Midwinter Prompt #3: Auld Lang Syne, My Dear (Downton Abbey)

[mrstater]

Title: Auld Lang Syne, My Dear
Author: mrstater
Prompt: resolutions
Fandom: Downton Abbey
Characters & Pairings: Lady Mary Crawley, Sir Richard Carlisle, Lady Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham; Richard/Mary
Rating & Warnings: rated PG, spoilers for the S2 Christmas special
Word Count: 759 words
Summary: "This is Haxby, and that's not how we do it here

Comments

[mrstater]

Yay, I'm so happy you enjoyed this little look at what might have been. So many of your comments are about ideas I hoped would come through as I wrote this, that the things that initially attracted them to each other could be discovered again and help them overcome the rocky time we saw in S2.

I especially love what you said about Mary finding a surprising amount of freedom with Richard that she may not be able to find with Matthew (he was so put off by the idea of her cutting her hair when that came up in an episode, though I think he must be insane because Michelle would be stunning no matter how she did her hair and I think a flapper do would be amazing on her). In fact I think Iain even said in some of the interviews he gave that he represents freedom to Mary to be able to step across those social and gender boundaries, and I do think he never intended for things to get so out of hand and wouldn't have turned out to be a particularly controlling husband if they'd not had that little issue of Mary being in love with someone else to contend with.

I'll stop rambling and say thank you, and I'm especially delighted you'd like to read more that might lead them from point A to here, since I'm currently neck-deep in that Haxby fic which is turning out to be exactly that!

[gilpin25]

if they'd not had that little issue of Mary being in love with someone else to contend with

*snorts* These side issues are a right pain. ;)

I've been re-watching the Christmas Special in chunks over my lunch hours as I'm supposed to be doing M/R fic for someone I can't remember. It's struck me how JF was quite fair with dispensing audience sympathy, as Mary was pretty rotten to Richard during the shooting, and yet that's immediately followed by the family playing The Game and Richard being all uppity about making yourself look ridiculous. I wish we'd seen his attempt at charades - I might have to include that. :D

[mrstater]

It's struck me how JF was quite fair with dispensing audience sympathy, as Mary was pretty rotten to Richard during the shooting, and yet that's immediately followed by the family playing The Game and Richard being all uppity about making yourself look ridiculous.

Everyone looked equally bad and sympathetic throughout the episode, didn't they? It's too bad JF spent most of S2 just making Richard look like a villain when that was plainly not the case by the Christmas episode, which was easily the most thoughtfully written episode of S2, I thought--and not just because I felt for Richard, LOL. It also had a lot to do with the absence of Ethel. ;)

Oh, if you put The Game in, that would just be The Best Ever. I wonder if there's an outtake of his attempt. ;)

[gilpin25]

It's too bad JF spent most of S2 just making Richard look like a villain when that was plainly not the case by the Christmas episode, which was easily the most thoughtfully written episode of S2, I thought

It's standing up well to a second viewing; I do wonder if JF had paid attention to the critics as the pacing seems slower, and Daisy's storyline is another where I switch from irritation (for goodness sake get over it, girl!) to real interest for the future. And yes, thankfully there is no flipping Ethel, though I'm liking Edith and Sir A even more.

I'm much harder on Richard, I'm afraid (but I'm not excusing Mary at all in their relationship, either). I can't forget his behaviour with Anna, nor his initimidation tactics with Mary. In fact, he reminds me rather of Jorah! Not so much a villain as someone who crosses lines and then can't find a way back from them; nor does he quite understand how he came to cross them in the first place. Which makes him interesting, of course.

Shutting up now as I'm going off at tangents, lol, and must be worrying you about this fic. Don't worry, I'll be nice(ish) to him! ;)

[mrstater]

They could really have skipped the Rosamund/Lord Hepworth storyline altogether as it didn't add anything to the story whatsoever, and then shown more of Christmas at Downton. I'd have liked to have seen what presents they call gave each other, and more attempts at Charades.

Daisy's storyline is another where I switch from irritation (for goodness sake get over it, girl!) to real interest for the future.

Still my favorite part of the episode. Love, love, love William's dad! And how wonderful was Violet giving her advice?

In fact, he reminds me rather of Jorah! Not so much a villain as someone who crosses lines and then can't find a way back from them; nor does he quite understand how he came to cross them in the first place.

Except that Jorah doesn't seem compelled to coerce women to be with him; he backs off from Dany in rather un-Richard-like ways. But that is interesting about the stepping across lines--I can definitely see that in how Jorah sells criminals to slavers and ends up spying on Dany and Viserys, and has perfectly reasonable (but not moral) rationalizations for doing both. And it definitely makes for an interesting character. If only Matthew would be more interesting, I'd be all over Matthew/Mary. ;)

I'm so excited about the fic. Even if you're not too kind to Richard. ;) I hope you're having fun writing it!