rionaleonhart | I Tried To Render 'Ode to Joy' In 'Hmm's Here, But I Was Unsuccessful.

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I Tried To Render 'Ode to Joy' In 'Hmm's Here, But I Was Unsuccessful.

It's been available for a couple of months now, but I have only just noticed this clip of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at the 2009 Proms, on the Orchestra's official YouTube channel.

My brother and I are on it! Only for a few seconds (about 1.00 to 1.05), but there we are. I am the dark-haired girl sitting on the parapet and bobbing her head ridiculously as she plays (I had no idea I was doing that); my brother is the one sitting next to me and playing a blue ukulele (I am always confused when people say Sam and Dean don't look similar enough to be believable as siblings, because he and I look exactly nothing alike). I think it is fair to say that we kicked Ode to Joy's arse.

(Speaking of Sam and Dean: I have now caught up on Supernatural, and I spent the entirety of 'Sam, Interrupted' distracted by the fact that the nurse looked exactly like the hypothetical child of Genevieve Cortese and Jensen Ackles. It was weird.)

I'm trying to write Charlie Brooker/David Mitchell at the moment, but I'm struggling. Their relationship is a bit awkward and sad and ultimately doomed, and in attempting to portray it I have reached the unfortunate conclusion that I am incapable of writing angst set outside Silent Hill. Moving Mitchell and Brooker's relationship into Silent Hill, alas, would make this a very different story. Now that I think about it, it's probably been about two years since I last wrote any angst at all.

Also, there's the fear that, as I identify so much with David Mitchell, I'll attribute all of my characteristics to him without thinking and make him into a self-insert. Not to mention the worry that I am simply not witty enough to portray either figure convincingly. Guys, why do you have to be so difficult to write? It is very inconsiderate of you.

...hang on, why have I never seen this article on Peep Show before?

Mitchell reflects that, "it's a love story. Mark and Jeremy are effectively married to each other. A woman ought to come between them, but she would never succeed."

IT'S SO TRUE. Why is there so little Mark/Jeremy fanfiction? Why? It's a successful sitcom; there have been six series of it; we can see into Mark and Jeremy's minds and hear them having thoughts like 'Jeremy, could you suck this for me? ...Jesus, where did that come from?' and 'Maybe the tension will build to the point where we actually try to fuck each other' and 'She's not his one; I'm his one'; they have canonically kissed; the actors have described it as 'a love story'; there is almost no fanfiction. This is a lack that I cannot understand.

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I feel your fic-related pain. I haven't written any in a year or so, I'm out of practice, so I'm practicing with a different fandom and damn, it's a struggle. Can't believe I used to be prolific at one point.

I have a theory about the lack of Peep Show slash. It's like: shows with blatant homoerotic tensions don't really get fanfic written about them, because there isn't really much to expand upon.

Good luck breaking back into writing! It's so frustrating when it isn't working, but I'm sure you'll manage.

I think you may be right: people don't write pairings that are too obvious because there's less challenge in them. I know that I rarely feel the need to write for canonical pairings, even if they're pairings I enjoy; perhaps that's a similar thing. (And then there's Scrubs, where JD/Turk is incredibly, ridiculously obvious and yet barely gets written.)

Also, specifically with regard to Peep Show, there's the problem of the format. Do you try to keep the point-of-view, hearing-the-characters' thoughts style of the actual episodes? If so, how do you translate that into writing?

Edited 2010-02-02 10:50 (UTC)

I find it slightly annoying but understandable, you know? I've never been into pairings where there is an element of mutual antagonism, I'm always about the friendships turning into romance, but I can see why they're less fun/more difficult to write.

Also, there's the fear that, as I identify so much with David Mitchell, I'll attribute all of my characteristics to him without thinking and make him into a self-insert.

I keep getting nervous like that with characters I identify with. I'm not going to share who all that is, as it's a slightly frightening list of people with absolutely nothing any rational person could connect to each other, let alone me, but I do get the whole "What if this is transparently a self-insert?" paranoia. It's usually much bigger in your own head than it is in anyone else's, and doesn't stick out as much in the fic.

