#unsympathetic jane

[anghraine]

It's always been intriguing to me that, even when Elizabeth hates Darcy and thinks he's genuinely a monstrous, predatory human being, she does not ever perceive him as sexually predatory. In fact, literally no one in the novel suggests or believes he is sexually dangerous at any point. There's not the slightest hint of that as a factor in the rumors surrounding him, even though eighteenth-century fiction writers very often linked masculine villainy to a possibility of sexual predation in the subtext or just text*. Austen herself does this over and over when it comes to the true villains of her novels.

Even as a supposed villain, though, Darcy is broadly understood to be predatory and callous towards men who are weaker than him in status, power, and personality—with no real hint of sexual threat about it at all (certainly none towards women). Darcy's "villainy" is overwhelmingly about abusing his socioeconomic power over other men, like Wickham and Bingley. This can have secondhand effects on women's lives, but as collateral damage. Nobody thinks he's targeting women.

In addition, Elizabeth's interpretations of Darcy in the first half of the book tend to involve associating him with relatively prestigious women by contrast to the men in his life (he's seen as extremely dissimilar from his male friends and, as a villain, from his father). So Elizabeth understands Darcy-as-villain not in terms of the popular, often very sexualized images of masculine villainy at the time, but in terms of rich women she personally despises like Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine de Bourgh (and even Georgiana Darcy; Elizabeth assumes a lot about Georgiana in service of her hatred of Darcy before ever meeting her).

The only people in Elizabeth's own community who side with Darcy at this time are, interestingly, both women, and likely the highest-status unmarried women in her community: Charlotte Lucas and Jane Bennet. Both have some temperamental affinities with Darcy, and while it's not clear if he recognizes this, he quietly approves of them without even knowing they've been sticking up for him behind the scenes.

This concept of Darcy-as-villain is not just Elizabeth's, either. Darcy is never seen by anyone as a sexual threat no matter how "bad" he's supposed to be. No one is concerned about any danger he might pose to their daughters or sisters. Kitty is afraid of him, but because she's easily intimidated rather than any sense of actual peril. Even another man, Mr Bennet, seems genuinely surprised to discover late in the novel that Darcy experiences attraction to anything other than his own ego.

I was thinking about this because of how often the concept of Darcy as an anti-hero before Elizabeth "fixes him" seems caught up in a hypermasculine, sexually dangerous, bad boy image of him that even people who actively hate him in the novel never subscribe to or remotely imply. Wickham doesn't suggest anything of the kind, Elizabeth doesn't, the various gossips of Meryton don't, Mr Bennet and the Gardiners don't, nobody does. If anything, he's perceived as cold and sexless.

Wickham in particular defines Darcy's villainy in opposition to the patriarchal ideal his father represented. Wickham's version of their history works to link Darcy to Lady Anne, Lady Catherine (primarily), and Georgiana rather than any kind of masculine sexuality. This version of Darcy is a villain who colludes with unsympathetic high-status women to harm men of less power than themselves, but villain!Darcy poses no direct threat to women of any kind.

It's always seemed to me that there's a very strong tendency among fans and academics to frame Darcy as this ultra-gendered figure with some kind of sexual menace going on, textually or subtextually. He's so often understood entirely in terms of masculinity and sexual desire, with his flaws closely tied to both (whether those flaws are his real ones, exaggerated, or entirely manufactured). Yet that doesn't seem to be his vibe to other characters in the story. There's a level at which he does not register to other characters as highly masculine in his affiliations, highly sexual, or in general as at all unsafe** to be around, even when they think he's a monster. And I kind of feel like this makes the revelations of his actual decency all along and his full-on heroism later easier to accept in the end.

------------

*The incompetently awful villain(?) in Sanditon, for instance, imagines himself another Lovelace (a reference to the famous rapist-villain of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa). Evelina's sheltered education and lack of protectors makes her vulnerable to sexual exploitation in Frances Burney's Evelina, though she ultimately manages to avoid it. There's frequently an element of sexual predation in Gothic novels even of very different kinds (e.g. Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho and Matthew Lewis's The Monk both lean into this, in their wildly dissimilar styles). William Godwin's novel Caleb Williams, a book mostly about the destructive evils of class hierarchies and landowning classes specifically, depicts the mutual obsession of the genteel villain Falkland and working class hero Caleb in notoriously homoerotic terms (Godwin himself added a preface in 1832 saying, "Falkland was my Bluebeard, who had perpetrated atrocious crimes ... Caleb Williams was the wife"). This list could go on for a very long time.

**Darcy is also not usually perceived by other characters as a particularly sexual, highly masculine person in a safe way, either, even once his true character is known. Elizabeth emphasizes the resilience of Darcy's love for her more than the passionate intensity they both evidently feel; in the later book, she does sometimes makes assumptions about his true feelings or intentions based on his gender, but these assumptions are pretty much invariably shown to be wrong. In general the cast is completely oblivious to the attraction he does feel; even Charlotte, who wonders about something in that quarter, ends up doubting her own suspicions and wonders if he's just very absent-minded.

The novel emphasizes that he is physically attractive, but it goes to pains to distinguish this from Wickham's sex appeal or the charisma of a Bingley or Fitzwilliam. Mr Bennet (as mentioned above) seems to have assumed Darcy is functionally asexual, insofar as he has a concept of that. Most of the fandom-beloved moments in which Darcy is framed as highly sexual, or where he himself is sexualized for the audience, are very significantly changed in adaptation or just invented altogether for the adaptations they appear in. Darcy watching Elizabeth after his bath in the 1995 is invented for that version, him snapping at Elizabeth in their debates out of UST is a persistent change from his smiling banter with her in the book, the fencing to purge his feelings is invented, the pond swim/wet shirt is invented. In the 2005 P&P, the instant reaction to Elizabeth is invented, the hand flex of repressed passion is invented, the Netherfield Ball dance as anything but an exercise in mutual frustration is invented, the near-kiss after the proposal in invented, etc. And in those as well, he's never presented as sexually predatory, not even as a "villain."

[princessbrunette]

kitty!reader is feisty, so naturally — jj is always coming up with creative ways to keep her in check.

the first time he did it, it was played off as a joke. just jj being silly. nothing new. you were bickering, getting in your man’s face merely out of bored and irritation — something he was all too used to.

“stop being mean.” you hiss, narrowing your eyes up at him making him jab you at your waist before yanking you closer.

“oh i’m mean? for not lettin’ you play with my dick in public, i’m mean.” he deadpans, raising his eyebrows like he was accepting the challenge.

“yes. you’re rejecting me! i’ll bite you.” you threaten, raising an eyebrow.

“first of all — no the hell i’m not. second of all — go for it, knock yourself out. it don’t bother me, sweetcheeks.” he shrugs making you glare harder up at him like you’d be able to make him explode with just your eyes. “aw now i’m really scared.” he dramatises, rolling his eyes.

“you want scary? okay how’s this — next time you fuck me m’gonna keep riding it and riding it and not let you pull out so you knock me up.” you stand on the toes of your shiny black mary-janes, getting all in his face ‘til he was pushing your jaw away with a gentle hand and a smirk.

“then you better take that plan b and stop playing with me.” you feel the threat in his voice, very vaguely. like — he was subtly jabbing you not to say things like that if you don’t mean it.

“and if i don’t?” you pur, sharp nails digging into his shoulders making his eyes flutter as he tries to ignore it.

“oh? well — i’ll have’ta just —” he reaches round you and you think he’s going to give you a hard swat on your ass, but instead, his hands dive right down the back of your skirt, grabbing a fist of your cotton underwear and yanking them up— the sound of the fabric stretching to a near tear. you gasp, falling into his chest and erupting into giggles.

“jay! let go, stop!” you squeal and surprisingly he does, dropping the material with a smirk leaving it hanging out the back of your waistband stupidly. he gives your ass a tap before stepping away.

