Knights in shining armours â or shining dresses. The MFMM August trope challenge
âIâm not sure, Sir. How do we know if she actually wants to be rescued?â
The August trope for MFMM turned out â just like the earlier ones â to instigate a lot of really good fic, and also very different fic. Augustâs trope was âthe Dulcinea effectâ, which means âthe compulsion many male heroes have to champion, quest for, or die for girls they met five minutes agoâ; the name is taken from the woman Don Quixote in Cervantesâs novel strives to be a champion for (more here).
This is a fun trope, but itâs also very ironic â making fun of these self-appointed and not seldom selfish and self-aggrandizing male champions. This poses specific problems for a fictional universe like Miss Fisherâs, where most men arenât depicted as stupid like that, and where the male lead is behaving in what could be said to be the opposite of the dulcinea effect: very rational, not seldom actually saving people, but also hardly ever managing to save the leading lady, because the lady is so good at saving herself â which he accepts.Â
This means that just like the soulmate trope of January, the idea and the fictional universe collide in interesting ways, asking for twists and tweaks and thorough considerations. The imagination of the fanfic writers of course found ways to use the trope, and it is turned around and peaked at from different angles (here is the full collection).Â
Iâm trying to follow some kind of logic in this post by following who is the dulcineaing person, and who is being dulcinead â not that these words exist, but I hope you catch my drift.
âShe was not in distress â she had climbed up here for the view.â Art by @kidnthehallâ.
First there are fics that use well-known story templates to completely subvert the idea of the dulcinea trope â a subversion that fits perfectly with the fictional universe of Miss Fisher.
Here we find @ollyjayonline, @kidnthehall & @solitarycyclistadventures, âLove and Other Fairy Talesâ. This is a short, beautifully crafted fic, with few words and with images, rather like a picture book â a picture book for adults. It explores who Phryne is and what she stands for, and shows this as a contrast to the common fairy tale idea of a woman needing a man to come to her rescue. The fic is very succinct, and has one-liners about Phryne like âShe could do everything herself â but good company was always welcomeâ and âShe was not in distress â she had climbed up here for the view."Â
A second fairy tale to the trope is @loopyhoopyfrood, âThe Prince Who Said Noâ, where Phryne tells a lovely bedtime story about a woman who dances with everyone except one prince, who all the time tells her no, and heâs the one she falls for. The prince is so far from dulcineaing that he doesnât even pay her much attention, which triggers her curiosity. Itâs a sweet and well narrated fairy tale, with lovely reactions from Dot and Hughâs daughter, and in the end Jack peeks into the room and helps out with the telling at just the right time:
âDid they have a big wedding?â
âThey didnât have any wedding.â
âThey didnât get married?â
âNo.â
âBut why not?â
âBecause they didnât need to.â A familiar voice spoke up from across the room, and both storyteller and audience turned to see Jack, leaning against the doorway with a soft smile on his face.
A third fic that also stays on this meta level is @longlineoftvdetectives, âA Heroâs Journeyâ, an amusing scene where a man is pitching a movie to Phryne in the hopes of her financing it. Both Phryne and Dot find some fault in the storyâs depiction of the hero, that after an absence of three days is coming to rescue a woman he doesnât even know:
âBut three days,â Dot repeated, her voice lowered this time as she leaned closer to Phryne to speak to her directly. âI think the damsel may have saved herself by now.â
âIn that case, the hero will be quite disappointed,â Phryne answered wryly. (âŚ)
âI donât think so, Miss,â Dot replied, her voice now barely above a whisper. âIâve seen quite a lot of movies. Iâm certain the hero will find a more agreeable damsel in the next town.âÂ
Another fic that is primarily resisting the dulcinea trope is @longlineoftvdetectives, âOf Mothers and Men and Rescuesâ. This fic gives us two scenes where Phryne doesnât need to be rescued, and also isnât, although the set up and the conversations touch on the possibility of it â and rather like in the first fairy tale mentioned, she doesnât need to be rescued, but she doesnât mind company either. Itâs lovely done, with a lot of mirroring between the two scenes, and both of them including Phryne hiding away from her mother, one time right before and one time right after the showâs time frame.Â
In some fics, the person going into dulcinea mode is Phryne herself.Â
Quailitea, âRain and Whiskeyâ, is a lovely and very poignant drabble of Phryneâs introspection about her need to save people, ever since Janey: âAnd all the rescuing sheâd done since, proof that she had always tried, dammit, that it had only been because she was too small and too weak then, and now that she was strong, it would never happen again.â It is beautiful, and in all its shortness it captures a lot.
