Sansa Stark: (a young girl in this cruel world) life's not a happy ending
- Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
- Subject: Sansa Stark
- Title: (a young girl in this cruel world) life is not a happy ending
- Warnings: No real spoilers unless you haven't read ASOIAF. Warnings for non-graphic main character death (not Sansa's).
- Word count: 1,102
- Rating: PG
- Notes: I've started a trend of adopting misunderstood characters. Sansa Stark is unfortunately the single most irrationally hated character I've ever come across. And there is quite honestly no good reason for it. It's depressing and disheartening to see what people say about her. My personal hope is that one day GRRM will show everyone just how amazing Sansa is, and then everyone will realise just how cruel they've been. This is NOT song fic, there just happen to be songs and mini-ficlets intertwined.
this is my great "big eff" you to all the haters. That and my brain sort of developed a whole alternate future for Sansa when I was listening to "Hero" by Regina Spektor. Sansa isn't that naive little girl anymore, she can protect herself.
oo1: Hero - Regina Spektor
I'm the hero of the story / Don't need to be saved / It's all right, it's all right, it's all right, it's all right
When she was young, Sansa dreamt of Princes, Princesses and a fairytale ending. She wished for a life like those in the great songs. Now Sansa dreams of warrior Queens. Strong and beautiful women who fought and survived. She dreams of Nymeria and Rhaenys and Alysanne and longs to be as brave and as strong as they had been.
It has taken years but now she understands. She remembers her courtesies and whispers ‘I’m sorry,’ as the sharp blade slips betweens Petyr’s ribs. Arya wasn’t wrong, she had been brave. Now it’s Sansa’s turn to be brave.
* * *
oo2: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Emily Browning
Everybody's looking for something / some of them want to use you / some of them want to get used by you / some of them want to abuse you
Sansa wakes suddenly, her chest heaving as though she’s run great distances. The vale echoes with the distressed cry of a wolf and Sansa remembers. The warm, musky scent of fur clings to her nose and it all comes flooding back. Soft fur, softer than it had any right to be. The coppery tang of blood that had filled her mouth despite not having bled, or eaten. And running, always running. There had been others, she remembers, but now she’s alone, so very aching alone.
Shivering, Sansa wraps the furs around her slender shoulders and opens the shutters. In the distance, a wolf cries and so does Sansa.
* * *
oo3: When Was I Last Home? - The Dø
White and grey stones / if I find bones / along my way / I might feel a little less alone
She will remember everything. It’s something that she promised herself. Every hand raised against her family, every hand raised against herself. She will remember those who turned their backs and those who lost their lives fighting for the North, for her family. Most of all she will remember her family. All of them lost...
Robb, the brother she never appreciated until it was too late. Bran, fiery and passionate, broken and lost too soon. Rickon, the baby, who never really had a chance to understand what was happening to them all and Jon, her father’s son, who she should have cherished as dearly as she did her mother’s sons. She will remember her mother and her father, strong and beautiful. And Arya. Mostly Sansa will remember Arya, her sister who burned like wildfire and never did the right thing. Arya who she had fought with, cried with and on rare occasion, played with. Arya who Sansa had needed more than she had ever known until it was far too late and everything was lost.
* * *
oo4: No One Said It Would Be Easy - The Postmarks
No one said that this would be easy / no one read, the fine print underneath / up head, danger is gleaming / on the edge, of a lost memory.
Standing amongst the ruins of Winterfell, Sansa can still hear the echoed laughter and tears that had always surrounded them... before. It’s been years since the ancient castle had been torched but Sansa can taste the smokey ash on her tongue as she clears her throat. In her mind’s eye she can see the shimmer of red and orange flames as the snow falls lightly.
Kneeling amongst the sodden rubble that had once been the great dining hall, Sansa closes her eyes. Straining, she manages to block out the low whine of the horses and winds that have built up. A smile splits her lips as they fall into focus; Mother, Father, Robb, Jon, Bran, Rickon and Arya, they’re all there. Perfect and untouched by time and the ravages of war.
A hand touches her shoulder jerking her from the perfect dream. Turning her head Sansa can feel the slide of hot tears that trail down her cheeks. Brienne’s broad face swims into view and Sansa allows herself to be urged back onto her horse.
At the gates Sansa twists in her saddle. Squinting against the steady snowfall she can see them again; her family wave her goodbye, grinning and laughing as if all was well. Goodbye, she whispers softly. I miss you all. Goodbye.
