#Gerald Schnauz

[randomfoggytiger]

Unrest, Faulty Memories, and Lost Sisters

It's interesting to think of Gerald Schnauz as a cautionary tale for Mulder-- the dark side of a man who lost a sister, then himself.

PARALLELS

In the Pilot, Mulder details his sister's abduction to Scully:

"In my research, I worked very closely with a man named Dr. Heitz Werber; and he's taken me through deep-regression hypnosis. I've been able to go into my repressed memories the night my sister disappeared."

As a child, he'd repressed what happened the night Samantha was taken; and chalked it up to a mundane, tragic disappearance. Then the Lone Gunmen, Arthur Dales, and the X-Files turned his world upside down.

We later learn that Mulder's father, Bill Mulder (or CSM, according to canon's current interpretation), was a responsible party to Samantha's abduction-- either picking her to ensure her protection (Fight the Future) or becoming the dupe of CSM's swap (Paper Clip and Closure.)

Thus, the parallels to Gerald Schnauz.

Gerald is a schizophrenic whose sister was murdered (taken from him) because of his father. Gerald repressed that memory, muddying his conscious recollection with personal blame.

Scully: "In 1980, you attacked your father with an axe handle...."

Schnauz: "...I was institutionalized. I had a kind of chemical imbalance."

In Mulder's case, he wants the Truth about what happened to his sister; in Gerald's case, he wants to heal the sick and twisted.

Mulder: "It says here you have a sister. Where is your sister, Gerry?"

Schnauz: "She passed."

Mulder: "Actually it says here she committed suicide in 1980."

Both men personalize tragedies that pluck at their traumas; and both men's causes are responsible for Scully's abductions.

Scully's life was "ruined" and she was abducted because of her association with Mulder. Scully was, again, taken and almost killed because of the "unrest" Gerry projected onto her. (On a separate note: The writers of Unruhe were excellent, turning away from the obvious parallel between Schnauz and Mulder to focus on the rancor and vulnerability the case-- medical malpractice against kidnapped women-- would stir in Scully.)

Both men also try to "fix" the mind of the afflicted-- in Gerry's case, other women; in Mulder's case, his own-- with a hole poked or drilled into their gray matter.

Gerald Schnauz believes demons are infecting the minds of his victims, and Fox Mulder believes his own infected memory is holding him back in Demons. They are, alike, driven.

One last interesting thought strikes me.

In the latter half of Mulder's Pilot monologue, he says: "I can recall a bright light outside, and a presence." This, coincidentally, is the last thing Gerry Schnauz sees before he dies.

WHAT IFS, AND DEMONS

But what if Mulder had lost his mind-- given up or given in-- ala Gerald Schnauz?

Well, we get a glimpse of what could have happened in Demons: he blames himself for not recalling, then blames his parents for what happened to his sister, then blames himself, again.

Instead of lashing out and trying to "heal" the world around him, Mulder chooses to self-immolate in his efforts to draw closer to the Truth. To, one could say, wholeness.

CONCLUSION

Did the writers intend these parallels? I don't think so; but you tell me.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[nostalgicphile]

Unruhe & Dana Scully

"He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee." Friedrich Nietzsche

For anyone who finds Scully OOC in IWTB, I encourage you to revisit Uruhe. I always got the sense that men who tortured and murdered women were part of the “Darkness” she referred to in the movie.

Here’s the thing: Dana Scully never really signed up to investigate violent crimes against women. She isn’t a criminal profiler, wasn’t banging down the door of Behavioural Sciences. At the end of the day, she is a scientist, curious about the way the world works and the boundaries of physics. She studied to become a doctor, someone who helps people. Her Catholic background recognizes the existence of evil on Earth, but doesn’t necessarily give her a natural inclination to explore the why. Scully cares deeply about victims and giving them justice; she doesn’t necessarily want to explore why Donnie Pfaster killed women, cut their hair, kept their body parts, and practiced necrophilia. She doesn’t care why Gerald Schnauz lobotomizes women and why his disturbing visions are appearing on photographs. Unlike Mulder, who is curious about Schnauz’s “thought-o-graphs”, Scully is done. “What the hell does it matter?” she asks after his initial capture.

