The Folly of Men (short story): Difference between revisions

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| hero(es)= [[Jenny Cornelius]]
| hero(es)= [[Jenny Cornelius]]
| villain(s)=
| villain(s)=
| featuring= [[Captain Stewart]]<br>[[Biggles]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Aziraphale#In Jenny Cornelius's world|Mr Fell]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Laura Drake#Working for the Intelligence Taskforce|Laura Drake]]<br>[[Godzilla|Sea monster]]<br><small>(mentioned, picture)</small><br>[[Lieutenant Irwin]]
| featuring= [[Captain Stewart]]<br>[[Biggles]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Mr Fell (The Folly of Men)|Mr Fell]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|Laura Drake]]<br>[[Godzilla|Sea monster]]<br><small>(mentioned, picture)</small><br>[[Lieutenant Irwin]]
| setting= [[London]], [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|unnamed universe]]
| setting= [[London]], [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|unnamed universe]]
| crossovers =
| crossovers =
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| previous =''[[Fragment: Professional Ethics (short story)|Fragment: Professional Ethics]]''
| previous =''[[Fragment: Professional Ethics (short story)|Fragment: Professional Ethics]]''
| next= ''[[Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred (short story)|Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred]]''
| next= ''[[Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred (short story)|Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred]]''
| seriesnav2 = [[Jenny Cornelius]] stories
| previous2 =
| next2= ''[[Watch the Skies (short story)|Watch the Skies]]''
}}'''''The Folly of Men''''' was a [[Jenny Everywhere]] short story written by [[Scott Sanford]] in 2022. Instead of his [[Jenny Everywhere#Kim's friend|usual Shifter]], it featured [[Jenny Cornelius]], a “very English” Jenny native to the 1960s.  
}}'''''The Folly of Men''''' was a [[Jenny Everywhere]] short story written by [[Scott Sanford]] in 2022. Instead of his [[Jenny Everywhere#Kim's friend|usual Shifter]], it featured [[Jenny Cornelius]], a “very English” Jenny native to the 1960s.  


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When she calls him back, it is to announce that she hasn't thought of anything with “plausible deniability”, but does have a plan if he is willing to try “implausible deniability” — that is, creating a completely baffling distraction to create chaos and confusion amidst which the British soldiers will have a shot at making their escape. Stewart reluctantly takes her up on the offer, despite his uneasiness at being unable to get her to say precisely what she's planning.
When she calls him back, it is to announce that she hasn't thought of anything with “plausible deniability”, but does have a plan if he is willing to try “implausible deniability” — that is, creating a completely baffling distraction to create chaos and confusion amidst which the British soldiers will have a shot at making their escape. Stewart reluctantly takes her up on the offer, despite his uneasiness at being unable to get her to say precisely what she's planning.


Next, Jenny calls [[Laura Drake#Working for the Intelligence Taskforce|Miss Laura Drake]], who works in the Intelligence Taskforce's public relations office. Laura, who's been dragged into trouble by Jenny on many occasions, is immediately suspicious, even as Jenny insists that nothing has happened — yet. After Jenny finishes explaining that she just wants to warn Laura ahead of time that she's going to need to deny all responsibility on something very big, very soon, Jenny somehow talks Laura into going on a date with her, also apparently not for the first time.
Next, Jenny calls [[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|Miss Laura Drake]], who works in the Intelligence Taskforce's public relations office. Laura, who's been dragged into trouble by Jenny on many occasions, is immediately suspicious, even as Jenny insists that nothing has happened — yet. After Jenny finishes explaining that she just wants to warn Laura ahead of time that she's going to need to deny all responsibility on something very big, very soon, Jenny somehow talks Laura into going on a date with her, also apparently not for the first time.


