPHYS. I SHALL TAKE THIS BABYBONES HOME NOW, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE REPAIRED THE MYSTERIOUS MACHINE YOU WERE WORKING ON WITH SANS, WHO I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW YOU KNEW.”

The journey back to Snowdin was uneventful, the motion of walking apparently lulling the toddler into a doze. The sound of the door closing must have woke him, as the moment they were inside Sans perked up and looked around. “daddy! daddy we home!” he called at the top of his lungs. Papyrus looked down in surprise while Sans’s head whipped back and forth. “daddy! where daddy?” Sans turned to Papyrus and tugged on his scarf, “pappus, where daddy?”

Papyrus’s mouth opened and closed a few times, his orbits wide and threatening to spill the tears gathered in their corners. “DADDY… ISN’T HOME RIGHT NOW,” he eventually managed to choke out. What he said was technically true: their father wasn’t home at the moment and very likely wouldn’t be. Papyrus tried no to think about it as he carried Sans into the kitchen. “ARE YOU HUNGRY? I HAVE SOME SPAGHETTI I CAN HEAT UP.”

“skeddi!” Sans excitedly squealed, making Papyrus very glad he didn’t have any ears.

Papyrus carefully set Sans down on the edge of the table with his little feet hanging over the edge. “NOW YOU JUST STAY RIGHT THERE WHILE I GET THE SPAGHETTI READY.” Papyrus pulled his freshest container from the fridge and started heating it up. There was a muffled thump followed by giggling fading behind him. He whipped around, the table was empty. He looked down, Sans’s hoodie was a rumpled pile on the floor. He ran into the living room, Sans was waiting for him at the other end of the room and giggled again before taking off diagonally from Papyrus. The taller skeleton quickly darted towards the fleeing toddler and scooped him up. Sans giggled and squirmed while Papyrus sighed in relief and headed back into the kitchen. After some imaginative juggling, Papyrus managed to get a plate of warmed up spaghetti set out on the table and sat himself in a chair with Sans sitting on the table in front of him.

“skeddi!” Sans squealed in delight as Papyrus held a loaded fork up to his mouth. The anticipated pasta barely touched Sans’s teeth before he turned his head and tried to push Papyrus’s hand away. “yucky! no!”

“YUCKY?” Papyrus repeated in shock. “BUT YOU LOVE MY SPAGHETTI!”

“no!” Sans declared again. “yuck! no! no! no!” Sans squirmed out of Papyrus’s hold and crawled to the other side of the table, where he crossed his arms in a huff and refused to look at Papyrus.

After a few more failed attempts to get Sans to eat, Papyrus set the spaghetti aside and rifled through the cabinets. Children were picky, and tastes changed as you got older, so maybe this little version of Sans would rather have something a little simpler than his artisan spaghetti. Aha! Papyrus found the item he was looking for and kept a careful eye on the fussy toddler while he prepped it. Sans kept trying to sneakily glance at Papyrus by twisting his whole body around and quickly looking away with arms crossed whenever Papyrus caught him.

“LOOK SANS,” Papyrus cheerfully said as he moved in front of the pouting toddler and held up a spoon, “DINOSAUR EGGS! DON’T THOSE SOUND YUMMY?” He held up the spoon to Sans’s mouth, but Sans didn’t seem so sure. To prove his point Papyrus stuck the spoon between his own teeth. “MMM… MMMMM… DELICIOUS! IT’S MY FAVORITE! AND IF SOMETHING IS A FAVORITE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS THEN IT MUST BE YUMMY, RIGHT?” He scooped up another spoonful and held it out to Sans.

Sans cautiously leaned forward and took the bite. The reaction was less extreme than the spaghetti, but his face still scrunched up and he turned his head away. “yucky!”

“SANS, PLEASE! JUST EAT! THE OATMEAL!”

“no! is yucky!” Sans squirmed away from Papyrus, who continued trying to put the spoon in front of Sans’s teeth until Sans slipped from the table and took off running. Papyrus sighed, then put down the bowl and spoon to go give chase.

Once the toddler was captured again, and kicking fussily, Papyrus cheerfully walked back into the kitchen. “THAT’S ALRIGHT, SANS. I KNOW SMALL CHILDREN CAN BE PICKY EATERS. I’M SURE WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THE HOUSE YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO EAT.” A search of the cupboards, the pantry, and the refrigerator belied Papyrus’s optimism. Aside from the box of oatmeal the only food they had in the house were ingredients for spaghetti. Sans’s half of the fridge only had an empty chisps bag, which Papyrus finally just threw away in frustration.

“pappus, hungie.” Sans squirmed in Papyrus’s hold, his face scrunched up and his permanent grin looking strained.

“WELL, YOU CAN EAT MY GOURMET SPAGHETTI OR YOU CAN EAT SOME DINOSAUR EGGS, BECAUSE THAT IS ALL WE HAVE IN THE HOUSE.” Papyrus smiled down at Sans, who only replied by pouting. Papyrus sighed, of course Sans would be difficult no matter his age. “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT, THEN?” Before Sans could answer, Papyrus’s phone started ringing. They both jumped at the loud, jaunty ring tone and Papyrus struggled to pull it out without dropping his brother in the process. “YES, HELLO?” Papyrus answered without even bothering to check the caller ID.

“Hey Paps!” Undyne’s voice erupted from the phone. “Just calling to find out how you and the squirt are doing.”

“WE ARE DOING FINE, REALLY. ASIDE FROM MY BROTHER REFUSING TO EAT, THAT IS. HOW DOES ONE MAKE A FUSSY TODDLER EAT WHEN HE SAYS HE IS HUNGRY BUT REFUSES ALL FORMS OF SUSTENANCE?”

“Refusing to eat, huh? Then he’s not hungry enough!” Undyne yelled.

“W-wait… w-w-what?!” Could be heard faintly in the background.