The interrogation scene is remarkably telling. Mulder and Scully have evidence against Schnauz – the godamned orbitoclast was found in his pocket. It’s Mulder and Scully’s job to get him to tell them where the missing girl is. Scully gets in his face, aggressively accusing Schnauz and laying out his crimes, with no thought or (undeserved) empathy towards him. Her thoughts are only about the victims, what they went through - what one is still going through. But Mulder gets in his head, quietly questioning him, gently probing him about his father. And it works: Schnauz talks.

When the chips are down, however, Scully smartly tries to talk her way out of her abductions - in addition to physically fighting back or trying to free herself. In Orison, she talks to Pfaster about how she let him live rather than get the death penalty. She screams at Ed that whatever is overtaking him “isn’t him” in Never Again. And, here, as she fights for her life, she tries to understand the evil that is Gerry Schnauz. That he was sick. That he couldn’t reconcile that his father abused his sister to the point that she eventually killed herself. That he beat his father, then invented a reason his sister said such things: it was “howlers.” It’s Scully’s words that ultimately convince Gerry to turn the camera on himself and buy her time.

But now…she’s been there. She’s empathized with evil. She’s looked into abyss. And it’s during these very quiet moments, that we see the toll it took on her when the abyss looked back.

[asifyoudidntknow]

WHITNEY: But you've dealt with psychics before. Luther Lee Boggs, Clyde Bruckman, Gerald Schnauz - I went through those cases and that work was extremely impressive.

MULDER: Yeah, well. I'm only half the team.

[korrektheiten]

Wer kann die FPÖ-Strategie verstehen?

LePenseur:" Diese Frage stellt sich — zumindest rhetorisch — Andreas Unterberger. Wohl wirklich rein rhetorisch dürfte sein Unverständnis sein, wollen wir hoffen, denn sonst müßten wir doch ernstlich Zweifel an seinen intellektuellen Fähigkeiten anmelden. Aber auch rhetorisch vorgeschützte Verständnisdefizite müssen sich einer Hinterfragung stellen — so z.B. im folgenden Gastkommentarvon gerald Ich verstehe die Strategie sehr gut. Auch wenn Herr Unterberger es nicht wahrhaben will, aber die FPÖ hat erkannt, dass es vollkommen egal ist ob wir eine Türkis-Grüne oder eine Rot-Neos-Grün Koalition haben. Beide sind ohnehin schon knalllinks und EU-hörig bis zum Anschlag. Staatsgläubigkeit, Gendern, Klimabesteuerung, Entmün-digung per Impfzwang während man rotzfrech im Staatsfernsehen selbst auf alle Maßnahmen scheißt, offene Grenzen usw. das alles haben wir JETZT mit der ÖVP-Grün Regierung ja auch schon. Der Glaube die ÖVP sei noch irgendwie konservativ, ist ein Irrglaube. In Wahrheit ist sie genau die "Bolschewikenhure" als die sie ein ehemaliger Mitposter bezeichnet hat. Damals hielt ich das für übertrieben. Jetzt Dank Türkis-Grün nicht mehr.  Auch Kickl hat meiner Meinung nach erkannt, dass die ÖVP das "herumbolschewiken" nur sein lassen wird, wenn sie trotz linker Anbiederung in der Opposition landet. Fraglich ist natürlich, ob auch die Bevölkerung das in ausreichendem Maß erkannt hat. Ein Rot-Grün-Neos Regierungsschreckgespenst könnte jedoch mehr Wählermassen mobilisieren, als das ein entzauberter (falls nicht verurteilter) Kurz mit seinen abgedroschenen Werbesprüchen noch machen könnte. Die ÖVP wird erst wieder auf die FPÖ zugehen, wenn sie ihre Machtarroganz verloren und das linke Gesindel entsorgt hat. Aber das ist dann nicht Kickls Problem, sondern das der ÖVP.  Die ÖVP kommt nur angeschleimt und angekrochen, wenn sie um ihre Macht fürchten muss, weil ihre bürgerlichen Wähler ihr angewidert vom linken Kurs von der Fahne gehen. Ansonsten spuckt sie in Machtarroganz nur in Richtung FPÖ und deren konservativ-patriotischen Kurs.  Was die Atomkraft anbelangt: Diese seltsamen Wunsch die FPÖ möge sich dafür einsetzen hat Herr Unterberger schon einmal geäußert und entspringt wohl nur dem Wunsch der FPÖ möglichst zu schaden — sich dafür auszusprechen, wäre in Österreich ein Wählervertreibungsprogramm. Warum soll sich nicht die für Atomkraft aussprechen? Ist die ÖVP dadurch nicht isoliert (die FPÖ aber schon)? Denn in der Regierung sitzt ja die ÖVP. Sie könnte schließlich unmittelbar etwas bewegen und in der EVP sind auch einige Fraktionen aus anderen Ländern, die Atomkraft befürworten. Dieses Minenfeld kann man gerne Türkis-Grün überlassen. Schließlich sind die in der Regierung und werden zeigen müs-sen, wie die ihren voll elektrifizierten Elfenbeinturm nur mit Windrädern und Solarpaneelen realisieren.  Da kann die FPÖ genüsslich zuschauen, wie die dabei auf die Schnauze fliegen und der Unmut in der Bevölkerung wegen explodierender Strompreise weiter zunimmt. Und was die Impfungen anbelangt, so wird auch die Wiederholung der Lüge nicht wahrer. Die FPÖ hat sich nie gegen Impfungen ausgesprochen, sondern nur gegen Impfzwang. Diese Position schließt selbstverständlich auch esoterische Impfverweigerer genauso ein, wie Geimpfte, die die Impfung als freie Entscheidung haben möchten und nicht als aufgepressten Zwang, ist selbsterklärend und gehört eben zur Strategie der FPÖ.  Eine Strategie, die ich nicht so schlecht finde. Zumal aktuell angesichts der Omikron-Variante der Nutzen der Impfung noch an Fragwürdigkeit zunimmt und die Schäden immer offensichtlicher werden. Am Schwarzen Brett der Firma hängt seit dieser Woche auch ein "plötzlich und unerwartet". 43 Jahre, kerngesund mit plötzlichem Herzstillstand. Impfstatus zwar unbekannt, aber er darf vermutet werden. Schließlich erpresst diese Schandregierung, die sich beim maskenlosen Abfeiern auch noch stolz filmen lässt, ja alle Arbeitnehmer unverhohlen zur Impfung. ----- P.S.: Bzgl. Atomkraft stimme ich Unterberger zu. Aber http://dlvr.it/SDkmZl "

