Been away for the weekend and also avoiding spoilers like the plague, but I've finally watched the final ever episode of Castle.

Firstly, just a couple of comments. ( No actual spoilers for the episode yet, just spectulation )

And so, onto thoughts about the actual ending.

( I think this goes without saying, but SPOILERS )

Have just done an f-list purge, because I had people there I've never spoken to, people who haven't posted in ages, and people who I'm pretty sure have no interest in my personal ramblings :P

If I've included you in the cull and you'd like to remain friends then I'm very sorry and please comment below and I'll add you again :D

Icons {14}
Game of Thrones (S2) [5]
Robin Hood BBC (S1, 3) [5]
Films (Avengers, Harry Potter, Narnia) [4]



here at split_loyalties

Anyone else not receiving email alerts from LJ? I haven't gotten any all day, and I know I should have at least 5 in my inbox. Have checked the Spam and Trash trays, checked the Spam filter, received email from other sites/users, but there's radio silence from LJ right now. Anyone else having this trouble?

Title: Just Beyond Reach
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Sansa, Tyrion; Sansa/Tyrion
Word count: 176 words
Rating: G/K
Warnings/Spoilers: Slight spoilers for ASoS I guess, but nothing major.
Summary: Tyrion decides to do something for his little wife. Writte for the tourneyohand drabble contest.

( >>>> )

Title: Red
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Catelyn, Petyr, Sansa; mentions of Ned and Catelyn/Ned, and Yohn Royce
Word count: 857 words
Rating: T
Warnings/Spoilers: AU, but spoilers for Sansa's storyline in ASoS & AFFC.
Summary: For the asoiafkinkmeme prompt (one of my own :P): "Alayne Stone didn't get it all from you, sweetling." very AU, Cat comes to rescue Sansa from the Vale, and to exact her revenge on Lord Baelish. Filled as part of tourneyohand.

( >>>>> )

Title: Queen of Grief and Sorrow
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Sansa, Jaime; Jaime/Sansa; mentions of Joffrey and Cersei
Word count: 463 words
Rating: K+/G
Warnings/Spoilers: AU, so no spoilers. Alludes to abuse, but nothing explicit.
Summary: For the asoiafkinkmeme prompt: Jaime/Sansa - Sansa tells herself that she doesn't believe in songs anymore being in King's Landing has taught her better, but when ser Jaime Lannister crowns her Queen of love and beauty-even when she has a bruise on her cheek and a bloody lip, she allows herself to dream. For one moment she's the maid from one of her songs and he the knight who has come to save her.

( >>>>> )

Title: where you are is home
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Catelyn, Ned, Catelyn/Ned; mentions of their children
Word count: 379 words
Rating: K+/G
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for A Storm of Swords Part 2.
Summary: For the asoiafkinkmeme prompt and Ned was waiting.

( >>>>> )

Icons {37}
Atonement [2]
Disney (Alice in Wonderland, Brave, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mulan) [9]
Game of Thrones (S1-3) [7]
Marvel Avengers [13]
Robin Hood BBC (S1-2) [6]

Larger graphics {12}
A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones [10]
Crossovers (Downton Abbey&Game of Thrones, Game of Thrones&Love Actually) [2]



here at split_loyalties

Title: Into the open air
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Catelyn, Ned, Jon; Catelyn/Ned; mentions of others
Word count: 1,650 words
Rating: K/G
Warnings/Spoilers: No warnings, but this does subscribe quite heavily to the R+L=J theory.
Summary: For the asoiafkinkmeme prompt The years have gone by and Cat tentatively broaches the subject of Jon's mother, the other woman again. Ned, looking at their children and their loving marriage, gives in.

( >>>>> )

I've been having horrible writer's block of late, but I really want to get past that and get writing again (I miss it so much...), so I'm taking the 100 Fairy Tales prompts. Give me a prompt and a fandom/character/pairing, and I will write a fic*! (No limits to how many prompts you give btw :D)

* though not (necessarily) a fairytale fic...