“Just keep him distracted for a while,” Undyne continued loudly, “and when he’s hungry enough he’ll eat. Don’t let the kid trick you into thinking he needs candy!”

“Undyne, it’s uh… it’s not good to let someone with l-low HP go with-without food. I mean… it’s a-a-actually kinda dangerous.”

“WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S DANGEROUS?” Papyrus asked in worry as he looked down at the toddler perched on his hip.

Alphys seemed to have taken the phone from Undyne because her voice was much clearer as she explained, “You know how monster food replenishes your HP? Well, if you go too long without eating your HP starts to fall and if you have l-low HP you don’t have far for it to f-fall before um… it gets dangerous.” Papyrus ran a quick Check over Sans.

Sans – ATK 1 DEF 3 HP 19/20 Your lazy big brother who isn’t so big anymore.

Papyrus gasped, “I’M SORRY ALPHYS I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW BYE!” Papyrus quickly ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket, then turned and ran for the front door. He opened it and stared at the snow, then glanced down at the still naked toddler perched on his hip. Papyrus turned and ran back into the kitchen, picked up the fallen hoodie, wrapped it around Sans again, then ran back to the front door and out it.

“pappus, where we going?”

“WE’RE GOING TO GET YOU SOMETHING TO EAT!” Papyrus slammed open the door to Grillby’s and power walked up to the bar, behind which Grillby was polishing a glass as the regulars lounged in their usual spots.

“……… Papyrus,” Grillby started to say as said skeleton reached the bar and held the toddler up to him.

“GRILLBY FOR SOME WEIRD REASONS SANS REALLY LIKES YOUR GREASY FOOD AND I CAN’T GET HIM TO EAT AND HE’S GOT LOW HP SO NOT EATING IS REALLY DANGEROUS FOR HIM DR. ALPHYS JUST TOLD ME SO AND I’M REALLY WORRIED SO PLEASE CAN YOU JUST FEED HIM SOMETHING PLEASE!”

Grillby’s flames flared up, then darkened to a deep red as he stared at the round faced toddler shoved towards him. “… Papyrus, did Sans have… a child?” Sans was looking up at the fire elemental curiously.

“NO!” Papyrus insisted as he held Sans even closer to Grillby, Sans ducked his head and was trying to hide his face. “THIS IS SANS.”

“…………………………………. what?”

“THIS IS SANS. THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT AT THE LAB WITH DR. ALPHYS AND SANS GOT TURNED INTO A TODDLER AND HE WON’T EAT! DR. ALPHYS SAYS IT’S REALLY DANGEROUS FOR MONSTERS WITH LOW HP TO NOT EAT! AND WHILE HIS HP IS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN IT’S BEEN IN A LONG TIME, TWENTY IS STILL REALLY, REALLY LOW. AND HE JUST WON’T! EAT! PLEASE, HE LIKES YOUR FOOD!”

Grillby looked down at Sans, who squirmed uncomfortably before shooting him a shy glance. The rest of the bar had gone silent, every last patron staring at the unusual scene with blatant interest. Grillby put a hand on one of Papyrus’s and pushed Sans back towards his brother. “……… have a seat.” Without another word Grillby turned and walked through the fire exit.

Papyrus sat down on one of the bar stools and pulled little Sans into his lap. Next to them Red leaned over to get a better look at the little bundle of bones. “Is that really Sans?”

Sans shyly hid his face in Papyrus’s chest, one orbit angled to peek at the bird monster. “OF COURSE THIS IS SANS,” Papyrus said confidently.

One of the Dogi walked over to Papyrus’s other side and tried to discreetly sniff over Papyrus’s shoulder.

“Can I hold him?” Red asked as they leaned in closer to look at Sans. A couple more of the dog guards moved to crowd around Papyrus and sniff at Sans. The toddler whined and burrowed even further into his brother’s chest, Papyrus adjusted the hoodie to better cover Sans and gently rubbed up and down his spine.

“I DON’T THINK THAT’D BE A GOOD IDEA RIGHT NOW,” Papyrus replied as he began sweating. “MY BROTHER HAS HAD A VERY LONG DAY...”

Grillby returned with a plate piled high with steak cut french fries drizzled in ketchup. He set the plate down in front of Papyrus and then glared at the other patrons until they stopped crowding the skeletons. The smell seemed to be enough to rouse Sans from his hiding post, once he saw the plate of deep fried potatoes he eagerly grabbed the nearest handful and shoved them into his teeth, getting ketchup all over his hands, face, and Papyrus’s lap.

“SANS, NO!” Papyrus lifted Sans away from the bar top, aghast at the mess that had somehow gotten smeared on either side of the plate. There were titters from around the bar.

“……… I apologize, I don’t have any child friendly food on the menu.”

“Grillby says he doesn’t get a lot of kids in here,” Red supplied as they hid more giggles behind a wing.

Papyrus was taking a napkin to Sans as he eagerly tried to snatch more fries. “THAT IS UNDERSTANDABLE, I’M JUST GLAD THAT SANS IS ACTUALLY EATING.” He settled Sans back in his lap, but pushed the plate out of the toddler’s reach before grabbing a fry and feeding his brother himself. Papyrus managed to work through half the plate, alternating between holding individual fries up to Sans and trying to wipe up the mess Sans somehow made during his brief attempt to feed himself. Now fed, Sans seemed much more alert and kept trying to crawl up onto the bar.

Grillby took the plate away, then came back with a to-go bag. Papyrus started feeling about his pockets for his wallet, while he was distracted Sans finally managed to climb up onto the bar, the hoodie slipping off him in the process.

“I’M SORRY, MR. GRILLBY, I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE MY-” Papyrus looked up to see Sans slowly toddling across the bar towards Grillby, who was blazing bright white and yellow while holding his hands up as if unsure whether to catch Sans or not. Papyrus lunged across the bar and grabbed Sans before he could reach Grillby, then pulled him back. Sans shrieked and started struggling, then just broke down into wailing sobs when Papyrus held him close. “I’M SO SORRY, MR. GRILLBY! I DON’T KNOW WHAT SANS WAS THINKING!”

