Hi all,
Welcome to the first JABB of 2023! I can't believe that
we'll be reaching JABB's 25th anniversary later this
year!
Anyway, I hope everyone had a great time ringing in the new
year... or got extra sleep which is what I did.
God bless,
Jenni
Plans for 2023
So just to give an update... I definitely
plan on completing "The Advocate" within the first quarter of
this year. I'm on vacation this week and hope to spend
some time writing. That being said, I highly doubt I'll
be finished by Valentine's Day when I traditionally release at
least a couple vignettes. So I would expect for those to
either involve characters not featured in "The Advocate" OR be
set in the past or well into the future. I have some
ideas but nothing I'm completely committed to yet.
In other news, I broke down and subscribed to Microsoft
Office... which means I now have access to a PowerPoint
account that is not linked to my work. Therefore, I just
may be tempted to do some web-based presentations for
JABB. Maybe one on its history... maybe something within
the Dyeland stories universe... maybe something about
TBAA. I dunno. But I feel like I should get my
money's worth and use PowerPoint!
Due to some confusion... mainly in the form of me completely
forgetting about Sy having a dog... I have put this together:
http://www.onthisside.net/dyelandpets.pdf
If you read the Dyeland stories and notice I've missed any
active pets, please let me know. I'm not going way back
into the pre-canon stories, hence no Chiwawa, but I am looking
to include all pets who belong to currently active
characters. I hope I caught them all but who
knows.
Beyond writing, doing some housework, and finishing with
updating the web site; I'm hoping to relax and watch some TV
this week which brings me to...
Ask a JABBer: The Somehow This
Ended Up Being All About TV Edition
1. What's the deal with Ed and Call the Midwife?
Firstly, any character being really into a
TV show requires me to have a solid knowledge of said TV
show. And the only current TV shows I watch regularly
are : Our Flag Means Death, Good Omens, Stranger
Things, Abbott Elementary, Ghosts, Call
the Midwife, and The Chosen. And, of
course, whatever Mike Flanagan series comes out. So...
that doesn't give me a whole lot to choose from. I went
with Call the Midwife because from what I've read,
Māori birthing practices are more inclusive of men than some
other traditions have been historically. So it's very
possible that in his role as a principality, Ed was involved
in several births and the show makes him nostalgic. He's
also particularly fond of Shelagh Turner (formerly Sister
Bernadette) and I don't think it takes much thinking to figure
out why if you know the show. Nun leaves convent to
marry a man? That might really speak to the lone angel
who chose to become human to marry a man. Also,
generally speaking, the show handles queer characters quite
well, IMO, and so I think Ed would like that.
And speaking of The Chosen...
2. Do you think the Friends watch The Chosen?
I think some of them may have seen
it. Some may even enjoy it. But I think it would
be complicated. While I haven't finished "The Advocate,"
by the end of "The Shepherd" we know the Twelve and a few
others are hanging around St. G's. So that means the
Friends will have met the real life counterparts of nearly all
of the main characters on The Chosen.
Personally, I think if someone made a TV show about people I
actually knew, I wouldn't be able to stop hyper-focusing on
the parts of the depictions that were least like the person I
knew and loved. Like I think Mr. Roumie does a fantastic
job as Jesus. However, when he acts in a way that
doesn't align with how I view Joshua, it's very jarring for
me. And that's not at all to say that depiction is
wrong. My own head canon could be wrong. But
without knowing, obviously I'm going to side with my
depiction. So now imagine you've actually spent
considerable time with Jesus/Joshua. Anything that
doesn't align with what you know could be very off-putting and
since you actually experienced it, you can't be like "Oh...
well, I could be wrong."
Like to cite another example, we haven't spent much time with
Cephas yet but he's pretty unlike Simon Peter in The
Chosen in some key ways. I'll give you a lil peek
behind the scenes at my character notes for him:
Shimeon aka Cephas was called when he was 22. As the
eldest in his family, he was used to being in charge and
that belief carried over to his time with Yeshua. He
liked to think of himself as Yeshua's right hand man... and
in many ways he was. Brash and loud among men, Cephas
displayed a different side with his wife, Rakhyl, and
daughter, Khawa... both of whom he nearly lost during a
difficult childbirth. That experience only
strengthened Cephas' protective nature. It also left
Khawa paralyzed from the waist down. Thankfully,
Yeshua cured the toddler right around the time he cured her
maternal grandmother. The fact that he owed the lives
of two people he loved to Yeshua made Shimeon's later
betrayal even harder for him to bear. When he's in the
mortal realms, he's sometimes still haunted by his cowardice
even though he knows he was forgiven long ago.
Meanwhile, Simon on the show is childless. He was also a
gambler. I just don't think that fits the man I
described above. So if I really were JenniAnn, I think I
would have a hard time watching The Chosen and seeing
Simon gamble and hang out in a pub on the reg when I know the
reality is that, at that same age, he was working himself to
the bone and saving every shekel he could to support his
special needs child.
All this to say, I think the Friends would think The
Chosen was a great show to have around because it does
depict a very likable without being watered down Jesus.
It shows his love. They would definitely never dissuade
anyone from watching it. Heck, they might even hand out
DVDs or directions on how to download the app to people who
they think would be helped by it but that they can't be like
"Hey, you need to meet my friend, Joshua. He's a member
of the Trinity" with. Some of them probably even watch
each episode at least once so they can chat about it with
friends and family. I just don't think they're watching
it a whole lot on repeat because it would just be too
weird.
Anyway, speaking as my actual self, I would definitely
recommend watching The Chosen and, in fact, all the
shows I listed in #1.
3. So what shows do you think they watch even if you
don't?
I have a suspicion Rose and Max watch House
of the Dragon based on their past love of a fantasy
series that I no longer include in the Dyeland stories because
of my anger at their creator... Plus, Rose has an
interest in history and so probably enjoys seeing the costumes
and, in general, the medieval look of the show. Max
probably watches it as a mental exercise to keep his
psychiatric skills sharp. Like "If Viserys was my
patient, how would I treat him?" (And, yes, I had to
Google that name because I didn't want to just refer to him as
"really blonde guy with leprosy"). But because I don't
watch it, it doesn't really come up. I can totally
imagine a scenario where JenniAnn is like "The costumes look
so cool! Maybe I should watch!" and Andrew gulping and
being like "If you want to... I'll watch with you." And
then Max being like "Nope and nope. As your son and a
psychiatrist, I'm banning you both from watching any and all A
Song of Ice and Fire projects." And Andrew
breathes a sigh of relief and Rose sends JenniAnn a link to a
slideshow of costumes from the show since that's all she
wanted anyway.
Takoda and Joccy likely watch Reservation Dogs which,
unlike House of the Dragon, is a show I actually do
want to watch at some point.
Avi and Belle, and thus their parents, probably watch Bluey
because everyone I know who has small children watches that.
I think the former vampires might have a "too soon" attitude
towards all vampire media... with the exception of Logan
likely loving What We Do in the Shadows. Since
he was a bit sheltered from the grimmer aspects of vampirism,
I could see him and Zelda unwinding at night with an episode
or two.
I think Marty and Sandy would enjoy Ghosts and the
former could definitely use some more laughter in his
life! While I watch the U.S. version, they might prefer
the U.K. one. Or maybe they watch both! After all,
Marty knows the history on both sides of the pond.
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye for being part of a
TV show that I spent many days off binging and enjoying.
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