DVD COMMENTARY: Some People Analyze Every Detail
Title: Some People Analyze Every Detail DVD COMMENTARY
Characters/Pairing: Roger/April, Jamie Wellerstein, Mark ...There was meant to be some Jamie/April in there too, but I never really got around to it. It was the days of speed_rent - I'm sure you understand.
Word Count: 1481 Hey, remember when I used to write one-shots about this length? Yeah. Now it's either drabbles or monster multichapter epics. ...I miss the day of average-sized one shots.
Rating: PG
Summary: Birds of a feather... apparently hate each other's guts.
Notes: Written for speed_rent challenge #80. Oh, speed_rent... I miss the good old days of speed_rent. ...Not so much the later days, but the first 100 challenges or so were awesome, and I think I did about every other one. (I'm not even kidding. For certain periods of time, it was that predictable.) ...I don't even remember what this challenge was for. No, wait! I think it was the crossover with a musical that had an actor who had been in Rent. Last 5 Years' ENTIRE ORIGINAL CAST was in Rent. And one of them in the OBC (okay, he was a swing). BEAT THAT. ... I am not over-competitive. Not at all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rent, and I'm extremely unlikely ever to. Shiny? I also do not own Jamie Wellerstein though I wish I did.
Okay, now the commentary properly starts. Welcome to the DVD commentary for "Some People Analyze Every Detail". To be perfectly honest, I forgot I even wrote this story until I was reminded of it. Great, other people remember my fics better than I do! I remember now that I actually wanted to do a series of fics in which Jamie and April were friends and went to Columbia together, before Jamie dropped out and April killed herself, but for some reason that never happened. I could probably bribed to do it at some point when I don't have as much on my plate, because I really do like the idea, but for now, I guess it just lives in this one fic.
"Come on, Jamie, give it back," April said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Jamie a look that was probably meant to be threatening. April never could quite manage a threatening look all that well, though, and most of the time when she tried, like now, she just looked… cute. My Aprils are always cute. Mostly because April has always been Evie in my mind. Writer!Aprils in particular.
Jamie grinned at her, turning her notebook over in his hands and studying the little doodles April had drawn on the front cover with mock intensity. "Why? I haven't even gotten to read it yet." And I forgot how cute my Jamie was too. Then again, ickle!Jamie is cute. Just look at him in "Still Hurting," honestly!
"Don't," April said, still attempting a warning look. She soon gave up and glanced across the loft to where her roommates sat, giving them a quick, silent request for help. Only Mark seemed to notice, and gave her a sympathetic smile in return, but he made no move to help her rescue the notebook from her friend. I love this Mark. I don't know why. Possibly because he realizes his roommates are all insane and does nothing about it.
"Is there a reason I shouldn't read it?" His teasing smile completely discredited the innocent tone. Oh, this is a reason I'd forgotten this story. I don't know whether it's because it was for speed_rent and therefore written in a rush, or just because I suck, but the writing here is crap. Oh God, why? ...sorry about that, just a little writerly angst. I'll try to stop it now. April mumbled a response that wasn't quite audible to her roommates across the loft, and Jamie laughed. "It's embarrassing? C'mon, April, you're a fantastic writer. You've probably never written anything embarrassing in your life." Fact: Every writer writes something incredibly embarrassing at least once in their life. Jamie should know this. (Jamie, for example, writes stories about himself and the girls he has crushes on, and never shows them to anyone. ...Oh, now I'm remembering plots for this verse I never got to write.) He paused for a moment and tilted his head to one side, frowning as if he were considering something, and suddenly the bright smile was back on his face.
"Unless it's a diary?" Jamie flipped open the first page and started to read aloud in a painfully bad falsetto imitation of April's voice. "Jamie Wellerstein is the sexiest person I know. I'd like to-" I was going to go more in depth on her "diary entry." But, y'know, speed_rent... and I never edited by speed_rent stories back in the day, after the deadline, just 'cause I was so busy with the NEXT one... Ah well.
