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

[jadeandlilac]

GAH! This was fantastic!

As usual, I love your characterization of Richard. I absolutely think that behind his threats, he'd secretly be glad to let Mary have her way, and he'd admire her all the more for it afterward. He'd see a lot of himself in that tenacity, and I think the similarity of their characters is the first and probably the biggest reason behind his attraction to her. Also, Violet's lines were great :)

I'd been having an awful day, and this was the perfect antidote! Thanks so much!

[mrstater]

Why, thank you, Jane Cadillac! I'm so happy you feel I've captured a plausible characterization. I had this one line in an earlier draft of this where Mary realizes she's not afraid of Richard once they're married, because anything he does to her only brings misery on himself, as well, though I do think Richard's original intent was to do whatever Mary says is the proper thing to do. It was only after he encountered the threat of Matthew and Mary's disinterest in him that he changed his tune.

Couldn't not write Violet at a Crawley/Carlisle family Christmas! I've been rewatching the little exchanges between her and Richard and in my head!canon, he kind of loves the repartee they have and the shots she takes at him, though really deep down he wants to have her respect. A bit like Rhett and Mammy, I think...

Sorry you had a crummy day, hun, but glad this was a good pic-me-up! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. :D

[jadeandlilac]

Bahaha, that nickname kills me!

It was only after he encountered the threat of Matthew and Mary's disinterest in him that he changed his tune.

Just so! This is why I'm eagerly anticipating your s1 AU, to see where and how their relationship would've gone without Matthew's influence and all the emotional baggage Mary is already carrying when she meets Richard in the series. I'm very curious to see whether or not you'll eventually work Matthew into that fic, or if it will be pure, unadulterated s1!Mary/Richard :)

[mrstater]

Bahaha, that nickname kills me!

I'll stop if it bugs you. It could always be your sock puppet name or something. ;)

I'm very curious to see whether or not you'll eventually work Matthew into that fic, or if it will be pure, unadulterated s1!Mary/Richard :)

I'm very curious to see that, too. ;) I've been faffing around with the Haxby smut fic that's turning out not to have smut at the moment, but I keep thinking about the S1 AU, too, and I'm just not sure where I'm going with it. I'm also conflicted about whether to have Richard be Mary's sexual rebellion, or to go with Pamuk and see how that plays out in regard to Mary being courted by Richard at the time it happens...

It's seriously way too much fun, though, thinking of all the wooing Richard could do in London...

[frostyblossom]

This is interesting! I haven't much considered Mary/Richard as a long term pairing but I could see something like this happening...maybe :P

And it is written exquisitely, as usual.

[mrstater]

Thank you! I don't know whether Richard and Mary could be this happy or not, but I was so upset we didn't get to see them married for at least a while in the series. Guess that's what fanfic is for.

[glorious_clio]

WHAT IS THIS NOW I AM SHIPPING THEM SLIGHTLY AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT.

Lovely job. You are evil.

[mrstater]

Haven't you been shipping them more than slightly for a while now? ;) And thank you, my dear. My work is done. ;)

[glorious_clio]

But only in like, a toy boat. To invoke Jaws, I might need a bigger one. ;)

[mrstater]

LOL That's awesome.

[shimotsuki]

This is a treat, with all sorts of banter and period fun going on at the surface (loved the specific mention of the electric lamps, and the thought of Mary with a bob [sorry, Matthew]) -- but there's also so much going on about the dynamics of Mary and Richard's marriage. They've obviously come a long way here, for Mary to feel that she has the ground to stand on to push back when she feels it's important. And for Richard to be able to acknowledge his feelings!

Loved Granny's cameo, too. You're making me think that she might really come around to appreciate Richard, given time to know him better. It's not like she doesn't share his ruthlessness, even though hers is a bit more camouflaged!

[mrstater]

It's really freaky you used this icon here, because minutes before I got your LJ alert, I'd quoted that line in my Haxby fic! Are you reading my mind

[gilpin25]

It's nice to see how very far these two have travelled since Christmas 1919, and that the couple who were well and truly on each other's nerves back then have found such a mutually successful way to live together. Even nicer to see Mary sure enough to stand up to him and for him to rather enjoy it. In the series itself, Richard must presumably have initially admired Mary for her spirit and rebellion, and not set out to clamp down on it.

I loved Violet's line because you can take it both ways, in true Violet fashion (or am I wrong to think that 'almost' is very much like her attitude to Marmaduke; it's fine but it's never going to be quite good enough!). And Mary getting her hair bobbed is another interesting sign of the freedom she must have found in this marriage (and I do wonder if she'll get that with Matthew. Maybe she's in for a few middle class, conservative shocks;)). No wonder she seems so content with her lot at the end, though it makes me immediately want to read all your in between stories that get them here. :)

[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

[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. ;)