Grillby tried to speak, but his soft voice was drowned out by Sans’s continued wailing. “It’s okay,” Red cut in. “He’ll just add it to Sans’s tab.”

Grillby nodded and pushed the to-go bag closer to Papyrus, who took the bag and tucked it into his inventory before wrapping Sans up in his hoodie once more. He really would need to find something to actually put Sans in if the toddler was going to keep insisting on running around. Papyrus nodded to Grillby, then cuddled Sans close as he carried the still weeping toddler out of the bar.

Once home, Papyrus looked down at Sans: large tears running down his round cheeks, ketchup and fry grease all over his face and hands, new stains added to the old ones on Sans’s favorite hoodie. Papyrus sighed, a bath was definitely needed, and some sort of clothing that wouldn’t keep falling off. He held Sans close and rubbed his spine gently as he walked up the stairs and into Sans’s room. Papyrus stopped dead and looked around at the usual mess: the trash tornado, the pile of dirty socks, the half made bed… this was no place for a toddler.

“piew!” Sans whined as he looked around the room.

“PEW INDEED!” Papyrs agreed as he turned and walked right back out. “PERHAPS YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS ONCE YOU’RE THE PROPER AGE AGAIN AND WILL ACTUALLY TAKE CARE OF YOUR ROOM.”

Sans sniffled, then rubbed his face against Papyrus’s battle body. Papyrus sighed, it was already covered in toddler tears and ketchup, may as well add brotherly slime to the list. He’d have to properly wash it after all this abuse. Perhaps he would wear something else until Alphys fixed the weird machine that did all this?

He carried Sans into his own room, Sans immediately perked up. His pupils glittered as he took in the bookcase full of children’s books and advanced manuals, the table covered in action figures, the race car bed, just how much cleaner it was. Papyrus opened his closet and started digging through it. Not that any of his clothes would be better sized to fit the toddler, but it was better than trying to dig through Sans’s room. Eventually he found a tank top that he had cropped and modified to say “Good to the Bone” by crossing out “Bad” and writing in “Good” in permanent marker. He held it up to Sans, it would be rather large for a shirt, but the lack of sleeves and short length meant it could be a dress. He also went digging though one of his dresser drawers and eventually came up with a single lime green ribbon and a blue scarf with an orange fish pattern on it. They would have to do.

“YOU READY FOR A BATH, BIG MONSTER?” Papyrus asked Sans, who seemed unsure. Eventually Sans nodded shyly, so Papyrus carried him into the bathroom, carefully shut the door, then deposited Sans on the floor and the clothes on the counter so he could start filling the tub with warm, soapy water. “ALRIGHT SANS, IN YOU GO!”

Once in the water, Sans immediately started giggling and splashing. He was so delighted that he squirmed out of Papyrus’s grasp whenever he tried to clean the toddler. Eventually, after about half the water in the tub got splashed onto Papyrus, the floor, or both, Sans was completely clean. Papyrus pulled him out of the tub, dried him off, then attempted to dress him. Getting the shirt on Sans was actually pretty easy, keeping it from slipping off while Papyrus attempted to make adjustments was harder, especially with an energetic toddler ready to go play squirming in place. Eventually he got the straps of the shirt tied together with the lime green ribbon and the scarf tied around Sans’s middle with a cute bow in the back. It would have to do. Papyrus looked around at the mess in the bathroom, he’d have to clean that up before something got ruined.

“OKAY SANS, YOU CAN GO DOWNSTAIRS AND PLAY WHILE I CLEAN UP THIS MESS YOU UNINTENTIONALLY MADE, OKAY?”

Sans stuck his thumb in his teeth and nodded before turning and running from the room. It took some extra towels, but shortly Papyrus was finished cleaning and carried the pile of soggy towels downstairs to start washing. At the bottom of the stairs his jaw and the towels dropped to the floor in shock, the walls from his knee down were covered in black squiggles. He looked around until he spotted Sans sitting in front of one of the walls, permanent marker in hand.

“SANS!”

The toddler turned around at the shout, another permanent marker rattling around in one of his sockets. Sans’s grin widened, “pappus!”

Papyrus leapt across the room, Sans was up and running faster than Papyrus had ever seen him move in his entire life. There was a moment of vertigo as Papyrus slipped on first one, then the other permanent marker that Sans abandoned when he started running. He turned to find the giggling toddler now on the other side of the living room. “SANS, WILL YOU JUST! STAY STILL FOR ONE MOMENT! PLEASE!” The irony of asking Sans of all people to stay still was not lost on Papyrus, but he was too busy chasing the happily squealing toddler to think about that. Eventually he managed to catch Sans and scoop the giggling, wiggling, squealing toddler up into his arms.

“again!” Sans shrieked in delight as Papyrus held him out at arm’s length.

“NO, SANS, NOT AGAIN. WE DO NOT DRAW ON THE WALLS.”

“pappus! up! up!” Papyrus paused, then held Sans up higher. Sans squealed even more, “again! again!” Papyrus obliged, alternating between lifting Sans up and swinging him low. Eventually Sans’s squeals started to die down and Papyrus placed him on a hip before taking him back upstairs.

“IN THE FUTURE IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU DID NOT DRAW ON THE WALLS AGAIN,” Papyrus gently chided as he dug through his drawers for some paper. He returned downstairs and plopped Sans onto the floor with the papers, then grabbed the errant permanent markers and put one in Sans’s left hand. “DRAW ON THE PAPER, OKAY SANS? NOT THE WALLS.”

“okay!” Sans switched the marker to his right hand, then happily started scribbling on the paper.