“yeah, s’what you get for messin’ with papa J— remember that. i got new antics now.”

you don’t take it much to heart, so you’re blindsided the next time it happens. it becomes a habit of his, one slither of an attitude and he’s fisting at whatever underwear you got on and yanking it up so hard it hurts, nearly lifting your damn feet off the ground. “what was that? huh? say sorry. go ‘head. say it.” he’ll chant in your ear, like some kind of high school bully in an 80s movie robbing you of your lunch money. it starts to become less funny very quickly, and more of a way to humiliate you — especially when he threatens to do it infront of the pogues. you bite out a response just a little too irritably and the hand that was resting on your lower back will slither down the back of your shorts, twisting his finger round the black lace of your panties.

“hm? repeat that real quick?” he’ll taunt just for you to hear and you’ll immediately shrink, shaking your head.

but much like any other punishment, you eventually find a way to enjoy it — rendering it useless to the blonde as he’d thought he’d finally found a way to keep you on a tighter leash. it’s one night in your bedroom that you’re rolling around with him play fighting on your bedroom floor when you just take it that little bit too far, sinking your teeth hard into his arm to get the upper hand.

“ah—” he immediately disarms you with a sharp slap on the cheek, disorientating you as you groan and fall onto your back on the floor, the fluffy rug tickling your arm as you rub at your cheek. he hovers over you. “awww, what? did that hurt?” he coo’s unsympathetically. “already told you mama, i only play nice if you do.” he dusts his hands off as you pout before he’s eyeing you, sprung with his usual ideas. “matter’a’fact…”

suddenly he’s flipping you to lay on your front making you squirm as you realise what’s coming. straddling the back of your legs, he flips up your skirt and uses two hands to pull your baby pink panties up your back making you wince and mewl.

“ow! stop it!” you complain as he smirks, tongue parked sadistically in the corner of his mouth.

“nuh-uh babydoll. you asked for it.”

you find a way to roll onto your front beneath him as he still hovers above your knees, lots of fighting spirit left in him as you grin up at him victoriously. however, he finds a way to wipe that smile off your face fast when he grips the front of your panties — barely noting the pretty cursive ‘Kitten’ scrawled across the front as he yanks it up the same way he’d usually do to the back.

his own evil grin falters when he looks up to see your expression, jaw dropped and brows knitted at the sensation. it was different, the fabric forced to slide right up against your clit. your hips twitch and knees fall open.

“wow— seriously? this shits doin’ it for you?” he’s amused, giving the panties a couple more rough tugs upwards making you squeak.

“jayj— qu—quit it…” you try to shift, but any wriggling of your hips only makes it worse as your boyfriend has you pinned, continuing to pull up and down.

“i know you’re not tellin’ me what to do, kittycat.” he ticks his head with faux disapproval, not seeming to want to stop any time soon. your breath hitches in your throat and your socked feet kick out.

“jj— really y—you have to— s’gonna… m’gonna—”

he laughs and it’s mean, leaning forward a little as he continues with his repetitive ministrations.

“yeah? can’t get those words out now, huh? shit babe, only you could cum in your pretty little panties just from being bullied.”

[jesncin]

Spirit World, Ride the Cyclone and Death. A weird comparative analysis

Gonna combine my musical nerd and cape comics fixation together for a rambling meta thought. I've been reflecting on how taboo the topic of death is in media after getting into Ride The Cyclone (highly recommend watching the slime tutorial and Waiting in the Wings' documentary on it) but also contrasting that musical with how Spirit World handled similar topics.

Both stories cover characters whose lives were cut short from a tragic circumstance, but while Cyclone directly talks frankly about how each character uniquely grieves over their lost life (and eventually accepts death)- Spirit World uses death as largely an aesthetic to a generic fantasy superhero adventure.

[spoilers for Ride the Cyclone and Spirit World]

Spirit World is about non-binary, half dead half living Envoy Xanthe Zhou, as they go into the Spirit World with John Constantine to rescue Cassandra Cain Batgirl. They eventually go toe to toe with the spirit of a bitter dead poet.

Ride the Cyclone is about 6 choir teenagers who die in a roller coaster accident in their small town. In the afterlife, they are given the chance to vote which one of them they believe should be resurrected.

For Spirit World, do we even know how Xanthe feels about being "half dead"? What does that even mean? They died as (what looks like) a 3 year old, and have clearly aged 15 more years since then. So they can age? Do they need to eat or drink (they're seen with a drink in a Pride comic)? Xanthe keeps mentioning they're half dead and half living, but the comic doesn't seem to want to discuss what that means. How would Xanthe feel that they were essentially given a job as an Envoy the minute they died as a very young child? Was this even a choice?

We've already covered the numerous plot holes in Xanthe Zhou's poorly thought out backstory so I won't go over that again. But honestly apart from the thematically loose "the dead shouldn't be forgotten" moral, a lot of how death is presented in Spirit World feels so superficial. When Xanthe is formally introduced as this cool character with a giant sword hanging around a gravesite, fighting all these hopping vampire creatures... this scene would play out the same if you swapped the setting with a forest and zombies as bad guys.

The Spirit World is less an afterlife for the spirits to move onto and more an MMORPG setting for our superheroes to travel across and fight generic evil beings and encounter eviler, bigger, boss battles at the end. Then there's the poet clout villain whose problems are just easily solved by Xanthe promising to remember her. I've already covered what a lost opportunity thematically this character was in my last Xanthe essay, but this time I want to contrast her with Ride the Cyclone's Jane Doe. I also want to compare Xanthe with Noel Gruber afterwards.

Ride the Cyclone's musical numbers follow each character performing a song reflecting their wishes, and musings on life (this sounds depressing but the musical handles all this with comedy and wit), hoping to prove themselves as worthy of a second chance at life. Of the characters, Jane Doe is the mysterious odd one out. The accident decapitated her, leaving her to enter the after life with no memories and the people of the living unable to identify her.

You might see where I'm going with this. So in Spirit World, Wan Yujing was this famous poet mourned by an entire empire. She only goes monster mode when a handwave-y "time erodes all" happens in the Spirit World and she is eventually forgotten- so she becomes desperate to demand to be reincarnated by the Jade Court. Because her clout ran out. Again, I already made the critique in my previous essay that this villain would better link to our protagonist if she was a queer poet whose poetry was being purposefully straight washed as an act of queer historical erasure. But I want to bring up how truly unsympathetic this villain is. She gets Shakespeare levels of clout but still demands more because she isn't getting reincarnated fast enough. Xanthe promises that as an immortal "half dead half living" person that they will remember Wan Yujing, so she too can be immortal in some way.

I think about all the Jane Doe-s in the Spirit World who don't get to be famous poets that have Empires remembering who they were. People who died anonymously without a past. In Cyclone, the main character chooses Jane Doe as the person who should be brought back to life. Our cast of teens come to terms with the fact that while it's tragic that their lives ended shortly, they conclude "to say that if one dies young, they die needlessly... that is to discount the years we had. We had a life, she didn't. That's my vote." Since Jane Doe has no memory of who she is, it's only fair that she is given that second chance.

I get that Spirit World is choosing these "larger than life" characters as villains, but it's at the expense of their own supposed themes. Of all the people to die and face off our hero as the villain, a character who's essentially an influencer but somehow has an entire empire forget about her anyway feels thematically hollow.

Modern Superhero comics are suffering from a specific problem right now; they're not really about anything. Characters don't feel like people with interior lives informed by the context of who they are. Class, race and bigotry are only touched upon as lightly as possible. Queer characters are now Pride ads with no personhood or flaws. They punch gentrified crime and fight for no one in particular. Even recent adapted media such as My Adventures with Superman and Caped Crusader follow this. Superman fights white-washed xenophobia, while Batman fights gentrified, white-washed classicism. It's why comics like Superman Smashes the Klan, Catwoman Lonely City and Alan Scott Green Lantern stand out so much. It's been a while since these characters talked about anything that matters. Don't get me wrong, slop that's about nothing exists in every industry. But when these characters and worlds historically used to have more bite- it's especially obvious.

If I could be playfully conspiracy theory-like for a second; I believe Xanthe Zhou was pitched so that DC Comics can buff out their Pride Anthology or AAPI anthology with a new younger character. The company will give this character one limited series, but that's it. Xanthe will appear in the larger DC universe whenever big magic plots happen, but that's it. Maybe they'll get a YA graphic novel. I would love to be proven wrong, but the problems with Xanthe are baked in the dough.