100 Fairy Tales Prompt Set

001.	The fox as shepherd.	002.	Curing a sick lion.	003.	The saving blood.	004.	The first to see the sunrise.	005.	Learning to fear men.
006.	What was whispered in his ear.	007.	Blood-brothers.	008.	Sin and grace.	009.	The danced-out shoes.	010.	The princess in the shroud.
011.	The girl as helper in the hero’s fight.	012.	The youth transformed.	013.	The magician and his pupil.	014.	The youth who wanted to learn what fear is.	015.	Little brother and little sister.
016.	Sleeping beauty.	017.	Friends in life and death.	018.	The bridge to the other world.	019.	The confession.	020.	All stick together.
021.	Beloved of women.	022.	The dance among thorns.	023.	The devil’s contract. (Catelyn)	024.	Open sesame.	025.	Invisible voices.
026.	Her only trick.	027.	The hunter.	028.	The lazy boy.	029.	The snare.	030.	The rhyme.
031.	Thank you three times.	032.	Why it turned winter.	033.	The spider brings luck.	034.	A pound of flesh.	035.	Wise through experience.
036.	Like wind in the hot sun.	037.	The blood that testified to the truth.	038.	The partition of an inheritance.	039.	Bargain not to become angry.	040.	Casting eyes.
041.	Cleaning the child.	042.	Contest in words.	043.	The ogre injured.	044.	As much as you can carry.	045.	With his whole heart.
046.	The man who competes with the devil.	047.	The girl who ate so little.	048.	Sunlight carried into the windowless house.	049.	The man takes seriously the prediction of death.	050.	Mistaken identity.
051.	Fools frightened.	052.	Sailing in a contrary wind.	053.	Hospitality.	054.	How wide the world is.	055.	The girl who patched her apron.
056.	The silence wager.	057.	The old woman as troublemaker.	058.	The girl who does not know herself. (Guy/Marian)	059.	The thunderstorm. (Guy/Marian)	060.	Staying with a friend in rainy weather.
061.	The practical girl.	062.	Keeping up appearances.	063.	Clean and tidy.	064.	Nothing to cook.	065.	The dead shall remain dead.
066.	A clever boy.	067.	The girl who ran so fast.	068.	Carrying part of the load.	069.	The girl who wanted to be always young.	070.	The first harbinger of spring.
071.	Cleverness and gullibility.	072.	For the long winter.	073.	Know-it-all.	074.	Building castles in the air.	075.	What should I have said?
076.	The forgotten word.	077.	Jealousy.	078.	Two match-makers.	079.	Echo answers.	080.	Can’t take a joke.
081.	Cards fall from the sleeve of the preacher.	082.	The man who will never say thanks.	083.	The girl who is spinning the thread of fate.	084.	Good-bye, you dirty world.	085.	'Who gives his own goods shall receive it back tenfold.'
086.	Three words at the grave. (Sansa)	087.	Imagined penance for imagined sin.	088.	A realistic demonstration.	089.	You shall see me a little while longer.	090.	Another matter.
091.	Too much talk.	092.	Wishing contests.	093.	A miraculous escape.	094.	Good luck.	095.	I knew you were coming.
096.	Unusual hearing.	097.	The wishing ring.	098.	No time for sickness.	099.	The lucky shot.	100.	The poisoned apple.

With Game of Thrones S3 fast approaching (only a few hours to go!!), I figured now would be a good time to promote the wonderful LJ comm that is westerosorting, and hopefully entice all the GoT/ASoIaF fans on my f-list to join!

It works like a regular sorting comm, where you answer various questions and members use your answers to sort you, in this case into one of seven Great Houses of Westeros: Greyjoy, Lannister, Martell, Stark, Targaryen, Tully or Tyrell.

Once you've been sorted there are tons of things to get involved in: monthly contests at thetourneys (anything from logic puzzles to fic contests to cosplay); making and viewing creative works at valyrian_forged; shit and giggles at jesteros; epic times in your house comm (e.g. thetullys!); the occasional mammoth weekend of contests that is tourneyohand; and character stamping at westerostamping.

I was sorted around this time last year (I joined just after S2, IIRC) and since it is the best landcomm I've ever seen, I'd love to see some of you guys over there!

Coming up: I'll post my own sorting application, some of my contest entries and my character stamping, so you guys can see what it's all about :D

So today I bought The Hour S1 on DVD. Despite knowing full well that it's been cancelled early.

Why do I do this to myself?

Title: Fortitude
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Catelyn Stark, Tywin Lannister, Rickard Lannister (OC); Catelyn/Tywin; mentions of Ned, Joanna, Robb, Bran, Rickon, Tylia Lannister (OC), Lyonel Lannister (OC), Joanna Lannister II (OC)
Word count: 240 words
Rating: G/K
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: This must be the last child she bears, the maester has told her, so it is now or never. Catelyn is determined to have a northern name for her son. The second Tully Lioness Chronicle, written for gameofships' Valentine's event Day 3 (prompt: just this once).

( Fortitude )

Title: Leave all this to yesterday
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Sansa Stark, Tyrion Lannister; Sansa/Tyrion; mentions of Cersei, Joffrey, Catelyn, Robb, Bran and Rickon
Rating/Warnings: T/PG-13, hints of suicide
Summary: After the wedding night, Tyrion wakes uneasy. Written for gameofships' Valentine's event, Day 2 (see link for prompts)

( Leave all this to yesterday )

I hate the new LJ post page. Absolutely hate it.

Title: Bella Donna
Author: novindalf
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Pairings: Cersei, Jaime; Cersei/Jaime; mentions of Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen
Rating/Warnings: T/R; character deaths, suicide
Summary: "Come with me as you always have." Written for gameofships' Valentine's event, Day 1 (see link for prompts)

( Bella Donna )

Snagged from the_silverdoe and mrstater:

Title: Last Chance, First Choice
Author: novindalf
Fandom: Robin Hood BBC
Characters/Pairings: Marian, Guy, Sheriff, Earl of Durham, various random guards; Guy/Marian-ish, mentions of Marian/Robin
Rating: T
Summary: Once again Marian finds herself made part of a bargain, only this time there doesn't seem to be any way out. Guy offers a solution, but will Marian take it? Set post-Lardner's Ring.

Title: Last Chance, First Choice
Author: novindalf
Fandom: Robin Hood BBC
Characters/Pairings: Marian, Guy, Sheriff, Earl of Durham, various random guards; Guy/Marian-ish, mentions of Marian/Robin
Rating: T
Summary: Once again Marian finds herself made part of a bargain, only this time there doesn't seem to be any way out. Guy offers a solution, but will Marian take it? Set post-Lardner's Ring.

