Watch the Skies (short story): Difference between revisions
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| hero(es)= [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny Everywhere]]<br>[[Professor Awesome (Parallax Universe)|Professor Awesome]] | | hero(es)= [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny Everywhere]]<br>[[Professor Awesome (Parallax Universe)|Professor Awesome]] | ||
| villain(s)= | | villain(s)= | ||
| featuring= [[Santa Claus (Parallax Universe)|Santa Claus]]<br><small>(mentioned, possibly present off-screen)</small><br>[[Steven Lucas|Steve]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[David Lowe]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Jenny Cornelius]]<br>[[Laura Drake | | featuring= [[Santa Claus (Parallax Universe)|Santa Claus]]<br><small>(mentioned, possibly present off-screen)</small><br>[[Steven Lucas|Steve]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[David Lowe]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Jenny Cornelius]]<br>[[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|Laura Drake]]<br>[[God (individual)|God]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small> | ||
| setting= [[Parallax Universe]]<br>[[London]], [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|Jenny Cornelius's universe]] | | setting= [[Parallax Universe]]<br>[[London]], [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|Jenny Cornelius's universe]] | ||
| crossovers = | | crossovers = | ||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
| previous = ''[[Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred (short story)|Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred]]'' | | previous = ''[[Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred (short story)|Fragment: Guinevere and Mordred]]'' | ||
| next = ''[[Origins (novel)|Origins]]'' | | next = ''[[Origins (novel)|Origins]]'' | ||
| seriesnav2 = [[Christmas (real world)|Christmas stories]] | |||
| previous2 = ''[[The Winter Quests (novel)|The Winter Quests]]'' | |||
| next2 = ''[[A Very Jenny Over-There Christmas (short story)|A Very Jenny Over-There Christmas]]'' | |||
| seriesnav3 = [[Jenny Cornelius]] stories | |||
| previous3 = ''[[The Folly of Men (short story)|The Folly of Men]]'' | |||
| next3 = ''[[Birds and Snakes (short story)|Birds and Snakes]]'' | |||
}}'''''Watch the Skies''''' was a [[Christmas (real world)|Christmas]]-themed [[Jenny Everywhere]] short story written by [[Scott Sanford]] for Christmas 2022, with a short epilogue being added on January 6th, 2023. Though principally starring his [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|usual version]] of Jenny, it also featured a surprise guest appearance by [[Jenny Cornelius]], the 1960s English Jenny who had featured in [[The Folly of Men (short story)|Sanford's previous full-length Jenny Everywhere story]]. | }}'''''Watch the Skies''''' was a [[Christmas (real world)|Christmas]]-themed [[Jenny Everywhere]] short story written by [[Scott Sanford]] for Christmas 2022, with a short epilogue being added on January 6th, 2023. Though principally starring his [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|usual version]] of Jenny, it also featured a surprise guest appearance by [[Jenny Cornelius]], the 1960s English Jenny who had featured in [[The Folly of Men (short story)|Sanford's previous full-length Jenny Everywhere story]]. | ||
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At past one in the morning on the night between [[Christmas Eve]] and [[Christmas Day]], a sleeping [[Professor Awesome (Parallax Universe)|Professor Awesome]] is woken up by [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny]], who talks him into joining her on the roof. After mulling it over for a moment, he agrees, and, quickly getting dressed in his day clothes — complete with labcoat and essential gadgetry — he follows her to the said roof, where she explains that she wants to watch “the flyover”. The Professor slowly realises that she means “[[Santa Claus (Parallax Universe)|the bringer of presents… the lurker at chimneys… the eater of a billion cookies]]”; Jenny, appearing to treat him as incontrovertibly real, advises him not to say the name out loud, though she tells him that she borrowed an “[[Amulet of Unheeding]]” from [[Steven Lucas|Steve]] and [[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]] just in case. Before they can see anything, however, Jenny is hit in the face by a large snowball coming from nowhere in particular, and they are then knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. When they get up again, there are contrails suddenly criss-crossing the sky, as though hundreds of aircrafts — ''or just one moving extremely fast'' — had passed over the city in the blink of an eye. Melodramatically angry, Jenny waves a fist in the air and shouts up at the sky: “You just wait! I know who’s driving the fat man this year!” — but she gets no reply, and Eric calms her down by calling her attention to the two scarlet presents with their name on them that are suddenly lying on a parapet. | At past one in the morning on the night between [[Christmas