Because they don't feel like a person, Xanthe feels more like an industry planted Pride ad. They're designed to be the most palatable and marketable image of Asian androgyny. They literally have no flaws to grow out of, and their backstory makes no sense. They weren't built to be a sustainable solo character.

So I want to contrast Xanthe Zhou against Noel Gruber from Ride the Cyclone. Because they're both queer characters whose lives were cut short at a young age.

In a dramatic lament, Noel Gruber expresses how if he had a chance to live, he'd want to live the horrible cinematic messy life of a French sex worker woman in post-war France. He struggled as the only gay boy in a small town and never got to kiss a boy before he died. It's a look into a queer life that could've been lived, one with all the messy texture and self destruction Noel couldn't have but desires. We get to see how death and queerness intersect into rich, unflattering, gender-messy themes. "I want to be that fucked up girl." Noel sings.

But what's Xanthe's deal? They died as a 3 year old, got brought back, avoided their family at all costs for 15 years, and then had a transphobic confrontation with their family when they're invited to dinner way later. If Xanthe grew up in a transphobic household, how did they ever figure out they were non-binary when they were 3? Could they even verbalize it? Or did they instead figure out their queerness after they died? But how is that possible when they already held a level of familiar resentment towards their family's transphobia as if they've had several fights about it? It's hard to picture a 3 year old having multiple heated debates about gender with their parents for this level of resentment to make any sense.

Details aside, how does Xanthe's queerness intersect with themes of death and grief? Well, it just doesn't. This scene ends with Xanthe's sister telling them that she bothered remembering them even though their parents moved on from their death (which makes no sense since the parents wanted to have dinner with a random 18 year old they correctly assumed was their long dead "daughter" but whatever). Honestly, the only reason queerness exists in this family drama is so that Xanthe has a tense relationship with their family. The story would be exactly the same if Xanthe was a troublemaker that brought shame to their family. Who they are isn't specific to whatever grief exists in the comic.

When people give the critique that modern Superhero comics aren't about anything anymore, we usually think of these comics as "lacking political bite and commentary". We don't often think of something like Death to be political. And even though it is in many ways, it's also a social taboo to talk about. Death is an uncomfortable thing to confront, even in the safety of fiction. It's what made Ride the Cyclone such a difficult stage musical to market.

So how does a modern mainstream comic like Spirit World fit into that? It just sits there in this non-committal way. Yes, this is a story about a trans teenager who died, but only in a cool Superhero Origin Way, not in any way that would make readers uncomfortable. Bury Your Gays is a stereotype after all, so we can't talk about how queer people feel about death. We don't get to know how Xanthe feels about death as a non-binary Asian American. Especially if it's messy. It's the reason why Wan Yujing's character can never commentate on themes of historical queer erasure. God forbid superhero comics be about something.

I think about how, in the original Hellblazer run from the 80s, John Constantine had an elderly gay friend who was diagnosed with AIDS but was killed by a homophobic hate group. The comic openly talks about the sheer amount of gay people dying of the epidemic, a looming threat that informs John's queer life. It's such a culture shock, to contrast these early comics with how John Constantine is written in Spirit World. A character stripped of his own queer history and is at the mercy of incessant slutty bi jokes. Where is the desire to talk about how death informs a queer person's life? The mourning of a lost generation to the AIDS crisis? Something John lived through?

How about how any of this intersects with being an Asian American queer person? Queer people of color are often erased or purposefully excluded from queer history and communities. As a Queer Asian American, what does it mean to have identities that are often perceived to be in conflict with each other? Would your queer Asian ancestors even be remembered? Cultural differences with how you'd mourn your communities? But answering any of these questions means an uncomfortable conversation for Spirit World. For Xanthe. It threatens to be about something.

Which makes it all the more silly that, of the two stories, a musical about teenagers dying from a rollercoaster malfunction is more willing to have that uncomfortable conversation. You should ride the Cyclone.

[forthegothicheroine]

are there any characters from Victorian horror/genre fiction who are essentially superheroes? Had the realization that Frankenstein, Moreau, Griffin, Rappacini, and Jekyll are basically Batman's rogues gallery and yeah I could make an OC hero to go up against them but it feels more fun to pit someone also from that era against them (for the purposes of this I am excluding Holmes and Van Helsing just because they have been used similarly a lot, the Scarlet Pimpernel is a strong maybe although it would have to be a descendant for the timeline to work but a heroic character with some sort of powers and/or otherworldly backstory would be most ideal). Thanks!

I would love to read a book about this!

Horror is a hard genre for superheroes to fit into (although it has been done), as we want to feel that our protagonists are in danger or even totally helpless. I can think of a few antiheroes from the penny dreadfuls here- Varney the Vampire, and Wagner the Wehr-Wolf, both of whom had superpowers and both of whom could be sympathetic or unsympathetic depending on the serial installment. If you didn't want to use them directly, you could have Varney as someone who turned your hero, or Wagner someone who got your hero to sign an infernal contract like Ghostrider (something you're apparently able to do for other people once you've signed your own infernal contract.)

C. Auguste Dupin is another great detective if you want that kind of hero but one less frequently used than Holmes.

One VERY weird option that's at your disposal is Jane Eyre, if you expand the bit where she hears Rochester call out to her despite being far away into her being generally psychic. You could do something similar with Mina's psychic link to Dracula- maybe it turns out to be to all supernatural creatures?

Followers, any further suggestions?

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Reasons to love Sarah Jane Smith:

She is so unsympathetic to the tiny plights of anyone around her

She manipulates people as needed for the greater good

She has an incredibly impressive network of rebellious women around the world she can talk into helping her fight aliens

[retroactivebakeries]

everyone knows that microwaving yesterday’s coffee to have it the next morning is basically as good as a depression diagnosis, on top of it being unsympathetically pathetic. there’s even a laura jane grace song about it! that’s why I’ve developed my unique new method for starting your morning the right way: drinking yesterday’s coffee without microwaving it

[vykio]

2024.09.16 the homoeroticism of holding hands or something

I didn't write a halloween fic but i thought it'd be fun to share the one time I wrote a vampire kevin and witch aaron for jane and clarence

“Don’t be a baby,” Aaron says. It sounds every bit as unsympathetic as Aaron means it to sound. Kevin sniffs, miffed.

“I don’t want to touch them.” Kevin whispers it fiercely but he doesn’t know why. It’s just the two of them in the house, but their trek is secret. If not the residents, something else might hear them.

The house they’re sneaking through belonged to his mother. She was a powerful witch, killed for her magic. Her energy remains coursing through the house.

Kevin turns his phone flashlight towards Aaron when he doesn’t respond. He sees Aaron’s hand fly open towards him, like he’s throwing something. Kevin shrieks and swats wildly at Aaron’s hand. His palm connects, but Aaron moves fast to slap his other hand over Kevin’s mouth. Kevin steps back to evade it as Aaron lurches forward. They both trip, Kevin falling backwards into brittle wooden easels, and Aaron catching himself over Kevin.

When the last of the paintbrushes clatters to the floor, Aaron turns a murderous glare towards Kevin. “Are you fucking stupid?”

“Why would you throw that at me?” Kevin shoots back, equally angry.

Aaron crawls off of Kevin but stays crouched in front of him. Kevin collects his limbs, sitting cross-legged and scanning Aaron for injuries. A minor scratch on his hand that he’ll survive. His heart rate is back to normal, but his blood is pumping fast anyway.

“You are hundreds of years old,” Aaron grumbles, swiping his thumb over his injury. The skin is healed when he pulls his thumb away. “You should not be afraid of cobwebs. It’s really pathetic.”

“Nosebleed,” is all Kevin says to that, and as if on cue, blood sputters out of Aaron’s nostrils. 

Aaron presses his mouth into a thin line and wipes his hand over his mouth when it’s over. Kevin closes his eyes and dips his head back, but not seeing it does nothing for the smell of it.

“Sorry,” Aaron deadpans, like he can help it at all. Kevin kicks Aaron’s knee for apologizing and Aaron punches Kevin’s shin for kicking him.

