Another Christmas
story! Gotta say, was very tempted to write
another "A Christmas Carol" variation. I love
those! But I resisted and came up with this.
How??? I don't know. When I sat down to
write this the only part I knew was Vincent's and
Catherine's substory. The rest I just wrote as it
came to me. It was kinda fun. A lil scary
but fun. Usually I have stories all plotted
out. As with previous stories, I'm just gonna go
character by character and tell why they got the part
they did. (Typed out 12-30-07)
Dyelanders (in
general)- They start out pretty
lackadaisical. That was pretty much my state upon
entering the Christmas season. My mom had just had
back surgery, there had been a terrible shooting only
blocks from where I worked, and things really didn't seem
right. I got the feeling from some YG posts that I
wasn't the only one feeling this. Sipping drinks
with similarly minded friends seemed like a good
idea. As did the thought of letting go of the
past. Thankfully, both the Dyelanders and myself got
outta their slumps and moved onto better things...
Lady JenniAnn and Eliot-
As noted in my introduction to this story, this was the
first Christmas story in a while that didn't contain some
outlandish declaration of love from LJA to Andrew.
Eliot was the reason. I'd decided this summer that
since I'd gone through my own growing up experience
(moving into my own home), LJA should have a growing up
experience herself. Since she already lived on her
own (sometimes), a boyfriend seemed the next logical step
for her (better her than me! ;-) Enter
Eliot. Something I'd felt was missing in this
relationship was a good transition from Andrew to
Eliot. So this story contains it. LJA is
obviously more than a little obsessed with It's a Wonderful Life. Knowing this, Andrew
orchestrates a scene in which Eliot takes over his own
spot as LJA's personal George Bailey. I just
wanted it to be kinda sweet. I'm assuming this is
LJA's and Eliot's first kiss. Of course... the
fact that Andrew kinda had to push them to that probly
says something. But that's another story!
Basically, though, this scene sets my theme of getting
over the wounds and angst of the past and moving on.
From there LJA and Eliot pretty much sink back into the
ensemble and don't have any more really stand-out
scenes. Earlier that same week I had written a
story for the YG that featured only LJA and Adam.
So I was kinda LJA-ed out.
Andrew- I had
one small problem with his story but I glossed it
over. If, the previous Christmas, Andrew really
had heard LJA tell him she'd love him til the day she
died... why did he play stupid? That's kinda
lying. But I justified it to myself by thinking
that may be he hadn't put two and two together until
later that night. So right after she said it, he
didn't know what she'd said. Only later did it
click into place. And apparently he'd remembered
it all year long. Knowing it would cause the
now-dating-Eliot LJA some angst, he set about to right
it. And he did. See shippers, you can write
romantic scenes involving Andrew with out the angel
himself going all googly eyed! But I suppose my
scene isn't quite as dramatic as lovers tortured in
hellfire or clandestine angelic marriages. Ho hum.
Anyhow, then Andrew moves into nutcracker mode which
completely came outta no where for me. I had
listened to some of Tchaikovsky's music earlier in the
month but I haven't seen The Nutcracker in ages. I actually
had to look up the godfather's name (Drosselmeyer) and
whether it was mice or rats the Nutcracker Prince
battled (either, depending on the version).
Mr. Appleton-
Nutcracker Andrew (eventually joined by Adam and Henry)
helps Mr. Appleton come to terms with his wife's
death. This was all part of my underlying theme in
this story of putting the past behind us and welcoming
in a promising future. While Mr. Appleton will
always miss his wife, it's only in beginning to overcome
his grief that he sees how many people truly care about
him and sets about on a happier future filled with all
the children (young and now grown) whose lives he and
his wife touched.
I do think the revelation scene was a bit rushed.
Possibly Mr. Appleton coulda had an entire story just to
himself and the three AODs. But I was short on
time and already on page 12 with other substories left
to get closure on. So I let that go.
Nigel- Really
not a character I'm comfortable writing. Yvette
has taken such care with him and his mode of speaking
and behavior. Unlike Adam (whom she also writes
for), I don't have Nigel episodes to help me
along. Nor do I have a 10+ year personal history
with him as I do Adam. I'm always worried I'll
have Nigel say or do something unNigel-like. So it
was an utter shock to me that Nigel got the most
detailed and I think may be even lengthiest
substory.
"The Christmas Guest" is on a CD that I've listened to
several times each Christmas season for the past 3 or 4
years. It's surprising to me that I never thought
to write it into a Dyeland Christmas story before.
