First, I want to say I love tour story. But there are a free things I want to day. You say John Landless when he has calles Lackland

Just found your story and I read it because I like season 3-fix its. And it was a good decision because your story's great! Thanks for sharing it :)

Really interesting story! Kinda bittersweet ending but realistic! Thanks for writing and sharing!

Ohhhhh... Putting on the ring, what a stupid move... He's found out the truth...
You've captured the panic of a crisis situation really well.

YES! I finally found a good Marian/Robin story! Yes!

Scary really when you think of the what if's :P Great story, wish there'd been more Allan though lol Nah i loved it, great read :)

This was an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing it with us - it is way better than the end of season 2 or season 3. Well done!

Best regards, J-D

I don't think I have the words to tell you how much I love this story. The plot, the characterization, the writing style I feel everything is... beyond words. Seriously, it's brilliant. But I'm going to try to write you a review anyway.

Let me start by naming the things that stood out to me most. First off, I loved the little touches (be that beautiful metaphors or character moments) and the wonderful continuation of... things. Like Melinda's return near the end. I really, really liked her character and the image of Robin and Guy she presented Robin with after she tried to kill him.

Other things I loved: the return of Count Friedrich(!), the portrayal of King Richard (which I find more believeable than the show's version), Robin's long-lasting grief, his gang members' seperate journeys and the way they all came together - only to be seperated once again (a pity, but very realistic), Carter's survival (THANK YOU), the R/M reunion (it was made of love, I swear it was), Marian's surivival (but of course), the Robin/Guy moments (very powerful stuff) and the great characterization (yes, it deserves to be repeated).

And last, but not least (and if I wait another few seconds, I will come up with many other things I loved, but I have to draw the line somewhere): the "I don't think I was ever meant to be there. Who knows what would have happened if that coin flipped differetly?" line. OUCH. My poor heart just broke into a million pieces, but I don't mind. It will be mended back together the moment I read this fic again. Oh, Marian... the coin DID flip differently. And I'm so sad it did. That line pretty much sums up my feelings about the finale. And I feel I must thank you for writing such a beautiful alternative ending to the horror that was 2x13.

I'm sorry for the rant. And I still think it's not enough to thank you for writing one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read, but it's all I have at the moment.

~Jammeke

well this had to be the best fanfic i've ever read...everything was very nicely portrayed and honestly, many of the parts in the story had me holding my breath (literally!)...and i loved the beginning of the story when just a flip of the coin saved Marian's life...

Guy surviving wasn't something i was expecting...but i guess it turned out to be well afterall...

as for Griet and Allan...well that was hilarious!"they have decided to curse the world with another A-Dale"lol (i was gasping by this point!)

and ofcourse the best part was Robin and Marian's reunion (belive it or not i did a crazy happy dance when i read it)

Sorry I haven't reviewed all the way through. I put this bad boy on my kindle and have been reading on the train. Very good story, it really kept my attention the whole time. I like that it was a different sort of what-if twist that brought in elements of historical accuracy. An epic tale! :-)

This was a wonderful story. I am glad it wasn't all about one pairing but multiples. The writing was fantastic. I really like how Marian stood up to the king. I could see that happening. ]

Well, the very first thing I must say is that your English is positively amazing. You write it better than the majority of my schoolfriends speak it. I find that staggering.

The second thing I must say is that I absolutely adore this story, however long it is! I am glad you gave Griet to Allan, and I love your description of Marian's descent to a servant's status, particularly the part where she wonders if she could ever become a noblewoman again. In fact, your interpretation of Marian was brilliant, and I wish the BBC hadn't killed her!

The last thing I would like to say is that I am adding you to my favourites list immediately.

TSG

:( I can't believe it's over. *sniff* Congratulations, Trixter - you've been working on this for so long and it's an enormous achievement to have created such an epic story - and to have wrapped it all up so, so beautifully. I've enjoyed this so much, and I'm so so glad you're sticking around the fandom after all and continuing to write. And LOOK, BBC or Tiger Aspect or whoever - this is how you "shake things up" and write an incredible and interesting new plotline for this show, without irretrievably messing everything up in the process!

Oh, Guy's still alive! Didn't see that one coming - but it makes sense for Richard the Selfish Prat to see Guy's fate as a present he could give to Robin. ("Why couldn't he just give him a toasting fork?" as Much would say.) And of course for Marian to save him - even if that is both a blessing and a curse as he's forced to live out his life as Kaj Svarte. It's funny - at this point, he's almost become one of your OCs, and he's as wonderfully detailed in his new incarnation a they all are. (Ps. So Sweden is effectively purgatory in this story? Nice patriotism there, Trix... j/k)

As for the gang - oh I love it all. Allan and Griet popping out kids and being a burden on Robin (the childrens' names saga was hilarious too), Much as the sympathetic Sheriff of Nottingham ... John regaining contact with Little-Little, and having more poise than the rulers of Locksley, Knighton and Bonchurch combined. (Aw, and the ending with him was beautiful). Will and Djaq heading off to find a place that can be home for both of them - and of course your beloved Robin and Marian, together as they should be and annoying Much with their PDAs. All is right with the world at last.

