#alayne x gravedigger

[george-martin]

ALAYNE STONE and THE GRAVEDIGGER

Monk Contemplating a Skull, Thomas Couture // The Hostage, Edmund Blair Leighton // Orestes, Euripides (trans. Anne Carson) // So Spake Martin, THE ARCHIVE OF 'A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE' LORE // The Magnificent Seven // The Book of Disquiet: The Complete Edition, Fernando Pessoa // A Feast For Crows, Alayne II — George R.R. Martin // Did You Forget Everything I'll Always Remember? —JacObAllTrades // Cursed, 2020 // A Feast for Crows, Brienne IV — George R.R. Martin // Illustration for "Tristan and Isolde" by Jan Marcin Szancer // Please Hear What I'm Not Saying, Charles C. Finn // Beauty and the Beast by Cynthia Rylant // Remember My Name, Mitski // Rose O’Neill, The Supreme Moment (Paolo and Francesca da Rimini) // Alice Notley, In the Pines

[bluaerion-blog]

Sansa *on the phone*: I just wanted to know if you're up to play Monopoly this evening.

Sandor, *screaming from the other room*: Are you going out in Kings Landind? ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO GO DOWN THOSE.

Sansa *whispering* : And they say dog's ears never fail them.

[istumpysk]

Operation Iceberg & Operation Stumpy Re-Read Archives

Welcome to Operation Iceberg, a project aimed at ranking theories from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series by their credibility.

Last update: Varys is a merman (theory #17)

Operation Iceberg

Stannis burns Shireen / Asha's pregnant / Daario = Euron / The miller's boys were Theon's sons / Curtain of Light / Varys has Tyrek Lannister / Tysha is the Sailor’s Wife / Olyvar Frey is Rosby’s ward / N + A = J / The Hound is the gravedigger / Lemongate / Oberyn poisoned Tywin / HS = HR / Tormund x Maege Mormont / Theon’s bastard / UnVictarion / Varys is a merman

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AGOT:

Prologue / Bran I / Catelyn I / Daenerys I / Eddard I / Jon I / Catelyn II / Arya I / Bran II / Tyrion I / Jon II / Daenerys II / Eddard II / Tyrion II / Catelyn III / Sansa I / Eddard III / Bran III / Catelyn IV / Jon III / Eddard IV / Tyrion III / Arya II / Daenerys III / Bran IV / Eddard V / Jon IV / Eddard VI / Catelyn V / Sansa II / Eddard VII / Tyrion IV / Arya III / Eddard VIII / Catelyn VI / Eddard IX / Daenerys IV / Bran V / Tyrion V / Eddard X / Catelyn VII / Jon V / Tyrion VI / Eddard XI / Sansa III / Eddard XII / Daenerys V / Eddard XIII / Jon VI / Eddard XIV / Arya IV / Sansa IV / Jon VII / Bran VI / Daenerys VI / Catelyn VIII / Tyrion VII / Sansa V / Eddard XV / Catelyn IX / Jon VIII / Daenerys VII / Tyrion VIII / Catelyn X / Daenerys VIII / Arya V / Bran VII / Sansa VI / Daenerys IX / Tyrion IX / Jon IX / Catelyn XI / Daenerys X 

AGOT Summary & Foreshadowing: CLICK

ACOK:

Prologue / Arya I / Sansa I / Tyrion I / Bran I / Arya II / Jon I / Catelyn I / Tyrion II / Arya III / Davos I / Theon I / Daenerys I / Jon II / Arya IV / Tyrion III / Bran II / Tyrion IV / Sansa II / Arya V / Tyrion V / Bran III / Catelyn II / Jon III / Theon II / Tyrion VI / Arya VI / Daenerys II / Bran IV / Tyrion VII / Arya VII / Catelyn III / Sansa III / Catelyn IV / Jon IV / Bran V / Tyrion VIII / Theon III / Arya VIII / Catelyn V / Daenerys III / Tyrion IX / Davos II / Jon V / Tyrion X / Catelyn VI / Bran VI / Arya IX / Daenerys IV / Tyrion XI / Theon IV / Jon VI / Sansa IV / Jon VII / Tyrion XII / Catelyn VII / Theon V / Sansa V / Davos III / Tyrion XIII / Sansa VI / Tyrion XIV / Sansa VII / Daenerys V / Arya X / Sansa VIII / Theon VI / Tyrion XV / Jon VIII / Bran VII

