“Long Time Passing”, End notes
Sep. 30th, 2014 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
[ Endnotes posted 16 Dec 2020 ]
Since this is a remix, what prompted the direction this story took in differing from the original?
Mostly it sprung from switching the POV from Willow’s to Riley’s, that seemed to start off everything else. Some of it came from including elements from a couple of other velvetwhip Riley-centric fics, especially “He Is Good and Pure and from Iowa”. Quite a bit came from my initial recognition — clear back in Season 4 Episode 1 — of the obvious affinity between Riley and Willow (even Buffy briefly felt left out), and feeling some regret that nothing more came of it.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
Just a line — “Where have all the soldiers gone?” — from the Peter, Paul & Mary song that also included the title line.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
I was extremely pleased with the characterization of Riley I managed to put across. Honestly, the most unexpectedly successful part was building the narrative around his love of classic poetry. That wasn’t planned at the beginning, but it really worked out well.
Liked least … well, some comments on the story made it sound like some readers felt that Riley was still trying to flee from an unwelcome recognition, whereas the intent was to show much trouble he was having coming to terms with it (but not trying to bury it again). Minor point, but it does come to mind.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
I wound up liking Eliška Černá more than expected, meaning I felt some regret that I wouldn’t be able to use her again (which I can’t under current conditions, the Independent Stories are all standalones). That’s one reason I keep considering switching the story over to the Backstage series, but I haven’t got around to that yet.
Was there a different direction I could have taken the story, and what would have been some of the advantages of the not-taken path?
Certainly; I could have had Riley just now discovering (rather than being reminded of) his initial attraction to Willow, or could have had him trying to follow out on that rather than accepting that the time had passed. Either could have been a promising approach, I just better liked the one I took.
Any observations to add at the end?
Every now and then I choose a really good story to remix, and then I have to make sure I put in enough effort to properly do it justice. velvetwhip’s original, while striking (and haunting) enough that I spoke of remixing it months before she actually joined my remix event, was enough different from my own style that I certainly had my work cut out for me. Mine had more overt psychological exploration, hers had more lines that artfully hinted at things not-said; whether or not I measured up to what I was remixing, I liked the result, and she expressed herself pleased. Sometimes that’s what you get.