A looooong time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I wrote a fanfic from Jane Fairfax’s and Frank Churchill’s perspectives, filling in the plot gaps in Emma by Jane Austen. Obviously, that negates the “mystery story” element of the novel, but I don’t care. It was a fun exercise to try to get into their heads and figure out what they were thinking, and what kinds of people they really were.
I came to the conclusion that Jane Fairfax really was a superior creature. One who was desperate to find love…and also desperate to not work for a living. Not judging – I totally understand where she was coming from. Here’s a beautiful woman with loads of talent and tons of accomplishments, and she’s on the cusp of spending the rest of her life (? – I mean, Mr. Weston sprung Miss Taylor out of Governess Jail at Hartfield…) as a glorified servant. For a woman who is the granddaughter and daughter of gentlemen (her grandfather was clergy and her father an army officer, two of the gentlemanly professions), it isn’t so unreasonable to expect she’ll be able to live a life that befits a gentlewoman. Obviously, genteel poverty was a thing (cases in point: Mrs. and Miss Bates), but as a young woman, Jane should have had a fighting chance at a decent marriage and living. Maybe not big-inheritance level like Frank ended up giving her, but something better than working for friends of Mrs. Elton for a pittance.
In Jane’s shoes, I probably would’ve let Frank talk me into falling in love with him, too. Maybe. As for Frank Churchill, I decided he’s a self-centered ass, but not the villain some people make him out to be. He really, really does love her. I mean, here’s a guy with the looks, charm, and money to basically marry just about any well-bred girl he wants, and he picks the poor one. And not just for messing around. He proposes marriage to lock her down. Add all that to his fits of pique at Box Hill and you know he’s got it bad for her. Really bad.
Yeah, he makes fun of Jane’s hair to Emma, which isn’t just an affront to her looks – it’s also a dig at her poverty, as she and her aunt and grandmother can’t afford a lady’s maid to do it for her, but so many of the improper things that come up in Frank’s conversations with Emma aren’t actually suggested by Frank – they’re suggested by Emma. He certainly encourages the topic, but it’s Emma who goes full-Dixon, not Frank. Mmhmmmmm.
Anyway, I rewrote the fic to make it a little less Austen-y and restrained and a little more psychological. When I finished the original version, I wanted to continue the post-canon story of Jane and Frank with some plot ideas that struck me along the way. Unfortunately, life got stupid for a couple of decades and suddenly it’s not just the 21st century, it’s the third decade of the 21st century, and that scares the crap out of me. I’ve only begun to revisit the possibility of continuing with these ficbunnies again. Suffice it to say that some of my ideas will probably piss off the Austen purists, but whatever. Forget it, Jake (Jane?) – this is Fanfiction Town.
So here’s the new version, titled B-L-U-N-D-E-R, currently hosted at Archiveofourown.org. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