I'm not sure if it's the rather dated storytelling of
the piece or what but I knew it could only be
Nigel's. Plus, and may be this goes back to my
main theme about the past, Nigel's had a rough
year. The broken leg and the Andi debacle...
He deserved to have something nice happen to him.
And I guess it doesn't get much better than 3 visits
from God! Even if He wasn't immediately
recognized.
My personal favorite visitation was the one in which
Nigel gave the first beggar one of his own suits.
Upon further reflection, though, I began to think may be
Nigel lying (about the suit not fitting) wasn't entirely
angelic. But I came to the conclusion that angels
could (like us) morally lie if it meant helping another
save face. It wouldn't have played well if Nigel
had given the suit and said "This one fits me really
well... But, oh well, I'll give it to you,
anyway." My thinking was that people in need don't
like being in need. They don't enjoy asking for
hand-outs. By Nigel framing his gift as a favor
the beggar might be willing to do for him, he was
protecting the man's dignity and self-respect. But
if you don't buy that... just think that may be Nigel
had a growth spurt since buying the suit and it truly
didn't fit. ;-)
Lady Beth- My
biggest disappointment with this story is that I didn't
really feel Lady Beth, Yva, or Rose got their own
story. But I'm trying to accept that, as with a TV
show with a large ensemble cast, it's not possible to
give everyone a starring role each time. Besides,
protecting three beloved AODs with your shoes isn't an
entirely pishposh occurrence! It was nice to have
the heroines save the heroes, the mortals save the
immortals. Plus, I enjoyed writing the exchange
between Henry and Lady Beth before the angel takes LB to
London. A red-faced AOD huddled on your
doorstep... Fun times!
Quite accidentally I had Lady Beth being the first of
the women to gather that Mr. Appleton wasn't
psychologically right. Looking back, that works
well with her stance as a good listener to the
Dyelanders.
Adam- Okay, so I
loved the idea of him knitting stockings for the
turkeys. Guys who knit are cool. Like
Emerson Cod on Pushing Daisies. But I bet they do
get teased, hence Adam being a bit defensive about
it.
Beyond that, Adam mostly gets stuck with nutcracker
duty. I wanted him to have a more personal story
line but, again, I'd just written an Adam and
LJA-centric story so was kinda taking a break from them
both to give others (Nigel, clearly) a chance to
shine. Nonetheless, I did get to play with his
wicked sense of humor a bit. And I loved imagining
his face as Appleton drags he and Henry away to be
nutcracker-ified. Gotta love karma!
Henry- Same as
with Adam, I woulda liked him to have his own story
line. However, Henry's hard for me to write simply
cause we only have two episodes featuring him. At
least he got more attention than Gloria. Didn't
mean to totally leave her out... oops!
Rose- Rose,
thankfully, remembered the plot of The
Nutcracker. So yay
for her and her shoes! Again, ideally she woulda
had her own story but at least she got to hug
Andrew. That's something! :-)
Yva- I'd toyed
with bringing her into Nigel's story. But I wasn't
sure how to do that. I kinda wanted to leave those
scenes as only between Nigel and God, just as the
visitation scenes involve only Conrad and God in "The
Christmas Guest." So Yva got to be part of the
mice-fighting crew. Probly for the best as I
wanted there to be three ladies to defend the three
AODs/nutcrackers. Had Yva been in another
substory, I'm not sure who woulda become the third
"Clara."
I did get to plug her bear-making skills in the December
21st section, though. It was mostly just a scene
written to give back story on Vincent and Catherine to
those not on the YG. But I did like the
dialogue. It seemed pretty natural considering
those three characters had never done a scene together.
Willy- I
apparently need to rewatch Willy Wonka cause I feel like I could
do better by this character. I'm still kinda
disappointed in his scenes which are awfully
limited. Before next year it may not be a bad idea
for me to rewatch Babes in Toyland also. Isn't that
Christmas-y? It seems like it'd be a good fit for
a Wonka-themed homage to holiday favorites. Cause
I do wish, after the opening scene in which Willy is
told about the annual homages, that he had actually
taken part in one. I guess he sorta did with the
Jacob scene but I mean his own.
Vincent and Catherine-
Finally, I did an homage to *the* Christmas story.
