dorsetgirl

Leather Collar!

2009-12-04T22:37:53Z

Fantasy Lover

2009-12-03T10:48:32Z

Title: Fantasy Lover (Survival Series)
Characters and Pairings: Annie pov, Sam/Gene, fantasy Annie/Gene
Word Count: 1,400 approx
Warning: Fantasy het!sex
Summary: Even unshaven in a drunken sleep he had the feral essence of pure sex.
A/N: This started as something quite different, but Annie took over. Possibly my first wank!fic, and certainly my first female one. (Concrit welcome!) I’d hoped to post in time for Porntober, but RL ensured that I even missed Pervember. Maybe we could consider it my entry for Sexbycember. The scene takes place immediately after The Only One.

Previously Posted: Not The Dark (by dakfinv) / Body & Soul / Nightmare / Another Day / Watching / The Only One / Fantasy Lover / Hope / In The Eye Of The Beholder / Breaking Through /Still With Us / On The Road to Freedom / Not Just a Cry For Help / Keep Taking the Tablets / Breaking Glass / Useless / Out to Lunch / Still Want You / Fighting to Survive / Into the Dark / Talk to Me

Fantasy Lover

Annie smiled as Gene’s face finally went slack and he started to snore. He’d argued for going home, but she’d pointed out that he wouldn’t want her driving his precious car, and she certainly wasn’t letting him drive it in this state. Ray, pragmatic as ever, had merely said,

“Think he’ll be OK now. Get some more Scotch down him, let him sleep it off,” before disappearing into the night.

That had been two hours ago, and Annie’s eyes were sore from being cooped up in Gene’s office with Gene’s cigarette smoke. It had been an uncomfortable evening, but the alcohol had finally started to dissolve the strain and terror of the past few weeks, and in the end Gene had seemed to gain some relief from telling her, in slightly too much detail, exactly how he’d felt at seeing Sam laid out, cold and helpless, in the neat hospital bed.

She waited a few more minutes until Gene was relaxed enough for her to gentle him into a comfortable position, then folded the jacket next to him on the cracked red leather. It would hold him in place and perhaps offer some spurious comfort as he slept alone one more night.

As his breathing settled, she moved quietly around the office, picking up papers and sorting them into folders. A rustling made her look round: Gene shifted on the sofa, and she stirred uncomfortably as his hands strayed to his trousers. His surprisingly elegant fingers caressed gently along the zip, and she swallowed hard as the unmistakable shape of his erection firmed and grew.

Oh, God. Annie knew the real reason she’d refused to take him home had nothing to do with driving his car. It was this.

Gene Hunt, the man who held her career in his hands, also held her - what? - not heart, nothing so pure. More like her desire. Every guilty fantasy she’d ever had about being taken, hard, right there on that sofa, was tied up with this man. Even unshaven in a drunken sleep he had the feral essence of pure sex and she knew if she’d had to spend another minute with him in the dark confines of the Cortina she’d have given herself away completely.

She took a deep breath and tried not to imagine the feel of him heavy against her as they staggered up the path to his door; the warmth of his breath on her neck as she reached into his trouser pocket for his house keys.

Bloody hell. She took a shaky breath and determinedly closed off that line of thought - it wasn’t even as if he’d be interested.

“You’re disgusting,” she told herself firmly, not believing it for a moment.

She felt herself getting warm as she watched Gene stroke himself for a few moments longer, then as he murmured Sam’s name his hand dropped and he fell into a deeper sleep. She stayed still as his breathing slowed, one hand moving unconsciously downwards. When she found her fingers moving rhythmically against her skirt she hurriedly put the papers in a pile then backed out of the office as quietly as she could.

Her pants rubbed awkwardly and she was so hot and swollen she knew she’d have to sort herself out in the Ladies’ before going home. Couldn’t walk the streets in this state; she’d be giving off all sorts of signals that a nice young lady copper should know nothing about. As she involuntarily walked faster, she bit her lip and thought through the contents of her handbag. She’d never dared to go into one of those dimly-lit shops in the back streets, and at home she relied on an old hand-cream bottle so perfect it had to have been moulded personally by a woman. But today there was nothing in her bag that would do. It would have to be fingers and imagination.

Inside the brightly-lit toilets she winced at the sight of herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot from the smoke and at some point she’d chewed off the last of her lipstick. Even if the Guv did go for women he wasn’t likely to choose her looking like this; not when he could have anyone he cared to fix with those compelling eyes. As she looked at her reflection her hand was already down the front of her skirt and when her fingertips inched into her pants she watched the woman in the mirror open her mouth and take a long breath. Her skirt was too tight to allow her hand down any further, she couldn’t get her fingers inside herself, so she moved her hips, rubbing herself against the edge of the basin.

Her back arched involuntarily and suddenly she couldn’t tease herself any longer. She hurried into a cubicle, one hand already reaching up under her skirt and scrabbling desperately past the elastic as with the other she closed the door as quietly as possible and shot the bolt shakily across.

Moving carefully away from the door - it tended to rattle at the critical moment - she used both hands to hitch her neat fitted skirt savagely above her hips and in a fast, desperate movement she ripped at her pants, dragging them unevenly down to her knees. They were too tight, and even as she impatiently lifted one foot to take them off she was rubbing herself, fingertips carefully either side of the too-sensitive little bud, and gasping as the swollen, tender warmth started to tighten and spread through her entire body.

Forcing herself to slow down for a moment she spread her knees far apart and concentrated on the feelings, imagining Gene pushing himself deep into her. Her lips parted and as she started to move she had to remind herself to breathe quietly.

Sometimes she allowed free rein to the groans and gasps, the sounds feeding into her arousal and turning her on even more, but here in this cubicle she was always silent, biting her lip as she concentrated. The need to keep strict control while fucking herself on whatever she could find lent a wild edge to the sensations, magnifying the feelings in a way she could never achieve with a man groaning above her.

Gene would have been different, though, she knew. Her hips moved as she felt him, a tightly-reined force of nature, filling her, moving to her rhythm.

She could feel her muscles tightening around him, and knew this would be one of those hard, gut-wrenching ones that left her utterly paralysed for minutes afterwards. She smiled briefly at her need to analyse her own reactions at such a time, and made herself stop for a moment, teetering on the very edge.

She waited, breathing slowly and deeply, for as long as she could bear, then both hands were moving again, fast and desperate. As she tightened she thought briefly about stopping again, drawing this out, but she couldn’t, Gene was coming now, groaning her name, and she was taking him in deep, convulsing around him with a hoarse cry as he gasped her name and shuddered inside her. As the fierce spasms hit her she staggered slightly, sagging sideways with her fingers still inside herself, shoulder hitting the wall while she continued to stroke herself, more slowly now, coaxing two, three...four more, each warmer and gentler than the last. When, finally, there was no more to be had, she rested against the partition waiting for her heart rate to return to normal.

Eventually, the cold of the cubicle wall started to seep through her flimsy blouse and she stood shakily upright. She straightened her stockings - she’d started wearing them for Gene, just in case, and by the time she realised that this was one department she was never going to have to sleep her way to the top of it had become a habit - and then pulled up her pants, patting the damp lace gently into place.

Finally, satisfied that she looked reasonably calm and collected, she walked quietly back to Gene’s office and peeped round the door. He was still asleep, the strain of the past few weeks etched deeply on his face. He was clutching the jacket and she smiled at him fondly as he murmured Sam’s name once again.

She stroked his face then turned and left quietly, stepping out alone into the warm night.

~ ~ ~

I don't think Barclays want to be a bank any more...

2009-12-02T13:58:50Z

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First off, please look at my shiny new icon! It's much more fun than banking. Note that the words are a direct quote, and the picture is not manipped in any way. I adore Green Day - they're sexy as hell, the lyrics are intelligent, the music is fantastic, and they slash themselves all the time.

And now back to the banking.