"It doesn’t say that!" April protested between giggles and dove for the notebook, trying to snatch it from him. She ended up colliding with him and the two of them tumbled rather gracelessly off the couch.
And the camera pans to... Roger glowered at the two of them from the other end of the room as April, now sitting on Jamie's chest with them both on the floor, rescued her notebook from him and held it aloft victoriously, while Jamie protested that he couldn't breathe. That sentence? Way too long. I have that problem. I have a love affair with commas. "I have a keen dislike for that man," Roger commented to Mark, never taking his eyes off of Jamie and April. Also, I will admit to having stolen that line from Sports Night. It just amuses me SO MUCH to have Roger saying the exact same thing as Dana. Because, really, Roger is a woman.
Mark hadn't been paying attention to the two of them for the past couple minutes, too focused on fiddling with some part of his camera-Roger didn't know what he was trying to do, and found it best not to ask. Mark looked up at him and blinked. "Huh?"
It somehow didn't surprise Roger that Mark probably hadn't heard anything he just said. "Jamie," he clarified. "I don't like him."
"Oh." Mark glanced over at April and Jamie. Jamie had somehow managed to get April off of him by then, and he flopped back on the couch beside her, attempting a petulant glare that was somewhat ruined by the smile he couldn’t seem to suppress completely. Mark looked back to Roger. "Why not? He's a nice guy."
"Something about him bothers me." ...Alright, and that's a line from Firefly, though I don't think I realized it at the time. ...And once again, it's a line from a female character. About the man she will eventually marry. God, Roger, you really are a woman. And possibly have a thing for Jamie.
Maureen levered herself up onto the counter alongside Roger and sat there, one leg tucked underneath her, the other dangling over the edge of the counter, swinging lazily back and forth. "Is it because he's prettier than you?" Wait, where the hell did Maureen come from? Note to self, establish characters in the scene EARLIER... It's like she just magically appeared from behind the counter. Great writing there, Aubrey.
"He is not-" Roger began, and cut off abruptly as he realized there was no possible way he could win disputing that comment.
Maureen smirked and asked innocently, "Is it because you're afraid he's gonna steal your girlfriend?"
"Of course not."
"Are you sure? 'Cause they do seem really friendly…" Ignoring Mark's pointed glances that plainly told her to stop needling Roger, she added thoughtfully, "And April does really like him…"
"Shut up." My Maureens and Rogers (when I wrote this) could never get along. They didn't hate each other, but they pretended to. They seem to have grown up a lot since then - probably since I started shipping them. But this was clearly back when Maureen and Roger, in my stories, got their primary entertainment by tormenting each other.
"Roger," Mark said carefully, "you know she's not going to-"
"I know," Roger growled.
Mark sighed and set his camera down carefully on the counter. "He's not that bad, you know," he said, lowering his voice so Jamie and April wouldn't be able to hear it.
Roger snorted derisively, giving his friend a level and thoroughly disgusted look. "You just like him because he'll read your screenplays and tell you they're good." The comment had a bite to it that was probably not directed at Mark.
"No, I like him because he's a nice person," Mark said, beginning to get annoyed.
"He's an intolerable ass."
"Well," Maureen said brightly, "that sounds like someone else we know, doesn't it?"
"I'm not above hitting girls, you know," Roger informed her. Maureen just pouted, hopped off the counter, and wandered off, presumably to go find someone else to irritate. Roger rolled his eyes and jumped down as well, heading for the door.
"Where're you going?" Mark asked.
Roger's only response was a shrug followed by a single terse were. "Out."
"Out," Mark muttered under his breath after Roger had gone. "Well that's helpful." He shook his head and picked up his camera once more. This is why Mark loves his camera. It doesn't cause drama.
*
"Please tell me why he's over here again?" Roger asked Mark quietly, jerking his chin to indicate Jamie, who sat with April on the couch with a pile of textbooks and papers scattered over both the couch and the coffee table-or at least the couple of upended crates that sufficed for a coffee table in the loft.