Also in @whopooh, âSeparate Spheresâ, it is Phryne that has an urge to be the saviour, in this case in a more light-hearted situation â she wants to save Jack from social embarrassment. But it turns out that Jack doesnât need her knight in shiny dress-stint, since he already has a date to the event theyâre invited to, which instead causes Phryne embarrassment. On a gala night for Raymondâs film, she has to navigate the insight that Jack has friends, friends she had no idea existed, and even female friends. Much as it rattles her, it also piques her interest and of course she befriends this unexpected woman.Â
Finally, Phryne in the dulcinea role is also in @zannadubs23, âAxiom Tiltâ, where Phryne wants to play saviour to a young nurse. The fic has only started so I canât predict where itâs going, but it has several very interesting parts: Phryne trying to cope with a case she starts to feel very personal about, wanting very much to help out, and Phryne being unhappy about Jackâs too thorough adjustability. I know there will be plot twists coming, but I canât predict in what way.
The next type of fic is where someone wants to save Phryne.Â
In @rithebard, âInterferenceâ, a random, stuck up man at a party wants to rescue Phryne â from the social disaster of being with Jack. This does not end well for the unsuspecting man, whom Phryne sets straight on the matter, and in quite a physical way. In @longlineoftvdetectives, âLocked Upâ, we instead see an aftermath of a similar event: a random man did try to save (well, âsaveâ), Phryne and the result of this is that Phryne has been arrested for assault. The way Jack gets to know about this, from Dot not really breaking any confidences but hinting very thoroughly, is much fun, as is the way Jack reacts to the fact that he gets news via Dot:
âBut youâve heard from her?â
âYes.â
âOf course,â he stated, a slight edge of jealously joining his tone as he leaped to a certain conclusion from Dotâs evasiveness. âAs long as sheâs well.â
Jack pivoted to duck back into his office before Dotâs voice stopped him again.
âDid you have plans with Miss Fisher, Inspector?â
âNo,â he answered. âNot as such.â
Jack does not in his turn try to save Phryne per se, but he sure makes her arrest more comfortable and social.
In @ollyjayonlineâs, âEvil in the Shadowsâ, the dulcinea trope is even more surprisingly developed, by the use of a crossover with another fictional universe. Here it is Spike, the vampire from Buffy the vampire slayer, who wants to get to Phryne â he wants to understand, threaten, in a way devour her. Phryne is holding her fort beautifully, and her strength here is her bravery and loyalty. The layers of the trope are several â Phryne rejects the idea of a man coming for her rescue: âThis statement made her angry. âThere most assuredly is a Jack but I donât need him to rescue me.â and finally, in the end, Spike turns around from threat to instead wanting to save her.
In @firesign23, âOne Night In Berlinâ, set during WWII, Jack seems to randomly want to save a woman, which means he seems to have become a dulcinea man. But it turns out that he knows what heâs doing, as the woman might not be a stranger after all, and might also count on him being there:
âI wasnât aware you were in town,â he said conversationally.