Over the years I've had a number of bank accounts, for various purposes, with a number of different banks. The situation now is that if you don't have much money, you daren't close down any existing current accounts. That's because most new current accounts demand a certain amount of throughput every month, and some of them insist on an actual salary going in every month. Ah, salary - I remember those.

Anyways, so I have current accounts with several banks, including Barclays. I recently stopped using Barclays for most of the bills etc, because when they took over the Woolwich, they closed the Woolwich branch that was right in the middle of the High Street and kept the Barclays branch that was way up the top of the town. I never seemed to have the time to get there, and the little branch in the place I actually live in (large-village / small-town) would close at 4pm and I just never seemed to make it.

Barclays Fail Part 1

So I got a letter recently from Barclays saying that in the interests of giving their customers what they want - I paraphrase, obviously - they would now be changing the opening hours in my little local branch from 9:30am to 4pm at present to: 10am to 2pm. Nice one. I think we can all agree that, whatever our jobs, life would be easier without the bloody customers, but Barclays appear to be determined to test the theory pretty hard.

Barclays Fail Part 2

In the course of gathering together the information for OH's accounts recently, I realised I was going to have to track down some payments that we may or may not have made to a particular company about five or six years ago. At that time such a payment would have come out of any one of four accounts: a Barclays current account, a Nationwide current account, or passbook accounts at a third bank, whose degree of fail I simply don't have time to address here.

So, having recently transferred most daily activity away from Barclays (see Fail 1 above) to the Nationwide, I am registered with both for online banking. So I spent yesterday at the Nationwide website downloading monthly statements going back to December 2003 (they have exactly six years on line). Today I went to the Barclays website to go through the same exercise. It took a while to get started, because there's no History button. Eventually I discovered you have to Search instead, and I entered the date parameters. This is the message I got:

"This is the detailed view of all transactions from 01/01/2004 to the latest available entry. They are presented in reverse date order. Please note, not all transactions may be shown as there is a limit to the number we store online."

And that limit would be? Eleven, apparently.

Or, being generous, because I'm like that, perhaps the limit is six weeks. Yep, the earliest transaction my bank can be arsed to show me online is October 19th. 2009.

I think I'll go and listen to some music now.

I want to see that on screen...

2009-12-01T11:49:31Z

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Courtesy of Digital Spy (my bold):

John Simm has said that The Master is desperate after his death and apparent resurrection in the upcoming Doctor Who two-parter 'The End Of Time'.

The actor told Radio Times that the character he first played in series three's 'Utopia' had been transformed into an "emo Master" for the new episodes.

Simm said: "This is a Master who's lived and died and now lives again - although he's seen healthier days. He's desperate, and desperate means dangerous."

Outgoing showrunner Russell T. Davies added: "It's personal for The Doctor. The Master is his enemy, his opposite, and yet so tantalisingly close to being his soul mate.

"There's something epic about their sheer existence - the last two survivors of an ancient race. It's a clash of the titans. Both of them, heading for death, and yet both determined to survive - at any cost!"

The final episodes of Davies's tenure as the programme's head will also see the farewell of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor, who will be regenerated into Matt Smith's eleventh incarnation of the Time Lord.

I just love it when they do the slashing themselves...

2009-11-27T09:47:10Z

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With huge thanks to jiigsaw at the Green Day slash comm.

I have no idea what the gig was, and I don't recognise the music *facepalm* but this totally made my night. Check out 1:55 and 2:50.

Link to vid

Mikey/Billie

2009-11-06T14:57:09Z

I may have mentioned before that I love Mike Dirnt...

Busy Busy...

2009-11-06T09:38:47Z

Well, it's been a stressful old week, with two major deadlines for today and one major excitement, also for today...

(1) Deadline for youngest son's secondary school applications today - he desperately wants to go the the same school as his older brothers, despite the fact that there are concerns about deteriorating behaviour there. I had a row with the Headmaster about it on Wednesday morning, right out in the corridor at the Open Morning OMG. I asked a polite question based on a couple of things I'd seen as I went round (the whole of Year Ten banned from the library at lunchtimes ufn????) and he went ballistic. Outright denial, seriously hostile. Youngest son still wants to go there even though he was stood right next to me during the argument! Application submitted and confirmed, now I just have to join the group of parents who are putting together a joint letter of concern about the bad behaviour. *sigh*

(2) Deadline for oldest son's Work Experience today. At our school we were given the impression that it's up to the parents to use their contacts (like I have any), and then the kids with total losers for parents will be found something by the council's work experience admin people. Turns out other counties have the kids researching local companies and writing to them cold, with a deadline some time in January ffs. Apparently the researching and writing is supposed to be part of the learning process. Duh. Application filled in, supporting cv typed up, one contact approached but not looking hopeful, application returned to school this morning.

(3) Green Day!!! Oh yeah, Green Day tickets went on sale at nine this morning for Wembley Stadium next June. I used TicketMaster last time, but this time the gig didn't even exist on the site until quarter to nine, so major worry time. Still, I GOT ME SOME TICKETS and I'm going to Wembley! I shall be even further away from the action this time - Mikey will just be a tiny speck in the distance boo hoo.

Fic - The Only One, White Cortina, by DorsetGirl (Survival Series)

2009-11-04T23:17:05Z

Title: The Only One (Survival Series)

Author: DorsetGirl

Fandom: Life on Mars

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or their universe. BBC/Kudos do. I’m not making any money out of this.

Rating: White Cortina

Pairings: Sam/Gene

Word Count: 100

Summary: A brief look at Gene on Sam’s first night in hospital

A/N: A fairly extreme case of Real Life has meant that I haven’t been around much this year apart from the drabble challenges. However, I’m still very much in the fandom, and still writing when I get time. If anyone remembers my Survival series, I haven’t forgotten it for a moment, and I have several stories for it almost finished. When RL lets up for a moment I hope to get those done and posted.

In the meantime, this drabble was originally the opening paragraph to another story for the series, but Annie took that over and turned it into a Porntober wank!fic (which should be posted soon) so I thought I’d rescue this and post it separately.

The scene takes place the same evening as Watching, after the events described in Out to Lunch

Previously Posted: Not The Dark (by dakfinv) / Body & Soul / Nightmare / Another Day / Watching / Hope / In The Eye Of The Beholder / Breaking Through /Still With Us / On The Road to Freedom / Not Just a Cry For Help / Keep Taking the Tablets / Breaking Glass / Useless / Out to Lunch / Still Want You / Fighting to Survive / Into the Dark / Talk to Me

The Only One

The tears had dried, the story of their miraculous coming-together long told. Gene had been drinking steadily for hours and the exhaustion of terror was winning.

“Come on, Guv, give me the glass now, you need to get some kip. Be ready for Sam when he wakes up, OK? He’s going to need you nice and strong.”

“Was the only one I ever wanted,” Gene slurred, his head beginning to drop.

“I know.” She smiled at him affectionately. “Knew before you did, I reckon.” She took the glass deftly as it tilted across his lap.

“My Sam... only one...”

~ ~ ~

Holiday!

2009-10-24T11:00:24Z

Which just happens to be one of my favourite Green Day songs, but more to the point, we're about to set off (at last) for the second week of our Norfolk holiday.

And tonight I can get back to what I really feel like doing atm, which is dreaming about last night's concert, and Mike Dirnt in particular!!!!

♥ ♥

I'll have the one on the right...

2009-10-24T05:19:14Z

Seems like it's official then: I love Mike Dirnt.

Went to see Green Day last night, at the O2 in London, and loved every minute. But every time Mike came down the catwalk it drove me insane that I couldn't get down there to touch him. All through the show I was so frustrated that I was in the same space as Mike Dirnt and couldn't get any closer. Didn't quite expect that, to be honest. Well, I sort of did, but didn't think it would be so strong and persistent! Just wanted to get down there and hug the man. It was noticeable that all the people who got on stage obviously felt the same way! Everyone expects people to go and kiss Billie, but they were going for Mike too, lucky bastards.

