Return of the Puritan Streaker (short story)
Return of the Puritan Streaker was a short Jenny Everywhere short story written by Scott Sanford for April Fools' Day 2023 (although it was released a week late), starring his usual “default Jenny”.
Contents
Plot
Jenny comes into the living room one day to find an unusually mischevous Kim holding Professor Awesome's non-canonical imaginizer, which, before Jenny can stop her, she uses to start projecting images of an adventure which Jenny had previously insisted “shouldn't be told”.
The adventure in question starts with Jenny emerging from her bedroom to ask Kim whether a swimsuit she's considering trying on is “too revealing”. When Kim replies in the negative, this prompts Jenny to dismiss it to go look for something skimpier. She explains that she's been asked to come to Nice in another universe to help Jeanne Partout face a pair of supervillains, given that Jeanne herself has other stuff going on in Paris. The Puritan Streaker has apparently shown up in Jeanne's world and teamed up with her old dance partner-turned-minor supervillain, La Frotteuse, to “terrorise… well, annoy… well, distract” the Côte d'Azur. Kim declines Jenny's offer to come along, as she has shopping to do, though she does note she'd be happy to walk the Promenade des Anglais with her another day.
When she returns to the apartment a few hours later, Kim finds Jenny “laying on the living room floor, stark naked and tied up in green vines”. She explains that she was “doing great” against the Streaker and Frotteuse, but was ambushed by a third similar supervillain she hadn't expected, Yaoi Boy, who “knows Shibari-Jitsu”. Winding up stripped and tied up with “magical Japanese knotweed”, she tried to shift herself to freedom but the knoteed, thanks to its magical properties, followed along, and she's been stuck on the floor waiting for Kim to return, as she couldn't find a knife within reach. Kim produces a small folding knife and begins the long process of cutting Jenny free while Jenny starts to tell her story.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- This story features the “default” Jenny of Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories.
- Jenny tells Kim that there are “some of [her] called Jeanne Partout” including the one who is currently asking for her help.
Universes
- The story takes place in the default universe of Scott Sanford's Jenny Everywhere stories.
Other
- The Puritan Streaker wears a hat as his only article of clothing. It is not confirmed to be a buckled capotain in the text.
- Kim makes a quip about having been to London in the past, which might be true. She is familiar enough with Nice to want to again walk the Promenade des Anglais, a famous oceanside walkway since the mid-19th century.
- Kim asks if Madame DC has anything to do with “DC comics”, which Jenny doesn't think is the case.
Continuity
- A Jeanne Partout previously appeared in PROSE: Paying It Forward, although the way Jenny speaks of her in this story implies that there are multiple and this is not necessarily the same one.
- The Puritan Streaker was previously the subject of a throwaway reference in PROSE: Jenny Everywhere and the Eye of Argon.
- Trying to estimate the level of threat posed by the Puritan Streaker and La Frotteuse, Jenny recalls how she and Kim faced the Vampire King and Jenny Nowhere, as seen in PROSE: Camera Shy and PROSE: Parallax respectively. She also mentions how “other mes” faced such villains as Lord Grallyx and Cardinal Dracula, who debuted in PROSE: Jenny Everywhere and the Lord of Hell and PROSE: Preludes and Distractions respectively, but also minor threats like Tex Tyler, whom she stopped in COMIC: Ghost Story, and Erman, the antagonist of COMIC: Enchanted (who was not faced by Jenny herself but by Sven Allestädes, Abúi and Tash Spicer).
- Another Jenny had previously noted her disappointment about Japanese knotweed not actually being capable of ensnaring bictims in PROSE: The Genesis of Jenny Everywhere, making the supernatural knotweed with which the Parallax Universe Jenny tangles in this story a sort of delayed punchline.
Behind the scenes
Background
When posting the story, Scott Sanford appended some commentary:
| If you’ve twigged to which animal themed superheroes protecting Paris Jeanne Partout is following, let me say that I don’t think the author writing raunchy fanfic is really Madame D-C, because the obvious person to suspect is her mother in law. Japanese knotweed is a real plant, but in our universe it does not make useful cordage. Anyone who wants to tell stories using The Puritain Streaker, La Frotteuse, or Yaoi Boy is welcome to so. |
| —Scott Sanford |
Though listed as an April Fools' Day release, the story was actually released on April 7th, while the first installment of How Jenny First Met... was released on April 1st. The listed dates, however, were switched back to the originally intended release dates.
Read online
The story is available on the author's Dreamwidth website.