âJust arrived,â the woman replied. âI do hope I didnât interrupt anything.â
And then, interestingly enough, finally a fic actually managed to turn Jack into a proper dulcinea knight! This happens in @firesign23âs short fic âIn An Instantâ. Weâre here not talking about the world-weary, experienced Jack we know, but about young Jack, wanting to save Rosie. This is a lovely fic about young constable Jack who is in love with Rosie, but socially below her, and so they will never be â until she is in need of help and he offers. Itâs a tale about how life can change in an instant â as the title says â and this choice is followed up by another similar one, to go to war. Knowing how their marriage turned out later gives the fic an extra twinge of melancholy, and itâs a beautiful exploration of one way their relationship could have started.
Two fics that put the dulcinea reaction on other characters completely are Quailitea, âHero in Loveâ, a very sweet short fic where Hugh wants to take on the whole world for his newborn daughter, and @flashofthefuse âAbout a Girlâ that dives into Janeâs school life seen through one of her school mates, Fin, who has a crush on her. Itâs a great exploration into both the boyâs mind and into how school could be for Jane, with mean classmates and a tendency to get swallowed up by reading. There are so many lovely details here, of Fin finding out a way to help Jane against bullies without her even noticing, of Fin seeing two grown up men assaulting Jane and trying to help her â but it turns out they are Bert and Cec and only joking with her. And thereâs a lovely scene where Cec really sees and understands the boy, and also gives him some really good advice about how to treat a girl.
Iâll round up this overview with three fics that are leaning heavily towards the lighthearted and fun in their use of the trope.
In Sassasam/@phrynesboudoir, âSave Meâ, there really is a rescue, Jack saving Phryne â although it turns out to be more of a sartorial rescue, and mostly being about her dignity:
âOh come on Miss Fisher. Are you saying you need me to save you?â he chuckled. âI thought there was no problem you couldnât overcome.â
âJack,â she said a little more forcefully. âI need your help.â
âYou could ask nicely,â he replied.
âDo you want me to beg?â she asked sharply.
âThis may never happen again,â he replied.
Also in @geenee27, âIn Over Her Headâ, set at the beach, there is an amusing play with the trope. A girl very much wishing for Jack, who is out in the water swimming, to rescue her decides to feign distress in the water. But when she does get rescued it is from someone elseâs strong arms instead â and that is someone who completely sees through her act. Perhaps Phryne can also be said to be overly protective of Jack in relation to other women, which would be another version of the knightly persuasion, this time in a bathing suit.
Finally, @scruggzi, âBraving the Stormâ, is a very fulfilling fluffy story about Jack, at City South on a Christmas eve in full storm, facing the realisation he needs to take care of two kittens. There is such powerful adorableness in Jack trying to keep up his dignity although the kittens totally melt his heart:
The assembled day shift was therefore treated to the sight of their DI handing out assignments and issuing orders with his usual taciturn efficiency, but with one fluffy kitten in hand â which had rolled on his back in order to have his tummy tickled â and another perched on the Inspectorâs shoulder, staring the junior officers down with all the ferocity of a warrior queen. It was a sight no-one at City South who saw it would ever forget, and yet no-one could quite bring themselves to question it.
There are also lovely parallels to when he himself, one year earlier, was let in by Phryne from a similar storm. Jack decides to call them Cleopatra and Marc Antony and bring them back to Wardlow, to a surprised and sleepy Phryne. The next day, as the kittens meet the household, the poking at his dignity continues:Â "Apparently realising quite suddenly that he had in fact been talking out loud to a kitten in a room full of people, the Inspectorâs ears turned a beautifully festive shade of red and he cleared his throat, glowering at Phryne in the futile hope that she would let his pre-caffeinated comment go unremarked.â
As we can see, the explorations of the trope has really gone in all directions, and I am extra pleased with that this month, as I thought it might perhaps be a bit of a difficult trope â but it turned out to be just as good at generating fics as the others have been.Â
That was all about the August trope. These overviews can also be found here on AO3. And I am very much looking forward to the September trope challenge â âRumours and Gossipâ.