Thoughts on JABB 224-
JABB's 9th Anniversary in
Dyeland
Because this was
something of an unusual
writing experience for me,
I wanted to say a bit (or
more) about this
story. JABB's 9th
anniversary hit during the
height of my big
move. So trying to
work, keep up with the
JABB YG, paint, clean,
move AND write was a
challenge. I had
wanted to have this story
completed by July
19th. However, I
ended up putting it back
til that following
weekend. Even at
that it was only half done
and it would be another
few days before I'd finish
it. It was a far cry
from previous JABBs that I
had written in one
sitting. In some
ways, I am afraid the
story suffered for
it. There are
transitions I wish had
been smoother and memories
I wish had been more
fleshed out. But all
in all, I enjoyed writing
it and reading the
finished product. Of
course, I couldn't have
done it with out a lot of
help. This time
around I asked people to
submit just a basic idea
for a memory their
character might have about
Andrew. Those
submissions proved
vital. So I just
want to thank Yvette, Liz,
and Nicole for their help
with that. Now I'm
gonna go through the
characters one by one and
share a bit about how
their individual stories
came to be.
Lady JenniAnn-
Hers was by far and away
the easiest. After
playing Dyeland for so
many years, it's sometimes
hard to turn it off.
Some days I'll just have
mental flashes of things
that might happen
there. It was a year
or two ago that I had just
such a mental flash that
depicted Andrew trying to
teach LJA to drive.
She was terribly nervous
and to lighten the mood,
Andrew made a crack about
if she thought she might
crash she should crash on
his side. Not
understanding, she asked
him why and he answered
that he was immortal and
therefore couldn't be hurt
by her poor driving.
It made me laugh and I
hope others, too. In
any case, I'm glad it was
finally put to good
use.
My original intention was
to have each memory
reflect or call to mind a
particular TBAA
episode. I
eventually gave up on that
idea but it was a part of
this one with LJA making a
direct reference to the
TBAA finale field scene.
Vincent-
Strangely, this ended up
being the most personal
sub-story for me.
Another of my original
intentions was to rotate
between funny memories and
sad ones. Since
LJA's goofy bad driving
memory had preceded this
one, I wanted it to be
serious. This is
what came to mind. I
was actually somewhat
horrified by the darkness
of it. References to
drug use and dying girls
just aren't what one
usually finds in
JABB. But one does
find them in both TBAA and
BatB so I ended up feeling
okay with letting this one
in.
I will admit I nearly
cried over this one.
Actually I probly would
have had I not felt so
rushed to complete the
story. It was as if
I was seeing this one on
TV and Phoebe's equating
Vincent with Aslan was
unexpected to me and
heartbreaking. If
you've read Narnia
you know that Aslan had
the power to restore
health and even
life. The contrast
between this magnificent
lion some consider to be a
fictionalized Jesus and a
very mortal and grieving
Vincent was nearly too
much. Vincent could
not restore Phoebe and, of
course, not even Andrew
could. Again, the
temptation was to cut that
dialogue. As the
years have gone on, such
temptations are
increasingly ignored.
Perhaps the most difficult
passage of all to write
was Vincent lashing out at
Andrew:
"Her final
moments? She
couldn't have been
eighteen, Andrew!
What age is that for final
moments?" Vincent at
once felt remorse for
snapping at the angel and
his tone grew more
gentle. "I used to
read Narnia to the
children. Children
barely younger than
Phoebe. And I cannot
help but think... Who read
it to her? Where are
they now? Do they
pray for her safe
return?" His sobs
began again.
They are far too close to
words that have run
through my mind as I think
of a young friend who left
this world far, far too
early. In the end,
this particular
memory/story ended up
being pretty therapeutic
for me. In writing
Andrew's response to
Vincent, I ended up having
to answer my own heart.
This sub-story was also
written while I was still
trying to reflect a TBAA
episode with each
story. I wanted
Phoebe to call China from
"Children of the Night" to
mind. In addition,
Vincent being able to see
Phoebe in Heaven was my
answer to Monica showing
the grieving mother her
baby in "The Southbound
Bus." I had wanted
to celebrate the show that
brought us together by
doing this sorta
homage.
One final note about this
one: In my original
version, Vincent carried
Phoebe's body to a morgue
so that she would be
properly laid to
rest. This was
something I vaguely recall
Vincent actually doing on
BatB. Anyhow, he was
supposed to have done that
and only then been
confronted by Andrew who
would have said something
to the effect of being
glad that Vincent was
there to do what AODs
cannot. Vincent
would have bitterly
countered that any service
he rendered was far too
late for the victim.
To which Andrew would
answer that in ensuring
the body would be cared
for, Vincent was enabling
the families to be
notified and not left to
endlessly wonder. I
decided that wasn't near
as poignant and, in
regards to AODs not being
able to do the same, not
even necessarily
true. There are
occasions on TBAA when
Andrew did see to it that
people were respectfully
mourned and buried.
"The Compass" comes to
mind.
Yva- This
was the first one I wrote
based off a memory idea
submitted by someone else,
Yvette in this case.
It actually worked out
really well, I
think. I was
concerned that someone
might submit something I
couldn't work with but
that just didn't
happen. Yay!