Title: Attempts to Atone
Author: novindalf
Fandom: Robin Hood BBC
Characters/Pairings: Guy, mentions Marian, Sheriff, Robin & gang
Word count: 1,193 words
Rating: T
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for S2 finale, fairly dark themes
Summary: Prompt for RHFC's gift exchance ficathon - Guy becomes the Nightwatchman.

( Attempts to Atone )

Once again nicked from mrstater, as I did last year...

Total Fics Posted:
10 (not including Dancing Queen as it was started prior to 2012)

Total Words Posted:
Posted fic: 18434
2012 DQ chapters: 2176
Total: 20610 (about 10k less than last year :/)

Total Words (of Anything Excluding Blogs) Written:
Posted fanfic: 20610
Unposted/Unfinished fanfic: 2478
Fanfic plans: 7388
Total: 30476 (again, less than last year :/)

My favorite story this year:
Either Ou sont les neiges d’antan or the epilogue of Sleeves Stained Red. I had immense fun writing both, and though I think Ou sont les neiges was the better of the two, Catelyn’s revenge on Walder Frey was one of the things that prompted Sleeves Stained Red as a fic from the beginning, so it was definitely very satisfying to write.

My best story this year:
Probably Ou sont les neiges. I tend to write better when I write less – mostly because there’s not as much room for me to ramble and/or take it OOC.

Story most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Uhh, maybe Kindling. No readers to my knowledge (certainly no reviews), so I have honestly no idea how it went down, if at all, though I rather hoped it was a good portrayal of how their wedding night might have gone, without the over-excited, over-sexed, love-at-first-sight hype that I’ve read before.

Sexiest Story:
I’m not much of a smut writer, so I don’t think I really have this problem in that sense - Sleeves Stained Red (Chapter 14) Impropriety or Kindling are probably the only non-kid friendly ones, and even they are no higher that PG/T.

Most fun story:
See Question #1. Ou sont... and SSR epilogue :D

"Holy crap, that's *wrong*, even for you" story:
Not sure I have this problem either, so n/a? Unless you count writing Catelyn/Tywin fics when Cat/Ned is my Game of Thrones OTP? In itself it is an odd pairing – it’s certainly a new pairing, I know there wasn’t any fic of it until 2012 – but then again it’s gone down pretty well with people who’ve considered it.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Again, don’t think this really applies, but it was rather fun to write naughty!Matthew for Impropriety. (Mind you, it was the the 3x01 episode that shifted my perception to allow this more than anything).

Hardest story to write:
Attempts to Atone. It was for a gift-exchange ficathon on RHFC (originally intended to be a sort of Secret Santa thing, but all the writers – including me! – took so long to cough up that it was well past Christmas by the time stuff got posted) but I didn’t manage to write it until months later. The prompt was . Which reminds me, I still need to post that here/on FF.net... :P

Biggest surprise:
Not applicable to any of the fics posted, but how much I want to write this annoyingly difficult, impossibly long, currently plot-lacking, historically accurate as possible, but still recognisably RH BBC, 18th century AU(/DA crossover-ish) fic. Having the outlaws as Luddites, Will as an East India Company official (and Marian’s cousin) with Djaq as his half-Indian wife, Robin (and Much) as naval officers, and Marian’s father’s title and estate entailed away to a distant male cousin (hence the DA crossover bit) – Guy of Gisborne. Why aren’t there more years in a day so that I can research an write this?!?!?!

A story I want remembered:
Ou sont les neiges. If there is one fic I want remembered (and one AU-verse I want to continue/want other people to adopt), it is this. (Not just because of Brienne-the-lady’s-maid either!)

Resolutions for 2013:
- write more for asoiafkinkmeme (not necessarily smut – there are some fantastic non-smut prompts that really get my creative juices flowing, I just need to sit down and actually put words to paper)
- maybe write a bit of the RH 19th century AU fic (?????)
- FINISH THE ROBIN HOOD DRABBLEFEST PROMPTS FROM LAST YEAR
- also finish the International Women’s Day prompts
- and the Advent Fic prompts
- write more Catelyn/Tywin DA-universe fic
- and more Catelyn/Ned fic to make up for abandoning my babies
- and Jaime/Sansa, because they are amazing together

I. AM. SCREWED.

already

Title: Kindling
Author: novindalf
Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Characters/Pairings: Eddard Stark, Catelyn Tully; Cat/Ned
Word count: 1,264 words
Rating: K
Warnings/Spoilers: Non-explicit sex, no spoilers (pre-series fic)
Summary: The wedding night. I've read a few Cat/Ned wedding night fics where the fire between them is instantly lit and burns ferociously from the start, and I wanted to write something slightly less fairytale. I didn't feel I could write this quite as dutiful as Catelyn recalls in the books without making it sound wooden, so hopefully I reached a compromise by depicting it as the stirring of what later becomes a strong and fierce relationship.

( Kindling )

Sorry for getting so behind on these fics! I am working on getting back up to date, so hopefully I will have actually caught up by the 25th... =P As always feel free to prompt/request a fic here!

Title: Cold Feet, Warm Heart
Fandom: Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Characters/Pairings: Catelyn, Ned; Cat/Ned
Request/Prompt/Summary: Catelyn finds it hard to adjust to the northern winters, so she enlists Ned to help her out.

