almost Christmas
Dec. 24th, 2014 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitI decided to do most of my Christmas cooking today, because tomorrow I want to go and see The Imitation Game. So I have eaten ham and mashed potatoes and creamed peas with onions, and I have a nice bottle of ale which I'll drink in a little while. Also later, there will be some of the pumpkin spice loaf I have left over after bringing most of it to work yesterday. Tomorrow I'll reheat some ham and, if I'm feeling ambitious, make a gratin of sweet potatoes, cream, and chiles. And it will be time to dig out the fruitcake and see how it's aged!
I've also listened to the Cabin Pressure finale, "Zurich." In broad outline, everything turned out as I predicted: Martin went to Switzerland and Herc replaced him at MJN. But I could never have predicted the full-on fairy tale ending; I loved it, though it's straining my suspension of disbelief. And I loved the little callback touches at the end: Martin's announcement in French, Herc and Douglas playing games, and of course "the lemon is in play."
The way things turned out for Martin (he finally gets to be the calm, resourceful, professional pilot of his dreams, working for a proper airline, with a girlfriend who happens to be a princess) was a little too perfect for my taste, maybe, though I'll confess I'd have liked it much better if he'd wound up with a boyfriend who happened to be a prince. There was, I think, a meta level to Martin's trajectory, in that it paralleled Benedict Cumberbatch's unexpected rise to superstardom, and in that sense it did work for me.
Interestingly, the character who had the least happy ending was Douglas. One thing that became very clear during "Zurich" was how much Douglas actually relies on MJN. He's never going to be hired at a real airline again, and his only other options would break his pride. It's nice that he gets to be captain again (and I'm so happy that Caroline insisted on it, after everything Douglas did for her), but in truth, he ends up exactly where he started, stuck at a fourth-rate charter firm after having ruined his own career with alcoholism and stealing.
Something else that struck me just now is that, while every other character ends up heterosexually paired off (even Arthur, if we assume the "Tiffy" he talks to on the phone is another one of his bossy posh girls), Douglas ends alone, and as far as we know hasn't had a relationship since his third wife left him. Is it wrong of me that I want fic where Douglas slowly realizes that he misses Martin a lot more than he expected, and sloooooowwwwwly realizes why, and has a bit of a late-midlife crisis? (And meanwhile Martin and Theresa have broken up and Martin realizes he misses Douglas more than expected and etc. etc.? Because, yeah, the actual ending was pretty overwhelmingly heterosexual for my taste.)
So apparently Yuletide is due to open around 7 pm, US East Coast time? Which, wow, now that I do the math is only two hours from now. I can hardly wait!
Merry Christmas to everyone who is or will be celebrating it!
I've also listened to the Cabin Pressure finale, "Zurich." In broad outline, everything turned out as I predicted: Martin went to Switzerland and Herc replaced him at MJN. But I could never have predicted the full-on fairy tale ending; I loved it, though it's straining my suspension of disbelief. And I loved the little callback touches at the end: Martin's announcement in French, Herc and Douglas playing games, and of course "the lemon is in play."
The way things turned out for Martin (he finally gets to be the calm, resourceful, professional pilot of his dreams, working for a proper airline, with a girlfriend who happens to be a princess) was a little too perfect for my taste, maybe, though I'll confess I'd have liked it much better if he'd wound up with a boyfriend who happened to be a prince. There was, I think, a meta level to Martin's trajectory, in that it paralleled Benedict Cumberbatch's unexpected rise to superstardom, and in that sense it did work for me.
Interestingly, the character who had the least happy ending was Douglas. One thing that became very clear during "Zurich" was how much Douglas actually relies on MJN. He's never going to be hired at a real airline again, and his only other options would break his pride. It's nice that he gets to be captain again (and I'm so happy that Caroline insisted on it, after everything Douglas did for her), but in truth, he ends up exactly where he started, stuck at a fourth-rate charter firm after having ruined his own career with alcoholism and stealing.
Something else that struck me just now is that, while every other character ends up heterosexually paired off (even Arthur, if we assume the "Tiffy" he talks to on the phone is another one of his bossy posh girls), Douglas ends alone, and as far as we know hasn't had a relationship since his third wife left him. Is it wrong of me that I want fic where Douglas slowly realizes that he misses Martin a lot more than he expected, and sloooooowwwwwly realizes why, and has a bit of a late-midlife crisis? (And meanwhile Martin and Theresa have broken up and Martin realizes he misses Douglas more than expected and etc. etc.? Because, yeah, the actual ending was pretty overwhelmingly heterosexual for my taste.)
So apparently Yuletide is due to open around 7 pm, US East Coast time? Which, wow, now that I do the math is only two hours from now. I can hardly wait!
Merry Christmas to everyone who is or will be celebrating it!