Papyrus heaved a sigh of relief before grabbing the pile of towels and hurrying to the laundry room. He stuffed them into the washer as quickly as possible, once the load was going he walked back out into the living room and eyed the walls disdainfully. Those would need to be scrubbed before they stained, if it wasn’t too late already. He looked over at the culprit, then froze. The permanent markers and paper were sitting on the floor, but there was no Sans in sight. Papyrus looked around, there was no sign of Sans anywhere in the living room. He was about to go check upstairs when there was a loud crash in the kitchen. Papyrus ran in to find Sans standing in front of an open cupboard with a pile of pots and pans spilling out of it. Sans looked up, a whole potato shoved in his left eye socket.

“WHA…??” Papyrus trailed off, unsure where to even start. “WHERE DID YOU EVEN FIND A POTATO? WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY IN THE HOUSE AN HOUR AGO??” Sans started reaching for the nearest pot, so Papyrus quickly scooped him up again. “WHY DON’T WE GO BACK TO DRAWING?” Sans whined, but otherwise didn’t put up a fight. Papyrus set him down, then gently pried the potato out of his eye socket. “THERE, NOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE DRAWING, WHICH WILL VASTLY IMPROVE YOUR ARTISTIC ABILITY.” Papyrus picked up the one paper with scribbles on it and shoved the still blank ones closer to Sans. Then he looked at the drawing, there were three circles with various features on them and oddly angled sticks coming out the bottom. “SANS, WHAT’S THIS?”

“you an’ me an’ daddy,” Sans replied simply as he leaned forward to point at the figures.

Papyrus looked at the picture again, he supposed the tall figure could be him, and the smallest one was very round, but the one Sans said was “daddy” didn’t look like anyone he knew. Papyrus shrugged, it was hard to make out anything from a toddler’s drawing skills, and it wasn’t like Sans had any artistic skills as an adult either. He set the drawing aside and decided to simply sit and watch Sans draw, clean up would have to wait.

As Papyrus knew would eventually happen, Sans began to yawn and have trouble keeping upright. Papyrus scooped him into his arms and carried the toddler upstairs. He paused in front of his door, Sans’s room was still absolutely out of the question for a small child, but that left only Papyrus’s room. With a sigh from Papyrus and another yawn from Sans, Papyrus went into his room and placed Sans on the race car bed. Sans held his arms up expectantly, though Papyrus wasn’t sure what that was about.

“WHAT IS IT, SANS?”

Sans tugged at the makeshift belt around his middle and fussed sleepily with the shirt he was still wearing, “jammies.”

“OH,” Papyrus replied. There was no way anything he owned would be remotely like pajamas on the tiny toddler. He untied the scarf and pulled the shirt off anyway, made much easier by Sans putting his arms up again. “WHAT IF… YOU SLEPT WITHOUT JAMMIES? JUST FOR TONIGHT?” Papyrus tried not to let his nerves show. Sans just shrugged, then sleepily crawled towards the pillows. It was like a light bulb went off above Papyrus’ head, he quickly pulled down the blanket and neatly tucked Sans in, then grabbed one of the books from his shelf and pulled up a chair. “WOULD YOU LIKE A BEDTIME STORY, SANS?”

As backwards as the question felt, Papyrus smiled when Sans sleepily nodded, then happily opened the book and started reading the familiar story. “FLUFFY BUNNY LIVED IN A BEAUTIFUL MEADOW WITH ALL HIS LITTLE BUNNY FRIENDS...”

It was a little over an hour later and Papyrus was halfway through scrubbing the living room walls when there was a very enthusiastic knock at the door. Papyrus dropped his cleaning supplies and went to answer the door, unsure who would be visiting at this time of night. “OH! UNDYNE! HOW UNEXPECTED OF YOU TO COME VISIT ME SO LATE IN THE EVENING! AND WITHOUT KICKING DOWN MY DOOR!”

“Hey Papyrus!” Undyne greeted. “You gonna let me in?”

“OF COURSE!” Papyrus stepped aside to let Undyne in. Once the door was closed she shoved a box overflowing with stuff at Papyrus, he hesitantly accepted it. “WHY THANK YOU UNDYNE, WHAT IS IT?”

“I figured you needed some stuff for the baby until Alphys can fix this mess. There’s some kid friendly food in there, some toys, some clothes, and whatever else Gerson had on hand he thought you’d need.”

“WOWIE! I’LL HAVE TO GIVE HIM MY THANKS NEXT TIME I SEE HIM, OR SEND THEM ALONG WITH YOU IF I DON’T.”

“Don’t worry, I already gave him your thanks.”

“THANK YOU, UNDYNE! YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO SAVE TIME.”

“So how’s the little squirt doing anyway?” Undyne eyed the walls that still needed to be scrubbed.

“HE IS CURRENTLY SLEEPING UPSTAIRS. WE HAD A VERY ‘ACTIVE’ AFTERNOON TODAY,” Undyne snorted at the quotes, “AND I MUST SAY I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE BREAK. I NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE THE DAY WHEN I WAS HAPPY FOR SANS TO TAKE ONE OF HIS LONG NAPS.”

“Yeah, little kids are full of energy like that. And he’s at the age where he should sleep through the whole night, but it’s not a bad idea to check up on him at some point. Sometimes they’ll wake up for a glass of water or something, and the poor kid will probably be disoriented since this is a strange house and all.”

“ACTUALLY, SANS SEEMED TO RECOGNIZE THE HOUSE. WHICH IS REALLY STRANGE, WE DIDN’T MOVE IN UNTIL AFTER THE… UH… UNTIL AFTER I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL. BUT WHEN WE WALKED IN THE DOOR HE YELLED ‘DADDY, WE’RE HOME’ AND WAS COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH THE HOUSE.”

“That is weird. Also, speaking of your dad, whatever happened to him? I mean… it’s weird that I hadn’t ever asked before but you never talk about your parents so…?”

