What's good?  July's recommendation-of-the-month is wiliqueen's "Silent All These Years" (1992), an amazing early take on Janette's origins.  The many elements it shares with the episode "A Fate Worse Than Death" (1994) testify to the cohesion of Janette's character, while the differences bore perceptively into Janette's relationship with Lacroix.

     [Janette] cursed herself for her sentimental refusal to sell the thing, meaningless as she knew it to be in a world shaped by Roman hands. She could have been free by now; and though she would always be a barbarian and therefore inferior in that world, her lineage and looks might have won her a marriage into the puppet Gallic nobility. Instead she had nothing all over again.

What's new?  In June, fkfic-l saw five stories, all by one author.  ( List with Links )

Many people have posted about this by now (much thanks to abby82 for cluing me on) and everyone should know!  If you've missed it so far, come catch up.  "Rich's ComixBlog" is featuring a project called Forever Janette.  (LiveJournal syndication of RSS Feed here; DreamWidth syndication of RSS Feed here.)

The praiseworthy art features functional resemblances and excellent composition.  It's set between season two and season three, where so many wonderful tales fit.  I've wanted to see FK as a comic for ages!  There are sixteen installments so far.  The creator seems to know his canon.

It's also a crossover with Doctor Who.  ( Spoilers )

On Friday, havocthecat wished for picspam of "awesome women."  In response, I made this batch of new userpic icons featuring female FK characters together.  The exercise brought home how rarely the women are on screen at the same moment, even when they are the only two characters in the scene; typically, FK's camera moves back and forth, from one character to the other, instead of showing them together.   (Cohen with Natalie was harder to run down than I expected, and of course the only recurring female character with whom Urs ever shares a shot is Divia.)

Available if you would like them:

01. Natalie and Grace	02. Natalie and Janette	03. Brianna and Janette

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The original screenshots for most of these come from Nancy T.'s Knight Watchman.  I tried to drop by Kristen H.'s Knight Vision, too, but it's gone!  This of course means I've let my links go way too long unchecked, and I should run backward through forkni-l digests until I learn what happened.  (If I heard of this and forgot, I shall be covered with embarrassment, but don't let that stop you from reminding me. ~g~)

What's good?  Enthused about alternate universes, coming off the new Star Trek movie?  For May, I'm excited to get to recommend a story set in FK's one canonical AU.  "Perchance to Dream: Ghost Song" (2009, rated R) by abby82 plunges beautifully, wretchedly into the "Curiouser & Curiouser" inversion.

Slowly, Janette's perfume surrounds him like a comfortable blanket and for a few precious moments Nick pretends this is exactly what he wants--the trappings of domestic bliss. ... Nick sneaks a look at his watch. If he leaves now, he can make it.

Happy tenth anniversary to the recommendation-of-the-month project!  In May 1999, the very first recommendation was of susanmgarrett's "Peerless Pressure."

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What's new?  In April, fkfic-l saw three stories by three authors.  ( List )

These user-pic icons come from a batch I made for leela_cat in December, when she was writing her first FK fiction in a very long time.  Those stories mostly starred Janette and Nick, so these icons do, too.  She picked the icons she wanted; these twenty others are available if you would like them.  For a change, they're text-free.

1.	2.	3.

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What's good?  I've wanted to spotlight Scottie's "Flowers in the Night" (1993) in the recommendations project for years, and this month I get to!  This short story vividly displays first-season Nick and Janette, when Lacroix is dead and possibilities cluster so thick and unimagined that they hardly know where to begin.

"The club was almost deserted, I was bored, and I thought perhaps two old friends could enjoy a talk and a bottle of wine."  He didn't respond.  She raised the glasses... "It's wine, Nicholah.  Just wine.  Nothing else -- nothing that could contaminate you."

