“Notes on an Opera Program”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 02 Apr 2015 ]

Where did the idea for the story come from?

Way back long ago, I just got a general notion of some minor Wolfram & Hart functionary trying to do an analysis of the Scooby Gang. This grew from that.

Is there any particular significance to the title?

Nothing internal, just intended to add to the general sense of Lilah Morgan jotting down some thoughts as they occurred to her.

What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?

This was a small idea, carried out without complication, but it didn’t have enough meat to it that I could ever be deeply fond of it. A small thing to serve a small purpose, which it did well enough.

That being said, what I like most is the fun of looking at the amoral pragmatism of Lilah’s observations/calculations, and trying to figure out which ones are skewed to inaccuracy by her rejection of ‘good’, which strike home but are flawed and/or incomplete, and which simply miss the mark entirely no matter how lethally intelligent she may otherwise be. (Hint: her opinions are not my own, but I didn’t try to make her wrong all the time. Or even most of it.)

What I like least … well, it’s all ‘talk’ — except not even any real dialogue or exposition by the understood definitions — and much of it rather cryptic at that. This is not the kind of story I would want to see become a genre, even if I’m not dissatisfied with it in itself.

Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?

Not really. It wasn’t big enough for any serious flaws to make themselves known.

Do I have any plans to follow up on this story, or to use the character(s) or situation in a subsequent fic?

In ways, I already have. “Tip of My Tongue” (as can be gleaned from its own internal narrative) shows one of the results of the project Lilah — with plausible deniability, of course — set in motion following her private brainstorming session.

Any observations to add at the end?

This one wasn’t enough of an effort to call for much analysis, but it did have some effects. Several of the names on Lilah’s little lists provided links to other Backstage stories: Camber-Pyclet (“Beg to Differ”), H’laat-tuuc (“Kirlian Logic”), the Dichaltus Compendium (“Into the Abyss”), and erbit lungs and Kung’r demons (“Rough Trade”). Little touches, but they add to my overall viewing pleasure.