“the Song Remains the Same”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 24 Apr 2024 ]
Where did the idea for the story come from?
It was no more complicated than the thought ‘Buffy in the Avengers’. I know I’d seen other stories of that nature, which probably gave me ideas in the general direction, but I can’t say how any of those might have influenced the way I eventually went on this. The original thought had been of her landing there after the fall through Glory’s portal in “the Gift” … but she needed to have the Scythe, darn it (meaning toward the end of Season 7), so how she got there simply wound up being never-explained.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
Just the notion of Buffy falling out of one world, and straight into heroics on an entirely different one. The Slayer never gets a rest.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
I genuinely can’t say what I liked most about the fic, because there were so many things that I really enjoyed following out. Probably the closest I could get would be the nature of the relationship growing between ‘Alerys’ and Steve Rogers. There’s a loneliness in them both, and they can recognize and respond to that even if nothing is ever said aloud.
As for “liked least” … I gave Tony Stark a few good lines, but I never really felt completely comfortable with my overall characterization of him. And, when you come right down to it, in the very first section there never was any actual explanation of how Alerys (Buffy) knew Stark was chasing the nuke heading for New York. It wasn’t a big enough deal for me to take the trouble of addressing it, but it does nag at me a little every time I see it.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
If there is, I’d have to grow further as a writer before I’d be able to recognize such a possibility. I don’t think the story is perfect, but it’s as good as I could make it, so I’ll have to be satisfied with that.
Was there a different direction I might have wanted to take the story, and what would have been some of the advantages of the not-taken path?
Well, it certainly would have been interesting to see what part ‘Alerys’ might have played in the larger tapestry that resulted in Avengers: Endgame. I’m more inclined to see the disadvantages of that approach, however; with so many characters - practically if not literally every hero the MCU had developed to that point - it would have been necessary either to relegate our heroine to a supporting role, or to MarySue her into overshadowing the others. The second would be a disservice to the MCU; the first just isn’t the story I would want to tell.
Any observations to add at the end?
I had fun with this. It was the result of literally years of little ideas I’d been jotting down at random, some about the MCU characters themselves, some about Buffy’s interaction with the members of her new team. I’m honestly surprised it actually managed to turn into a story, since the situation of ‘Buffy with the Avengers’ didn’t come with any built-in plot or direction. It grew and then it was there, and I’m happy with the result