A first time for everything!

[a_belladonna]

So, I might as well get into the habit of using my DW-account (it only took me 10 years!)
And I might as well do so by posting fan fic, the first I've written for almost 10 years, incidentally (though technically this one is more of a ficlet or extended drabble). And as a further first time, it's the first time I've ever written fanfic in Danish!

Without further ado:

Title: En belgier i Korsbæk
Characters: Tintin
Beta(s): None, but I showed it to my boss, who'd be the first to point out any glaring mistakes
Rating: G
Warning(s): None (unless "it's written in Danish" counts?)
Author's notes: It might be even more of a first, this one, as I'm not really sure there exists any "Matador"-fanfiction (a Danish TV series from the late 70's/early 80's about the life in a small, fictional town during the 30's and 40's). And there definitely didn't exist any Matador/Tintin crossovers until this one! I wrote it because my sister is a big fan of Matador, and I thought the world needed some Matador fanfiction, and because I wanted to see if it was possible to combine the very, on the surface, quiet, provincial and slow-moving world of Matador with Tintin's globetrotting and slightly more action-packed world. I guess no one but blnchflr will get this. Unless I decide to translate it. ;)



Hvordan indbyggerne i Korsbæk undgik at gå ud af deres gode skind af bare kedsomhed, forstod han ikke.
Tintin havde nu været i den lille, midtsjællandske stationsby i lidt over 12 timer, og han ønskede af hele sit hjerte, at skinnebruddet et sted mellem Korsbæk og Roskilde snart var udbedret, så han kunne komme videre til København og sin egentlige opgave. Ikke, at der som sådan var noget galt med byen hér.
Middagen på Hotel Postgaarden havde været rigelig og mættende (men seriøst, kendte danskerne ikke til andre smagsgivere end salt, peber og sukker?) og sengen på værelset havde også været fin nok, selvom den store, dunfyldte dyne havde været en anderledes oplevelse.
Men nu stod han på "Algade", tilsyneladende byens hovedgade. Der var kørt et cykelbud forbi, og en hestevogn havde også skrumplet ned ad gaden. Var det det? Han havde oplevet små, kinesiske flækker med større leben.
Bag ham lå en stor, grå bygning, vistnok byens bank. Ja, i ental. Lidt længere bag ham var en kolonialhandel. Fremme til venstre lå en dametøjsbutik, der vist havde kendt bedre dage, at dømme efter flængen i markisen, og på højre hånd en manufakturforretning.
Han kunne skimte en frisør længere nede ad gaden, hvor en bondsk klædt mand med en dansk/svensk gårdhund kom gående. Hvad var det nu, receptionisten havde sagt? Ned ad Algade, forbi torvet og så lå kirken på venstre hånd, "med interessante kalkmalerier".
Så det mest spændende i denne lille, forblæste by var fra den katolske middelalder? Han skuttede sig lidt i den kølige formiddagsblæst og trak frakkekraven mere sammen i halsen. "Kom så, Terry," sagde han til den lille, hvide terrier ved sine fødder. "Lad os se, hvad Korsbæk kan byde på."

Comments

[paulamcg]

I’ve found my way here through a comment by you on delphi’s journal (on a biography excerpt, which you praised beautifully). I can’t resist introducing myself, because I, too, returned to writing fanfic after a long (eight-year long) hiatus – about a year ago, when I also started to finally learn to use my DW.

I actually managed to read this piece and understand quite a bit. Having learnt Swedish at school, some decades ago I got motivated enough to read a whole novel in Danish because it was a present from someone I was in love with. I can hardly assess how good your writing is, but I appreciate Tintin’s assessment of the food and the bed!

[a_belladonna]

Yes, it's a bit scary returning from a hiatus, isn't it? OTOH, I feel a bit more confident now than back then, even though fandom has moved so much since then. But by all means, introduce away. :) It's always nice meeting new people.

I actually managed to read this piece and understand quite a bit.

I'm impressed! Well done! :) Which novel was it, if you don't mind me asking?
And yes, I could imagine that the bed and the food would feel rather exotic for him - my paternal grandmother came to Denmark from Switzerland in the 30's and she experienced a bit of a culture shock in regards to the food. She also never stopped using sheets/blankets for the beds instead of down-filled duvets.
And there's a hilarious scene in Matador where a young Frenchman is trying pickled herring for the first time and obviously struggles a bit with that. ;)
Btw., I managed to find the first two minutes of the series on Youtube where some of the characters and the town is presented: here

[paulamcg]

Replies to your points from the last to the first: What a wonderful atmosphere in that opening of a series! (I hardly watch any TV shows at all, and HP is my only fandom, but it’s nice to see something so different people base fanfic on.) And I love mundane things like that (like herring or blankets, for instance) shown vividly in fic. Oh, half a novel, after all – Part One of Lykke-Per by Henrik Pontoppidan, nothing easier! When a year later I was presented Part Two, the love had faded too much.

[a_belladonna]

Yes! The pacing in Matador might seem a bit old fashioned (it is after all a 40 year old TV series), but to me, it's damn near perfect. :)
I don't think it's available for streaming anywhere, but it exists on DVD and Blu-ray (however only as Region 2). Should you get the opportunity to watch it, though, by all means do it, if you like historical dramas. (It covers the years 1929-1947.)

Oh, Lykke-Per! That is a bit of a mouthful, yes. I recently brought up the Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen in a comment to delphi - perhaps her poems would be of interest, should you want to revisit the Scandinavian languages. :)

[paulamcg]

Thank you (and please add me back if you want to) – also for the rec of Tove Ditlevsen! It’s a pity the Danish young man never cared to introduce me to her work, and I never delved into Danish literature. Now I’ve noticed that my local library has even got a recent translation into English of the first part of her autobiographical trilogy.

[a_belladonna]

Yes! Shame on him - she's a rather important figure in Danish 20th century litterature. I hope you'll like her autobiography (there was also made a biopic about her childhood/youth back in the 1980's, but I don't know how available it is outside of Denmark). :)