Ignoring the retaliation, Kevin opens his eyes and shifts them to Aaron. He reaches out a hand and asks, “Can I?” Aaron stares at him for a long minute. “It’s going to dry.”

Aaron rolls his eyes so aggressively but he doesn’t offer his hand to Kevin. Kevin’s about to give up but Aaron lifts his bloodied hand just as Kevin’s letting his fall.

Kevin sits up and grabs Aaron’s wrist with one hand, gently splaying out his fingers with the other. He hears Aaron take a steadying breath. When Aaron doesn’t pull away, Kevin watches him as he laps and licks at the blood on his hand.

A little like this should be fine. That’s probably what Aaron decided—Kevin won’t lose control of his appetite or his mind if he microdoses on Aaron’s magic.

When there’s no more blood for him to collect, Kevin licks down, taking two fingers into his mouth. Aaron presses down on Kevin’s tongue just to feel it, a pink flush rising on his cheeks. Kevin closes his lips around Aaron’s fingers, and that’s when he seems to come back to himself. Aaron gently pushes Kevin back with his free hand until Kevin releases.

“Thanks,” Kevin says. Aaron’s eyes slowly close into an angry squint. He twists his wet fingers in the front of Kevin’s shirt, and Kevin somehow graciously lets him do this without complaint. Choosing battles.

Aaron stands and pats dust off his knees. He looks at Kevin critically, his mouth pinched like he wants to say something. He lets it go and says instead, “Let’s keep looking.” Aaron turns away first. “And get over the cobwebs.”

Kevin scowls at his back and stands. He should have asked if he could have pressed his lips to Aaron’s and tasted his blood that way. They’d never done that before, but Kevin finds he wants to. 

He wallows about it only for a moment, then follows when Aaron beckons him forward.

[endollvors]

I think the reason people find it so easy to blame Mal for the events of D2 is that the conflict it sets up and the one it resolves are different. The movie takes pains to show that Mal is overwhelmed and she’s making a Mistake as a result of the stress and pressure to fit in. Inciting incident is her fight and going to the isle. The problem is pretending to be someone you’re not.

The Conflict that’s Resolved is rescuing Ben from being kidnapped and placed under Uma’s influence. The solution is that Mal and Ben know they love each other.

People who don’t see or are not invested in Mal’s problems/ are unwilling to forgive the Numerous Serious Offenses Mal commits toward Ben see that Ben’s conflict, the one the movie uses as a climax and is the one that’s Resolved is caused by Mal. He wouldn’t be on the Isle if she hadn’t left for 'no reason'. He shouldn’t follow her after she tried to spell him again. He wouldn’t be a target if Uma didn’t hate Mal. If Mal hadn’t used magic in the first place none of this would have happened. If Mal had just talked about her problems none of this would have happened.

The whole movie is kinda Fucked, structurally. Because basically none of the character arcs connect. Ben’s journey towards understanding the Isle only exists in the abstract. Uma’s goals of revenge against being left behind and solidarity with the rest of the VKs only solidifies in the third movie and Only the playground grudge is mentioned in any of the scenes with Mal. Evie’s whole deal could have been well suited to everybody’s arc. Apologizing to Mal for ignoring her problems, coaching Ben on what the isle is actually like, and sympathizing with Uma over those left behind (Dizzy). Jay actually hardly has an arc but it could have been another way of showing difficulty fitting into the standards Auradon set, being too good to contrast Mal's highly publicized not good enough, and committing harm by feeling unable to challenge harmful rules.

Carlos’ arc unsympathetic in the context of D2’s themes I’ll say it.

Carlos’ arc is “just talk to a girl normally” but let’s not forget the Truth Gummy part of his plan. Just considering the magic shit everywhere else in this movie :/

Jay is never connected with Mal’s use of magic to fit in. Evie knows and doesn’t approve. Ben Doesn’t know and Doesn’t approve. And then Carlos is asking Mal for personal magical favors to Actually “solve problems the easy way” like how Ben frames Mal’s actions. This isn’t even addressed because Dude eats the gummy for comic relief reasons and Carlos asks Jane out normal in the end.

[vraisetzen]

Hiya V! How’re you? Hope you’re well! 💛

Out of curiosity, who are your top ten favorite ‘Demon Slayer’ characters and why? I’m really curious!

Thanks! Xxx

Hi Anon! I'm doing well, thank you!

This is a really good question! I've never really thought about my top ten KnY characters before because I love all of them, but if I absolutely have to single out ten of them, with a few underrated ones:

Kokushibo: Need I say more? Or rather, in the immortal words of Jane Austen, if I loved him less, I might be able to talk about him more. His unearthly beauty, his appreciation for talent and skill no matter who he fought, his envy for Yoriichi's gifts, his fear of his legacy being forgotten — all at odds with what is ultimately his all-too human desire to be seen and appreciated for his own skills. Kokushibo has done many unforgivable things in his long, long life — things which not even I can excuse nor downplay — but he is also an immensely complex and compelling individual fraught with at once the ugliest and most beautiful parts of humanity.

Muzan: I have read many manga series over the years, but seldom have I seen an antagonist as single-minded as Kibutsuji Muzan. Certainly, there are better written villains out there, with greater depth and harsher backstories, but the simplicity of Muzan's aims — to conquer the sun and become a perfect being — stands out in a sea of moustache-twiddling foes with schemes to take over the world. That he was born to comfort at a time of Japan's culture epoch, who saw nothing wrong with dirtying his aristocratic hands to kill a lowly doctor; that he did not mind subsisting on humans, but could not tolerate the idea of sitting in the shade whilst other languished in the sun; that he created demons as a tool for his objectives but ultimately saw them more as a hindrance — he is truly a man for himself. As he said in the final battle, was it not enough for the rest of you lot to still be alive? He is not trying to rule over the world, mind you — and even if one were to be so unlucky as to cross paths with him, it was, well, because they were down on their luck. He does not wish to play God, for he does not even care about these lowly mortals; this is truly his world, and we are all just living in it.

Douma: Douma IS brat, y'all. I have always loved unsympathetic villains as much as sympathetic ones, and the second Upper Moon is no exception. Make no mistake, there is nothing redeemable about Douma — he is a cult leader who takes pride in objectifying women as nothing but sustenance. I adore the moment when the light in his dazzling eyes shut off after Kanao calls him out his act. Yet, unlike other delightful sociopathic villains (Tsukiyama Shū from Tokyo Ghoul comes to mind), Douma never fully crosses the line into camp, as in the case of Gyokko; in his mind, he is as sincere as he can be, and he comes across as someone who truly enjoys being a demon and the benefits that come with it. In that sense, he is delightful to watch and even more delightful to hate, and I wished we saw him riling up the other Upper Moons more.

Nakime: In a different world, Nakime would be the perfect protagonist of a psychological thriller/slasher film a la Black Swan. Killing her husband was one thing, but finding the trembling of her fingers post-murder so musically inspiring that she did it again and again — this was a level of artistry that not even Gyokko could fathom in his wildest imaginations.

Rengoku Shinjurō: Reader, I can fix him — was the first thing I thought of when we saw Shinjurō properly for the first time. He is an interesting comparison against Uzui — both of them are retired Hashira, yet the former did not so much as leave a trailing blaze as he fell from grace. How useless must he have felt by the time of Rengoku Gaiden — losing his wife, disgracing his family's name? Likewise, he was no doubt feeling like a mutton dressed as a lamb when Uzui and Himejima joined the ranks of the Hashira. Though his abusive treatment of his children are reprehensible, they also stem from a deeply seated place of mid-life crisis, insecurity, and self-hatred.

Urokodaki Sakonji: There is a wonderful art from Chapter 90 which depicts Urokodaki carving two wooden dolls of Tanjiro and Nesuko — it moves me in a strange way that I cannot put properly into words, only that it encapsulates Urokodaki's compassion, empathy, and kindness in a manner that sets him apart from the typical elder mentor that we see in other shōnen works.

Kanroji Mitsuri: If we are talking about relatable characters, then there is no one I see myself in more than Mitsuri. Though I may not have her generous heart and endless capacity for kindness and love, I understand her struggle of not feeling like a good enough young lady of marriageable age. Her dyeing her hair, eating less and suppressing her naturally bubbly self in a bid to be more likeable — haven't we all been there? Truly, if there was someone in the entirety of KnY to whom I aspire, it would be Mitsuri.