Eve]] and [[Christmas Day]], a sleeping [[Professor Awesome (Parallax Universe)|Professor Awesome]] is woken up by [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|Jenny]], who talks him into joining her on the roof. After mulling it over for a moment, he agrees, and, quickly getting dressed in his day clothes — complete with labcoat and essential gadgetry — he follows her to the said roof, where she explains that she wants to watch “the flyover”. The Professor slowly realises that she means “[[Santa Claus (Parallax Universe)|the bringer of presents… the lurker at chimneys… the eater of a billion cookies]]”; Jenny, appearing to treat him as incontrovertibly real, advises him not to say the name out loud, though she tells him that she borrowed an “[[Amulet of Unheeding]]” from [[Steven Lucas|Steve]] and [[Thoth (Morning After)|Thoth]] just in case. Before they can see anything, however, Jenny is hit in the face by a large snowball coming from nowhere in particular, and they are then knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. When they get up again, there are contrails suddenly criss-crossing the sky, as though hundreds of aircrafts — ''or just one moving extremely fast'' — had passed over the city in the blink of an eye. Melodramatically angry, Jenny waves a fist in the air and shouts up at the sky: “You just wait! I know who’s driving the fat man this year!” — but she gets no reply, and Eric calms her down by calling her attention to the two scarlet presents with their name on them that are suddenly lying on a parapet. | ||
In [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|another world]], it's [[Epiphany]] in the 1960s, and [[Jenny Cornelius]] has seized the chance to take out [[Laura Drake | In [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|another world]], it's [[Epiphany]] in the 1960s, and [[Jenny Cornelius]] has seized the chance to take out [[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|Laura]]. Their date is interrupted by the appearance of [[Jenny Everywhere (Parallax Universe)|the “Kim's friend” Jenny]], who, without preamble, drops a handful of snow down her other self's back, giggling that “turnabout is fair play”. After a moment's confused flailing, Jenny Cornelius admits as much and pulls the other Jenny into a big hug. Laura is rather confused about all this, asking if the “other Jenny” is some kind of a relative, but her manners prevail upon her common sense and she asks the other Jenny if she wants to join their day out on the town. | ||
===Worldbuilding=== | ===Worldbuilding=== | ||
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====Laura Drake==== | ====Laura Drake==== | ||
* This story features [[Jenny Cornelius]]'s [[Laura Drake | * This story features [[Jenny Cornelius]]'s [[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|corresponding Laura Drake]] as previously seen in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Folly of Men (short story)|The Folly of Men]]''. She is shown not to have previously known about Cornelius's multidimensional nature. | ||
====Universes==== | ====Universes==== | ||
* The main body of this story takes place in [[Parallax Universe|the default universe]] of [[Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories]]. | * The main body of this story takes place in [[Parallax Universe|the default universe]] of [[Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories]]. | ||
* The epilogue takes place in [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|the native universe]] of [[Jenny Cornelius]]. | * The epilogue takes place in [[Universe (The Folly of Men)|the native universe]] of [[Jenny Cornelius]]. | ||
* Jenny notes that there are | * Jenny notes that there are “[[Narnia|worlds]] where it’s always winter but never [[Christmas]]”. | ||
====Other==== | ====Other==== | ||
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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]]'' in minor roles, then at greater length in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Folly of Men (short story)|The Folly of Men]]'', which established her home time and place and introduced her [[Laura Drake | * [[Jenny Cornelius]] was previously seen in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Paying It Forward (novel)|Paying It Forward]]'' and [[PROSE]]: ''[[Morning After (novel)|Morning After]]'' in minor roles, then at greater length in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Folly of Men (short story)|The Folly of Men]]'', which established her home time and place and introduced her [[Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)|corresponding Laura Drake]]. | ||
== Behind the scenes == | == Behind the scenes == | ||
Latest revision as of 08:06, 6 October 2023
Watch the Skies was a Christmas-themed Jenny Everywhere short story written by Scott Sanford for Christmas 2022, with a short epilogue being added on January 6th, 2023. Though principally starring his usual version of Jenny, it also featured a surprise guest appearance by Jenny Cornelius, the 1960s English Jenny who had featured in Sanford's previous full-length Jenny Everywhere story.