“I DON’T REMEMBER OUR DAD VERY WELL, IT WAS JUST SANS AND ME FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. I THINK HE WORKED A LOT? AND WASN’T AROUND MUCH? BUT AT SOME POINT HE WAS JUST GONE??” Papyrus stared down into the box he was still holding with furrowed brows. “I’D ASK SANS, BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT WON’T DO ANY GOOD RIGHT NOW. OH!” Papyrus stepped into the living room and set aside the box before picking up the drawing from earlier and showing it to Undyne. “SANS DREW THIS,” he pointed to each figure as he named them, “THAT’S ME, AND THAT LITTLE ONE IS SANS, AND THIS ONE IS OUR DAD.”

“Heh, that’s pretty good, that one definitely looks like you.” They both looked at it for a moment, then Undyne handed the picture back. “Well, it’s something to ask Sans when Alphys fixes him. Along with a bunch of other questions like how he and Alphys even know each other.”

“I HAD BEEN WONDERING ABOUT THAT TOO, PERHAPS WE SHOULD JUST ASK ALPHYS TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS SINCE SHE WOULD ACTUALLY KNOW THE ANSWERS.”

“Yeah, I’ll ask her later, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to hear what Sans will say. Or what he won’t say.”

“SANS DOES LOVE HIS POINTLESS SECRETS,” Papyrus agreed.

“Welp, I’m going to head home. early to bed and all that, but Gerson said to just pop by Waterfall any time and visit him if you need any help. Or even if you don’t. He wants to see Sans as a ��little whippersnapper’ before this mess gets all cleared up.”

“I’LL MAKE SURE TO GO VISIT HIM THEN. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, UNDYNE.”

“You too!”

A fun little scenario I've seen a few times (Sans gets turned into a baby/toddler/small child and it's up to Papyrus to take care of him until things go back to normal) but I've only ever seen it in Underfell. I get it, the added danger of having to protect Sans from a dusting as well as watching the usually harsh Fell!Paps trying to care for smol Sans is really nice. But just... just Papyrus having no idea how to take care of a small child sounds like plenty of drama for a story, so here it is! Enjoy as tiny Sans wraps your heart around his pinky phalange!

#undertale #nenna writes #fanfiction #fluff #humor #age ression #age regressed sans #toddler sans #babybones #sans #papyrus #alphys #undyne #grillby #grillby regulars

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bighound-littlebird · 6 years ago

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The Alarm that Never Sounded: GOT's treatment of the SanSan Romance

Originally posted here: https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/88073-from-pawn-to-player-rethinking-sansa-xx/&do=findComment&comment=4865409

When adapting female characters from ASOIAF into the TV show "Game of thrones", David Benioff and Dan Weiss aren't unlike Robert Baratheon: if they can't disrobe it, they're bored with it. Their rendition of Melisandre, for example, isn't an intimidating and imposing practitioner of dark and supernatural powers, but rather a seductress who's able to make people obey her only if she rewards them with sex (Stannis, Gendry) or gold (Brotherhood without Banners). One more example would be their rendition of Margaery Tyrell, who was turned from a teenage girl with a perfect facade and somewhat mysterious foundation, into a promiscuous lady willing to do anything – even have sex with both her brother and her husband simultaneously, as she proposes to the latter in Season 2 – in order to achieve her personal political ambitions that are literally limitless.

With that in mind, Sansa Stark never had a chance to be properly adapted in the show created by D&D. Now, the word 'properly' has a rather wide range of possible meanings, and this essay will attempt to examine at least some of them, but, for now, let's say that the most obvious aspect in which TV Sansa was shorthanded is her screen time. In "A Clash of Kings", the book that was the basis for the Season 2 of GoT, Sansa's POV chapters, along with Tyrion's, are the only ones that depict what's happening in King's Landing, the capital of The Seven Kingdoms and the center of political power in the story. This goes for the first two thirds of "A Storm of Swords" as well, e.g. until the moment Sansa escapes from King's Landing. In short, her chapters couldn't help but be of paramount importance in the narrative sense. In the show, however, Sansa's significance is greatly decreased, and not only because the show doesn't follow the "POV structure" of the novels, but because she's reduced to nothing but a prized captive for the Lannisters.

Yes, TV Sansa is a minor, and she's played by a minor, named Sophie Turner. Her age, due to the laws that forbid the usage of underage children in explicit sex scenes, prevented D&D from using Sansa in a way they adore. And her age couldn't be drastically changed without drastic consequences on her overall arc which is, in ACOK at least, built around her first period. That's why, for example, D&D couldn't cast Natalie Dormer – one of their favorite ASOIAF characters, by the way, because they did alter Margaery to suit the actress, instead of the other way around – in the role of Sansa, because Dormer, while certainly looking younger than she is, could never pass as a minor.

And that would probably be the only thing that makes Sansa off-limits for Natalie Dormer, or some other actress D&D adore, to play her in D&D's adaptation. Everything else would've been doable. Had George R. R. Martin not put her first period in the books, Sansa's age, promiscuity, vocabulary, even wardrobe, would've been changed accordingly to suit D&D's vision of a progressive Westerosi woman, which means the first three would've been amplified, while the fourth one – wardrobe – would definitely be reduced and freed from all the unnecessary parts. She'd probably even hook up with some rogue brute at some point; when she'd find the time for him, that is; after she's done with Joff, Tyrion, Lancel, and god knows who else, she'd certainly figure out cynical killers can occupy her bed just as good as other available men can.

Speaking of cynical killers – enter Sandor Clegane. One more character that, alas, couldn't be played by Natalie Dormer, and therefore not of particular interest to D&D. Sandor in the novels is a truly memorable fellow, who slowly but steadily grows in readers' eyes as the story progresses. At the beginning, he's nothing more than a merciless brute used only for killing people Lannisters want dead. Very soon, however, a reader finds out there might be some traces of soul under that rough surface. More and more we find out about Sandor, more and more intriguing and understandable he gets. Even – more likable.