( Cold Feet, Warm Heart )

Feel free to request/prompt a fic here!

Title: Winter Winds and Sunset Snows
Fandom: Spooks/MI-5
Characters/Pairings: Ros, Lucas; Ros/Lucas
Request/Prompt/Summary: For the_silverdoe (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! xx), Ros/Lucas fluff. Ended up more like Ros/Lucas angst with a bit of fluff, but still! (Plus, Barbados!)

( Winter Winds and Sunset Snows )

Feel free to request/prompt a fic here!

Modifying lainemontgomery's idea, I'm planning on doing an advent calendar of fanfic requests, so request away with anything you'd like me to write. Can be any of my fandoms (possibly others if I'm familiar with them), het or gen, fluff or angst or crack or smut (though the last two may be a bit iffy =P), and any days that aren't filled with requests I will fill with various requests/pledges from during 2012 (the Robin Hood/deathbydrabbles drabbles and the International Women's Day fics I never got around to filling, for example...)

Basically just post away with what you would like me to write, and for each day during Advent (December 1st-25th) I will publish one of those fic fills. Feel free to specify a date too! xx

(P.S. I do apologise if I seem to be slurring my typing - I've just got back in from a Hogwarts themes social - photos of my amazing costume will follow eventually - and am slightly tired/still drunk. Love you all!)

Title: Impropriety
Fandom: Downton Abbey
Word count: 410 words
Characters & Pairings: Matthew, Mary; Matthew/Mary
Ratings/Warnings: T for suggestiveness =D =D, spoilers for 3.01 and the 3.02 preview.
Summary: Post 3.01 fic, written in response to THIS, THIS, THIS and THIS (but mainly THIS) and any post ever made about how great Matthew and Mary’s sex life is going to be is.

Impropriety

Title: Où sont les neiges d’antan?
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones & Downton Abbey (ish) crossover
Word count: 539 words
Characters & Pairings: Catelyn, Tywin, mentions of Brienne (the lady's maid), Gregor (Clegane, the valet), Eddard/Ned Stark, Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Cersei Lannister & Hoster Tully; Catelyn/Tywin, Catelyn/Ned
Ratings/Warnings: K, no spoilers
Summary: Written for a prompt on Tumblr, any, Game of Thrones/Downton Abbey cross over. Ended up as more of a GoT fic in Downton years, but anyway.
Background: In this AU Catelyn is married to Tywin (quelle surprise) and they live in a big Downton Abbey-esque house. Both had been married before: Tywin, a man of recent repute who came into his fortune through his banking empire, to a distant cousin, Joanna; Catelyn, eldest daughter of the noble Tully family, to Lord Eddard Stark, a kind and well-liked aristocrat killed in WW1, shortly before the fall of the Romanovs demolishes the Stark assets in Russia (naturally) and the destruction of the family’s fortune. To save her remaining family from ruin (and herself from degradation), Catelyn agrees to marriage to Tywin Lannister. Their marriage has its many ghosts, and is therefore not always the ideal partnership it appears on the outside, but it works, and they manage.

( Où sont les neiges d’antan? )

Title: Battlefields
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Word count: 2,682 words
Characters & Pairings: Catelyn, Sansa, Tywin, Jaime; Catelyn/Tywin, slight Jaime/Sansa I suppose
Ratings/Warnings: T for potentially distressing scenes; no explicit spoilers
Summary: The first (of hopefully many) of what I am calling the Tully Lioness Chronicles, a fic series that covers the scenario of Sleeves Stained Red, where Catelyn marries Tywin Lannister in a post-RW AU. After all, what is childbirth if not a woman’s field of battle?

( Battlefields )

25djadja has been repeatedly stealing my icons, modifying them slightly, and then claiming as her own - all without asking or crediting me. I asked her to stop doing it, she denied she was doing it, and has since continued doing it. I commented on her latest batch where she'd stolen my icons, only for the comment to be promptly deleted, me blocked from commenting on her journal, and me blocked from PM-ing her. Frankly I'm pissed off with her stealing my work, and I'd like to block her from viewing my graphics comm so that she can't do it to me any more. Is this even possible? I don't want to have to make my comm private =/

Oh, and jsyk, here are the icons of mine she's stolen, and 'her' icons made from mine. It's not just me she's taken icons from - sky_magenta, julie_izumi, biliki, theladymorgan, ladykate63, jammeke, confessoralana, schryosel, nim4, responsiveness (on RHFC), alisea_dream, nightwatchman89 (on RHFC), simply_aly, equanimousicons, themirrorofsin & liona5 have all had their work stolen, and these are just the 72 icons we know about so far. My icons are on the left, 'hers' are on the right, and all match up perfectly in PowerPoint.


( >>>>>> )


It's that last one that REALLY annoys me, but I'm rather hacked off about all of them tbh. I don't fucking care if her icons look better, I'm pissed off and she shouldn't be doing it. [/rant for now]

Title: Sleeves Stained Red
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters & Pairings: Catelyn, Tywin; Cat/Tywin
Summary: Catelyn/Tywin - AU inspired by ohmytheon's fic The Winter's Song, where Cat is held captive after the RW and Tywin flees King’s Landing without ascending the Tower of the Hand. Spoilers for A Storm of Swords.

