“the Silence in the Spaces Between”, End notes

[aadler]

[ Endnotes posted 09 Jun 2018 ]

Where did the idea for the story come from?

In literal terms, it quite obviously came from the story I stole and used as a template. Reaching farther back, yahtzee63 in the still-great “As Time Goes By” (retelling Casablanca as a Buffyverse story) allowed me to see not just how effective such a recasting could be, but how entertaining. With that as an example, I had been wanting for years to do something of that type, but tried to make it a joint venture: I proposed ideas to butterflykiki and gyrus, but was unable to find anything that interested them as much as it did me. (And, given the eventual problems sroni and I had in making a collaboration work, it might not have gone well if either of them had accepted.)

What made me pick this story to rework? I don’t know, it just came to me all of a sudden, while I was working on something else (“Maxima Culpa”), and I had to really fight to hold it off till I’d finished the one I was already doing. Once I began … well, do you have any idea how easy it is to write something when you already have a storyboard (the comic original)?

Is there any particular significance to the title?

Sure. Just as my story was a happy theft of the G.I. Joe original, “the Silence in the Spaces Between” gleefully counterfeited that story’s title, “Silent Interlude”.

Honest, your honor, it’s not plagiarism, it’s an hommage.

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

Every part of writing this was fun, and it’s still a hoot to re-read, because I didn’t have to concern myself with originality. The whole point of it was to turn someone else’s work into ‘mine’, so every part of the transformation was a guilt-free pleasure. ‘Nightshade’ as Storm Shadow? cool. Gavin Park filling in for the Cobra Commander? couldn’t pick a better weasel for the role. Ethan Rayne acting as Destro? pull the other leg! So what I liked most about the story was all of it …

… but, yeah, I particularly enjoyed my reworking of the reveal at the end: the previously unknown commonality of the two antagonists, wherein our seeing that Storm Shadow and Snake-eyes had the same (ninja clan) tattoo in the original was reflected by our discovering that Xander and ‘Nightshade’ had each gained extra mojo by enhancement from dimension-spanning symbiotes, and even using that to add some bittersweet characterization to Nightshade.

Liked least/felt most doubtful? Nothing. It wasn’t my story, that had already been done superbly by someone else, so I just dressed it in new clothes and enjoyed the result.

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

This is a standard question in my endnotes, but simply doesn’t apply in this particular instance. I couldn’t take the story in a different direction, because the story was already set, and I was blithely working within those established parameters.

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?

Nope, see above. Oh, I suppose, since this was a matter of outright theft, I could theoretically take the same template and put an entirely different set of Buffyverse characters in the original roles. That might be fun, and interesting, but I’m perfectly satisfied by things as they stand.

Any observations to add at the end?

As I observed in answers to comments on the story (and in later LJ posts), I genuinely expected the source material for this one to be recognized and named within days if not hours. “Silent Interlude” impressed me immensely when I first saw it, enough that I’ve sought it out and re-read it periodically since then (not easy in pre-Internet days, since I hadn’t bought the actual issue at the time), and I knew it was quite well-regarded within the comic community. When it wasn’t recognized, I tossed out prompts and reminders, but still didn’t believe I’d have to actually name it. Once I gave up and pulled back the curtain myself … well, I’d got a huge kick out of the story as it was, but putting in the ‘end credits’ (and, in a special cameo, Giles as the Baroness!) gave me another jolt of pleasure in a place that had been the source for much already.

I’ve done much better stories (as in, ones that I could actually call mine), but seldom has one given me such undiluted enjoyment. Given its pedigree, I think that’s understandable.