Fic: When We Were Young 8/9?

[onborrowedwings]

Title: When We Were Young 8/9?
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire
Pairing: Sansa/Sandor
Word Count: 4280
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to GRRM
A/N: A massive, massive thanks to Kimberlite8 for all of her beta'ing help with this! A huge thank you to everybody who reviews as well, I'm sorry this one took a little longer! Also, a bit of an increase in

Comments

[ladytp]

How unusual that Sansa had remained virgin that long, despite all her bad experiences - at the modern time when such things are generally not so much valued... No wonder even Sandor was mistaken.

Their joining is once again unbelievably beautifully described; Sansa's determination in light of what waited them the following day, Sandor finally having been granted to do what he didn't want to take by force or as a reward of his services only... So touching...

[kimberlite8]

How unusual that Sansa had remained virgin that long
I think Sansa is 21 in this fic, I don't know if that age is such a rarity (I was older than that), though I'm sure the average is under that. S_S did have a great discussion of our first times and the ages ranged from 13 to a virgin at 25. It was interesting from a fanfic writer's perspective as conventional tropes about it hurting like hell weren't universally true.

[ladytp]

You know, that is true - it may not be such a rarity overall. But with all the hints about her earlier sufferings and how she wanted to get Littlefinger dead, I just assumed, I guess.
But it is very sweet that she was able to wait for Sandor... although I am not that warmed to the idea that there is something sacrosanct or special one can bring into the relationship with their virginity as such.
But indeed, such a special moment for them both in any case, the main point of course being that Sansa wanted Sandor and finally was ready to admit it!

[onborrowedwings]

I certainly agree with that: virginity doesn't bring anything special or sacrosanct to a relationship and I rebel at the idea that it does - especially only in the case of the girl as that's usually how it's considered.

Here it was chosen based on the idea that Sansa, having lost her father at roughly 17 and in all the situations she had been in since then, would not have had the opportunity to form any healthy, meaningful relationships. Being the type of girl she is, she would be unlikely to want to form short term attachments either. I did toss up whether to make it so or not but then the question remained that if not - to whom could she have felt safe enough with previously to want to take such a step? The answer was nobody, unless I wanted to build in more back story which would require working out why she'd left that person, and I absolutely do not want to subject her to non-con in any of my fics whether it's on screen or off!

[onborrowedwings]

I did consider whether it should be this way or not - particularly since this is based in modern times. In the end I didn't want to make Sansa a victim of sexual assault, to have suffered like that at the hands of Littlefinger. I also felt that being the girl she'd become, unable to trust anybody and closed off from the world it was unlikely that she would make a connection with anybody to want to take that step. There's actually a bit of a hint to it in the prologue :)

I'm glad that that emotion behind their choices did ring through in the end!

[nerdling1]

I think also because she is religious it is not unusual... I am catholic, as are many of my friends, and that is not unusual for the devout :)
Great job, btw. I am usually not drawn to modern AU's bit I am really enjoying this!

[onborrowedwings]

Thank you, am glad that you enjoyed it :)

[ladytp]

Fair point for not wanting to have Sansa had suffered even more indignities than already hinted... I have to go back to earlier to pick up on those references you mentioned, I must have missed them the first time!