Now, what makes him likable? The stories Littlefinger tells to Sansa?! Of course not. The stories Sandor himself keeps telling to Sansa are what fleshes him to the extent that was probably impossible to predict at the beginning of the series. Through his conversations with Sansa, we find out every important thing there is to know about him. Later on, when he hangs up with Arya, Sandor is already a fully developed character, whom we aren't discovering any more, but rather following. And he became like that precisely through his exchanges with Sansa.

The show went the other way, and a pretty odd way, at that. D&D decided it was better for Littlefinger to deliver the story of how Sandor's face got burned, and that decision carries some very serious consequences in regards to characterization. For example, Littlefinger appears as someone who does know the secrets of King's Landing, but, at the same time, as someone who doesn't hesitate to share those secrets with persons he doesn't have any control over. Yes, he warns Sansa not to tell anyone about the story; but, he warns her because, and here comes the funny part – Sandor is going to kill her.

Now, why isn't Littlefinger afraid Sandor's going to kill him? After all, isn't that the logical question because it's Littlefinger who offers Sandor's secrets to others? It seems there are only two possible answers: 1) Sandor is not that scary and dangerous as Littlefinger claims, or 2) Sandor is a dangerous fellow, but Littlefinger is the bravest individual alive, because he goes around telling the secrets of people that physically can literally eat him for breakfast; and he isn't shy even, because he doesn't fail to warn Sansa how dangerous is the situation he himself dares so boldly.

Whatever conclusion a viewer draws from there, something is going to be radically changed from the source material. Quite possibly, in fact, a lot of things are going to be altered. After the said scene, both Littlefinger and Sandor are drastically different than their book origins. And the characters we ended up with in the show, are not nearly as complex and intriguing as their book counterparts. This is especially true for Sandor, who's nothing if not scary and dangerous. He is supposed to frighten the living hell out of everyone who isn't his older brother. If you take that away from Sandor, you're only left with his tender side.

But, even his tender side was almost entirely removed from the show. This time, not only by Littlefinger, but also by Tyrion: in the throne room, when Joff orders Kingsguards to undress Sansa, Sandor stands there silently. His face expression suggests he isn't pleased with what he sees, but that's it. He doesn't stand up to his king with firm "That's enough" as in the book. It is therefore on Tyrion exclusively to deny Joffrey the pleasure of torturing the girl whose only crime was that she saw him in a moment of unflattering weakness. As in the books, TV Tyrion enters the room with his sellsword and he defends Sansa from Joff, but the important difference is that in the show it looks like Tyrion is the only one both willing to oppose Joffrey and capable of doing it. In the novel, we can sense that Sandor is ready to do the same thing, only, in his case, it comes with a much bigger risk, which is not without importance.

So, in this particular case, Sandor was sacrificed for the sake of TV Tyrion. TV Littlefinger, however, wasn't forgotten in that regard, because, once again, he's fed with lines that originally belong to Sandor. In the finale of the second season, it is Littlefinger who tells Sansa to look around and see how much better than her all those liars are. Just as the last time around, this change serves neither Littlefinger nor Sandor: the former's creepy-mentoring side is exposed much earlier than it would be logical, while the latter is robbed of yet another moment in which he shows how much he cares for Sansa and how protective he is toward her.

Sansa is a case on its own, as far as wrong adaptations are concerned. She's in the league with her mother Catelyn Stark, as two Stark women that were literally butchered in the show. The thing two of them have in common is the nature of their complexity: opposite to other female characters in ASOIAF, like Dany or Arya or Asha or Brienne or Cersei, Cat and Sansa aren't interested in hurting their enemies with their own hands, or, in the case of Dany, with her own dragons (this goes for Cersei, too, even though she's the one ordering the suffering of others, not committing it: her aggression is always personal, as we can sense in the first three novels). And, what's more, Sansa isn't interested in hurting anyone, actually. Cat does have an aggressive side in her; it's female aggression all the way, but aggression it is. Sansa, on the other hand, almost never desires other people to suffer in any way. There's only one noticeable exception: Joffrey. She does think on one or two occasions how nice it would be if Robb put a sword in Joff, and, by extension, she wishes Lannisters are defeated in the war against her family. However, we have to consider the situation she finds herself in at those moments – imprisoned by the Lannisters and at Joff's 'mercy' all the time; small miracle she wishes them ill. I've never been a girl arrested by the grave enemies of my family, but if I was, I'd definitely pray for their most horrible deaths every single night. And, we have to remember that, after Joff's death, she fails to feel happy over it, even though she tries to a little.

Therefore, it maybe isn't a stretch to say Sansa is probably the one character that is most unlike the author himself. Other major characters, especially POV ones, do resemble Martin at least partially. For males, it's obvious: even though GRRM never fought in a war, nor had any military training whatsoever, men are men; even in our day and age, no male is a complete stranger to war; while depicting all those dramatic battles and duels was quite an achievement (which no personal experience would make any easier, truth be told, because in ASOIAF the combat as a phenomenon is illustrated from any number of angles, each among them presented with an abundance of details), ultimately it was in himself where Martin could find a lot of answers about his male characters, whose position in a society is never independent from their combat prowess or lack of it. Female characters, on the other hand, had to be trickier, just like they always are for male authors – let's admit it, they are not that good in creating great females, just like women writers usually don't produce male characters that are a match to their female characters nor to the male heroes created by male authors. In our day and age, these "gender rules" are rarely spoken of, but they continue to exist, due to gender predispositions that are nowhere as strong as in the mind of an individual. There are exceptions, as in good male characters created by women and vice versa, but they are in a clear minority compared to underdeveloped or unrealistic characters whose only "fault" was that they didn't share the sex with an author. And in that regard, ASOIAF could very well be unparalleled: it is perhaps impossible to find any other story that features nearly as many memorable male and female characters both, as ASOIAF does (truth be told, that fact alone should be enough to inspire analysts and scholars to look at ASOIAF at a different, more demanding light, and not as a genre piece).