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What's new?  In February, fkfic-l saw nine stories by three authors.  In the order posting completed:

• "Heartfelt" by Walt D. (1 post)
  
• "Rock-y Horrors" by Walt D. (1 post)
  
• "The Life and Times of a Macedonian Vampire" by dj_clawson (14 posts)
  
• "Illusions of Mortality" by abby82 (1 post) (adult)
  
• "Pshrink" by Walt D. (3 posts)
  
• "The Life of a Macedonian Vampire and His Son Alexander" by dj_clawson (16 posts)
  
• "Hurt" by Walt D. (2 posts)
  
• "Chess" by Walt D. (1 post) (adult)
  
• "Complaint" by Walt D. (1 post)
  

Busy month! :-)

What's good?  I'm pleased to get to feature "The Night Was Dark, and She Was the Owner" by Elisabeth as February's recommendation-of-the-month.  This ficlet crosses over with Highlander, but requires no HL knowledge to enjoy its full FK potential.

       "Buy the lady a drink?"
       The question, asked in the patois of her childhood by a vaguely familiar voice, triggered Janette's protective instincts. Even as she swung around, she clamped down on her body's impulse to flash fangs.
       Elbows resting on the wrought iron fence that separated the café tables from the pavement, he smiled at her. That nose, those eyes, that horrendous hair. He could be only one man. Methos, her memory supplied, along with a string of other, temporary, names.

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What's new?  In January, fkfic-l saw three stories finish posting, including the one that began in December.  (As a reminder, the line-limit doubled during January.  Post-count for story-length will be a whole new metric going forward.)

• "A Question of Loyalty" by dj_clawson (6 posts)
  
• "Rogue Vampire" by abby82 (1 post)
  
• "Lost Scene from 'Father Figure'" by Walt D. (1 post)
  

Four stories have completed their runs in February so far, including one that began in January and is the largest to post in almost four years.

leela_cat wrote, and batdina beta-read, several ficlets as personal holiday gifts this year, three of them FK, and one of them for me!

This is the first time leela_cat has written FK in, oh, vampire's years.  She was good then, but she's even better now.  Please consider reading these and lavishing her with thoughtful comments to encourage her to indulge FK again someday.

• FK: "Even a Fine Line Has Two Sides" for Natpacker amilyn. 300 words. G. Natalie, Sidney, Nick.
  
• FK: "A Strange Comfort" for Knightie me. ~1,090 words. G. Nick, Schanke, Natalie, Janette.
  
• FK/HL: "The Night Was Dark, and She Was the Owner" for Ravenette loreleif. ~1,200 words. G. Janette, Methos, Natalie.

The galpalficathon was due on November 16, but stories continue to trickle in.  (As a reminder, this was the "female friendship" ficathon.)  The prompts offered a wide variety of fandoms and characters, but it seems to me that relatively few people finally participated; the timing may not have been good, as those who play in ficathons may all already have had their eyes on the big holiday fiction games.

So far, two Forever Knight stories have appeared there:

• "Rogue Vampire" by abby82, featuring Janette and Alyce Hunter, before and after the tag scene of "Dark Knight, the Second Chapter."  (~3K words)
• "Milepost" by me, featuring Tracy and Natalie, after "My Boyfriend is a Vampire" and before "Fever."  (~2K words)

If anyone feels like chiming in, this ficathon community gives all signs of being ongoing and deadline-free.  The single-fandom and crossover prompts all remain available.

What's good?  I'm running late on the recommendations project this month; my apologies.  Now that we're here, I am so pleased to get to highlight the energetic, enthusiastic, insightful, 1995 novel "Protect and Serve" by butterflykiki!  This unique angle on the Enforcers focuses on the human characters.

Natalie:	"Do you ever think that our lives would be a lot simpler if we just gave up on the secrecy and published the truth in the Enquirer, Nick?"
Nick:	"I don't need my life simplified that much."

What's new?  In October, fkfic-l saw one new story, a one-parter titled "Hallowe'en" by Walt D.  (Yea, Walt!)  November, by comparison, has gotten off to a sprinter's start, with three stories by three authors already!

I posted my second oldschoolfic story to fkfic-l this weekend.  A few scenes have been rewritten since the ficathon, but it's largely the same.  I'm grateful to abby82 for the ficathon prompt!  And I'm obliged to my beta-readers (see the story's endnote, as always).