[tatooedlaura-blog]

Out of the Car

This third series reads as follows:

Shattered … Desolation … Determination … Us and Ours … Ratty Towels … The Sleepover … Skinner and the Punch … Oregon … Impossibilities ... Something from Nothing

@today-in-fic 

&&&&&&&&&&

Waking them from a sound sleep at 3am, Mulder struggled to sit up, found Scully settled on top of him, searched blindly with his hand to find the cell phone, no idea if it was his, hers, who cares, knocking over the half-eaten bag of M&Ms in the process. Rainbows scattering across the floor, rolling in every direction, he groaned in frustration when he still couldn’t find the phone on the coffee table. “Scully? Scully, you gotta move.”

In response, she rolled, thinking she was in bed, realizing she wasn’t, landing on her hip and left hand, the carpet soft but the three candies she crushed in the process not so much. Still 95% unconscious, she sat there, wondering which way was up while Mulder shifted, finally finding the phone on it sixth ring, “call me back when it’s daylight.”

“Then you don’t care that Stanley Cartwright is missing?”

He may not have been able to remember his own middle name in that second but he recognized Stanley Cartwright’s, “he’s what?”

“Gone from his cell, gone from the prison grounds, gone from the face of the Earth at the moment and if his last words mean anything to you, he’s looking in a phone book right now for your address.”

“How did he get off death row?”

Skinner, attempting to gather wallet and keys in silence so not to wake Maggie, “if we knew that, we’d have him back in custody. I’ll meet you in my office.”

Finally gathering his faculties while he watched Scully shake her head, stand, pick up squashed candies from the floor, “wait. Come here. If he’s out there, I don’t want him to run me off the road or worse.”

“Good idea. I’ll be there in 15.”

Looking down at Scully, tired, confused and above all else, carrying his child, “call me when you get here.”

&&&&&&&

Skinner arrived at the apartment, sense of paranoia building with each mile he drove. Once in the front door, locking regular and deadbolt behind him, he walked up the stairs, following Mulder to find Scully dressed, ready to go, bullets strewn across the counter, clips filled, multiple guns in various stages of assembly, “um, should your boss really be seeing your arsenal?”

