Favorite Cameo- I love all the times Joshua appears briefly
in a scene as a butterfly... and once as an albatross.
Sometimes they're part of a bigger story in which Joshua appears
as his normal self and sometimes not. In the latter case,
it's a proper cameo. But... I'm looking at this question in
terms of someone who has *only* appeared as a cameo. And in
that case I'm gonna go with...
Paul of Tarsus
I have a complicated relationship with Paul so he was no where
near the top of my list of Biblical folks to introduce into the
Dyeland stories. And when I wrote Cameron's plot line, it
definitely wasn't because I was building towards Paul. I
wasn't even sure I was going to give Cameron a redemption
arc. I really didn't want to. He was a racist who
coulda killed Joshua! But... I knew leaving him
rotting in a cell, mired in his hatred wasn't what Joshua would
want. So... when it came time to pick a mentor for Cameron,
the guy who used to persecute Christians before becoming one and
spent time in jail seemed like an obvious choice.
Favorite Unfinished Business- To be clear, the spirits who
appear in the Dyeland stories are NOT ghosts. They don't
have unfinished business that they need to clear up before moving
onto Heaven. Only Yehuda could reasonably be considered a
ghost and even he doesn't get that title any more. If he
were to reappear, he'd be a spirit.
So I'm not talking about unfinished business in that sense.
And I most definitely don't believe the actual people behind the
characters have unfinished business! But I have given some
of them plot lines that allow them to experience things that they
missed out on... not because they *need* to experience them.
They don't. But it might be nice for them. So...
Yosef is probably my favorite character for this. And
John. The latter most assuredly knew what Yeshua was doing
with his ministry back in the day but he didn't get much of a
front row seat for it because he was 1. practicing his own
ministry, 2. in jail, or 3. dead. So this time around, John
got to be more present as Joshua called the Friends
together. He's also Joshua's most frequent roommate/work
partner. As for Yosef, I think he had a pretty significant
moment with helping Joshua carry his cross during Superstar.
He wasn't there when Joshua actually was crucified so I think it
was probably meaningful for him to help Joshua through a
particularly challenging re-enactment. Similarly, Yosef was
present when Joshua confronted Cameron which was sort of a
parallel to his trial with Pilate. Both men taunted Joshua
and wanted him dead. But with Cameron, Yosef was there to
offer support and a loving presence.
Favorite Revelation Scene for Andrew- While I'm tempted to
say the time he informed JenniAnn that she was his assignment,
that wasn't quite a revelation. She knew he was an
AOD. So I think the revelation scene with Raquel in "We
Trust to Thee." It's a sort of double revelation in that
Raquel learns that not only was Andrew with her husband, Hank,
when he died but he was also there for her daughter when she was
murdered. Andrew is so upset about not being able to save
Dawn that he tries to flee the room. But Raquel won't let
him because she's come to care for him. As sad as she is
about Dawn's murder, she's comforted that she had an angel and a
friend by her side. And it's even more lovely in hindsight
because the two have remained close with Raquel even being one of
Andrew's children's grandmothers.
Favorite Biblical Echo- Definitely Joshua's and
JenniAnn's initial dialogue in "Promises of Someday" which is
modeled off of Jesus' and Mary Magdalene's exchange at the
tomb. There's also a visual echo in that the scene with Mary
often features Jesus wearing a hooded robe which obscures his
face... hence her not recognizing him. When Joshua meets
JenniAnn, he's wearing a hoodie that obscures his face.
Also, I don't think this was intentional but I had Joshua say
"Follow me" for the very practical reason that he was leading her
to Andrew and Belle. But in a wider scriptural context, of
course Joshua would say "Follow me."
Favorite Invented Tidbit About Andrew- I think his love of
anything red velvet cake is pretty cute. I'm not even quite
sure how or why it started. Thanks to Steel Magnolias,
I associate red velvet cake with the Southern U.S. so it was maybe
partly a nod to John Dye. But also... I really like red
velvet stuff. So it coulda just been "I need a flavor that
Andrew would be fond of... Hmm, red velvet is yummy!"
Whatever the reason was that I chose it, I hope Andrew has all the
RVC he could ever want!
Favorite TBAA "Fix"- So I've made no secret of the fact
that TBAA sometimes irritated me... particularly in how Andrew was
handled. And it *really* bothered me that he was basically a
side note in the show's finale. And Monica got Jesus to
announce her promotion while Andrew only got Sam! And, don't
get me wrong, I love Sam. But... he's not Jesus. So...
I wrote a sequel to the finale ("The Walk") in which Andrew gets
much fussed over by JenniAnn and later their friends. And
while I couldn't have Joshua make an appearance to Andrew just
yet, it's obvious he's very proud of Andrew and very intensely
involved in his life. And I think it was a pretty cool
reveal that Andrew and Dyeland were made of some of the same
stuff. I think it was also the first time it came up that
Satan is afraid of Andrew which is a plot element that will soon
become relevant again. So... quite a lot in it for a short
story!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this look back. Thank you
everyone who is and has been a part of JABB! Now... onto 601
and beyond!
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye without
whose work we, obviously, wouldn't have reached this milestone.
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