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[sansa's usual raven tapestry background has been replaced by one of her direwolf sigil framed by weirwood leaves and branches. a matching version is emblazoned on the front of her charcoal dress, the branches wrapping around her leaves and over her shoulders, where they are joined by raven feathers interspersed with silver scale mail pieces and sweeping around her neckline, cut just low enough that the dark bloodstone buckle of her needle necklace rests against her skin. lady wears a matching collar at her side sewn with little weirwood leaves and chips of amethyst and pale bloodstone, joined by tiny black feather pieces at the back. her hair is braided back and gathered into her usual half-ponytail; her expression is solemn, a little wistful and sad. for once her white raven omen rests on her shoulder, her hounds in the courtyard sleeping peacefully among the mushrooms.

sufficient time has passed to prove that people are no longer possessed by whatever made them so difficult in july (some of them even came by to apologize for an incident involving vi and a basement). she has already told some of her friends that she means to reveal her name when it's safe enough, and that certainly seems to be the case this first week of august.]

Hallo, most of you know me as Alayne Stone, but I'm afraid that's not my name. I am Sansa Stark of Winterfell, the rightful Lady Protector and Warden of the North in the Seven Kingdoms. My enemies in that realm murdered my Lord Father when he was Hand of the King and seized the Iron Throne. They have taken everything from me–my home, my family, my wolf, my name. They held me hostage while my brother and mother waged war in order to avenge him and rescue me. They will hold me hostage no longer.

I had been hiding as Alayne Stone for over a year before I came here. The Queen Regent thought I helped to kill her son, the cruel and unlawful king who murdered my father in the first place, and she has had a bounty placed on my head. Know then that I am innocent of that crime, and my blood on your hands will drive you to madness even as I crawl out of the sea, and you will not see even one of the golden dragons she promises.

[sansa pauses and glances down at her lap, briefly and sorrowfully, and then back up at the omni camera.]

I never wanted to deceive any of you. [...this is probably not true, depending on who's watching.] I can only beg your forgiveness, and offer in exchange what protection I am able. The words of House Stark are "Winter is Coming;" they serve as a reminder that trouble will find us as certain as autumn turns to winter. I've found that is as true here as anywhere, even if they call it the season of bone. I have done my best to fortify the Sanctuary and my home against all danger, be it corruption or starvation or the cold, and I will always offer guest right to any who seek it at the Rookery. And I will continue to aid the city of Trench to the best of my ability, whether or not any of you choose to forgive my deception. It is my duty as a Stark of Winterfell, and I will uphold it no matter where I happen to be. I would swear it on the Doorway, if it would give any of you any comfort.

[she means it. she smiles, wistful again.]

Thank you for listening to me. I shouldn't expect anybody here to care about the politics of my realm, and I won't burden you with them any longer. If any of you have need of any clothes or what bloodstone I can make, you can find me here at the Rookery, or at the Sanctuary often enough. I am very sorry that I lied to all of you.

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🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

what do these mean?

[oh thank the gods.]

Don't you dare tell her! She's said to be very powerful!

Did she tell you that herself or is that the word on the street? Because if she told you herself she might be full of shit!

[fine fine FINE]

I won't say anything!

[actually]

I think it was the child who became corrupted and made a video murdering people for worshipping the Mother Mercy.

[that. is. ahem. a bit worrying.]

It's a little yellow flip-off. Who gets bent out of shape over that? Also, she started it.

The people that killed my family would! She reminds me very much of the Queen Regent! You can't just go around blindly swinging at everyone who deserves it!

The Queen Regent can go sit on a cactus! This one can too if she's gonna talk to people like this and think they're all just going to thank her for it because she's pretty. And I wouldn't say I swung at her. Typed at, sure.

[she can't help but think of jun's idea about punching people through the network. if only.]

Do you think I don't want them gone more than anyone? If it were enough just to tell them so my father would never have been killed in the first place! You can't risk bringing curses down on this household just to tell a witch she's being rude!

I never actually told her she was being rude. And if she decides it's a problem she can take it up with me. You didn't tell her shit. This one's on me, not you. And sometimes you just have to tell a jerk they're a jerk. If they don't like hearing it maybe they should stop being a jerk. If they can't do that maybe they should get used to people telling them they're a jerk! She doesn't get to talk to you like that because she's what... got magic? That's ...bullshit.