“The government approved this arsenal and I plan on taking half of it with us while Scully keeps the other half.”

Skinner looked at the pair, both ready, steady, able and prepared to kick ass, “half?”

&&&&&&&&&&

Skinner would be 15 minutes and after explaining to her what had happened, Mulder stared as she rubbed her eyes, slower to wake up than usual. Flashing back on a conversation, his breath caught as he snagged her elbow, throat tightening in the clarity of the moment, understanding heavy in his heart, “this is it.”

“What’s it?”

“This is when you get out of the car.”

It took a fraction of a second to remember. Understand. Feel cold reality numbing her fingers and twisting her stomach, “are you getting out with me?”

The longest pause in the history of infinity happened over the next four seconds, with Scully already knowing the answer but needing Mulder to say it, “I can’t. Not right now.”

“Then we need to get ready.”

He saw the set of her jaw and knowing arguing would be futile, he waited, allowed words and logic to penetrate, assemble, order and prevail …

Both dressed, unearthed weapons, double-knotted shoelaces, tied back hair, stuffed wallet and badge in pockets, breathed deep, tightened holsters …

And his phone went off, signaling Skinner’s arrival, “he’s here.”

Mashing down fear at sending him back into the night alone, she swallowed her pride in name of their child, “I’ll work background if you take Skinner with you. I won’t leave the station so you won’t have to worry about me.”

Mulder ignored the phone, enveloping her face in his hands for a moment, kissing her lightly, “we will make this work.”

“Of course we will. Now go let Skinner in before he takes down the door.”

&&&&&&&&

“Scully’s going to work the case from the station. You’re going to be with me.”

Feeling they were about to slip into frenzy agent mode where there’d be no talking to them at all, he picked up one of the guns, holding up a finger to pause the prepping, “I need two minutes, all right. Tell me why you’re splitting up? You told Maggie you were feeling fine earlier.”

Suddenly just wanting to get on the road and find this asshole so he could come home again, Mulder tightened his jaw, “Scully’s pregnant and we are not reliving Pfaster so she is staying safe while you and I go do this thing.”

Non-plussed as he could possibly be, Skinner looked to Scully, “that will be explained in the car, please and do I get a vote in this election as Mulder’s new partner?”

As Mulder made his way past, stuffing handcuffs in his pocket, Scully shook her head, “not really.”

&&&&&&&&&

Stanley Cartwright, who made Gerald Schnauz seem like the pleasant neighbor next door, made the Peacock brothers look tame, scared the living daylights out of Mulder in 1991 and downright terrified him now. Cartwright had a thing for living brain dissection, a thing for family members and a thing that made Mulder’s sphincter clench up tight, even 8 years later.

It took nearly four days to track him down, the three of them ending up in South Carolina, Mulder and Skinner catching Stanley while Scully sat quietly in the station, gnawing on the corner of her thumb, praying the location she’d given them, sifted from two days of anonymous tips and careful reading on his prison ramblings, panned out.

The moment the call came through that she’d been right and Stanley Cartwright was well and dead in his third cousin once removed’s childhood bedroom, poor, unsuspecting Janice Appleton’s scalp already peeled back, twilight sleep thankfully keeping her from realizing Mulder could see grey matter, she felt her heart slow for the first time since Skinner woke them up nearly 96 hours earlier.

How in the world was she going to make it through nine months of this?

She needed liquor and to give Mulder a very long hug.

Finding Skinner and Mulder in the lobby of the hospital, leaning on counters while they waited to hear how the victim was, she ordered them to sit their asses down and eat the granola bars she’d bought. While Skinner gratefully unwrapped and began devouring his first food in two days, Mulder gave her a look, calculated something or other in his head, then, holding her hand, led her back into the parking lot, “what’s wrong?”

“Will there ever be one damn day where you can’t read my mind?”

“I’ve been in there before, remember? I know how it works and I know that when your mouth does that little twist, you’ve got something churning. What happened?”

Momentary pause to collect the proper words, she pulled her lips tight, conciliatory and apologetic, “I’m just wishing for a cup of Punch and that you really were the bookkeeper of my donut shop. I’ll be fine as soon as we can all get some sleep.”

“You know I don’t believe you, right?”

