cabinpres_fic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cabinpres_fic) wrote2012-03-15 11:21 am
cabinpres_fic) wrote2012-03-15 11:21 am
Entry tags:
Cabin Pressure FAQ
Good morning/evening/time of day relative to your perspective time zone, drivers everyone! Since we have a lot of questions popping up, some of them more than once, we figured it's about time we cobble together an FAQ of sorts. It's about as piecemeal as a bowl of surprising rice, so don't be alarmed if you find the occasional odd bit in here that might not belong. If you've any questions, additions, or corrections, please feel free to fling them at the comments, and someone will get round to addressing them after they've finished their game of solitaire.
Martin Crieff
Where is Martin from, and what is the accent he uses when impersonating his father?
Martin mentions to Mr Birling in Edinburgh that he's from Wokingham. While his accent is more recieved pronunciation, verging on a bit posh, the accent he does when impersonating his dad is rather inexplicably one of a cockney flavour.
How long has Martin been a pilot?
During the first Birling Day, it's revealed that Martin's not yet been with MJN for a full year. Later on, he states that four months after his father died, he got his first job, which was terrible, and from there he moved on to MJN. What's not stated is how long after getting his certification it was by the time he got that first job, and how long he stayed there. A safe assumption, however, might be around a year or so by the end of series 1.
Where's the 'Martin is a ginger' detail come from?
This is an invention of fanon, and a very commonly-accepted one. The origin comes from Mr Cumberbatch being a natural ginger, and being rather gingery in the promo pictures.
What about him being short?
This one actually comes from canon. It's mentioned early on that Douglas is quite a bit taller than Martin, and later on, Martin is wearing Arthur's uniform, which is rather big on him. This same uniform fits Douglas rather well, apparently, so Martin comes out of all this being rather short. He also seems to get rather upset at Martin Davenport being a bit tallish.
What sort of license does Martin hold?
Given the amount of seats in Gertie, Martin and Douglas would both have an ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot License), which is required of any pilot commanding an aeroplane with over nine passenger seats.
How old is Martin?
As of Helsinki, Martin was 32. Depending on how the timeline works out, he's either 33 or 34 by the end of series 3, and could have joined MJN as young as 31.
Furthermore, with the way pilot licensing works, he could have got his first license as young as 17.
What might we expect to find of Martin's student housing attic?
Quite a lot. There's an info-dump on the subject over yonder.
How many times did Martin fail his exams?
Gordon tells us in St Petersburg that Martin failed his CPL four times, and Carolyn points out in an earlier episode that Martin took seven goes to get his commercial pilot's license. This could mean that he failed his ATPL three times, totalling seven, or he managed to fail that one seven times on top of his four CPL failures.
What are flight manuals, and why does Martin collect them?
Flight manuals and operating handbooks are concise reference books that provide specific information about a particular aircraft or subject. They contain basic facts, information, and/or instructions for the pilot about the operation of an aircraft, flying techniques, etc., and are intended to be kept at hand for ready reference.
I was listening to Limerick, and I swear I heard this conversation before:
Douglas: "What about cabin crew?"
Martin: "For two very different reasons, I'm afraid neither Arthur nor Carolyn quite float my boat."
Yes, you would have done. This, and several other bits of dialogue and small gags have been recycled. Specifically, this bit also appears in Fitton.
Douglas Richardson
What is Douglas' daughter's name?
As of series 3, she hasn't got one yet. Feel free to make one up!
What about his wives' names?
Mrs Richardson #3 was called Helena. No word on Mrs Richardsons #1 and #2.
What other family do we know Douglas has?
Douglas has at least one brother, who attended one of his stag parties. He also seems to lack a name.
Arthur Shappey
What are the names of Arthur's girlfriends?
So far, we know of Minty, Libbet, Pobs, and Fliss (the girl with the squint). They all appear to be of the Alice band-wearing, Pony Club sort.
What is a Pony Club, anyway?
Excellent question. Someone's done a write-up on exactly that sort of thing, which can be found here.
MJN and Aeroplanes
On which side of a plane is the captain's seat? Is it different in the UK?
The captain sits on the left, regardless of his/her country of origin.
What do we know about the sort of aeroplane Gertie is?
She is a Lockheed McDonnell 312, which doesn't actually exist. There have, however, been two helpful posts that discuss what a plane like Gertie would look like, both inside and out.
One can be found here. The other is here.
Fitton and other Locations
Where is Fitton, anyway?
Technically, nowhere. In-verse, it's apparently somewhere near Kettering. Previous theories have included London-ish and somewhere near Bristol, which are probably still acceptable in a pinch.
What characters work at the air field?
So far, we have Carl the ATC, Terry and Phil from the fire crew, Dirk the groundskeeper, and George and Dave from engineering.
Meme and other Fandom Stuff
What is 'Reprompting' and how do I do it?
Reprompting is exactly what it sounds like: posting a prompt from a previous post part. All you need to do to reprompt something is link to the original prompt, and copy and paste the prompt itself into your comment. It's also nice if you include somewhere in the comment, be it the body or the subject, that the prompt is a reprompt. This is for the peace of mind of all the helper elves who volunteer their time to keep the Spreadsheet of Fills and the Prompt Index all neat and tidy.
