The TV Series Versailles, Second Season, And Allowing Characters To Find SOME Happiness
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about the TV series Versailles and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this historical drama TV series, especially the first season of it, you might wish to skip this post.
I’ve now completed the second season of Versailles and I now know one reason this show didn’t gain a sufficient audience.
The writers don’t allow ANY of the characters to find happiness, especially romantic happiness.
Yes, the main characters are based on real people. And these real people didn’t find romantic happiness. Or much happiness of any kind.
But there are secondary characters the writers clearly didn’t base on real people. And they weren’t allowed to find happiness of any kind either.
And with a cast of thousands, that’s…a lot. Everyone is miserable. Everyone is in constant drama.
There’s no backbone of contentment or joy or happiness.
In a Romance Novel Series, this role would be filled by the happily bonded couple (or more) of one of the previous stories in the series. Or a set of long time happy and now super content parents. Or the grandmother who is always in her kitchen baking cookies when the hero needs someone to talk with. Or the best friend who always makes the heroine laugh when she’s feeling sad.
These characters are relatively drama free and they are a respite for the readers/viewers from the darkness, from the conflict. They show us where we want the main characters to end up, our wish for them.
All drama all the time with all characters is tiring. And that type of story doesn’t appeal to many people.
Give your readers a sanctuary.
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The TV Series Versailles And A Cast Of Thousands
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about the TV series Versailles and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this historical drama TV series, especially the first season of it, you might wish to skip this post.
I’ve recently been enjoying Versailles, a historical drama TV series inspired by some of Louis XIV’s life. I’ve completed the first season.
And stars, I’m emotionally invested.
This is despite the showing having a HUGE cast and the similarity of how the characters look (all white, all in that period’s clothing, having that period’s hairstyles, etc.).
I believe this is because of how uniquely every character acts and thinks and how consistent they are regarding this.
Louis XIV and the Duke Of Orleans are brothers, for example.
But we know that Louis XIV will always make decisions based on what he believes will result in the greatness of himself and of France. He is also always aware that people want to harm and kill him. He’s paranoid about betrayal and he has good reason to be so.
The Duke Of Orleans has been betrayed also. But his default is trust. Because he has been raised to trust in the monarchy and in the King’s (in this case, his brother’s) decisions. This results in him trusting a loved one who, time and time again, betrays that trust.
These two very different approaches to life impacts their behaviors and their thinking.
Louis XIV acts quickly and decisively. He doesn’t ‘talk.’ He commands.
The Duke Of Orleans will defer to others. He is unlikely to act without support or consensus. He listens more than he talks.
And because he knows he has support, he isn’t overly worried about being assassinated. He ‘trusts’ other will keep him safe.
That’s great character building.
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Sinful Rewards 7 – Where You Belong
Have you ever walked into a place or situation and known in your gut that you were meant to be there? You might not have been able to explain why. Perhaps all signs indicated the opposite. But you knew you were exactly where you were supposed to be.
When I was sixteen, I fundraised my way into a class trip to France (that, in itself, was a miracle – I think I sold a handmade crepe to everyone in our small town). A couple of days into the trip, I was feeling homesick. My French was rough. I’d never been out of Canada. We were in Paris. Our hotel had more people than my home town. It was scary and confusing and I missed my big, noisy family.
Then I walked into Sacre Coeur and I instantly knew this was where I was meant to be. I didn’t know why. The church situated in the artsy section of Paris didn’t reflect my religious background. I couldn’t understand half of the things spoken or written on the walls. I didn’t appreciate the architecture. It was dark and a bit gloomy.
I walked to a wall of lit candles, not understanding the reason for the display or for the feeling of rightness inside me. An elderly woman hobbled to the spot beside me, paid her francs for a candle and lit it. She explained in small words, slowly spoken, that she lights a candle every year on this day, the day of her husband’s death. She’d been doing this for over two decades. He was and will always be the love of her life.
After that day, a part of me always judged the guys I dated by that standard—would I light a candle for him decades after he died? When I met my dear wonderful hubby, the answer was ‘yes.’ Is that the reason I was meant to be at Sacre Coeur at that time? I don’t know.
Bee, the heroine in Sinful Rewards, my sizzling hot contemporary erotic romance serial, walks into The Road Gator and knows she belongs. She shouldn’t fit in. She’s a fashionista, with no military or biker experience. The men and women at The Road Gator all served their country and they ride. They wear leather and sport tattoos. She prefers designer dresses and would never consider anything as permanent as ink. They’re hard drinkers. She’s under the table after two shots.
But their core values—loyalty, protecting others—are the same. They understand and don’t judge each other. Bee feels safe there. She fits in, is accepted as one of them. Will she continue to be accepted? We don’t yet know.
Have you ever walked into a place and knew you belonged? Please share your experience!
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Bee Carter has been offered everything she has ever dreamed of—a caring, lasting relationship with a handsome, often charming billionaire; the permanent home she’s never had but has always craved; and wealth to buy the designer fashions she loves, support her hard-working mother, and ensure her acceptance by Chicago’s elite.
To obtain what she’s desired for so long, she has to do only two things: Walk away from her best friend, a woman who is destined to betray her … and end her passionate nightly encounters with a certain tattooed biker, a former Marine who can never give her what she needs.
Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG
Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006
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Why I Love Nutella
I love Nutella. That’s probably the worst kept secret in the world. I talk about this hazelnut chocolate goodness all of the time. I prefer to eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon OR the best way possible – in the middle of a hot crepe with a sprinkle of icing sugar over top.
I associate Nutella with happiness and with writing because the first time I ever had Nutella was on a crepe from one of the notorious street crepe makers in Paris, France (yes, the same crepe makers who got run out of gay Paris for sleeping on their carts and performing other non-hygienic stunts).
I went to Paris with a group of students during my senior year in high school. I was 17 years old. I had never been out of the country before. I painted. I wrote. I loved French history (with their decapitations and their women warriors). I fell in love with Paris instantly.
Our chaperones had dozens of students to supervise so I would wander the streets by myself. Dangerous, yes, but it added to the fun. I was young and free and much more interested in the art and architecture than getting into trouble.
I also was on a budget and whenever I’d get hungry, I’d buy a crepe. The crepe makers would tell me stories. They’d been everywhere, seen everything. They, mostly male, would flirt with me, making me feel like a sophisticated femme fatale.
One Of The Crepe Makers In Paris, France
Looking back, I could also see they were protecting me, telling me to check in with so-and-so along my route. When I was late, that so-and-so would ‘accidentally’ bump into me. They made the dangerous streets a little less dangerous while still giving me my freedom.
Now, whenever I suck on a spoon of Nutella, I think of that first trip to Paris and I smile.
This Crepe, Filled With Nutella and Sprinkled With Icing Sugar, Was Made at Le Buffet, Paris Casino, Las Vegas
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