I'd been quite worried that OH and I would stand out like sore thumbs as being so much older than everyone else, but that wasn't the case. Probably a good half of the audience was over 35. I got home about 1am last night, as two major routes towards my town were both closed and we had to go the very long way round. I'd intended to post straight away but was too totally knackered.

Anyway: the set list will be posted elsewhere, for them that cares (ETA: it's here at Green Day Community), but the whole show was fantastic. I'm scarcely awake yet, but I'm still buzzing from the feeling of being in such a great show. I'd been worried that we were too far back from the stage to really feel the atmosphere, and there was a certain amount of that. Also, having watched so much on YouTube it was like - OK, I'll have a close-up now please. But the moment they came on, most of the audience stood up, and then Billie started pointing to all sections of the audience in turn commanding - no other word for it - that everyone stand up. I had a brilliant view; I was right by a stairway so there was no-one immediately in front of me and I could see perfectly over the heads of everyone.

I'm going on holiday today so I haven't got time to faff about with uploading pics, in fact I haven't even had time to watch them yet. The O2 apparently has a strict no-camera policy, but we weren't asked when we went in, and people were openly filming all the way through. Looking down into the pit there was just this sea of little white rectangles from everyone's camera screens.

I know this is pretty incoherent but that's pretty much how I feel atm. My biggest impression was that despite all the screaming and hand-waving and singing along as loud as I could, what was missing was that I wanted to get down there and simply thank every member of the band personally for such a brilliant show, for just being so totally awesome.

Who knew that reading "A Classic" could be interesting?

2009-10-19T09:45:54Z

Not me, that’s for sure. I’ve been reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë over the past week or so, along with the members of booklickers, started by the lovely candesgirl. It’s A Classic. Which for many people is an automatic turnoff.

First, a short rant:

Why do schools”teach literature” (aka “do a book”) in a way that’s almost designed to put people off for life? They choose books that are completely inappropriate for the age of the pupils; they make you read it a single chapter at a time and write essays on it; they make you “read round the class” which is nothing more than a masterful way of combining extreme tedium with sharp mental anguish. I mean, what is the point of that? If you try to read at your own speed (a) you can’t concentrate because someone else is droning on ten pages back and (b) the teacher doesn’t like it for some reason and tells you off for “not paying attention”. Excuse me? I’m trying to actually read the fucking book you’re making us read, and you’re complaining about that?

And if you try to follow the text on the page it physically hurts somewhere inside your head because it’s simply not possible to read to yourself at the ploughing-through-treacle speed of someone reading out loud. And simply trying to listen just doesn’t work for someone who doesn’t retain information aurally.

I know from various comments online that it’s not just me. I also know from experience with my own children: both my older boys “did” a book called Holes by Louis Sachar in Year 7 (age 11-12). I borrowed it and found it totally fascinating - horrifying and an utterly compelling page-turner. But both of my boys have said of it “Oh yeah, we did that at school”, with their tone of voice making it clear that they had found it a totally boring waste of time.

For God’s sake, give 12-year-old boys mindless tales of implausible heroics to read - yes, I do thoroughly enjoy Alex Rider, I think they’re excellent books - and give thirteen-year-old girls something pink and fluffy full of twoo wuv and daring amounts of secret hand-holding. Don’t give them the idea that reading books is boring! (Why would you want to do that? I’ve never understood.) And for the first few homeworks, just have them Read.The.Book! (Wow, that’s radical). Let them read at their own pace, and as each person reports in that they’ve finished, put them in little groups to discuss it, giving them a couple of questions to consider.

Peer pressure will then probably do the teacher’s job in making sure that everyone actually does read it, because the teacher sows the idea that this is quite an easy book and that anyone with a reading age of whatever should have no difficulty. When it becomes obvious in the group discussions that most people haven’t actually taken in enough, suggest which chapters they might re-read while looking out for certain points, which then becomes a lesson in how to read a book more intelligently. Which I have to say would have been nice, if perhaps more work for the teacher.

Contrast that with the idea of making kids read a book that’s far too old for them, and full of words and concepts that are way outside of their experience. All that does is put them off that book, and quite possibly the idea of reading at all, for life. Yes, I know that pupils need to have their horizons stretched, but how many boys have actually held a helicopter pilot at gunpoint and parachuted through the roof of the Science Museum? Plenty of scope there, I think, for getting the kids to think about what they would do in the circs - and a few discussions about gravity and the effect of wind direction on parachutes would quite naturally arise as a bonus.

OK, enough ranting. On to the book itself. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The sum total of what I knew about this book before reading it last week was:

There’s a female called Jane Eyre. And a man called Mr Rochester.

He has a mad wife in the attic, and at some point there is a fire.

And the words “Reader, I married him” make an appearance somewhere.

Some people made comments about how odd it seemed to be giving spoiler warnings for a book like Jane Eyre, but I hope my summary above will show just how necessary they still can be, even so long after the book was published. My excitement in reading the book would definitely have been severely diminished by knowing who she married, for example.

I don’t have time to refer back to the text, so there won’t be any clever quotes or anything, just some basic reactions.

I read the book over the course of about five days, while I was away on holiday. I had expected it to be something of a chore - whoever invented the idea that “reading a good book will improve your mind” should be shot - and was prepared to have to force myself to keep reading. The best I had hoped for was that the historical aspects of the book would provide enough background colour for my family history researches to offset the tedium of reading “A Classic”.

I couldn’t have been more wrong; I was fascinated right from the beginning, and utterly gobsmacked by that fact. Why do people persist in saying things like “Oh, you must read it - it’s a classic!” when they could simply say “It’s brilliant! It’s a great story and Jane’s this really strong character, just like a normal person rather than a ‘Victorian heroine’ ?“

Anyway, I loved the book; Jane herself is totally fascinating, and I liked the device of the whole thing basically being a personal memoir, with insight from the older Jane colouring and explaining the cast of mind of the child Jane. Some of the story was familiar in concept - the poor relation, the school virtually indistinguishable from the workhouse, the Victorian male attitude as personified by St John Rivers (and what a cold bastard he was!) - which lightened the load quite a lot. What I hadn’t expected, I suppose, was that there would be A Plot. I loved the little clues about her family, and definitely had an “Oh My God!” moment when one of the Rivers siblings explained to Jane that their Uncle John had died and left all his money to some obscure relation.

Something else I hadn’t expected was that she actually fancied Mr Rochester. I had assumed that the book was about a Victorian middle class arranged marriage; I think I was misled by the fact that he is always referred to very formally as Mr Rochester, but now I realise she does that because she works for him. He is the Master and she merely the governess. The descriptions of the way she would feel when she saw him are very clear - the way her heart pounds, the sick feeling of mingled excitement and terror, the way she would look out for him all the time - and I was quite surprised that a decent young lady of the time would admit to such feelings.

I’m not quite sure whether Adèle was actually the daughter of Mr Rochester. I thought she was from his original explanations, but it doesn’t matter very much. For me the interest of Adèle was the fact that not only had Mr Rochester quite explicitly had an affair with a showgirl in a Victorian novel, but that he told a young lady about it. It’s obvious all the way through the book that Jane is of gentle birth - she would scarcely have been a governess otherwise - and I was very surprised that he would tell her such a thing. (The woman who wrote the introduction to my edition of the book made the point that actually, Charlotte Brontë was not herself a Victorian, being twenty-one by the time Victoria came to the throne).

When the business with St John Rivers started, with him telling Jane she must marry him or accept herself as a total fuckup forever more, I suddenly realised that I had only assumed that it’s Mr Rochester that she marries, and got very worried that she was actually going to surrender to this manipulative master of emotional blackmail. The passages where St John explains why she must marry him, and what a selfish shit she - she! - is being if she doesn’t, are perfectly observed imo. You couldn’t make that up - Charlotte Brontë has seen that attitude in action, definitely.

