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topaz_eyes's book and writing up a little bit way too much about how MY REMIXER WINS THE INTERNET, no matter what anyone else says about his/her remixer.
I've left a couple of happy comments to the sestina, Load Cycle (The Breaking Free Remix), but Harmony (The Music Moving Remix) still knocks me breathless and needs more space in which to besqueed about celebrated.
Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
The Title
The remix shifts the focus from the dissonance between Wilson and Julie to the harmony between House and Wilson (sometimes using the same concepts as the original to highlight the differences in the two pairs' relationships), so it's a natural choice for the title. It also immediately introduces the idea that Wilson gets along with, and perhaps belongs with, House more than with Julie.
The Structure
"Harmony" preserves the structure of "Dissonance," consisting of 13 prose sections and four poetry excerpts. Each section of the remix mirrors the premise of the original, with brilliantly echoed and twisted-around portions of opening and closing lines as well as phrases and other tidbits in between.
It's told from House's point of view rather than alternating between Wilson's and Julie's, which works beautifully. But it's not merely a POV switch telling the same story as the original, and it's not only a masterful remix; it's a gorgeous story all of its own about House's fears and Wilson's helpless patterns and the tremulous step, at last, into something more. This is the House/Wilson story "Dissonance" hinted at, the one I might have tried to tell if I hadn't been writing for a het fic fest. Though I could really have only dreamed of telling it this well.
The Poetry
Like "Dissonance," "Harmony" draws the first three poetry excerpts from T.S. Eliot's "Burnt Norton" and the last from "The Waste Land."
And as for the fourth—
The First Section
We have the title, we have the first excerpt, and then we have the first line, further supporting the idea that House and Wilson have something much stronger, deeper and easier than Wilson and Julie. In the original story, silence demonstrates how far apart Wilson and Julie have grown; in the remix, it shows how close House and Wilson are. In the original, Wilson and Julie don't talk, and they feel the strain; here, Wilson and House talk all the time, but it's in the silences that they really communicate. Look at this:
And in the last line: in "Dissonance," Wilson and Julie flee the house to escape each other, whereas here House and Wilson part ways knowing they'll come back to each other later that day.
The Second Section
It would be an insult to the quality of writing in the remix to praise it by merely saying it's true to character, but this second section offers such great insight into House's mind and the way he views his "work" that I want to say that anyway. I love how the remixer paints everything House does during the day as a series of games. It's incredibly clever in the conception and phrasing alike, not to mention that the entire paragraph mirrors the one about Wilson in the original story at the same time.
My favorite sentence here is the one ending with, "House solves the people around him." So. Clever.
The Third Section
Speaking of clever, how awesome is the opening here? Instead of Julie and her lover sprawling on the bed in the sunlight, we have House and Wilson sprawling on the couch by the TV. The original begged for a comparison of Matthew to House and Julie to Wilson, which this remix fully takes advantage of (*cough* piano kink!) before going a step further: House flashes back to Stacy, who like Julie in "Dissonance" is the one who stands behind the musician and makes love to him afterwards. Here, House and Wilson aren't up to that stage yet, and House doesn't know if they'll ever be. I love the bit in the third paragraph about House's unconventional CD organization and Wilson's clever deduction skillz, and I love even more the bit where House doesn't want Wilson to leave.
The Fourth Section
Here, have some examples of how awesomely the remix remixed.
Also, you know, the original fourth section is three paragraphs with zero House/Wilson interaction, and the remix is almost a page and a half (yes, I have a printout) of unbelievably spot-on dialogue, this barrage of perfect line after perfect line as House "rescues" Wilson from himself. I don't know what I like best: House edging in between Wilson and the nurse, the accusation of flirting where you can just see Hugh Laurie's expression, the shoutout to "Dissonance" with House recognizing Wilson's self-disgust, Wilson's line about the misanthropic hermit, House's insta!diagnosis, the rapid-fire exchange about caring too much—God, I just want to reproduce the whole thing here—or, no, okay, my favorite line is House saying "If you're likeable, then it's not your fault you keep getting divorced." It's all so could-have-come-off-a-script right.