( Sleeves Stained Red - Chapter 1 )

I have a lot of fics/ficlets half-finished/barely-begun on my computer, most of which will never see the light of day, so I'm following sandrine's example and bringing a few snippets into the light =P

Pretty open-ended fic, but written with GoT's Cat/Ned in mind
When they first told her of marriage they told her of fairytale romances, tales of love at first sight and handsome princes or brave knights in shining armour come to rescue the fair maiden. Later they whispered warnings of duty and shackles, of how to serve and obey.

No one told her of warm arms enfolding her on that first morning, or kisses to her jaw, just above her pulse. No one explained how it could be both duty and fairytale, both pleasure and pain. No one spoke of curling up against her husband’s side, their child in his arms or her belly.

They spoke of love and duty, but there was friendship and passion to be found as well.

Spooks ficlet: Ros + her new hobby
“Is she...?”

Ros didn’t even begrudge him a word, just shot him a look worthy of Medusa and carried on knitting.

*ahem* rather racy Ned/Catelyn fic, a slightly-non-canon-passionate start to their marriage. In which Cat's new husband is not as cold as she'd been led to believe...
He kisses the side of her breast, the underside, burns a fiery path up her décolletage. When he reaches the pendant that graves the top of her cleavage she tilts her head back with a throaty moan and he leaves his mark on the hollow of her throat too.

She dusts her fingers over his abdomen. “My lord?” she says hesitantly, breathlessly.

He catches her unoccupied hand with his own and presses a whisper of a kiss on her knuckles. “Ned,” he corrects softly.

She trails her fingertips over the waistband of his smallclothes. “Ned,” she concedes, and his deep moan answers her question. She slips her hand down further and he presses himself to her closer, his manhood hot and hard against her palm.

Gen Spooks ficlet. I think I wrote it with either Lucas/Ros having to dress up for some operation, or Dimitri/Erin.
Contrary to popular belief, spying wasn’t half as glamorous in real life as it was in the movies. Gadgets were often cumbersome and heavy than sleek and the size (and weight) of a matchbox; many a night was spent in a freezing surveillance van; and more often than not the job involved endless trawling through ancient filing cabinets than high-speed pursuits in snazzy sports cars.

So when the opportunity to glam up finally arose, it was hardly surprising that most officers would jump at the chance to take part.

Mostly-finished Ashes to Ashes AU S3 ending fic. Haven't posted it as a complete fic yet because there is something - can't figure out what - that really bugs me and it just generally seems really unfinished
It didn’t feel right. Apart from the gut-wrenching feeling that only increased every step she took away from him, this did not feel right.

Alex hesitated, her hand mere centimetres from opening the door that would take her to goodness knew where, but most vitally away from here. She had told herself she wouldn’t look back, because if she looked back she was lost, but suddenly her mind and her body seemed completely disconnected, and she broke the iron resolve to take a final glance back.

He hadn’t moved at all, not one inch from where she had left him, a lone figure in an empty street, with no one to turn to, to look after, to help him.

Her hand fell to her side. She couldn’t let him do this alone.

“Drake, get inside that bloody pub now....” he growled warningly, but it only made her more resolute. So she was ‘Drake’ again now, was she? She strode confidently back across the street, her stride becoming more determined with each step, until she drew up in front of him, a smug grin on her face.

“Not unless you’re coming too,” she said, revelling in how he narrowed his eyes and scowled at her.

“We’ve 'ad this talk before,” he replied. “I 'ave to stay here.”

“Then I’m staying with you,” she shrugged, as if it were the simplest thing in the whole world. And now that she considered it, it was; there was no way in hell she could leave him to soldier on alone in purgatory, not after everything they had gone through.

“Bolls-”

Oh, she knew he had something to say about that, would produce a spectacularly intimidating threat as to what he would do if she didn’t shift her arse back to the pub faster than Speedy Gonzalez in a Ferrari, but she wasn’t having any of it.

She cut him off and stepped closer, so they were almost nose-to-nose. “Unbreakable, Gene,” she reminded him softly. “Un-bloody-breakable.”

For several long moments, his eyes gave nothing away. Then, slowly, a flicker of understanding, then resignation, then hope.

She latched onto the latter.

“Besides,” she added, pulling back and smiling coyly. “I never did tell you if I’m a C-cup or a D-cup.”

His hands went to her waist as he pulled her back to him. “Don’t need yer ter tell me, Bollinger Knickers,” he smirked. “Reckon I’ll find out soon enough...”

“Perhaps...” she shrugged with faked aloofness. Then, suddenly, a thought struck her. “But only if you pay your tab.”

“Joy, oh bloody joy. I let you stay and the first thing you do is start nagging! I do not to pay that tab, Lady Bolls - copper’s perks.”

“Exactly!” she cried. “You’re a copper, ‘Gene’, you need to set an examp-”

“How many times?! Do. Not. Waggle. Your. Fingers. When. You. Say. My. Name!”