Anyhow, this one just flew
naturally from the Dyeland
events that played out on
the YG last year. I
was concerned that it came
out sounding a lil
anti-Monica but I hope I
stressed that it was more
Andrew's reaction to
Monica than Monica herself
that could prove
problematic. That
all was never spoken of on
the show. Andrew
never said he repressed
his emotions to protect
Monica. I just
thought it seemed likely
given what we did see of
them. Other than
that, this one doesn't
reflect a particular TBAA
episode and is where I
start to get away from my
original intent to have
homages to episodes in
each memory.
For what it's worth, Yva
gets one of my favorite
lines in this story which
is:
"Andrew, we
never wanted a
superhero. We just
wanted a friend and
friends not only give
comfort but accept it when
they need it. You've
prayed with us and for
us. You've held our
hands as we cried.
But may be sometimes we
need to be the ones
praying for you and
holding your hand."
And, for the
record, it was Yvette
that came up with Yva
sometimes calling Andrew
"sweet angel." I
think it makes
sense. :-)
Nigel-
Again, Yvette submitted
a memory and I worked
from that. It
flows pretty much from
Yva's memory and
probably happened with
in days of hers. I
suppose this one served
as more of a recap of
previous Dyeland
happenings. One
thing that was kinda
difficult was
remembering which
characters were around
when. I almost had
Andrew mention a place
with significance to
Rose during his tour
with Nigel.
However, Rose didn't
come until April 2007 so
that wouldn't have made
sense.
I'm afraid I
don't write Nigel's
dialect as well as
Yvette does so that
was probly the hardest
bit of this
part. And, of
course, it was probly
one of the most
dialogue driven
memories!
And I've been such a
space cadet of late
that I forgot I never
finished this so
here's me picking it
back up on the 9th of
Sept.
Thankfully, I still
remember writing this
story pretty
well.
Henry- This time
the memory was
submitted by
Liz. Storywise
this might have been
my favorite one to
work with since it was
a departure from
anything previously
mentioned on the JABB
YG or the
newsletter. So I
could really go
wherever I wanted to
with it. I've
always liked the idea
of the AOD Band so I
was glad Liz suggested
using them. And
her idea of having
them play for sick
children was really
touching, I
thought.
However, because it's
so difficult to think
of children suffering,
I wanted to have a bit
of lightness in this
vignette which I why I
started with the
mullet jokes.
My only regret with
this story is that it
is just a typed
story. We'll
never actually get to
watch the AOD Band
perform. I think
that woulda been
fun. :-)
Lady Beth-
Again based off an
idea submitted by
Liz. And I think
this was the only
sub-story that sent me
searching through the
YG archives cause I
couldn't remember why
it was Lady Beth
crashed Andrew's
assignment. Even
though I was writing
for Andrew at the
time, I forgot the bit
about his hand getting
hurt by an abusive
assignment.
Anyhow... I think this
one's very sweet and I
enjoyed writing
it. However...
This whole time I've
been writing Dyeland,
there's been a bit of
a dark thought that
sometimes pops into my
head. And in
this memory, I finally
expressed it via
Andrew in the
following passage:
"One of the things I
dread most is having
something happen to one of
you and to be there and...
to not be able to do a
thing to help you."
He sat down in a near by
chair. "I couldn't
stand that," he finished,
his voice barely
audible. "I pray all
the time that it never
happens."
Over the years I've
been tempted to write
a story in which just
such a scenario does
happen. However,
I haven't yet and I'm
not sure I ever
will. But
whenever I write, in
every sweet scene and
every loving word
passed one of the AODs
and the ladies, I
think about
that. Their
world and their
relationships are
precarious
miracles. Like
much of real life, I
suppose.
Adam-
This one made me tear
up. Hippies
sometimes do that for
me. So much
promise and hope and a
good deal of
heartache. And
just the image of a
lone, hesitant soldier
walking among them
made me sad.
Especially since he
was Adam. I
suppose it was also
sad for me because I'm
not so sure barriers
will fall down just
over a football game
but who knows.
And, for the record, I
wasn't trying to make
any sorta statement
about current global
politics. I'm
pretty sure most
everyone agrees war
isn't tons of fun
which was my only
point.
Rose-
My only regret with
this one is that part
of me wishes I'd told
this story first since
it would have been a
good introduction to
the characters for any
new members. Oh
well! This one
was suggested by
Nicole. On the
YG we'd never really
delved into how the
face-to-face meeting
between Andrew and
Rose went so it was
fun to do that.
I liked the easyness
of the conversation
between the two
characters although
with a touch of
awkwardness when
Andrew gets to the AOD
bit. One wonders
how many people have
reacted poorly to him
after learning of
that. But
hopefully never in
Dyeland. :-)
I was tempted to not
have Andrew make the
party but I
relented. I just
figured realistically
he wouldn't be able to
attend
everything. But
then Dyeland isn't
entirely
realistic! But
Andrew's closing words
are really mine.
JABB has been through
a lot together, we
have helped each
other, and I do hope
the Father gives us
many years together!
And I hope it never
takes me this long to
complete work on a
single newsletter
again!