A Promise

[railise]

Title: A Promise
Author: railise
Word Count: 704
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Little John/Alice
Summary: Pre-S1; John has a difficult message to deliver.
Disclaimer: I have no rights to or association with the show Robin Hood, and get nothing from this other than the fun of playing in the world provided by the BBC and Tiger Aspect.
Notes: For treatljohnright in rh_intercomm.

Comments

[wastingyourgum]

Ooh - what a fascinating idea! And an intriguing explanation for the age difference between John and Alice.

I think this would fit a lot of people's expectations that John and Alice were somehow thrown together rather than it being a whirlwind romance because that better fits how they see John generally. He's a "protector" and "father figure" more than "lover". (Note: I am not one of those people!)

...he would try not to fail Alice.
Waaaahhh!! *sniff* Sad... stupid show not giving us canon backstory!

I promise I'm still slowly working on my version of John's backstory (ask my beta!) but it's so lovely to see other people's ideas.

Great job!

[railise]

Ah, but I see it turning into a whirlwind romance! :D The exchange in my BBH fic that inspired this was:

“Oh, John,” she sighed. “We were never just friends, not even when you tried to keep it that way.”

“I really did,” he chuckled. “When I promised your father I’d look after you, I didn’t mean as a husband.”

She grinned at him. “When you told me you’d promised to look after me, I hoped you did.”

So, I get the sense that they were already drawn together, but he wouldn't act on it since she was his friend's daughter, and she strikes me as being kind of shy-- and yet, I can see her instigating something in this situation, lol. I'm really tempted to expand on this now... but I am absolutely DYING to read yours!! :) :) Can't WAIT to do so!

I'm so glad you like this-- thanks!!

(drat, I should've logged in with my fic acct, so I could use my LJ/Alice/LLJ icon :))

[wastingyourgum]

I read this again on FF.net and I tried to think of it solely as a stand-alone fic, which to my surprise made me slightly more ambivalent towards it.

(I was going to leave this review there but I'm going to do it here instead.)

It's a lovely scene and, unsurprisingly, very well written but I just can't help thinking that - taken on it's own - it's implying that John and Alice were forced together through necessity and not from any genuine attraction to each other.

There's no hint at the end that any romance will grow from the situation and their marriage, when it happens, will be anything more than one of convenience.

That's certainly one interpretation (and very historically accurate I'm sure) and even ties in to how cold Alice is to John when she discovers he's not dead but I personally would like to see some hint that Alice saw John as more than a protector and he saw her as more than just a promise he felt obliged to keep

[railise]

Wow... I'm really sorry to hear that, since it was completely not my intent. I'd been going on the idea that she was already very interested in him, and that once she got him to admit it, he was interested, too-- just that he wouldn't have let himself admit it before that. So, this would just be the first small step toward that, although obviously it's not the best time for romance.

Thanks for pointing that out; I think I'll have to add a scene or two to this. (I SOOOO do not have time for writing a big fic!! I'm already slacking on the WIP's I've got!! :D :D But, darn it, now you've got the bunnies hopping around... ;))

[robinfanatic]

I am so thrilled to have you & WYG providing some John backstory. This is a lovely, sad fic. It hadn't crossed my mind that John might be a friend of Alice's father. Very intriguing idea.

And I can tell you as beta that WYG's backstory is wonderful!! Now if only RL would allow her to finish it!

[railise]

I looooove speculating on the backstories we never got, and the Littles' is one of the most intriguing to me. (Made even more so by Gordon's "child bride" jokes on the commentary, heh.)

Like I said, I cannot WAIT to read WYG's fic!!! I have several ideas about John's past, but I consider her the LJ expert, so am super curious to see what she's come up with. :)

[whytewytch4]

Very nice. Love the fics like this that explore parts of the outlaws' lives that we never see. Good to see the beginnings of John and Alice.