"Fearful Symmetry" is entirely from Nick's perspective.  I don't often narrate from Nick's point of view, and that's curious to me.  I've been wondering from where that comes (among what the series presents, what I'm any good at writing, and what people seem to like to read).

	•	Title:	"Fearful Symmetry"
	•	Length:	~9,900 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L November 1-2, 2008
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	As the asteroid panic gets a second wind, Nick revisits his experiences during the 1950s Red Scare.
	•	Setting:	Flashbacks to 1954 ("Spin Doctor").  Present after "A More Permanent Hell."
	•	Characters:	Nick, Natalie, Lacroix, Janette, Others.
	•	Quotation:	"He had been so proud to be awarded tenure last year, to be recognized as a worthy and wanted permanent member of the faculty."

 

I began posting my oldschoolfic ficathon story to fkfic-l today.  I'm grateful to amilyn for the ficathon prompt, and her enthusiastic reception of the story!  And I'm obliged to my generous beta-readers (see the story's end note) as always.  This is the longest piece I've yet written solely from Natalie's perspective.

	•	Title:	"A Delicate Balance"
	•	Length:	~9,900 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L July 27-29, 2008
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Natalie takes a break from a murder investigation to attend an unusual memorial for her brother, while considering a new approach to Nick's condition.
	•	Setting:	After "1966."  Flashbacks to Natalie's childhood.
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick, Schanke, Richard, Sara, Nana, Janette, Grace, Stonetree, Tracy and others.
	•	Quotation:	"The mesmerism-enforced lie that had covered Richie's vampirism curdled on Natalie's tongue."

Addendum:  By the way, the fkfic-l "ACK" states that the posts are reaching 279 recipients.  (I presume that is "mail" and "digest," not "nomail," but I don't know for sure.)  Those of you who have FK fanfic you've posted on LJ but not the list, please do consider sharing with the biggest FK audience still assembled.  We miss you.

I've spent most of my fandom hobby time lately working on my oldschoolfic ficathon story.  I got an FK prompt!  And I'm trying to deliver an episode-like response, cop-plot and all.  Eeep!  (Cop-plot stuff is hard.)  Yet in the "vacuum the cat" tradition of ducking the dreaded blank page by any means available, I've also made my second batch of "up for grabs" FK icons (below); the first was that Natpacker set, of course, and so I've now made a smattering of userpics for most other factions.  If you pick one up, please let me know, and credit as appropriate.  Constructive criticism is also welcome.

The original screenshots for many of these come from Nancy T.'s Knight Watchman; others come from Kristen's Knight Vision; and a few have actually been on my hard drive since the series was still on the air (uh, successive hard drives, that is ~g~).  I believe the FK logo GIF with the red letters was created by Nancy K.

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I posted two contributions to medie's week-long "Because We're Awesome"/"About the Girls" comment-fic fete today:

• "La Ville-lumière," a graphic for the prompt "Janette : Paris"
• "Clearing the Air," a traditional drabble (100 words) for the prompt "Natalie and Tracy : Talk"

I spent all my spare moments this week chewing over the MBIAV drabble; by contrast, the Paris graphic came smoothly and quickly on Friday night.  I'm not sure whether I should send the drabble to fkfic-l, or compile a cycle of drabbles or something else to make it worth the list's time.

There are two hours yet to midnight Saturday (the end of the event) here in the Pacific time zone, and more yet in Alaska, and Hawaii, and west to the dateline.  So more FK contributions may appear.  At the moment, however, it seems that abby82's "Cutthroat Business" (for the prompt "Janette : Business") is the only other FK posting.

Happy Easter!  With this installment, we come to the end of my little fanfiction retrospective.  From now on, it's new or nothing!  (Unless I retype two or three dusty 'zine properties, perhaps.)