As stated in my intro, Vincent and Catherine's scene was
the only one I knew about when I sat down to
write. More to the point, I had toyed with the
idea of their adopting a child who, like Vincent, would
be found behind St. Vincent's. That they would do
so on a starry Christmas Eve night... that was a
last-minute decision. I was honestly a lil
paranoid about it. I thought it might seem
blasphemous (I didn't personally think it was but was
just concerned others might). I'm not sure what I
was thinking with that worry cause TBAA pretty much did
the same thing in "An Angel on the Roof." And
"Scrubs" did it and, if memory serves, so did "Boy Meets
World." And probly countless other shows. So
I went with it.
I had regretted leaving baby Jacob out of the
Vincent/Catherine story line for years. However, I
was adamantly opposed to having Catherine get pregnant
in her late 40s or early 50s. Yes, I know it
happens but I wasn't about to promulgate the idea that
it's easily done. With some celebs having babies
at that stage in life, I am genuinely concerned it'll
give people false hope. So, even though JABB
doesn't have a huge influence, I wasn't going to further
the "late in life pregnancy with out fertility
treatments" myth here. But I wanted Jacob (or some
version of him) back...
So I invented this pregnancy and eventual miscarriage
for Vincent and Catherine. My reasons for the
miscarriage will become evident in a later story.
It made me really sad for them which only made me want
to give them a baby even more. And Christmas is a
time for miracles, right? And this was a story
about healing the past and embracing the future, right?
And so a star shown brightly in the sky over St.
Vincent's. Angels announced the coming of a child
to two people who had no reason to believe they would
become parents but who desperately wanted to have a
child. And God smiled down on the family He had
created.
I was very happy with this scenario. Even if I did
have a few reservations and here they are:
1. On "Beauty and the Beast," Vincent was very
reserved about sex. And ya got the vibe that he
probly didn't see himself fathering a child for fear the
child would share his condition. So may be it was
a stretch that suddenly he's embittered about not having
a child. My thinking was that the baby that was
miscarried was not planned. Just as the original
Jacob on the show was not planned. It was only in
losing that child that Vincent and Catherine realized
how much they wanted kids. But because of the
genetic situation (invented by me and which I thought of
as either Rh incompatibility or similar), it was
impossible to carry a child to term. So by 2007,
we have two characters that have come to terms with
having children yet can't. That was why Vincent
was so angsty. He'd eventually gotten over his
paternal fears and all for naught.
2. How's Vincent going to adopt a baby? He's
not, legally speaking. I just assumed that as with
much of the Tunnel world, a lot of strings would be
pulled by Helpers. Plus, Catherine's very well
placed in the NYC legal system. And, let's be
honest, there's probably not a line of people waiting to
adopt a child of unknown origins with a cleft lip.
Sad but true. So Catherine adopts Jacob
herself. A Helper who is also a social worker,
signs onto her case. Creative report filing
ensues. That way the secret of Vincent and the
Tunnels never leaves the circle of those already in it.
3. Why does Jacob have a cleft lip? I know
it's naive but I don't like thinking that someone would
just dump their baby. Yes, I know it happens but I
had to invent some story about why someone would do
something so terrible. So I envisioned a teenage
girl, having denied she's pregnant (like Lydia in
"Redeeming Love"), giving birth by herself.
Already not in the most psychologically stable place,
she panics even more upon seeing the baby's
deformity. In shock, she left the baby behind St.
Vincent's. May be she was even from some really
conservative family and had been taught that premarital
sex was terribly sinful. It wouldn't be a stretch
for her to then think the deformed child was a
punishment for her sins and to want to abandon Jacob for
that reason. Sad and horrible theology but all too
believable a scenario, I'm afraid. In any case,
the mother is now out of the picture. I will not
be going the whole "I want my kid back" route.
I've seen too much of that in real life and have no
desire to bring it into my fiction.
Also, Jacob's cleft lip served as a good way to tie-in
the gift to Operation Smile that I wanted to make in
JABB's honor. It'll also give JABB opportunity to
continue to plug this charity which TBAA brought to our
attention.
Monica and Tess-
Not the most character enlightening roles but I wanted
to bring them into the story. Announcing the birth
of a child on Christmas Eve is a pretty darn good
job! Also, they became the final part of my
"healing the past" theme by joining the Dyeland party
and being reunited with Andrew, Adam, Henry, and each
other.
(Typed out 12-30-07)
"Dream"
Back in the 1980s
my mom watched the show "Beauty and the Beast."