Uzui Tengen: Though he may resent the Shrek comparison (or own it; it's tough to determine Uzui's actual taste when he brushes so close to being trailer trash), Uzui has layers — his flamboyant exterior belies a true concern for his wives and young charges, and if I may repeat myself once more: it is only when he is the most quiet (sneaking up on the shop owner to demand the whereabouts of Zenitsu, feeding Hinatsuru the antidote, giving Suma and Makio head pats) that he is the most himself. His inclination for all things shiny and extravagant is not merely an expression of himself after escaping from his family, it is also a way for him to cloak his true feelings of care — just as a true shinobi would.

Ubuyashiki Amane: There is so little we know of her besides that she was a shrine maiden, but her actions speak volumes. Her arranged marriage to Ubuyashiki could have left her resentful for it was tantamount to an arranged widowhood, but she nonetheless loved and took care of her young husband, and stayed firmly by his side till the very end. The anime does a stunning depiction of this through the eyecatch of her holding his bandaged, disease hand; and that close-up of her impassive face as the explosives set off around the estate, engulfing her and her husband in flames — she has always known what she was signing up for. A lesser person might have left, or ended their life, but Amane stayed true till the very last moment.

The magistrate who sentenced Hantengu: A true underrated favourite, so hear me out on this one; I think this man is easily one of the most righteous of the entire KnY series. He reminds me so much of the real-life historical figure, Ōoka Echizen (played to perfection by Katō Gō in the 1971 series of the same name, but this is a rabbit hole I shan't force on anyone...), who not only exposed Hantengu's lies, but also saw through that pitiful blind man act and gave him a proper sentence. In a kinder world, he could have adopted Daki and Gyutaro; or delivered justice for Akaza — but that is an AU for another time.

xoxo, V ♥️

[nightcrwl]

she knew herself , how she had slowly , over years , become a cat , a wolf , a snake , anything but a girl . how she had wrung out her girlhood like death . a child's violent will to survive lodged in her chest where a heart should be , but an utter indifference along with it .

pinterest. @curextra

* ⠀ ✞ ⠀ lily   rose   depp   .   cis   woman   .   she/her   .   |   *   cue   SEVEN   DEVILS   BY   FLORENCE   +   THE   MACHINE   *   |   JANE   was   just   seen   lurking   around   THE   LIBRARY   ,   wonder   what   they’re   up   to   ?   they’re   a   twenty4   /   1200+   year   old   vampire   that   has   been   in   forks   for   A   FEW   DAYS   because   SHE   FOLLOWS   ARO   WITHOUT   QUESTION   .   their   allegiance   lies   with   THE   VOLTURI   &   given   their   +   SHREWD   &   -   SADISTIC   personality   ,   it’s   no   wonder   they   feel   UNSYMPATHETIC   towards   the   possibility   of   a   cure   &   hopes   the   existence   is   A   LIE   .   |   *   pain   illusion   |

england , 800 ad . daughter to a beautiful woman & a frankish soldier , you are the eldest of a pair by mere minutes. you & your twin , a brother , are perfectly imperfect ; angelic faces , yet untold power twists behind ocher irises .

a coin is flipped whenever someone crosses your twinned path , & misfortune or good luck will inevitably come for them . with this magic , you protect your family . you protect yourself . many avoid your lethal , empty stare . only one man takes an interest . a stranger , a nomad . you are gifted , so he says , blessed with immense talent . he promises to return .

others , ruled by superstition & fear , do not possess the same certainty . they refuse to endure such devilry any longer . you & your twin are accused of witchcraft — you are condemned to be burned at the stake . you are but a young woman , your life cut tragically short . as the fire licks over your porcelain skin , consuming your evil within its holy flame , you wish only for them all to suffer as you do . to know this endless burning . unrelenting pain .

pain . it is your final thought . it is your first thought . the stranger returned , as promised , & the village that turned on you . . . mercilessly slaughtered . you are no longer a young woman . you are a monster . a creature of the night . a god . he saved you , saved your brother , & for that you will follow him for eternity. soldier & servant until the end .

[tsvwords]

Then again they never did listen to me either the ones on the phone old duckies sat in their foul-smelling rotten armchairs sad sack unemployeds left at home with nowhere else to go

Dial them up flick through the script hello ma’am Jeremiah here calling from faint and co insurance solutions are you covered in case of religious destitution or military collateral damage because it hasn’t been that long since the last war maybe we’re due another one laugh heartily to engage with client client has already hung up dialtone bzzzt the phone goes back down with a clatter that people can hear

Jane said Jane said from her desk in a mocking and unsympathetic tone we’ve all got targets to meet you need to try a bit harder love you you need to make them stay on the line because if they sense even a hint love even a pause a moment’s hesitation they can smell out a loser and who wants to buy from a loser no thank you little golden ikon of the Wealth Creator set upon her desk, rocking back and forth, the bells on his hands ringing for success and wealth Jane said Jane said tapping it upon the head you can’t have this one darling much as you stare this one’s all mine and that’s why I’m going to the top of the leaderboard going to the very top

Perhaps it’s the name too off-putting try another make another make yourself into something that works try again hello ma’am tucker calling here from dialtone bzzzt put the phone down as quietly as you can but it still clatters just the same don’t look at the others staring all around you dying inside die alone never closing never going to leave this place

Said Jane listen said Jane there’s some who are born to this the gift of the gab they call it they know how you don’t know you’ll never know

That stung hurt me in the spine in the belly but didn’t have an answer for her never knew what to say suppose she was right after all

— Chapter 10: It Grips My Tongue, My Throat.

[susandsnell]

🌻

I almost missed this one!!

I'm a big fan of all kinds of gothic romances, absolutely morally bankrupt characters (and the fucked up ways they might fall in love or lust or obsession or something in between), villains and foes and psychosexual nightmares, all that good stuff. I do not believe fiction needs to be moral or didactic in this respect. I say this as a preface to what I have to say next because I think it's a genuinely unpopular opinion:

This is an Edward Rochester hate zone.

I cannot abide this man. I hated him when I was thirteen, and I hate him at twenty-five. (I believe I once wrote "he should have gotten crispy in that fire" in some free reading assignment or other.) His Byronicisms all fall just in the wrong way for me, in large part because they are gross in a way that feels painfully real that isn't fun to read about, and they aren't tempered by any traits to recommend him. I find him not at all interesting and entirely unsympathetic. The only time I ever liked him was when he was doing the most with the drag act, but even then that was pretty loaded.

This all makes him a realistic jerk so he is perhaps well-constructed and well-written, but I for the life of me have never gotten the appeal of this dickwad. He's so mired in his own privilege and unearned self-pity that I genuinely find him to be insufferable. This is a bit bizarre to me as I have adored characters who have done objectively far worse and behaved far more cruelly and violently than he ever did, but again, as asserted earlier - I can get into an awful person being awful if they're doing so in a way that's interesting to witness, and/or if this is balanced out by humanizing elements. Heathcliff abuses women and children and kills innocent animals and he's still intensely sympathetic. Sweeney Todd did all of that and I feel for his plight and love his wry sense of humour and capacity for deep love. The Vampire Chronicles' entire thesis is that even the truly monstrous among us are made human by their ability to connect to art and to one another. To clarify, I know that a character need not have suffered/had a tragic backstory to be sympathetic or interesting just as people we know don't require xyz to be deserving of compassion (for instance I enjoy Dracula being The Worst because he's interesting, he's irredeemable with some zazz), but in terms of what he feels and how he acts, I cannot find any avenue for this connection to come in. I know that it's not uncommon as a modern reader to feel horror for Bertha Mason rather than at her (and it's not '''purity culture"/Puriteens/whatever paper skinned English majors are coming up with now to dismiss any critical discussion of books they like to feel this way!), and this plays a large part in my reading, but he's also cruel and dehumanizing to Jane in a way that feels very much like a Victorian era equivalent of negging/overpraise, which strikes exactly the wrong nerve in me compared to other destructive romances I've liked. That's not to say that one is more or less realistic than another, and comes down to personal bias, but I feel what I feel, and this is a free opinion sunflower emoji ask lolol.