The Fifth Section
I have to skip things or we'll be here all day. (Not that I will admit how long it has taken to pull this post together.) So, highlight of this section: the last paragraph. I absolutely adore the metaphor of Wilson's failing marriage as terminal cancer. I know it's been done before, but I can't think of an example as good as this one, as extensive, as perfectly expressed. Also, in the original, Julie thinks Wilson is weak for not being able to say no; here, House knows Wilson is strong for "hanging on until the bitter end," and it's House who's weak for not being able to admit his feelings to Wilson. That last line, again: So. Damn. Clever.
Favorite sentence: Wilson's hand slides to the back of his neck when he says, "I guess I should go," and it takes all of House's cowardice not to reply, "No, you shouldn't."
Section the Sixth
Here's the dancing again: Wilson dancing attendance on Julie, Julie dancing towards or away from Wilson, House trying to cut in. No doubt now that this is the same person who wrote the remixed sestina. We also see the stirrings of House's suspicion that Julie's got a little something on the side. With a bonus nod to Riley-whom-I-shall-insist-on-calling-Riley from "Top Secret." I love the moment where Wilson stares at the drinks (and how perfect is a white wine spritzer for Julie? Not a wasted detail in here) and longs to sneak off with House but dutifully returns to his wife. And look! It's Ann-Marie and Jennifer making amusing reappearances from the fourth section of the original story, and because it's House's POV, the stories of the women and their offspring are cynical rather than sympathetic.
Se7en (Hey, need to be clever to keep everyone awake, right? Right? *sound of crickets*)
The mirrored first line, the flashback to "when it all began," the mirrored end line: remix thumbs-up yet again. It's incredibly telling, not to mention moving, that after the infarction, it took Wilson falling apart to pull House out of his cloud of self-pity and agony.
Now that I've said something acceptably intelligent, I will add a big YAY to the image of Wilson on the verge of tears, and House coming in to comfort him.
Favorite line: He was on the edge of crying, burnt out and broken, and House wanted to (but couldn't, of course, couldn't ever again) run away.
The Eighth Section
This section features the only shared dialogue between the two stories, just two lines (and two of my favorite lines at that). In "Dissonance," this is the first section in which House makes an appearance, and some of the lines in the remix reflect exactly what I figured is going through House's head as he tempts Wilson away from the phone to run tests on his patient. Like "Wilson on the phone to Julie is a Wilson praying to be rescued," half mischief and half genuine concern/intervention, like we see when House steps in to interrupt flirting sessions with the nurses. I think my favorite part here is the description of Wilson's and House's own ways of making excuses to see each other during the day.
Section The Ninth
For some reason I am completely, totally in love with Wilson's line, "Julie's going to some piano recital tonight. Should be fine." Because I can see and hear RSL delivering it, and because it's exactly how Wilson would react to Julie going off that night in "Dissonance." I hadn't imagined what Wilson might have said if he talked to House about things that night, but as soon as I read this, I knew there couldn't be any other option. It's such a small thing, I know. Please to be excusing the egotistical writer geeking out.
Remix genius strikes again! --
Ten! Ten Sections, ah ah ahhhh
More marvelous House-narrative and insight. More interweaving with "Dissonance": Wilson telling House he needs to get the roses he brings to Julie in the original story, Stacy's departure (more filled out in the remix, naturally, since it's House's story this time).
I laugh every time at the line, Some subconscious thing, he'd call it, if he was the one who lived to psychoanalyze the crap out of things. The bit about Wilson wants, Wilson wants, House wants is brilliant. As is the commentary on House's hyperbolic fear and loathing of boredom ("it feels like nothing at all will happen ever again"), also brought up before in the second section. But my favoritest exchange in this section, and one of my favorites in the whole remix, is:
The Eleventh Section
Yet more lovely mirroring, in content and in sentence construction: the conversation in which something is revealed and everything falls apart so it can be pieced back together. Here, Wilson finally gets angry, and House respects him for it; in the original, Julie yearns for Wilson to get angry, but he doesn't give her the satisfaction. Here, House tries his damnedest to get Wilson to stop talking, whereas in the original story Julie is frustrated that she can't get Wilson to say a thing; again, bringing back the contrast between the two via the theme of communication (or lack of communication) through silence. House bitterly jokes about drinking to get through the conversation; in "Dissonance," Julie's on at least her second glass of wine when she confesses. House walks out on Wilson instead of Wilson walking out on Julie.