Mark glanced up from the notebook he'd been writing in and looked over at Jamie, then back to Roger, who sat cross-legged on the table while Mark, being sane, sat in a chair at the table. He raised an eyebrow at Roger sardonically. "I don't know, maybe because they need to study because they're in college, and that's what people in college do?" There are too many becauses in a row in that sentence, Mark. Yes, I'm going to blame it on Mark instead of me.
"You didn't study that much when you were in college," Roger pointed out.
"Which is why I'm not in college anymore," Mark said with a sigh, turning back to his notebook and the screenplay that was (at least in theory) taking shape there. "Don’t you have anything better to do than sit around hating a guy you've barely spoken to?"
"In theory, yes," Roger said archly.
"And in practice?" Mark asked without looking up.
"Not so much."
"I thought not."
Roger sighed and leaned over to look at what Mark was writing, and Mark somehow resisted the impulse to cover it with one arm. I can never, ever write with anyone looking over my shoulder. It makes me twitch. Comes from doing a lot of my writing in school, probably, but still. It irritates me to no end when people insist on reading over my shoulder when I'm writing. I'll show you when I'm DONE, damnit. Roger didn't seem to notice Mark's irritation. "That still doesn't explain why he has to be here all the time. Or why he has to study with April…"
Mark deigned not to answer that question and stared intently at his notebook as if somehow that would allow him to forget Roger's presence altogether. It wasn't working; he could still see Roger out of the corner of his eye, watching him and waiting for a response. For all that my Roger's gotten more mature as I've written more of him, my pre-Rent Rogers for most verses (with a few exception) STILL has this habit. He'll get started on something and just NOT LET IT GO. Mark decided that Roger was by far more irritating when he was in this mood than when he actually set out to make an ass of himself. Finally, he sighed and looked up at Roger. "Will you just go do something? Anything? Take a walk, or… God, just stop obsessing over the fact that April actually has a friend other than you or one of her roommates who is a guy."
"I'm not obsessing," Roger muttered, sounding a little put out. He moved back a little bit, and then sprawled on his back on the table, directly in front of Mark. Mark could only stare at him for a second, and then close his notebook with a sigh. At the moment, Roger couldn't be any more distracting if he'd been trying. Oh, Mark, he so could have. In a million different ways.
"If this isn't obsessing, I don't know what is," he said, and stood up. Maybe if he locked himself in his room Roger would leave him alone and he could actually write something. Maybe.
He had only gotten about two steps away from the table when Roger murmured urgently, "Mark." Is it possible to "murmur urgently"? Whisper, sure, but... Oh, whatever.
Mark sighed and turned around to face Roger. His roommate was still lying on his back on the table, his head hanging over the edge so that he was looking at Mark upside down. This remains constant for all my Rogers. They like to flop. They like to be upside down. I have no idea why. "What?"
"Jamie's a girl's name. Isn't it?" I was watching a lot of Firefly at this point in time. That is the only explanation for this.
Mark stared at him in silence for almost a minute. "You need to get a life."
Roger sat up to look at Mark properly. "Well, isn't it?"
He stood there, quietly watching his roommate and searching for an answer that would make Roger shut up. Nothing came to mind. At last, he simply sighed and called across the loft, "Hey, Jamie? Roger thinks you're a girl."
Mark didn't pay much attention to Jamie and April's odd looks at Roger, or Roger's protest that he hadn't said that… exactly… and didn't wait to see how Roger talked his way out of that, simply quickly slipped off to his room. At least now he would have some time to write in peace… for the moment, until Roger got away from the two of them and found something new to obsess over. Mark considered that for a moment, and then locked the door behind him. And the ending could've been better... but I remember I fully intended to add another scene and never got around to it. I don't even remember what the next scene was supposed to BE, though. Damn it. Oh well.
