littlebirdclegane:

So once again Emily examines one of the quotes that has earned most of the Sansa stans (and everyone else’s) hate for Sandor in fandom. Act surprised.

He made a queer sound, and it took her a moment to realize he was sobbing.“And the little bird, your pretty sister, I stood there in my white cloak and let them beat her. I took the bloody song, she never gave it. I meant to take her too. I should have. I should have fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out before leaving her for that dwarf.”

This is after he finds out about Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion and assumes that she has been raped by her new husband. He’s also dying here, painfully and is half-delirious at this point and is trying to get Arya to slit his throat so it’ll happen quickly, so keep in mind that he’s provoking her. 

The quote hearkens back to a lot—his white cloak, which is a big symbol of true knighthood of which Sandor Clegane is a part of these strange Not-a-ser/true knight and man/the Hound dichotomies. He’s not a knight, he’s coarse and violent but he’s kind of the truest knight of them all. He’s also the Lannister’s dog. Which makes the line “I stood there… and let them beat her.” Let who beat her? Technically it’s Ser Meryn, on Joffrey’s orders. And other times too, with other members of the Kingsguard, as we’re all well aware. This is a two-pronged issue.

He’s letting them beat her—meaning he is aware that he has the physicality to stop them from doing it. He could go against orders. And he questioned them (“Enough!”) which means that Sansa deconstructed the part of him that is the Lannisters’ dog. She threatens who he is as the Hound. 

He’s also letting them beat her—the other men of the Kingsguard, who are supposed to be these true knights. And true knights don’t beat women. And he stood there in his “white cloak and let them beat her.” Sansa takes away the Hound and makes Sandor act on his “true knight” notions.  He “stood there in [his] white cloak” and then gave her his white cloak. Twice. This quote also relates back to Blackwater, when he briefly considered raping her, and then got disgusted with himself, decided he wasn’t good for her, and left her. With his white cloak, because he couldn’t be her true knight. 

TWO TIMES, OVERT SYMBOL OF MARRIAGE, INNOCENCE, PURITY, AND GOOD, despite how “bloody” and “coarse” it is. (After all, “no velvet had ever felt so fine.)

And then also the fact that he believes that he should have “fucked her bloody” which could be rape or taken her virginity, since she would have her maiden’s blood. But Sandor doesn’t actually want to rape her. He left her on the night of Blackwater because he even considered it. But he considers raping and murdering her as a mercy to her being at the cruel sexual whims of Tyrion, and the plain cruel whims of the Lannisters, who had Tyrion’s first wife gang-raped. He then states that he wishes that he had “ripped her heart out” which is extremely violent but also symbolic—its her heart he wants, not to slit her throat or twist her head off. He wants her heart. He wants her to love him. He wants to be her Florian, the song he asked her for but didn’t take. He’s violent. He’s not a good man, but he’s also a true knight. He wants these things. But he doesn’t know how, because he’s also the Hound. He does not know how to interact with humans. He is angry and drunk and suffering from PTSD. 

He also “takes” her song. Consent is a big thing for Sandor. He does not rape, despite his language on the night of Blackwater. He is upset that he took it, instead of her consenting to give it to him.

He doesn’t even call her by name in this quote. She’s his “little bird,” to his hound. They’re both downtrodden and dehumanized by the Lannisters. In many ways, they’re very similar. 

The man is sobbing these words out, after all. Not because of the pain—he’s endured it all along and hasn’t cried. He could growl these words at Arya. Or shout. But instead, he’s sobbing. He’s not proud of his choices, or what he’s done. Sansa is his vulnerable spot. She is what deconstructs the Hound and leaves behind Sandor, who wants to be her true knight.

But he’s dying, and trying to get Arya angry enough to kill him for his sins. So don’t look at those words and judge them at face value. This quote is Sandor Clegane’s last words, the sum of his character according to GRRM. So… read carefully, if you will.

ivanolix:

One of my favorite things about Sansa? She’s got domestic desires.

She wants to lead, yes, but she also wants to have a family and puppies and be in charge of a household. Some of that is her patriarchal training, of course, but some of it is just what she’s good at and what she likes to do.

Not only that, but she’s a character people rarely beat down for being anti-feminist (at least in the “good” parts of fandom). 

Do you know how rare that is? How refreshing that she exists on the same level as characters like Daenerys and Arya et al? As a feminist who dearly loves everything domestic, I feel closer to Sansa (and Catelyn) than all other characters in fantasy.

Girls can have dreams about cooking and designing beautiful homes without being tools of the patriarchy, yo. They deserve proper representation and respect.

leftbrain-dead:

can we all just take the time to acknowledge that this actually happened at some point in the past