I suppose one thing which I didn’t quite like was the unlikely coincidence of the people upon whose doorstep she pathetically collapses actually being her relatives and a link to her obscure uncle. It might have been more realistic for the people who took her in to have been just random, and then somehow she met the relatives. But hey, what do I know - this is a Classic and I’m only a fic writer.

I’m running out of time here, so I’ll wrap up, but I thought I’d just briefly mention two other things that interested me and made me want to look up things about the period:

Where Jane talks about great books and poetry no longer being available ‘at the present time’ owtte, I wondered what period the older Jane was supposed to be actually writing in. I got bored halfway through the introduction, so I’ll go back and read that some time.

Also, when Jane sets out her skills for her advertisement, she says something like “such meagre accomplishments were at that time thought quite adequate” which again is interesting; she can only be writing ?twenty? years later, and I’d like to know more about how the world had changed in that time, and why the expectations of a young lady’s education had suddenly increased.

I’ve run out of time, so I’m going to post this quickly now (if LJ plays nice), then I’ll catch up with booklickers itself later, probably this evening or tomorrow.

Here we go, here we go, here we go...

2009-10-10T10:52:11Z

Off on hols at last (Norfolk Broads, yay!)

If I get back in time, I'll see some of you next week for the play and the TRA meetup.

♥ ♥

This Brings a Whole New Meaning to Drawing in Sand

2009-09-28T12:29:39Z

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If you haven't already watched this, do so now! This is the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent" and I've never seen anything like it. (Links courtesy of wonderful Ian Wylie.)

Warning - you'll need tissues. Safe for work unless emotion isn't allowed where you are.

Read this first

Then watch this

A little help, please? Amer!pick needed

2009-09-09T13:35:04Z

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I have a short fic in which a character has "more front than the Cerne fucking Giant", and as he's American (Californian) I'd really like a suitable local version.

Any ideas? Or isn't this a phrase that's used in the US? (The common version here is "more front than Blackpool", but the overt display of the Giant is relevant to the story).

Drabble - Sunset

2009-09-02T21:40:38Z

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A small scene-setter for No Regrets

Sunset

“Gene? Do you ever feel we might be reaching the sunset of our lives?”

“Sunset? Never. Teatime, love, that’s all.”

“But Gene, you’re...”

“Eighty? Rub it in, why don’t you?”

“But seriously, Gene...”

“Seriously, Sam, I intend to carry on for a few years yet. As long as I can give my toyboy the occasional shagging I’ll keep going.”

“Good... promise me one thing, though, Gene? When it... well, when we... I want us to go together. Don’t want to leave you, can’t live without you. Will you promise me that?”

“I will, love. Got years yet though, daft bastard.”

~ ~ ~

LOMFic - A Bit of a Girl - Blue Cortina

2009-08-19T00:02:00Z

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Title: A Bit of a Girl
Author: DorsetGirl
Fandom: Life on Mars
Rating: Blue Cortina for a little language
Word Count: 630 approx
Pairing: Sam, Gene (pre-slash)
Summary: Being a successful man in 2006 doesn’t guarantee results in 1973
A/N: Just about the only good thing to come out of completely losing my hard disk recently was rootling around the backup disks and realising how much nearly-finished fic I had lying about waiting for tidying up. This one spoke to me so I thought I’d try to get it done and posted. A bit different from my usual, perhaps; I hope you like it.

A Bit of a Girl

Sam’s been here a while now, and he has to admit that sometimes - all protestations aside - he does feel a bit of a girl next to Gene. Mind, to admit as much to the man himself would unleash such a plethora of jokes and jibes – ponce and nancy gay-boy being only the start of it – that things could never be the same again.

It’s a fact, though. Observing the wild magnificence that is the Gene Genie in full flow, Sam can only feel – small. And inadequate.

Oh, he hides it well, of course. He perfected the don’t-fuck-with-me walk long before he got here, beginning with the cocky swagger he couldn’t help but adopt on his early promotion to Sergeant (although he toned that down when he found the other constables from his intake imitating it while parroting his maiden speech on “improving efficiency in the department”).

When he achieved DI at the same time he was trying to impress Maya’s predecessor, he refined the swagger to a slightly awkward “sexy” amble. He got caught practising it one evening when he thought the office was deserted, but Sergeant Alex Martin wasn’t called Martinet for nothing, and Sam had been shielded from most of the mockery until the Sergeant gracefully and inevitably moved on.

In the years that followed, Sam’s rather self-conscious striving for perfection, together with his pleasure at achieving DCI-dom, had gradually infused his natural cool efficiency with a naturalistic look-at-me elegance, and the unlikely combination had reached its zenith in what Maya had christened his “sexy-panther lope”.

He’d not been sure about that last bit. He had no problems with the “sexy panther” part – indeed, it pleased him more than he was ever going to admit - but Maya had stood firm on “lope”, and backed up her assertion with solid evidence.

Every day for a week, unbeknownst to her proud senior officer, she had used the phone that was almost as good as Sam’s to capture his back view as he sauntered away from morning briefing, and ( the evidence on the screen was undeniable) she put together a convincing case.

The six subtly different shirts topping the three pairs of identical well-pressed trousers all outlined a man who was every inch the senior officer. The slight figure on Maya’s screen radiated calm authority (which was obviously the important part), but there was something – more. Something in the angle of the pelvis, which captured forever the way he’d felt when he scored his first “Oh my God, Chief Inspector!” from the enigmatic Sergeant Roy.

So, no - Sam’s not entirely unhappy with his look and presence, and he’s always been cautiously pleased with the way the “nice tight little arse”, the “gorgeous smile” and the “careful attention to detail where it matters” work together to get him where he wants to be.

But none of it is any use in 1973. Here in the land of brown the accepted standard for a desirably manly man is still stuck at “big, strong, and handy with his fists”, at least within the Force. And the epitome of those attributes is Sam’s senior officer, the homophobe Neanderthal, Gene Hunt.

Sam should - he knows this - be bitterly ashamed of himself for finding so sexy that particular combination of long legs, compassionate eyes and “deodorant is for poofs”. But he’s not. He and Gene work well together, and if Gene jokes constantly about Sam’s need for order and procedure, there’s genuine respect behind it. Respect which is slowly turning into something more.

So Sam bides his time, and writes his reports, but most of all he looks forward to the day when Gene will treat him like a man and take him like a girl.

END

LOMFic - Past Imperfect, White Cortina

2009-08-09T23:31:31Z

Title: Past Imperfect
Author: DorsetGirl
Fandom: Life on Mars
Rating: White Cortina
Word Count: 1,380 approx
Pairing: Gene/Sam, Past Gene/OMC
Summary: Gene unexpectedly meets an ex

Past Imperfect

"You OK there, Gladys? Looking a bit dozy."

"Mmm... wake me up at tea-time."

Sam's voice was faint, thick with sleep, and Gene toyed briefly with the idea of taking him straight home to bed. But he looked so relaxed lying there by the lockside, the smooth skin of his neck glistening gently in the sun, that Gene lay down and let himself unwind as well.

Around them, the distant roar of their city rose and faded in the heat, and the endless rushing of the water lulled him gently and imperceptibly into sleep.

* * *

When he awoke, it was to the sound of laughter - Sam's and another man's. Gene kept his eyes shut as he tried to place the second voice: whoever it was, he seemed to be getting on very well with Sam, and Gene was about to open his eyes suspiciously when he heard his own name.

"So how long have you been with Gene, then?"

Gene stiffened.

" 'Cos he's looking well on it. Quite the sexy beast - you're a lucky man, Sam Tyler."

Jimmy. Jimmy the accountant, of all the embarrassing professions to fall for. His one saving grace had been that his need for secrecy had been as desperate as Gene's own.

The ring of pride in Sam's voice as he replied "Three years last week" made Gene want to strut the towpath beating his chest, and he smiled involuntarily.

"Hey up, he's awake. Gene, you old bugger! How're you doing?"

"I'll be better once you stop chatting up my ... Sam," he grumped, hauling himself off the dusty ground. He took a seat the other side of Sam and reached across to shake hands.