ACOK Summary & Foreshadowing: PART I / PART II

ASOS:

Prologue / Jaime I / Catelyn I / Arya I / Tyrion I / Davos I / Sansa I / Jon I / Daenerys I / Bran I / Davos II / Jaime II / Tyrion II / Arya II / Catelyn II / Jon II / Sansa II / Arya III / Samwell I / Tyrion III / Catelyn III / Jaime III / Arya IV / Daenerys II / Bran II / Davos III / Jon III / Daenerys III / Sansa III / Arya V / Jon IV / Jaime IV / Tyrion IV / Samwell II / Arya VI / Catelyn IV / Davos IV / Jaime V / Tyrion V / Arya VII / Bran III / Jon V / Daenerys IV / Arya VIII / Jaime VI / Catelyn V / Samwell III / Arya IX / Jon VI / Catelyn VI / Arya X / Catelyn VII / Arya XI / Tyrion VI / Davos V / Jon VII / Bran IV / Daenerys V / Tyrion VII / Sansa IV / Tyrion VIII / Sansa V / Jaime VII / Davos VI / Jon VIII / Arya XII / Tyrion IX / Jaime VIII / Sansa VI / Jon IX / Tyrion X / Daenerys VI / Jaime IX / Jon X / Arya XIII / Samwell IV / Jon XI / Tyrion XI / Samwell V / Jon XII / Sansa VII / Epilogue

ASOS Summary & Foreshadowing: PART I / PART II / PART III / PART IV

AFFC:

Prologue / The Prophet (Aeron I) / The Captain of Guards (Areo I) / Cersei I / Brienne I / Samwell I / Arya I / Cersei II / Jaime I / Brienne II / Sansa I / The Kraken’s Daughter (Asha I) / Cersei III / The Soiled Knight (Arys I) / Brienne III / Samwell II / Jaime II / Cersei IV / The Iron Captain (Victarion I) / The Drowned Man (Aeron II) / Brienne IV / The Queenmaker (Arianne I) / Arya II / Alayne I (Sansa II) / Cersei V / Brienne V / Samwell III / Jaime III / Cersei VI / The Reaver (Victarion II) / Jaime IV / Brienne VI / Cersei VII / Jaime V / Cat of the Canals (Arya III) / Samwell IV / Cersei VIII / Brienne VII / Jaime VI / Cersei IX / The Princess in the Tower (Arianne II) / Alayne II (Sansa III) / Brienne VIII / Cersei X / Jaime VII / Samwell V

AFFC Summary & Foreshadowing: PART I / PART II / PART III

ADWD:

Prologue / Tyrion I / Daenerys I / Jon I / Bran I / Tyrion II / The Merchant’s Man (Quentyn I) / Jon II / Tyrion III / Davos I / Jon III / Daenerys II / Reek (Theon I) / Bran II / Tyrion IV / Davos II / Daenerys III / Jon IV / Tyrion V / Davos III / Reek II (Theon II) / Jon V / Tyrion VI / Daenerys IV / The Lost Lord (Jon Connington I) / The Windblown (Quentyn II) / The Wayward Bride (Asha I) / Tyrion VII / Jon VI / Davos IV / Daenerys V / Melisandre I / Reek III (Theon III) / Tyrion VIII / Bran III / Jon VII / Daenerys VI / The Prince of Winterfell (Theon IV) / The Watcher (Areo I) / Jon VIII / Tyrion IX / The Turncloak (Theon V) / The King’s Prize (Asha II) / Daenerys VII / Jon IX / The Blind Girl (Arya I) / A Ghost in Winterfell (Theon VI) / Tyrion X / Jaime I / Jon X / Daenerys VIII / Theon I (Theon VII) / Daenerys IX / Jon XI / Cersei I / The Queensguard (Barristan I) / The Iron Suitor (Victarion I) / Tyrion XI / Jon XII / The Discarded Knight (Barristan II) / The Spurned Suitor (Quentyn III) / The Griffin Reborn (Jon Connington II) / The Sacrifice (Asha III) / Victarion I (Victarion II) / The Ugly Little Girl (Arya II) / Cersei II / Tyrion XII / The Kingbreaker (Barristan III) / The Dragontamer (Quentyn IV) / Jon XIII / The Queen’s Hand (Barristan IV) / Daenerys X / Epilogue

ADWD Summary & Foreshadowing: On hold.