This concludes the DVD commentary for "Some People Analyze Every Detail". I hope you enjoyed it. *CREDITS ROLL... or something*
Characters/Pairing: Roger/April, Jamie Wellerstein, Mark ...There was meant to be some Jamie/April in there too, but I never really got around to it. It was the days of speed_rent - I'm sure you understand.
Word Count: 1481 Hey, remember when I used to write one-shots about this length? Yeah. Now it's either drabbles or monster multichapter epics. ...I miss the day of average-sized one shots.
Rating: PG
Summary: Birds of a feather... apparently hate each other's guts.
Notes: Written for speed_rent challenge #80. Oh, speed_rent... I miss the good old days of speed_rent. ...Not so much the later days, but the first 100 challenges or so were awesome, and I think I did about every other one. (I'm not even kidding. For certain periods of time, it was that predictable.) ...I don't even remember what this challenge was for. No, wait! I think it was the crossover with a musical that had an actor who had been in Rent. Last 5 Years' ENTIRE ORIGINAL CAST was in Rent. And one of them in the OBC (okay, he was a swing). BEAT THAT. ... I am not over-competitive. Not at all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rent, and I'm extremely unlikely ever to. Shiny? I also do not own Jamie Wellerstein though I wish I did.
Okay, now the commentary properly starts. Welcome to the DVD commentary for "Some People Analyze Every Detail". To be perfectly honest, I forgot I even wrote this story until I was reminded of it. Great, other people remember my fics better than I do! I remember now that I actually wanted to do a series of fics in which Jamie and April were friends and went to Columbia together, before Jamie dropped out and April killed herself, but for some reason that never happened. I could probably bribed to do it at some point when I don't have as much on my plate, because I really do like the idea, but for now, I guess it just lives in this one fic.
"Come on, Jamie, give it back," April said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Jamie a look that was probably meant to be threatening. April never could quite manage a threatening look all that well, though, and most of the time when she tried, like now, she just looked… cute. My Aprils are always cute. Mostly because April has always been Evie in my mind. Writer!Aprils in particular.
Jamie grinned at her, turning her notebook over in his hands and studying the little doodles April had drawn on the front cover with mock intensity. "Why? I haven't even gotten to read it yet." And I forgot how cute my Jamie was too. Then again, ickle!Jamie is cute. Just look at him in "Still Hurting," honestly!
"Don't," April said, still attempting a warning look. She soon gave up and glanced across the loft to where her roommates sat, giving them a quick, silent request for help. Only Mark seemed to notice, and gave her a sympathetic smile in return, but he made no move to help her rescue the notebook from her friend. I love this Mark. I don't know why. Possibly because he realizes his roommates are all insane and does nothing about it.
"Is there a reason I shouldn't read it?" His teasing smile completely discredited the innocent tone. Oh, this is a reason I'd forgotten this story. I don't know whether it's because it was for speed_rent and therefore written in a rush, or just because I suck, but the writing here is crap. Oh God, why? ...sorry about that, just a little writerly angst. I'll try to stop it now. April mumbled a response that wasn't quite audible to her roommates across the loft, and Jamie laughed. "It's embarrassing? C'mon, April, you're a fantastic writer. You've probably never written anything embarrassing in your life." Fact: Every writer writes something incredibly embarrassing at least once in their life. Jamie should know this. (Jamie, for example, writes stories about himself and the girls he has crushes on, and never shows them to anyone. ...Oh, now I'm remembering plots for this verse I never got to write.) He paused for a moment and tilted his head to one side, frowning as if he were considering something, and suddenly the bright smile was back on his face.
"Unless it's a diary?" Jamie flipped open the first page and started to read aloud in a painfully bad falsetto imitation of April's voice. "Jamie Wellerstein is the sexiest person I know. I'd like to-" I was going to go more in depth on her "diary entry." But, y'know, speed_rent... and I never edited by speed_rent stories back in the day, after the deadline, just 'cause I was so busy with the NEXT one... Ah well.