Martin's girls, however, aren't completely unlike the man who came up with them. Most of them are willingly participating in "men games", e.g. power-plays and/or wars, which makes for a precious connection to a male mindset of the author. They are thinking and behaving as women (or, in the case of Arya, and Dany to an extent, as girls), but all of them are interacting with something that, in all its glory and misery, can roughly be called "a man's world". Some of the most beautifully written chapters in the series are delivered from female POVs – The Red Wedding and Cersei's "Walk of Shame" come to mind right away; but, in a thematic sense, those and other female chapters don't differ too much from male POVs.

Except for Sansa's chapters, which unmistakably belong to something we can roughly call "a woman's world". Chapters of both male and female POVs in ASOIAF are often rich with testosterone, but Sansa’s ones are almost entirely driven by estrogen: look no further than her captivity in King's Landing, that actually is, as already said, focused around her first period – that decision solely should bring a lot of respect for Martin, because he had to know going that road is never easy for a male writer.

And the funniest thing is, it all fits. Sansa's storyline is distinctive in tone, but not odd. It is a legitimate part of the general plot of ASOIAF. In fact, as her story progresses, Sansa becomes more and more important for The Game, even though she showed no clear inclination to participate in it so far, but at the same time, Martin keeps Sansa away from all those "male" aspects he decorated other female characters of his saga.

And on top of everything, we're presented with her love story, a romance with no other than the man who, prior to discovering some delicate feelings for Sansa, could pose for an ideal brute of Westeros. At the beginning of the story, Sandor Clegane could be perceived as the exact opposite of Sansa. As someone who has no business whatsoever in her world, just like she has none in his. But, with some craft wording and master subtlety, Martin succeeds in illustrating the flood of emotions that go both ways in their relationship. Those emotions are never easy, nor appropriate, let alone allowed – even by Sansa and Sandor themselves! – but they're hard to be denied.

The complexity of their multilayered characters, of their respective positions in a society and in an ongoing war, and of their relationship that resists all known clichés, represent some of the strongest evidence that ASOIAF is much more than a genre piece. There's a lot in these novels that escapes genre boundaries, but nothing more evidently than SanSan. Stuff like that is not your usual fantasy element, no matter how flattering fantasy can be as a label (Homer, Shakespeare, Tolkien – to name just a few all-time greats that created unforgettable stories with supernatural aspects in them). Any author who comes up with that kind of love story involving those kind of characters – and with a legion of other characters, and with no less than four different religions, and with themes of honor, redemption, identity, bravery, equality, ancestry, legacy, freedom, revolution... – deserves to be analyzed not as a genre writer.

Now, one can only imagine what kind of enigma Sansa and Sandor were for Benioff and Weiss. And it pretty much remained unsolved, because, when faced with all the complexity of these two characters, Benioff and Weiss decided to remove it almost entirely, along with their relationship that is reduced to occasional and odd mentioning of 'little bird'. TV Sandor was simplified to a one-note brute that goes around TV Westeros and lectures people about the pleasures of killing, a one-note brute he never was in the novels, not even in the beginning of the saga. TV Sansa, on the other hand, was denied her book complexity by shutting down all her layers, one by one. For example, Benioff and Weiss completely removed her decision to go behind her father's back and inform Cersei of his plan. They simply refused to go down that road. They did something similar to Catelyn, whose infamous line to Jon they didn't remove entirely, but did replace it with a much softer one. It is pretty safe to assume that Cat's and Sansa's complexity did bother Benioff and Weiss from the get-go.

What's also removed from the show is Sansa's agency, primarily represented in the novels by her secret meetings with Dontos, a disgraced knight she herself saved from Joffrey. In the show, we got only the saving scene; it was filmed and executed clumsily, but it was there at least. However, until recently, nobody could be sure Sansa did save Dontos, because the man disappeared afterwards (he was briefly seen as joggling balls in "Blackwater" episode, in the scene in Cersei's chambers, but he was unrecognizable for the vast majority of audience). It is reported, though, that Dontos will be returning in Season 4, so yes, Sansa did save his life after all. But, even when he returns, Sansa's attempts at escaping will be two seasons younger than they should've been at that point, and it's hard to see a way D&D can remedy that neglect.

Show-lovers often defend D&D in regards to Sansa, by saying her personality is a difficult and tricky one for portraying on screen, because even in the books she's introverted. Now, maybe she isn't the most extroverted character ever, but she's pretty far from reclusive, as she does communicate with the outside world a lot at the beginning of the series, before she's imprisoned. And even while in captivity, she can't help but communicate with Sandor and Dontos. What's more, around two of them she is her true self, which provides a wide array of possibilities for a good and informative dialogue that, in an adaptation, could compensate for the lack of inner thoughts. With Dontos, she's open not only because she saved him, but also because he explicitly offers his help (and, truth be told, it is he who enabled her to leave King's Landing eventually, so, even though he wasn't exactly honest with her concerning his motivations, her trust wasn't as misplaced as it may seem at first). And with Sandor, she's open for no particular reason – other than those subtle, emotional forces, that both of them can't help but follow and eventually become the closest and most intimate beings to each other.

The way Martin incepted and developed the barely visible, but undeniable romance, between Sansa and Sandor, is nothing short of literary brilliance. With so few words and interactions, he managed so much. The vast majority of readers are aware of restrained attraction they mutually feel, even though they didn't share a single physical aspect of the romantic relationship.

Martin is indeed a master of subtlety, as evidenced by what looks like the endless amount of carefully hidden clues that point to any number of narrative puzzles, realization of which do make an entire story much richer than if taken at face value. And he's never more subtle than with two romances: Rhaegar/Lyanna and Sandor/Sansa. Now, the respective nature of subtlety of those two romances is rather different. With Rhaegar and Lyanna, a reader is – through Robert's retelling – offered a version that is actually the very opposite of what probably happened, and only later a reader can pick up clues here and there, and finally figure out the story of a fatal attraction between the two. But, the clues are presented throughout the text, so much that, even if you don't decipher everything after the first read, at the end of "A Game of Thrones" – the first book of the series – you'll probably sense that Robert's view on events wasn't exactly accurate.