For his part, Wilson takes turns playing himself and playing Julie from the original scene. In "Dissonance," Wilson asks who Julie's sleeping with, then immediately retracts the question; in "Harmony," he volunteers, "It's you." In "Dissonance," Julie says she doesn't want to bother fixing them, is past trying; in the remix, Wilson anticipates House's defensive reaction and says he doesn't want to fix anything, wants them to be just the way they are, only more. And House, poor abrasive fearful House, isn't sure he can do it now that the option's actually presented to him.
The Penultimate Section (Twelve)
This segment once again harks back to the original story, the beginning of this story (silence holding them together, with examples), and canon all at once. With added detail: House doesn't just "limit his remarks to the show," he quips about "the crush-factor of Volvos." And more brilliant lines: to House, Matthew is merely Julie's "mystery fuck." When he toasts her for having the balls to end the marriage, which is a great touch, it's the gesture of respect to a defeated foe after he's won the silent, long-distance war he's been waging with her. And it's just a beautiful, delicate moment at the end where House considers how easy it would be to go on as they have for years, but decides to take the risk.
Last but not Least: Section Thirteen
"Soon-to-be-ex-husband" becomes "soon-to-be-ex-wife"; Julie pours more wine, House fetches another beer; Julie presses Play to have sound, House mutes the TV for silence; Julie and her music start again from the beginning, and House and Wilson start again from the beginning. The touching, the sustained eye contact, the kiss, the silent communication as the scene fades to black—love. Love love love.
So, yes. That was—heh—sort of the abridged version. I haven't offered ficlets to people who guess my own remixes, because I think one is obvious and I think none of you have read the other, but I will give an e-cookie to anyone who actually read this.
Remixer-person (and I think I know who you are, if you are indeed someone from the fandom), if you're reading this, if you couldn't tell from this sad equivalent of a love letter, I am still, one week later, absolutely awestruck by "Harmony," both as a remix and as a story in its own right. Every time I come back I see something new, and marvel at the phrasing and dialogue all over again. I honestly couldn't have hoped for a remix as good as this.
topaz_eyes's book and writing up I've left a couple of happy comments to the sestina, Load Cycle (The Breaking Free Remix), but Harmony (The Music Moving Remix) still knocks me breathless and needs more space in which to be
Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
The Title
The remix shifts the focus from the dissonance between Wilson and Julie to the harmony between House and Wilson (sometimes using the same concepts as the original to highlight the differences in the two pairs' relationships), so it's a natural choice for the title. It also immediately introduces the idea that Wilson gets along with, and perhaps belongs with, House more than with Julie.
The Structure
"Harmony" preserves the structure of "Dissonance," consisting of 13 prose sections and four poetry excerpts. Each section of the remix mirrors the premise of the original, with brilliantly echoed and twisted-around portions of opening and closing lines as well as phrases and other tidbits in between.
It's told from House's point of view rather than alternating between Wilson's and Julie's, which works beautifully. But it's not merely a POV switch telling the same story as the original, and it's not only a masterful remix; it's a gorgeous story all of its own about House's fears and Wilson's helpless patterns and the tremulous step, at last, into something more. This is the House/Wilson story "Dissonance" hinted at, the one I might have tried to tell if I hadn't been writing for a het fic fest. Though I could really have only dreamed of telling it this well.
The Poetry
Like "Dissonance," "Harmony" draws the first three poetry excerpts from T.S. Eliot's "Burnt Norton" and the last from "The Waste Land."
Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts,The first verse keeps the themes of music, stillness and silence, but like the title, the choice of lines transmutes the tension of the original into hope; instead of sound struggling to reach into the silence, there is "co-existence" beside the music. Even if the lingering note will fade, House and Wilson harmonize with each other where Wilson and Julie only clash.