Still vaguely remembering Vincent and Co., I began to
watch the show in reruns on Sci-Fi in 1996. I
became obsessed! I was buying classical music,
reading the classics, and generally wanting to have my
own personal Vincent. But more as a cool uncle
or cousin than boyfriend a la Catherine.
Understandably, I was pretty well devastated when in
the third season Catherine was killed. And then
suddenly the whole show was over. As many have
probly noticed, I've spent some of JABB making myself
feel better about that televised trauma.
Fast forward to 2007 and Ron Koslow, writer and
executive producer for BatB, is now a writer and
executive producer of "Moonlight." A beautiful
woman falls for a guy who spends a lot of his life
hiding because he sees himself as monster.
Seriously, did anyone not see a pending obsession
coming? Unfortunately, "Moonlight" hasn't been a
HUGE rating success. Very promising but
depending on the day the chances for a Season 2 look
very good to not-so-good. I had visions of the
show ending with Mick running into a burning building,
hearing a scream, and never knowing what happened to
our poor vampire...
So! I decided to bring Mick and Co. into Dyeland
just as I did with Vincent and Co. That way even
if the show does go bye-bye (and I pray it doesn't),
those of us that enjoy it can still make our own
closure somehow. But before you can get closure
(which hopefully we won't need for some time) you need
introduction. So here's a lil vignette about
Mick finding his way into Dyeland. I wrote it on
December 2nd or thereabouts.
"Dream"
(Typed out 2-21-08)
"Great
Spirit"
I love writing for, maintaining, producing,
etc. and whatever JABB. But there is the
occasional low point. In order to get
new members, we need to have an email address
available to people who visit
onthisside.net. But that also means
anyone and everyone can visit and then send me
emails that I just might really have rather
never laid eyes on. Just such a scenario
occurred in December of 2007. Just in
time for Christmas, I became the rather
irritated and offended recepient of some
emails related to Charles Rocket's untimely
passing. I did not consider them to be
respectful and they most certainly were
unwanted and deeply troubling to me.
So... as sorta therapy I wrote a story
entitled "Great Spirit" for the YahooGroup
which deals with Adam trying to help Lady
JenniAnn cope with receiving such
emails. Because LJA's words about the
emails are largely my own, I do not feel
comfortable putting the story here.
However, if you are a JABB member and would
like to read this then please email
me and I will send you a user name and
password so you can access the link below and
other protected stories.
Thanks.
(Typed out 2-21-08)
"Unconditionally"
In a case of "when it rains, it
pours," I found myself writing another
therapeutic story about a month later and
posting it to the YG. This time it
wasn't due to emails but instead the
unfortunate death of Heath Ledger.
As if that wasn't tragic enough, a couple
days after his passing MSNBC reported that
a certain group intended to picket his
memorial due to his performance in
"Brokeback Mountain." I will not
name the group as I don't want them to
have a key stroke more of publicity.
They had previously been in my hometown on
one of their hateful missions so when I
heard that it really reawakened that
anger. So I wrote a story in which
Andrew confronts this group while
attending an assignment's funeral.
Unfortunately, things turn violent and
Lady JenniAnn (whose home town is site of
the funeral) and Mick arrive on the scene
just in time to see Andrew get physically
accosted. They then realize that
emotional wounds are much more difficult
to heal than physical ones.
In keeping with the idea of not giving
these yahoos any publicity, this story is
also password protected. So if
you're a JABBer and would like to read
this story, please contact
me and I will provide the access
information.
(Typed out
2-21-08)
JABB 238- Open Letter
to John Dye
So when Dye Day
2008 rolled around, some of us decided
to write open letters to John
Dye. I wrote the
following. But then I cut a
portion of it because I decided it
wasn't exactly a good first
impression. Ya know, in case JD
actually did read them. Cause if
memory serves we had a link to them
right on the index page at the
time. So they weren't difficult
to find. In any case, here's the
cut paragraph. It allowed me to
finally get something that bothers me
about the early JABBs off my chest!
Dear John,
Before I continue I absolutely need to
get something off my chest. Ya
know how people tend to do things when
they're young that they later look
back on and cringe? Reckless
partying, irresponsible drinking, and
things of that nature? Well, I
have something like that. Okay,
not exactly like that... but it does
make me cringe. As a teenager I
apparently thought it was the heighth
of comedy to write stories with a
fictionalized version of yourself
galavanting around JABB's fictional,
magical Dyeland. I now realize
this was beyond weird. Yes, I
realize that the entire concept of
Dyeland is weird but I mean this was
weirder than weird. So my
apologies about that. Plans are
in the works to right that. But
moving on...