The story of Sansa and Sandor is a very different one. Their relationship is never as much as addressed, even by themselves. Sandor isn't a POV character, and he's not exactly open to people, so his silence on the matter isn't unexpected. But, Martin didn't address their romance even in Sansa's chapters, which are typically packed with inner thoughts of the POV character. It looks like Martin decided to do it the harder way and make their romance somewhat a mystery even for Sansa, which, in hindsight, does seem to be the most logical way: what teenage girl would be fully aware of a romance that "inappropriate", and experienced in those dire circumstances?! As a result of that decision, the readers got a completely fascinating depiction of a romance, that can be described as a train you hear from miles away: at first, you can't even tell is it a train or some similar sound, but slowly, with every second, you're more and more certain that your ears didn't trick you, and very soon the train is so loud that it is the only thing you can hear at all. In the novels, a reader may find something strange at first, when Sandor shares the secret of his burned face with Sansa. Some alarm may be turned on deep inside. And it becomes more apparent each time two of them share a page, with a culmination during the Battle of the Blackwater Bay, when Sandor, after he decides to desert the Lannisters, visits Sansa in her room and offers to take her home to Winterfell.

It might be the only instance in the entire series where Sandor did ask anyone's approval, which does speak volumes about his feelings for Sansa. Considering the manner in which Martin described this romance, Sandor's actions on that day was as good as a confession of his deep attraction to her. Sansa, on the other hand, doesn't have a single moment which could be pointed at as a prime evidence of her undeniable love for The Hound, but this doesn't mean her feelings toward Sandor aren't palpable. It's one more mastery of the writer: through her frequent (and skewed, but in a telling way) memories on the last time she saw Sandor, he was able to show her feelings resonating more and more inside her.

In the show, Martin was denied a chance to do the same thing, even though he wrote the "Blackwater" episode in Season 2. Thanks to the already destroyed storyline, and to god knows how many changes, and to D&D's decision to remove from the final cut some scenes Martin referred to with his scenes, the one between Sansa and Sandor near the end of that episode, served more as a greeting to book-fans who like SanSan in the source material, than as a goodbye between two not unlike souls who shared much, and could have shared a lot more, and maybe are going to if they meet again. In that scene, Rory McCann was visibly better than usual as Sandor, and Sophie Turner was as good as usual, but, just like with anything ASOIAF, the scene doesn't have nearly the same impact and importance if taken out of context.

The exact context of their SanSan is yet to be fully revealed in the books, too. Because of the already mentioned subtlety – a quality that seems to intimidate showrunners Benioff and Weiss, who, in their turn, do retaliate with their on-screen war on subtlety (just recall what they turned other romances into; for example, the romance between TV Jon "Not The Brightest Kid In The Block" Snow and TV "I Know Everything And Therefore I Can't Stop Talking" Ygritte) – Sansa's and Sandor's love story is by no means an open book. Their romance has its own share of mystery, one of which may be: what inspired those two persons to feel so strongly for each other? Personally, I always thought their mutual attraction isn't only based on a "beauty and the beast" model. There is that, but in their case it goes deeper. If that was the engine behind his emotions, Sandor had more than enough opportunities to find a beauty for his beast long before Sansa entered his life. With Sansa, I'd say their mutual attraction is rooted in their personalities. For example, if you take away Sandor's aggression, he also isn't interested in hurting others. He's naturally talented for violence, and he lives in a society that respects that kind of talent, and that is why he's violent for a living, but at the end of the day, the suffering of others isn't any kind of reward for him. Possibly, because he isn't interested in other people that much. Though, when he is interested in someone, the interest is as strong as they come.

(We don't know at this point, but it's not a stretch to imagine that his reaction to the news that his hated brother was killed wasn't unlike Sansa's reaction to Joff's death. "Am I glad he's dead? Well, not exactly, even though I wanted him killed.")

Sansa may very well be like that, too. That would be one of the possible explanations of her AGOT actions. Like the rest of the Starks, Sansa is a complex character that has some issues of her own, without which neither she nor the other Starks would be such memorable characters as they obviously are; it is the fact that they are both willing and strong enough to fight those issues, that Starks stand out for. Without going into details (as if I could!), I expect that in the remaining novels Sansa is going to face the reasons that made her go to Cersei that damned night and with the consequences of that action. And whatever comes out of that soul-searching will be inevitably combined with her claim to Winterfell that Littlefinger brought up in AFFC. And that combination is going to elevate Sansa's arc to even bigger and more important levels than so far, even though so far she was the one Stark that was most engaged – unwittingly, but still – in the bloody dynastic war for the Iron Throne.

And she'll have to cross paths with Sandor Clegane, one way or another. Their relationship was so meticulously built up, it simply has to get some sort of a closure. What that closure is going to be is impossible to predict, because we are talking of one George R. R. Martin, a writer who managed to shock us as he pleased more than a few times.

What is also impossible, is to take anything that did or didn't happen in the show as any indication at what the closer may or may not be. There isn't a storyline in GoT that wasn't drastically changed, and weakened in the process, but Sansa's arc, along with her relationship with Sandor, is among the biggest victims of D&D's inability to adapt.

Whether you happen to like what Benioff and Weiss put in the show, or don't, you'd be advised not to recognize any significance in their decisions for further developments in ASOIAF. Just like show-lovers tend to remind everyone else, GoT and ASOIAF are two entirely separate beasts. And book Sansa and book Sandor, along with everything Martin has in his store for them, can be really glad about it.

#sansan #asoiaf meta #sansa stark #sandor clegane #sansa x sandor #meta #got show #game of thrones #asoiaf

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