A short time later, Jenny appears in the secure office where a number of international military representatives are panicking together about the unfolding crisis: a [[Godzilla|giant sea monster]] has risen out of the [[Sea of Japan]] and is heading towards [[Pyongyang]]. It does not take long for the Captain to realise that ''this'' is Jenny's doing, especially when she walks up to him and casually asks whether the trapped soldiers have made their escape yet. Trying to stay inconspicuous, he advises her to lie low as long as possible if she really is behind this, to which Jenny replies: “I’ll try to be somewhere else for a few days. Lying low and being unnoticed isn’t really my best skill.”.
A short time later, Jenny appears in the secure office where a number of international military representatives are panicking together about the unfolding crisis: a [[Godzilla|giant sea monster]] has risen out of the [[Sea of Japan]] and is heading towards [[Pyongyang]]. It does not take long for the Captain to realise that ''this'' is Jenny's doing, especially when she walks up to him and casually asks whether the trapped soldiers have made their escape yet. Trying to stay inconspicuous, he advises her to lie low as long as possible if she really is behind this, to which Jenny replies: “I’ll try to be somewhere else for a few days. Lying low and being unnoticed isn’t really my best skill.”.
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====Laura Drake====
====Laura Drake====
* [[Laura Drake#Working for the Intelligence Taskforce|Miss Laura Drake]] works on the P.R. office of the [[Intelligence Taskforce]]. She is more level-headed and practical than [[Jenny Cornelius|Jenny]], and finds the headaches Jenny creates for her tiresome, but Jenny has apparently talked Laura into going on multiple dates with her anyway. Presumably owing to the time period, Laura keeps the latter fact secret.  
* [[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|Miss Laura Drake]] works on the P.R. office of the [[Intelligence Taskforce]]. She is more level-headed and practical than [[Jenny Cornelius|Jenny]], and finds the headaches Jenny creates for her tiresome, but Jenny has apparently talked Laura into going on multiple dates with her anyway. Presumably owing to the time period, Laura keeps the latter fact secret.  


====Universes====
====Universes====
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====Other====
====Other====
* [[Jenny Cornelius]] lives “a thousand feet from [[Carnaby Street]]”.  
* [[Jenny Cornelius]] lives “a thousand feet from [[Carnaby Street]]”.  
* [[Aziraphale#In Jenny Cornelius's world|Mr Fell]], whose shop is located “on [[Greek Street]] just off [[Old Compton Street|Old Compton]]”, gave Jenny ''[[Biggles Goes to Mars]]'', which she describes as very rare, in reward for having been “over half of creation and a few other places tracking down a copy of the ''[[Plasmanomicon]]'' for his personal collection”.
* [[Mr Fell (The Folly of Men)|Mr Fell]], whose shop is located “on [[Greek Street]] just off [[Old Compton Street|Old Compton]]”, gave Jenny ''[[Biggles Goes to Mars]]'', which she describes as very rare, in reward for having been “over half of creation and a few other places tracking down a copy of the ''[[Plasmanomicon]]'' for his personal collection”.
* Jenny describes [[Russia]]n-occupied [[North Korea]] as “not really the [[Isle of Wight]] as a vacation destination”.
* Jenny describes [[Russia]]n-occupied [[North Korea]] as “not really the [[Isle of Wight]] as a vacation destination”.
* Among other incidents where Jenny made her life more difficult, [[Laura Drake#Working for the Intelligence Taskforce|Laura Drake]] remembers “the weekend Jenny had shown up urgently needing to know if a submarine, somehow much too far up the [[Thames]], could be hidden at the [[West India Docks]]”.
* Among other incidents where Jenny made her life more difficult, [[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|Laura Drake]] remembers “the weekend Jenny had shown up urgently needing to know if a submarine, somehow much too far up the [[Thames]], could be hidden at the [[West India Docks]]”.
* Laura asks Jenny if she's heard of [[Lee Ho Fook]], a Chinese restaurant “down in [[Chinatown, London|Chinatown]]”.
* Laura asks Jenny if she's heard of [[Lee Ho Fook]], a Chinese restaurant “down in [[Chinatown, London|Chinatown]]”.
* Jenny muses that “in [https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/UNIT_dating_controversy ten or twenty years]” Captain Stewart will have “shot up the ranks”, becoming “a brigadier or something”.
* Jenny muses that “in [https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/UNIT_dating_controversy ten or twenty years]” Captain Stewart will have “shot up the ranks”, becoming “a brigadier or something”.
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=== Continuity ===
=== Continuity ===
* [[Jenny Cornelius]] was previously seen in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Paying It Forward (novel)|Paying It Forward]]'' and [[PROSE]]: ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]''.
* [[Jenny Cornelius]] previously appeared in passing in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Paying It Forward (novel)|Paying It Forward]]'' and [[PROSE]]: ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]''. She later features in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Watch the Skies (short story)|Watch the Skies]]'' and [[PROSE]]: ''[[Birds and Snakes (short story)|Birds and Snakes]]''.
* A [[Jenny Everywhere#Adventures with the Cupids|different Jenny]] was previously shown having a good relationship with [[Universe (You've Been To Eden, I Perceive)|another universe]]'s “[[Aziraphale|Mr Fell]]” in [[PROSE]]: ''[[You've Been To Eden, I Perceive (short story)|You've Been To Eden, I Perceive]]''.
* A [[Jenny Everywhere#Adventures with the Cupids|different Jenny]] was previously shown having a good relationship with [[Universe (You've Been To Eden, I Perceive)|another universe]]'s “[[Aziraphale|Mr Fell]]” in [[PROSE]]: ''[[You've Been To Eden, I Perceive (short story)|You've Been To Eden, I Perceive]]''.
* The ''[[Plasmanomicon]]'' originated in the early [[Barbelith Stories|Barbelith Story]] [[COMIC]]: ''[[My Bloody Valentine (comic story)|My Bloody Valentine]]''. It was also mentioned in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere (novel)|The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere]]''.
* The ''[[Plasmanomicon]]'' originated in the early [[Barbelith Stories|Barbelith Story]] [[COMIC]]: ''[[My Bloody Valentine (comic story)|My Bloody Valentine]]''. It was also mentioned in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere (novel)|The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere]]''.
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[[Category:Featuring Jenny Everywhere]]
[[Category:Featuring Jenny Everywhere]]
[[Category:Featuring Laura Drake]]
[[Category:Featuring Laura Drake]]
[[Category:Crossovers]]