And then
the rest continued as you find it in
the newsletter. In JABB
251 I revealed that John Dye was
never in Dyeland. Instead he was
a look-alike actor named George who
Cliff hired to keep the Dyelanders
happy. Cause Cliff didn't wanna
be deserted again. Ya know,
cause his wife had left him
before. Dyeland really can be
like a soap opera...
(Typed out
11-6-08)
"The Masquerade
Ball & Other Events"
Several months ago
Yvette introduced the character of
Andi to Dyeland on the YG. The
young English woman became dangerously
obsessed with Nigel and had the whole
of Dyeland and the Tunnels in a
panic. This story begins to
explain the reasons behind some of
Andi's actions. Thanks to Yvette
for sharing it with us!
(Typed out 2-22-08)
"Eight Years
Later"
Ever since
writing JABB
159, I've toyed with the
idea of further developing the
first days after Andrew came to
Dyeland. I began that with
this story. It's what I call
a "chamber piece." Basically
it involves a very small number of
characters (two here) and a
limited setting. In this
story, Andrew and Lady JenniAnn
spend St. Patrick's Day evening
recalling when they met on another
St. Patrick's Day eight years
previously. Just a little
glimpse into what's changed... and
what hasn't. You can also
probly guess what movie I watched
shortly before writing this...
"Eight
Years Later"
(Typed
out 4-7-08)
JABB 241- 3
AM- Alternate version
I
seldom try my hand at
politically inspired humor
at JABB. However,
during the 2000
presidential elections I
couldn't resist throwing a
couple Bush/Gore
references into Andrew's
and Adam's debate.
And then, prior to the
2008 election, Hillary
Clinton gave parodists a
wondrous gift: the 3 AM
red phone ad.
YouTube filled with
hilarious variations on
it. Sometimes the
Ghostbusters answered,
sometimes Jack Bauer, and
countless others. So
it got me thinking... who
would answer such a call
in Dyeland? I
published my answer in JABB 241.
However,
in an earlier, incomplete,
unpolished version,
JenniAnn was much more
lucid. I present
that version below only
because I love Andrew's
answer to her question
about why his voice
sounded different.
:-)
Lady
JenniAnn finally clicked
off CNN. Despite the
copious amounts of time
she spent in Dyeland and
the Tunnels, she was
committed to staying
informed about the world
into which she'd been
born. So she'd tried
her best to follow the
U.S. presidential
campaign. She still
wasn't sure what was up
with super-delegates or
how anyone justified
endorsing someone they'd
earlier lambasted.
She'd shrugged both off as
phenomena she'd never
understand. But
there was one thing she
couldn't get off her
mind... apparently it was
important who answered the
White House phone at 3
AM. She had to
wonder... who answered the
Dyeland City Hall phone at
3 AM? Was she
supposed to? Had
they simply forgot to
assign anyone? Did
it go to Andrew's voice
recording? She had
to know!
The woman stared at her
alarm clock. The
numbers glowed 2:59.
She stared at the
clock. 3 AM!!!
She grabbed up the phone
and dialed. There
was a ring. Then
another. Still
another.
"Hello?"
JenniAnn frowned.
She didn't recognize the
voice. "Hello..."
she answered back warily.
"Yes? Is there a
problem?"
"Who is this?"
"Andrew. Laja, is
that you?"
"Yeah," she answered,
suddenly shy as she
wondered if she'd woken
him up. She still
wasn't entirely sure how
much sleep he required.
"What's wrong? It's
3 AM," Andrew asked,
concerned. He then
listened as she rambled
off some excuse. She
spoke so quickly he could
only pick out key words
like "children sleeping,"
"3 AM," and "White House."
"It didn't sound like you
when you answered,"
JenniAnn finally said in a
normal tone.
"Oh, I, uh... was eating a
buffalo wing."
"At 3 AM!?!?"
"May be not as strange as
randomly calling people at
3 AM," Andrew defended
with a grin and a chuckle.
"Oh right, sorry.
Hey, I hear someone in the
background."
JenniAnn listened more
carefully.
At
that
point I switched to the
existing version. I
can't quite recall who LJA
was hearing in the
background but I'm gonna
guess Adam. In any
case, I'm glad Andrew is
the Official 3 AM Phone
Answerer of Dyeland.
