Title: Seeing Red

Author: ninedaysaqueen 

Rating: G

Genre: dark-fic

Beta: Thank you so much, tearoha !

Summary: What if the design of the ruby earrings Eugenides gave Attolia had a special significance to her?

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, nor of any characters and locations contained within. All rights of the The Queen's Thief series belong exclusively to Megan Whalen Turner and her respective publishers.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to dreamsofpaprika. You may think your advise was insignificant, but it helped me immensely. Thank you, and I hope you have time to read the books soon.

( Seeing Red )

....wanna ARC?

Since I posted my review of CoK, several people have expressed galley-envy.  My daughter has finished with it, and I believe in "paying it forward", so I would be glad to send on my ARC to a loving recipient.

All you have to do is post a comment to this post before midnight EST on Thursday, January 7, saying from what fine establishment you plan to obtain your copy of CONSPIRACY OF KINGS when the book is officially published (online retailer, bricks-n-mortar store, gift from tasteful relative, borrowing from Friendly Neighborhood Public Library are all fine sources -- "pirating an e-copy" is NOT a good answer, however <g>)

I'll pick one answer totally at random, and mail off my ARC to any address you like.  Postage isn't a problem, but if you're outside the continental U.S., timeliness may be an issue.

'Lo all- here's a bit of a question that's plagued me for years, ever since I read the first book:

How old do you see the characters in the book as? There's never any real indication, and we're mostly left to infer the ages of characters through details.

Example: Ambiades is treated by the magus and Pol as mostly adult. Perhaps one of the most telling clues is how the adults treats him. Pol speaks to him about mutual subjects of interest like he would another man (such as swords), but he's not above taking Ambiades down a peg if he needs it. The magus still lectures Ambiades on geographical features of the lands, so it's clear that he's still in tutelage, but Ambiades is also old enough to get away with being sullen with the magus. The So for this, I imagine him to be around the 17-19 range. Old enough to be considered reliable, old enough to be an apprentice to the magus, but not old enough not to need adult intervention.

What are your thoughts?

I've been away from LJ for far too long. In part of this time away, I've been playing this facebook game called Happy Pets. One room of my house is full of nothing but dogs named after QT characters.

( On their first try. )

The Christmas Cracker Advent is now closed. Congratulations to all artists and writers who took part - especially well done if you were a nick-of-time deadline-maker (now go get some sleep!) - and thanks to all those who have made their contribution as reviewers, betas and supporters. We hope you had fun and appreciate you all. ♥

Remember, if you haven't quite made the deadline with your fic/drabble/art, just let us know when it is finished and we'll add it to the masterlist for this event. We'll be back soon with that masterlist and voting details for the awards. Meanwhile, please keep reading and reviewing! :D

Title:The Wolf at the Door
Author: freakinwinky
Rating & Warnings:R, Voyerism, non-graphic mature situation, dark imagery
Prompts:"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," said Hermione enthusiastically, "and it's supposed to smell differently to each of us according to what attracts us, and I can smell-"
Format & Word Count: drabble (barely), 494 words
Summary: Greyback pays a little vist to the Lupin's home. (DH era)
Author’s Notes:I honestly didn't come up with this until the very last minute. I had other much lighter ideas for the promts I was given, but I just couldn't make those ideas go anywhere. So, for your new years enjoyment, I give you the perverted musings of Fenrir Greyback. Enjoy! (p.s. Do I get the 'Made it by the skin of your teeth' award :))




( The Wolf at the Door )

Title: Shine
Author: chococoffeekiss
Rating & Warnings: PG, AU without explaining why.
Prompts: Christmas Party
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1,894
Summary: The Lupins attend the first Christmas Ball following the war.
Author’s Notes: OK, I'm not sure exactly what this is, it just happened. Share and Enjoy. :D


( Shine )

Title: Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November
Author: katyhasclogs
Rating & Warnings: PG
Prompts: Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1320 words
Summary: Tonks had a feeling that the fifth of November would be a date she would remember for a while.
Author’s Notes: In just under the wire, as usual. It was supposed to be a quick and simple fic, but then I decided I'd like to try an omniscient narrator, and things got a bit more complicated, lol.