Latest revision as of 17:01, 11 June 2024

The Folly of Men was a Jenny Everywhere short story written by Scott Sanford in 2022. Instead of his usual Shifter, it featured Jenny Cornelius, a “very English” Jenny native to the 1960s.

It was not an avowed fanfic of anything, but contained thinly-veiled analogues of, or references to, elements of Doctor Who, Good Omens, and Godzilla, in addition to Jenny Cornelius herself being a mashup of Jenny Everywhere with Jerry Cornelius.

Contents

Plot

Jenny Cornelius is interrupted in her reading of a pulpy novel by an urgent phone call from Captain Stewart of the Intelligence Taskforce, a no-nonsense military man who seems vaguely irritated by having to deal with a wildcard like Jenny, despite her friendly and lightly flirtatious attitude. He explains that a group of British soldiers have accidentally become stranded in North Korea and ask for Jenny's help to extract them peacefully, as he is aware Jenny has a supernatural ability to appear in unexpected places. Jenny agrees to ponder a way to get them out.

When she calls him back, it is to announce that she hasn't thought of anything with “plausible deniability”, but does have a plan if he is willing to try “implausible deniability” — that is, creating a completely baffling distraction to create chaos and confusion amidst which the British soldiers will have a shot at making their escape. Stewart reluctantly takes her up on the offer, despite his uneasiness at being unable to get her to say precisely what she's planning.

Next, Jenny calls Miss Laura Drake, who works in the Intelligence Taskforce's public relations office. Laura, who's been dragged into trouble by Jenny on many occasions, is immediately suspicious, even as Jenny insists that nothing has happened — yet. After Jenny finishes explaining that she just wants to warn Laura ahead of time that she's going to need to deny all responsibility on something very big, very soon, Jenny somehow talks Laura into going on a date with her, also apparently not for the first time.