*standing ovation*

Oh! Oh oh oh oh oh! This is one of those chapters where my jaw just dropped further and further towards the floor with every single section.

Guy and the Sheriff - you've answered the eternal question of what ties Guy to Vaysey: common goals that cannot sustain a friendship, merely "binds them to the same sword", and when that's gone there's nothing left. As always your Guy is a fabulous moral grey-area. I love this bit about his decision "It could have been a noble and redeeming act from a man who finally saw the light. Yet it was nothing of that. He simply did it for himself and because he could. As he felt the weight of the dagger in his hand he sensed the familiar ecstasy of absolute power bubbling in his chest, but this time it was more ferocious than he had ever felt it before."

And his angsty despair is just torturous. "Suddenly Guy wished for nothing more than to escape this inferno, to walk through the cleansing fires and come out a different man, a child who had yet to damn himself. He wished his life could somehow be undone, not because he longed for the chance to live through it as a moral man, but because he had been weak. He had built his entire future on other men, always the loyal serf hoping to take his master’s place in the end, always the loyal lover expecting to be saved and purified. Now he hated every choice which had brought him here with a passion so strong it made him wish he could crawl away from his own despicable skin."

OUCH. Makes me glad it will all be over for him soon.

Allan and Guy were fabulous, the perfect mix of dark antagonism from Guy, detached amusement from Allan, and finally his sympathy for the way Guy "was cornered, trapped, and he had been brought to this place by his own mistakes." (Also: LOL at Guy's lack of experience shelling peas.)

And *SQUEE* I love you for sneaking in a hint of bittersweet Allan/Djaq at the eleventh hour like this. Brilliant the way Allan's been reflecting that none of the other outlaws would see his perspective on Gisbourne, but then she turns up and of course she understands, as always, even when she doesn't agree with him. Possessive-Griet is funny, as is Djaq's sardonic reaction to her. And this last bit was my probably my favourite part of the whole chapter: "There was a tang of jealousy in her chest, but she waved it away. After all, she could not be expected to have every outlaw to herself, she chastised her selfish heart. She had chosen Will long ago, and in this lifetime she would love no one else. It was how she had decided and Djaq’s decisions always stood firm. No storm could ever make her waver." :thud:

So you already had me completely in love with this chapter, but then bringing Melinda back out of left field to give us a last glimpse at her story just completely finished me off. I'm speechless. "She didn’t truly wish to hear his story, or any story which ended happily ever after for everyone but herself. It was time to leave this place behind." And Trix-the-OC-Queen Strikes Again. :thud:

It astounds me how you can write two such epic "The Battle of Nottingham"-style chapters (here and in "Sirens" in a short space of time), and yet make them both so different, yet so uniquely Trix-like in style, and both so brilliant. "Because the people of Nottinghamshire loved their hero and would follow him to the very gates of Hell, the villagers had formed a motley army behind King Richard’s trained troops once the day for the final battle arrived. They had all been proud - their chin’s cocked and their eyes firmly on the walls on Nottingham where Prince John now had taken up residence as well. This was the end of the world as they knew it, and they longed for the utopia which Robin had promised them." Hurrah!

I love the focus you've given to the different perspectives on this battle - GKR and the nobles for whom the concrete consequences of the battle barely exist and the political consequences are everything, and the people of Nottingham for whom the battle itself is very real and the change of ruler means very little. "What do we care about kings? We starve and they grow fat, our houses burn and they build another castle. We cannot afford a goat and they got stables full of useless war-horses!” And poor Robin doing his best to bridge the gap between these two completely opposite worlds. His predicament is so well drawn here. I do hope the show touches on this aspect of his character a bit more next season - but you've probably done it better than they ever would have! *has low expectations of "official" RH writers...*

Marian really was on brilliant form in this chapter as well, what with her telling GKR off and then the whole episode of Griet's dress in the sewers. (Which made me laugh out loud. Marian ripping the skirt off in her no-nonsense style, Djaq quietly approving, and Griet doing her best to conceal her distaste for the whole situation. Perfect.)

The Robin/Marian in this chapter moved me even more than their reunion at the Blue Boar (which was lovely btw), because in this one we get to see them working together and complementing each other so well. (Which again, is what the show should have done a bit more of, rather than the endless misunderstandings and R/M/G triangular angst. It reminds me of what you had Robin think a few chapters ago - that his love for her was more about words than actions. Sadly, that's the trap the show really fell into, especially in s2 - they told us R & M loved each other, but didn't give them enough chances to *show* us that they worked.)*Squee*, I swear you're making a shipper of me.

And after the record numbers of words, chapters, intricate plotlines etc etc, you've set another record in this chapter - best non-human OC EVER. Mr Plum is made of win!