TWOW:

Barristan I / Victarion I / Tyrion I (summary) / Barristan II (summary) / Tyrion II / Arianne I / Mercy (Arya) / Arianne II / The Forsaken (Aeron) / Theon I / Asha (fragment) / Alayne I (Sansa I)

TWOW Summary & Foreshadowing: On hold.

[thebluelemontree]

Would you link some sansan wedding symbolism meta? I can't find it anywhere, but I know it exists.... :D

Actually I thought this would be easy to find, but anon you were right.  There’s not much devoted specifically to the topic of wedding/marriage symbolism, which kinda shocked me.  So often it’s mixed in with related topics of general sansan, love, sexuality, agency, protection, children, but it’s not the main focus.�� Which is why it took me so long to put this together, sorry!  So this will somewhat be a collection of wedding and marriage specific metas, but there’s mostly smaller blog post observations, commentary, and quotes.  Okay, so we’re looking at two basic categories here: cloaks and wife-stealing, which is both a Free Folk marriage proposal and wedding if she accepts.  There’s also the marriage bed / wedding night, which is closely related so I included it.  

Cloaks 

Marriage Symbolism (parallels with Alys x Sigorn) by @sillier-things

Sansa’s Dream Wedding / Alys’s Wedding to Sigorn by @omgellendean

On Sansa Choosing to Cloak Herself by @maidenoftheforestlight 

Sandor’s Cloak by @eyesofmist 

On Sansa Keeping Sandor’s Cloak in her Cedar Chest (Hope Chest) by @sillier-things and commentary by @kateofthecanals

On Sandor’s Cloak versus the Lannister Wedding Cloak by @corseque

Sandor’s Cloak in Her Cedar Chest versus Littlefinger’s Cloak and the Cedar Chest He Gives Her by Milady of York and @brashcandy (Pawn to Player Project)

Wife Stealing

Ygritte, Tormund, and Jon explaining Wife Stealing: here, here, here, here, here, and here.  A suitor must prove himself quick, clever, and strong to his bride.  This is not a rape or kidnapping to the Free Folk and the woman is not supposed to be harmed.  It’s a demonstration of his prowess as a warrior, provider, and what kind of sons he will give her.  Jon held a knife to Ygritte’s throat (as did Sandor to Sansa), but to Ygritte this was Jon’s proposal, unbeknownst to him.    In the end, we can see Munda approved of Ryk and took him to husband.  Note that Munda bit off part of Longspear Ryk’s ear and Sandor is missing part of an ear.  She’s also referred to as Tormund’s “autumn apple” and Sansa also has strong parallels to the goddess Idunn and her apples of youth.  Apples ripen in autumn.  Ripening fruit is symbolic of female sexual maturation.  The final decision was Munda’s to make and she made hers based on Ryk being a “stallion.”  He isn’t called Longspear for carrying the literal weapon after all.  

So we can see why then Sandor, who was drunk and afraid at the Blackwater (a symbolic wife stealing), was at the time rightly refused by Sansa.  His casting off the cloak acknowledges his unworthiness, but her keeping it says she has not rejected him, but his worst trait.  Actually, the first time he held a blade to her neck, he was posturing and boasting – all talk, no action, so it doesn’t count as a proper wife stealing.  Third time’s a charm, perhaps?

We look up at the same stars, and see such different things. The King’s Crown was the Cradle, to hear her tell it; the Stallion was the Horned Lord; the red wanderer that septons preached was sacred to their Smith up here was called the Thief. And when the Thief was in the Moonmaid, that was a propitious time for a man to steal a woman, Ygritte insisted. “Like the night you stole me. The Thief was bright that night.” – Jon III, ASOS

the Stallion (Stranger) is the Horned Lord (the Consort of the Goddess figure); “red wanderer” is an analog to Mars, God of War (warrior), but he’s also the Smith (laborer, gravedigger) and the Thief (wife-stealer).  The most auspicious time to steal a wife is when the Thief is in the Moonmaid (Sansa, associated with pearls, moonstones here and here.  Currently residing at the Gates of the Moon).  

“Off to Gulltown” song that references stealing kiss from a fair maid at knifepoint, then making her his love and taking her to rest in the shade.  Alayne Stone’s backstory is that she is from Gulltown.  