I understand Jane Eyre and like most of it. I understand what a huge step it was as a protofeminist work, the reversing of the power balance by having him be humbled and reliant on her by the end, the emphasis on Jane's freewill and self-worth in the face of her horrific struggles and turmoil.

I cannot grasp wanting to be around this man for more than five minutes. Truly no judgment to those who get something out of this guy, but I just Don't See It.

[countlessrealities]

NEGATIVE TRAITS

Bold what always applies, italicize when it applies sometimes / in some verses

aggressive | annoying | arrogant | authoritarian | bitter | brutal | callous | cannibal | careless | cold/cold-hearted | compulsive | controlling | corrects others constantly | cowardly | critical | cruel | delusional | demanding | disillusioned | domineering | envious | emotionally stunted | greedy | grim | guarded | harsh | hypocritical | impatient | impolite | intimidating | irritable | kidnapper | lazy | liar | lustful | materialistic | mean | merciless | messy | mistrusting | murderer | narrow-minded | obsessive | opinionated | over-bearing | over-critical | over-emotional | over-thinking | patronising | proud | remote | repressed | rigid | rules with an iron fist | ruthless | sarcastic | self-critical | self-righteous | self-indulgent | self-patronising | serial killer | stubborn | taciturn | torturer | touchy | traitorous | unsympathetic | unpredictable | uptight | vain | vengeful

tagged by: @shimmerbeasts tagging: @mcltiples [Vero] @imprvdente @uselessdevice @petalsxfallen @technodromes [Grum] @unifythem @dynamoprotocol @dancingdevildemon @fledermuse [Jane] @hxllhound @nerdynanny [Ford] & whoever wants to steal it !

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Craig Simpson

Published: Mar 25, 2023

Agatha Christie novels have been rewritten for modern sensitivities, The Telegraph can reveal.

Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have had original passages reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins.

The character of a British tourist venting her frustration at a group of children has been purged from a recent reissue, while a number of references to people smiling and comments on their teeth and physiques, have also been erased.

It comes after books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming were edited by modern publishers.

The new editions of Christie’s works are set to be released or have been released since 2020 by HarperCollins, which is said by insiders to use the services of sensitivity readers. It has created new editions of the entire run of Miss Marple mysteries and selected Poirot novels.  

Digital versions of new editions seen by The Telegraph include scores of changes to texts written from 1920 to 1976, stripping them of numerous passages containing descriptions, insults or references to ethnicity, particularly for characters Christie’s protagonists encounter outside the UK.

The author’s own narration, often through the inner monologue of Miss Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot, has been altered in many instances. Sections of dialogue uttered by often unsympathetic characters within the mysteries have also been cut.

In the 1937 Poirot novel Death on the Nile, the character of Mrs Allerton complains that a group of children are pestering her, saying that “they come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don’t believe I really like children”.

This has been stripped down in a new edition to state: “They come back and stare, and stare. And I don’t believe I really like children”.

Vocabulary has also been altered, with the term “Oriental” removed. Other descriptions have been altered in some instances, with a black servant, originally described as grinning as he understands the need to stay silent about an incident, described as neither black nor smiling but simply as “nodding”.

In a new edition of the 1964 Miss Marple novel A Caribbean Mystery, the amateur detective’s musing that a West Indian hotel worker smiling at her has “such lovely white teeth” has been removed, with similar references to “beautiful teeth” also taken out.

The same book described a prominent female character as having “a torso of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed”, a description absent from the edited version.

References to the Nubian people – an ethnic group that has lived in Egypt for millennia – have been removed from Death on the Nile in many instances, resulting in “the Nubian boatman” becoming simply “the boatman”.

Dialogue in Christie’s 1920 debut novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles has been altered, so where Poirot once noted that another character is “a Jew, of course”, he now makes no such comment.

In the same book, a young woman described as being “of gypsy type” is now simply “a young woman”, and other references to gypsies have been removed from the text.

The 1979 collection Miss Marple’s Final Cases and Two Other Stories includes the character of an Indian judge who grows angry demanding his breakfast in the original text with ���his Indian temper”, a phrase now changed to say “his temper”.

References to “natives” have also been removed or replaced with the word “local”.

Across the revised books, racial descriptions have been altered or removed, including, in A Caribbean Mystery, an entire passage where a character fails to see a black woman in some bushes at night as he walks to his hotel room.

The word “n-----” has been taken out of revised edition, both in Christie’s prose and the dialogue spoken by her characters.

It is not the first time Christie’s works have been altered. Her 1939 novel And Then There Were None was previously published under a different title that included a racist term. 

Agatha Christie Limited, a company run by the author’s great grandson James Prichard, is understood to handle licensing for her literary and film rights. The company and HarperCollins have been contacted for comment.

==

“The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.”

-- George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

[withlovemuffin]

Review: Jane Eyre, 1973, starring Michael Jayston and Sorcha Cusack

@thatscarletflycatcher suggested this adaptation to me, because she knows I love silly man Mr Rochester, my poor little meow, my court jester of a man. I wasn’t disappointed one whit- indeed, I was actually pleasantly surprised! I’m usually rather skeptical of older adaptations, but this one was a banger.

Let’s get into it!

- small Jane: I adored her so, so much. It felt accurate to her character, and I do believe she’s probably one of my top favorite Young Janes, right up there with Georgie Henley.

- Aunt Reed was, per usual, absolutely horrendous! I loved, as far as adapting choices go, that she was still rather pretty, as she’s described in the book, though perhaps not as young as intended.

- Something about John Reed just felt about right. In most adaptations, he’s just positively awful, but in this one, you can see his duality- the thinly veiled disrespect in his “charm” to his mother, and his blatant disrespect towards others, especially Jane. The wine chugging was a rather nice touch, considering he dies later for his undisciplined habits.

- Mr Brocklehurst was also awful, 10/10 for villainry, loved how he just hands Jane a pamphlet and goes “this tells of naughty naughty children who lie and the various ways that they gruesomely die, happy reading!” bonus points for the scene after the typhus epidemic starts at Lowood where the two gentlemen approach him and say, in a paraphrase, “we’ve noticed you’re a little unsympathetic cunt, so we decided to suggest for you to form a committee!”

- oh, Miss Temple is a dream here. She’s marvelous. I loved her little ways of displaying affection to her pupils, and how she’d make sure to soften any blows from the others.

- Now- Helen. By far, probably my favorite Helen. She was actually sweet and wise and kind. Sometimes I get from the other adaptations that Helen didn’t actually like Jane all that much, but this one took the time to establish “no, they’re friends, absolutely friends.”

- I have so much love for Sorcha Cusak as Jane Eyre. She reminds me a lot of Mia Wasikowska, as far as her sort of unconventional attractiveness, and her softness. I won’t say I exactly prefer her to Ruth Wilson, but she’s definitely in my top Janes. I do, however, like her proposal speech much more than Ruth’s. I love Ruth’s, to be sure, but Sorcha’s feels like steel below silk.

- I think 1973’s Adele is probably by far my favorite. She was genuinely so sweet and adorable. I can’t say much about her, because she didn’t get terribly much screen time.

- Mrs Fairfax: 10/10 would adopt her as an aunt

- Now- my favorite. Michael Jayston’s performance as Mr Rochester is quite unlike any other I’ve ever seen. His attractiveness isn’t quite in his face as much as on his face. His charisma and his facial posture is just charming, the way he quirks his lips at the corners when he’s teasing or verbally sparring with Jane. Completely unmatched! I find it hard to compare him to Toby Stephens because Toby was cast for a purpose, and it was to take “unconventionally attractive” and make it his bitch, and just completely ooze sexuality, regardless of being regarded as an “ugly man.” (get a pair of glasses, you idiots.) Michael Jayston, however, makes Rochester a silly yet passionate man, and hardly biting. I also love that they included him in drag- absolutely wonderful. And the eyeliner was a paid actor.

- The other half of the budget went into finding the biggest dog on earth to play Pilot, I love him.