* * *
oo5: Is It Over Now? - The Perishers
Life will go on why not fantasize / lets get our hopes up / tell me why not fantasize / its not gonna hurt us.
It’s over. At least that’s what Brienne said that morning. They were safe; everything was going to be okay. Dragon wings beat overhead and proclamations sounded in the distance. Promises of safety and order were shouted for all to hear. ‘So long, so very long,’ Sansa whispered softly. Twelve years, it had been twelve long, weary years since she had first gone South with her Father and Arya. Twelve years since the fight to survive had kicked in. It felt... surreal. How could it just be over so suddenly?
* * *
oo6: Breakable - Ingrid Michaelson
We are so fragile / and our cracking bones make noise / and we are just / breakable, breakable, breakable, girls and boys.
* * *
oo7: Who Will Sing Me Lullabies - Kate Rusby
Lay me down gently, lay me down low / I fear I am broken and won't mend, I know. [...] In this big world I'm lonely, for I am but small / Oh angels in heaven, don't you care for me at all? / You heard my heart breaking for it rang through the skies / so why don't you sing me lullabies
* * *
oo8: Hold On - Angus and Julia Stone
And I'm hoping that you'll say / that you loved me all this time / but it turns out just the same / and you break apart the things I had
(Joffrey, Sandor, Petyr, Cersei, Margaery)
* * *
oo9: Be Like Water - Sara Fimm
Don't be shy / don't shut your eyes / don't get high / expand your mind / don't keep in touch / don't touch yourself / don't ever want to be somebody else / when everything is bad as it can be / never be, never be angry
I almost didn't include this song but then I remembered: "She was a good girl, and always remembered her courtesies."
* * *
o10: The Wolves (Act I & II) - Bon Iver
With the wild wolves around you / in the morning, I'll call you / send it farther on / solace my game, solace my game / it stars you
‘A ghost.’ The whispered words leave Sansa’s lips before she can stop them. She wants to look away, close her eyes and stop the intrusion that is making her heart stutter painfully in her chest. The tall, lithe woman speaks her name and a shudder wracks Sansa’s body. ‘Who are you?’ Sansa knows what the answer will be. So many times over the last few years there have been pretenders. She’s seen more “Robb’s” and “Bran’s” and “Rickon’s” than she cares to remember. But there has always been a steadier influx of women pretending to be Arya. But never... Sansa has never felt this reaction.
Her body sings, every fibre crying for the woman who looks and sounds and feels like her long lost sister. Grey eyes met Sansa’s own bright blue. “Everyone knows ‘Winter is Coming’,” the quiet voice said clearly. “A long time ago, Father told me that that we may be as different as the sun and the moon, but that the same blood flows through both of our hearts. He told me that I need you, as much as you need me.”
Sansa gaped. Shock settling in the pit of her stomach as panic gnawed at her throat. It sounded like something Father would say, but... There have been so many pretenders, she reminded herself. There would be nothing she could say that could confirm her identity as Arya, nothing-
“There was that time down in the crypt, below Winterfell.” The girl who claimed to be Arya came closer, close enough to touch. “You kept looking at the candle. Robb and Jon had tried to scare us and you ran for the stairs,”
Sansa smiled and touched her lips at the memory. Bran had been a baby then... “You punched Jon and then you all laughed,” Sansa whispered, a frown crossing her face. She had run and hadn’t been there to laugh. She had heard about it later when they had collapsed into giggles as they explained to Father.
“Arya!” Sansa screeched, clambering to her feet and throwing herself into the waiting arms of her sister. “I thought... I thought-”
“I know.” Arya smiled, smoothing Sansa’s hair from her face. They knelt, in each other’s arms for an age. Studying each other’s faces, taking in the differences and Sansa knew, without a doubt, that this was real. Arya was alive.
For the first time in years, Sansa felt the huge weight in her chest lessen. She wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
* * *
o11: Lost Girls - Tilly and the Wall
in a world too unreal to behold / your innocence has faded / faded all your blues to grey / your skin has bruised through moving days
* * *
o12: Life Is A Song - Patrick Park
it's time to let go of everything we used to know / ideas that strengthen who we've been / it's time to cut ties that won't ever free our minds / from chains and shackles that they're in
* * *
bonus: Effigy - Natalie Merchant
I'm an effigy / a parody of / who I appear to be / put your flaming torches under me
* * *
Download/Preview
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