...the thing with Peep Show, it doesn't have anyone I identify with at all. I'm not at all Mark, I'm noticeably less terrifying than any Jeremy I've ever met (for some reason, every Jeremy I've met has been alarmingly strange in some way), and really, who's left? Dobby? Superhans?

And I have this weird difficulty writing things in fandoms where I don't identify with anyone. It's why I didn't do more Derren Brown fic.

Also, I still can't believe you haven't read the Charlie Brooker/Richard Hammond post-apocalyptic AU slashfic on TGS. I'd assumed you used your mind powers to make someone write it.

Also, I still can't believe you haven't read the Charlie Brooker/Richard Hammond post-apocalyptic AU slashfic on TGS. I'd assumed you used your mind powers to make someone write it.

WHAT THE FUCK

....as in, THAT EXISTS?!

Edited 2010-02-02 10:35 (UTC)

Yes, yes it does.

Well, blimey.

I am very curious about the characters with whom you identify, now! I identify very strongly with Mark Corrigan in many ways, although I don't have quite his level of repressed rage (or so I hope).

I did read the Brooker/Hammond fic, but I didn't comment on it because I was a bit thrown by all the tense shifts and the mentioned deaths of Hammond's family (even in a passing mention, real-person deathfic freaks me out).

Should the author somehow stumble across this comment: I apologise. I've got nothing at all against you. It's just that my personal hangups got in the way. I should probably have expected some death, given that it was, y'know, post-apocalyptic.

Edited 2010-02-02 10:41 (UTC)

In fandoms where I write fic, it's often easy to spot. People whose perspective I persistently write fic from. (Although with the Doctor, I stopped identifying with him after getting a good look at how Ten acts. I stopped identifying with anyone after the Martha storyline got to depressing.)

Yeah, I started, skimmed, and discovered it wasn't my thing (I was mostly really confused), but I thought "Wait, does Riona know of this?" I should have realized about the family thing. And the death thing (I'm not spooked by deathfic - I'm only really spooked by stuff that focuses a lot of attention on someone's kids or out-of-the-public-eye SO/spouse, making the kids - even made-up kids - little matchmakers, or that weird thing where I write fic and something oddly similar happens a few weeks later.)

hmm-hmm Hmm HMM HMM HMm Hmm-hmm hmm-hmm Hmm HMM-HMM HHm-HHm

Yeah, you're right - it's really hard.

Written language is rubbish at conveying a tune. It is tragic. (I am impressed by your valiant effort, though!)

Hurrah for ukeleles! And David Mitchell was on QI the other week, he was rather win, as usual.

Also, I think sitcoms traditionally tend to attract less fanfic than drama series for some reason.

You're right, actually; most sitcoms don't get much fanfiction. I suppose that, if you're writing for a sitcom, there's a certain pressure to be humorous; perhaps would-be writers are intimidated by that?

Maybe it's because sitcoms aren't as plot- and characterdriven as drama series? I mean, on a drama series you tend to have plotarchs and character development, whereas with sitcoms you often have a status quo. And yeah, having to be funny is always quite daunting.

Although there's one sitcom I know of, The Big Bang Theory, which DOES get a lot of fanfic and has passionate shippers. But then something as massively popular as Friends, for example, I think that's fairly small fandom- and fanficwise.

Hahaha I spy you. FAMOUS ON YOUTUBE.

It strikes me that Mark/Jeremy is one of those pairings that's portrayed so marvellously in canon that people might not feel much of a need to write fic for them? I get that sometimes. I feel like I could never do justice to the canon depiction of a character or pairing. Or perhaps it's that Peep Show has such a unique style, people are intimidated by trying to replicate it in fic?

I suppose that's possible! Their canon relationship really is brilliant, and, whilst I would really love it were they to somehow to get into a sexual relationship so I could watch Mark freak out about it all over the place, I can understand if the canon is all most people need. The style thing is definitely an issue, too; I was puzzling over how to convey Mark's thoughts for some time when I was writing my Peep Show fic.

