Author's Notes - Leaf Season
The interpersonal relationships I depict in "Leaf Season" are based on hints throughout the series. Eben and Mazatl nearly always walk together during the first half of the season and sometimes during the second half; and there are several shots of Eben and True walking together. Eben and Bess's close friendship is strongly suggested in "All About Eve," although I suspect that the writers put it in there by way of illustrating a plot point - there was no previous indication of a special closeness before then.
Eben herself is, of course, a background/ND character so there's very little information available about her. I'm not even sure the writers named her prior to killing her in "All About Eve." Her name certainly wasn't given before then. She wears one of the blue Ops jackets, which is why I placed her in that group versus the colonists, but the idea that she's an Earth-res is all mine.
This story actually started out as a True-centric plot where she discovers seasons; the intent was to demonstrate just how little the Edenites know about living on a planet. I was using Eben as a mechanism for a bit of exposition and as a foil, but within the first few paragraphs I found myself asking the same questions True ended up asking. I ended up rewriting them to change the viewpoint from True to Eben, and the rest of the first half of the story fell into place from there.
The first half was originally the entire story. After letting the story sit for a few days, though, I realized that there was a special poignancy related to the fact that, in the end, Eben never needed to keep her secret. I also realized that this was a good way to write in an unsuccessful relationship amidst the multiple successful ones in E2. The idea is to show that two members of a couple can still care about each other even if the "couple" part doesn't work. I didn't find a way to work this in, but in my mind there was also an idea that keeping the secret led to trust issues on Eben's part; thus, she was skittish about opening up. So that's where that part came from.
I'm glad I proofed the second part, though, because I nearly missed a plot hole. At first there was no mention of True's guilt after she inadvertently gave away Eben's secret. I tried several times to rewrite the section of the first half so that True never made the promise, but none of them worked. That's where that paragraph in the second half finally came from. It took a few rewrites as well before it flowed well against the expositional passage that immediately follows.
True's not the kind to break promises and she's pretty worldly thanks to her background, but she's still a ten-year-old girl who doesn't understand adult relationships (of any kind, not just romantic). As such, I think her simplistic assumptions about both Eben's need to keep the secret and the reason for the breakup are pretty believable. Heck, I know adults who would make the same assumptions.
Even though it's a bit light on plot, "Leaf Season" is probably one of the more slower-paced single shot fics I've done since I started writing again; and it's the first single shot of this period that I didn't write all at once. I think it's better for both of those since these two attributes mean I had more creative control. Or, in other words, slow and steady wins the race. I like what I found at the finish line.
Eben herself is, of course, a background/ND character so there's very little information available about her. I'm not even sure the writers named her prior to killing her in "All About Eve." Her name certainly wasn't given before then. She wears one of the blue Ops jackets, which is why I placed her in that group versus the colonists, but the idea that she's an Earth-res is all mine.
This story actually started out as a True-centric plot where she discovers seasons; the intent was to demonstrate just how little the Edenites know about living on a planet. I was using Eben as a mechanism for a bit of exposition and as a foil, but within the first few paragraphs I found myself asking the same questions True ended up asking. I ended up rewriting them to change the viewpoint from True to Eben, and the rest of the first half of the story fell into place from there.
The first half was originally the entire story. After letting the story sit for a few days, though, I realized that there was a special poignancy related to the fact that, in the end, Eben never needed to keep her secret. I also realized that this was a good way to write in an unsuccessful relationship amidst the multiple successful ones in E2. The idea is to show that two members of a couple can still care about each other even if the "couple" part doesn't work. I didn't find a way to work this in, but in my mind there was also an idea that keeping the secret led to trust issues on Eben's part; thus, she was skittish about opening up. So that's where that part came from.
I'm glad I proofed the second part, though, because I nearly missed a plot hole. At first there was no mention of True's guilt after she inadvertently gave away Eben's secret. I tried several times to rewrite the section of the first half so that True never made the promise, but none of them worked. That's where that paragraph in the second half finally came from. It took a few rewrites as well before it flowed well against the expositional passage that immediately follows.
True's not the kind to break promises and she's pretty worldly thanks to her background, but she's still a ten-year-old girl who doesn't understand adult relationships (of any kind, not just romantic). As such, I think her simplistic assumptions about both Eben's need to keep the secret and the reason for the breakup are pretty believable. Heck, I know adults who would make the same assumptions.
Even though it's a bit light on plot, "Leaf Season" is probably one of the more slower-paced single shot fics I've done since I started writing again; and it's the first single shot of this period that I didn't write all at once. I think it's better for both of those since these two attributes mean I had more creative control. Or, in other words, slow and steady wins the race. I like what I found at the finish line.