It’s Christmas 1982, and time for the annual battle of the Fenchurch CIDs. Ashes to Ashes fic idea, but this is only some of the pub quiz questions, and a couple of the characters' responses.
Q: Which nation gave women the right to vote first?
A: New Zealand
Gene: Trust you to know that Bolls

Q: Who was the Roman goddess of love?
A: Venus
Ray: Song by Bananarama

Q: What country has not fought in a war since 1815?
A: Switzerland
Gene: (knocks the Swiss)

Q: How many years has Margaret Thatcher been Prime Minister for?
A: 4
Gene grumbling

Q: What is the meaning of Veni, Vidi, Vici?
Gene: I can’t speak English?
A: I came, I saw, I conquered

Q: What number do the roman numerals CD represent?
A: CD
Gene: ‘CID’ spelt wrong

Q: In Roman numerals, what is the number 0?
A: There isn’t one
Chris and Ray squabbling over it, Shaz gets it right

Q: Name the Seven Dwarves
A: Sleepy, Grumpy, Doc, Happy, Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful
Gene: My whole bloody department...

Q: Why is it not a good thing to be a male praying mantis?
A: After mating, the female bites the male’s head off.
Alex gets it,
Gene: Bit kinky there, Drake

Q: What is the common name for myocardial infarction?
A: Heart attack
Gene: Well go on then Bolls – you speak twat.

Ashes to Ashes ficlet, Gene and Alex's usual arguments...
“Just spout some of yer psychology bollocks-”

“It’s psychiatry!... No! Psychology, psychology, psychology. Damn it Gene; you’ve got me doing that now. Urgh! It’s psychology, okay? Psychology.”

“Just hurry up and spout the rubbish; we’ve got a murder to solve.”

Ashes to Ashes AU fic idea. Entering the Railway Arms takes her back to her old world, alive:
She could feel something compelling her backwards, reeling in her in. In a desperate attempt to stay, she scrabbled at the handle-less door in front of her, searching out some hand-hold, anything, to cling onto.
......
She caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall above her comatose self.
9:07

Downton Abbey, M/M early-days-of-marriage fic
He crept along the corridors on careful alert, flattening himself in a doorway at even the slightest noise. Sound carried horribly well through the halls, and he could not let himself be seen. If anyone should find him, skulking in the corridors, trying to put as much distance between where he ought to be, and where he was, he’d be for it.

A sudden crash made him jump and he ducked behind a potted plant, realising a moment too late that it had merely been the clock striking the hour. Taking a final furtive glance up and down the hallway, he straightened up and hurtled through one of the doors.

He pushed it close(d?) behind him and leant/leaned against it heavily.

“Really, Matthew-” came a voice from across the room. Matthew looked up to meet his wife’s gaze in the mirror of her dressing table “-there’s no need to be quite so clandestine. I’m sure the servants are well aware by now that we have no intention of keeping to our separate rooms. You did give Ellen quite the indication last week...”

Matthew chuckled. “Poor woman. I do hope she’ll recover from the shock.” He pushed off from the door and started towards Mary. “Evening, darling.”

She inclined her head without looking at him and continued her adjustments to her nightly toilette. “Evening.”

Guy/Marian AU 2.10 fic beginning. Still want to make this into a fully-fledged multi-chapter, but I thought I'd see what the reaction was first. May be my contribution to rhbigbang when it comes
“You came back.”

“If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die by your side.”

There’s no ‘if’ about it; he’s seen the numbers that surround the town, and he knows that for either of them to survive it would be tantamount to a miracle. It doesn’t stop him from turning his horse around and riding back into the castle, to her. It doesn’t stop him from hurtling up the steps, from bursting through the doors, and from seeking out her face in the crowd.

Between the two of them, real truth has been a rare thing. Here, now, when he knows their chances are survival are so slim, he will not taint their final moments with lies. He tells her truth about why he came back, and the look of pride mingling on her astounded face makes his decision to return completely worth it.

At some point after his cry of “To arms!” she has made her way up the stairs to join him. He notices her approach him, but it isn’t until he feels the pressure of her hand against his arm that he registers her presence. His head turns toward her of its own accord, and he feels her touch on his wrist more firmly as she tightens her grip briefly, as if to assure him that she is indeed there.

She is standing here, at his side, proud to be next to him. It is something he could only have dreamed of before, and now it is a tangible thing, a memory to behold and cherish until the end of his life, no matter how short that life is to be.

The triumphant cry of Prince John’s men as the courtyard is breached reaches their ears, and he swears he feels her clasp on his arm tighten that little bit more for a moment. She is frightened, even if she will not show it – even if she chose to stay behind and meet this fate. He wants to take her hand in his and reassure her that it will be okay, that he will protect her, but his sword is in this hand, and anyway what help would it do to give false hope? He knows – they both do – that all will not be well.

But if he is to die, he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make the most of his last minutes on earth. Because he knows for sure that he won’t see her in heaven.

He tilts his head towards her. “Marry me now,” he murmurs softly. “And make it the last thing we do. Let’s take that from them at least.”

Marian looks at him in shock, and for a moment he is frightened – frightened that even now she will reject him.

And then she smiles gently.

“Yes. I will marry you.”

---

It was a spur of the moment decision, but she knows she cannot go back on it now. She is engaged to Robin – she loves Robin – but if her consent will mean a man dies happy, then who is she to take that from him? He came back to be with her, after all.

His face is one of utter surprise, as if he had braced himself for her refusal again, but almost immediately it brightens. To think that such a simple acquiescence could bring such joy to a man...

He wastes no time after that, turning to face her, stowing his sword in its scabbard so as to take both her hands, and hurries through his vows, mindful every second of what little time remains.

“I, Guy of Gisborne, take you Marian to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part.”