A short time later, Jenny appears in the secure office where a number of international military representatives are panicking together about the unfolding crisis: a giant sea monster has risen out of the Sea of Japan and is heading towards Pyongyang. It does not take long for the Captain to realise that this is Jenny's doing, especially when she walks up to him and casually asks whether the trapped soldiers have made their escape yet. Trying to stay inconspicuous, he advises her to lie low as long as possible if she really is behind this, to which Jenny replies: “I’ll try to be somewhere else for a few days. Lying low and being unnoticed isn’t really my best skill.”.

Worldbuilding

Jenny Everywhere

  • This story stars Jenny Cornelius, as previously seen in a cameo role in PROSE: Paying It Forward and PROSE: Morning After. She is here shown to live in 1960s London. When she drops in on the military meeting, she is described as “looking very sharp in a matching scarf and miniskirt combo”, though it's not clear whether this is her default outfit.

Laura Drake

  • Miss Laura Drake works on the P.R. office of the Intelligence Taskforce. She is more level-headed and practical than Jenny, and finds the headaches Jenny creates for her tiresome, but Jenny has apparently talked Laura into going on multiple dates with her anyway. Presumably owing to the time period, Laura keeps the latter fact secret.

Universes

Other

Continuity

Behind the scenes

Background

This story contains multiple references to pop culture from the second half of the 20th century.

  • Captain Stewart is implied to be a younger version of Doctor Who's Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who has yet to be granted his iconic rank of “Brigadier” within UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce — here, simply “the Intelligence Taskforce”.
    • Jenny suggests that Stewart will be a Brigadier in “ten or twenty years” — that is, either in the 1970s or 1980s, taking the setting of The Folly of Men to be the 1960s. Her uncertainty is a nod to the infamous “dating controversy” about the present-day of the original run of Doctor Who serials featuring the Doctor working with UNIT: these were originally broadcast in the 1970s but with a loose premise of being set in the near future. This intent was gradually lost and, during the actual 1980s, a story was broadcast which outright treated the UNIT stories as having taken place when they were broadcast, i.e. in the 1970s.
  • Jenny is in contact with a “very special person in the book trade” calling himself Mr Fell, who owns a bookshop in Soho. This is transparently Aziraphale, the angel-turned-used-bookshop-owner, from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's 1990 novel Good Omens. Jenny describes him as “very polite, handsome, well dressed, and gay as a tree full of monkeys”, paraphrasing the first description of Aziraphale in the novel: “Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide”. Aziraphale made a personal collection of books of prophecy and other similar tomes, among which the Plasmanomicon presumably fits right in. The book Biggles Goes to Mars, not a part of the real-world Bigges series, was brought into Aziraphale's possession at the end of the novel by Adam Young when he recreated Aziraphale's bookshop with a few touches of his own. This latter plot point introduces a minor discrepancy in the 1960s setting of The Folly of Men, as Good Omens quite clearly took place around time of publication, some decades later, and Aziraphale makes it clear he did not have a copy of Biggles Goes to Mars beforehand, with the implication that no such book even existed.
  • The “giant atomic monster” which rises out of the Sea of Japan, described as “something that at first glance could be mistaken for an actor in a silly rubber monster suit”, is evidently Godzilla, as featured in a long-running Japanese film series from 1958 onwards. One of the men at the emergency meeting mentions that, unlike the rest of the world, the Japanese already had a contingency plan in place for an event of this kind, nodding towards the character's Japanese origins, although this plot point does not fit the actual continuity of the film series, where Godzilla's first rampages were clearly known to the rest of the world, being too massive to conceal.
  • Laura calls the restaurant "Lee Ho Fook's," making the same naming error Warren Zevon would in his 1978 song Werewolves of London.
  • Jenny tells Captain Stewart “If anyone asks where I came from, you can tell them that one day I escaped from my pram in Kensington Gardens and ran for it. Never looked back”. This is an allusion to the backstory of Peter Pan.

Read online

The story is available on the author's Dreamwidth website.