"It doesn’t say that!" April protested between giggles and dove for the notebook, trying to snatch it from him. She ended up colliding with him and the two of them tumbled rather gracelessly off the couch.
And the camera pans to... Roger glowered at the two of them from the other end of the room as April, now sitting on Jamie's chest with them both on the floor, rescued her notebook from him and held it aloft victoriously, while Jamie protested that he couldn't breathe. That sentence? Way too long. I have that problem. I have a love affair with commas. "I have a keen dislike for that man," Roger commented to Mark, never taking his eyes off of Jamie and April. Also, I will admit to having stolen that line from Sports Night. It just amuses me SO MUCH to have Roger saying the exact same thing as Dana. Because, really, Roger is a woman.
Mark hadn't been paying attention to the two of them for the past couple minutes, too focused on fiddling with some part of his camera-Roger didn't know what he was trying to do, and found it best not to ask. Mark looked up at him and blinked. "Huh?"
It somehow didn't surprise Roger that Mark probably hadn't heard anything he just said. "Jamie," he clarified. "I don't like him."
"Oh." Mark glanced over at April and Jamie. Jamie had somehow managed to get April off of him by then, and he flopped back on the couch beside her, attempting a petulant glare that was somewhat ruined by the smile he couldn’t seem to suppress completely. Mark looked back to Roger. "Why not? He's a nice guy."
"Something about him bothers me." ...Alright, and that's a line from Firefly, though I don't think I realized it at the time. ...And once again, it's a line from a female character. About the man she will eventually marry. God, Roger, you really are a woman. And possibly have a thing for Jamie.
Maureen levered herself up onto the counter alongside Roger and sat there, one leg tucked underneath her, the other dangling over the edge of the counter, swinging lazily back and forth. "Is it because he's prettier than you?" Wait, where the hell did Maureen come from? Note to self, establish characters in the scene EARLIER... It's like she just magically appeared from behind the counter. Great writing there, Aubrey.
"He is not-" Roger began, and cut off abruptly as he realized there was no possible way he could win disputing that comment.
Maureen smirked and asked innocently, "Is it because you're afraid he's gonna steal your girlfriend?"
"Of course not."
"Are you sure? 'Cause they do seem really friendly…" Ignoring Mark's pointed glances that plainly told her to stop needling Roger, she added thoughtfully, "And April does really like him…"
"Shut up." My Maureens and Rogers (when I wrote this) could never get along. They didn't hate each other, but they pretended to. They seem to have grown up a lot since then - probably since I started shipping them. But this was clearly back when Maureen and Roger, in my stories, got their primary entertainment by tormenting each other.
"Roger," Mark said carefully, "you know she's not going to-"
"I know," Roger growled.
Mark sighed and set his camera down carefully on the counter. "He's not that bad, you know," he said, lowering his voice so Jamie and April wouldn't be able to hear it.
Roger snorted derisively, giving his friend a level and thoroughly disgusted look. "You just like him because he'll read your screenplays and tell you they're good." The comment had a bite to it that was probably not directed at Mark.
"No, I like him because he's a nice person," Mark said, beginning to get annoyed.
"He's an intolerable ass."
"Well," Maureen said brightly, "that sounds like someone else we know, doesn't it?"
"I'm not above hitting girls, you know," Roger informed her. Maureen just pouted, hopped off the counter, and wandered off, presumably to go find someone else to irritate. Roger rolled his eyes and jumped down as well, heading for the door.
"Where're you going?" Mark asked.
Roger's only response was a shrug followed by a single terse were. "Out."
"Out," Mark muttered under his breath after Roger had gone. "Well that's helpful." He shook his head and picked up his camera once more. This is why Mark loves his camera. It doesn't cause drama.
*
"Please tell me why he's over here again?" Roger asked Mark quietly, jerking his chin to indicate Jamie, who sat with April on the couch with a pile of textbooks and papers scattered over both the couch and the coffee table-or at least the couple of upended crates that sufficed for a coffee table in the loft.
