“In Ev’ry Angle Greet”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 19 Dec 2014 ]
Where did the idea for the story come from?
I’m not entirely sure; this is one that grew so slowly in the back of my mind before I ever began writing it, I don’t have even the vaguest memories of its ultimate origin. One reader, however, opined that I seemed to have worked up the most unlikely pairings I could imagine, and then written a story about them. That wouldn’t be totally off the mark.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
It’s a line from the poem Oz cited, Andrew Marvell’s “the Definition of Love”. That poem (and Oz’s reference to it) had to do with two people perfect for one another who were being kept apart by fate; since this entire story was about people who didn’t appear to be suited for one another, being steered together by some unknown force (Catherine’s unrelenting pressure within the narrative, authorial intent outside it), it seemed apropos.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
I’d put this story somewhere on the list of my favorites, for a number of different reasons.
First, it was the first Big Story I’d done at that point: 25% longer than the next-biggest, and one of those larger endeavors that I knew would provide such a substantial narrative that I spent years working out the details before I was ready to tackle it. (Later examples would be “ Whisper of a Moment”, “ Glass Ceiling”, and even the much shorter “ Oaxaca Nights”; the still-in-planning-but-not-yet-begun “Smoke and Mirrors” is the only such major project currently remaining.)
Second, it was my first mainline Buffy story. It was a joke with my kids for years that I was a Buffyfic writer who never actually used Buffy, I was always focusing on secondary or one-shot characters, telling the stories that took place ‘backstage’ in Sunnydale. I had put more focus on Buffy’s mother than on the title character herself … but here was the collected Sunnydale crew - core Scoobies plus Oz and Faith and Wesley and even Harmony - in an honest-to-gosh ensemble piece, and I felt I’d done a pretty solid job of it.
Which brings up Third: it was my first ensemble piece. Most of my work till then had focused on two people dealing with each other, the Sheila-Sandy-‘Nika’ of “ Shadow and Substance” (three instead of two!) being the only real exception till then. Here I was dealing with a group of nine - with Ethan Rayne, the Mayor, Vampire Willow, Catherine Madison, and Joyce as guest stars - and I had to make it work, and I did. Satisfaction.
Also, it got me awards, five in just over a year. Trust me, that never hurts my feelings.
Having said that: no particular dislikes, but plenty of likes. I enjoyed doing the changes of POV, a different one per chapter and two chapters with multiple perspectives. I liked the way the parameters of the altered reality - the altered history that had produced it - were only gradually revealed. I liked how I made it clear, without ever explicitly saying so, that 1) Faith and Willow were ‘together’, and 2) Harmony was a vampire. I liked writing Harmony as a personality; I’d never done that before, and this was really fun, and it gave me some advance practice for writing her appearance in “ Echoes from the Battleground” and her starring role in “ First Do No Harm”. And, yes, I liked the way I laid the foundation here for “ Glass Ceiling”; it took another four and a half years for me to produce that story, but the possibility was there from the beginning.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
I wish I hadn’t used Vwilla as a name. Looking back on it, it feels perfunctory and artificial and just-not-right. In fact, I might just go back and take that out (but then I’ll have to take this out).
Do I have any plans to follow up on this story, or to use the character(s) or situation in a subsequent fic?
Did it already. As I observed above, “ Glass Ceiling” was the follow-up to Cordelia’s (back-history) disappearance. Plus, a few months before that, I set “ Phase Shift” in that same parallel timeline. No further plans in that direction …
… at least, not from this story.
Any observations to add at the end?
One. The Palm VII referenced in Part 1 truly was state-of-the-art at the time this story was set, though it was already sadly out of date by the time the story was written.
Two. The woman Faith described as rescuing her from the brawl in the bar? That was, indeed, an alternate version of the ‘Nika’ who made her first appearance in “ Shadow and Substance”.
Three. I had originally listed this story as having no spoilers … and then had a European reader bitterly reproach me for ‘giving away’ that Dawn was Faith’s sister, since Season 5 was still unfolding overseas at the time. In fact, s/he promptly stopped reading at that point, and I had to write back and reassure that I hadn’t actually given away anything.