With a deep inhale, “it’s just this is the first time I’ve had to watch from the outside in a really long time and I don’t enjoy the view but that’s how it has to be sometimes and I’ll get used to it.” Finally turning a sheepishly seductive smile in his direction, “but at least we have a few more ways to deal with the stress now.”

“Without Skinner, I assume?”

Seduction turned squeamish in an instant, “really? Did you really have to go there?”

Finally collecting the hug he’d been thinking about since he saw her come in the hospital doors, “love me for who I am, Scully.”

“Sure. Fine. Whatever.”

[mappingthexfiles]

Traverse City Police Department / Traverse City, MI “Unruhe”

“You look… troubled.”

[randomfoggytiger]

Developed Psychic Ability and Death

Psychics in The X-Files aren't born with their ability-- they develop it:

Luther Lee Boggs, Beyond the Sea

Meeting the souls of his victims before his near death.

Clyde Bruckman, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

Obsessing over the chance death of a celebrity.

Robert Modell, Pusher

Dying from a sudden, aggressive brain tumor.

Gerald Schnauz, Unruhe

Cracking under the pain of his sister's (and father's) death.

John Lee Roche, Paper Hearts

Creating a connection with Mulder through his dead victims.

Harold Spuller and his boss, Elegy

Impending death allows them to see the spirits of their bowling customers.

Linda Bowman, Kitsunegari

Her dying brother's abilities connecting to and awakening her own.

Philip Padgett, Milagro

Hyperfixating on Dr. Naciamento's death (ala Clyde Bruckman) and his confusion and displacement (ala Bruckman's psychotic foe.)

Mulder, The Sixth Extinction

Breaking down and dying because of the over acceleration of his brain via an alien "source of life" artifact (though not technically caused by death, it's tied into the mytharc which is tied to Gibson Praise which is tied to psychic ability. To be explored in the future.)

And lest she be forgotten:

Scully, Beyond the Sea/The Blessing Way/Elegy/A Christmas Carol/All Souls/Orison/Within/This Is Not Happening/etc.

Being faced with her father's posthumous spirit; and being visited by dying, dead, or returning souls.

The principle applies for Maggie and Melissa Scully as well, though we are not privy to the inciting incidents behind both of their abilities.

This pattern remains the same throughout the series... with the glaring exceptions of Gibson Praise and William. Those exceptions, however, are the lynchpins ("the key to everything", if you will) that illustrate the connection between psychic ability in human beings and their shared but repressed alien DNA.

(Meta coming soon.)

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

[korrektheiten]

Ideologisch übersteuert

Geolitico: Schon Cicero sagte: „Krankheiten der Gesinnung sind verderblicher und häufiger zu treffen als Krankheiten des Körpers.“ Was können wir tun gegen den neuen Hass? Viel lehrreicher als das Märchen von Hänsel und Gretel ist frei nach Theodor Storm das vom Kleinen Häwelmann. Der konnte fliegen, aber er wollte zu viel Aufmerksamkeit, legte sich noch mit den Naturgewalten an und flog schließlich auf die Schnauze. Gerald Hensel, die moderne Version des verzogenen Knaben, erlitt auch ein solches Schicksal in Form einer beruflichen Bauchlandung als Folge einer systematisch organisierten Boykotthetze („Kein Geld für Rechts“) gegen politisch andersdenkende Medienplattformen. Davon wurde in „Frontkämpfer eines neuen Milieus“ und in dem Beitrag „Im Infokrieg“ schon ausführlich berichtet, doch zum Ausklang dieser Trilogie soll es einmal angemessen polemisch um den Menschen Hensel gehen. In seinen Aussagen zeigt sich nämlich, was für arme Würstchen Hassprediger wie er doch im Grunde sind. Gegen die „Zukunftsvergifter“ Paranoia, Verlogenheit, Abgehobenheit, Dummheit und vor allem Arroganz lässt sich aus seinen Schriften mühelos ableiten. Das geht schon los, wenn er die Andersdenkenden als „typische Pegidioten“ oder „Kettenhunde“ tituliert und zur Rechtfertigung behauptet, dies dürfe er, weil die anderen ja so hasserfüllt seien. Oder für ihn zu Ende gedacht: Er darf hasserfüllt sein, [...] http://dlvr.it/NHqmMS

[mappingthexfiles]

Traverse City Police Department / Traverse City, MI “Unruhe”