:-)
(Typed
out 11-6-08)
JABB
244- "The Christmas Watch"
Letter
Starting
with JABB 199, I began
writing "Jenni and Jenni
Write JABB" which involved
my going through old TBAA
related journal entries
and commenting on them as
my modern self. The
following would have been
part of the fourth
installment of that in JABB 244.
However, because of the
religious and very serious
nature I decided to put it
here. Just FYI,
Joshua and Jesus are the
same name.
Joshua/Yeshua is
Hebrew/Aramaic, Jesus is
Greek. At various
stages in my life I've
used those three
interchangeably as here.
12:02
AM 12-23-02
Jesus,
I was reading "Lamb" [a
book by Christopher
Moore] but stopped at
Palm Sunday. I
just didn't want to go
any further. Then
I got the idea that I
needed to work that
energy out but I
couldn't think of
anything besides plastic
canvas and another
plastic canvas
crosss... well I
didn't feel that was
what I needed to
do. I bounced
around other ideas while
I watched the new TBAA
episode after I'd shut
"Lamb" for the
night... Got
surprisingly involved in
TBAA. It was about
a guy whose watch they
found @ Ground
Zero. His [name]
was Joshua. That
weirded me out as I'd
been thinking of you, my
own Joshua. Then
Monica said "Think of
Joshua!" and the other
characters went thru
their memories of him as
I was just doing for
you. I teared up a
bit but then it ended
with people fixing the
watch. Joshua's
son had said the
tick-tock was his dad's
heart. The shop
owner picked up the
little boy and held him
as he listened to the
watch. But then
they showed Joshua
holding his son. I
fell apart, tears
streaming, the whole
bit. Suddenly I
remember how on some
nights I'd get upset and
lay a rough sort of
blanket under my
cheek. I figured
that's what robes were
like back 2000 years
ago- rough. I
pretended I was hugging
you. I wish you
were physically
here. I miss you.
Love,
Jenni"
That's
why I sometimes say
that, for me, "The
Christmas Watch" is my
personal finale.
Because of the
unfortunate events
surrounding the actor
who played Zack in "I
Will Walk with You" I
can neither watch that
episode nor accept the
character of Zack
now. So "The
Christmas Watch" is my
God-in-the-flesh
episode. Not
that I think the
Joshua character was
God. Obviously
he was not. I
just mean that it's
the episode that made
God most real to me in
the context of TBAA.
(Typed
out 4-12-08)
"Dark
Night of the Soul"
Okay,
here's me deciding
to exorcise the post
"Two Sides to Every
Angel" demons.
I decided to dub it
"Dark Night of the
Soul" after a famous
work by the
Christian mystic St.
John of the
Cross. I
became familiar with
the piece when
Loreena McKennitt
turned part of it
into a song by that
name. And I
had it in my head
that the soft music
drifting from the
Cafe in the story
was Loreena
McKennitt's.
The intro quote is
also from a LM song
but not "Dark Night"
cause I thought that
could get
misconstrued with
all the beloved and
lover stuff even
though it's really
spiritual.
It was
weird trying to
write Dyeland 2002
again. I had
to remind myself
what 20 year old LJA
was like. Had
to remember to keep
"Laja" outta
it. Also had
to try and
reconstruct what the
Andrew/LJA dynamic
was back then.
I guess I decided to
play it as... more
naive, maybe?
Which, in turn, made
them a bit less
reserved than
they've been in
recent years.
It was
really weird knowing
that most of the
Dyeland people who
are active now
weren't around in
2002. And sad
realizing that those
that were aren't
around now.
LJA's
description of her
days at college is
pretty legit.
I mean, of course,
other stuff was
strewn in but the
three things she
mentions figured in
pretty prominently
in my mind.
Cept the posters
were actually
standees shaped like
black silhouettes of
women. On the
plus side, that
probly did more for
my Androolism
post-TBAA than
anything!
Finally,
I'm really glad I
added that willow
tree to the Dyeland
map a couple years
ago. It's
proved most
useful. ;-)
God bless
Jenni
"Dark
Night of the
Soul"
(Typed
out 4-18-08)
"Man
of No
Reputation"
Okay,
so there was
this really...
questionable
fic on
fanfiction.net
that many of
us found more
than a lil
upsetting.