"That a new suit, Jimmy? Bit flash for round here, you'll have someone nick it off your back if you hang around too long." He looked Jimmy up and down, from the Alicante suntan to the accountant's Oxford shoes. "I suppose I should say it's nice to see you again, you flash git. Been a long time; didn't know you were back. You, er...?"

"Er, yeah, I'm... that is, I've..." Jimmy glanced at Sam. "Yeah, I've got a pretty boy to help keep me warm at night." He smiled as he took Gene's hand and shook it vigorously. "Still something to be said for the older man, though. Just look at you - fit as a fiddle. You don't look a day over seventy."

Sam snorted, and Gene was round him in a flash, grabbing Jimmy by his well-cut lapels and waltzing him to the edge of the lock. Jimmy flailed and gasped in mock terror until Sam, intrigued by this new side to Gene, intervened.

"Boys! Boys! Enough now, hands off - this is a respectable area." They stopped and wandered sheepishly back to the lock-beam, puffing slightly and grinning at each other. There was some shuffling as they sorted themselves out to sit either side of Sam again, then Jimmy spoke.

"Seriously, though, Gene - you're looking great. Being settled must suit you. D'you work together? Sam has that copper look about him."

"He's my DI," Gene said, amused to hear Sam's pride in him echoed in his own statement. "Bit of a nutter, but we get by. He's a damn' good copper, too."

"When you two have quite finished talking about me...?"

"Sorry, love." Gene patted him briefly on the leg, wondering, but not caring, whether Jimmy's splutter of surprise was for the touch, or the endearment.

"So you two used to... know each other? How did you meet?"

They looked at each other and grinned.

"Rugby Club dinner," Gene said. "Him and his girlfriend were both eyeing me up. Next thing I know, he's slipping his business card into my pocket."

"Hip pocket," Jimmy interjected. "Had to get my hands on that arse somehow."

"Anyway," Gene ploughed on, ignoring him. "I phoned him up next day, couple of pints, dinner - he paid, obviously - and Bob's your uncle. We were together, what, six months?"

"Felt like more than that," Jimmy remarked. "Nice though, while it lasted. Then I got a promotion to set up the Scottish operation. Four partners up there now, and twenty-five staff. Moved back here last year." He looked down at his fingernails, silent for a few moments. He glanced up at Gene sideways. "Did you ever move away?"

"Not on your life," Gene answered shortly. "This is my city. Won't catch me walking out on it."

Jimmy looked momentarily disconcerted, but soon rallied and smiled at Sam. "Such dedication. Anyway, it's been brilliant to see you again, Gene. I'm glad you've found someone who's good for you." Climbing off the warm wooden beam he took a step awkwardly towards the road then turned and held his hand out. "Well, nice to meet you, Sam. Perhaps we'll see each other around some time."

After he had gone there was a silence. Gene found himself thinking back to those brief, heady days of first love and smiled ruefully. It hadn't really been love at all, but it had taken meeting Sam for him to work that out. Looked like Jimmy still hadn't got there.

He looked across at Sam, who was watching Jimmy disappearing into the distance.

"You ready to go then, Gladys? All this talk of old times is making me thirsty."

"If you like," Sam answered absently. Then he shook himself and turned to Gene. "Come on then, tiger."

He was quiet on the way home, alternately gazing out of the window and stealing glances at Gene.

Eventually, Gene sighed. "Out with it, Dorothy."

"I was just wondering. When you and, um, Jimmy were together - was it, you know, like - us?"

"What, endless nagging and looking for reassurance?" But he smiled as he said it, and watched Sam's face lighten. "No, love. It was good, I won't lie to you; we were very happy for a while. Didn't live together, obviously - this was before I was married and he was even more paranoid about people finding out than I was - but we saw each other a lot, weekends away, that sort of thing." He trailed off, remembering.

"So what happened?"

"Like he said. He got himself a big promotion to go to Edinburgh for his firm. Pleased as Punch, he was; wanted me to go with him, get a job in Scotland." He smiled slightly. "I said I wasn't leaving my city for someone who never left the office till dead of night, and that was it. He pretended to think about it for a bit, but it was too late; the damage was done."

He looked in the mirror and turned the wheel, rolling the car to a halt in a patch of mud. He turned to look out of the window, not quite catching Sam's eye.

"When it came right down to it, neither of us was willing to give up our jobs for something that was never going anywhere." He half-smiled again, mouth twisting at the memory. "I helped him pack, saw him onto the train, came home and worked hard for DCI. Got married a year later, and the rest you know."

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but Gene cut him off.

"And just so you know, Gladys, and you can call me a soppy sod if you want, but - for you, I would give up everything. Leave it all behind, start again somewhere else. New job, demotion, whatever it took." He stirred in his seat, uncomfortable with so much raw truth.

Sam was staring at him. He appeared to be searching for something to say.

"Don't worry about it though," he added hurriedly. "Would never ask you to give up anything for me."

"I'm not worried, Gene. I made my decision a long time ago." Sam lifted Gene's hands to his own face, licking delicately at the fingertips. "Where you go, I go."

~ ~ ~

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-19T07:49:20Z

Summary: This is probably the best film-of-the-book I have ever seen.

Most films-of-the-book - indeed most films, in my limited experience - are total crap. The action is ramped up at the expense of plot and characterisation, and a Hollywood shmaltzy ending is crowbarred in regardless of whether it makes sense. The Harry Potter films, for me, are proof that it doesn’t have to be like that.

It would be nice if Hollywood would note that a strong author with - presumably - an unprecedented degree of editorial control, and a screenwriter who totally gets the book, can produce a very good film indeed.

I’ve read some pretty poor reviews of this film, and I can see why some people wouldn’t have enjoyed it - the Independent sent some idiot who doesn’t even like Harry Potter as far as I can see, and spent half the review moaning about the lack of sex. In the film, that is, although perhaps he was suffering personally too. But I think anyone who loves the book - and I do find it difficult to understand why anyone who wants to see the films wouldn’t have read the books - would find little to complain about here.

I watched the whole thing slightly on tenterhooks, in case they ruined it, but in the event there wasn’t a single scene where I thought “That’s not right.” Not a single point where I was disappointed, but quite a few points where I thought “Yeah, that’s a good way to show it.” The whole thing reflected the plot and characterisation and the mood of the book perfectly imo.

So, details:

In no particular order, because I can’t read the notes I took at the time (I couldn’t see what I was writing, so it’s not particularly surprising):

~ ~ ~

I thought the relationships were handled very well indeed. Despite some areas of the fandom disagreeing, to me it’s been obvious from Book 1 that Ron and Hermione were destined for each other. I thought the way Ron muttered her name on his sick-bed was slightly cheesy, but they needed a short-cut and it worked OK. The girl who played Lavender did a very good job of her side of the relationship; in the book she came over as slightly in it for the fame, but I actually preferred the way she put it over as absolutely genuine on Lavender’s part. And also for the fame.

The Harry-Luna friendship is understated in the books, but it’s there, and it’s genuine and selfless, and we saw that in the film too, beautifully done, when he invited her to Slughorn’s Christmas party. The girl who plays Luna deserves to go on to greater things, definitely.

The Ginny/Harry was good, although there wasn’t much time to show the slow burn of Harry realising how he felt. I thought the whole business of Harry saying that Ginny has nice skin, but he’d never thought about Hermione’s skin, was lovely. And vice versa for Ron. That scene set out their feelings wonderfully clearly.

For me, though, the best relationship on the screen was the Harry-Hermione friendship. Emma and Dan brought it over very convincingly that these two love each other very much, and would do anything for each other, just not in that way. Come to think of it, there have been moments throughout the series where they’ve shown that - hand-holding, hugs and comforting without a single shred of UST, just as in the books. In the canaries scene, where Hermione sobbed on Harry’s shoulder, we saw that Harry was slightly uncomfortable with such a degree of closeness, but he didn’t pull away; he loves her and understands how she’s feeling, because he feels just the same about Ginny. That was yet another point, by the way, where I thought Steve Kloves had done an awesome job of distilling pages and pages of inner thoughts and realisations into one or two lines of expo.