[those are HER middle fingers and she is responsible for them.]

It doesn't work that way! It never works that way. If you want to stop powerful people you have to be clever about it.

[her sister possibly stopped (killed) the whole of the topside council for all she knows - with a hextech rocket launcher! so, yes. maybe it was clever but also ?????!!!!]

Not always! [c a l m] Maybe in your world, yeah. I'll give you that one because I don't know. But it's not always like that.

You're right, sometimes we have wars with a lot of bloodshed. I would like to avoid that here.

[she sighs.]

I'm only asking you to be a little more polite to someone who might well be able to kill us in the street.

Me too, actually. Even if right now it doesn't seem like it.

[it was just. a middle finger.]

Did ...you know that it can also be a gesture of endearment? That wasn't how I meant it, but like, between friends it can.

[at least. the friends she ran with when she was younger. lbr - she would have flipped off caitlyn affectionately.]

I get it. It's not an impossible ask. I'd--

--I'd do it for my sister.

[anything sansa might have had to say about affectionate teasing and desperate arguments is chased away by thoughts of long blue hair–of course sansa wants to make this world safe for their sisters, but that doesn't seem to be what vi is saying...only, is this really the time for that? her brow furrows, and then lifts, her mouth parted for a long moment as if she means to say something but can't quite work out what it is.]

Are you saying that I'm a sister to you? Because that witch girl was very rude to me?

[she's just trying to work out a chain of events here. she feels much the same as she did when allen gave her a bloodstone sewing kit on their first meeting, except there had been no little text pictures or witches behaving like cersei at the blackwater to confuse things. and she's very confused. has it only been a month since they've been living in this house together..? but of course there had been the time before that. seeing vi again had been almost as good as seeing arya or lady margaery asking for her on the net work. but...these circumstances leave her utterly at a loss. should she say that vi is like a sister to her too? certainly she is, at least as close as sansa and arya had ever been before king's landing...but is that what vi is even saying, here? could she be talking about jinx? sansa doesn't know. she is suddenly afraid she may have put a foot wrong in her confusion, and hesitates almost as if she would like to speak again, but she still doesn't know what to say.]

Edited 2022-08-06 20:22 (UTC)

[way to see right through her, sansa. even in confusion. vi takes a breath, makes a small, awkward shrug before she, too pauses - because for a moment it looks like sansa wants to continue.

it still does, but decides to fill the silence, because that's it, really. sansa has nailed it.]

Yeah. It pissed me off, the way she talked to you. I know you can stand up for yourself and don't need anyone to do it for you. [she has heard it. personally.] But that's exactly what I'm saying. You're my family here, and I don't like it when someone shit-talks my family for no reason. They don't get to piss on your brave name announcement thing like that.

[she's a bit afraid it sounds stupid now that it's put of her mouth. after all, sansa had a real family. a real family who'd had terrible things happen to them, but she'd had enough time with them to remember them - or at the very least, she hadn't blocked it out. vi had powder - but everyone else was chosen by her or had chosen her, although they're all gone, too, so all she has is trench.]

[sansa smiles a little crookedly–it's a very sweet thing to say, even if it's being shouted up and down the stairs, which is...silly.]

You might have picked a nicer time to say it.

[she strides up the stairs and settles on the top one, sitting down (essentially on the floor!) as arya might have done, her hands placed neatly in her lap.]

I should say that you're a sister to me too, as much as Allen is a brother.

[it's...not the same, sansa would have insisted arya actually swear a platonic bond, because if arya became a beast after all this time it would be the end of her, truly. but it has never the same, with any of them–with a little brother as with an older one, or a sworn brother. and she had said herself it was just as good, not long ago. she smiles up at vi.

vi had told her what jinx was like. she should tell her about them, a little.]

You are a bit like Arya. She could never stay out of trouble. But you remind me more of Robb, I think. He was the eldest, and he was a leader. Everyone he ever met seemed to like him.

[and then she laughs, because–well obviously.]

Not Roose Bolton, I suppose, but it's not as if his judgement's worth anything.

