“How Wide the Gate”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 23 Sep 2018 ]

Where did the idea for the story come from?

In general, from the fannish discussion itself, of which Xander’s explanation served as the narrative framework for this story. I can’t even come close to remembering where I first encountered the “theory”, but this Huffpost article gives a general overview, this Wikipedia article presents the theory itself in somewhat more detail, and this site — especially with the tabs at the top leading to other subcategories — serves as a fairly comprehensive layout for the whole thing.

As to the story itself, though, I can’t say. My earliest memory of this idea included pretty much all the elements that appeared in the final form, including set-up, interim action/narrative, and conclusion.

Is there any particular significance to the title?

Nope. The story needed a title, this one sounded okay, and it pointed to the SG-1 connection at the end. Didn’t need to be more than that.

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

Liked most: the interplay between alt.future.Xander and alt.future.Buffy; these are the people we know, with familiar behavior, and yet I was able (I believe) to gradually show the little extra between them that would justify the discovery that they were an actual couple. Also, the action. I love good fight scenes, and indulge myself whenever I can.

Liked last/doubtful … well, nothing, really. This was a small, fun story, done mainly for my own entertainment and not meant to be taken too seriously even though I did my best to make it consistent. It was basically a set-up for a ‘surprise’ reveal: that Buffy and Xander were themselves — in this story if nowhere else — now part of a larger multi-fandom endeavor.

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

I could have provided a better explanation of the Tommy Westphall Universe hypothesis, I suppose, but it wasn’t really necessary. The depth that Xander covered was enough for story purposes. Maybe, with more thought, I might have thrown in more (or different) ‘guest stars’, and some of those could prove interesting. They weren’t needed as far as I went, though.

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?

I could have explored the multi-universe idea with a different approach; I could have made the story funnier with less grim, or grimmer with less funny. Any of those could have been made to work. (Just facing the question, I got a quick mental picture of BX having the fandom discussion while hacking their way through a jungle on their way to an Indiana-Jones-type hidden temple. The possibilities are near-endless.) I am, however, not in any way dissatisfied with where I wound up.

Any observations to add at the end?

I could try to toss in my own little contribution to discussion of the overall theory, but anything I had to offer would almost certainly have been already presented by other people elsewhere. (Just because I came up with an idea on my own, doesn’t mean somebody else didn’t think of it before me.) Mainly, I wrote this story for fun and had fun with it. Sometimes it doesn’t go any further than that, or need to.