“In the Air Tonight”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 06 Jul 2019 ]

Since this is a remix, what prompted the direction this story took in differing from the original?

This was the first time I had ever remixed evil_little_dog, and the snapshot/hints in the stories I cited just grabbed my attention and seemed to call to be knit together. It simply made sense to me, and this is the result.

Is there any particular significance to the title?

One, it fit the story. Two, it continued my usual practice of selecting, as a remix title, a song title or line of lyrics. Some work better than others; this one seemed to me to work well enough.

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

Like most? No single moment, though I did enjoy “You strut.” and “Nobody mentioned dragaa-a-aah —!”

Liked least? Well, I didn’t dislike it, but it was a little bit of a shame that the structure of the story denied me the opportunity to throw in at least one kick-ass fight scene.

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

I don’t doubt any number of things could have been done better, but — even looking back on this one after several years — I don’t see how I could have. I knew what I wanted to write, and that’s what I wrote. Sometimes it really is that easy.

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?

The obvious alternative would have been to make the narrative from Faith’s POV instead of Dawns … or, alternatively, the POV of some other Slayer listening in on the conversation (I’d have to do away with the ‘private communication line’ to make that work) and trying to make sense of the — to her — cryptic nature of the conversation. The latter might be an interesting approach someday, but I don’t see myself doing it with this one.

Any observations to add at the end?

The Buffyverse touched very lightly, after Season 5, on the memories non-Season 5 characters had of Dawn; we saw that Angel (Angelus) remembered her, and that Faith remembered her, but there was nothing there except that they knew who she was. I’ve increasingly been inclined to have my pre-Season 5 stories include Dawn and/or memories of Dawn, in line with the general theme of “Dusk Over Pompeii” that the past was actually rewritten to interpose her presence. It’s a little thing, but I keep doing it and keep enjoying it.