“Whisper of a Moment”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 28 May 2015 ]

Where did the idea for the story come from?

Too far back in the mists of time for me to remember for sure, I’m afraid. I can say that the original concept that eventually turned into this story was so different as to bear practically no resemblance. Essentially, it really began when I started thinking, What exactly did Xander do during his summer on the road after graduation? With many other influences, this grew from that.

Is there any particular significance to the title?

No more than can be seen in the little explication where Ethan uses the term. Mostly, I just liked the sound of that particular phrase.

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

What I like most is the huge difficulty Dina has in coming to terms with this guy from (to her) legend; lot of anger there, lot of defensiveness manifesting as aggression. Probably my single favorite moment is when she sees him fighting in the chop-shop and realizes just where the legends came from. I also enjoyed the fact that I never really said 1) who she really is or 2) where she’s really from, but those things are nevertheless clear by the end of the story.

Like least, nothing. Doubts … no doubts, really, but there were a couple of little things I put in just for the fun of it, purely from the pleasure of following multiple fandoms, that didn’t truly serve the story and might possibly have served as a distraction. (See observations at the end.)

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

If so, I don’t have the imagination to see it. I worked on this story for over a year, and by the time it was finished, it was pretty much what I wanted it to be. The story itself basically dictated the way it wanted to be told, clear down to first-person present-tense. I might be able to polish a few things here and there, but any changes I could make would be minor.

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

Sort of. “Echoes From the Battleground” shows a newly-cold Willow placing the DNR order in Faith’s medical file; in “Ex Post Facto”, Wesley makes reference to “that strange, intense young woman in Oxnard”; and “Shock to the System” mentions a Skira’ad demon scrambling the odds in a poker game. Apart from that … well, Dina made an unnamed guest appearance in “Otherwise a Perfect Sky”, but that was a minor note indeed.

Any observations to add at the end?

Just a few little things.

The mother-daughter duo described in the opening scene of the story, at the Fabulous Ladies Night Club? They were Dottie and Brandi Thorson, from the Huntress, which I much enjoyed during the single lengthy season it ran. This story may have been the last time I inserted the little sly ‘uncredited’ guest appearances that I took pleasure in for awhile, and I put in one more here before I was done.

The second had to do with the mysterious names. “Evelyse Haarwold”, “Shaley Woldevare”, and “Veresa Day Howell” are all anagrams of “Yves Adele Harlow”, one of the characters of the short-lived Lone Gunmen spin-off of the X-Files. (And, as was pointed out in the series, her name itself was an anagram of “Lee Harvey Oswald”.) So, yeah, the mysterious Yves was poking around in Oxnard at the same time Dina and Xander were trying to solve a mystery of their own, their paths simply never crossed.

(A mention, rather than an appearance: the Chicago homicide cop in the Eighties / ‘Dirty Harriet’ — from Part 5 — was a reference to the single-season Lady Blue. The show itself may not be memorable, but the title character apparently was, at least to me.)

And, of course, the pale woman was “Nika” (the transformed Jenny Calendar whom I first presented in “Shadow and Substance”. No, we have not by any means seen the last of her.