Not that only, but the co-existence...
What might have been is an abstractionI like the second verse for touching on how House wonders "what might have been" if he'd said something to Wilson before he got married. He won't let himself try for a relationship with Wilson, preferring it to remain in the realm of mere "possibility" and "speculation." Wilson, meanwhile, keeps getting married with ideal happily-ever-afters in his head and ending up disappointed time after time, looking back after each divorce on what might have been.
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
Neither movement from nor towards,I love my remixer for choosing the lines in the third excerpt—"there is only the dance"—not only because I wanted so badly to find a way to use them in "Dissonance," but also because it's perfect for House and Wilson. They dance around each other, flirting-but-not, just as Wilson dances from one girlfriend/wife to the next. (That's where the sestina, which complements this story in many ways, really shines.) They dance, but neither definitively "from nor towards" each other, until one of them finally pushes the relationship to the next level. And through it all there is "the still point," the stillness, the solid, silent friendship between them.
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
And as for the fourth—
Flushed and decided, he assaults at once;—need anything be said?
Exploring hands encounter no defense.
The First Section
We have the title, we have the first excerpt, and then we have the first line, further supporting the idea that House and Wilson have something much stronger, deeper and easier than Wilson and Julie. In the original story, silence demonstrates how far apart Wilson and Julie have grown; in the remix, it shows how close House and Wilson are. In the original, Wilson and Julie don't talk, and they feel the strain; here, Wilson and House talk all the time, but it's in the silences that they really communicate. Look at this:
What no one else really understands is the language of looks they speak, glances and gestures and the new mess of sandy lines in Wilson's Zen garden that wasn't there before lunch.It's just fantastic, how the first section captures the sort of classic House/Wilson we love and shows how deeply they understand and take care of each other, not in the banter and insults and medspeak everyone sees but in what lies beneath, unspoken. I'm also thrilled with how the third paragraph, Wilson and House sitting on opposite sides of Coma Guy in companionable silence with House reading a Hungarian journal (perfect!), echoes the original scene of Julie and Wilson at the breakfast table with The New York Times, humming with barely restrained anger. The retained phrase "pretending preoccupation" is used to show that Wilson and House watch each other like hawks and read volumes into the smallest nonverbal signs, as opposed to Wilson and Julie's veneer of civility.
And in the last line: in "Dissonance," Wilson and Julie flee the house to escape each other, whereas here House and Wilson part ways knowing they'll come back to each other later that day.
The Second Section
It would be an insult to the quality of writing in the remix to praise it by merely saying it's true to character, but this second section offers such great insight into House's mind and the way he views his "work" that I want to say that anyway. I love how the remixer paints everything House does during the day as a series of games. It's incredibly clever in the conception and phrasing alike, not to mention that the entire paragraph mirrors the one about Wilson in the original story at the same time.
My favorite sentence here is the one ending with, "House solves the people around him." So. Clever.
The Third Section
Speaking of clever, how awesome is the opening here? Instead of Julie and her lover sprawling on the bed in the sunlight, we have House and Wilson sprawling on the couch by the TV. The original begged for a comparison of Matthew to House and Julie to Wilson, which this remix fully takes advantage of (*cough* piano kink!) before going a step further: House flashes back to Stacy, who like Julie in "Dissonance" is the one who stands behind the musician and makes love to him afterwards. Here, House and Wilson aren't up to that stage yet, and House doesn't know if they'll ever be. I love the bit in the third paragraph about House's unconventional CD organization and Wilson's clever deduction skillz, and I love even more the bit where House doesn't want Wilson to leave.
The Fourth Section
Here, have some examples of how awesomely the remix remixed.
Original: "…he cannot bring himself to say no."(One of my favorites of the whole fic.)
Remix: "…he wishes that Wilson would just stand up one day and say no."
Original: "…on occasion he finds himself cornered and praying for rescue…"
Remix: "Who's cornered and who's doing the cornering varies, but Wilson's the one in danger."