That must be nice. I turn everything into angst... I am trying to write a fic about somebody who is quite possibly the happiest person ever (with the exception of a very brief portion of the game) and turning it into extreme angst. Agh! I'm not used to characters going through tragic or unsettling events with a happy smile...

Maybe you should write some Silent Hill 2 at some point to get into the mood?

Good ukelele playing, Riona and brother!

The odd thing is that I actually went through a phase, five or six years ago, when everything I wrote ended up being angsty. Now, it seems, I'm just permanently stuck on 'crackfic and banter' mode.

Good luck with your fic!

(And thank you! I was a bit nervous when the recording people came up and commanded us to play Ode to Joy, as we hadn't all played together before, but it seems it went quite well. (I probably wasn't as nervous as the poor blonde girl next to me, who actually didn't know how to play the ukulele and got dragged into the ensemble against her will.))

There are 6 series of Peep Show? Oh dear, I'll never get round to watching all that.
So have you seen, erm, I've forgotten the title but the SPN episode after 'Sam, Interrupted'. The internet is failing to provide me with this episode so far and I'm wondering if I'm missing anything vitally important.

Well, each series is only six twenty-five-minute episodes long, so in terms of investment of time it's roughly the same as one series of Supernatural. Totally manageable!

I have indeed seen the episode afterwards! It's not relevant to the overall plot, if that's what you want to know.

That entire clip is rather brilliant, and you all did very well as a group!

Thank you! That day was a lot of fun. You might not expect queueing for three hours to be fun, but if you have a ukulele and several other ukulele players it automatically becomes a delight.

I think the fact that you're worrying your Mitchell will be a self-insert means you're thoughtful enough that he won't be (but of course I haven't known you long, so unless there's a bit in the fic where he's worrying about how much time he's spending on YouTube watching clips of Charlie Brooker pretending to masturbate, I probably wouldn't notice anyway*). I certainly thought you wrote Mark wonderfully well, so I say go for it.

I've never actually gone looking for Peep Show fic before, although it's crossed my mind, and I've often felt surprised that I've not just hit more buzz about it, given all the slashiness you point out. The Mighty Boosh for instance seems to have a thriving fandom with plenty of fic.

the nurse looked exactly like the hypothetical child of Genevieve Cortese and Jensen Ackles
AHAHAHAHAHA!

------
* but having said that, I realise I totally want fic where this happens.

I would totally read the hypothetical fic in which Mitchell becomes aware of his attraction to Brooker through his strange compulsion to watch mock-masturbation clips, I have to say. Thank you for the reassurance!

I've often felt surprised that I've not just hit more buzz about it

You're right: not only is there little fanfiction, but few people even speak about it in a fandomish way. It is odd and slightly frustrating. Peep Show, as I understand it, is quite popular; surely some of its watchers must be in fandom.

The standard projection of a British person is, 'I'm a bit shit, me. Oh look, a bird has just crapped on my head.'

British social convention demands self-deprecation. It's a civilised approach that leads to a lot of communication problems with Americans, who think we really have low self-esteem and really believe we're rubbish.

Okay, I totally get confused by that. I keep going "Oh, you're not shit, really! You're wonderful! You just need confidence and shampoo!" And then I get terribly confused about when I'm looking at a genuine instance of low self-esteem and when they're just being British. Or at least English. Because I'm American, where the expectation is that self-deprecating humor be in small doses and blatantly a joke, and "I am awesome!" is a reasonable thing to say.

(Other thing I get confused about - which 'British' traits are British, and which are, in fact, specifically English.)

ETA:People come up to me all the time and say, 'I'm just like Mark'." At which point, presumably, Mitchell runs away from them, screaming.

That did make me think of you.

Edited 2010-02-03 09:42 (UTC)

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I Tried To Render 'Ode to Joy' In 'Hmm's Here, But I Was Unsuccessful.

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I WANT TO LEARN TO PLAY THE UKULELE NOW

EVERYONE SHOULD PLAY THE UKULELE

HAVING ACTUALLY READ THE ARTICLE