In December, much_madness challenged me to produce something short on a deadline, noting that she enjoys vignettes and "ficlets," and that I rarely write them.  She's right.  I have a tough time letting FK scenarios go when they're still small.  In reply to her, and inspired by something wiliqueen said while analyzing Blood Ties, I managed this:

	•	Title:	"Steamer Trunk Space"
	•	Length:	~1,400 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L February 7, 2008
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Between the scenes of "Father's Day," Janette packs for the trip in pursuit of Nick.
	•	Setting:	1925 Paris
	•	Characters:	Janette, Lacroix
	•	Quotation:	"Prudence often dimmed and drifted, when it came to Nicolas."

Did you know that all twenty-two first-season FK episodes are now available, individually, for download on Amazon unbox?  I found out this week, when I sent a season as a gift.  This should be very convenient for anyone who misplaces a DVD, or who wants to carry an episode handily on a player of some sort.

Speaking of of the FK DVDs, I've been thinking again of taking a thin-tip Sharpie and writing the episode titles on each disk.  Highlander, among many other series, managed to come out with the episode titles printed; I can't imagine why FK didn't -- though of course I'm still deliriously grateful for the DVDs, after so long supposing they'd never come.  (The first season DVDs didn't arrive until October 2003, you know, more than seven years after cancellation.)

I can puzzle through the numbered (not titled) DVDs from memory for most of first and third seasons, even now, as the order on the disks is the order in which the episodes aired, and with which we lived for all the years without professional recordings.  But oh! Second season!  For example, I know the production number for "Crazy Love" is "13" but, to me, it's the finale of season two, not something in the middle.  Season two originally aired in nothing like the production order we see on the DVDs, and this makes an interpretational difference I'm still trying to wrap my mind around.  A Raven friend once said that she didn't care whether season two ends on "Crazy Love" (aired order) or "Blood Money" (production order), because both end with Nick in Janette's arms.  However, I think it does matter.  In my imagination, it's still "Crazy Love" that moves Janette to leave, not "Blood Money."  I see the arguments for "Blood Money," as the milder of the two, better supporting the eventual explanation in "The Human Factor" flashbacks.  But Nick's failing to visit the Raven for months (cf. "Black Buddha, Part 1") has always seemed to me supported by the rawness and guilt of "Crazy Love."  I've been meaning to write a story about that for ages...

Ah, well.  The immortal DVDs trump mortal aired order, and here we are.  In need of episode titles handwritten across the DVD labels.

This is not a crossover.  It's a parody.  But it has a smattering of parallel spoilers for the third season of the revived Doctor Who, because I inflicted on Nick and his Professor When show all the spoilers I was unable to duck in real life.

Our beloved brick is so good for this kind of humor, isn't he?  I had almost forgotten!

	•	Title:	"Professor When"
	•	Length:	~3,700 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on August 30, 2007
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	It seems everyone has seen the new season of Nick's favorite show -- except him.
	•	Setting:	Second season
	•	Characters:	Nick, Lacroix, Schanke, Janette, Merlin, Natalie, Others
	•	Quotation:	"Nick sighed. Putting away killers to atone for his sordid past was all fine and good, but no one should have to work on premiere night."

I wrote this story as a gift for tv_elf, who once wished for fanfiction featuring Schanke and Janette (as in scenes from "For I Have Sinned," "Hunters," "Partners of the Month" and "Close Call").  I don't know that I achieved the rhythm of the great canonical banter she had in mind, but I did my best.  The characters attend The Fantasticks because tv_elf likes musicals, and wiliqueen suggested that this was the musical of the Schankes' generation.

The narrative perspective is Myra's, and Bernice Applebaum from "If Looks Could Kill" makes an appearance (plus references to Norma Dean, Bernice's friend who died in the ILCK teaser).

	•	Title:	"Nice to Remember"
	•	Length:	~4,850 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L November 22, 2006
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Myra and Don Schanke's anniversary celebration proves more exciting than planned.
	•	Setting:	Between first and second season
	•	Characters:	Schanke, Myra, Janette, Others
	•	Quotation:	"You two had a date tonight?  I had no idea.  It's our anniversary, and he volunteered.  Oh, man.  Nick didn't stand you up, did he?  I mean, not that anyone would stand you up!"