~ ~ ~

Scenes that I particularly liked:

Professor Slughorn saying the words over Aragog’s body. I laughed, because it was such a brilliant piss-take of a Minister trying to come over as deeply sincere, y’all, but in fact betraying himself as not actually giving a shit. Lovely bit of acting there.

The cave scene. That was one I was particularly worried about, because it was so central to the feeling of the whole thing, but I relaxed when they Apparated onto that rock into exactly the kind of scenery and rough seas I’d imagined. The cave was very well done, I think, although wasn’t there rather more green light in the book? The Inferi were deeply creepy, too, but I thought they could have given Dumbledore one or two lines from the book - I didn’t have time to re-read before watching the film, but doesn’t he say stuff about regretting things he’s done?

The scene on the tower wasn’t quite as I’d imagined, but that’s my fault because I hadn’t taken into account that it’s not that easy to get an audience to focus on a hero who is Petrified and invisible. (Although they managed it on the train). So moving him down a level so we could see him watching but he couldn’t do anything served the purpose adequately. The ambiguity of Dumbledore pleading with Snape worked well, too. I agree with other reviewers about the under-use of Greyback, but with a book this size you have to cut out entire chunks and characters, and they could have spent hours on the characterisation of Greyback without it adding anything to the film. He’s a book character, horrible and the stuff of nightmares, but I can see why they left most of that out of the film.

I thought one of the most atmospheric parts of the film was the brief look down at the Great Hall, silent and empty. No-one in sight, no plates on the tables. Abandoned. Throughout the film, the general noise of the audience rustling their sweet packets had been driving me nuts - I’m sure it was much louder than last time I saw a film - but during this scene, even though nothing was happening, the entire cinema was utterly silent, totally absorbed.

I also liked the scene where Harry and Hermione talked about how they love Hogwarts. I don’t think that was in the book, but the school and its grounds have been a major character in the films, and this was its payoff; a final, gentle look at the place that has been home for six years. When they come back at the end of Deathly Hallows everything is different. This is the real end of their time at Hogwarts.

The end of the film was left slightly hanging, but that’s totally the feeling in the book, too, so I take that as a success. Everyone knows that this is just a short breather before things get even worse; everyone is looking ahead, so there can be no sense of closure, or even much in the way of rest and regrouping, at this stage. Those black clouds are too close, and too menacing, for that.

~ ~ ~

Biggest relief of the day: Michael Gambon finally GETS Dumbledore! I’ve never liked him as an actor, and I didn’t like his characterisation of Dumbledore in previous films. I particularly hated the bit in Goblet of Fire where he yells at Harry after his name comes out of the goblet - just totally wrong.

My complaint was that Dumbledore is supposed to be the best wizard in the world, compassionate and highly intelligent, and Gambon was playing him like an idiot. And that disgusting slimy-looking robe they gave him just made me think he probably had dirty toe-nails underneath it. (No, I don’t know why).

For Half-Blood Prince, it was vitally important that Dumbledore be obviously intelligent. He had to be capable of solving the problem of the Horcruxes (and I still think it should be Horcruces), and Harry had not only to follow him into great danger but agree to leave him there if so ordered. And the characterisation that Michael Gambon showed us in previous films just wouldn’t have worked.

Luckily, for some reason, he finally changed the way he was playing him. Perhaps he actually read the damn’ books at last or something, because finally I could watch Dumbledore without muttering angrily all the time about how wrong he was for the part. He was, finally, right for the part, if still not as good as Richard Harris.

~ ~ ~

And finally, Tom Felton. Didn’t they give that actor a difficult job to do? Draco has a mission which terrifies him, but he’s so proud to have been chosen. He gets the chance to live up to his father’s ideals, but he’s conflicted about betraying Dumbledore. He’s always been a nasty little shit, but that doesn’t necessarily make him evil.

In the books, JK Rowling uses both Malfoy and Snape to illustrate the fact that nasty and evil are not necessarily the same thing. Snape is horrible, and he hates Harry and treats him unfairly, but that doesn’t automatically put him on the Dark side. And Malfoy is on the Dark side, and proud of it, but at the end he simply can’t go through with it; he’s just not that wicked.

And Tom had to show all this with very few lines of dialogue iirc, just a lot of scenes of him walking about looking worried. But he did it. He absolutely nailed Malfoy’s fear of what he had to do, and his dawning realisation that he didn’t want to do it.

~ ~ ~

All in all, I liked the film a lot. I hardly ever go to the cinema because even the films I desperately want to see generally turn out to be disappointing. I am totally a book person, not a film person. But this one absolutely worked for me. I can’t think of a film-of-the-book that has ever been better than the book; I don’t think - for me at least - that’s even possible, but this one left me with one overall impression.

Simply put, this film IS Jo’s book, on the screen.

~ ~ ~

La Chica de Ayer Fic - Princesa

2009-07-08T18:59:53Z

Title: Princesa (English-language fic)

Author: DorsetGirl

Fandom: La Chica de Ayer (Spanish Life on Mars)

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or their universe. BBC/Kudos/Antena3 do. I’m not making any money out of this.

Rating: Cortina Blanca

Word Count: 270 approx

Summary: Now Quin really does want to kiss Samuel

A/N: Necesitaba fic. Aquí es. I never intended to write LCDA fic - apart from anything else, I do tend to think it ought to be written in Spanish! But Quin owns my soul, and he wanted this written. Thanks to clonesgirl for checking it made sense.

Princesa

Quin looked at the infuriating little fellow with affection and reluctant admiration. A princess indeed, this one, with his pretty looks, his graceful walk and his very un-Communist sense of entitlement.

To tell your own boss that you preferred men! To say to the handsomest man in the station that you like men, but you prefer them “more manly” than Quin!

Quin had never heard the like, and settled for telling Samuel what he was missing.

Of course, Samuel already knew that Quin could use a gun better than any man alive, and now Quin told him he was very good at kissing. He was a little disappointed that Samuel didn’t ask what was the third thing he was good at.

But Quin had to know - did Sam really think it was OK, all these men kissing in public? It seemed to Quin extraordinary that they didn’t hide. The answer floored him - Samuel sounded as if he knew the fear of raids very well indeed.

Quin felt he understood so much more now Samuel had explained it, and he said so. What followed might have become very awkward indeed because, yes, now he really did think he might like to kiss Samuel, and that was something he might never live down.

Luckily Cris and Rai hadn’t forgotten why they were playing poofs in this particular park, and the call of “Jefe!” brought him back to his senses just in time.

But something had changed. Something inside him had shifted as he stared at Samuel’s familiar challenging face, and he would never forget how he’d felt just then.

~ ~ ~

LOM Drabble - Sunshine

2009-07-01T09:32:17Z

Just a quick drive-by posting while I’m round at the library. For some reason I'm only getting the html option, so please excuse any poor formatting.

100 words excluding the two song quotes.

Sunshine came softly through my window today...

Sam stretched luxuriously, revelling in the unaccustomed warmth. Gene muttered in his ear and turned over, taking all the covers and presenting his back to Sam.

Sam pouted briefly, wondering whether this was a message of some sort. He decided he wasn’t listening if it was, so he climbed carefully over Gene, re-inserting himself within Gene’s sleepy embrace.

...’cos I’ve made my mind up, you’re going to be mine...

He snuffled Gene’s unique scent, grateful for the uncharacteristic impulse that had made him blow several months’ salary on the biggest bed he could find. He smiled. At least now he wouldn’t have to save up for extra blankets when Winter came.

~ ~ ~

LOMFic - Samarkand

2009-06-24T06:37:04Z

Title: Samarkand

Author: DorsetGirl

Fandom: Life on Mars

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or their universe. BBC/Kudos do. I’m not making any money out of this.