So I wrote
this to make
myself feel
better and
maybe others,
too.
Since Dyeland
is only
alluded to, I
didn't plan on
putting it
here.
But then I
couldn't find
the story in
my files and
decided to go
ahead and put
it here since
it's a bit
harder to lose
a web
page.
Some notes
first from
when I wrote
this back on
June 18th:
"Joshua"
in this is
very much
inspired by
Fr. Joseph
Girzone's
books which
are basically
about Jesus
coming to
earth to share
the message of
God's love and
help His
people.
Not in a big
Second Coming
way.
Just to hang
out and do his
thing,
basically.
So that's what
he's doing
here, it's not
some sorta End
Times
thing.
Also in those
books, Joshua
knows more
than an
average human
but when he's
on Earth he
does give up
the *all*
knowing thing.
This is
presented in a
manner in
keeping with
my
beliefs.
I do think
Jesus is God,
not just a
prophet or
messenger or
super-cool
person.
Whether this
story would be
acceptable to
someone who
doesn't
believe in the
Trinity would
be difficult
for me to
say.
Hopefully it
doesn't offend
anyone but in
order to write
"Joshua" I had
to stick with
how I think of
him.
I hope
the real Son
knows I mean
no disrespect
but have
sympathy for
His being
shipped about.
Oh, I
decided not to
go with a
title that
gave any
reference to
that
story.
As this is, at
least in part,
a story about
misbegotten
reputations I
opted to go
with "Man of
No
Reputation."
It's actually
a title of a
beautiful song
Rick Elias
wrote for Rich
Mullins and
his
band.
It's said that
Rich was so
moved by this
song he had
difficult
performing
it.
Lyrics are here. The song
actually
references the
Bridegroom/Bride
imagery from
the Gospels
which perhaps
makes
referencing it
here
odd. But
then again,
maybe
not.
Jesus used
that imagery
to show His
love for His
people.
NOT for an
individual
which is what
at root is
wrong with
that story
IMO.
I spose
the title
could also be
a very
innocent
double
entendre,
too.
"He/she has a
reputation
::wink, wink,
nudge,
nudge::" often
has a risqué
connotation to
it. So
in that sense
both Andrew
and Joshua
really are men
of no
reputation.
Anyhow, enough
of semantics.
(Typed
out 8-24-08)
"Make This Go On Forever"
So I
was pretty
bummed when
"Moonlight"
was
canceled.
Not just cause
we'd never
know what
Mick's and
Beth's future
would be or if
Mick would
find the cure
for vampirism
but also cause
we'd never
know what
became of
Josef and
Sarah.
That love
story was
featured in
only one
episode but it
touched
me. So
when ML ended
I knew I had
to find my own
resolution for
that.
This story is
NOT the
resolution I
anticipated.
It's not even
really what I
wanted to
happen but the
more I thought
about it... it
just seemed it
had to be this
way. On
the plus side,
the plot I
stuck with
featured way
more Andrew
than the
original.
Always a good
thing!
Originally I
intended to
post the story
a chapter at a
time.
And I did
begin that
way... only to
discover I
hate posting
stories a
chapter at a
time.
;-) So I
am sorry if
anyone was
reading it and
I suddenly
dropped it and
didn't put it
here til I was
finished.
Lesson
learned.
Won't be doing
that again!
This story may
not make much
sense to ML
fans but if
you still want
to read it,
here's some
background
information I
originally
posted to the
JABB YG:
If
you've not see
the
"Moonlight"
episode
"Sleeping
Beauty" but
want to read
this (and I
mostly wrote
it to get some
peace, not
with an
expectation
for wide
readership
since it's
very
ML-centric)
here's a
recap:
Basically what
you need to
know is that
Josef is a
vampire.
He's something
of a player
(and a bit
coarse-mouthed
so there's
cussing in
this story)
but then us ML
fans
discovered he
actually has a
tragi-romantic
history.
After 350
years as a
vampire, Josef
fell in love
with a girl
named
Sarah.
They were
together for a
year and over
several months
she begged him
to turn her
into a vampire
so they could
be
together.
Josef didn't
want to and
tried to
dissuade her
but she
wouldn't give
it up.
So he
tried.
He did
everything
technically
right but for
some reason
Sarah was left
in a
coma.
She doesn't
age.
She's just
stuck.
Neither human
nor vampire,
apparently.
Since
1955.
Josef has
ensured that
she's cared
for ever since
then and
visits her on
occasion.