His part over, he looks to her, silently praying that she will not back out now. She has her eyes closed, but whether that is due to his words, what she may or may not say next, or the fact that they can hear footsteps approaching

“Mar-”

“I, Marian of Knighton-” He looks her in the eye, met with a gaze so resolute and warm that even with the threat that looms over them he cannot help but smile at her. “-take you, Guy of Gisborne, to be my wedded husband.” The sound of clanking armour down the corridor, and she tears her eyes away from his to gaze out the door, swallowing down her nerves. Guy grips her hands tighter, and runs his thumb over the knuckles of her right hand. She turns back to him. “To have and to hold,” she continues, “from this day forward...”

Footsteps approaching.

“...for better or for worse...”

There is a slight edge to her voice, as if she is holding back tears.

“...for richer or for poorer...”

Swords being drawn.

“...in sickness and in health...”

Her eyes are darting between Guy and the outside corridor, just waiting for the guards to burst in.

“...to love and to cherish...”

The sound of running.

“...’til death do us part.”

He kisses her. It is neither forceful nor gentle, just lips firm on lips as he commits this moment to memory. They break apart, all too soon, and he draws his sword.

“Get down below,” he tells her, but she shakes her head.

“Not likely.”

“Marian, please,” he implores her.

“I’m the Nightwatchman, Guy,” she risks.

There is a pause, far too long for her liking, and far too long than they can afford at the moment. He takes a small step back and she cannot read the expression on his face. He wants to feel betrayed, that she has deceived and tricked him, made a fool out of him, lied to him, but there is no time. Perhaps when they are out of this mess – if they get out of this mess – but right now he’s blown his chances at using his status as a Black Knight to guarantee his safety, and he’s fighting for his life just as much as she is. The Nightwatchman can wait.
She bites her lower lip anxiously, heart hammering in tune to the approaching footsteps, and searches his face for something.

Then he nods at her, just once, and she knows it doesn’t matter anymore.

“Pass me a sword,” she calls down, and deftly catches the one thrown up to her by Will. She turns, standing side by side with her husband, and takes her stance.

The first of the guards turn the corner. The battle has begun.

Spooks post-9.01. Harry muses about two funerals
It seems that the whole of Whitehall has turned out for the funeral. Of course, only a select handful knows the truth about Nicholas Blake and Nightingale, but even they must show their faces for appearances sake.

Late but discrete, Harry slips into a pew at the back, and tugs off his gloves. Last time, he’d kept them on. Poured the glass of already poisoned whisky – the last drink of a man condemned – with a steady hand and a tumultuous heart, covered his eyes as he listened to the choking of a dying man, stepped over the body on his way out, and closed the door behind him. No trace left behind, no evidence.

He folds up the gloves and puts them in his pocket, a mark of respect for a man he doesn’t wish to honour.

They are singing now. Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Oh, how ironic.

A church full of people and TV coverage for a traitor and a murderer. Six mourners for the woman he killed. She deserved better.

Though the sentiment would have been lost on her, she deserved better. Even now, the fact that only six people came to say goodbye to Ros after everything she had given to the service – to the country – makes him angry. His knuckles turn white as he grips the hymn book tightly.

He tries to reason with himself. Ros knew the risks, knew there was every chance that the Service would kill her – for real this time. As did every other officer who had died under his command. It still doesn’t stop him from bearing the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Ros, who had seemed so impenetrable, yet had so many fractures; Jo who had borne so much loss in so little time; Adam, who had been to the brink and back again more times than he cared to think about, and who left behind an orphaned son who would never get to tell his father when he made Rugby Blue.

They lost far too many already – he’d lost too many friends, too many colleagues – but their work wasn’t over yet. They all knew a fresh morning would again one day bring a new casualty, and there {....}

They gave their lives to the safety of their country, and what did they get in return? A Distinguished Service Order, if they were lucky. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to justify {...}

Ros-fic, AU post 8.08. Ros/Andrew angst (yes, written back in the day when I still shipped those two... =P)
Death was warmer than she had expected. Not that she had ever thought fire would be particularly cold, but the fire was while she was dying. Death was something altogether different.

She was not religious, so she didn’t believe in Heaven or Hell. Perhaps she would have once, but Adam’s death, and Zaf’s and Jo’s had put paid to that. Even so, that didn’t stop her from comparing the flames....

She had died once before and lived through it, so death did not scare her any more. What terrified her was the needle she could feel piercing her arm.

She wasn’t scared of death anymore – she had died once and live though it, after all - but she was terrified of the needle she could feel piercing her arm.

“How is he?”

“Still critical, but stable.” Harry didn’t even have to ask who she meant; the unconscious mutterings of “Not leaving you” and the murmured “Andrew” every so often had

He's young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?
But death replied: 'I choose him.' So he went
The Death Bed – Siegfried Sassoon

Now is not the time for Ros Myers to die.

Spooks post-S10 Harry/Ruth angst
He goes to the house they were going to live in, tries to do as she did and see himself there. It’s no good. For all that her descriptions of the green door and the peeling paint and the house in all its imperfect perfection match up to what he sees before him,

His team watch him out of the corner of his eyes,

There are tough decisions to be made, and someone needs to make them. When something goes wrong and all hell breaks loose, he’d rather it was he being made to face up to his actions than someone who still has something to lose.