Mark glanced up from the notebook he'd been writing in and looked over at Jamie, then back to Roger, who sat cross-legged on the table while Mark, being sane, sat in a chair at the table. He raised an eyebrow at Roger sardonically. "I don't know, maybe because they need to study because they're in college, and that's what people in college do?" There are too many becauses in a row in that sentence, Mark. Yes, I'm going to blame it on Mark instead of me.
"You didn't study that much when you were in college," Roger pointed out.
"Which is why I'm not in college anymore," Mark said with a sigh, turning back to his notebook and the screenplay that was (at least in theory) taking shape there. "Don’t you have anything better to do than sit around hating a guy you've barely spoken to?"
"In theory, yes," Roger said archly.
"And in practice?" Mark asked without looking up.
"Not so much."
"I thought not."
Roger sighed and leaned over to look at what Mark was writing, and Mark somehow resisted the impulse to cover it with one arm. I can never, ever write with anyone looking over my shoulder. It makes me twitch. Comes from doing a lot of my writing in school, probably, but still. It irritates me to no end when people insist on reading over my shoulder when I'm writing. I'll show you when I'm DONE, damnit. Roger didn't seem to notice Mark's irritation. "That still doesn't explain why he has to be here all the time. Or why he has to study with April…"
Mark deigned not to answer that question and stared intently at his notebook as if somehow that would allow him to forget Roger's presence altogether. It wasn't working; he could still see Roger out of the corner of his eye, watching him and waiting for a response. For all that my Roger's gotten more mature as I've written more of him, my pre-Rent Rogers for most verses (with a few exception) STILL has this habit. He'll get started on something and just NOT LET IT GO. Mark decided that Roger was by far more irritating when he was in this mood than when he actually set out to make an ass of himself. Finally, he sighed and looked up at Roger. "Will you just go do something? Anything? Take a walk, or… God, just stop obsessing over the fact that April actually has a friend other than you or one of her roommates who is a guy."
"I'm not obsessing," Roger muttered, sounding a little put out. He moved back a little bit, and then sprawled on his back on the table, directly in front of Mark. Mark could only stare at him for a second, and then close his notebook with a sigh. At the moment, Roger couldn't be any more distracting if he'd been trying. Oh, Mark, he so could have. In a million different ways.
"If this isn't obsessing, I don't know what is," he said, and stood up. Maybe if he locked himself in his room Roger would leave him alone and he could actually write something. Maybe.
He had only gotten about two steps away from the table when Roger murmured urgently, "Mark." Is it possible to "murmur urgently"? Whisper, sure, but... Oh, whatever.
Mark sighed and turned around to face Roger. His roommate was still lying on his back on the table, his head hanging over the edge so that he was looking at Mark upside down. This remains constant for all my Rogers. They like to flop. They like to be upside down. I have no idea why. "What?"
"Jamie's a girl's name. Isn't it?" I was watching a lot of Firefly at this point in time. That is the only explanation for this.
Mark stared at him in silence for almost a minute. "You need to get a life."
Roger sat up to look at Mark properly. "Well, isn't it?"
He stood there, quietly watching his roommate and searching for an answer that would make Roger shut up. Nothing came to mind. At last, he simply sighed and called across the loft, "Hey, Jamie? Roger thinks you're a girl."
Mark didn't pay much attention to Jamie and April's odd looks at Roger, or Roger's protest that he hadn't said that… exactly… and didn't wait to see how Roger talked his way out of that, simply quickly slipped off to his room. At least now he would have some time to write in peace… for the moment, until Roger got away from the two of them and found something new to obsess over. Mark considered that for a moment, and then locked the door behind him. And the ending could've been better... but I remember I fully intended to add another scene and never got around to it. I don't even remember what the next scene was supposed to BE, though. Damn it. Oh well.
This concludes the DVD commentary for "Some People Analyze Every Detail". I hope you enjoyed it. *CREDITS ROLL... or something*