- I’m not completely sure how I felt about Bertha. I do appreciate that they didn’t try to make her or overstate that she was “exotic” like 2006 did. I think they went the right route by making her seem pathetic- her catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror when she tears Jane’s veil, her wailing about how Rochester said he’d take her home, etc. I almost felt bad for her, but also another portion of the budget went into the audio quality of her laugh wafting throughout Thornfield.

- I almost forgot- I adored this Blanche. So biting! So beautiful! She’s actually dark headed and not just perpetuating the mean blonde queen bee role!

- My dear, dear St John- you are not 29, you are 30 going on 68. Seriously, I’ve never seen a man so confusing looking. He was handsome, but in like a slight uncanny way.

- I also loved Diana and Mary so much, so so pretty and sweet. 10/10, would collapse on their porch

- Honorable Hannah mention, i feel like she and Mrs fairfax would get on like a house on fire (oops, too soon?)

Well, there we have it! My review of 1973- I was absolutely and thoroughly charmed. Thank you, to my friend, for allowing me to commentate in her DMs, maybe one day I’ll post screenshots and snippets of it, or she can if she so pleases XD

[randomfoggytiger]

X-Files Collector's Edition: MOTW but Rinse and Repeat

MOTWs were among the best of The X-Files episodes... but what if those monsters had follow up episodes?

Honorable mention: @paperheartsarts/Paper_hearts_and_homemade_arts's series If You Will Let Me (which is still on-going) which follows Padgett's demon pursuing Scully even after death. Horrifying hallucinations and real, physical danger nearly claim her and Mulder's lives.

Loose chronological order below~

Pattie's It and Them

""Mulder, you're not going to believe this... "

"I believe in all kinds of things, Scully." He looked at his watch. "Isn't it past your bed time?"

"Jane Doe appears to have become John Doe." She kept her eyes on the infant and waited for her partner's reply. "Remember the Amish outside of Steveston?"

"What?" Mulder sat up. Now HE was fully awake.""

Mulder and Scully do their best to aid an ex-Kindred cult member's baby that she leaves on Scully's doorstep.

Offspring

""The doctor ushered Mulder and Scully into a small office where he had a desk. "I know. You must think this is just something in the lake water, or regular hepatitis. But this kid puked up what looks to be a flatworm."

"A fluke." Mulder nodded to Scully.

"Yes, a fluke. Last month, we removed one from a woman's liver, and it wasn't a typical fluke. We embalmed it until we could find someone to identify it. Then, when Kevin Johnson was brought here yesterday, we had our second fluke. It's in an aquarium in the same lab. as the one we embalmed.""

S4: Flukeman-infested lake.

Genetic Appetite

""Scully was adamant. "We are staying." She knew she wasn't going to have a good night's sleep when Mulder started thinking aloud in the lobby of the apartment building.

"You don't suppose he... "

Scully's patience was wearing thin. "What? Don't suppose he what?"

"Mated. Well, it's not that impossible to believe, Scully. All beings have the urge to procreate. Maybe he could get through a date without eating.""

Liver extractions and bodies are piling up... but Tooms is dead. Mulder and Scully track down an unexpected source.

EllieL/Ellie's Rendering Judgment of Chthonic Gods

""Atropos has cut the line. You saw it happen. Whatever you may see that she has to do in the future, the decision was made that she shall not continue. It cannot be undone, not by my will nor my husband's."

"You could give her a choice. She's coming here unguided, and has dipped her hand in the river and tasted it. That must change matters."

"That--that does change matters, somewhat. She was a good woman in life, and I am not unsympathetic to her or what you see of her future. And she still has a choice where to drink. Let her make that choice, and perhaps she'll make the decision for us.""

Scully's nurse in One Breath bargained indirectly with her son-in-law, Death, for her patient's life. Invisible deals are struck, allowing Scully both to live and to see her father one last time.

JET/Jesemie's Evil Twin/eviljesemie's Things That Lie Outside

""He must have been the one to apologize but has no idea what he really said. After the family leaves, he realizes her presence behind him. Turning, he catches an expression on her face so protective of him he almost steps back. She straightens up, goes to grab their files off the internal audit conference table.

It might not have been there at all, that look. Probably not. Almost 100% guaranteed it was not.

He misses his sister at this moment, he realizes, because in every alternate world he's imagined, every place Samantha is alive and well and his sister, she has grown up to be the kind of person he would tell about that look, and he might let something into his voice that she would suspect, and it would be a secret between them.""

Post Paper Hearts Scully finds the last girl, setting her partner free from this last horrific hold.

Justin Glasser's (xphilefic) Kevin

""Miss Scully, this is Nathan, Kevin's brother. I talked to you today and--Miss Scully, I don't know if this is, like, your jurisdiction or what, but if there's anything you can do--he's gone, and we can't--I don't think we can find him. He said he was afraid of the moloch and I didn't believe him . . . Miss Scully, please." Click. The machine whirred in rewind, and shut off, light glowing placidly.

"You don't know what that is?" she asked.

Mulder shrugged. "Can't know everything, I guess.""

S5? Scully is called two years later when Kevin Kryder goes missing. While she and Mulder locate Kevin, his new brother is taken as well... and killed.

msk's (Ao3), bcfan’s, maybe_amanda/MaybeAmanda's (Site, LiveJournal), Tesla's (XLibris), Amy's, Kmom's, Lucy Marchmont's

Jabberwocky

""Sybil, have you go got a crucifix, a cross, an article or symbol of your faith on or about your person? Necklace, earrings, scapular, sacred vestments of any sort? Bottle of holy water, maybe?..."

Sybil shook her head. "I have another pair of duck earrings in my purse. How's that?"

"Probably not enough."

"Mulder," Scully said, her voice sounding harsh even to her own ears, "I'm giving you three seconds to start making some sense. One, two-"

"The glyphs," he said. "It's like a welcome mat. Only instead of saying *Welcome,* or *The Addams Family,* this is more like, *Vlad lives here. Trespassers will be eaten*.""

S6 (or S7) Mulder takes Scully back to Texas for another undead case, courtesy of Frohike. Between her jealousy of a flirty, bubbly redhead, pique at Mulder's constant Sheriff Hartwell teasing, enjoyment at an incredibly fancy hotel her partner booked specifically for her, and fear of said flirty redhead's two horrific insurance brother-bosses, Scully is torn between annoyance and affection. She is, however, able to pull it together just in time for the crazy finale involving her partner, a vampire feast auction, and a law enforcement bust led by the vampire Sheriff himself.

Maria Nicole’s

Stand by the Window

""Once they had tracked him down, only his threatened cascade of disclosure kept them at a distance, growling and snapping.

A few years ago he might have fought them, might have tried to disappear for good, or else oust Strughold. Now he was simply tired of it all.

And so he was finally forced to live the life he had pretended to have all along.""

The Well-Manicured Man survived FTF's car bomb, fending off his compatriots with threats of exposure. Plunging himself into caged retirement, he awaits the inevitable, befriending his spy-housekeeper leading up to the events of One Son.

Bridge

""So what do you want to call them? Little bug-boys?"

"Bug-ees. Buggers. The deadened. The ungrateful dead. Deadheads. Hey, yeah...deadheads."

She looked like she was struggling to suppress the smile, but it came out anyway. "All right, so we have the disappearance of these deadheads from the previous case. We have two people dead now, with some sort of puncture wound in the back of their neck. Have you considered that you were hallucinating?"

"I thought you just said you believed--" She shook her head. "That Pincus injected those people, without a doubt. But what if...you've been assuming that he's a large insect-like creature who can trick others into believing he's human. What if it's the other way around? What if he's a human who can trick others into believing he's a monster?""

Field Trip Mulder and Scully ditch their quarantine early, experiencing unexpectedly peaceful and soul-searching mind-melds while investigating a case very like Folie a Deux. The depths of Scully's plumbed from the depths of an ocean, Pincus and snake venom, and rescuing Mulder from himself-- this is a gorgeous read: more exploratorily honest than neck-stiffeningly intense.

Wylfcynne's Imagine

""He headed for the door, then hesitantly turned. "Agent Scully?"

She turned, surprised by his tone. "Yes?"

"You want to know why the X Files and the two of you have been shut down so hard?"

