“It is spring again. The earth is like
a child that knows poems by heart.” ~~Rainer Maria
Rilke
Hi all,
Well, last week took a bit out of me. I got sucked into
HBO's Our Flag Means Death which left me with an
uncomfortable but honestly kinda intoxicating case of capital
F Feelings. Then I had a not-so-fun neurological episode
mid-week. And yesterday I screwed up my right calf
muscle while stepping off my exercise bike. I mean it
didn't even happen when I was exercising! Just stepping
off! Who does that?!
Anyway... my mind is pretty blurry today so I'm just sending a
jumble of tropes that I was saving to be sorted into themed
lists. But I had nothing else prepared so... here we
go. Also, apologies if any are repeats. I usually
double-check but just am not up to it today.
And, just to be clear, I'm fine! Just not stringing a
bunch of words together in a sensible way fine. :-)
God bless,
Jenni
Miscellaneous Tropes Because I Feel Blah
Humanity
is Infectious- To some extent, this happens to Andrew in a
couple of ways as the stories progress. While he was
always very compassionate, this trait increases the more time he
spends among the Friends and especially those he considers
family. Since he and JenniAnn started living together, he
more viscerally understands the pain of an assignment who loses
their partner. In the same way, he also seems to have
developed a human-like appreciation for sensuality though I
would argue his experience of it is different than that of most
humans. It's less about the physical senses and more about
the trust and love it signifies when JenniAnn lets him get
especially close to her. I don't think it's so much a
physical thrill for him as it is healing to have a human being
very much want physical intimacy with him while so many others
have been like "Ah! Go away!" The downside is Andrew
has become more prone to worry. Happy in this newish,
humanesque life, he can get out of sorts when he fears something
might prematurely end it.
Virgin
Tension- So the Dyeland stories very much come down
against the Defiled
Forever trope. But I don't think it necessarily
follows that a given character wouldn't attach some deeper
meaning to their virginity and be troubled by threats to
it. Even though it wasn't a direct threat to her
virginity, JenniAnn is deeply troubled by the fact that Rex
fondled her. She doesn't tell anyone about it for quite
some time. When she finally does confide in Andrew, one of
the reasons it so disturbed her is because a man had never
touched her like that and she's bothered that it happened in
such a creepy, insulting way. She doesn't like that the
only man to take pleasure in her body in that way is one who
nearly killed her, emotionally abused and neglected her son, was
just generally a bad person, and did so forcibly without her
consent. Thankfully, Andrew is able to assure her that he
takes pleasure in her body albeit in a different way than a
mortal man would. He and JenniAnn then proceed to have a
romantic and very much consensual encounter that proves his
point. So it's not that JenniAnn saw herself as defiled in
any way. I think it's more likely that she places a high
value on physical intimacy and was bothered by that being
perverted into violence.
Supernaturally Validated Trans Person- Joshua only ever
refers to Loreena using female pronouns and never uses her dead
name. When some transphobes ask Joshua if he knows who
Loreena is, he answers "She's a kind woman who would give her
last penny to someone in need." Further, when one of the
men accuses Loreena of being a man tricking men into "gay
stuff," Joshua cites Exodus 23:1 and alludes to the 9th
Commandment which the man has broken by bearing false
witness. Loreena doesn't know who Joshua is but...
hopefully soon! Write
Who You Know- Sort of. While there is a lot of me in
JenniAnn, she's also my opposite in a lot of ways. While I
sometimes wouldn't mind having my own Andrew... the truth is I
tend to want one more because he'd be handy around the house and
not because I need a cuddle buddy to raise children with.
But that hasn't stopped me from sprinkling bits of autobiography
into her story and the stories of other characters. While
it's amped up for the stories, I did have friends in high school
and college who were rather Bennie-esque at points.
Mentor
in Queerness- JenniAnn is this to Shelby as they're both
asexuals. JenniAnn affirms Shelby and gives her the
information she needs and encourages her self-expression as an
ace person. One big difference is Shelby is aromantic
while JenniAnn is not. So while she can validate Shelby in
that, she can't offer much in the way of lived experience.
Men
Like Dogs, Women Like Cats- Nope. In Dyeland, some
homes have both dogs and cats... like Ivy and Sy. The cat
is specifically Sy's. Henry also has a cat. JenniAnn
has never had a cat, only dogs.
Huge
Guy, Tiny Girl- While I think JenniAnn, at just shy of
forty, would object to "girl," this applies to her and
Andrew. He's a foot taller than her and has a bigger
build. The size difference only got more exaggerated when
he started doing carpentry and bulked up some.
Can't Tie His Tie- A non-romantic version makes up one of
JenniAnn's and Joshua's early interactions. Though Joshua
knows how to tie a tie because he knows everything, that tidbit
apparently got left in Heaven when he incarnated again. So
JenniAnn gets to help him. She also ties Andrew's tie when
he has a broken arm.
Inconvenient Attraction- While JenniAnn was dating Eliot,
Andrew had come to realize that how he felt about her probably
went beyond friendship even if he couldn't really define what he
wanted. His subconscious was less clueless given he'd
dreamed about her sitting in bed with him and letting him rest
his head in her lap. Nonetheless, Andrew shelved his
feelings. Not only was JenniAnn in a relationship that her
family would much more easily accept and that would give her
more stability in society, the age difference also weighed on
him. And then there was the fact that he was an angel and
wasn't yet aware that angel/human anam caras existed.