Rating: White Cortina

Pairing: Sam/Gene

Word Count:

Summary: The morning after

A/N: I haven’t had much time for anything except RL for the past few weeks, and that is going to be the case for a while yet, but this suddenly wrote itself for me last night. So I’m just taking ten minutes for myself to get it typed up and posted; I hope you like it. I will be back soon, I hope, as I have lots more stories waiting to be finished and tidied up, including several for Survival. Oh - as ever, Gene was in charge and he came out with something very strange, which I offer freely to anyone who wants to raise the bunny. I blame draycevixen - you’ll see why.

Samarkand

Sam sat up with a start and looked over at the big man with the infuriating grin. He shuddered.

“So it wasn’t all a dream, then?” he ventured.

“Got it in one, Sammy,” Gene agreed easily. He smiled again, baring his teeth as Sam rolled out of bed with his hands over his genitals.

“Bit late for that, Gladys, don’t you think?”

Sam straightened up, feeling foolish.

“Not that you’ve got much to hide anyway,” Gene continued.

Sam snorted. “Is this the kind of line you were giving me last night? Just how pissed was I, for God’s sake?”

“More like desperate, I’d say. Seemed grateful enough for the suggestion, anyway.”

Sam closed his eyes. “And that would be...?”

“That seeing as you were drunk, and I was horny, it was a match made in Heaven. Or would be, if you’d only put your pride back where it belonged and admit you wanted me.”

“And did I?” Sam asked, intrigued despite himself.

“Not as such,” Gene admitted. “It was more of a mumble as you moulded your skinny shanks against me and started chewing my lower lip like you hadn’t eaten for a week.”

Sam blushed fiery red. All his fantasies about Gene started with nibbling that delectable pout. And if they’d gone on to enact the rest of the repertoire it was no wonder his knees felt like he’d walked to Samarkand on them.

As if catching his thoughts, Gene moved towards him and touched his hair. “No need to be embarrassed, Sam. I’ve had better, granted, but not since my Uncle Leo took me to the circus when I was fifteen.”

“I am not asking,” Sam said, smiling. “So I let you make free of my body and you took full advantage, is that it?”

“Not quite how I’d have put it, Sam. For someone who’s never been on the receiving end before you certainly know how to drain a man dry.”

Sam turned away, suddenly shy. Then, annoyed with himself for playing the blushing virgin - a bit late for that, he reminded himself - he faced Gene with calm certitude.

“You enjoyed it then. That’s good to know. So what happens now? You are still my senior officer.”

Gene stretched lazily and ran a hand down Sam’s front.

“What happens now, my little Deputy Dawg, is that you hop back in that bed and show me your paces. Last night you kept saying if you weren’t so drunk you’d give me such a shagging I wouldn’t walk straight for a week. So now’s your chance to prove it.”

He strolled past Sam and lowered himself onto the bed, watching Sam closely.

Hoping he wasn’t hallucinating the tiny glint of insecurity in Gene’s eyes, Sam moved to the bed and stroked both hands down Gene’s softly cushioned ribs towards his trousers.

“You’ll be needing these off, then,” he murmured, reaching for Gene’s belt.

~ ~ ~

La Chica de Ayer - Final Episode Commentary

2009-06-15T19:10:07Z

Capitulo 8

Last episode ever, and I’m sad already. First chance on the computer all day, it’s 9:35pm, and in contrast to last week, it doesn’t look as if the ep is up yet. I suppose it makes more sense to wait until after it’s finished airing in Spain, which I suppose will be 22:20 BST.

So, I finally found the ep at 22:15, but I had to go via Antena3videos and search for it. And it’s taking forever to buffer! WHYWHYWHY.

Right: summary - I enjoyed this episode, and was very anxious to see how it all turned out. I don’t do clever analysis, and I don’t understand most of what was said. So this is about my visual impressions, and my little excitements about understanding a few words. Oh, and the awesome that is Inspector Jefe Joaquin Gallardo - that man is gorgeous. With lots of love to clonesgirl, my fellow-traveller on this short and slightly bitter-sweet journey, and many thanks to may_potter and lynx_moon at lcda.

While I was waiting for the damn thing to load, I made the serious mistake of telling OH something about the kids’ school that I thought he should know, and then had to put up with twenty minutes of interrogation and orders about what I should do. He just has no idea what it’s like dealing with schools as a mother. As the mother of an autistic child, in particular. He’s blaming me because our son doesn’t know why he’s got a Maths exam tomorrow when all the exams are supposedly finished. I am fucking pissed off, big-time. (ETA: turns out the exam board were testing the exam, and our kids were the guinea pigs. I have no problem with this, it will have been explained to the kids, but mine doesn’t remember stuff. Good job I didn’t do what OH thought I should do, and start kicking up a stink on the phone.)

Anyway, at 11:05pm I finally got to watch Parte 1, but of course most of it was taken up by “Previously”, and the credits, which seem to meander along for EVER. I do wonder if that’s standard procedure in Spanish television.

Parte 1

This is presumably the “Morton Brothers” episode; José has come into Samuel’s flat covered in blood, interrupting a far more convincing could-be-love scene between Samuel and Ana than Sam and Annie ever managed.

And now he’s telling Samuel a story which he is lapping up, but Ana doesn’t look anything like so convinced. José tells him something about little Samuel being innocent, and he’s presumably begging for Samuel’s help to keep him that way. Playing him like a violin, I’m guessing, just like Vic did UK Sam.

I have to stop there for now, what with the buffering speed (WHY do I type “bugger” every time I mean to type “buffer”?) and that fact that it’s late o’clock. I feel totally cheated that I haven’t been able to watch the ep in full by now; I must remember not to check my email or my friends page until I’ve watched it all! What with OH and Antena3 and - presumably - my ISP, or just the rest of the world, who knows, I shall be getting up very early tomorrow in the hopes of watching a fair chunk before 9am in between school stuff.

I really could have done with some Gallardo to cheer me up this evening, but if the ep follows ours closely then he’s not going to feature much at all, which really really pisses me off.

Tomorrow night I’m going looking for Millonario on YouTube. *nods firmly*

~ ~ ~

So - 5:15 am and about to start Parte 2

Aw, I love the way Quin calls him Princesa.

Ooh, a possible trouser shot at 01:56. And at 5:05 (Quin, of course - who else?) No time for piccing now, unless I can just freeze-frame and copy. No time for mucking about getting the exact frame.

WTF has Samuel just picked up at the scene - with his bare hands? A tie clip?

Ooh, a creepy sniffy moment - Samuel sniffs José’s pyjamas. LOL! Then Quin plonks his arse on them. Perfect.

Where is Samuel taking Rosa and little Samuel?

Oh, the red-dress-and-terrible-green-earrings flashback is the wedding day when she tells little Samuel that José has gone away.

10:25 I’m sure I just heard Samuel talking about MI madre y MI padre. No-one seems to be reacting much.

Dia No????? Don’t understand.

At 12:02, does Quin say “Espero mejor”? Has he just told Samuel off for his behaviour in front of Rosa??

Ah, the three-card trick. Samuel presumably starts to realise the truth at this point, like ours did.

Quin knows Rosa’s surname by now, so he presumably has noticed the oddity of Samuel’s surnames. Not sure if he mentions it though.

Parte 3

At 1:53, does Quin touch Samuel on the head or face, as he gets him to come out of the office? Must watch again asap!

2:10 - José is innocent, says Samuel. He’s an assassin, says Quin.

What does Quin say to Ana at 3:36 that’s so funny?

A nice touching shot at 04:50. I am definitely going to do some more piccing of this series. I have quite a few ideas, even leaving aside the sheer pretty that is Gallardo.

05:20 Is this the “stay with me for one night” bit? Ana doesn’t particularly look impressed. But Ernesto makes it all look much more normal than John did. UK!Sam was creepy in that scene.

07:00 Ana has said something that José overhears in his cell - was he supposed to? Or has she dropped a clanger?