I've heard talk of 'nesting' my fills. What is this, and why do I have to do it?
Nesting your fills is jargon for the act of, in essence, commenting to yourself. You only need to do this if your fill spans multiple parts. Rather than try to explain with words how comment-nesting should look, I give you two neat little diagrams. You can nest either like this:
Original Prompt
Fill 1/3
Fill 2/3
Fill 3/3
Or like this:
Original Prompt
Fill 1/3
Fill 2/3
Fill 3/3
This is not only for the helper elves, but for readability. If you put all of your comments as a reply to the OP (original prompt/post), someone else may comment and break up the flow. And also, the helper elves who run the spreadsheet will have to link to every part of your fill, which might get annoying if you've posted a large fic.
I've posted a fill! Now what?
Many people don't track the full meme, and may not see your fill. They will see it if they're tracking the Filled Prompts Post. There's also a WIP Post for WIPs. Go to the appropriate page for your fill, and follow the simple instructions for announcing your fill.
What is tracking? How do I do it?
First, you need an account on DW. Account creation is free and unrestricted, and only takes a few moments to set up (you can still post anonymously with an account; either log out, or press the 'more options' button beneath the comment field). At the top of every page, you'll see a little bell icon
. Click that to track all the comments to that particular page, or select the second option to track only the top-level comments.You'll find that bell on every comment as well. Clicking that one will give you options for tracking just that thread.
It is important to note that only paid accounts will let you track individual threads. If you do not have a paid account, the best alternative is to either bookmark the thread you wish to track, or you can track the top comments on that prompt post and track the filled prompts post. Any account level will allow you to do both of these. There are also limitations on how many tracking subscriptions one can have. It varies depending on account level, and you may want to check with DW's FAQ for that information.
There's a fill and/or prompt on the LJ meme, but all the threads over there are frozen. How do I get to the DW version of that thread?
This page has some simple instructions on doing just that.
What is prompt hijacking?
Prompt hijacking is the term used for when a person who didn't originally post the prompt adds their own ideas to how the fill should go. It may not be done intentionally, but it still tends to be highly annoying for the OP. If you have an idea for a prompt that is similar to one that you've seen, but deviates slightly, the best thing to do is to post a new prompt.
What does 'surprise crossover' mean and why are they bad?
Surprise crossovers are crossovers fills to a prompt that didn't ask for a crossover. The reason they should be avoided is because especially with an anon meme, there's no way to know what the other person likes, or is even familiar with. The OP may not have seen the show you're crossing over, or they might not like it. It can be really disheartening for a person to get a fill after several months of waiting, only to not understand what's going on because they've never seen Supernatural.
What is fill hijacking?
Fill hijacking, or stealing someone's WIP, is what happens when someone who isn't the fill's author picks up where the fill may have stalled for whatever reason. Abandoned fics happen, especially on memes. If the WIP gives you an idea, post a second fill. Multiple fills are great.
What do I do if I don't mind someone taking over my WIP? I've completely stalled on it and I'll never finish it.
Post it to the Orphan Post to let people know that it's OK for someone to take over your fill.
How do I drill down (filter by multiple tags) on the Pinboard archive?
You click from the tag list on the right side the first tag that you want. On the next page, you get a tag cloud, and each tag has a little circle icon right after it that has a + or - in it. You click that. You can select up to three tags.
I keep going into the IRC channel, but there's no-one in there. Why is that?
The best way to run into someone in the channel is to log in and just idle in there while you're at your computer. That's sort of how IRC works. If everyone just pops in and pops back out again, no-one will see anyone else. If you do see someone just idling in there, they're probably not watching the room, so just say hello and you'll be noticed.
I hate the new Captcha. Can we go back to the old one?
Unfortunately, no. That's on DW's side of things. I've done everything I can to make sure that it doesn't show up all the time, but occasionally the site's programming may think you're flooding if you post too quickly together. It also automatically turns itself on at 5000 comments, and unfortunately can't be over-ridden.
How do I find recs for this fandom?
The easiest way is to ask the Chatter or Searching post. And while not specifically recs, there is
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
cabin_pressure and the Cabin Pressure section on AO3. You can also try FFN, under the radio section.How do you play Yellow Car?
Perhaps Arthur Shappey would be able to explain it better than I. He is an expert, after all.
What if I have a question that isn't on this post?
If it's a fandom-related question (about canon, or the actors, or anything like that), you can ask in the Chatter Post. If you're looking for a fic, community, or something specific, we have a Searching Post for that. For all other matters pertaining to the meme itself, there is the Page a Mod post, or you can PM this account.
And just below here, you'll find links to all the things, in one handy place.
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Prompt Index
Current Prompt Post | Current Chatter Post | WIP Post | Filled Prompts Post | Searching Post | Orphan Post | Page-a-Mod Post | FAQ | Beta/Concrit Post
cabin_pressure @ LJ | Cabin Pressure @ AO3 | IRC Chat @ irc.ecnet.org #FittonATC
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In the very beginning of "Kuala Lumpur", about two minutes in, Arthur references "David and George from engineering", so that's what those two do!