( Gunpowder, Treason and Plot )

Title: Every Step Will Show
Author: utah_yoda
Rating & Warnings: G
Prompts: Christmas cards
Format & Word Count: fic, 1500 words
Summary: Remus tries to hide his feelings for Tonks, but a surprising romantic situation melts his resistance
Author’s Notes: I promised myself I would get a story in this time. One New Year's resolution accomplished! This takes place in mid-December during OOTP
The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show.
-author unknown



( every step will show )

Title: The Twelve Days of Christmas
Author: roh_wyn
Rating and Warnings: PG, no warnings
Format and Word Count: Fic, 1997
Prompt: The word "angel" and "Course Dumbledore trusts you....he's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me—I say there are spots that don't come off....Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"
Summary: Tonks is not sure what Remus is getting her for Christmas. OotP era.
Author's Notes: This is definitely NOT my best work, and the prompts really threw me for a loop. This started out as a drabble and ended up as something much longer.

( The Twelve Days of Christmas )

Title: A Merry Chase
Author: bookish_brownie
Rating and Warnings: PG, nothing specific
Prompt: "...he can move faster than Severus Snape when confronted with shampoo when he wants to"  
Format and Word Count: Fic, 1632
Summary: Tonks hunts Remus through Grimmauld Place. OotP era.
 Author's Notes: I was unsure what to do when I received this quote prompt, but then the idea for this story popped into my head.

( A Merry Chase )

Title: Here Comes the Bride
Author: gilpin25
Ratings & Warnings: PG for mild swearing
Prompt: "You haven't got another bottle full of - I don't know..." "Essence of Insanity?" (Only used the last part of it.)
Format & Word Count: Drabble, 500 words
Summary: "I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet." But is Remus guilty of a little over-exaggeration when it comes to his wedding?
Author's Notes: This is a bit of light-hearted nonsense, really - but it would be rather nice to think it was exactly like this? ;)

( Here Comes the Bride )

Title: A Fireside Chat
Author: katyscarlett76
Rating & Warnings: PG for use of alcohol
Prompts: "Hot Toddy" and "...although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself." (HBP)
Format & Word Count: Fic; 1740 words
Summary: A drink and a late night chat leads to friendship and just maybe something more. Set late Autumn OOTP era.
Author’s Notes: This was supposed to be a drabble dammit! Ok I clearly fail at drabbles but I hope you like this ficlet anyway. Un-betaed so any and all errors are purely mine. References a location used in my Midsummer Tales fic What Matters Most. I tagged this romance but it’s more like pre-romance.

( A Fireside Chat )

Title: December
Author: gilpin25
Rating & Warnings: PG-13
Prompt: Everlasting Icicles
Format & Word Count: Drabble, 500 words
Summary: After Christmas at the Burrow, where else would Remus go? Set during HBP.
Author's Notes: If anyone's looking for a heavy dose of angst, then look no further. ;) If I can fit another one in, I'll make it extra fluffy! But a happy New Year to all, and I can't wait to catch up on all the entries.

( December )

Title: To Dream, To Wake
Author: shimotsuki
Rating & Warnings: PG for very mild innuendo; AU
Prompt: tinsel
Format & Word Count: Drabble, 385 words (414 with quotation)
Summary: Cold and alone, Remus is haunted by dreams.
Author’s Notes: By the end here we’re at pure AU holiday fluff. Really. ;)

( To Dream, To Wake )

Just to let everyone know - tearoha may now be known as  Anatidaephilia. She is the sub-sub-sub-goddess of enjoying being watched by ducks.

I know it's weird, but I just remembered the word and shouted it out in triumph - and she corrected me.

Title: Captured
Artist:drumher 
Rating & Warnings: Gee
Prompts: Magical Camera & "The trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." (SS)
Medium: charcoal sketch, tablet in photoshop for color and filters
Summary: Remus and Tonks are caught up in a magical moment
Artist's Notes: Had no clue what to do with my prompts until I saw the picture mrstater  posted taken of her and hubby at an office christmas party and felt it fit right in with the Magical Camera prompt. She graciously let me use it as reference, as long as I made Tonks look like her. ;) Due to lack of quality time and no scanner, I had to improvise and it's not in my usual sharp, graphic style but that's what these challenges are all about, eh? 

edit: LJ Is not linking the thumbnail to the full sized version, like is said it would so use this link to see it big pics.livejournal.com/drumher/pic/000a9w4q

( Captured )

Title: Going Shopping
Author: bookish_brownie 
Rating & Warnings: PG for very mild innuendo
Prompt: shopping
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1180
Summary: Andromeda spies on Nymphadora while she's shopping with a companion.
Author's Notes: This is my first fic from Andromeda's point of view and my first fic without dialogue. I hope everyone is having a happy New Year. Enjoy!

( She watched them from across the street. )