Original: "There is comfort in knowing women still like him even if his wife doesn't."
Remix: "'At least I still like you,' House tells him, 'even if your wife doesn't.'"
Also, you know, the original fourth section is three paragraphs with zero House/Wilson interaction, and the remix is almost a page and a half (yes, I have a printout) of unbelievably spot-on dialogue, this barrage of perfect line after perfect line as House "rescues" Wilson from himself. I don't know what I like best: House edging in between Wilson and the nurse, the accusation of flirting where you can just see Hugh Laurie's expression, the shoutout to "Dissonance" with House recognizing Wilson's self-disgust, Wilson's line about the misanthropic hermit, House's insta!diagnosis, the rapid-fire exchange about caring too much—God, I just want to reproduce the whole thing here—or, no, okay, my favorite line is House saying "If you're likeable, then it's not your fault you keep getting divorced." It's all so could-have-come-off-a-script right.
The Fifth Section
I have to skip things or we'll be here all day. (Not that I will admit how long it has taken to pull this post together.) So, highlight of this section: the last paragraph. I absolutely adore the metaphor of Wilson's failing marriage as terminal cancer. I know it's been done before, but I can't think of an example as good as this one, as extensive, as perfectly expressed. Also, in the original, Julie thinks Wilson is weak for not being able to say no; here, House knows Wilson is strong for "hanging on until the bitter end," and it's House who's weak for not being able to admit his feelings to Wilson. That last line, again: So. Damn. Clever.
Favorite sentence: Wilson's hand slides to the back of his neck when he says, "I guess I should go," and it takes all of House's cowardice not to reply, "No, you shouldn't."
Section the Sixth
Here's the dancing again: Wilson dancing attendance on Julie, Julie dancing towards or away from Wilson, House trying to cut in. No doubt now that this is the same person who wrote the remixed sestina. We also see the stirrings of House's suspicion that Julie's got a little something on the side. With a bonus nod to Riley-whom-I-shall-insist-on-calling-Riley from "Top Secret." I love the moment where Wilson stares at the drinks (and how perfect is a white wine spritzer for Julie? Not a wasted detail in here) and longs to sneak off with House but dutifully returns to his wife. And look! It's Ann-Marie and Jennifer making amusing reappearances from the fourth section of the original story, and because it's House's POV, the stories of the women and their offspring are cynical rather than sympathetic.
Se7en (Hey, need to be clever to keep everyone awake, right? Right? *sound of crickets*)
The mirrored first line, the flashback to "when it all began," the mirrored end line: remix thumbs-up yet again. It's incredibly telling, not to mention moving, that after the infarction, it took Wilson falling apart to pull House out of his cloud of self-pity and agony.
Now that I've said something acceptably intelligent, I will add a big YAY to the image of Wilson on the verge of tears, and House coming in to comfort him.
Favorite line: He was on the edge of crying, burnt out and broken, and House wanted to (but couldn't, of course, couldn't ever again) run away.
The Eighth Section
This section features the only shared dialogue between the two stories, just two lines (and two of my favorite lines at that). In "Dissonance," this is the first section in which House makes an appearance, and some of the lines in the remix reflect exactly what I figured is going through House's head as he tempts Wilson away from the phone to run tests on his patient. Like "Wilson on the phone to Julie is a Wilson praying to be rescued," half mischief and half genuine concern/intervention, like we see when House steps in to interrupt flirting sessions with the nurses. I think my favorite part here is the description of Wilson's and House's own ways of making excuses to see each other during the day.
Section The Ninth
For some reason I am completely, totally in love with Wilson's line, "Julie's going to some piano recital tonight. Should be fine." Because I can see and hear RSL delivering it, and because it's exactly how Wilson would react to Julie going off that night in "Dissonance." I hadn't imagined what Wilson might have said if he talked to House about things that night, but as soon as I read this, I knew there couldn't be any other option. It's such a small thing, I know. Please to be excusing the egotistical writer geeking out.
Remix genius strikes again! --
Original: "When they reach her car, she tells him she is going to leave James."