But nothing
has changed in
over 50
years.
Sarah's no
better, no
worse than she
was that day
in 1955.
Until now.
I spose a few
words about
chapter titles
would be
good.
About half of
them are
references to
songs or other
works.
Chapter 1 is
obviously from
the Bible but
also how Mick
described
Josef's sense
of
justice.
Chapter 2 is
part of a
lyric from
Lapush's song
"Aurora" which
the ML people
used to score
a big Josef
and Sarah
scene.
Chapter 4
comes from the
Doris Day
song.
Chapter 7's
title comes
from lyrics to
"Make This Go
On Forever" by
Snow
Patrol.
Chapter 8 is
named for an
island in
Dyeland which
is itself
named after
the mythical
island on
which King
Arthur rests
until he comes
again.
So it was
pretty
emotional
writing this
but I'm glad I
finally got it
done!
So without
further
adieu...
(Typed
out
10-11-08)
"Benediction"
On
October 7th,
2008, my pet
frog passed
away.
Flick came
into my life
in the summer
of 2006.
My brother was
working in a
grocery store
and this
little frog
was found on a
potted plant
in the florist
area.
Not knowing
what to do,
the florist
called my
brother.
I had long
been
collecting
plush frogs
and other frog
stuff.
So my brother
thought I'd
love having my
own
frog! I
was not so
enthused.
I was quite
sure the frog
would be like
a carnival
goldfish and
die the next
day.
Besides, it
was one thing
to cuddle up
with a neon
velvet stuffed
toy. A
real, slimy,
bug-eating
frog... not
thrilling.
But my brother
was so excited
and they
didn't know
what else to
do with the
frog
so...
Flick arrived
at our home in
a deli
container.
And he was
pretty
cute...
He was
transferred
into a
temporary
plastic house
from the
Discovery
Channel and
named Flick
Stanley
Frogger.
(The first
name just
cause it was
cute and
asexual, the
second after
the often
grimacing
Stanley from
"The Office"
and the third
my brother's
contribution.)
And I learned
how to be a
proper frog
mother.
Including
feeding live
crickets...
Flick did not
die the next
day. He
lived for over
two years,
healthy as can
be for most of
them.
Only recently
had I noticed
him growing
thinner.
And only on
his last day
did he seem
truly
sick. I
am grateful
that, if he
did suffer, it
seems not to
have been
long.
However,
because it all
happened so
quickly, his
passing came
as a shock to
me. When
I first moved
into my house,
Flick had been
my only
pet.
That
experience
made me feel
even more
bonded to
him.
Previous to my
move, I had
spent only one
night of my
life truly
alone. I
was a little
nervous.
But not when I
had
Flick.
Simply having
him present
calmed me
those first
nights and
during the
first storms
after my
move. I
will always be
grateful to
him for those
days. He
seemed larger
than life then
and suddenly
he was gone.
I set out to
write this
story about
Lady JenniAnn
coping with
the death of
her own
frog. To
help me cope
with Flick's
death.
However, a
strange thing
happened as I
began that
story.
In my own
grief I
struggled with
the idea that
my life may
yet go on for
many, many
years.
Supposing I
have an
average
lifespan, the
time I had
with Flick
will make up
only 1/40th of
my life.
It's a strange
feeling to
realize that
someone you
cared about
existed only
in a blink of
an eye
compared to
your own
life.
With that in
mind, I felt
myself
thinking more
about Andrew's
emotions than
Lady
JenniAnn's.
How much more
must he feel
that?
While this is
Flick's story,
it also became
a story about
community,
reconciliation,
facing the
unknown, and
carrying the
memory of
those we love
in our hearts
even if we
have to do so
for many,
many, many
years without
them at our
side.
The final bit
I wrote for
this story was
its
title. I
was extremely
tempted to go
with "All
Frogs Go to
Heaven" but I
guess that was
a little too
goofy for me
to commit to
right
now.
Instead, I
chose
"Benediction."
I chose it not
just because
Flick does
eventually
bless Andrew
with his words
but in
thinking about
the
relationships
between
characters I
thought about
how we all
are, in fact,
benedictions
to each
other.
Or, at least,
we can
be.
M-W.com gives
this as one of
the
definitions
for
benediction:
"something
that promotes
goodness or
well-being."
In that sense,
Flick was
definitely a
benediction to
me so the
title seems a
fitting way to
honor him.