Oh, here's one that I had to keep looking up for a fic: Herc's siblings are Wellington, Harrier and Sarah.
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(Anonymous) 2012-03-16 05:44 am (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-03-17 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)Here are some things that might be useful to include:
* what do we know about the characters’ pre-canon a) private life, b) education/employment history?
* what do we know about the characters’ current private lives?
* what do we know about Gertie?
* how to find recs
* what’s up with the Yellow Car/Tossing Apples/Simon Says/Surprising Rice/Travelling Lemon-thing?
And how about making this post into a sticky post, so it’s the first thing new visitors see? With maybe a welcome message like the one currently on the prompt posts.
Lastly – and this is a purely personal preference –, some of the questions above start with ‘what the heck...?’ and ‘where the hell...?’, and while this is mild enough, maybe you could leave out the hecks and hells anyway?
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(Anonymous) 2012-03-17 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)Q: In Johannesburg Carolyn says she paid Martin and Douglas to fly "300 miles south-west [to Paris] not 200 miles north-east [to Barrow-in-Furness]". Where does that leave Fitton?
A: That was John Finnemore pulling an Arthur and misplacing Barrow-in-Furness.
http://cabinpres-fic.dreamwidth.org/586.html?thread=510026#cmt510026 : speculation on the characters’s accents and where they were raised.
Q: I was listening to Limerick, and I swear I heard this conversation before:
Douglas: "What about cabin crew?"
Martin: "For two very different reasons, I'm afraid neither Arthur nor Carolyn quite float my boat."
A: That’s because the conversation is used in both Fitton and Limerick.
Q: How do I filter with multiple tags on the Pinboard Archive?
A: You click from the tag list on the right side the first tag that you want. On the next page, you get a tag cloud, and each tag has a little circle icon right after it that has a + or - in it. You click that. You can select up to three tags.
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Prompt hijacking the term used
Sorry, i'm a pernickety pedant DX
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Carolyn Knapp-Shappey
(Anonymous) 2012-04-26 10:33 am (UTC)(link);-)
Re: Carolyn Knapp-Shappey
Re: Carolyn Knapp-Shappey
(Anonymous) 2012-04-26 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)Q: How old is Carolyn?
A: Her 63rd birthday is central to the plot of 'Helsinki'. We know it's the 63rd because of this dialogue:
Question
(Anonymous) 2012-05-03 06:46 am (UTC)(link)Accents?
Re: Accents?
It's clearly established in Helsinki that Ruth is Northern, and therefore Carolyn is also, and that Carolyn has "put on airs and graces" in the eyes of her sister. Also, the way Stephanie Cole plays it throughout that episode is brilliant. One of the reasons for flowery language Carolyn uses when, say, rebuking the drivers, or her Par-ticular way of drawing out a sentence, and also controlling a conversation, is that she's LEARNED RP. Not necessarily through lessons, but in the way that if you're working class/otherwise marginalised, and especially when she was starting out as a stewardess, you imitate the mannnerisms and speech patterns and voices of those around you. You can tell this slightly because she goes posher/more majestic at certain times, as it's a kind of really useful switch to have in you're head, which is what she does at the beginning of Helsinki. She is genuinely REALLY WORRIED about the airline, so she's being the performative version of Carolyn Knapp-Shappey that is in control about it. What she does in the last bit is actually completely loose that control/self awareness, partially because of being around her really horrible sister (and ooh, will I have thoughts about Kieran''s voice/accent later), and regresses to the accent, dialect and pattern of speech of when she left home, which is partially why the final scene is so moving. Because she's been trying for Ruth not to reduce her to "Ruth's daft sister Carol", for the entire episode, and then realises he couldn't.
Martin also has a kind of learned RP, which actually explains the bordering posh- his family are pretty clearly comfortable upper-lower-middle class. i.e. his sister and Simon both have good jobs, the way his mum is (particularly her way of having tea), go hand in hand with a certain type of middle class where one or both of his parents might have come from trade (i.e. I'm pretty sure Martin's dad was a qualified electrician, and probably did say, grammar school and an apprenticeship and then ran his own business). The comment Wendy says about being really proud of Martin running his own business is part of this- it's not being an employee, and give's you a certain amount of economic freedom/ability to pick your battles. Because Caitlyn and Simon both hold relatively well paid, but also low status professional jobs (they're both council employees)... and hang on, this was meant to be about accent. Martin's dad probably did sound quite working class, possibly even cockney (we're quite small islands). Martin's mum doesn't, there wasn't a huge amount of money, and Martin probably got the either overt or implicit lessons that if you talked in a quite RP/formal manner, you'd be taken more seriously. Like, my dad has an Irish accent, but speaks quite like Martin in speech patterns, because his mum told him to speak properly when he was four. Of course the especial form of bordering on posh Martin's reached is because he's Martin- he does everything to the letter. Therefore even when he has his Captain's voice on, he sounds formal rather than authoritative