The original idea-flash for this vignette came in the form of a comic-book storyboard with no speech balloons -- no words at all except the message on the answering machine and the date on the newspaper, something very like the silent "The Phoenix and the Carpet" interlude in the back of that issue of Classic X-Men -- you know the one, right? ;-)  But I don't have the drawing skills to execute that vision, so I wrestled the inspiration into prose instead.

The piece includes my best use of Miklos to date.  Re-reading it, I felt I should try to do more with his character.

	•	Title:	"By Expectation Beguiled"
	•	Length:	~1,900 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on July 28, 2006
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	A shift at the Raven hinges on personal intangibles that have nothing to do with work.
	•	Setting:	Second season
	•	Characters:	Janette, Alma, Brianna, Miklos, Nick, Other
	•	Quotation:	"At first, she looked up each time the door opened.  But Janette soon shook her head and settled down to her paperwork.  ...  This was one of the nights when she felt how very good she was at what she did, and how much it was worth the doing."

Someday, I may write a sequel to this novella, and it may be called "Under a Long Shadow."  Someday.  If I figure out the theme.  I know what happens next, you see, but I'm not sure it matters, because "In the Light of Day" fulfills its whole original purpose.  To write, I must have purpose.

"In the Light of Day" is a parallel-reality tale.  The break with canon comes after "Fever," and the story then progresses through "Dead of Night," "The Games Vampires Play" and "The Human Factor," reworking each episode given Nick's new mortality, until things are so different that the parallel snaps, and the alternate reality floats free.

One tidbit of which I'm fond here is Natalie's on-the-fly psychoanalysis of Lacroix, in which she concludes that no one will ever love another person as much as he has, over eight centuries, convinced himself he loved Fleur.  I also like the garden I built for Feliks Twist (but I really owe him a nice story of his own for his fate here).  And the flashbacks!  I did more research for them than any before or since (so far).  For this story, I became queen of a certain slice of Trivial Pursuit questions.  :-)

	•	Title:	"In the Light of Day"
	•	Length:	~53,000 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L in October 2003
	•	Rating:	PG-13
	•	Summary:	Nick regains his humanity, but he's not the only one.  And no one is prepared for all the consequences.
	•	Setting:	After "Fever," with flashbacks 1226-1228
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick, Norma, Stonetree, Urs, Tracy, Reese, Vachon, Feliks Twist, Lacroix, Myra Schanke, Janette, Others
	•	Quotation:	"Nick strolled back to his loft in the crisp morning light, feeling everything was right with his world. Granted, his arm was in a sling, his shoulder throbbed like thunder, he remained on enforced medical leave, his partner might never again pass a police physical, and the Enforcers could well be coming to get him and the woman he loved..."

In "I Will Repay," Janette tells Nick she never converted anyone to vampirism.  But what about the Baroness in "If Looks Could Kill"?  Some very kind people nominated "Not the Mothering Type" for a 2001 FK Fanfiction Award for its attempt to reconcile those loose canon ends.

Rereading this story tonight, I thought about how it models what I hope to contribute to that "Women are Awesome" femme_fic ficathon.  Told from Janette's view, "Not the Mothering Type" stars Janette and Sofia, their challenges and solutions -- and while Lacroix's villainy is not completely overcome in the past, this is first season, where Janette, Sofia and Nick have all outlived him.  They are the survivors... of all he put them through, all the deep-seated damage he wrought.  They win.

Rereading, I also wondered, in passing: "Golly, could I really tell no story in those days without a Fleur reference?" ;-)

	•	Title:	"Not the Mothering Type"
	•	Length:	~4,500 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L October 6, 2001
	•	Rating:	PG-13
	•	Summary:	Prompted by Nick, Janette recalls what really happened when Sofia became a vampire.
	•	Setting:	c.1885 Bavaria (ILCK), framed 1992 (IWR)
	•	Characters:	Nick, Janette, Sofia, Lacroix, Others
	•	Quotation:	"Newly returned to this world, Sofia needed -- and would want -- only vibrant, living, human blood, not the sluggish undead mire that was all Janette had to share."

My meta-parody "Grievances" is one of those few pieces that have never yet made it to fkfic-l.  I archived it on Bright Knight in 2001, but as far as I knew, no one read it until tv_elf recommended it on her LJ two years ago, when several people kindly commented on it.