Wedding Night / Marriage Bed

All the times Sandor or his stand-in is connected to wedding nights or marriage beds:

This one is a little looser connected, but she associates “her Florian” coming to save her on Joffrey’s wedding night.  The drunken fool knight, Ser Dontos, is the pathetic, funhouse mirror version of Sandor, complete with smoochies, heart eyes, and drunk crying. 

Lysa and Petyr’s very loud wedding night triggers the dogs to bark and Sansa to think about her own wedding night to Tyrion, then segues into thinking about Sandor and wondering what happened to him.

That same night, Bryen’s old blind dog joins Sansa in her bed.  After Marillion tries to rape her, it’s Lothor Brune, who she mistakes for Sandor, that saves her.  That night, she has her first erotic dream about her wedding night.  

Myranda Royce asks Sansa if she knows what happens in the marriage bed.  She thinks of Tyrion, then Sandor, and nods.  While Sansa is only thinking of kissing, Myranda bluntly calls it “fucking.”  She complains of her late husband dying in their marriage bed leaving her “scarce used” and childless.  It’s not unlike the frustration feels when she says Sandor “took a song and a kiss, and left me nothing but a bloody cloak,” especially if we think of the bloody cloak as synonymous bloody sheet of a wedding night.   

Other Reading That May Be of Interest 

Quotes of Sandor and Sansa choosing to wear each other’s colors, as if they belonged to the same house or made one of their own: here and the next day here, here and then later here, and when she cannot wear Stark or Tully colors, she chooses autumn gold with a brown wool gown, the color of House Clegane.  Wool is also a plain, practical material she associates with Sandor.

What did Sandor Really Win at the Hand’s Tourney by @eyesofmist

Hieros Gamos by @sillier-things

Bears and Maidens:  The Song by @sweetsunrayssr  Of particular relevance is the subsection on The Bear Wedding.  Breaking down “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” stanzas as explaining a proper wife stealing and the importance of the woman protesting/fighting the bear.

Sansa’s Gut Reaction to the Idea of Marrying Loras is Revealing by @bluelemonsforever

On Possible Origin of Names:  Freya, her husband Odin / Óðr, and Sansan by @bluelemonsforever 

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

deuxmonstres replied to your post: as—high-as—honor replied to your post: I need to...

IS THAT A THING?! IF SO WHERE CAN I SIGN UP??

IF IT'S NOT A THING I AM MAKING IT A THING

WE ARE GONNA BE A THING

ALAYNE/GRAVEDIGGER. IT'S A THING. CAUSE I SAY SO. :P

[bluaerion-blog]

trying to remember why D&D did not gave us SanSan reunion:

[bluaerion-blog]

Sandor *singing and pretending to play the guitar*: CAUSE I KNEW YOU WEREE TROUBLEE WHEN YOU WALKED IIIIN, SO SH..

Sansa, breaking into the bathroom: ARE YOU SINGING TAYLOR FUCKING SWIFT?

[bluaerion-blog]

Me when I'm going to see Sansan reunion in season 8:

[bluaerion-blog]

Can everyone just observe how magic the atmosphere is between Sansa and Sandor during the Black Water? Is dark, and green light fills the woody floor, as Sandor walks in. There she stands, beautiful creature, with frightened eyes and a little glow of passion. This is wonderful,my lords.

They are intimate, sweet and cautious. For me, if this os not love,I don't what is.

[bluaerion-blog]

What Sansa would say if she meets Sandor again:

[bluaerion-blog]

if I ever was a beauty like Sansa, I would have liked having a Sandor going after me

[bluaerion-blog]

This is me when I’m going to sleep and my mind make some SanSan scenarios up. And this is also me when I realize they never going to happen.

[adamantwench]

At least in the books they should and probably will.

If you’re highkey hoping for Sansan to have the happy ending they deserve:

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

as--high-as--honor replied to your post: I need to find some Alayne/Gravedigger shippers. ...

ME GUSTA

YES

WE MUST FORM OUR OWN SUBGENRE OF THE SHIPDOM

ALAYNE/GRAVEDIGGER FTW

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

twinsand replied to your post: I need to find some Alayne/Gravedigger shippers. ...

one right here.

Alayne/Gravedigger shippers unite! XD

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

I need to find some Alayne/Gravedigger shippers.

>.>