Remix: "It's only after he starts the car and pulls away that House tells him, 'You should leave your wife.'"
Ten! Ten Sections, ah ah ahhhh
More marvelous House-narrative and insight. More interweaving with "Dissonance": Wilson telling House he needs to get the roses he brings to Julie in the original story, Stacy's departure (more filled out in the remix, naturally, since it's House's story this time).
I laugh every time at the line, Some subconscious thing, he'd call it, if he was the one who lived to psychoanalyze the crap out of things. The bit about Wilson wants, Wilson wants, House wants is brilliant. As is the commentary on House's hyperbolic fear and loathing of boredom ("it feels like nothing at all will happen ever again"), also brought up before in the second section. But my favoritest exchange in this section, and one of my favorites in the whole remix, is:
"No, no, it's all right," Wilson says, in that same dry matter-of-fact voice that doesn't expect anything. "Please, don't ask me how I'm doing."*turns to mush* Because maybe Wilson doesn't know House knows Wilson's life sucks unless House tells him, even though he's aware of House's world-class observational skills and invasiveness more than anyone. And maybe even if Wilson does know House knows, he still wants House to give him some sympathy, dammit. Which will never happen. As we saw in "Sex Kills," which is when this all takes place. *heart*
"You're doing crappy," House says. "I don't need to ask."
The Eleventh Section
Yet more lovely mirroring, in content and in sentence construction: the conversation in which something is revealed and everything falls apart so it can be pieced back together. Here, Wilson finally gets angry, and House respects him for it; in the original, Julie yearns for Wilson to get angry, but he doesn't give her the satisfaction. Here, House tries his damnedest to get Wilson to stop talking, whereas in the original story Julie is frustrated that she can't get Wilson to say a thing; again, bringing back the contrast between the two via the theme of communication (or lack of communication) through silence. House bitterly jokes about drinking to get through the conversation; in "Dissonance," Julie's on at least her second glass of wine when she confesses. House walks out on Wilson instead of Wilson walking out on Julie.
For his part, Wilson takes turns playing himself and playing Julie from the original scene. In "Dissonance," Wilson asks who Julie's sleeping with, then immediately retracts the question; in "Harmony," he volunteers, "It's you." In "Dissonance," Julie says she doesn't want to bother fixing them, is past trying; in the remix, Wilson anticipates House's defensive reaction and says he doesn't want to fix anything, wants them to be just the way they are, only more. And House, poor abrasive fearful House, isn't sure he can do it now that the option's actually presented to him.
The Penultimate Section (Twelve)
This segment once again harks back to the original story, the beginning of this story (silence holding them together, with examples), and canon all at once. With added detail: House doesn't just "limit his remarks to the show," he quips about "the crush-factor of Volvos." And more brilliant lines: to House, Matthew is merely Julie's "mystery fuck." When he toasts her for having the balls to end the marriage, which is a great touch, it's the gesture of respect to a defeated foe after he's won the silent, long-distance war he's been waging with her. And it's just a beautiful, delicate moment at the end where House considers how easy it would be to go on as they have for years, but decides to take the risk.
Last but not Least: Section Thirteen
"Soon-to-be-ex-husband" becomes "soon-to-be-ex-wife"; Julie pours more wine, House fetches another beer; Julie presses Play to have sound, House mutes the TV for silence; Julie and her music start again from the beginning, and House and Wilson start again from the beginning. The touching, the sustained eye contact, the kiss, the silent communication as the scene fades to black—love. Love love love.
So, yes. That was—heh—sort of the abridged version. I haven't offered ficlets to people who guess my own remixes, because I think one is obvious and I think none of you have read the other, but I will give an e-cookie to anyone who actually read this.
Remixer-person (and I think I know who you are, if you are indeed someone from the fandom), if you're reading this, if you couldn't tell from this sad equivalent of a love letter, I am still, one week later, absolutely awestruck by "Harmony," both as a remix and as a story in its own right. Every time I come back I see something new, and marvel at the phrasing and dialogue all over again. I honestly couldn't have hoped for a remix as good as this.