Also, JenniAnn was icing him out because she was trying to make
things work with Eliot despite the fact that, deep down, she
knew she still loved Andrew. So it was rather inconvenient
for them both. But they figured it out!
Love-Obstructing
Parents- So the older I get, the more sympathy I feel for
JenniAnn's parents. I don't have kids but I can't imagine
it's easy to have your kid tell you that she's in a romantic but
non-sexual relationship with an angel of death that will last
for all eternity. Also in their defense, I don't think
they realized JenniAnn was asexual so, to them, she would be
giving up something really important. And they really
wanted grandkids. And, let's be fair, JenniAnn was a mere
seventeen when she met Andrew. Given she was living
independently from her parents at the time, they had no way of
knowing that Andrew wasn't grooming her (he wasn't,
obviously). You could think "But he's an angel! Of
course he's not going to do anything untoward!" But who
knows how Robert and Allison interpret the story of the
Nephilim. That has some really freaky implications.
Also, it would be fair for them to assume that Andrew would have
more control in the relationship. How were they supposed
to know that their daughter had absolutely zero problem
challenging him when they weren't around to see it? So I
think they can be forgiven for subtly attempting to redirect
their child's attentions. I think their behavior in
"Shadowlands" is less forgivable although they were grieving and
in shock. But I do think they needed to cut Andrew some
slack given he and JenniAnn had been together for a while at
that point without any red flags.
Official
Couple Ordeal Syndrome- I mean kinda? But I also
think that when one half of a pair is an angel of death,
dramatic and even tragic events should be expected. If
anything, I think it's unrealistic that Andrew and JenniAnn
aren't dealing with more trouble given it's established that
demons are real and demons really, really don't like Andrew and
see JenniAnn as the prime way to get to Andrew. But I only
have the mental energy to deal with a demon story every few
years. Many of the ordeals that involve Andrew are
directly linked to his work: getting stuck in Afghanistan, being
temporarily homeless, being the target of demons.
Meanwhile, JenniAnn's ordeals tend to be medical in nature and,
well, she's human so... that's gonna happen. Thankfully,
fights are few and far between. They've never formally
broken up. And infidelity is absolutely not a factor.
Sexual
Euphemism- In "The King," Joshua refers to the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception as an annual commemoration of his
grandparents' "special time." Joshua is no prude but uses
the euphemism because he realizes a grown man, God or not,
talking about his own grandparents having sex is a little
discomfiting to people. JenniAnn's euphemism for Catherine
and Vincent is "playing chess."
Intimate
Psychotherapy- I think Andrew and JenniAnn have a healthy
take on this in a non-sexual way. They don't use
"canoodling" to hide from difficult discussions. But it
can sometimes immediately follow such a discussion or proceed
it. It's a way for them to relax with each other and have
something beautiful and gentle when trying to cope with harsh
realities. JenniAnn eventually realizes that some of the
emotional intimacy she craved with Andrew while younger was
probably never going to be possible until they'd developed a
healthy physical intimacy. Because there's really nothing
she can say that's going to make Andrew feel better about having
to witness a brutal murder, for example. But I think
there's something to be said for trying to redirect his
attention to bodies and touch as being good and loving.
Also, since Andrew's angst often comes from the fact that he was
unable to physically intervene, it's maybe not a bad thing to
give him something physical and beneficial to do.
Declaration of Protection- Andrew really, really wants to
protect JenniAnn and his kids. When COVID started, he went
maybe a little overboard with precautions. Most recently,
he promised to protect JenniAnn when they went out for a night
on the town... only to have demons attack them. Andrew did
fight to protect her up until he was rendered unconscious and he
was very bothered by the fact that she experienced any
harm. It is complicated by the fact that protecting humans
is, in part, what angels are supposed to do. Additionally,
Andrew is aware that JenniAnn has a target on her back with the
demons because of her attachment to him.
Interrupted
Intimacy- Well, not with sex, but Andrew and JenniAnn are
just about to enjoy some romantic time together in "God in the
Gloom" when her mother (Allison) interrupts because she got into
a fight with JenniAnn's dad. It later comes out that while
Allison was fully aware that Andrew and JenniAnn don't have sex,
it never occurred to her that they might still have some sort of
physically intimate relationship.
Love
Makes You Uncreative- This makes me sad because it wasn't
intentional on my part but I've realized that since Andrew and
JenniAnn got together, I've seldom written her as engaging in
any sort of creative pursuit. Before, she wrote and edited
videos. I don't think Andrew is responsible as an
anti-muse. The sad truth is that JenniAnn probably just
doesn't have time any more. I don't even have kids and I
seldom find time to work on my crafts. And even writing
has gotten harder to find time for. Anyway... Maybe
one day we'll both find the time again.
My
Grandson, Myself- While she doesn't actually tell people
this because she's an angel and can't lie, Jamie also doesn't
bother to correct people who think she's her own
descendant. The trope is subverted when Chava assumes
Andrew is the grandson of a man she saw during the Holocaust
but, really, that man was Andrew.
Tragic
Bromance- While I haven't delved into this too much
because it's just a lot to deal with, I think there are shades
of this with John and Joshua. As a side note, how awful for
Maryam. Her baby cousin and son both died horrifically
within a year.
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye for being a lovely
distraction when I'm a bit under the weather.
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621 (Photo Credits: The photographs used on this
page are from Touched by an Angel and owned by CBS
Productions, Caroline Productions, and Moon Water
Productions. They are not being used to seek profit.)