She stared at him. "We know why."

"Because you terrify them, Scully, with your courage, your integrity and your uncompromising principles. You terrify me and I'm on your side. Imagine how they feel.""

Post S.R. 819 Mulder and Scully are captured by a cult. He's infected with the black oil while Scully frees herself enough to call in Skinner and the cavalry. She then must save her partner, ruthlessly torturing the alien virus in his body to death. Everyone else stands in awe.

Joann Humby's The Pattern

""She kept her voice professionally mild even when she finally changed the subject. "Skinner said that Diana Fowley worked for Patterson."

He let his hand rest on her shoulder, admiring her courage. "I effectively introduced them. He liked her." He ignored the way that Scully flinched, and was grateful that she bit down her instinctive response to his remark. Talking was hard.... "After the Props case, he helped her to get funding for her research. In San Francisco," he added, not quite disguising the amusement in his voice. If Scully could be courageous then so could he. "About as far away from me as he could manage."

"But you still left the ISU?"

"Reggie was willing to take me off Patterson's hands. He wasn't in a position to say no."

"And you and Diana?"

"It suited us. A couple of thousand miles apart.""

Post Amor Fati Mulder's history with Monty Propps becomes relevant again. He slowly unravels the current mystery whilst reflecting on his past with Diana and his possible future with Scully, IVF, and angels. (There are even sections from Diana's POV during her early relationship which delves into her assignment to California and her recruitment parallel to Mulder's discovery of the X-Files.)

aka Jake/ aka_Jake ’s (Gossamer) Reprise

""She turned to face him, laundry abandoned. “I don’t have to tell you, we saw Eugene Tooms chopped into a million pieces by an escalator.”

“I noticed that.”

“City Square thoroughly cleaned the area before the shopping mall reopened. They sent us their bill.”

“Maybe they missed a spot.”

“And what, Tooms grew a new body from a finger or a pinky toe?”

Mulder tapped the end of his nose.

“No.” She shook her head. “It’s impossible.""

Post S11 Mulder and Scully battle another Eugene Tooms-like case... in fact, it is Tooms, who just won't die.

Gefangener (txt)

""Opponents of the death penalty often cite that capital punishment is not a deterrent to murder, those executed are usually poor, and many innocent people have been wrongly sentenced to death.

Tell it to someone who cares.

...Special Agent Fox Mulder has not seen Gerry Schnauz since testifying at his trial. He isn't sympathetic to the fact that Schnauz is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, who, according to his court-appointed lawyer, belongs in Melvoin Psychiatric Hospital, not a maximum security prison.

Fox Mulder wishes Gerry Schnauz had committed his crimes in one of the forty states that gas, electrocute or inject its serial killers.""

AU-- Post Unruhe Mulder darkly reflects on Schnauz not getting the death penalty while Scully lies forever in bed, her mind ruined.

@admiralty-xfd/admiralty's Novam Domum

""Seventeen year old Daisy Peacock stepped on the gas but wasn’t certain where she was headed. The radio blasted Del Shannon and she rolled her window down. The smell inside the car was awful.

...Edmund Peacock sat stoic in the front seat, staring straight ahead, not saying anything. He never said anything. And her mother laid in back, blood slick down her thighs, screaming not out of pain but of rage. The noise was akin to the whinnying of a horse, or cattle being zapped. All she wanted was to make the sound stop the way Father would when the babies came out all wrong. 

Waiting was her only option. Mother wasn’t long for this world, anyway."" 

Post S11 Mulder and Scully were settling into their new lives as expecting parents when another family from their blast blows in, searching for their own place to call Home.

AUs 

Adam Webb's Pyre

""As the casket stopped in front of him while loading documentation was double checked. Mulder saw L'Ively holding up his palm, displaying that it was empty in the manner of a theatrical magician. The next instant a tiny fluttering orange fire blossomed from his extended index finger. In the space of a second its intensity quadrupled, flaring into a pencil-thin lance of white hot flame. Coming from the casket a high-pitched beeping sound filled the air, indicating that the rise in temperature had been registered by in-built sensors. L'Ively appeared unconcerned, either with the fact that his pyrokinetic display had tripped the alarm or that his skin was being consumed. Mulder had a fleeting vision of the wiry little Englishman's body repairing itself and staggering out of the burning wreckage of a downed aircraft. It was a fact stranger than fiction that Lively had already survived three deaths. But all of those had been death by fire, Mulder reminded himself, falling from a great height would prove as fatal to L'Ively as it would to anyone else. Grinning like a hob-goblin L'Ively used the residue of his own melting flesh to draw a large greasy brown heart shape onto the glass, and through it blew a kiss to Scully. Then folding his blackened finger into his palm he abruptly banished the fire.""

Post Paper Clip Cecil L'Ively cut a deal with the government-- because, of course-- and puts Scully in a coma. Mulder and Phoebe team up to take him down, healing a few old wounds and earning a bit of redemption.

Thalia D'Muse's Nowhere to Hide

""The cabin is set back in the woods, two miles from the nearest dwelling. It is perfect. Your screams will be for my ears only. A sweet symphony with me as the sole audience. I shudder in anticipation as I remember your voice: a deep, sensuous alto, caressing my ears like a sultry torch song. I want to hear that voice again so badly. I want to hear that silky-smooth voice speak my name. I want to hear it scream, cry, beg for mercy. These are the sounds that will be music to my ears.

Sleep now, my Dana. We will be there soon.""

Alternating between the madness of Pfaster and the desperation of Mulder, this post Irresistible fic toys with an AU: if Donnie Pfaster were able to break free and recapture his last victim.

@slippinmickeys/Slippin' Mickeys's (Ao3) Unnamed (Ao3)

""Mulder felt like he’d been punched in the solar plexus.

“He killed her,” he said, deflating.

He’d been expecting a ‘we don’t know that yet’ or a ‘without a body, there’s still hope, Mulder.’ Instead, she said: “And you killed him.” Something in the way she held her shoulders made him think she wasn’t sorry for it.""

 Post Paper Hearts Mulder finds a photograph of Samantha that matches the last cloth heart; but his extreme sorrow is immediately channeled into determination to save Scully from her cancer.

Erin M. Blair’s (Ao3) A Little Twist of Three

""Hold that thought," Scully replied, as carefully put down little Dana, and she opened the door. It was Kristen Kilar, one of Melissa's New Age friends.""

S1 deviated with Mulder and Scully becoming parents and a family. When S2 Duane Barry rolls around, it's Melissa Scully who is taken instead. Kristen Kilar is one of Missy's friends.

Kim Berglund's Blood Dimmed Tide

""Morbidly he reached in and slid out the state trooper's photo that had tormented him for many sleepless nights. Scully gagged and tied, her eyes wide with fear.

He dropped it back into the folder and closed his eyes.

It had been his darkest night. Until now.

He thought he could hear the beating of wings. La gargouille waiting impatiently for death.

Opening his eyes, Mulder let go of the file and reached for the one behind it.

Kristen Kilar, The Trinity Killers.""

Post Grotesque Scully is withdrawing from Mulder, thinking she's failed to help her partner-- giving up. Kristen arrives, creating more friction; and Mulder, sick of it all, pulls out his gun.

bellefleur/bellefleur1013's Triple Returns

""Kristen herself had not actually committed the murders the first time, but she had led her unholy trinity to each of the victims, and she alone as an observer knew the intimate details of each victim and crime scene. The identical nature of the crimes could only mean one thing--Kristen was reconstructing the path that had first brought them together. By duplicating the case that Mulder had solved, she was sure to attract his attention and draw him into it again.""

It's S7: Kristen Kilar is back; and Scully has to pry open Mulder about his past with her and save him from being turned into a vampire.

J. C. Sun's Leave

""Cold, very cold, yet lovely, this woman.

This coldness, this is what he lacks.

This coldness, it makes him better.

"Very pretty. You have good taste."

He starts.

He casts a nervous glance towards his gun. I laugh, and he relaxes.

"You are happy?" I say.

His mouth twitches, and I read that he is happy, as happy as he can ever be.""

Vampire Kristen lived, running across Mulder's path years later. She sees Scully, his peace, and-- finally-- her own reflection.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!