It was my first attempt at comedy (well, since my contributions to the My Parental Units Invaded Earth and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt FK/DS/XF humor zine, anyway).

	•	Title:	"Grievances"
	•	Length:	~2,900 words
	•	Date:	Summer 2001
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	Canonical characters organize to protest the working conditions in fanfiction.
	•	Setting:	Where characters await stories
	•	Characters:	Vachon, Fleur, Janette, Lacroix, Schanke, Cohen, Stonetree, Nick, Natalie, Others
	•	Quotation:	"Bad day on the fic list?  Let me guess -- you spent an entire shift making love to Tracy Vetter for no emotionally established reason in no logically explained manner, and you need an aspirin and a shower?"

 

This song-challenge story is the Nick-narrated companion to my Lacroix-narrated "Whence the Truce."  Each stands alone -- that was important for several reasons, not least because "Whence the Truce" appeared in a zine, not on list -- but they are nevertheless a prequel/sequel pair, my only one so far.

	•	Title:	"That Ain't Love"
	•	Length:	~9,100 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on May 21, 1999
	•	Rating:	PG-13
	•	Summary:	Nick struggles to hold on to his new life and hopes when Lacroix confronts him with old demands and desires.
	•	Setting:	After "Stranger Than Fiction"
	•	Characters:	Nick, Lacroix, Natalie, Janette, Schanke, Brianna
	•	Quotation:	"Do you think that ignoring my feelings will make them go away?  Do you imagine that if you pretend I'm a vampire like any other, I will be?"

 

"Fireweed" is my longest story to date.  (To my surprise, "In the Light of Day" falls short by 11,000 words!)

This alternate universe diverges during the "Be My Valentine" flashbacks with Janette bringing Fleur across, and then parallels canon, asking what would have been different had Fleur been there.  I named the story for Epilobium angustifolium, a particular flower species [Fleur] that thrives in the aftermath of wildfires ["Ashes to Ashes"] in northern climates [Toronto].

	•	Title:	"Fireweed"
	•	Length:	~64,600 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L in December 1998
	•	Rating:	PG-13
	•	Summary:	As Natalie strives to derive a cure for vampirism from Divia's lethal venom, Fleur returns to her family.
	•	Setting:	After "Ashes to Ashes," with flashbacks to 1229
	•	Characters:	Nick, Natalie, Janette, Lacroix, Fleur, Grace, Tracy, Others
	•	Quotation:	"I hope, Doctor Lambert, that you will tell my brother of my attempt last night to dissuade you.  He will be looking for a scapegoat, and I'm not eager to take on the role again so soon."

And Another Thing 10:39 PM:  I almost forgot to mention that "Fireweed" was a nominee in the 1998 FK Fanfiction Awards!  My sincere thanks to those who nominated it and voted for it.  Your kindness still matters.

Here is another of my tiny handful of stories that have not yet appeared on FKFic-L because they belonged to zines.  This one appeared in the charity fanzine Tojours Lacroix, edited and published by Lisa P., conceived by Celeste and Laurie.  I wrote "Whence the Truce" in the summer of 1998, and it's my only fanfiction so far to spawn a sequel ("That Ain't Love").

Re-reading this, I realize that I've set more stories immediately following "Stranger Than Fiction" than at any other canonical moment (besides overriding "Last Knight," of course).  I also see what a Light Cousin I was back then.  And I'm delighted to rediscover my Ghost!Fleur character here; by coincidence, I have a new Ghost!Fleur story underway now.

	•	Title:	"Whence the Truce"
	•	Length:	~6,450 words
	•	Date:	Published in the charity fanzine Tojours Lacroix (1999)
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	Lacroix pieces together what happened after Nick staked him.
	•	Setting:	After "Stranger Than Fiction," with flashback to after "Dark Knight, the Second Chapter"
	•	Characters:	Lacroix, Janette, Fleur
	•	Quotation:	"Logic could not cut through the shrine he had made of his own wretched loneliness."