[sansa is right, of course. what she should have done was - well, she does not regret the use of the middle finger emoji, but she should have ended that conversation, set down her omni, moved at least into full view and initiated another conversation. where she wasn't leaning into the hall to shout. in truth she's still not used to having a room let alone being free to leave it whenever she wishes, despite anything she might say.

but still. there are some things you probably don't ..shout down a hall. (there are a lot of things you don't.)

vi's smile when sansa sits, blossoms into eyeroll (at herself) and half-laugh. she has now made lady sansa, a stark of winterfell, sit on the floor. then again, these floors are cleaner than a lot of places she's seen. guess that's what family does, huh? makes each other sit on the floor. sansa will get a very obvious 'heads up' before vi tosses her a pillow. she's not sure if that's the most useful or polite solution, but it could go under her or she could lean against it, or hell, she could toss it back if she didn't need it. neither the pillow nor vi will be insulted.]

I might've. Yup. I'm not the best at thinking this stuff through. [lots of stuff. not just this.] I don't know how to do this stuff. Sometimes I think I'm better at starting fights than making friends. Who knows, maybe you'll rub off on me and I'll end up more like Robb and a little less like Arya.

[it feels ...odd, saying their names aloud sometimes. people she has never seen, people who mean a great deal to someone that ...has come to mean a great deal to her in a short space of time. it feels a bit like invading sansa's privacy - but she isn't, that's not a thing, is it - not when sansa's making the comparison. it's been a weird dance between comfort and waiting for the other boot to drop.

violet pauses, trying to remember if she's heard that name directly. before. she raises a brow, her face serious, as if to ask is that the one that took his head off? and the other thing she'd said. if so, it's a name to remember.]

[sansa takes the pillow, holding it neatly in her lap, and laughs aloud at vi's comparison.]

Arya made friends! That was the trouble, she'd make friends with the kitchen staff and run around stealing tarts and causing mischief with the other children. They called her Arya Underfoot.

[jory called her that. she wonders if jory is in the ocean, if all of them are.]

And it was Robb who called the banners when our father was killed. He was good at fighting–only Jon could ever beat him, and only at swords. It's not as if he never got angry. I'm sure he and Theon must've come to blows, at times. But he was...responsible. He looked after Rickon when our mother wasn't there, and he talked Jon out of his sulks.

[she smiles sadly up at vi.]

I wouldn't want anyone to be less like Arya. But she's still a child, and Robb was a king.

[to be fair vi has stolen quite a bit of food in her time.]

Arya Underfoot. [she likes that - the sound of it, what it implies, what sansa confirms when she tells her.] She sounds like a handful. [but the way vi says handful is with affection and a bit of pride.] And Sansa Fancy Satchel would never steal a tart, I bet.

Responsible. [that one's said with a bit more ...reflection. it's not an unfair comparison - not that first thing - even if it had been a lifetime ago, she'd been the one vander had expected the most of, the one all the other kids turned to - the de facto leader of her own little crew, and yeah, responsible for them. for both good and bad.

did sansa just compare her to a ...king?]

That's a hell of a lot to live up to. But it means...

...it means more to me than I can say. The right way, with the right words. Or at the right time. [ha] But I promise to try. To live up to that, and to get up off my ass and walk the next time I need to blurt out something important.

That means a lot, Sansa. Thanks for saying it back. Because you mean it, not because you think it's what I want to hear.

[sansa looks down at the pillow.]

It's not always easy for me to tell the difference.

[between what she means, and what she thinks will keep vi around, as her friend, as a sworn sister. she glances up at vi and smiles sadly.]

But I do want you to be a sister to me, as much as I ever wanted Lady Margaery to be. That was our plan, you know. I was to marry her brother, the heir to Highgarden, and leave King's Landing. [yes she was fourteen and he is ten years older than her don't worry about it] Robb was still alive, then, so I didn't have to look after Winterfell.

[she sighs, and looks back down at the pillow.]

My brothers stole me lemoncakes, sometimes. We weren't supposed to have them before dinner.

[she looks back up at vi and smiles.]

You stole more tarts than anyone, I expect.

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faceblocks - 2022-08-07 21:28 (UTC) - Expand

forgot one sry 🖕

Is this supposed to be an insult? I don't get it.

they mean hello and good day to you my lady

[I SAID. GOOD. DAY. SIR.]

Hello and good day to you too, then, I suppose.

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screaming down the hall at vi

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