Erin tries to speak to him about it, just the once. He knows what she’s going to say before she even begins, when she knocks on the door to his office for the first time and waits to be admitted, but he lets her get it out anyway. She says she’s worried about him – that they all are – and that wouldn’t he be better for some rest and time alone. He tells her

He wants to feel embittered, feels he ought to be, but

He’s heard the words whispered behind his back, the mutterings in the corridor as he passes. He sees the looks of pity as his story is passed from one new recruit to the next, getting more distorted as it crosses the lips of yet another fresh-faced, naive graduate, and still he does not care. Let them speculate, let them gossip, he thinks to himself. Let them have their little game while they still can, before they get sucked into this world of lies and treachery, of grief and loss.

Reason tells him he should leave and never look back, that he should get as far away from this place as he can. But reason has never been his strong point, nor has listening to his head when his heart is telling him otherwise, because right now the voice of reason in his world is lying cold in a grave, and he can’t bring himself to say give up the world that keeps her memory

Spooks snippet of an unwritted fic. Basically, Zoe and Will and their young daughter are approached by an unfamiliar member of Section D and Zoe's spy instincts kick in. I think the idea was that during the investigation into Harry in the S9/10 gap, they were worried that Zoe's false imprisonment was going to be found out, so she had to come home to retake her place in jail, and then she was going to appeal the verdict (7 years of her 10-year sentence would have been 'done' by then) and they could all be free. There's the plan....
They are taking a stroll along a beach when she first thinks they are being observed.

The sharp cry of pain from her daughter as she stumbles over a rock captures her attention, and she rushes over to soother the little girl’s cries. By the time the tears have subsided and Zoe looks back at the promenade, the figure positioned {subtely} towards the little family has vanished.

Harry/Ruth, slightly saucy, mostly angsty with a bit of Emotions (TM) thrown in
She never let him say them, those three small words. She never let him say them. Even now when he’d proved it a thousand-fold with Albany, denied it a thousand times in the inquiry, and when a thousand more moments had passed in which she would have said yes, always, she never let him say them. They were the words that, had he uttered them all those years ago, would have stopped her getting on the boat, would have ruined them both. The words that scared her more than.....

So he showed her instead.

He showed her last thing at night, and first thing in the morning, beginning and ending each day with the union of their lips.

He showed her as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and buried his face in the soft scent of her hair.

He showed her when he stopped her from tucking her hair behind her ear, staying her hand so that he could sweep the loose lock away from her face.

He showed her as he forged a path from her collarbone to her navel, kissing his way down the creamy expanse of her flesh/skin.

Catwin (Catelyn Stark/Tywin Lannister) post-RW AU. I WILL WRITE THIS FIC DAMNIT THEY ARE MY NEW OTP =P
The dress is more direwolf-grey than trout-silver, but if Tywin Lannister dares comment she’ll shrug delicately and feign ignorance. It’s his own fault for insisting she marry him in the Tully colours she’s not worn in over sixteen years, rather than as the Stark she has become, and she twists the silver ring she wears that Ned gave her when they were first wed.

But she will not think of Ned, not today, not when

The dress hangs loose on her body; too wide around her waist and her hips, and too ____ upon her shoulders. Like the rest of the gowns in her possession, it is new, hastily {fabricated} upon her arrival at Casterly Rock in a flurry of wool and silk and chattering seamstresses. Since this particular dress, the first to be commissioned, was made, she has become more slight of frame, so where it was made to fit snug about her, it now {hangs loose}.

Catelyn stares into the looking-glass, the figure reflected scarcely recognisable.

“We mustn’t let them see our tears. We will show them how strong Stark women are.
...
Whatever Tywin Lannister thinks, I am still a Stark. Tully may be my house, but Winterfell has been my home for the last sixteen years, and will remain to be for the rest of my days, no matter how crimson the cloak around my shoulders.”

Title: Until We Meet Again
Fandom: Downton Abbey
Characters & Pairings: Mary, OC, Matthew, mentions of Robert, Anna, Violet, Carson, Mrs Hughes, Mrs Patmore, Daisy, William, Edith; Mary/Matthew
Summary: Sequel to my AU S2 one-shot One Fond Embrace. The reunion scene that people were keen to read =)

Until We Meet Again

Title: One Fond Embrace
Fandom: Downton Abbey
Characters/Pairings: Mary, OC, Anna, Robert, mentions of Matthew; Mary/Matthew, very slightly implied/mentioned Anna/Bates
Ratings/Warnings: rated K, spoilers for S2 but AU
Summary: AU S2, Mary receives word that her husband is missing.

One Fond Embrace

Title: Awake My Soul
Fandom: Spooks
Characters/Pairings: Ros, Lucas; Ros/Lucas
Ratings/Warnings: rated T, spoilers for S7E5
Summary: “You can drop the mask, Ros. I can see right through you.” Post 7.5. Uhh, happy very-very-belated birthday, the_silverdoe...?

Awake My Soul

Title: Dancing Queen (Chapter 15)
Fandom: Spooks
Characters/Pairings: Harry, Ruth, Dimitri, Beth, Tariq, Alec; Harry/Ruth, slightly Dimitri/Beth
Ratings/Warnings: rated K+, spoilers for S9
Summary: Section D, Six's anniversary dinner dance, and one woman hiding the biggest secret of her life; what could possibly happen...? Fluffy H/R twaddle. Set AU post-S9-ish. Now COMPLETE!

Chapter 15

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