09:20 nice shot of Samuel in profile with Quin watching. Quin quite likes him being violent.

11:20 - You know, as soon as Samuel walked up to José I knew he wanted a hug. And he’s got one!!!! Definitely a sniffly moment for me there.

Parte 4

00:28 Rosa doesn’t look overjoyed at José. She’s going to get a taxi. Alone?

01:13 - Jeez, Samuel is showing him the tie-clip or whatever in full view of Pilar and anyone else who comes past. Donde es Gallardo?

03:29 Why do I like so much the idea of Gallardo himself unlocking the cell door, rather than a guard coming to do it? I like the idea of him having all the keys and it really being SU comisaria, I guess.

06:15 Is this the junkie’s confession that Ana has brought in? Quin thinks it’s as much use as something signed by Mickey Mouse, and he goes to rip it up. Does he say it’s not valid, because it was given under duress?

07:12 “José es mi padre!” Ana doesn’t look particularly surprised by that statement. Has he told her before??

08:33 God, another Samuel-in-underpants shot. I want to see QUIN in his pants!!!!

09:39 - a gorgeous “I told you I was right” look from Quin as he says “muyen probables” or something.

10:30 What the hell has Rai done wrong? What does he smell of, and why is Quin talking about someone’s wife?

10:47 The two-finger thing has amused me several times already. It’s so engrained in our culture from childhood not to do it that way round that no English person ever would unless it was a deliberate joke.

10:53 Brilliant one-finger screencap - ready for a macro of “this is what I’m going to do to you”

10:58 And Samuel is thinking “Hm, how much do I want this man?”

OK, Parte 4 has just ended with Samuel agreeing - presumably - that José is the more likely suspect. And now, I think, they’re going out to pick him up?

And now I have to stop, to do first-shift school stuff. It’s 06:15 back in the real world.

Parte 5

It’s 06:51am and my older two have both gone out to catch the train to school. Back to Samuel and his travails.

Trouser shot at 00:35 ish

00:55 What does Gallardo say to Samuel that surprises everyone?

01:20 The “alcoholic homophobe” speech. I must replay this bit and write it all down! At least I know what Quin says back!

03:02 This is a much posher do than the wedding in UK!LOM.

05:03 José gives little Samuel the tie pin! That’s how he recognised it.

05:25 Samuel is telling José there is a search out for him.

06:05 Fuck, Gallardo looks hot in that morning suit getup! Jesus, he looks fucking gorgeous!

06:55 Now Samuel realises it’s Ana in the red dress. And now he must know what’s about to happen, from his nightmares.

09:22 Que pasa, Papa? That gave me quite the shock, when Samuel said it, and then immediately little Samuel said it behind him. Clever linking.

10:05 Quin says Cris and Rai have gone to the hospital, but I don’t know why.

For some reason, totally-unfit!Gallardo just doesn’t work. It’s funny with Gene, but Antonio looks far fitter than Phil so all the out of breath stuff just doesn’t ring true.

Parte 6

02:04 It’s odd, but I’m far more moved by this scene of Rosa telling little!Samuel that José has gone away than I was by the original. I’m definitely sniffling here. Perhaps because in our one I was trying to take in the story, while now I have time to feel the emotions around it. Or it’s that for some reason I find Ernesto’s take on the character rather less arrogant than John’s although I’m prepared to believe that’s because I’m missing a lot.

03:40 Suddenly Quin seems to have much lighter brown hair, with grey or blond bits in it. I always thought he had black hair!

04:09 Hasta Mañana. Is this it? Is this the final Quin/Sam goodbye? This is hurting, I so much don’t want Sam to leave Quin alone.

04:20 Now that’s weird - why is Ana waiting by the tunnel? And is it symbolic that Sam has just walked through it to get to her?

Damn, I can hear youngest son getting up - I really want to see the end of this first!

06:15 This is a much sweeter and more believable kiss than Sam/Annie. I can feel Samuel’s pain at having to make this decision.

Samuel - “I’m sorry it’s not more romantic.”

Ana - “It’s perfect.”

“Te quiero” - what does that mean? I think it’s “I love you”.

Oh God, Samuel has said goodbye and he’s running into the tunnel. And youngest son is coming down stairs. Fuck.

Right, I’ve given him his school clothes and told him to be quiet for five minutes! Back to Samuel.

09:22 Ooh, the light has gone. And has Samuel gone?

09:24 “Ana”. Oh! Did he say “You are my future?”

Oh, that’s a bit of a sudden ending, we’ve got several minutes left.

Presumably this epilogue is a summary of all the things Samuel has decided to stay for.

How much do I love the fact that the jumping over the desk moment is in there, and “Quin cuddles Samuel down by the canal” !!!

And of course the very first meeting with Quin. Aw, a very sniffly moment here, and I wish I had time to watch all over again, especially the Quin parts of the epilogue. Youngest son is looking a little concerned at Mum sitting at the computer sniffling.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this show, even without understanding most of what was said. I have quite fallen in love with Quin, and I really got to like Samuel, too. In some ways I even like him more than UK Sam. It’s a great pity Antena3 didn’t give this show a fair chance in a timeslot it could have won, because some of the series two stories would have been awesome with Gallardo y Samuel.

I loved this show, and I will miss it very much.

“La chica de ayer” no tendrá segunda temporada

2009-06-11T12:37:06Z

.
I am so sad about this news; I'm actually crying here. I love this show so much; far more than I ever expected to. I am really, really disappointed. That is all.

Ashes to Ashes 2.08 - Some Undigested Thoughts - Spoilers Ahead!

2009-06-08T21:40:49Z

Just some early thoughts - I can't get on TRA atm, the server was overloaded by the time I got there, ten seconds after the ep ended.

.
Scenefiller at TRA said "I knew she wasn't home as soon as "Molly mole face" walked in, without the mole"

WHAAATTT????? I didn't notice!

~ ~ ~

And some fairly undigested thoughts on the episode (I’m very glad we knew beforehand that there was to be another series!):

Interesting that she’s only said one word whilst she’s been in the coma - “Gene”.

I’m sure I heard Gene say near the beginning “It’s just gotten worse.” Did anyone else hear that? 1973/1982 Gene would never say that, and even if he’s real in 2008 he wouldn’t say it either.

Loved the bit with the todger - someone had a lot of fun shaping that deep-fried sausage. I’m glad I’d finished my tea by the time Ray bit into it.

They do like their scenes in the gents’, don’t they. But what is it with all the French stuff? (“Time’s running out for Moi” “What is this, France?”)

As I said in the one comment I did manage to post, I sporfled at the fanservice of Jeannette saying “I love your hands . . . your pretty eyes.” Never forget Matt and Ash read at TRA, folks!

When he went all silent and thoughtful after she told him the truth, that she was from the future “like Sam Tyler”, I thought he was processing and re-thinking his ideas about Sam and about her. I was really shocked when he said “I ask for the truth and you piss in my face.” Sam gave himself away much more about being from the future, with his constant talk about how things were going to be - it seems really odd that Gene doesn’t think about that at all when Alex claims the same thing.

This series has been much better than the first one in its handling of humour: such a brilliant, understated little moment between Alex and Shaz - “He wouldn’t do anything stupid, would he?” and they just look at each other and don’t say a word.

I was shocked again at Gene saying “First Sam Tyler, now you - why do I always attract the weirdos and the liars?” WHAT??? We’ve been told that Sam had another seven years with Gene (I wish) and the team - more than enough time to redeem himself totally from the LOM 2.08 business. So why is that how he remembers Sam? That’s really quite upsetting.

Ian Wylie said there was a heartbreaking moment - he probably didn’t mean where Gene was walking alone around the office just before SHE came in, but I thought it was so sad. And we finally get to see Gene kiss someone - and they cut immediately!

Finally - if she’s really back in 2008, why has she still got blue mascara on?

Ashes Third Series Confirmed!!!!!

2009-06-07T23:35:25Z

. Ian Wylie just posted the news