#herc shipwright

Cabin 359-vercoats: What have I become?

We're back with a late-breaking entry! If I had a nickel for every time an audio drama has used this gag, we'd be up to fifteen cents~

Round 1 Poll 4

(Yes the picture on the right is just a picture of Anthony Head. He portrays Herc in the radio play Cabin Pressure)

Demigods they're named after :

- Gilgamesh : demigod, son of the Mesopotamian goddess Nissun and (according to some sources) the Sumerian king Lugalbanda

Herc’s everything Douglas wants to be and once fooled the world he was and carries the image of being. Smooth, charming, unflappable - which Anthony Head portrays gloriously, immediately making Douglas seem less so in comparison. Four ex-wives but he carries them so much more lightly than Douglas’s three (I somehow doubt that Herc was ever cheated on, or has a daughter that he misses painfully). No disgraces, no addiction problems. None - at least as it seems to Douglas - of Douglas’s intense vulnerability underneath all of the snark and charisma. And Herc was there for Douglas’s downfall. From almost the first moment Herc is managing to remind Douglas of that, and whether it’s deliberate or not is rather besides the point. And in Herc’s first episode he manages to make it clear that there’s no chance of Douglas ever going back to the kind of career he once had, and refuses - however gently and tactfully - to help him. Whatever friendship they once had... that’s not happening. Ouch, frankly.

And aaargh it’s just occurred to me that “Rotterdam” parallels Martin with Paramount Martin and Martin is threatened, but it does *exactly* the same with Douglas and Herc. Martin’s just a lot more open about his insecurity. Martin and Douglas are so much more alike than either would acknowledge.

And then there’s the fact that in his own way Douglas is very protective of all three of the other members of MJN, and he does not trust Herc with Carolyn’s heart, not even a tiny tiny bit. Let alone with Arthur’s, in a stepfatherly way. That bit’s genuinely selfless, I think (well, coupled perhaps with not wanting to deal with a miserable Carolyn making his life harder; he is the man with all the ulterior motives after all). It’s also sensible: I mean, no one could have seen Herc being willing to change for Carolyn, not even Herc.

And then there is (much more reprehensibly), as John Finnemore has noted, a certain dog-in-the-manger attitude that Douglas has to Carolyn: he doesn’t necessarily want to make a move on her but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be happy for anyone else to do so.

Perhaps above all: I somehow doubt that Herc ever had a Rory. Douglas became the mask, and is pretty happy with that most of the time, but Herc, I think it’s implied, was always like that.

By the end of the show it’s clear that things are thawing considerably, as Herc proves himself to be an increasingly good partner to Carolyn and (even more importantly?) stepfather to Arthur (and yet without threatening Douglas’s own paternal relationship with the latter), and as the resolution has Douglas being so much happier himself, and becoming the captain (and official Team Dad) of OJS. They can all happily fly off into the sunset together, as by that point they all deserve, which is great. :D 

December Prompts 🌟

Carolyn hated the silence.

That’s when the thoughts crept in, the niggling sense of self-doubt and imposter syndrome. At least having Arthur kept her distracted, he talked constantly and that itself was a blessing as well as a curse. As CEO of MJN Air, her job kept her preoccupied every single day for she knew without her, the whole company would fall apart like dominos. Even if she had to deal with the most infuriating passengers, and tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum for pilots who shared one single brain cell between them that passed from one to the other, before flying out of the escape hatch.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Herc asked as he watched Carolyn stare out of the window. They were heading towards Svalbard, just in time for Christmas. It made Arthur very excited as he had been humming ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ non-stop since boarding.

Martin and Douglas were flying, and Herc had taken some time out of his busy schedule to fly with her.

She would find that very sweet, if she was a romantic.

Sadly, she didn’t have a shred of romance in her bones.

Despite all that, Herc loved her all the same and she couldn’t fathom why.

“Oh nothing,” She lied, and she tore her gaze away from the window which overlooked a landscape of snow that looked like a child’s Christmas painting, and plastered a smile. “Just thinking when Arthur would stop that awful singing of his.”

“It’s not all that bad,” Herc replied, amused. “It could be worse. You could have Douglas and Martin singing carols.”

“Ugh, don’t start,” She groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “If you start singing, I won’t hesitate to open the emergency doors and throw you out and hope you get eaten by polar bears.”

“You say the sweetest things.” Herc entwined his hand with hers and gave it a warm, gentle squeeze. “This is a holiday for all of us. Arthur might actually get to see a real polar bear out in the wild.”

“Arthur VS the polar bear.” Carolyn chuckled and pictured an excited Arthur in the middle of Svalbard trying to pat the Polar Bears as if they were domestic animals. “I’d pay a handsome money to see that.”

Bing-bong.

“Ladies and Gentleman, Dasher, Prancer, and Rudolph-” Douglas’s voice blared to life on the comm. “We will be aiming to arrive at Svalbard within the next two hours should our Merry God be with us. Under your seats, you will find some crackers that have been placed there by our very helpful elf, Arthur.”

“Crackers?” She arched an eyebrow.

Herc leaned forwards, and pulled out two red and green crackers. “Crackers.”

“And from all of us at MJN Air, we like to thank you for flying with us, and to celebrate Arthur's favourite time of the year, we have prepared this song, especially for him.” Both Douglas and Martin broke out into song. “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to fly our Gerti who is a golden plane!”

The comm cut off and Carolyn shook her head, amused. “At least they didn’t sing the full song.”

“That they didn’t,” Herc smirked, and he offered her one of the crackers. “Shall we?”

“If they don’t have a terrible joke in them, I’m going to sue Douglas.” Carolyn complained, and she grabbed the other end and pulled until the cracker snapped and broke in half. Having a terrible joke in the cracker was even better than the gift.

A blue hat fell out, and Herc picked it up and placed it upon her head like a crown. “A crown fit for a Queen.”

“Oh shush,” Carolyn blushed, but she leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Herc.”

They pulled the other cracker, and a green crown fell out. This time, Carolyn picked it up and adjusted it on his head before briefly letting her fingers run through his wispy hair.

“Merry Christmas Carolyn.” Herc smiled.