Contents
Plot
At past one in the morning on the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, a sleeping Professor Awesome is woken up by Jenny, who talks him into joining her on the roof. After mulling it over for a moment, he agrees, and, quickly getting dressed in his day clothes — complete with labcoat and essential gadgetry — he follows her to the said roof, where she explains that she wants to watch “the flyover”. The Professor slowly realises that she means “the bringer of presents… the lurker at chimneys… the eater of a billion cookies”; Jenny, appearing to treat him as incontrovertibly real, advises him not to say the name out loud, though she tells him that she borrowed an “Amulet of Unheeding” from Steve and Thoth just in case. Before they can see anything, however, Jenny is hit in the face by a large snowball coming from nowhere in particular, and they are then knocked down by a sudden gust of wind. When they get up again, there are contrails suddenly criss-crossing the sky, as though hundreds of aircrafts — or just one moving extremely fast — had passed over the city in the blink of an eye. Melodramatically angry, Jenny waves a fist in the air and shouts up at the sky: “You just wait! I know who’s driving the fat man this year!” — but she gets no reply, and Eric calms her down by calling her attention to the two scarlet presents with their name on them that are suddenly lying on a parapet.
In another world, it's Epiphany in the 1960s, and Jenny Cornelius has seized the chance to take out Laura. Their date is interrupted by the appearance of the “Kim's friend” Jenny, who, without preamble, drops a handful of snow down her other self's back, giggling that “turnabout is fair play”. After a moment's confused flailing, Jenny Cornelius admits as much and pulls the other Jenny into a big hug. Laura is rather confused about all this, asking if the “other Jenny” is some kind of a relative, but her manners prevail upon her common sense and she asks the other Jenny if she wants to join their day out on the town.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- This story stars Scott Sanford's default Jenny. She is described as speaking in a “broad American accent”.
- This story also features an appearance Jenny Cornelius, as previously seen in cameo roles in PROSE: Paying It Forward and PROSE: Morning After, and at greater length in PROSE: The Folly of Men. It is established that Cornelius is physically identical to the “Kim's friend” Jenny, save for a longer haircut, different clothing style, and accent.
- Jenny comments: “I’ve been a kid for trillions of years across all the universes, and I’m not done with it yet. Which is good, because there’s still lots of me being born every day, but that’s not really a thing for most people.”.
Laura Drake
- This story features Jenny Cornelius's corresponding Laura Drake as previously seen in PROSE: The Folly of Men. She is shown not to have previously known about Cornelius's multidimensional nature.
Universes
- The main body of this story takes place in the default universe of Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories.
- The epilogue takes place in the native universe of Jenny Cornelius.
- Jenny notes that there are “worlds where it’s always winter but never Christmas”.
Other
- “Tommy Tutone's music” (an appropriate choice) blasts from Professor Awesome's phone to wake him, although it is not clear that this was his chosen alarm clock as oppose to something default Jenny somehow arranged.
- He carries a number of tools in his labcoat pockets on a regular basis. On impulse, he additionally grabs “both robo-spiders and the stochastic photon homogenizer” and adds them to the contents of his pockets before joining Jenny on the roof.
- The “parapet at the edge of the roof” where the presents are dropped is also “where a few of David Lowe's ham radio antennas [are] mounted”.
- Jenny recalls that “it wasn’t that long ago that people celebrated Twelfth Night with feasts and revels”. Laura states that other than Jenny, only “the God-botherers” remember this.
Continuity
- Jenny Cornelius was previously seen in PROSE: Paying It Forward and PROSE: Morning After in minor roles, then at greater length in PROSE: The Folly of Men, which established her home time and place and introduced her corresponding Laura Drake.
Behind the scenes
Background
When releasing the story, Scott Sanford appended the following commentary:
| Two questions remain unanswered: What did they get for Christmas? And was that really the fat man or are the Jennies just putting him on? Soundtrack: Many of you will already know of Heather Alexander's March of Cambreadth (and if not, set aside a few minutes to take in a rousing war song); after this story enjoy the Christmas remix December of Cambreadth. |
| —Scott Sanford |
Read online
The story is available on the author's Dreamwidth website.
